On Friday, while the political world was focused on the federal indictment of a former president, the Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee released their new tax plan.
A note to those interested in the process of writing: I hope this one looks as easy as the others, but if you look at the notes you can see it was a brutal slog. Not sure why some are easier than others, but so it goes.
Indeed! When it's historical non-fiction, when facts matter, when truth matters.
To this retired construction worker, who learned his trade in earthquake country, it's building a useable ediface of facts and ideas that can endure seismic challenges as well as the general assault of wind and rain.
We salute you, Heather Cox Richardson. We thank you for your almost daily letters. Your work has enormous value to all of us.
I'm sharing this. And, "“The wind is shifting,” the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin tweeted today after listening to Haley and Scott backtrack. “Remember: change happens slowly and then all at once.” But in which direction? Are we already past the tipping point in the wrong direction for the majority?
The question at this point is unanswered. What we do know, however, is that the outcome is what we do here and now. We must mobilize and get the voters to the polls on the election day. In the interim, we need to tailor our message so that it informs and warns. We need another Paul Revere who can spread the word to every village and hamlet. The message must be clear and concise with a definite call to action. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country. (I haven't typed that line in 67 years.)
I hear all of this “just vote” rhetoric but hasn’t the election machine in many states/counties been given away to right wing Republicans? Precincts have been gerrymandered as we have seen. If that isn’t the issue then It seems to me that either it will be way too inconvenient to vote (miles to drive, no water or food nearby, etc etc) or actually dangerous. Then if the votes do go through they will be disputed by the machine that has been put in place. The Republicans know what went wrong the last time and won’t let that happen again.
Paula, SCOTUS last week overturned Alabama's extremely gerrymandered voting districts, and their ruling threatens to undo other Republican-dominated states' interference with voting, including Kemp's Georgia, where I live. I suspect that even the evil empire of our current Supreme Court has seen that the majority in this country is fed up with their partisan antics and fears congressional intervention. With all of the attempts with election interference, voters have turned out in unprecedented numbers, and the result was the near-miraculous midterm election. With the overturning of the Alabama gerrymandered districts, it is probable that Georgia and other states' districts will be similarly examined. We simply cannot throw in the towel.
That said, I wish they'd just past a federal law barring the use of voting preference in determining precinct maps, maybe even specifying what grounds can be used for such maps, like geography, county lines, and population density.
I agree, Betsy. I'm not sure that "Just vote" is without context, which is what seems to have been implied. I see it in context of "what can I do to help protect democracy" by people who feel limited by their life circumstances to do all these things we keep talking about. And the voting is the crux of it all. Timothy Snyder is very good at providing that context.
Are you too worried, Paula? Time will tell. In the interim, though, some words of advice come to my mind from my mother who wrote a letter to me while I was serving with the U.S. Army on Okinawa in 1963. I was struggling with something, I don't remember what it was. She said: "Richard, faint heart never won Lady Fair." Thank you Mom, I never forgot those words of advice. True, the road ahead for us just got tougher, but the prize is worth the sacrifice - a sustained democracy that we can pass on to our children and grandchildren. It means working as we've never worked before, registering voters, getting them to the polls, and always keeping the faith in our system: one person, one vote, majority rule. The MAGA Republicans know that they are outnumbered and will resort to any method that they can to seize power. What comes to my mind are words from the poem, In Flanders Fields, written about World War I and those who died fighting: Canadian Col. John McCrae, who did not survive the war, wrote these words: "We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields." Too many have sacrificed too much for us to give up now. In fact, we have just begun to fight.
Paula, you are right that obstacles are being put in the way, but that is why concerned people must do what we can to remove those obstacles. Even very small actions add up when many of us do them. It's one thing to wring our hands about it, which accomplishes nothing. Turn worry into action, in whatever small way you can. Carry water, chop wood is such an ingenious approach: none of us alone can do much, but together, the small things we can do add up to a lot.
Whatever anti-free society gamers try to do will not go unnoticed—death from a million cell-phone videos. Being a form of death, contradiction lacks the life-force to keep mere clever bad faith from coming to bits. Incoherence can only live in bad fiction. But, have a composter's faith: ordinary rot breaks down to sustain new life. RIP.
You and me both, Richard. I wonder how that line, "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country," became the "go to" phrase for testing your pen?
It was a line that we had in typing. My hand writing was so poor that I couldn't learn to type fast enough. Thank you, Mrs. Walker, for your excellent tutelage.
Let us all bow our heads and give a prayer of thanks for the contribution of Charles E. Weller, typing instructor, to the richness of the English language!
In high school typing class, we used "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy sleeping dog". Looking online, I see that 'sleeping' isn't included in the historical sentence and 'jumped' is 'jumps', ensuring that all letter of the alphabet would be included. The sentence has been used for at least 130 years!! https://knowyourphrase.com/the-quick-brown-fox
Which direction indeed? Just the last couple of days it became apparent to me that many of my personal friends (although we do not talk politics normally) believe the "but her e-mails" or "what about Joe Biden's garage" shite. Or "What a crock - everybody does it; prosecute them if you are going to prosecute him". It is true I live in a red state, and perhaps that has tainted my views. But I lose sleep, or ruin my daytime mood, thinking about the well-demonstrated stupidity of the American public writ large. Anyone who places their trust in the American public right now is naive. We have a minority element that is just nuts, and they will vote at upwards of 100% participation. We have a minority albeit larger percentage who are either too ignorant of the issues, or are so exasperated that what they want hasn't come (like student debt relief and more active climate mitigation) that they are going to sit it all out. Or as I describe above, there are those who think "everybody does it", and refuse to be a part of selecting politicians at all.
So get out the vote - for sure. My point however is this - we are fighting beliefs and world views that should be all but non-existent. They are literally nuts, in many ways evil. They fly in the face of facts. They are against the interests of any decent human being. They quite literally put the planet's eco-system and climate at risk of collapse. They question the concept of all humans being equal. IT SHOULD NOT BE CLOSE. Not close enough for us to have to wring our hands about an electoral outcome in 2024. This is Russian roulette, with 3 barrels loaded and 3 not. Why? I will be gracious and say that education and awareness are the key. Too many Americans are ignorant (willfully or not) of important issues, and are gullible to being manipulated by dis-information. And were I to be a little less generous, I would say that too many of us are falling prey to what the German people fell prey to after the first world war - to the words of some would-be hero who promises to get rid of the status quo and cure all their ills, if only you will rally around him/her. And now - this putrid movement is so strong that we are in the fight for our democratic existence. My big question is how can we improve the enlightenment of the American people, so that the crazy stays among the fringe instead of the mainstream? This is what Carl Sagan worried about prior to his untimely death.
Great question, Jay. I think the answer is to work hard to improve the lives of every day Americans so that they start to breath a little more quietly, live life a bit more fully. That is just what Biden's administration is doing, keeping a steady hand at the till while steering the ship in the right direction. Will it be enough to make the 2024 election secure for democracy? I can only hope and resolve to vote and to financially support good candidates.
I just read an article, "With 'Stealth Politics,' Billionaires Make Sure Their Money Talks," by Jaime Lowe, April 6, 2022. I know we are aware that money in politics is a big problem, but this article goes deeper and explains that local politics is targeted and why, but it doesn't mention local school boards. As for your "big question," other countries have publicly funded media. Notice public education is being targeted and has been for years. Please read the above article.
Public education is being defunded and that is one horror of where we are, maybe the worst. An educated society will call out authoritarians. The governor of Chicago signed a non-book banning bill, bless his heart.
Thank you Gloria for mentioning this article and Fern for the link. Well worth a read. If the number of comments posted is any reflection of the interest in the topic, few were interested in this incredibly important and well written analysis. Only 151 comments vs hundreds and sometimes thousands for far less important reporting.
So well said. It is very scary but I see it in Indiana currently. Comments on Facebook...comments from by son-in-law that works in a factory and his co-workers at break and lunch. They worship tfg. I had to convert my son-in-law. We can't ignore politics or we get in trouble. Most people around here just don't want to be bothered. They are too busy with sports, etc to take time out for what is in the best interest for their life. They just need to be aware their vote does count. And they need to vote not for lies but for truth.
This may be where we see a future.........youth voting, young adults voting.
They are living thru this era of assaults on democracy and you bet, it will have an effect on their world view and political activity. https://www.turnup.us/
Exactly, the Gen Z like representative Maxwell Frost are engaged and coming out to vote for their futures more and more! We need to assure their access to election 2024 as many are college students and support Democrats. The only glitch I see there is the unfortunate compromise of resuming college student debt payments which are enormous. A dear friend is in that boat with a balance of $50,000 to an instate university with a degree that turned out to be useless in obtaining work. She was forced to get a second two year degree in IT to make a living wage.
Jessica Craven, in her excellent Substack: Chop Wood, Carry Water, has numbers that refute the "youth doesn't vote" narrative. I've excerpted and linked below, but also want to second Kathy Clark with her link to https://www.turnup.us/ which is committed to bringing out the youth vote.
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The youth vote was decisive
"We need to stop wringing our hands about young people not being involved or turning out to vote. That stereotype needs to be put to rest for good. The current crop of young voters (Gen Z and Millennials) are, by historic comparison, highly engaged. And they delivered decisive numbers in key battleground states in 2022.
Charts can be confusing, so I’ll direct you on this one. Look just at the greenish columns for now. They compare turnout (as a percent of the electorate) in the 2018 and 2022 midterms, broken down between the House: National races (left side) and the Senate/Gov: Highly Contested races (right side). See the Gen Z/Millennials row near the top? That shows that from 2018 to 2022, these voters increased their share of the total vote by 3% for House races and 4% for the highly contested Senate/Gov races, while the oldest demographic decreased by the same amounts. That’s a gigantic shift."
Youth voting, a somewhat mixed blessing, considering what an idiot I was during my 18-30's, and I'm sure I wasn't alone. I remember liking Goldwater because it was a pretty name, although I was likely stoned at the time.
Yes! In their defense, their view of American politics, if they have one, is Trump, and maybe some Obama. They do not remember some of the stuff we old ones do, and as a result they lack any context. I think they do not realize just the seriousness of our current political situation.
Gloria, it's all too easy to feel that things are unraveling quite simply because of how much of main stream media (MSM) is treating a lot of this. Their coverage is slanted toward the "sensational", the short sound and audio bytes that are "grabbers" to get viewers to tune in. Some of these issues are far too complicated to reduce them down to a few items to put into a short report. It's one of the things that has drawn me to writers on Substack and other sources, because there/here one can find more detailed analyses of what's going on. I sincerely hope & pray that things are shifting and that we can continue to hammer away at the truth. There are some encouraging signs, but one isn't always going to find them if one gives in to MSM's hyperbole. We CAN change the direction, but it will take a massive effort to get people -- Millennials, GenZers, youth AND others -- to get off their asses and VOTE! Our voices only matter collectively if we speak as one, and if we can manage a huge turn-out in '24 at the grass-root level. If we want to change the system, then we have to USE the system to change the system. It's our only alternative and it's NOT too late.
I still believe that if Democrats turn out in massive numbers unlike anything seen in recent elections, even with some of the blockades put in place by the GOP and in spite of them making it more difficult in some areas for people to vote, we CAN force change. With its automatic voter registration tied to applications for drivers' licenses and ID cards, Georgia, in the past 4 years, already has one of the highest rates of voter registration (91%) in the country. We have 7.1 million voters registered now. The system also keeps better track of people changing addresses and/or name discrepancies, which means less problems with verification at the polls. THIS is the kind of thing that can make a difference. With the recent SCOTUS decision about gerrymandering in Alabama, it may embolden Democrats to take more of these district maps to court to try and level the playing field a bit more. We CANNOT be complacent!
We are not past the tipping point in my opinion. It is merely a matter of time and our lack of imagination. Trump’s spiral is going to be steadily downhill. This talk of 75 000 000 voters is a fantasy. Trumpism peaked on January 6 2021. It has been all downhill from there. So many are behind bars. So many have seen that this was not contrived on their behalf. I would guess that he is heading towards a base of half of what he had. I’d love to see his fundraising numbers - my guess is that they are sinking.
Polls, like rallies, are performative. They are not polling booths. People do not want to reveal they’ve left the fold to their friends. So they bray their fervent support for Trump - it’s a practical thing to do for the sake of not becoming a pariah. As well it is yet another stiff arm to the media, whom they truly, honestly despise.
They see the joke that the House has become. They understand that many members of the HFC are criminals and this makes them uneasy. I do think that McCarthy is I wild card. He may go for it and attempt to permanently marginalize them. Or he may still lack the panache and cleverness to trap this rogue group and dismiss them.
Getting from here to where we want to be in terms of prosecuting Trump is no easy task. It would be a crime, truly a deep state crime if Aileen Cannon stayed as the presiding judge and helped Trump ride out the clock. But even then, I do not believe he will win the election and pardon himself. Some single digit number of Americans want that.
The fun in the next few weeks is going to lie in watching Republican Presidential candidates tack away from Trump in discreetly calibrated steps. Chris Christie is going to be a wrecking ball as long as he lasts. He will excoriate hypocrisy and (in a real long shot) could gain a following. He is brilliant and witty and has nothing to lose. As a former prosecutor, he is light years ahead of the wannabes. His problems are twofold - his physical appearance will not draw people toward him, and he is an Easterner. But I believe there is a non-zero chance that he could acquire a Ronald-Reagan like status, catching lightning in a bottle.
Lots still to worry about. Lots of unknown unknowns. But I am generally optimistic.
By the way this strain of right-wing extremism is as old as America and as permanent. David Corn’s book “American Psychosis” is extremely disturbing.
I believe the current Right will smart from their bruises for a few years and then rise again and will have to be dealt with. They are a feature, not a bug.
Chris Christie is also a lying, bloviating sack of merde, who will blow sunshine up anyone's butt for a vote. But if his role is to dunk on tfg, I'm here for it.
I’ve seen that side too. But for the first time last night (on CNN) I felt like I was listening to a normal human being. For the first time in 8 years from that side of the aisle. It was refreshing, almost startling.
All politicians calculate, shade their message to fit a particular group. Most have gigantic egos. I’ve learned to live with that.
Not all are cruel. Not all are tied to an end times group. Not all seek reflexively to divide people and create fantastical dystopias. At heart some have decent instincts.
I’d be comfortable with a Biden-Christie race. I don’t think it would evoke that feeling of terror that was 2020.
Biden would win more easily as things stand now. All to the good.
Sadly it won’t happen.
Trump will go down and another real bastard, DeSantis, will be anointed. And the nightmare will go on. I’m sick of it.
Eric, I give you that Christie is much more articulate. But he talks a good game. I still have the letter he wrote to teachers/public employees when he first ran for governor--"your pensions are sacred". Yeah, we all know how that turned out. Went after teachers like they were the lowest scum of the earth. Wasn't until Covid shutdown that people realized what teachers actually did. And we know he knew all about Bridgegate, even tho he was slick enough that nothing stuck to him. Hoping that Bridgegate does to his presidential aspirations what Chappaquiddick did to Ted Kennedy's. I wouldn't vote for him for street sweeper.
Lots to think about in your letter, Eric. I'm not much of one for prognostication, but as things are, I think what is happening largely reflects your sense of it. I have different ideas about the extreme right (who have always been with us in one way or another). I suspect that the visibility of so many things gone wrong will moderate a lot of folks, and the "next wave" will be very different. But yes, they are part of the way a system like ours works. We have a dysfunctional system, and it requires a certain segment of our society to bear the brunt of its dysfunction. You betcha people get tired of it. And in the process we learn something, I hope. One of the things I hope is that the rest of us get over looking down our noses at people we consider "less than", and learn to see them as human beings with the same human needs the rest of us have, not as flawed people.
Gloria, my sense, from Texas, is that the Red Wave is ebbing. The Reagan Revolution has surged as far as it's going to with the Trump disaster, and the reaction to it has begun.
As a dedicated centrist, I can only hope it won't be an over-reaction.
Robert-Here are a couple things one can do to promote voter participation: Write letters to voters (Vote Forward: https://votefwd.org) and Postcards to Voters (https://postcardstovoters.org/) I'm able to do these despite my mobility issues, which limit my ability to do door -to-door canvassing; I've also been a driver for canvassers.
I really believe that we are headed in the right direction. A recent poll shows 88% (!) of the population wants gun control.
