Georgia, I watched with a link from the Chicago Sun Times. I had voted for Barack both times in that park where the Obama Center now is. After work taking my young daughter with me. I was reminded of what it feels like to have good people in politics. Something we have learned to value more over the past 10 years.
That is my Chicago community, although I was watching it from Germany. I saw people I knew on that screen. My daughter was in class with Marty Nesbitt's son. His wife had been one of my obstetricians during my pregnancy while she was pregnant herself. Our children born in the same hospital as the Obama's children.
Malia's security person would stand in the hall outside my classroom when she had art in the class next door and sometimes we would chat. Michelle and Sasha held the door open for us one morning when I was bringing my 3-year-old into the building in her seat on my bike which I kept in my classroom.
My union president's son was their chef. I knew him when he was a star on the school's baseball team.
Valerie Jarrett went to school with me as her daughter then went to our school too, the same one the Obama's sent their children to when they lived in Chicago, with their house being about 5 blocks from where my apartment is.
It reminds me of the power of goodness. Let us hope we get it back again.
A local holiday in the District of Columbia today, where we just all but elected a new mayor and a new delegate to Congress by means of ranked-choice voting-by-mail — all without fraud, fuss or fuckupery — or trying to deprive people of their constitutional franchise because they forgot to add their middle initial on their signatures on the back of their ballot envelopes.
Those votes were electronically tracked from the moment they were picked up by the post office, arrived at the Registrar’s Office, then formally counted — the voter being notified by email and text at all three stages of counting. Since the pandemic, DC has joined the ranks of other states with virtually all voting done by mail or drop-off at hundreds of ballot boxes across the city.
Yes. They’re still counting votes for Mayor but the second-ranked candidate has already conceded.
Voters were asked to make a total of 5 ranked choices for Mayor and Delegate. You could, of course, vote only for 1 if you chose. But the process itself encourages voters to take more time studying issues and candidates and ask themselves ‘who could I live with if my gal/guy doesn’t make it?’
I agree. It has enormous benefits because it allows people to have more input into the process by counting their opposition and allowing it to impact the outcome. It also helps new parties to grow and influence political thought on major issues. Politicians will look at how votes flowed during the ranking process and see where coalitions could form on issues emphasized in different candidates’ campaigns.
I think it is especially important in primaries where, as you point out, the candidates are less well known, so you are induced to do some research before you vote.
What is striking is that when you have interacted with people before they reached the height of their fame, there are ones who exhibit basic decency and kindness, and they maintain it. Then there are others who are narcissistic, and that just worsens with time. I saw it in the science community.
We are where we are because too many of us stopped recognizing, expecting, and demanding decency and integrity in our candidates and government officials. No one is perfect, but we have to re-learn how to make those ethical judgments. We need to be able to talk frankly and openly about these issues, and whether personal lapses are likely to cross the line into areas where those people will exercise power.
A Full and Un-redacted List (Unlike the Jeffery Epstein files) of President Trump’s Medications -hum… Maybe (From my blog)
Representative Jammie Raskin of Maryland has requested from the White House a full list of medicines that has been prescribed by Mr. Trump’s 22 doctors. Although the press spokesperson at first objected to this request, Dr. Oz. Administrator of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid as a stand-in for Karoline Leavitt while she gives birth and nurses a future MAGA bambino, has offered a list which he states if full and complete. The following medicines are:
1. Antiparasitics for shaking hands with too many parasitic tyrants
2. Anti flea medicine to keep tics to a minimum
3. Bleach taken twice a day in morning and evening to clear any vestiges of coronavirus
4. Benzodiazepine for bipolar mood swings
5. Finasteride (Propecia) that keeps hair loss to a minimum at the same time reduces testosterone and frustrates the user who is prone to sudden needs for military aggression
As Doctor Oz was about to turn the page and expose some really bad medications President Trump is currently taking, staff hurriedly came out to announce the press conference was ending.
I don't believe democracy can work, at least not as advertised, without good faith on the part of a preponderance of participants; and we need to recognized provable bad faith as a threat. That's why Nixon was driven from office. Systematic winning just by me, of just for my faction, is a dealbreaker for all those things we say our country should be. We need liberty and justice for all. For real.
Sadly, the more candidates resemble Ken Paxton, the better repubs like them. Time for us to value what we teach our children to value. Not the chumps or the muskrats but those of us who have a tad of humanity. I have a hard time calling chump human. I hope he is a mutation that goes extinct instead of the worst case of parental failure.
Love the “tan suit” reminder of Obama’s “scandal.” It is way past time to hold, not only our politicians, but our fellow Americans, to account for behavior that we would not tolerate from our fifth graders. Bullying, stealing lunch money, and subtle violence hsve metastasized into mob tactics in our government and our neighborhoods. Don’t let bullies win, we tell our children. Time to take back our civilized society. We have to, Ike is no longer with us to lead the charge. Thanks for the voices from our better selves, HCR leads the pack.
MS-NOW sent Alicia Menendez to host the opening ceremony for the station. I admit, I am a huge fan of hers, because she is constantly pointing out the flaws in the Trump administration in Walter Cronkite like fashion.
But yesterday, for several hours she was giddy at times laughing and joyful at the celebration taking place all around her.
MS-NOW interviewed so many celebrities and politicians like David Letterman, Tom Hanks, Governor Pritzker and Governor Newsom and dozens of others.
What was noticeably missing were the uber wealthy oligarchs who support hate instead of love and cruelty instead of kindness.
