371 Comments

I still remember the horror I felt upon learning of the Tulsa Massacre, and the destruction of the Greenwood district. I was completely shocked that I had never heard of this event until the last year or two, and still also remember hearing about the remaining 3? living survivors of that terrible event.

It is good to know that Biden is moving forward with "actions to root out racial bias in home valuations to ensure that all hardworking families can realize the true value of their investment and have a fair shot at the American dream.”

Thanks, Dr Heather, for another LFAA that makes current events easier to understand, and relatable to past history. This country has a long way to go before the inequity inherent in the systems in place towards people of color are redressed.

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It continues to surprise me (and not surprise me) how fickle our narratives of history have proven to be. The scale of human rights crimes in Tulsa marks the events as important to even a sketchy picture of the crimes, contortions, and contradictions that are part and parcel of our nation's history, and from which we have a duty to learn, and yet this is exactly the sort of thing the right wing insists be forgotten. I too am unaware of hearing any mention of this event until fairly recently. I still hold out hope of a more just and humane society if enough people embrace the possibility and the processes necessary to achieve it. That will involve confronting painful realities, but that's what it takes for things to improve.

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JL, regarding "our nation's history".

I just finished a book called "Lay this Body Down". Written by Gregory A. Freeman.

The book describes one of the many "peonage" Plantations in the old South, well into the 20th Century, that still had full time "slaves" who were not permitted any freedoms and were locked up at night.

Apparently, after the Civil War, the word "peonage" was substituted for slavery and business as usual continued well into the 20th Century. The time frame of the book is the 20th Century, 1921 to be precise.

But, the book goes further. It describes how the Plantation Owner killed 11 of the slaves (again, in 1921!) with the full expectation that nothing would happen to him.

But, things were changing in America, albeit at less than a snails pace. The Plantation owner was convicted by an all white jury of his peers and tossed into prison for life.

His son, who also killed a couple slaves, escaped to Florida which had a "no extradition" thing going on so white criminals could go to Florida without fear (perhaps that is still in place and explains Trump's residence there).

At any rate, I, like you, continue to be amazed at my complete absence of knowledge of history about the Real United States of America.

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10 -1 they banned that book in Florida!

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I'm shocked!

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I’m reading The Warmth if other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, about the Black migration out of the Jim Crow south. Brilliant. For those who are CRT minded, read Caste, The 1619 Project, Just Mercy and Evicted. Most of us learned of the 1921 Tulsa massacre 2 years ago for the 100th anniversary, which is a sad and pathetic statement of our educational system.

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Although that educational system (with I alternately loathed and loved in my youth) is a product of the constellation of power and awareness in our society, and the authoritarian and liberating forces that have always shaped it. If we open to the demanding awareness required to be a wise and thriving self-governing society, I think we would alter the priorities of of current educational system quite a bit. Republicans are already on that, but to suppress and control, not to liberate.

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Dave Fake News Exclusive

HRC has been indicted in Floriduh for openly teaching CRT. Says Mr 8th Day Ron, “if she ever takes the chance to visit Mouse World, I’ll slap in chains immediately. No need for a trial, I’ll pronounce her guilty by the power I invested in me”

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🤣🤣🤣 Hey, Dave! Even with "Fake News" in the title of your post, it's still so close to reality that tge satire is easy to miss!

It's great though! Good exercise for a lazy brain.👍

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Thx, proclaiming it “fake” gives me license to make up whatever I want and put the “hyper” into “perboly”

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Hyper Perboly.

I like it!!

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Tulsa, OK has the distinction of being the first city to be attacked by aerial bombardment. Locals constructed home made firebombs and then used aircraft to drop them on the Greenwood neighborhood, resulting in multiple fires that devastated the area. In 1921 the use of aircraft in warfare was still relatively new. It was a massacre, for sure.

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Heartbreaking. And yet, it didn’t break their spirit or their resolve. White Supremacy my a$$!