Yes, the base of the angry cheeto will never concede an inch.
But it is my firm belief that if the trumpers (they are not Republicans any more) actually run cadet bone spurs, then the Dems could run a turnip and win. In a landslide.
Absolutely not, Gloria. We are moving in the right direction. We just need to keep on that journey, each doing the small things that add up. Hand-wringing has never accomplished anything worthwhile. Please stop it.
Greasy wheels lose traction. And that's what is happening. We are in a news lag right now. Give it a few days. What I am reading this morning is already way different than what I was reading a week ago. A great deal of so-called "news analysis" is actually conjecturing, trying to predict the future. Now there's a question that needs an answer: how did our media slide so far away from being sources of what HAS happened (which can be analyzed) to what MIGHT happen, which cannot be analyzed? I ignore the people who start with what might happen, instead of looking at what we can learn from what IS happening. The 18 are largely ignored now by Republicans in both Houses of Congress. Trump continues to play victim, but suddenly it is not going over very well. He still plays to his base, which does not actually have the significance we are led to believe they do.
Yes, they ("wheels") do, but the "grease" is basically attention. I have also noticed in what little network news I watch -- NBC evening news with Lester Holt because it's on when I'm preparing and eating dinner, along with local news out of Atlanta -- that now that T***p has been indicted it's as if it's not quite as big a story as before, in terms of amount of airtime devoted to it. This has just been in the past week or so. Yeah, they'll trot out the usual pro-T***p suspects for them to blather on a bit and clutch their pearls, and then maybe a former T***p supporter who's changed his/her mind, and maybe a Republican operative who's now not so keen on T***p. Then they'll move on to whatever. *Yawn* They don't seem to be giving the kooks quite as much airtime as before. I mean, when someone like Kari Lake makes veiled threats that anyone trying to convict T***p would have to go through "75 million of us" that is so far beyond the scope of credibility, it's almost laughable, and it certainly doesn't merit being aired. (I think if we were to right now go back and see how many of those "75 million" now regret their choice, the number would be drastically smaller.) Some MSM seem to be getting the message. At this point, ANYBODY who thinks for sure they can predict what will happen earns my suspicion more than respect. This country is in fairly uncharted waters right now, so speculation is merely that. I also think people are just flat out TIRED of Donald J T***p and just want him to go away. I love the article HCR refers to: "Aren't you all tired of this crap?" DJT is ahead right now in polls among Republicans, but that could change on a dime. Just wait . . .
I hear you, Annie. I'm mortally tired of the endless pseudo-news that's nothing more than what somebody might do sometime in the future. It's all (breathless headline) "Now that (somebody) has been indicted (or something), they could possibly do this, that, or the other, or even something we haven't thought of, and that's the news, folks!"
We have to remember that corporations own the MSM and reporters are there because they want to reflect the values of the owners. However, there are investigative reporters and journalists who are honest and understand integrity and usually history, politics, and ethics. Let's look for those guys (similar to the person who writes these letters).
Well said, Ralph Averill. Your analogy is extremely appropriate. For, like a building to stand for decades or centuries, our democracy requires deep pillars and laterals to permit it to stand under the most violent and longterm of those constant and extreme pressures both for its integrity and livability decades and centuries after the architect laid down his pencil and the builder turned over the keys to its entry and innards of it. Our founding fathers laid well those aspirations and principles upon which the facades of the present and future of America will be shown and egress continues for those seeking equality, peace, and opportunity in like measures. Yes. A good and true analogy.
We all know about "The Big Lie" ... well tfg & maga cult are rallying around THE BIGGER LIE with many variations of ceaseless propaganda-- that 45 is above the Law.
long & hard on this one so we can understand what is happening now. With Trump’s indictment dominating so much of the news, we miss so much of what is actually happening. You are appreciated!
I’ve decided to not watch the news today and focus instead on finishing a couple of books I’ve been reading. Let’s not give the con man any more oxygen.
I watched just long enough to see the “50,000” called by MTG turn to maybe 5,000 peaceful protestors and observers from BOTH sides abiding by the rule of law while Trump was indicted, booked and went back to Bedminster where he will likely blow up Truth Social tonight but I will not be watching. I have a life of sorts at 75 and will not waste my precious time on TFG.
Everything you write looks effortless because of your skill. But make no mistake, just skimming the content and the notes made me feel seasick. I'm so glad you had that family day.
You will never know how wonderful it is to read a column by one who knows basic rules of grammar, much less can decipher the legal niceties of the current news cycle.
About halfway through reading today's letter the question "How does she do that?'" struck me of a sudden. I'm not a writer, but still sensed the complex magic, skill and effort you employ.
I want to thank you, Heather for giving me some hope and encouragement with this letter. I was rather shocked to see that Kari Lake cretin mildly criticizing Donald TUMP. It was encouraging to see that you mention the good economy figures too. Maybe, just maybe TUMP's ship is sinking fast now... i sure do hope so as i have grown very weary of that screaming monster, Donald TUMP... Keep up the excellent work, Heather...
Correction: It was Nikki Haley, not Kari Lake that mildly criticized TUMP.... that was an incredibly DUMB mistake on my part, i am about half asleep at this time of night.. For some reason, i do at times get those 2 mixed up, they are 2 of a kind actually.
John, I did a double-take when I read your post! When Kari Lake criticizes her lord and master I will turn to the weather report for the photos of hell frozen over.
Alexander you stated this beautifully - Kari Lake is a baby Trumpite and keeps the flame burning that she did not lose the election. KRAZY! it is so obvious she wants to be Trump's running mate. But Trump likes winners not losers.
Only problem is she used her bawling to incite violence, but cha ( covered her a##) by adding, " This is not a threat, it is a public service announcement."
I'm lumping them all, including Trump into "Personality Disorders." That means they are seriously mentally disturbed, but still north of all out madness..(Although I am reconsidering the latter for Trump)
When I see what death star and Lake come up with, I can't believe they are not mentally unstable. I am also glad that Heather mentioned the loathsome James Watt, I am sure he has joined Pat in burning in hell. I may be misremembering this, but I think he also thought we were going to have a Second Coming soon and so the environment didn't matter.
That's how it is when you're creating a story...fact or fiction. Sometimes it flows almost no effort...other times it's a struggle. THANKS for taking the time and care that you do. I assume you did not see Chris Christie last night. He very factually and with great insider information took on Trump with every question he fielded...and as a former prosecutor with 130 political scalps on his belt, he speaks with a lot of authority. Anderson Cooper did an excellent job. If Christy gets a bump in the polls this week...more of the gloves will come off. I totally disagree with his views on President Biden....but he nailed Trump to the floor of the bathroom at his "palace".
Under Christie's thick layers of blubber there's just another supply sider who punishes the poorest and closes the Jersey shore so he and his family can have it all to themselves. Good job on Trump (A ruse?), predictable Reaganomics attack on Biden. Not to be trusted.
I think he very clearly sees Trump for what he is. His approach is a tactic that he believes will work for him. If not now, in the future. Would I ever vote for him ? No. But I'll take some R's near the top of their "food chain" finally really speaking out against Trump. I'd like to see all of their Presidential candidates doing that, instead of trying to keep Trumps base happy with a bunch of BS that most of the candidates don't really believe. They are cowards, trying to walk a tightrope to the nomination over a minefield.
No, none of them...but I'd love to see more of them be honest about J6 and about this event with the classified docs. Stop spinning for a minute...stop trying to blame others. It's ok to be a conservative. You don't have to lie and support total propaganda. I ran into Connie Morella yesterday who was a Congressperson & Ambassador. She has remained an R...but she has integrity. She lost her seat in a primary years ago because she wasn't conservative enough. The R's have never regained that seat in Congress.
Thank you so very much for the years now of LFAA - and I only wish you would/could take more time off because I can't imagine how much energy and sleep these Letters have cost you. Take care of yourself and Buddy! 💖💖💖
Your gifts and talents, your years of love for this country, your engagment in historical facts along with your opinions, are deeply appreciated.
Thank you for bringing us together. I deeply appreciate the various wonderful humans you have drawn to your letters and their comments and opinions and "reading offerings".
A time for rest, recovery and relaxation is necessary....everyday is a gift......you are a gift to each of us. Thank you for your tenacity..."the brutal slog".
Thanks again for verifying that writing history is no better than verifying the facts with valid documentation. Your gift to history is not just your clear exposition of the facts of the time but the actual keys, or footnotes to the developments.
Any attempts to document our time without this valid certification demonstrates the vast difference between opinion and fact base reporting.
THERE IS MORE THAN ONE IMPORTANT COURT CASE TAKING PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY.
It’s about life and death, too. Don’t ignore it, and let the rest of the country know what's happening. Spread the word. Our young people have brought it to court.
‘A Landmark Youth Climate Trial Begins in Montana’
By Mike Baker
Reporting from Helena, Mont.
‘Sixteen young people argue that the state is robbing their future by embracing policies that contribute to climate change.’
‘A landmark climate change trial opened on Monday in Montana, where a group of young people are contending that the state’s embrace of fossil fuels is destroying pristine environments, upending cultural traditions and robbing young residents of a healthy future.’
‘The case, more than a decade in the making, is the first of a series of similar challenges pending in various states as part of an effort to increase pressure on policymakers to take more urgent action on emissions.’
‘Rikki Held, 22, a plaintiff who was among the first witnesses to testify on Monday, described how her family’s 3,000-acre ranch in eastern Montana had been threatened by droughts, wildfires and extreme weather, including heat waves and floods. At times she grew tearful talking about working through those conditions while trying to maintain the family’s livelihood.’
“I know that climate change is a global issue, but Montana needs to take responsibility for our part of that,” Ms. Held said. “You can’t just blow it off and do nothing about it.”
‘The case revolves around the contention from 16 young residents — who range in age from 5 to 22 — that the state government has failed to live up to its constitutional mandate to “maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.”
‘State leaders have fought the accusations, calling the proceedings a show trial and a’ “gross injustice.”
“Montana’s emissions are simply too minuscule to make any difference,” Michael Russell, an assistant attorney general, said during the state’s opening statement. “Climate change is a global issue that effectively relegates Montana’s role to that of a spectator.”
‘The two-week trial in a courtroom in Lewis and Clark County will feature both the accounts of young people dealing with climate change and the testimony of climate experts. At the end, Judge Kathy Seeley will be asked by the plaintiffs to declare that the state’s support for the fossil fuel industry is unconstitutional.’
‘Environmental advocates believe such a finding could put pressure on government leaders in Montana and elsewhere to take action on curbing emissions. They are also hopeful that the judge could order the state to consider climate impacts when approving new projects.’
‘The effects of a warming climate are already spreading across Montana, including shrinking glaciers at Glacier National Park and a lengthening wildfire season that threatens the state’s treasured outdoor pastimes. The plaintiffs in the case have said that the state’s inaction on climate change threatens their ability to access clean water, sustain family ranches or continue hunting traditions.’
“Montana’s warming climate will have cascading environmental and economic impacts,” ‘Roger Sullivan, a lawyer for the young residents, said in opening statements.’
‘The young people have personally experienced daunting signs of the future, not only the smoke from wildfires but also the flooding at Yellowstone National Park.’
‘Julia Olson, the executive director of Our Children’s Trust, the environmental nonprofit that helped bring the Montana lawsuit, said the case had the potential to set a new course for a healthier and more prosperous future for the generations to come. Many of the young plaintiffs planned to testify.’ (NYTimes) See gifted article below.
“Montana’s emissions are simply too minuscule to make any difference,” Michael Russell, an assistant attorney general, said during the state’s opening statement. “Climate change is a global issue that effectively relegates Montana’s role to that of a spectator.”
A formal statement of irresponsibility.
There ARE no spectators of climate change. We are all witnesses and all victims -- except for the usual gangsters and war profiteers who promote the chaos and destruction on which they thrive.
It takes ALL of us! It starts at home, then in the community, county, state, country, continent and then the world. Some of us have more power to effect change/take action, but each of us can do our part and pay attention & support those who strive to make a difference on a wider scale. Of course this is easier to say being in a first world country were fewer of us are scrambling just to find food and shelter, so we have a bigger burden to shoulder & should be doing so.
AMEN Barbara! We ALL have the power to do SOMETHING to abate climate change and not sit as spectators to the death throes of habitability of our planet.
Each can work to no longer drive internal combustion engine cars, trucks, motor cycles, RVs, motorboats, 3 or 4-wheelers. We can decline to fly across country or to transoceanic destinations. We can change how we cook our meals or heat our homes with gas, oil, coal or wood. We can buy locally-grown food. We can stop eating meat and seek out lower environmental-impact diets. We can opt for renewable energy sources. We can forgo the pleasures of buying or building homes in environmentally sensitive areas of wildfires or flooding. One can help those who have made their livings selling and developing these anti-environmental occupations to find more environmentally friendly occupations. It is a vanishingly rare situation in which one can do nothing to reduce the damage to our environment. NO-ONE is a spectator!
Sounds utopian. You must live in a city where an ev will get you around comfortably. Some of us live in rural areas, where distances are a factor. If an ev vehicle were available like the brand spanking new ICE work truck I just bought at the price I paid, I would own one. I think I'm further north than you are.
Ed, I too am rural. Public transportation exists, but is not really helpful for my needs. Indeed, before I retired I looked into taking the bus to work….problem is based on the schedule, I’d arrive late & have to leave early! I would love to be able to afford more efficient appliances, etc. but, alas, cannot.
I believe a multiplicity of circumstances got us into this fix, and it will take a multiplicity of solutions to get us out, or at least get by. There is no one size fits all, but there are things we can do individually and in concert that make a difference. In concert we can stop sacrificing the common weal to please narcissistic billionaires. We had been there and done that in the Gilded Age, and the 20th Century, while not the "good old days" (nor has everything that has happened since been a retreat) there was greater attention to expanding the common good, including social and emerging environmental responsibility. Nixon created the EPA and St. Reagan tried to shut it down, naming Watt to run Interior. We have know about the impact of fossil fuels for decades and still kick remediation down the road.
All the “minuscule” impacts across the country add up to a huge, far-reaching impact across the globe. That “minuscule” could be an excuse for no action is so short sighted in the big picture!
Perhaps its not so much a matter of the ego being large as it is that it's all that is there to fill the interior space. "My whims are all that matters; others be damned".
The point is, I repeat, that (as Jung found when observing Hitler) there is no human being at home. Any such was shoved from the nest early on by the parasitic demon that filled the vacuum.
We're saying the same thing but expressing it differently. And "my whims" are a side-effect of "I am ALL -- nothing else exists, nothing else matters".
Many thanks, Fern, for reminding me of this incredible effort by these young people of Montana. I hope they win their case, for themselves and the country.
Win the case for all of us. Let's follow it and the other cases being brought in various states. This is an important part of the CLIMATE CHANGE MOVEMENT.
Thanks for pointing this out, Fern. We have an article in our local paper, Indianapolis Star, (from the AP) regarding this protest in Montana. I was heartened to see it, realizing that the young people in Montana are finding their voice and putting their feet on the ground! "Montana ranked among the highest states for the percentage of total economic contributions by the natural gas and oil industry, generating $6.3 billion toward the state’s gross domestic product—including $3.2 billion added to total labor income." You can see why the deputy attorney general made his comment!
Thank you so much for sharing this very important information! Made me think of the Lorax.... Dr. Seuss — 'I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.' 💚
The horrors have only begun, and we are all already paying, but it is the children, it is those who are young today, it is their offspring who are going to have to face the worst. And it won't just be the physical climate, it will be human chaos, with drought and water supplies disappearing, extreme overheating and sometimes the opposite, population movements on an unimaginable scale.
Those obstructing the necessary changes must be shaken until they wake up and act -- or kicked out of the way.
And our sacrosanct ideology, holy, holy, holy all-seeing, omnipotent markets and all that utterly imaginary crap can help no one in the face of this very real situation, it is already fight or flight.
All that the imbeciles can see or think of is "politics" and political movements, but the way we're headed, they and we -- above all our posterity, rich and poor, will soon be swept away unless our thought-free comfort addicts can be awoken and goaded into action -- or pushed aside.
We had a similar case tried here in Australia and our courts found (on appeal) that our government environment minister DID NOT have a duty of care to our youngsters over the environment.