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People of color are harassed in OK in modern times, as well. Hatred and fear stain permanently it seems. What a shame.

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Yes. A terrible shame. It will end some day. Each generation is more aware. That’s why you see the haters scrambling to ban books and trying to limit.what history is being taught. They can’t stop progress…they may slow it down but not stop it.

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Thank you for the book suggestion. I also suggest Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and Evicted by Matthew Desmond. I’m just starting Poverty also by Desmond. Both writers are superb.

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I have Poverty on my shelf waiting to be read. I just finished A Fever in the Heartland and am taking a break with a mystery.

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I can relate. So much to digest with current affairs these days that I’m afraid reading all these truth telling books might cause me to have a brain melt down. I need to read fluff in between. 🫢

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I can only take so much, both current and historical. I have a couple that I had to stop reading and haven't picked again yet. Right now I am reading a mystery set in Victorian England. Totally escapist.

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There is more than a grain truth to the old truism, “History is written by the winners” than Americans understand. The history we teach our children has been written by the White AngloSaxon Protestant elite since our War of Independence. As we all know, we taught to believe that America is an ever virtuous “city on a hill” , a beacon for “truth , justice, and the American way”.

Governor DeSantis’s book censorship and his legislature’s revision of primary school and college curricula in Florida to emphasize the anodyne history the the WASP majority demands is nothing but a contemporary continuation of devotion to his need to erase the dark side of our history in order that no American every feel uncomfortable.

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Just one suggested edit to your otherwise accurate assessment of DeSantis's need: "... to erase the dark side of our history in order than no WHITE HETEROSEXUAL CHRISTIAN American ever feel uncomfortable."

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Science has enabled me to sit here with a box on my lap with which I can communicate across the globe, and that's because we have collectively paid a whole lot of attention to nature. Nature is never "conquered" or even successfully entreated, but will often let us hitch a ride if we play be "her" rules. That includes being as honest as we are willing and able to be with ourselves and our society. Sailing off with bogus charts and a defective compass is unlikely to go well.

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More history I did not learn! Thanks for the book recommendation, Mike S. I am going to the library today.

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"But, the book goes further. It describes how the Plantation Owner killed 11 of the slaves (again, in 1921!) with the full expectation that nothing would happen to him."

And hate crimes have been rising in frequency since hate speech has become more commonplace. Clearly the Jan 6th insurrectionists taking selfies for the prosecution were not expecting indictments. An atmosphere of corruption brings out the worst in many people, some of whom already lean toward criminal acts.

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Thank you for sharing this story. It helps to be made aware of this history...disgraceful and heartbreaking as it is.

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Interesting, I just searched my library network and they don't have book.

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This is when you ask for a form or go online to request the library to purchase the book. It is possible that it was overlooked or stolen. As a retired librarian I know how difficult it can be to replace a book, especially if it is no longer being printed. Also, does your library have interlibrary loan whereby it could be ordered from another library? Just a thought.

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And my knowledge of history is patchy. Science is a form of history, and worthwhile history is a kind of science, although history which travels on the edge of time lacks the precise constants and precisely repeatable observations afforded physical science. The history of anything, from a cake in the oven, to US politics today, developed in the flow of time, and we look to consistent patterns in that flow to make educated guesses, with varied degrees of confidence, about what will happen next; for example, how the cake will be experienced after exposed to X degrees of heat for Y minutes. And even then, the cake may not turn our exactly as anticipated.

And yet, even a seriously inaccurate guess, even some imaginary things, can be a stepping stone to better understanding if we don't get to stuck to them; if we keep our minds moving; if we look for the forest AND the trees; if we can keep our senses open to the ferment which is the flow of time.

"He (sic) who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy He who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sunrise. " - William Blake

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I was born and raised in Berkeley, California during the 50’s/60’s. The history of slavery and racism was always a topic, but never once did I learn about the Tulsa massacre until probably one or two years ago. It is our duty to understand our past if for no other reason than to chart a better future for everyone.