It’s an absolute joke IMO. They just keep passing the buck on to the next generation without seemingly a care.
Pretty sure the only “duty” they believe they have is to inflate the bank accounts of their oil, gas, and mining donors at the expense of the planet... because that seems to be all they actually care about doing.
Kylie I fear it is not just the donor class, it is ALL OF US who don't want to shed our aspirations to "the good life" with all the accoutrements we have grown to associate with that life: A beautiful home with a great view, abundant travel opportunities via car, truck, RV, or airplane. All of us who don't want to change our lifelong habits of diet, recreation and general expectations of life. We need to act differently, we need to BE different!
Let's give some credit to those who take incredible risks of capital to develop and bring to market natural resources that make modern life possible. But, as Gouverneur Morris wrote in the Preamble our highest aspiration is to "Secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity."
This however, takes a much greater capacity for foresight and good judgment than what are education system currently delivers. We should be investing in rigorously resolvable means to identify and nurture these skills in our society.
Incredible risks of capital? Not here in Australia they don’t. We are the epitome of privatise the profit and socialise the losses. Our government subsidises the investor class in pretty much everything they do at the expense of the rest of us.
That's what happens when political parties don't vet their candidates and just act a fund raisers. We need candidates with demonstrated foresight not compliance and identity politics.
Y'know Aaron, I don't give a fig newton for the "incredible risks." "Natural Resources" is the operative phrase here. Just what entitles a bunch of entrepreneurs the right to endless wealth and exploitation of a natural resource? One that is heavily subsidized by the government they love to hate? To wiggle out of taxes for the sake of yachts and such? Time to seriously press back on these raiders of natural resources who profit at the public's expense.
True, GOP gives tax breaks to people that buy Supreme Court Justices with perks, and turn around an borrow money from them instead of expecting them to pay their fair share of taxes. But here's the thing. A majority of people don't have the sense to be in the virtuous cycle of saving and investing in anything. We still love them, but don't want them making decisions regarding ourselves or our posterity.
…with at least two sides of your mouth, you always come down against the vulnerable and lord over with a touch of know it all domination and pity in your voice.
If Australian politics is remotely like American politics, politicians' life blood is re-election, the route to which far too often is based on who can raise the most money. There are SO MANY citizens as well as politicians whose income is based on industries whose net effect is causing harm to the environment.
How does that negate my point? There is now literal legal precedent in Australia setting the standard for the current and future environment minsters at zilch. The ALP sure seems to think the status quo should be upheld, even after we voted for them to turnaround nine years of neglect and deliberate malfeasance instead of opening more coal and gas projects.
Fern McBride, thank you. Climate is the critical issue of our time. While the repubs are attempting to take down our Democracy and definitely smokescreening critical issues, the coming generation of lawmakers and voters are in a race to save this planet. “Montana’s warming climate will have cascading environmental and economic impacts,” ‘Roger Sullivan, a lawyer for the young residents, said in opening statements.’” They are connecting to movements worldwide that have been ignored by USA repubs. Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate activist who called for worldwide Climate Strikes for young people is now a high school graduate and will hand the “sign” to other activists and continue as an adult. She has been joined by young people all over the world and criticized by TFG and other world leaders who are threatened by a activists who are literally actively working to save the planet.
Thanks, Irenie. Climate change and saving democracy are the two biggies, imho, right now. Biden's got the world on his shoulders but hopefully the younger generation will help to lift the burden and turn out in big numbers in Nov. 2024. (Although I love Biden's courage and what he has accomplished, I hope he can pass the torch to a younger candidate who can carry on his work.)
Thank you! I must have missed this article, because I have been glued to the screen, looking at the National Security Disaster in tRumps bathroom and Ballroom!
The evidence seen in the indictment has been shockingly unnerving. A gut punch and then realizing that the orange monster has no limits to his pathological need for revenge. We need a team of ethical mental health folks to screen out the monsters from the political process and prevent the masses from being charmed by a killer.
Thank you for this. Montana is near and dear to my heart as we have a family cabin on Hebgen Lake outside of West Yellowstone. We also have a brand new granddaughter in Missoula, Montana south of Glacier. Montana has some of the most incredible natural beauty of any state in our nation. I am so proud of what these young people are doing. Some of the most environmentally active people in Montana are ranchers. Some of the most reactionary conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Rupert Murdock also have property (think estates) there. This should be followed closely.
I really, really hope that Jennifer Rubin is right, and America can do away with Reaganomics for once and for all. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why anyone would believe in “trickle down economics”: tax cuts for the rich are, well, just that: tax cuts for the rich. Dump that concept and its apparently inherent disdain (or even outright hatred?) for nature and the environment, and while you’re at it, dump Dump, too! Bidenomics for the win!
One more time. Will Rogers knew on Nov 26, 1932 “The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellows hands.”
Mr. Hoover may not have known that money trickled up, but Mr. Reagan sure did, as have all the cretins pushing that crap since. Even David Stockman said it was crap, after he got his share, I’m sure. Will the American people still be as gullible a hundred years after Will tried to tell us? Times a wasting…
Hoover very, very likely DID know that his campaign contributions increased with increasing tax cuts, just like Reagan did. Just like Bush I and II did. Just like Trump did.
The "Stockman confession" should have put the whole idea in a dumpster. But, it wasn't convenient for the thieves to join in and share the truth.
Once we get our 2024 Trifecta of a government, we should begin the claw back. We have all been robbed by the Oligarchs. Yes, as the National Review guy said, "we are tired of all that crap." Tax the crap out of them. Tax their income, their assets and change the game so capital gains and estate taxes are just like ordinary income. If a person wins the lottery, he/she is taxed big time - like it's income. If my name is Walton and I win the birthright lottery, it ought to be taxed the same way when dear old Dad the Oligarch passes on to the big yacht in the sky.
I think the fear of just the reaction you advocate, "tax the bastards," is fueling the development of cryptocurrencies and why governments are, I hope, fighting back. They advertise that crypto is "free from interference," but note that all the computer server farms are owned by corporate interests, and he who owns the computer, controls its contents.
That's always been the problem with taxing the rich, is finding and accurately valuating their assets. They've been hoping that crypto would make them invulnerable, and I deeply hope it fails.
Being a public servant for decades (state employee of CA) back when Reagan was Gov, I saw with alarm how he routed many human-centered programs in CA; I was gobsmacked when was elected POTUS…twice! Heh, showing the power of celebrity—we should have been paying closer attention! Then watched it play out on the national stage. We’ve now had decades of evidence that this ONLY works for the wealthy (to become richer) and not for the average American….I truly don’t understand how so many cling to this economic theory despite all evidence against it. Hmmmm….maybe the earth IS flat, and the sun really DOES revolve around the earth…
It is hard for me to believe that any of the key architects of these policies ever believed it was anything but a con to make the hyper-rich far richer, and bereft of responsibilities. Certainly that is why folks like the Kochs put so much cash into supporting it. Their up-to-now super-hero Trump is greed and social irresponsibility personified.
The key architects believed they were lining their pockets effectively since, upon granting tax cuts to the rich, their campaign coffers grew thereby ushering in the age of Democratic Prostitution as the main form of government in the US.
As a post-war baby boomer, when I read "1984" circa age 12 I was very absorbed and creeped out, and sort of got that it was real totalitarian societies that Orwell was really warning about; but the details of his imaginary society seemed to stretch credulity. Now I know it was far less exaggerated than I supposed.
Even so, I did not imagine some of the creepy Orwellian absurdities that modern "Republicans" spew and enact with impunity; social impunity as well as legal. And even though I was old enough to be aware of social injustice in the land of the free and the home of the brave, I never would have never have imagined some of the things that have happened here, in both the distant and very recent past.
I remain cautiously optimistic. We are a very complex species, and while it seems to me that nothing guarantees a happy ending, we still have options if we focus. Jack Smith seems to exude "focus" by the way. I could always be wrong, but we'll see. In the meantime WE who are meant to govern appear to require a great deal more attention to what we want our society to look like in the near and distant future.
It’s all because of people’s ignorance of government process & policies and how they affect us as individuals and as a society.
People have also been well-trained, even brainwashed, over the past approximately 80 years by commercials. For example, many people believe we can clean / refresh our homes and indoor air by spraying, diffusing, etc complex chemicals into our air, onto our furniture, surfaces, etc. and never ask what those chemicals are and what they’re doing to our health. We used to have 1 or 2 ingredient methods of cleaning which were far less problematic on our health until commercials told us otherwise.
Politics influence groups have long used the science behind commercials to carefully infiltrate into our conscious and unconscious minds and carve into us what they want our opinions to be. Think of how effective religions have been in indoctrinating a social order, and they’re just once a week (once past youthful religious training). How many movies, tv shows, commercials, cartoons, books, print ads, radio shows, etc. have affected our opinions and been made with not just entertainment and moneymaking in mind?
Lisa, speaking of commercials brainwashing us…it starts very early. Just the other day I was telling my neighbor about a group of friends having dinner…probably early 80’s as I recall….when one couple’s toddler son in a booster seat so he could be at the dinner table belting out of nowhere a commercial tune “oh what a feeling to drive a Toyota”…..the adults roared with laughter, but realized how early the indoctrination begins!!!
As the trickledown myth slowly evaporates in demonstration of fantasy, substantive progress is being made by Biden Adm’s efforts to rebuild the middle class. Downtrodden “conservative” victims of trickledown are slow to give up on the hope that billionaires will part with the trillions of dollars of wealth that their favored representatives took from them, instead blaming them Liberals for their woes
Who was that guy that said “biting the hand that feeds them”?
As another “celebrity” leader he was’t bad & I think really cared about the “job”. I mostly remember him as being forward thinking on the environment. Your question prompted me to think about his time in office & that there was much I couldn’t recall (unlike Reagan’s), so looked it up. Here is an interesting piece from 2010: https://law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk10866/files/media/documents/The-Legacy-of-Arnold-Schwarzenegger.pdf. Ha, even I refreshed my memory reading it!
Yay! Thanks for the article. I've wondered for years about the "Arnold Years," but living on the other side of the country limited my point of view. I've always like him, given what little I know of him, and wondered as to his political impact.
"why anyone would believe in “trickle down economics”
Just the word: "trickle", one would think, would be a hard sell. But, Reagan made it easy and all of his proposals were passed with BI partisan support.
I remember, as a 21 year old engineering sophomore wondering how that was going to work out, because, when my Dad was laid off, and our income dropped, right away our family was in fairly dire straights. I remember thinking: How will income go UP if it is REDUCED by cutting taxes?
An ignorant kid from a farm with not even one economics class could see the problem. But, Reagan was a master salesman and Americans were completely ignorant, including all of the famous economists.
I was once talking with a local manufacturer at a party who was laughing at the idea that a tax break would somehow encourage him to expand his business. "I'm already making as many (widgets) as I can sell, and if I discover that I get a lot of demand I can't satisfy, I take that information to the bank and get a loan to expand. When they cut my taxes, I just put it in the bank because it didn't make me more customers." He thought it amazing that anyone would think otherwise, but he was happy to take the money.
The trickle down doesn’t happen...any money tricked down into their pockets...no one else’s. We see over and over again corporations are without social consciences and their billions in profits don’t trickle down into the hands of ordinary consumers. It is important to let the people know just how many BILLIONS of dollars are made and do not result in any less price gouging on the ordinary citizen.
All our favourite prime ministers have preached trickle-down. Mrs Thatcher has gone the way of all flesh. ScoMo, Trumpist evangelical, who trickled his way into the top job, was well and truly ejected in the recent Australian elections.
- 'A vast majority of Republicans believe federal criminal charges against Donald Trump are politically motivated, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday that also showed him far ahead of his nearest rival in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.'
'The polling, which began on Friday, a day after Trump was indicted, found that 81% of self-identified Republicans said politics was driving the case, reflecting the deep polarization of the U.S. electorate.'
'Some 62% of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, including 91% of Democrats and 35% of Republicans, said it was believable that Trump illegally stored classified documents at his home in Florida as alleged by prosecutors.'
'The indictment did not appear to dent Trump's standing in the Republican nominating contest for the
2024 presidential election. The specific charges, including obstruction of justice, became public on Friday afternoon when the indictment was unsealed.' (Reuters)
- House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., stated in a tweet Thursday, "The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents. Outrageous."
- Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the indictment is "one of the most irresponsible decisions in American history by any prosecutor."
- Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., released a statement saying, "This indictment doesn't pass the smell test."
Separating himself from many other Republicans:
- “Mr. Trump brought these charges upon himself by not only taking classified documents, but by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so. These allegations are serious and if proven, would be consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest, such as withholding defensive weapons from Ukraine for political reasons and failing to defend the Capitol from violent attack and insurrection.”
I am here, following Letters from an American and meeting with a small group of sane, responsible Americans, most of whom have head and heart in the right place. If it were not for people like HCR and those who follow her work, I'd be tempted to despair of the raving mass madness and meaningless savagery that so many Americans have unleashed upon the world.
Do not underestimate the force of light and sanity within you, however relative. Light can be hidden by placing a great leaden lid on it. Sunlight can be diminished by the thick smog layer spread by the wildfires spreading across America's and Eurasia's far north. Darkness cannot extinguish light.
Our thoughts, words and actions, too, have consequences. We are scattering the seeds of hope and renewal.
Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger stood up for truth and look where it got them…shame on the Republican Party for disparaging those truth tellers. I don’t agree w/ most of the R platform, but to oust your best and brightest for being honest and forthright is, well, damning.
Barbara, I don’t think we’ve heard the last from either Cheney or Kinzinger. The Republican party has suffered a serious blow to its bow from MAGA-Ites, but as the mast leans sideways, the money people will see that their best interests is to keep the ship from sinking by appealing to a less radical constituency. They reaped the treasure secured in the hull, they don’t want it being lost in the high seas of of the MAGA Triangle. They’re in it for the long haul
Loyalty and honesty are not mutually exclusive! Except perhaps to the current crop of GOP members. It is a basic tenet of leadership that many in leadership do not understand.
Why did it take Romney so long? And why is he still not utterly repudiating damaging Republican efforts to get rid of the ACA which was, in its infancy, his brainchild (or that of his administration)? He doesn't need the job. Anyone have ideas about what he's about?
Romney publicly urged Obama to consider the model of his Massachusetts plan, but then claimed Obamacare, which was indeed very similar to his own plan,, was wrong as a national plan once he was nominated for President by the Republican Party. Romney wants to have it both ways. Someone might have better luck than I finding the original "open letter" to Obama titled "Mr. President, what's the rush? " that appeared in USA Today. All I could find today was a file-not-found notice, but I accessed it many times before and it was there.
And what people does the media focus on? Not Romney, but Jordan, Graham, McCarthy, et al, and their statements of whataboutism and weaponization of the Justice Department and toady support of anything the former president has done re the documents.
Only Republicans would claim with a straight face that they’re reducing the deficit with tax cuts. It’s buffoonery of the highest order. How many news organizations will point out what Heather consistently states: the formula never works.
Somehow the press came out gunning for Nixon with epic investigative journalism, yet for the most part were eating out of Reagan's hand. Investigative journalism isn't dead, especially on the 'Net, and fake investigative journalism is nothing new, but the momentum of "Watergate" widely followed with detective/reporters seems never to have recovered, even now with scandals that make Nixon's abuses look little league.
The Republicans are great at buffoonery, while robbing the American people blind. I'm in favor of using the best descriptive; Republicans are Kleptomaniacs; little Putins like their boss Donald.
Rethuglicans world is one of lies, lies, lies and deceit. They are very good at that so they can further enrich themselves and their rich cronies. They sure as heck do not know how to govern.
While reading along, I kept waiting for that other "shoe" to drop. And then this, the good shoe: "As the architects of Reagan’s revolution exit stage right..."
"That battle to divide the American people along cultural lines in order to dismantle the federal government has, after forty years, led to a Republican Party that has embraced Christian nationalism, abandoning not only the policies of democracy but also democracy itself." [HCR] I wished someone would replace 'Christian' with 'radical' or 'anarchist' or some other word so that so-called 'Christians' would not be so terribly misled. There is nothing 'Christian' in the maga-cult-republican agenda.
I hesitate to speak up; however, Christianity has, from the beginning, been a bloody power struggle fraught with liars and con artists. The Crusades. The torturing and maiming by the Catholic Church during the Inquisition. The killing of innocent people during the Salem Witch hysteria. I understand that some need a religion to practice the acts of loving, caring, sharing. Some need to believe in an eternal afterlife. Jesus was a Jew - not a Christian. He was a teacher, just as the Buddha and others who taught.
"The Investigator" by Reuben Ship was a CBC radio play in 1954, a political satire on Joseph McCarthy. Reuben Ship was a Canadian writer in Hollywood who was blacklisted and deported. Quotations from the founding fathers are featured as well as historical despots. Recordings are available online and more information. I think that people here would appreciate the satire.
Barbara, the book this came from was one of the first books I read that was suggested by someone here on the LFAA "bookclub"--this is a FASCINATING read! "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America" by Colin Woodard
Thanks for the link. Interesting perspective. Republicans aren’t the only ones building cultural and political divides and it’s been going on for a long time.
“Christian nationalism” means white Christian nationalism, which is a euphemism for white supremacism. That is the root of the culture wars in this country. We cannot solve any of the enormous problems facing civilization until we consistently and decisively outvote the 74 million white supremacists who voted for Trump in 2020.
When a movement has as its basis the Christian Bible, even if their precepts are anything but "Christ like", you do not get to cast them out from the mantle of "Christian". They may extol nothing like the teachings of Christ, but when they beat you with a Bible, it is hard not to refer to them as Christian.
Faux Christians. The "Christian Right" seems anew about an Orwellian version of what I have thought Jesus was supposed to have said. Not that there is anything new about that. I have met delightful Christians. Considering the loudmouthed presentation of "Christianity" by people such as DeSantis, I am puzzled that so little comes to my attention put forward those who identify with Christianity, who would differ markedly with the Pat Roberson self-righteous supremacist approach. Like pretty much everything the right wing says these days, it's pretty much the opposite of what it claims to be. Authoritarianism is the enemy of the common right of humanity and always has been.
"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings." - Lincoln
I watched Rubio this morning on CBS...this guy is still a parroting puppet in an empty suit and he has absolutely no clue. What a lightweight. not particularly relevant to today's writing, just an exclamation point on my overall frustration with the state of the republican party and their rote recitation of tired and ineffective policies. Thanks so much for keeping us informed, and for the "slog" today!
Has been so for most of my long life, yet our free press has followed Rupert down the rabbit hole. Thankful for those who dare to check to see whether it’s really raining.
That’s right. All Republican candidates must advertise their support for white supremacism. That’s how they get the votes of 70% of the white working class, without which they could not win any elections, anywhere.
PS. “White supremacy” is not a thing. White supremacism is a thing. White supremacists are things. But white supremacy is mythology.
If at first you don’t succeed, fail, fail, and fail again. Back in the 1970s a quirky economist named Laffer drew the Laffer Curve on a napkin showing how tax cuts could result in higher tax revenue. PSHAW! This became the infamous ‘trickle down’ Reagan tax cut.
As David Stockman, Reagan’s budget guru,later confessed in his book, they didn’t know what the f++k they were doing. Their wild and wooly strategy was to
1) goose up the defense budget;
2) sharply reduce taxes, principally for the wealthy; and
3) “Starve the Beast”—severely reduce ‘social expenditures.’
Stockman described in excruciating detail why trickle down economics was cuckoo. The wealthy got wealthier and very little of this ‘trickled down.’ It was akin to noblesse oblige, with splashes of pee hitting the shoes of the ‘peasants.’
This ‘trickle down’ fiscal absurdity was repeated by Bush 43 and Trump with similar pee pee results.
Now, weeks after the Perils of Pauline debt/budget brouhaha, some of McCarthy’s Animal House renegades [after refusing to consider any tax increases to reduce budget deficits] are demanding tax cuts.
I got an email from my English Cousin, the British are at the end of this same era! After informing me that inflation on food and housing costs in Britain has dropped now from 19% to 18.5% the British polls show Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Tory Party is going to lose big in the next election. The British Economy and Public Services ( what left of them!) are a basket case! She listed all the groups of workers and Professionals that are on Strike this week. Everybody from Doctors to railway workers plus the BBC and I've forgotten who else the list was so long! The Tories did even more damage than the Republicans, and much like the Trumpers, the British slit their own throats economically in anger, for Brexit.
Louise I’ve been hearing similar dismal news from my British relatives. It would seem simpler simply to list the groups that are not on strike. The National Health Service [NEH] once was a matter of national pride. These days the NEH sounds like the dregs of a catch-as-catch-can health disservice. ‘Voluntary’ surgery is being scheduled years ahead. And some surgeries, like rotator cuff, are not being authorized for folks over 55.
The delay in even seeing a doctor or medical assistant is contributing to a rash of increasingly ill and dead patients.
The only good news is that Brexit blow hard Boris Johnson resigned from Parliament before a parliamentary report on his peccadillos was released and he was going to be censured.
Wonder what the ‘special relationship’ is between President Biden and PM Sunak. Biden did tell Sunak not to muck around with Ireland/North Ireland.
Actually, that is part and parcel of my point about the ills visited upon the citizens of both countries that swallowed wholesale the Conservative trope of Trickle Down Economics that has harmed, so badly, any government service designed to help the citizens of our two countries.
My take after voting Republican many years ago, is that there is no camouflaging the bankrupt theory of their policies have brought upon us, and it is hard for me now, to not think these things weren't the intentional results the bank rollers of the Republican and Tory Parties. I tend to that view, because these same politicians now are defending these clearly failed policies with fascist methods of propaganda and disinformation and even in my country, attacks on the rule of law, itself. And yes! every thing you list in your reply have been verified with the same lists and examples as my upper class Cousins. Well at least wealthy Professional Class. They plan to vote labor as soon as elections are held.
David Stockman. Now there's a name I have not heard in a long time. Remembering him just gives me ulcers. As does all this looking back to Reagan - just another in the long line of Republican leaders who have done so much damage. Eisenhower: the last Republican worthy of the Oval Office. And there are none in the foreseeable future.
Agree, Ike was prescient on so many things….I used to respect Republicans, even tho’ I didn’t always agree, at least they used to be honorable. I am appalled at what they have morphed into. Hopefully Dems will continue to be vigilant to their creed moving forward.
Eisenhower shouldn’t get a pass, either. He’s the one who put the Dulles brothers in charge of foreign polilcy, and they used it to promote all sorts of catastrophes, including the war in Vietnam. Eisenhower was certainly better than any Republican after him, but he was a lightweight in governing compared to, say, Adlai Stevenson. It’s a pity that the “greatest generation” was too busy (cold) warmongering to figure that out.
Thinking back on my life, I can’t believe I first voted for Richard Nixon. My immigrant parents firmly believed that the Pope would rule America if Kennedy won the election and I was brainwashed by them. That was the only time I voted Republican. But as a youngster I fondly recall Eisenhower and still have a campaign button I LIKE IKE!
James David Stockman, whose graduate theological studies provided him heavenly insight into finance, was later federally indicted for corporate finance manipulation. Though he never was taken to court, the SEC hit this ‘trickle down’ maven. It cost him about $13 million not to mention that massive loss by 15,000 corporate shareholders.
David Stockman and Laffer Curve—-a financial nightmare combo.
It has taken eight years to pinpoint the essence of "the Trump drama." From top to bottom, the Republican Party is home to "criminal minds." The liars, the cheaters, the cons and the corrupt are at the top. At the bottom are the belligerent, artless, under-educated, racist, misogynist MAGANAZI horde. From Trump at the top right down to the lowliest white nationalist, these people are, like Trump, heavily damaged souls traumatized in their youth by emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Ask any one of them, "Who hurt you?" and watch their heads explode.
“In the heat I saw you rising from the dirt, drunken tears and tugging at your skirt; if only you could tell me then which part of you got hurt, in the heat I saw rising from the dirt”
I hope it was a wise political calculus that has led to most of those new jobs going to Republican states, since they are the ones who most need to see government working for them. Even if the Republicans do their best to steal the credit, the message remains -- good governance works.
Today's letter is about small rays of hope shining through enormous clouds of terror.
We will find out a lot about the state of the Republican base by whether there are sizable crowds of Trump supporters at today's court appearance.
But the issue of the MAGAmaniacs holding the legislative process hostage is a huge concern because it has the potential to impact the lives of all Americans. Business abhors uncertainty and I think that is currently the most likely factor that could tip the economy into recession.
Ironically, the good Senator from Florida has made our best argument for “us” in his ‘new’ book. Trickle-down didn’t work. The capitalists won; the rest of us lost.
The folks that were in unions. The folks that didn’t have stocks. The folks that paid mortgages. The middle class. We didn’t win. We used to, but labor loses now.
I, and another commenter here awhile back, morphed “trickle down” to “tinkle down” (as being pissed upon), which actually seems a more accurate descriptor of Reaganonmics in practice.
I love your optimism — that many are sick of Trump and the tax cutting deficit exploding Republican Party. But thought i am a huge fan of Biden, I fear he has trouble with almost everyone under 30. And I never say never with Trump.
The other thing the worries me is the work Ezra Klein has been taking about — Blue state costs, lack of housing, slow build of infrastructure, etc. Ezra is productively making the case for a close examination of the administrative state — not changing the goals of the laws that protect our workers our environment and so on, but changing how we administrate those laws so we move faster, build more housing and fix our infrastructure. Ezra (correctly I think) worries that blue America is wide open to Red state attacks on housing, infrastructure and costs — If we are to see 65% house majorities and 60+ senate seats, we must tackle these issues …. I’f love for you to write a bit about how we can accomplish this!
I, too, think Ezra Klein has methodical, pragmatic ideas on going forward. He pushes his listeners to think deeply, like Heather does with LFAA. My vision going forward does not stop at “getting past trump”. My vision is for this American Project to actually work. That means we all have to look at “Last Mile” stuff, meaning “what are the real ways things are mucked up in the system? And improve them so the services we think we are supporting. Are actually delivered well and appropriately and accountably.”
“That battle to divide the American people along cultural lines in order to dismantle the federal government has, after forty years, led to a Republican Party that has embraced Christian nationalism, abandoning not only the policies of democracy but also democracy itself.”
A note to those interested in the process of writing: I hope this one looks as easy as the others, but if you look at the notes you can see it was a brutal slog. Not sure why some are easier than others, but so it goes.
"... it was a brutal slog."
Indeed! When it's historical non-fiction, when facts matter, when truth matters.
To this retired construction worker, who learned his trade in earthquake country, it's building a useable ediface of facts and ideas that can endure seismic challenges as well as the general assault of wind and rain.
We salute you, Heather Cox Richardson. We thank you for your almost daily letters. Your work has enormous value to all of us.
When facts matter, when truth matters
And Justice Matters says. Glenn Kirschner. I watch him on YouTube.
So do my husband and I!!!
I follow Glenn as well. His insights help us understand the legal implications of what politicians do-Justice does matter.
I'm sharing this. And, "“The wind is shifting,” the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin tweeted today after listening to Haley and Scott backtrack. “Remember: change happens slowly and then all at once.” But in which direction? Are we already past the tipping point in the wrong direction for the majority?
The question at this point is unanswered. What we do know, however, is that the outcome is what we do here and now. We must mobilize and get the voters to the polls on the election day. In the interim, we need to tailor our message so that it informs and warns. We need another Paul Revere who can spread the word to every village and hamlet. The message must be clear and concise with a definite call to action. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country. (I haven't typed that line in 67 years.)
Thank you for your inspiring words. Of course, you are right.
I hear all of this “just vote” rhetoric but hasn’t the election machine in many states/counties been given away to right wing Republicans? Precincts have been gerrymandered as we have seen. If that isn’t the issue then It seems to me that either it will be way too inconvenient to vote (miles to drive, no water or food nearby, etc etc) or actually dangerous. Then if the votes do go through they will be disputed by the machine that has been put in place. The Republicans know what went wrong the last time and won’t let that happen again.
Am I too worried?
Paula, SCOTUS last week overturned Alabama's extremely gerrymandered voting districts, and their ruling threatens to undo other Republican-dominated states' interference with voting, including Kemp's Georgia, where I live. I suspect that even the evil empire of our current Supreme Court has seen that the majority in this country is fed up with their partisan antics and fears congressional intervention. With all of the attempts with election interference, voters have turned out in unprecedented numbers, and the result was the near-miraculous midterm election. With the overturning of the Alabama gerrymandered districts, it is probable that Georgia and other states' districts will be similarly examined. We simply cannot throw in the towel.
That is good news, and there's excellent Slate article just out detailing how robust the decision actually is.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/06/john-roberts-brett-kavanaugh-save-voting-rights-act.html
That said, I wish they'd just past a federal law barring the use of voting preference in determining precinct maps, maybe even specifying what grounds can be used for such maps, like geography, county lines, and population density.
Paula, read On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. Don't assume the worst & give up before pushing back.
On Tyranny is an essential read. So is Snyder’s Substack. Now not just Ukraine but current politics.
I agree, Betsy. I'm not sure that "Just vote" is without context, which is what seems to have been implied. I see it in context of "what can I do to help protect democracy" by people who feel limited by their life circumstances to do all these things we keep talking about. And the voting is the crux of it all. Timothy Snyder is very good at providing that context.
Are you too worried, Paula? Time will tell. In the interim, though, some words of advice come to my mind from my mother who wrote a letter to me while I was serving with the U.S. Army on Okinawa in 1963. I was struggling with something, I don't remember what it was. She said: "Richard, faint heart never won Lady Fair." Thank you Mom, I never forgot those words of advice. True, the road ahead for us just got tougher, but the prize is worth the sacrifice - a sustained democracy that we can pass on to our children and grandchildren. It means working as we've never worked before, registering voters, getting them to the polls, and always keeping the faith in our system: one person, one vote, majority rule. The MAGA Republicans know that they are outnumbered and will resort to any method that they can to seize power. What comes to my mind are words from the poem, In Flanders Fields, written about World War I and those who died fighting: Canadian Col. John McCrae, who did not survive the war, wrote these words: "We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields." Too many have sacrificed too much for us to give up now. In fact, we have just begun to fight.
This poem is exquisite! Thank you so much; brings tears to my eyes. 🥲
Paula, you are right that obstacles are being put in the way, but that is why concerned people must do what we can to remove those obstacles. Even very small actions add up when many of us do them. It's one thing to wring our hands about it, which accomplishes nothing. Turn worry into action, in whatever small way you can. Carry water, chop wood is such an ingenious approach: none of us alone can do much, but together, the small things we can do add up to a lot.
Whatever anti-free society gamers try to do will not go unnoticed—death from a million cell-phone videos. Being a form of death, contradiction lacks the life-force to keep mere clever bad faith from coming to bits. Incoherence can only live in bad fiction. But, have a composter's faith: ordinary rot breaks down to sustain new life. RIP.
You and me both, Richard. I wonder how that line, "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country," became the "go to" phrase for testing your pen?
It was a line that we had in typing. My hand writing was so poor that I couldn't learn to type fast enough. Thank you, Mrs. Walker, for your excellent tutelage.
Alright, now I have to go to the Font of (Mis)Information to learn the source.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_text
Let us all bow our heads and give a prayer of thanks for the contribution of Charles E. Weller, typing instructor, to the richness of the English language!
My Dad used to type that when I was a kid. I used to wonder what it meant.
Only 60 years for me!
In high school typing class, we used "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy sleeping dog". Looking online, I see that 'sleeping' isn't included in the historical sentence and 'jumped' is 'jumps', ensuring that all letter of the alphabet would be included. The sentence has been used for at least 130 years!! https://knowyourphrase.com/the-quick-brown-fox
Which direction indeed? Just the last couple of days it became apparent to me that many of my personal friends (although we do not talk politics normally) believe the "but her e-mails" or "what about Joe Biden's garage" shite. Or "What a crock - everybody does it; prosecute them if you are going to prosecute him". It is true I live in a red state, and perhaps that has tainted my views. But I lose sleep, or ruin my daytime mood, thinking about the well-demonstrated stupidity of the American public writ large. Anyone who places their trust in the American public right now is naive. We have a minority element that is just nuts, and they will vote at upwards of 100% participation. We have a minority albeit larger percentage who are either too ignorant of the issues, or are so exasperated that what they want hasn't come (like student debt relief and more active climate mitigation) that they are going to sit it all out. Or as I describe above, there are those who think "everybody does it", and refuse to be a part of selecting politicians at all.