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I grew up in Tulsa and never learned about it until I was in my thirties. Unconscionable and horrific!

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If you haven't yet, get a copy of "Stony the Road" by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the book covering Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow. One of the main takeaways for me (I grew up in Jim Crow Texas in the 40's and 50's) is how implicit bias seeps into our thought processes. And, I just caught the first episode of The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Wow. This is the kind of material that DeSantis and the Republican legislators here in Florida want to exclude from textbooks. Suppress facts and cause division in the populace - these are the tactics of Fascists.

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The 500 page book 1619 is a must-read, btw.

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Thank you. It seems to me that among the divisions in the USA, one is those who know or want to learn more about our past, and those who don't.

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Bu bu but....it makes White people feel bad! We can't have that!

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Yeah. WPT(white people trauma). New red state disease discovered.

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Poor babies.

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No surprise there. These are the same people who would have seen slavery as a good thing before the Civil War. And they would have fought to the death for it. Not good.

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Tulsa and so many others...

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Not isolated, others just not as graphically illustrated. Glad there was the evidence of the carnage but the deniers have no eyes or ears

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The first time I heard about Greenwood was from Beto when he was running for president (& I'm 70). I was very upset & dumbfounded that I had never heard of it before.

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I heard of it first when I started "Watchmen" on HBO (although I didn't complete that series) and found out more when watching "Lovecraft Country" on HBO, which was terrific. Like you, I have been shocked as I learned about Tulsa and started to unearth so many horrors that my fellow Americans who are Black have had to endure that I was completely, utterly clueless about.

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I’m sorry so many of us are in the same boat, but encouraging that so many are following the Chinese “proverb”: “Hunger is cured by food. Ignorance by study.”

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Racially influenced “undervaluing” housing evaluations. Its a thing. CRT Would teach us more about this but “da white folk is ‘fraid to learn”

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What's the origin of the phrase 'A house is not a home'?

'No one is exactly sure of the first coinage of 'a house is not a home' but the first version known of in print comes from the American writer and women's rights advocate Margaret Fuller and it may well be that she coined it herself. Her early pro-feminist work Woman in the Nineteenth Century was published in 1845, containing this opinion:'

‘A house is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.’ (ThePhraseFinder)

‘This sounds sort of in the weeds for administration action, I know, but it is actually an important move for addressing the nation’s wealth inequality.’

IN THE WEEDS? Today’s Letter from HCR is about inequality that impacts everything. It is MONUMENTAL.

‘In 2019 a study from the Federal Reserve showed that white American families had a median net worth of $188,100, Hispanic or Latino families had a net worth of $36,200, and Black American families had a median net worth of $24,100.’

‘Homeownership is the most important factor in creating generational wealth—that is, wealth that passes from one generation to the next—both because homeownership essentially forces savings as people pay mortgages, and because homes tend to appreciate in value.’ (Letter)

‘Housing was a key part of King’s vision for economic justice, but most black Americans don’t own homes.’

‘In 1966 at Chicago’s Soldier Field, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. expounded on this dream.’

“We are tired of living in rat-infested slums,” he said. “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children.”

‘Throughout the 20th century, realty associations and discriminatory financial institutions conspired to disenfranchise would-be black homeowners. Real estate agents, explains Morehouse professor Marc Lamont Hill, “followed an unwritten edict: Sell homes in white neighborhoods to black buyers and you will lose your license.”

'Even when some blacks were beginning to successfully build wealth, it was taken away. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “slum clearance” measures spread rapidly throughout the country, leading to widespread demolitions of black middle-class homes. In the name of expanding public housing, many black families literally lost the roof over their heads.’

‘Thanks to predatory lending, black families lost three to four times as much wealth during the Great Recession as white families.’