So get out the vote - for sure. My point however is this - we are fighting beliefs and world views that should be all but non-existent. They are literally nuts, in many ways evil. They fly in the face of facts. They are against the interests of any decent human being. They quite literally put the planet's eco-system and climate at risk of collapse. They question the concept of all humans being equal. IT SHOULD NOT BE CLOSE. Not close enough for us to have to wring our hands about an electoral outcome in 2024. This is Russian roulette, with 3 barrels loaded and 3 not. Why? I will be gracious and say that education and awareness are the key. Too many Americans are ignorant (willfully or not) of important issues, and are gullible to being manipulated by dis-information. And were I to be a little less generous, I would say that too many of us are falling prey to what the German people fell prey to after the first world war - to the words of some would-be hero who promises to get rid of the status quo and cure all their ills, if only you will rally around him/her. And now - this putrid movement is so strong that we are in the fight for our democratic existence. My big question is how can we improve the enlightenment of the American people, so that the crazy stays among the fringe instead of the mainstream? This is what Carl Sagan worried about prior to his untimely death.
Great question, Jay. I think the answer is to work hard to improve the lives of every day Americans so that they start to breath a little more quietly, live life a bit more fully. That is just what Biden's administration is doing, keeping a steady hand at the till while steering the ship in the right direction. Will it be enough to make the 2024 election secure for democracy? I can only hope and resolve to vote and to financially support good candidates.
I just read an article, "With 'Stealth Politics,' Billionaires Make Sure Their Money Talks," by Jaime Lowe, April 6, 2022. I know we are aware that money in politics is a big problem, but this article goes deeper and explains that local politics is targeted and why, but it doesn't mention local school boards. As for your "big question," other countries have publicly funded media. Notice public education is being targeted and has been for years. Please read the above article.
The following are link's to the article Gloria recommended to us and a video.
With 'Stealth Politics,' Billionaires Make Sure Their Money ...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/magazine/billionaire-politics.html
How billionaires benefit from "stealth politics" - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDwXBGBLPTw
Public education is being defunded and that is one horror of where we are, maybe the worst. An educated society will call out authoritarians. The governor of Chicago signed a non-book banning bill, bless his heart.
Thank you Gloria for mentioning this article and Fern for the link. Well worth a read. If the number of comments posted is any reflection of the interest in the topic, few were interested in this incredibly important and well written analysis. Only 151 comments vs hundreds and sometimes thousands for far less important reporting.
So well said. It is very scary but I see it in Indiana currently. Comments on Facebook...comments from by son-in-law that works in a factory and his co-workers at break and lunch. They worship tfg. I had to convert my son-in-law. We can't ignore politics or we get in trouble. Most people around here just don't want to be bothered. They are too busy with sports, etc to take time out for what is in the best interest for their life. They just need to be aware their vote does count. And they need to vote not for lies but for truth.
The youth vote is traditionally quite low. I don't know how they consume news but this active minority is working to destroy their future.
This may be where we see a future.........youth voting, young adults voting.
They are living thru this era of assaults on democracy and you bet, it will have an effect on their world view and political activity. https://www.turnup.us/
Exactly, the Gen Z like representative Maxwell Frost are engaged and coming out to vote for their futures more and more! We need to assure their access to election 2024 as many are college students and support Democrats. The only glitch I see there is the unfortunate compromise of resuming college student debt payments which are enormous. A dear friend is in that boat with a balance of $50,000 to an instate university with a degree that turned out to be useless in obtaining work. She was forced to get a second two year degree in IT to make a living wage.
Jessica Craven, in her excellent Substack: Chop Wood, Carry Water, has numbers that refute the "youth doesn't vote" narrative. I've excerpted and linked below, but also want to second Kathy Clark with her link to https://www.turnup.us/ which is committed to bringing out the youth vote.
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The youth vote was decisive
"We need to stop wringing our hands about young people not being involved or turning out to vote. That stereotype needs to be put to rest for good. The current crop of young voters (Gen Z and Millennials) are, by historic comparison, highly engaged. And they delivered decisive numbers in key battleground states in 2022.
Charts can be confusing, so I’ll direct you on this one. Look just at the greenish columns for now. They compare turnout (as a percent of the electorate) in the 2018 and 2022 midterms, broken down between the House: National races (left side) and the Senate/Gov: Highly Contested races (right side). See the Gen Z/Millennials row near the top? That shows that from 2018 to 2022, these voters increased their share of the total vote by 3% for House races and 4% for the highly contested Senate/Gov races, while the oldest demographic decreased by the same amounts. That’s a gigantic shift."
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/extra-extra-521?utm_source=substack&publication_id=362618&post_id=121597359&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true
Youth voting, a somewhat mixed blessing, considering what an idiot I was during my 18-30's, and I'm sure I wasn't alone. I remember liking Goldwater because it was a pretty name, although I was likely stoned at the time.
Yes! In their defense, their view of American politics, if they have one, is Trump, and maybe some Obama. They do not remember some of the stuff we old ones do, and as a result they lack any context. I think they do not realize just the seriousness of our current political situation.
Don't look backward Gloria. We're not going that way.
I saw a sign that said just that last week (minus the Gloria, of course.)
Gloria, it's all too easy to feel that things are unraveling quite simply because of how much of main stream media (MSM) is treating a lot of this. Their coverage is slanted toward the "sensational", the short sound and audio bytes that are "grabbers" to get viewers to tune in. Some of these issues are far too complicated to reduce them down to a few items to put into a short report. It's one of the things that has drawn me to writers on Substack and other sources, because there/here one can find more detailed analyses of what's going on. I sincerely hope & pray that things are shifting and that we can continue to hammer away at the truth. There are some encouraging signs, but one isn't always going to find them if one gives in to MSM's hyperbole. We CAN change the direction, but it will take a massive effort to get people -- Millennials, GenZers, youth AND others -- to get off their asses and VOTE! Our voices only matter collectively if we speak as one, and if we can manage a huge turn-out in '24 at the grass-root level. If we want to change the system, then we have to USE the system to change the system. It's our only alternative and it's NOT too late.
Bruce. Please see my comments about voting. What do you think? You are from Georgia so have first hand experience.
I still believe that if Democrats turn out in massive numbers unlike anything seen in recent elections, even with some of the blockades put in place by the GOP and in spite of them making it more difficult in some areas for people to vote, we CAN force change. With its automatic voter registration tied to applications for drivers' licenses and ID cards, Georgia, in the past 4 years, already has one of the highest rates of voter registration (91%) in the country. We have 7.1 million voters registered now. The system also keeps better track of people changing addresses and/or name discrepancies, which means less problems with verification at the polls. THIS is the kind of thing that can make a difference. With the recent SCOTUS decision about gerrymandering in Alabama, it may embolden Democrats to take more of these district maps to court to try and level the playing field a bit more. We CANNOT be complacent!
https://georgiarecorder.com/2023/06/07/georgia-voters-sign-up-in-record-numbers-following-change-to-automatic-registration-in-2016/
Are we talking about some of the activities of the 60s and a mass movement or protest against those who would destroy democracy? I am in.
We are not past the tipping point in my opinion. It is merely a matter of time and our lack of imagination. Trump’s spiral is going to be steadily downhill. This talk of 75 000 000 voters is a fantasy. Trumpism peaked on January 6 2021. It has been all downhill from there. So many are behind bars. So many have seen that this was not contrived on their behalf. I would guess that he is heading towards a base of half of what he had. I’d love to see his fundraising numbers - my guess is that they are sinking.
Polls, like rallies, are performative. They are not polling booths. People do not want to reveal they’ve left the fold to their friends. So they bray their fervent support for Trump - it’s a practical thing to do for the sake of not becoming a pariah. As well it is yet another stiff arm to the media, whom they truly, honestly despise.
They see the joke that the House has become. They understand that many members of the HFC are criminals and this makes them uneasy. I do think that McCarthy is I wild card. He may go for it and attempt to permanently marginalize them. Or he may still lack the panache and cleverness to trap this rogue group and dismiss them.
Getting from here to where we want to be in terms of prosecuting Trump is no easy task. It would be a crime, truly a deep state crime if Aileen Cannon stayed as the presiding judge and helped Trump ride out the clock. But even then, I do not believe he will win the election and pardon himself. Some single digit number of Americans want that.
The fun in the next few weeks is going to lie in watching Republican Presidential candidates tack away from Trump in discreetly calibrated steps. Chris Christie is going to be a wrecking ball as long as he lasts. He will excoriate hypocrisy and (in a real long shot) could gain a following. He is brilliant and witty and has nothing to lose. As a former prosecutor, he is light years ahead of the wannabes. His problems are twofold - his physical appearance will not draw people toward him, and he is an Easterner. But I believe there is a non-zero chance that he could acquire a Ronald-Reagan like status, catching lightning in a bottle.
Lots still to worry about. Lots of unknown unknowns. But I am generally optimistic.
By the way this strain of right-wing extremism is as old as America and as permanent. David Corn’s book “American Psychosis” is extremely disturbing.
I believe the current Right will smart from their bruises for a few years and then rise again and will have to be dealt with. They are a feature, not a bug.
Chris Christie is also a lying, bloviating sack of merde, who will blow sunshine up anyone's butt for a vote. But if his role is to dunk on tfg, I'm here for it.
I’ve seen that side too. But for the first time last night (on CNN) I felt like I was listening to a normal human being. For the first time in 8 years from that side of the aisle. It was refreshing, almost startling.
All politicians calculate, shade their message to fit a particular group. Most have gigantic egos. I’ve learned to live with that.
Not all are cruel. Not all are tied to an end times group. Not all seek reflexively to divide people and create fantastical dystopias. At heart some have decent instincts.
I’d be comfortable with a Biden-Christie race. I don’t think it would evoke that feeling of terror that was 2020.
Biden would win more easily as things stand now. All to the good.
Sadly it won’t happen.
Trump will go down and another real bastard, DeSantis, will be anointed. And the nightmare will go on. I’m sick of it.
Eric, I give you that Christie is much more articulate. But he talks a good game. I still have the letter he wrote to teachers/public employees when he first ran for governor--"your pensions are sacred". Yeah, we all know how that turned out. Went after teachers like they were the lowest scum of the earth. Wasn't until Covid shutdown that people realized what teachers actually did. And we know he knew all about Bridgegate, even tho he was slick enough that nothing stuck to him. Hoping that Bridgegate does to his presidential aspirations what Chappaquiddick did to Ted Kennedy's. I wouldn't vote for him for street sweeper.
Good to know.
Lots to think about in your letter, Eric. I'm not much of one for prognostication, but as things are, I think what is happening largely reflects your sense of it. I have different ideas about the extreme right (who have always been with us in one way or another). I suspect that the visibility of so many things gone wrong will moderate a lot of folks, and the "next wave" will be very different. But yes, they are part of the way a system like ours works. We have a dysfunctional system, and it requires a certain segment of our society to bear the brunt of its dysfunction. You betcha people get tired of it. And in the process we learn something, I hope. One of the things I hope is that the rest of us get over looking down our noses at people we consider "less than", and learn to see them as human beings with the same human needs the rest of us have, not as flawed people.
Gloria, my sense, from Texas, is that the Red Wave is ebbing. The Reagan Revolution has surged as far as it's going to with the Trump disaster, and the reaction to it has begun.
As a dedicated centrist, I can only hope it won't be an over-reaction.
Good point.
Robertson and Watt have met their maker. Fire and brimstone. Hot enough for you, boys?
I am hopeful. But hope is only an emotion. I vote. I donate. What else can I do?
Share the wonderful job the Biden administration is doing with anyone you can.
Robert-Here are a couple things one can do to promote voter participation: Write letters to voters (Vote Forward: https://votefwd.org) and Postcards to Voters (https://postcardstovoters.org/) I'm able to do these despite my mobility issues, which limit my ability to do door -to-door canvassing; I've also been a driver for canvassers.
Somehow this gives me hope when I almost lost it. Thank you again, Professor Richardson.
I really believe that we are headed in the right direction. A recent poll shows 88% (!) of the population wants gun control.
Yes, the base of the angry cheeto will never concede an inch.
But it is my firm belief that if the trumpers (they are not Republicans any more) actually run cadet bone spurs, then the Dems could run a turnip and win. In a landslide.
Absolutely not, Gloria. We are moving in the right direction. We just need to keep on that journey, each doing the small things that add up. Hand-wringing has never accomplished anything worthwhile. Please stop it.
Great question.
"Squeaky wheels get the most grease."
Greasy wheels lose traction. And that's what is happening. We are in a news lag right now. Give it a few days. What I am reading this morning is already way different than what I was reading a week ago. A great deal of so-called "news analysis" is actually conjecturing, trying to predict the future. Now there's a question that needs an answer: how did our media slide so far away from being sources of what HAS happened (which can be analyzed) to what MIGHT happen, which cannot be analyzed? I ignore the people who start with what might happen, instead of looking at what we can learn from what IS happening. The 18 are largely ignored now by Republicans in both Houses of Congress. Trump continues to play victim, but suddenly it is not going over very well. He still plays to his base, which does not actually have the significance we are led to believe they do.
Yes, they ("wheels") do, but the "grease" is basically attention. I have also noticed in what little network news I watch -- NBC evening news with Lester Holt because it's on when I'm preparing and eating dinner, along with local news out of Atlanta -- that now that T***p has been indicted it's as if it's not quite as big a story as before, in terms of amount of airtime devoted to it. This has just been in the past week or so. Yeah, they'll trot out the usual pro-T***p suspects for them to blather on a bit and clutch their pearls, and then maybe a former T***p supporter who's changed his/her mind, and maybe a Republican operative who's now not so keen on T***p. Then they'll move on to whatever. *Yawn* They don't seem to be giving the kooks quite as much airtime as before. I mean, when someone like Kari Lake makes veiled threats that anyone trying to convict T***p would have to go through "75 million of us" that is so far beyond the scope of credibility, it's almost laughable, and it certainly doesn't merit being aired. (I think if we were to right now go back and see how many of those "75 million" now regret their choice, the number would be drastically smaller.) Some MSM seem to be getting the message. At this point, ANYBODY who thinks for sure they can predict what will happen earns my suspicion more than respect. This country is in fairly uncharted waters right now, so speculation is merely that. I also think people are just flat out TIRED of Donald J T***p and just want him to go away. I love the article HCR refers to: "Aren't you all tired of this crap?" DJT is ahead right now in polls among Republicans, but that could change on a dime. Just wait . . .
I hear you, Annie. I'm mortally tired of the endless pseudo-news that's nothing more than what somebody might do sometime in the future. It's all (breathless headline) "Now that (somebody) has been indicted (or something), they could possibly do this, that, or the other, or even something we haven't thought of, and that's the news, folks!"
We have to remember that corporations own the MSM and reporters are there because they want to reflect the values of the owners. However, there are investigative reporters and journalists who are honest and understand integrity and usually history, politics, and ethics. Let's look for those guys (similar to the person who writes these letters).
Well said! An excellent analogy!
Well said, Ralph Averill. Your analogy is extremely appropriate. For, like a building to stand for decades or centuries, our democracy requires deep pillars and laterals to permit it to stand under the most violent and longterm of those constant and extreme pressures both for its integrity and livability decades and centuries after the architect laid down his pencil and the builder turned over the keys to its entry and innards of it. Our founding fathers laid well those aspirations and principles upon which the facades of the present and future of America will be shown and egress continues for those seeking equality, peace, and opportunity in like measures. Yes. A good and true analogy.
Yes!!!!
We all know about "The Big Lie" ... well tfg & maga cult are rallying around THE BIGGER LIE with many variations of ceaseless propaganda-- that 45 is above the Law.
Mr.Averill, put so well. Thank you. Jay
Ralph, your post is what excellence looks like.
Thank you for that very nice compliment.
Thank you for slogging through! Your hard work is appreciated.
Thank you for working so
long & hard on this one so we can understand what is happening now. With Trump’s indictment dominating so much of the news, we miss so much of what is actually happening. You are appreciated!
I’ve decided to not watch the news today and focus instead on finishing a couple of books I’ve been reading. Let’s not give the con man any more oxygen.
I watched just long enough to see the “50,000” called by MTG turn to maybe 5,000 peaceful protestors and observers from BOTH sides abiding by the rule of law while Trump was indicted, booked and went back to Bedminster where he will likely blow up Truth Social tonight but I will not be watching. I have a life of sorts at 75 and will not waste my precious time on TFG.
I am going to the beach and having a 6 mile walk alongside the water. And then that practical thing, mowing the lawn.
Everything you write looks effortless because of your skill. But make no mistake, just skimming the content and the notes made me feel seasick. I'm so glad you had that family day.
As sports columnist Red Smith once said, "Writing is easy. Just sit in front of a typewriter, open up a vein, and bleed it out drop by drop."
HCR, that you made it appear easy when it was extraordinarily hard shows another dimension of the gift you bring us as a writer and teacher.
I’m so tired as I happen to wake to read this. I can’t imagine actually writing it at this hour. You are incredible Heather and so appreciated !!
You will never know how wonderful it is to read a column by one who knows basic rules of grammar, much less can decipher the legal niceties of the current news cycle.
About halfway through reading today's letter the question "How does she do that?'" struck me of a sudden. I'm not a writer, but still sensed the complex magic, skill and effort you employ.
I want to thank you, Heather for giving me some hope and encouragement with this letter. I was rather shocked to see that Kari Lake cretin mildly criticizing Donald TUMP. It was encouraging to see that you mention the good economy figures too. Maybe, just maybe TUMP's ship is sinking fast now... i sure do hope so as i have grown very weary of that screaming monster, Donald TUMP... Keep up the excellent work, Heather...
Correction: It was Nikki Haley, not Kari Lake that mildly criticized TUMP.... that was an incredibly DUMB mistake on my part, i am about half asleep at this time of night.. For some reason, i do at times get those 2 mixed up, they are 2 of a kind actually.
John, I did a double-take when I read your post! When Kari Lake criticizes her lord and master I will turn to the weather report for the photos of hell frozen over.
Alexander you stated this beautifully - Kari Lake is a baby Trumpite and keeps the flame burning that she did not lose the election. KRAZY! it is so obvious she wants to be Trump's running mate. But Trump likes winners not losers.
Kari’s statement involved the second amendment, so no slowdown on her part.
Lol….yeah, two peas in a pod they are! Tho’ I really don’t get Kari Lake’s schtick…at…all.
Don’t overthink her, she’s a simpleton.
Microphone + lies = KL
You overestimate her level of intelligence.
Kari Lake reminds me of that preschool child in every class that waits for a child to cry and then chimes in, often not knowing why they’re crying.
Yes!! Lol......perfect image.
Only problem is she used her bawling to incite violence, but cha ( covered her a##) by adding, " This is not a threat, it is a public service announcement."
I'm lumping them all, including Trump into "Personality Disorders." That means they are seriously mentally disturbed, but still north of all out madness..(Although I am reconsidering the latter for Trump)
When I see what death star and Lake come up with, I can't believe they are not mentally unstable. I am also glad that Heather mentioned the loathsome James Watt, I am sure he has joined Pat in burning in hell. I may be misremembering this, but I think he also thought we were going to have a Second Coming soon and so the environment didn't matter.
😁stuff happens
That's how it is when you're creating a story...fact or fiction. Sometimes it flows almost no effort...other times it's a struggle. THANKS for taking the time and care that you do. I assume you did not see Chris Christie last night. He very factually and with great insider information took on Trump with every question he fielded...and as a former prosecutor with 130 political scalps on his belt, he speaks with a lot of authority. Anderson Cooper did an excellent job. If Christy gets a bump in the polls this week...more of the gloves will come off. I totally disagree with his views on President Biden....but he nailed Trump to the floor of the bathroom at his "palace".
Ah, but it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Christie is not above manipulating, "fibbing," and profiteering.
Under Christie's thick layers of blubber there's just another supply sider who punishes the poorest and closes the Jersey shore so he and his family can have it all to themselves. Good job on Trump (A ruse?), predictable Reaganomics attack on Biden. Not to be trusted.
I think he very clearly sees Trump for what he is. His approach is a tactic that he believes will work for him. If not now, in the future. Would I ever vote for him ? No. But I'll take some R's near the top of their "food chain" finally really speaking out against Trump. I'd like to see all of their Presidential candidates doing that, instead of trying to keep Trumps base happy with a bunch of BS that most of the candidates don't really believe. They are cowards, trying to walk a tightrope to the nomination over a minefield.
Would I ever vote for ANY of them? No no no no no no no . . .
No, none of them...but I'd love to see more of them be honest about J6 and about this event with the classified docs. Stop spinning for a minute...stop trying to blame others. It's ok to be a conservative. You don't have to lie and support total propaganda. I ran into Connie Morella yesterday who was a Congressperson & Ambassador. She has remained an R...but she has integrity. She lost her seat in a primary years ago because she wasn't conservative enough. The R's have never regained that seat in Congress.
Integrity is the key word here. I don't believe I'm spinning here, but I bet John McCain is spinning in his grave over what's passing for "integrity."
Loved his take on " his boxes"..... he shipped them to NJ for his vacation. Christi says, What? Are the boxes like members of his family?
“A brutal slog.”
How could it be otherwise?
Thank you Heather.
I gather it takes a lot extra work to get things right.
Always.
When you care about actual facts, as Heather does, it certainly DOES take a lot of extra work to get things right!
I'm in awe of her.
Plus her "day job". For some, writing a less well researched "column" is a full time job. And then there's the books.
Bravo Heather!
Thank you so very much for the years now of LFAA - and I only wish you would/could take more time off because I can't imagine how much energy and sleep these Letters have cost you. Take care of yourself and Buddy! 💖💖💖
Thank you for your persistence! You have helped me understand and appreciate history in ways I never had before!
Your gifts and talents, your years of love for this country, your engagment in historical facts along with your opinions, are deeply appreciated.
Thank you for bringing us together. I deeply appreciate the various wonderful humans you have drawn to your letters and their comments and opinions and "reading offerings".
A time for rest, recovery and relaxation is necessary....everyday is a gift......you are a gift to each of us. Thank you for your tenacity..."the brutal slog".
Oooo, yah, I noticed. Don't you wish you could get paid by the cite sometimes?
Thanks again for verifying that writing history is no better than verifying the facts with valid documentation. Your gift to history is not just your clear exposition of the facts of the time but the actual keys, or footnotes to the developments.
Any attempts to document our time without this valid certification demonstrates the vast difference between opinion and fact base reporting.
THERE IS MORE THAN ONE IMPORTANT COURT CASE TAKING PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY.
It’s about life and death, too. Don’t ignore it, and let the rest of the country know what's happening. Spread the word. Our young people have brought it to court.
‘A Landmark Youth Climate Trial Begins in Montana’
By Mike Baker
Reporting from Helena, Mont.
‘Sixteen young people argue that the state is robbing their future by embracing policies that contribute to climate change.’
‘A landmark climate change trial opened on Monday in Montana, where a group of young people are contending that the state’s embrace of fossil fuels is destroying pristine environments, upending cultural traditions and robbing young residents of a healthy future.’
‘The case, more than a decade in the making, is the first of a series of similar challenges pending in various states as part of an effort to increase pressure on policymakers to take more urgent action on emissions.’
‘Rikki Held, 22, a plaintiff who was among the first witnesses to testify on Monday, described how her family’s 3,000-acre ranch in eastern Montana had been threatened by droughts, wildfires and extreme weather, including heat waves and floods. At times she grew tearful talking about working through those conditions while trying to maintain the family’s livelihood.’
“I know that climate change is a global issue, but Montana needs to take responsibility for our part of that,” Ms. Held said. “You can’t just blow it off and do nothing about it.”
‘The case revolves around the contention from 16 young residents — who range in age from 5 to 22 — that the state government has failed to live up to its constitutional mandate to “maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.”
‘State leaders have fought the accusations, calling the proceedings a show trial and a’ “gross injustice.”
“Montana’s emissions are simply too minuscule to make any difference,” Michael Russell, an assistant attorney general, said during the state’s opening statement. “Climate change is a global issue that effectively relegates Montana’s role to that of a spectator.”
‘The two-week trial in a courtroom in Lewis and Clark County will feature both the accounts of young people dealing with climate change and the testimony of climate experts. At the end, Judge Kathy Seeley will be asked by the plaintiffs to declare that the state’s support for the fossil fuel industry is unconstitutional.’
‘Environmental advocates believe such a finding could put pressure on government leaders in Montana and elsewhere to take action on curbing emissions. They are also hopeful that the judge could order the state to consider climate impacts when approving new projects.’
‘The effects of a warming climate are already spreading across Montana, including shrinking glaciers at Glacier National Park and a lengthening wildfire season that threatens the state’s treasured outdoor pastimes. The plaintiffs in the case have said that the state’s inaction on climate change threatens their ability to access clean water, sustain family ranches or continue hunting traditions.’
“Montana’s warming climate will have cascading environmental and economic impacts,” ‘Roger Sullivan, a lawyer for the young residents, said in opening statements.’
‘The young people have personally experienced daunting signs of the future, not only the smoke from wildfires but also the flooding at Yellowstone National Park.’
‘Julia Olson, the executive director of Our Children’s Trust, the environmental nonprofit that helped bring the Montana lawsuit, said the case had the potential to set a new course for a healthier and more prosperous future for the generations to come. Many of the young plaintiffs planned to testify.’ (NYTimes) See gifted article below.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/us/montana-youth-climate-trial.html?unlocked_article_code=fZPqY0wGVQv9-EU5E450FTGXXmBos-t3xc2742CViE2bsFq-cbEjsA7QbWdGoMJo8C0sJoXk-KvnUoh1ETDMNfc6bBkiyg6bZ607Ns0ayjr1RxTwtVwsUdMJntlvo5CWEp6DF6PhE8zVOZyGCQ3_KWypoUf3lmz1H7d6CrldSs5shuR82xLMET3piftJjPO_KpcHytSXd9xoHBXaXiR13O9_kDYkAiQoJqhv8B0f0TDykMl-9MRzmzpjoRRsD5hGPGVKh--ZHIgD6961qNhocn2PgA4-p_KGTMno917WAF3fBF3XaPY4sFYJ7TJqupT3UOHcaa8V4URM5f0smDS3mg&smid=url-share
“Montana’s emissions are simply too minuscule to make any difference,” Michael Russell, an assistant attorney general, said during the state’s opening statement. “Climate change is a global issue that effectively relegates Montana’s role to that of a spectator.”
A formal statement of irresponsibility.
There ARE no spectators of climate change. We are all witnesses and all victims -- except for the usual gangsters and war profiteers who promote the chaos and destruction on which they thrive.
Cancers on the body politic.
Skin cancer for the planet.
It takes ALL of us! It starts at home, then in the community, county, state, country, continent and then the world. Some of us have more power to effect change/take action, but each of us can do our part and pay attention & support those who strive to make a difference on a wider scale. Of course this is easier to say being in a first world country were fewer of us are scrambling just to find food and shelter, so we have a bigger burden to shoulder & should be doing so.
AMEN Barbara! We ALL have the power to do SOMETHING to abate climate change and not sit as spectators to the death throes of habitability of our planet.
Each can work to no longer drive internal combustion engine cars, trucks, motor cycles, RVs, motorboats, 3 or 4-wheelers. We can decline to fly across country or to transoceanic destinations. We can change how we cook our meals or heat our homes with gas, oil, coal or wood. We can buy locally-grown food. We can stop eating meat and seek out lower environmental-impact diets. We can opt for renewable energy sources. We can forgo the pleasures of buying or building homes in environmentally sensitive areas of wildfires or flooding. One can help those who have made their livings selling and developing these anti-environmental occupations to find more environmentally friendly occupations. It is a vanishingly rare situation in which one can do nothing to reduce the damage to our environment. NO-ONE is a spectator!
Sounds utopian. You must live in a city where an ev will get you around comfortably. Some of us live in rural areas, where distances are a factor. If an ev vehicle were available like the brand spanking new ICE work truck I just bought at the price I paid, I would own one. I think I'm further north than you are.
Ed, I too am rural. Public transportation exists, but is not really helpful for my needs. Indeed, before I retired I looked into taking the bus to work….problem is based on the schedule, I’d arrive late & have to leave early! I would love to be able to afford more efficient appliances, etc. but, alas, cannot.
I believe a multiplicity of circumstances got us into this fix, and it will take a multiplicity of solutions to get us out, or at least get by. There is no one size fits all, but there are things we can do individually and in concert that make a difference. In concert we can stop sacrificing the common weal to please narcissistic billionaires. We had been there and done that in the Gilded Age, and the 20th Century, while not the "good old days" (nor has everything that has happened since been a retreat) there was greater attention to expanding the common good, including social and emerging environmental responsibility. Nixon created the EPA and St. Reagan tried to shut it down, naming Watt to run Interior. We have know about the impact of fossil fuels for decades and still kick remediation down the road.
Peter B., so well said: “A formal statement of irresponsibility.”
I guess Michael Russell can use the word "spectator" as his resume.
Another little Nero, fiddling while the world burns.
Spectators, innocent bystanders: bullshit.
With a capital B.
All the “minuscule” impacts across the country add up to a huge, far-reaching impact across the globe. That “minuscule” could be an excuse for no action is so short sighted in the big picture!
Small mind, small picture.
But outsize ego to compensate.
As for their Fuehrer, seeing that no one was at home and the door was wide open, a cosmic monster came in to squat...
Perhaps its not so much a matter of the ego being large as it is that it's all that is there to fill the interior space. "My whims are all that matters; others be damned".
I should have said "id".
The point is, I repeat, that (as Jung found when observing Hitler) there is no human being at home. Any such was shoved from the nest early on by the parasitic demon that filled the vacuum.
We're saying the same thing but expressing it differently. And "my whims" are a side-effect of "I am ALL -- nothing else exists, nothing else matters".
A black hole in (almost) human guise.
I should have added that Montana's transit role gives it a climate impact quite out of proportion to the state's population.
We are now seeing the oil and coal extractive industries for what they really are: vampire outfits.
Many thanks, Fern, for reminding me of this incredible effort by these young people of Montana. I hope they win their case, for themselves and the country.
Win the case for all of us. Let's follow it and the other cases being brought in various states. This is an important part of the CLIMATE CHANGE MOVEMENT.
Thanks for pointing this out, Fern. We have an article in our local paper, Indianapolis Star, (from the AP) regarding this protest in Montana. I was heartened to see it, realizing that the young people in Montana are finding their voice and putting their feet on the ground! "Montana ranked among the highest states for the percentage of total economic contributions by the natural gas and oil industry, generating $6.3 billion toward the state’s gross domestic product—including $3.2 billion added to total labor income." You can see why the deputy attorney general made his comment!
Thank you so much for sharing this very important information! Made me think of the Lorax.... Dr. Seuss — 'I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.' 💚
We have these going on in Oregon as well:
https://apnews.com/article/youth-climate-lawsuit-trial-oregon-7ad2fa18f5276f12c64c0ce775aba2f6
https://crag.org/chernaik-v-brown/
The horrors have only begun, and we are all already paying, but it is the children, it is those who are young today, it is their offspring who are going to have to face the worst. And it won't just be the physical climate, it will be human chaos, with drought and water supplies disappearing, extreme overheating and sometimes the opposite, population movements on an unimaginable scale.
Those obstructing the necessary changes must be shaken until they wake up and act -- or kicked out of the way.
And our sacrosanct ideology, holy, holy, holy all-seeing, omnipotent markets and all that utterly imaginary crap can help no one in the face of this very real situation, it is already fight or flight.
All that the imbeciles can see or think of is "politics" and political movements, but the way we're headed, they and we -- above all our posterity, rich and poor, will soon be swept away unless our thought-free comfort addicts can be awoken and goaded into action -- or pushed aside.
Excellent news, Ally. Thanks for sharing...morning!
Yes!
Yes, thank you, Fern. Supporting Senator Tester with small donations as I can. Now hoping this suit will be a boost for his candidacy.
We had a similar case tried here in Australia and our courts found (on appeal) that our government environment minister DID NOT have a duty of care to our youngsters over the environment.
It’s an absolute joke IMO. They just keep passing the buck on to the next generation without seemingly a care.
https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/15/sussan-ley-does-not-have-duty-of-care-to-protect-young-from-climate-crisis-appeal-court-rules
"Joke" is far too kind a word. What duties DOES an environmental minister have? What duties does anyone have?