‘More recently, subprime lending has emerged as the most dangerous attack on African-American homeowners. Thanks to predatory mortgage practices, black families lost three to four times as much wealth during the Great Recession as white families.'

'This may have been no accident. Federal investigations after the crash revealed that Wells Fargo loan officers referred to black customers as “mud people” and called black mortgages “ghetto loans.”

‘To reverse these trends, we need to create a housing boom for low-income and first-time minority homeowners, invest in financial literacy and career readiness programs, and bring middle-class and high-wage jobs into newly developed black neighborhoods.’

“A society has a moral obligation to make a large, aggressive investment,” President Obama said recently, “in order to close those gaps” between black and white Americans.’

‘A truly “aggressive investment” would ensure not only equity for African Americans in this country, but would also expand middle-class America, reduce crime in America’s major cities, and improve schools in urban communities.’

‘Without that, Dr. King’s dream is still deferred.’ (inequality.org)

…and now on June 1, 2023:

‘’The inequalities of the past have persisted in the home appraisal system, Harris said. “[B]ecause their homes are undervalued, Black and Latino people often pay more for their mortgage, receive less when they sell, and are less able to get access to home equity lines of credit—all of which widens the racial wealth gap and deepens longstanding financial inequities.”

“Today,” her Twitter account said, “our Administration is announcing new actions to root out racial bias in home valuations to ensure that all hardworking families can realize the true value of their investment and have a fair shot at the American dream.” (Letter)

'Here we go again!'...can be heard AGAIN for good reason. Withal, we must work together to cement each move toward equality and continue to progress forward.

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This is what the ruby red states of the south and elsewhere are so busy outlawing.

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Do you know how the data differs in each state and the contexts elucidating the numbers?

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The Oregonian has an article this week about a black area of Portland, not destroyed by mobs, but highways and other incursions. I had no idea about the Tulsa Massacre either and it represents another part of our repressed history. I note belong a post about the efforts of the party of death to continue this repression and keep the sanitized version of American history.

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I lived in Tulsa in the 1980s and can report that white Tulsans then were not much improved over the ones who were killing black people with sniper fire from rooftops near Greenwood during the massacre. One acquaintance bragged that his father had been one of the snipers.

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I can't "like" your post, but Judas Priest, what an outrageous, horrible thing about which to brag, even for a Sooner. (I was born in OK, so I can say that). 😱 🤬

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Can't like this, so anger emoji. After reading A Fever in the Heartland, I wonder how many KKK members I knew. My dad would have been in high school, but he had a German last name, so on the black list. I did hear plenty of racist and anti-Catholic remarks growing up. And my dad did not like Rosie as he called FDR. Didn't like unions either or Ds in general.

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Thank you HRC & thank you Just Janice. I am very interested in the Tech behind "fixing algorithms". Not only in racist home evaluations an/or "red lining" but, in the use & abuse of malevolent algorithms in many commercial actions -- everything from stocking & the pricing of grocery products to political advertisements. All refrences welcome --- the outing of programing techniques are needed as the "SF" ( actually Marin City) couple demonstrated.

Note, The "SF" couple was ALAN TATE & TENISHA TATE-ALLEN of Matin city in Marin County California who were the Plaintiffs. Marin City was an important site for WWII shipbuilding & is very close to Sausalito CA. The CA Superior Court in Marin County has very capable Judges, Staff & Jurors. Worked in both places many times.

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Must say - I thought Biden out maneuvered the republicans on the debt ceiling negotiations!

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Well, they really don't know what they're doing, whereas he really does know what he's doing.

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Yup, Anne.Louise, well said! After the 2022 midterms - when the Red Tsunami failed to appear - I called the results A Pink Tinkle. When I look at the recent votes in the House and the Senate, I also see a Pink Tinkle. Poor Chip Roy...munching away on his Turd Sandwich....

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Nicely put and put the first smile on my face this am.