Pretty sure the only “duty” they believe they have is to inflate the bank accounts of their oil, gas, and mining donors at the expense of the planet... because that seems to be all they actually care about doing.
Kylie I fear it is not just the donor class, it is ALL OF US who don't want to shed our aspirations to "the good life" with all the accoutrements we have grown to associate with that life: A beautiful home with a great view, abundant travel opportunities via car, truck, RV, or airplane. All of us who don't want to change our lifelong habits of diet, recreation and general expectations of life. We need to act differently, we need to BE different!
Let's give some credit to those who take incredible risks of capital to develop and bring to market natural resources that make modern life possible. But, as Gouverneur Morris wrote in the Preamble our highest aspiration is to "Secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity."
This however, takes a much greater capacity for foresight and good judgment than what are education system currently delivers. We should be investing in rigorously resolvable means to identify and nurture these skills in our society.
I'm sure all systems engineers do not think alike. Who exactly would you like us to give credit to; the CEOs of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. ( Saudi Aramco)
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. ( SNPMF)
PetroChina Co. Ltd.
Exxon Mobil Corp. ( XOM)
Shell PLC (SHEL)
Tota lEnergies SE (TTE)
Chevron Corp.
BP PLC (BP) ?
Cap your POV with, 'Secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity'. What a tagline for the fossil fuel sector!
Rex Tillerson was a better President of Exxon than Secretary of State but he was right when he called Trump a "Moron".
How polite of Tillerson.
Incredible risks of capital? Not here in Australia they don’t. We are the epitome of privatise the profit and socialise the losses. Our government subsidises the investor class in pretty much everything they do at the expense of the rest of us.
That's what happens when political parties don't vet their candidates and just act a fund raisers. We need candidates with demonstrated foresight not compliance and identity politics.
Hmmmm….sounds a lot like the USA.
Y'know Aaron, I don't give a fig newton for the "incredible risks." "Natural Resources" is the operative phrase here. Just what entitles a bunch of entrepreneurs the right to endless wealth and exploitation of a natural resource? One that is heavily subsidized by the government they love to hate? To wiggle out of taxes for the sake of yachts and such? Time to seriously press back on these raiders of natural resources who profit at the public's expense.
Reminds me of 1970's commercial by Texas oilman Eddie Childs "if you don't have an oil well, get one"
https://georgeslaughter.com/2018/01/11/texana-thursday-if-you-dont-have-an-oil-well-get-one/
True, GOP gives tax breaks to people that buy Supreme Court Justices with perks, and turn around an borrow money from them instead of expecting them to pay their fair share of taxes. But here's the thing. A majority of people don't have the sense to be in the virtuous cycle of saving and investing in anything. We still love them, but don't want them making decisions regarding ourselves or our posterity.
…with at least two sides of your mouth, you always come down against the vulnerable and lord over with a touch of know it all domination and pity in your voice.
If Australian politics is remotely like American politics, politicians' life blood is re-election, the route to which far too often is based on who can raise the most money. There are SO MANY citizens as well as politicians whose income is based on industries whose net effect is causing harm to the environment.
That was then. Now her party's in Opposition.
How does that negate my point? There is now literal legal precedent in Australia setting the standard for the current and future environment minsters at zilch. The ALP sure seems to think the status quo should be upheld, even after we voted for them to turnaround nine years of neglect and deliberate malfeasance instead of opening more coal and gas projects.
Fern McBride, thank you. Climate is the critical issue of our time. While the repubs are attempting to take down our Democracy and definitely smokescreening critical issues, the coming generation of lawmakers and voters are in a race to save this planet. “Montana’s warming climate will have cascading environmental and economic impacts,” ‘Roger Sullivan, a lawyer for the young residents, said in opening statements.’” They are connecting to movements worldwide that have been ignored by USA repubs. Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate activist who called for worldwide Climate Strikes for young people is now a high school graduate and will hand the “sign” to other activists and continue as an adult. She has been joined by young people all over the world and criticized by TFG and other world leaders who are threatened by a activists who are literally actively working to save the planet.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/09/greta-thunberg-climate-activist-takes-part-in-her-final-school-strike.html
Thanks, Irenie. Climate change and saving democracy are the two biggies, imho, right now. Biden's got the world on his shoulders but hopefully the younger generation will help to lift the burden and turn out in big numbers in Nov. 2024. (Although I love Biden's courage and what he has accomplished, I hope he can pass the torch to a younger candidate who can carry on his work.)
Thank you! I must have missed this article, because I have been glued to the screen, looking at the National Security Disaster in tRumps bathroom and Ballroom!
The evidence seen in the indictment has been shockingly unnerving. A gut punch and then realizing that the orange monster has no limits to his pathological need for revenge. We need a team of ethical mental health folks to screen out the monsters from the political process and prevent the masses from being charmed by a killer.
This is support for Senator Jon Tester, our Senate farmer! You go, young people!!!
Thank you for this. Montana is near and dear to my heart as we have a family cabin on Hebgen Lake outside of West Yellowstone. We also have a brand new granddaughter in Missoula, Montana south of Glacier. Montana has some of the most incredible natural beauty of any state in our nation. I am so proud of what these young people are doing. Some of the most environmentally active people in Montana are ranchers. Some of the most reactionary conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Rupert Murdock also have property (think estates) there. This should be followed closely.
May they make it all the way to the SCOTUs just for visibility, and for making the oily-garchs pee their pants.
Gracias Fern 👏👏👏👏👏
UNIDO!
I really, really hope that Jennifer Rubin is right, and America can do away with Reaganomics for once and for all. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why anyone would believe in “trickle down economics”: tax cuts for the rich are, well, just that: tax cuts for the rich. Dump that concept and its apparently inherent disdain (or even outright hatred?) for nature and the environment, and while you’re at it, dump Dump, too! Bidenomics for the win!
One more time. Will Rogers knew on Nov 26, 1932 “The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellows hands.”
Mr. Hoover may not have known that money trickled up, but Mr. Reagan sure did, as have all the cretins pushing that crap since. Even David Stockman said it was crap, after he got his share, I’m sure. Will the American people still be as gullible a hundred years after Will tried to tell us? Times a wasting…
"Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up."
Jeri,
Hoover very, very likely DID know that his campaign contributions increased with increasing tax cuts, just like Reagan did. Just like Bush I and II did. Just like Trump did.
All of them.....prostitutes.
That’s an insult to prostitutes
If you hadn't said it, I would have! At least a prostitute is honest about what they are and do!
That was a Will Rogers quote, I would have said he knew too
The "Stockman confession" should have put the whole idea in a dumpster. But, it wasn't convenient for the thieves to join in and share the truth.
Once we get our 2024 Trifecta of a government, we should begin the claw back. We have all been robbed by the Oligarchs. Yes, as the National Review guy said, "we are tired of all that crap." Tax the crap out of them. Tax their income, their assets and change the game so capital gains and estate taxes are just like ordinary income. If a person wins the lottery, he/she is taxed big time - like it's income. If my name is Walton and I win the birthright lottery, it ought to be taxed the same way when dear old Dad the Oligarch passes on to the big yacht in the sky.
I think the fear of just the reaction you advocate, "tax the bastards," is fueling the development of cryptocurrencies and why governments are, I hope, fighting back. They advertise that crypto is "free from interference," but note that all the computer server farms are owned by corporate interests, and he who owns the computer, controls its contents.
That's always been the problem with taxing the rich, is finding and accurately valuating their assets. They've been hoping that crypto would make them invulnerable, and I deeply hope it fails.
Will saw it and said it. Most heard it…just not those who were in control.
Being a public servant for decades (state employee of CA) back when Reagan was Gov, I saw with alarm how he routed many human-centered programs in CA; I was gobsmacked when was elected POTUS…twice! Heh, showing the power of celebrity—we should have been paying closer attention! Then watched it play out on the national stage. We’ve now had decades of evidence that this ONLY works for the wealthy (to become richer) and not for the average American….I truly don’t understand how so many cling to this economic theory despite all evidence against it. Hmmmm….maybe the earth IS flat, and the sun really DOES revolve around the earth…
It is hard for me to believe that any of the key architects of these policies ever believed it was anything but a con to make the hyper-rich far richer, and bereft of responsibilities. Certainly that is why folks like the Kochs put so much cash into supporting it. Their up-to-now super-hero Trump is greed and social irresponsibility personified.
J L
The key architects believed they were lining their pockets effectively since, upon granting tax cuts to the rich, their campaign coffers grew thereby ushering in the age of Democratic Prostitution as the main form of government in the US.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/us/politics/tax-cuts-republicans-donors.html
https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/118456/
AKA blatant corruption.
Ha, akin to throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks? Not even worthy of a bad sitcom series, and yet here we are!
Charles Koch now has ads warning against Trump. He knows they won't win if Trump is the candidate.
Trump is evil enough to suit the plutocrats but his impact has been blunted by his infantile lack of finesse. I still worry about a smoother criminal.
As a post-war baby boomer, when I read "1984" circa age 12 I was very absorbed and creeped out, and sort of got that it was real totalitarian societies that Orwell was really warning about; but the details of his imaginary society seemed to stretch credulity. Now I know it was far less exaggerated than I supposed.
Even so, I did not imagine some of the creepy Orwellian absurdities that modern "Republicans" spew and enact with impunity; social impunity as well as legal. And even though I was old enough to be aware of social injustice in the land of the free and the home of the brave, I never would have never have imagined some of the things that have happened here, in both the distant and very recent past.
I remain cautiously optimistic. We are a very complex species, and while it seems to me that nothing guarantees a happy ending, we still have options if we focus. Jack Smith seems to exude "focus" by the way. I could always be wrong, but we'll see. In the meantime WE who are meant to govern appear to require a great deal more attention to what we want our society to look like in the near and distant future.
It’s all because of people’s ignorance of government process & policies and how they affect us as individuals and as a society.
People have also been well-trained, even brainwashed, over the past approximately 80 years by commercials. For example, many people believe we can clean / refresh our homes and indoor air by spraying, diffusing, etc complex chemicals into our air, onto our furniture, surfaces, etc. and never ask what those chemicals are and what they’re doing to our health. We used to have 1 or 2 ingredient methods of cleaning which were far less problematic on our health until commercials told us otherwise.
Politics influence groups have long used the science behind commercials to carefully infiltrate into our conscious and unconscious minds and carve into us what they want our opinions to be. Think of how effective religions have been in indoctrinating a social order, and they’re just once a week (once past youthful religious training). How many movies, tv shows, commercials, cartoons, books, print ads, radio shows, etc. have affected our opinions and been made with not just entertainment and moneymaking in mind?
Lisa, speaking of commercials brainwashing us…it starts very early. Just the other day I was telling my neighbor about a group of friends having dinner…probably early 80’s as I recall….when one couple’s toddler son in a booster seat so he could be at the dinner table belting out of nowhere a commercial tune “oh what a feeling to drive a Toyota”…..the adults roared with laughter, but realized how early the indoctrination begins!!!
As the trickledown myth slowly evaporates in demonstration of fantasy, substantive progress is being made by Biden Adm’s efforts to rebuild the middle class. Downtrodden “conservative” victims of trickledown are slow to give up on the hope that billionaires will part with the trillions of dollars of wealth that their favored representatives took from them, instead blaming them Liberals for their woes
Who was that guy that said “biting the hand that feeds them”?
I just watched the Arnold docuseries on Netflix. He seemed to be a Reagan fan. What did you think of his administration?
As another “celebrity” leader he was’t bad & I think really cared about the “job”. I mostly remember him as being forward thinking on the environment. Your question prompted me to think about his time in office & that there was much I couldn’t recall (unlike Reagan’s), so looked it up. Here is an interesting piece from 2010: https://law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk10866/files/media/documents/The-Legacy-of-Arnold-Schwarzenegger.pdf. Ha, even I refreshed my memory reading it!
Yay! Thanks for the article. I've wondered for years about the "Arnold Years," but living on the other side of the country limited my point of view. I've always like him, given what little I know of him, and wondered as to his political impact.
"why anyone would believe in “trickle down economics”
Just the word: "trickle", one would think, would be a hard sell. But, Reagan made it easy and all of his proposals were passed with BI partisan support.
I remember, as a 21 year old engineering sophomore wondering how that was going to work out, because, when my Dad was laid off, and our income dropped, right away our family was in fairly dire straights. I remember thinking: How will income go UP if it is REDUCED by cutting taxes?
An ignorant kid from a farm with not even one economics class could see the problem. But, Reagan was a master salesman and Americans were completely ignorant, including all of the famous economists.
Not all Americans were ignorant. Just like now, a good amount of us were howling.
Mike S. With Reaganomics came the multistate Super Lotteries which we play in hopes of becoming one of the class that benefits from tax cuts
We KNOW the odds are against us, but still we hope
We ARE that hopeless in terms of reality; but our minds are clouded by the myth of riches
I was once talking with a local manufacturer at a party who was laughing at the idea that a tax break would somehow encourage him to expand his business. "I'm already making as many (widgets) as I can sell, and if I discover that I get a lot of demand I can't satisfy, I take that information to the bank and get a loan to expand. When they cut my taxes, I just put it in the bank because it didn't make me more customers." He thought it amazing that anyone would think otherwise, but he was happy to take the money.
The Left is lying to you:
Look for the facts, not opinion.
Here is Reagan's record
20 million new jobs were created
Inflation dropped from 13.5% in 1980 to 4.1% by 1988
Unemployment fell from 7.6% to 5.5%
Net worth of families earning between $20,000 and $50,000 annually grew by 27%
Real gross national product rose 26%
The prime interest rate was slashed by more than half, from an unprecedented 21.5% in January 1981 to 10% in August 1988
ITS A LIE that it didn't benefit the middle class.
BTW Reagan won 49 out of 50 states for reelection. YES the middle class loved Reagan.
The trickle down doesn’t happen...any money tricked down into their pockets...no one else’s. We see over and over again corporations are without social consciences and their billions in profits don’t trickle down into the hands of ordinary consumers. It is important to let the people know just how many BILLIONS of dollars are made and do not result in any less price gouging on the ordinary citizen.
All our favourite prime ministers have preached trickle-down. Mrs Thatcher has gone the way of all flesh. ScoMo, Trumpist evangelical, who trickled his way into the top job, was well and truly ejected in the recent Australian elections.
- 'A vast majority of Republicans believe federal criminal charges against Donald Trump are politically motivated, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday that also showed him far ahead of his nearest rival in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.'
'The polling, which began on Friday, a day after Trump was indicted, found that 81% of self-identified Republicans said politics was driving the case, reflecting the deep polarization of the U.S. electorate.'
'Some 62% of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, including 91% of Democrats and 35% of Republicans, said it was believable that Trump illegally stored classified documents at his home in Florida as alleged by prosecutors.'
'The indictment did not appear to dent Trump's standing in the Republican nominating contest for the
2024 presidential election. The specific charges, including obstruction of justice, became public on Friday afternoon when the indictment was unsealed.' (Reuters)
- House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., stated in a tweet Thursday, "The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents. Outrageous."
- Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the indictment is "one of the most irresponsible decisions in American history by any prosecutor."
- Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., released a statement saying, "This indictment doesn't pass the smell test."
Separating himself from many other Republicans:
- “Mr. Trump brought these charges upon himself by not only taking classified documents, but by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so. These allegations are serious and if proven, would be consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest, such as withholding defensive weapons from Ukraine for political reasons and failing to defend the Capitol from violent attack and insurrection.”
- Mitt Romney
I am here, following Letters from an American and meeting with a small group of sane, responsible Americans, most of whom have head and heart in the right place. If it were not for people like HCR and those who follow her work, I'd be tempted to despair of the raving mass madness and meaningless savagery that so many Americans have unleashed upon the world.
Do not underestimate the force of light and sanity within you, however relative. Light can be hidden by placing a great leaden lid on it. Sunlight can be diminished by the thick smog layer spread by the wildfires spreading across America's and Eurasia's far north. Darkness cannot extinguish light.
Our thoughts, words and actions, too, have consequences. We are scattering the seeds of hope and renewal.
You are so right, Peter. Light surrounds Love which has no opposite. That is why it cannot be extinguished.
Salud, fair friend!
🗽💜
Peter, from Jackson Browne’s “For a Dancer”. “Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own”
https://youtu.be/ig6X3-9wxlI
Thank you Dave Dalton for bringing music to our thoughts this morning.