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That’s very funny. Thanks 😊

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Knowledge and skill are neither dirt nor four-letter words.

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His EXPERIENCE is what made the difference!

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The fact that he has it.

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He did.

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He totally did, but it won't matter. Because sandbag.

/s

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It is so easy to trip and can happen to almost anyone. A number of years ago I was setting up on Sunday afternoon to teach a Blacksmithing class at the John C Campbell Folk School and tripped on a floor mat in front of the instructor's forge. No harm I was by myself.

During the week it happened again, this time with a class full of students. I crashed into a 350 pound anvil, that don't move, broke my glasses and not any thing else. I did get rid of that damn mat. Can happen to any of us.

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Exactly!

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Yes now we know what the term “sandbagged”. Actually means!

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Bad, really bad.

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Very apropos!

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AAaand no one is mentioning that he had been standing and speaking for a long time followed by ?95 minutes of hand-shaking and chat? with likely no water or liquids? He is phenomenally well. Let the media report that!

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Like someone on another comments section remarked, if it had been T***p that tripped and fell he would've rolled a ways before it would've taken twice as many secret service personnel to haul his ass up. I'd like to find that bit of film that showed T***p going up stairs with what looked like a bit of toilet paper stuck to one of his shoes.

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I just don’t want to see that creep ever again period.

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It’s out there. Check out The Lincoln Project on You Tube either yesterday or the day before.

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They have to make caricatures of Rambo Trump to obscure their dear one's poor health.

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Sandbag will ensure that GQP will continue to underestimate Biden's abilities and acumen, and he will continue to outmaneuver them.

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Like none of us has ever tripped before. You notice the RW nutters don't mention how often their orange hero has to be escorted down ramps and stairs, hold his cup with two hands and trails 'tp' behind him. Funny how THAT STUFF is never mentioned on RW programs and news.😣

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McCarthy may have an inkling, now, how deficient his intellectual competence is, relative to peple of Biden’s caliber.

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Well - that would require self-reflection!

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I could not wonder whether Mr Biden staged his fall over a sandbag at the Airforce Academy graduation ceremony. Moved the Chatter-class from debt ceiling to Mr Biden's seeming frailness while the Senate passed the Biden-McCarthy agreement. Did Dark Brandon work his magic once again like he did in his State of the Union Address and got all those Republicans to vow to leave Medicare and Social Security in tack? Sly old fox, you think?

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I like this President more every day. Now we can all do our work. Thank you Joe.

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Indeed. Biden may be the best of all...

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He's a selfless public servant. Not perfect...none of us are...but he's a real professional who cares about us. The contrast couldn't be more striking. There's a part of me that wants Trump to survive just enough to be the GOP nominee and get beaten worse than anyone in history...and for the GOP to lose the House by 20 seats and lose 5 seats in the Senate. Ike never got the credit he was due. He was a visionary...the Interstates...Atoms for Peace...

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Ike was a decent person. He saw up close the horrors of war. That will bend a person's mind toward peace.

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Yes, if you're a sane and humane person it will. Others seem to relish the chaos.

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Several years ago we visited the underground command center on Malta where the control of the invasion of Sicily was based. Ike was in charge. For 5 days he never left the command center war room, there was a small "office" off the main room big enough for a folding army bunk, where Ike could catch an hour or two nap. Now that is leadership.

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Hey, the Orange One hid in the WH bunker during BLM protests--doesn't that count?????

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The cool thing about the under ground Whitehouse bunker is that where they are going to hang the official #45 portrait. /s

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Hopefully, right over the commode.....

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I saw his office/bedroom vehicle that he used in Europe at a military vehicle event. I thought if those walls could talk…

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I LIKE IKE...

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Those numbers are attainable. I apologize for repeating this urgent request but please go to this website and contribute to a remarkably effective nonpartisan group of Harvard students who are working hard to register high school seniors and college students (as well as women 18 to 44) to protect abortion rights, to legislate gun safety and to fight climate change at www.turnup.us/ We have to start now!

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Thx for the info and link. 🙏🏽 These sound like dynamic young adults with a winning(!) approach.

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Tyler: thank you as they are extraordinarily competent in navigating paid social media in order to reach tens of thousands of women 18 to 44 as well as young men. My nonpartisan 501c3 foundation Inspire2Vote has registered 105,000 high school students but it has taken us 5 years to do it with paid staff on the ground in multiple states. We are now merging with Turnup because their success rate is extraordinary but we all need to support them at www.turnup.us/

Please help and your contribution will be tax deductible as Turnup is an entirely nonpartisan 501c3 charitable foundation! Thanks again all!

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Once again, quiet unassuming Joe...goes about his business, and surgically removes the Republicans from the conversation...bam, done! My rub is not with what or how he accomplished it but the Democrats who voted against it...I believe they’ll rue the day the voted against it, really!

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Those votes were largely symbolic. Had they been needed they would have been there.

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I dunno... often Democrats can't get out of their own way by letting the perfect get in the way of the good. Thankfully, the Republicans are much more adept at stepping on their own toes.

Now if we can only get R voters to point their noses away from Fact Free Fox and towards Centrist News Network.

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I get fed up those people too. Hardly anyone gets exactly what they want on to first try.

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I'm afraid it is horrifyingly true, that the BIG STORY isn't about Biden's accomplishment in the face of the fascists wishing to obstruct any good he is doing: it's all about his accident! All I need do is look at my sister-in-law's Facebook page to see how Biden is being portrayed by the right-wing media machine. It sickens me almost as much as her posting of Trump's last big rally in GA, during the height of Covid: she was SO THRILLED to be there! She posted his "amazing" dance moves so proudly, and I felt infuriated by her total lack of concern for my brother's health and well-being. She is SO fucking brainwashed, and will never change. I remember when she told me how much she loved Rush Limbaugh: that she'd listened to him since the first time he was on radio. I was mortified! Of course, she says, "I love black people!", and always has posts that get fed to her depicting a person of color who happens to be Republican, or who has done something heroic (but is usually MAGA!). She, and others like her, are completely ignorant about the Tulsa Massacre, and probably wouldn't believe it if someone them. I only learned about it myself about 10 years ago, but why? Our education system leaves much to be desired, and it doesn't look that's going to change anytime soon. All we can do is support the Dems and hope for change!

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Willful and weaponized ignorance are epidemic, fueled by Fox and clones. But I repeat myself ad nauseam…

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Jeri, it needs to be repeated until it is HEARD!!! 💙

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I recently cut ties with my cousin who was like a sister to me because I cannot stomach her hateful comments every time I share a LFAA on my Facebook page. Many of my friends say to just put politics aside but it becomes impossible when these brainwashed MAGAts start ranting about completely irrelevant things because they have no argument against factual history. She told me to stop posting if I don’t want to hear opposing views while insulting me for defending people who would spit on me in the street (in this case immigrants and LGBTQ+ communities). I can’t take the willful ignorance any longer and must admit that my stress level has gone down. I can only imagine the joy she is taking in sharing everything about POTUS falling and the comments and laughs from her terrifyingly large circle of like minded friends.

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It’s more than “just politics”, as some people are willing to say to avoid the issue. Donald Trump didn’t create bigotry, misogyny, and hate, but he has exploited those horrific traits to gain a power base. When he claimed John McCain was not a war hero, when he mocked a disabled reporter, when he said he could do what he wanted to a woman’s body, and when he praised neo-Nazis, he went beyond politics. He created a movement based on hate, distrust, and bigotry and one third of our population has adopted that as their own. It cuts to the core of what these people believe, and it is beyond politics. If a friend or relative of mine is going to support trump in 2024, they are supporting hatred. That’s what he spews on daily basis. If they support that, they are no longer a part of my life.

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