Tina Turner | River Deep Mountain High (Live HD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de5Xauv99QM
You are most welcome. The Bards cover a lot of ground
Damn, Mitt finally telling the truth without equivocation. The others know better, but dare not let an iota of integrity emanate from them.
Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger stood up for truth and look where it got them…shame on the Republican Party for disparaging those truth tellers. I don’t agree w/ most of the R platform, but to oust your best and brightest for being honest and forthright is, well, damning.
What Republican platform? As I seem to recall, in the last election, the GOP wrote no platform at all.
Ha, absolutely correct! Maybe I should have called it their soapbox instead!
Barbara, I don’t think we’ve heard the last from either Cheney or Kinzinger. The Republican party has suffered a serious blow to its bow from MAGA-Ites, but as the mast leans sideways, the money people will see that their best interests is to keep the ship from sinking by appealing to a less radical constituency. They reaped the treasure secured in the hull, they don’t want it being lost in the high seas of of the MAGA Triangle. They’re in it for the long haul
Loyalty and honesty are not mutually exclusive! Except perhaps to the current crop of GOP members. It is a basic tenet of leadership that many in leadership do not understand.
Not to mention the VIndman bros. Modern republican embrace the "souls in exchange for power" option.
Where are they now though?
Why did it take Romney so long? And why is he still not utterly repudiating damaging Republican efforts to get rid of the ACA which was, in its infancy, his brainchild (or that of his administration)? He doesn't need the job. Anyone have ideas about what he's about?
Romney publicly urged Obama to consider the model of his Massachusetts plan, but then claimed Obamacare, which was indeed very similar to his own plan,, was wrong as a national plan once he was nominated for President by the Republican Party. Romney wants to have it both ways. Someone might have better luck than I finding the original "open letter" to Obama titled "Mr. President, what's the rush? " that appeared in USA Today. All I could find today was a file-not-found notice, but I accessed it many times before and it was there.
Romney has two faces, convenient for hypocrits
Romney seems to struggle with trampling decently, but his conscience seems to flitter in and out when it suits him.
And what people does the media focus on? Not Romney, but Jordan, Graham, McCarthy, et al, and their statements of whataboutism and weaponization of the Justice Department and toady support of anything the former president has done re the documents.
Lukewarm clap for Romney.
Binders full of claps.
Perdoname, pero no lo intiendo.
One hand clapping?
🤣😂 Two fingers at most.
Marshmallow Conviction re Romney. The sound of one hand clapping
Only Republicans would claim with a straight face that they’re reducing the deficit with tax cuts. It’s buffoonery of the highest order. How many news organizations will point out what Heather consistently states: the formula never works.
The press is gravely negligent for not covering the story of the failure of Trickle Down Economics.
And gravely negligent for so much more.
Somehow the press came out gunning for Nixon with epic investigative journalism, yet for the most part were eating out of Reagan's hand. Investigative journalism isn't dead, especially on the 'Net, and fake investigative journalism is nothing new, but the momentum of "Watergate" widely followed with detective/reporters seems never to have recovered, even now with scandals that make Nixon's abuses look little league.
The Republicans are great at buffoonery, while robbing the American people blind. I'm in favor of using the best descriptive; Republicans are Kleptomaniacs; little Putins like their boss Donald.
Rethuglicans world is one of lies, lies, lies and deceit. They are very good at that so they can further enrich themselves and their rich cronies. They sure as heck do not know how to govern.
It's the cocoon/rabbit hole conundrum.
Abandonment of shame is their superpower. Ignorance is Strength!
While reading along, I kept waiting for that other "shoe" to drop. And then this, the good shoe: "As the architects of Reagan’s revolution exit stage right..."
So true! Morning, Lynelle!
"That battle to divide the American people along cultural lines in order to dismantle the federal government has, after forty years, led to a Republican Party that has embraced Christian nationalism, abandoning not only the policies of democracy but also democracy itself." [HCR] I wished someone would replace 'Christian' with 'radical' or 'anarchist' or some other word so that so-called 'Christians' would not be so terribly misled. There is nothing 'Christian' in the maga-cult-republican agenda.
I hesitate to speak up; however, Christianity has, from the beginning, been a bloody power struggle fraught with liars and con artists. The Crusades. The torturing and maiming by the Catholic Church during the Inquisition. The killing of innocent people during the Salem Witch hysteria. I understand that some need a religion to practice the acts of loving, caring, sharing. Some need to believe in an eternal afterlife. Jesus was a Jew - not a Christian. He was a teacher, just as the Buddha and others who taught.
"The Investigator" by Reuben Ship was a CBC radio play in 1954, a political satire on Joseph McCarthy. Reuben Ship was a Canadian writer in Hollywood who was blacklisted and deported. Quotations from the founding fathers are featured as well as historical despots. Recordings are available online and more information. I think that people here would appreciate the satire.
Thank you, Molly.
Marli, sometime ago I fell down the internet rabbit hole and discovered this site, the Pell Center (affiliated with a Univ I was not familiar with). This particular article captured my attention and explores how immigration and settlements ended up creating schisms to a “united” states. You might find it interesting too: https://www.nationhoodlab.org/a-balkanized-federation/?_gl=1*1c6etgc*_ga*MTQ2NzQyMDc5OS4xNjg2NjQ0MTA1*_ga_B431J06YXW*MTY4NjY0NDEwNC4xLjEuMTY4NjY0NDE0OC4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.224600346.1225896155.1686644105-1467420799.1686644105
Barbara, the book this came from was one of the first books I read that was suggested by someone here on the LFAA "bookclub"--this is a FASCINATING read! "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America" by Colin Woodard
Wonderful book. His others are good too.
Thanks for the link. Interesting perspective. Republicans aren’t the only ones building cultural and political divides and it’s been going on for a long time.
Thanks for the link - I'll definitely make time to read the article.
“Christian nationalism” means white Christian nationalism, which is a euphemism for white supremacism. That is the root of the culture wars in this country. We cannot solve any of the enormous problems facing civilization until we consistently and decisively outvote the 74 million white supremacists who voted for Trump in 2020.
When a movement has as its basis the Christian Bible, even if their precepts are anything but "Christ like", you do not get to cast them out from the mantle of "Christian". They may extol nothing like the teachings of Christ, but when they beat you with a Bible, it is hard not to refer to them as Christian.
Christian radicals!!!
Faux Christians. The "Christian Right" seems anew about an Orwellian version of what I have thought Jesus was supposed to have said. Not that there is anything new about that. I have met delightful Christians. Considering the loudmouthed presentation of "Christianity" by people such as DeSantis, I am puzzled that so little comes to my attention put forward those who identify with Christianity, who would differ markedly with the Pat Roberson self-righteous supremacist approach. Like pretty much everything the right wing says these days, it's pretty much the opposite of what it claims to be. Authoritarianism is the enemy of the common right of humanity and always has been.
"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings." - Lincoln
I watched Rubio this morning on CBS...this guy is still a parroting puppet in an empty suit and he has absolutely no clue. What a lightweight. not particularly relevant to today's writing, just an exclamation point on my overall frustration with the state of the republican party and their rote recitation of tired and ineffective policies. Thanks so much for keeping us informed, and for the "slog" today!
Has been so for most of my long life, yet our free press has followed Rupert down the rabbit hole. Thankful for those who dare to check to see whether it’s really raining.
I hope Rubin’s correct but even if the gop turns from trump, I don’t see it turning from it the fascist white supremacy and voter suppression.
That’s right. All Republican candidates must advertise their support for white supremacism. That’s how they get the votes of 70% of the white working class, without which they could not win any elections, anywhere.
PS. “White supremacy” is not a thing. White supremacism is a thing. White supremacists are things. But white supremacy is mythology.
TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS: HERE THEY GO AGAIN
If at first you don’t succeed, fail, fail, and fail again. Back in the 1970s a quirky economist named Laffer drew the Laffer Curve on a napkin showing how tax cuts could result in higher tax revenue. PSHAW! This became the infamous ‘trickle down’ Reagan tax cut.
As David Stockman, Reagan’s budget guru,later confessed in his book, they didn’t know what the f++k they were doing. Their wild and wooly strategy was to
1) goose up the defense budget;
2) sharply reduce taxes, principally for the wealthy; and
3) “Starve the Beast”—severely reduce ‘social expenditures.’
Stockman described in excruciating detail why trickle down economics was cuckoo. The wealthy got wealthier and very little of this ‘trickled down.’ It was akin to noblesse oblige, with splashes of pee hitting the shoes of the ‘peasants.’
This ‘trickle down’ fiscal absurdity was repeated by Bush 43 and Trump with similar pee pee results.
Now, weeks after the Perils of Pauline debt/budget brouhaha, some of McCarthy’s Animal House renegades [after refusing to consider any tax increases to reduce budget deficits] are demanding tax cuts.
Oi Vey, Mother of Mary, Allah u Ahkbar!
I got an email from my English Cousin, the British are at the end of this same era! After informing me that inflation on food and housing costs in Britain has dropped now from 19% to 18.5% the British polls show Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Tory Party is going to lose big in the next election. The British Economy and Public Services ( what left of them!) are a basket case! She listed all the groups of workers and Professionals that are on Strike this week. Everybody from Doctors to railway workers plus the BBC and I've forgotten who else the list was so long! The Tories did even more damage than the Republicans, and much like the Trumpers, the British slit their own throats economically in anger, for Brexit.
Louise I’ve been hearing similar dismal news from my British relatives. It would seem simpler simply to list the groups that are not on strike. The National Health Service [NEH] once was a matter of national pride. These days the NEH sounds like the dregs of a catch-as-catch-can health disservice. ‘Voluntary’ surgery is being scheduled years ahead. And some surgeries, like rotator cuff, are not being authorized for folks over 55.
The delay in even seeing a doctor or medical assistant is contributing to a rash of increasingly ill and dead patients.
The only good news is that Brexit blow hard Boris Johnson resigned from Parliament before a parliamentary report on his peccadillos was released and he was going to be censured.
Wonder what the ‘special relationship’ is between President Biden and PM Sunak. Biden did tell Sunak not to muck around with Ireland/North Ireland.
Actually, that is part and parcel of my point about the ills visited upon the citizens of both countries that swallowed wholesale the Conservative trope of Trickle Down Economics that has harmed, so badly, any government service designed to help the citizens of our two countries.
My take after voting Republican many years ago, is that there is no camouflaging the bankrupt theory of their policies have brought upon us, and it is hard for me now, to not think these things weren't the intentional results the bank rollers of the Republican and Tory Parties. I tend to that view, because these same politicians now are defending these clearly failed policies with fascist methods of propaganda and disinformation and even in my country, attacks on the rule of law, itself. And yes! every thing you list in your reply have been verified with the same lists and examples as my upper class Cousins. Well at least wealthy Professional Class. They plan to vote labor as soon as elections are held.
David Stockman. Now there's a name I have not heard in a long time. Remembering him just gives me ulcers. As does all this looking back to Reagan - just another in the long line of Republican leaders who have done so much damage. Eisenhower: the last Republican worthy of the Oval Office. And there are none in the foreseeable future.
Agree, Ike was prescient on so many things….I used to respect Republicans, even tho’ I didn’t always agree, at least they used to be honorable. I am appalled at what they have morphed into. Hopefully Dems will continue to be vigilant to their creed moving forward.
Eisenhower shouldn’t get a pass, either. He’s the one who put the Dulles brothers in charge of foreign polilcy, and they used it to promote all sorts of catastrophes, including the war in Vietnam. Eisenhower was certainly better than any Republican after him, but he was a lightweight in governing compared to, say, Adlai Stevenson. It’s a pity that the “greatest generation” was too busy (cold) warmongering to figure that out.
Thinking back on my life, I can’t believe I first voted for Richard Nixon. My immigrant parents firmly believed that the Pope would rule America if Kennedy won the election and I was brainwashed by them. That was the only time I voted Republican. But as a youngster I fondly recall Eisenhower and still have a campaign button I LIKE IKE!
James David Stockman, whose graduate theological studies provided him heavenly insight into finance, was later federally indicted for corporate finance manipulation. Though he never was taken to court, the SEC hit this ‘trickle down’ maven. It cost him about $13 million not to mention that massive loss by 15,000 corporate shareholders.
David Stockman and Laffer Curve—-a financial nightmare combo.
"If at first you don’t succeed, fail, fail, and fail again."
A perfect sentence to capture Republican policy. I have made off with it for future use.
:-)
It has taken eight years to pinpoint the essence of "the Trump drama." From top to bottom, the Republican Party is home to "criminal minds." The liars, the cheaters, the cons and the corrupt are at the top. At the bottom are the belligerent, artless, under-educated, racist, misogynist MAGANAZI horde. From Trump at the top right down to the lowliest white nationalist, these people are, like Trump, heavily damaged souls traumatized in their youth by emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Ask any one of them, "Who hurt you?" and watch their heads explode.
Good points
Greg. From Jason Isbell’s “Flying Over Water”
“In the heat I saw you rising from the dirt, drunken tears and tugging at your skirt; if only you could tell me then which part of you got hurt, in the heat I saw rising from the dirt”
I hope it was a wise political calculus that has led to most of those new jobs going to Republican states, since they are the ones who most need to see government working for them. Even if the Republicans do their best to steal the credit, the message remains -- good governance works.
Today's letter is about small rays of hope shining through enormous clouds of terror.
We will find out a lot about the state of the Republican base by whether there are sizable crowds of Trump supporters at today's court appearance.
But the issue of the MAGAmaniacs holding the legislative process hostage is a huge concern because it has the potential to impact the lives of all Americans. Business abhors uncertainty and I think that is currently the most likely factor that could tip the economy into recession.
It feels, for me, that few remember that Biden WON in 2022. By a lot. Sanity still holds sway.
Ironically, the good Senator from Florida has made our best argument for “us” in his ‘new’ book. Trickle-down didn’t work. The capitalists won; the rest of us lost.
The folks that were in unions. The folks that didn’t have stocks. The folks that paid mortgages. The middle class. We didn’t win. We used to, but labor loses now.
Thank you for nothing, “trickle down.”😐
I, and another commenter here awhile back, morphed “trickle down” to “tinkle down” (as being pissed upon), which actually seems a more accurate descriptor of Reaganonmics in practice.
As funny as it is correct, sadly. pissed-upon suggests a stream, of course, and I think the 'tinkle' concept is a better one...<smile>
I love your optimism — that many are sick of Trump and the tax cutting deficit exploding Republican Party. But thought i am a huge fan of Biden, I fear he has trouble with almost everyone under 30. And I never say never with Trump.
The other thing the worries me is the work Ezra Klein has been taking about — Blue state costs, lack of housing, slow build of infrastructure, etc. Ezra is productively making the case for a close examination of the administrative state — not changing the goals of the laws that protect our workers our environment and so on, but changing how we administrate those laws so we move faster, build more housing and fix our infrastructure. Ezra (correctly I think) worries that blue America is wide open to Red state attacks on housing, infrastructure and costs — If we are to see 65% house majorities and 60+ senate seats, we must tackle these issues …. I’f love for you to write a bit about how we can accomplish this!
Thank you for your work! Andrew
I, too, think Ezra Klein has methodical, pragmatic ideas on going forward. He pushes his listeners to think deeply, like Heather does with LFAA. My vision going forward does not stop at “getting past trump”. My vision is for this American Project to actually work. That means we all have to look at “Last Mile” stuff, meaning “what are the real ways things are mucked up in the system? And improve them so the services we think we are supporting. Are actually delivered well and appropriately and accountably.”
Thank you Heather.
As always, there’s so much to consider.
“That battle to divide the American people along cultural lines in order to dismantle the federal government has, after forty years, led to a Republican Party that has embraced Christian nationalism, abandoning not only the policies of democracy but also democracy itself.”
May the wind indeed be shifting. 🙏🏻
“
Democracy is hardly an infallible means to resolve critical decisions while our majority lacks the foresight to maintain a minimum reserve fund or carry insurance. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140708-when-crowd-wisdom-goes-wrong
Anybody looking for “crowd wisdom” at a MAGA rally?
Only as in “Where’s the bathroom?”
Thanks, interesting article. Thinking of “groups”…majority? crowd? mob? Perhaps a matter of degree and perspective.