Remember computer software term, WYSIWYG (/ ˈwɪziwɪɡ / WIZ-ee-wig; what you see is what you get)? Ghandi spoke of people whose public selves match their inner selves -- I think of it as authenticity. We need more of it!
Tom Hanks told the roving MS-NOW reporter that he wanted a transcript of Mrs. Obama's speech as well as President Obama's. The reporter replied, "I can get that for you."
And the same was evidenced in NYC with Mandami celebrating the Knicks along with everyone else.
To me, this was THE 250th anniversary celebrating freedom and hope for the continuation of a more perfect union.
Now we need to get out there and get Democrats and Independents elected that have the courage to stand up to Trump and his brown-shirted thugs and to impeach and disbar the Fascist lawbreakers throughout the DOJ and the Trump regime.
My parents would have tanned our hides if me and my siblings bullied, blathered nonsense, took no responsibility, blamed others and tooted our own horns. Lots of parental failures in the magat cult.
Most encouraging after,seventeen months of darkness. I was going compare Trump with President Obama, but decided that doing so was in poor taste to the forty-fourth President.
"You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
–President Obama, 2015
************************
🎶 Don't Stop Thinking 'bout Tomorrow ... It soon Will Be Here 🎶
Thank you for posting that! It is such a powerful and inspiring quote.
Maybe every Democratic candidate should have that read at the start of every campaign event this fall before they come to the mic. And once they take the mic, just start simply. “I believe that.”
Georgia, don’t forget the positivity from Mamdani in NYC. I wish we could put a Mamdani-roll-up-your-sleeves candidate to represent the Democrats now - today. We need strong leadership in order to beat the GOP. The hyperscalers will block our momentum with their wealth. Their appetite to exceed the Data Centers growth month over month is not being regulated and the pollution generated is heating up our planet.
We need the right people to push a vision of fiscal responsibility because the republicans are drowning us in debt.
Groundswell / Regeneration | Official Trailer | Prime Video (6/5/26)
100% on on side greed, hatred, incompetence and division. The other side, where the great artists of our time choose to be: hope, integrity, shared humanity and humility. Night and Day.
We don't memorize much any more, but even after we forget the exact words of Mayor Mamdani and former First Lady Obama, their expressions of joy, of community, of hope, and of shared dreams will long resonate in our hearts and in our minds. They will inspire us to declare our love of our country and to take back our democracy. Yes, we can. Together we can.
John Stewart also praised the joyous iconoclasm (that's a deliberate understatement) of the Knicks fans compared with the miserable hostility of the far right.
Thank you, Heather, for giving us a Letter that gives us hope rather than fear. I would encourage you to write Letters like this more often. I know it's important to track what "the bad people" are doing. But it's also important to uncover and promote ("amplify" in today's lingo) what good people are doing! It's innovators who are going to save democracy! Let's hear from them and about them!
Hey, Steve! I subscribe to Today's Edition newsletter with Robert Hubbell. Every day, Robert posts lots of photos of protests throughout the country. They are truly inspirational to me, especially since every single photo reflects smiling people while they deliver their pro-democracy message.
This, exactly!!! I've strongly recommended Robert's newsletter to anyone looking for pragmatic optimism along with a dose of news, and those photos are especially what I look for in each newsletter. It lifts my heart to see others out there and to know that we are not alone in resisting.
Yes, of course Heather loves what Barack Obama said on the dais today.
As well as she loves that, we can all love that he said it with his wife, Michelle, their two daughters, and Republican George W. Bush and his wife, and Dems Bill Clinton and Joe Biden and their wives – as if they all stood for “the story of America at its best,” as Barack put it, “because it reflects a basic faith in the decency of our fellow citizens.”
I've been reading in a couple books from the film criticism of Pauline Kael, both published by Library of America, one compiling her best, the other with film criticism by many, many.
One of her main themes was orthodoxy, for which she often focused on how schools, academia, and teachers often represented institutional impulses as good, normal, conventional. Film studios, marketers, publicists, and directors have often tilted to these. Her own genius ever best rose more in defense of spontaneity, in honor of what we could call the American vernacular.
I’d love Dems to return to red state U.S. also in honor of our working classes, who so got their jobs offshored, 1,000s of American communities destroyed.
The DNC abandoned all these fellow Americans – focused instead on suburban and college-educated fund-raising, fund-raising, fund-raising, ever for expensive TV buys.
Peter Magyar in Hungary had zero access to TV or any other media controlled by Orban’s corrupt state. So he went in-person to communities of all kinds over that country.
Democrats got suckered into responding to Citizens United by trying to outraise all those oligarchs. It was not a fight they could win. They abandoned the places that they deemed "too red" to win and the working people who lived there to the relentless media blitz from MAGA. They thought the money could be better spent elsewhere. They didn't look at how many districts they were abandoning, or how it would lead to red states with trifectas, and what the ultimate effect on state laws would be.
The only way to win against the flood of money and disinformation is through grassroots outreach, person-to-person: asking, sharing, listening, commiserating, and talking about how to move forward together to create change. That is the lesson from Magyar and Hungary.
So we've extra piquancy Heather pegs today, along with an earlier short comment from you here also -- two great parallel examples of people united with, celebrating diversity of neighbors mingled around them.
You both so aptly celebrate the New York City crowds happy for their Knickerbockers, and over in the Midwest so many gathered for similar trusting, enjoying one's fellows around the Obama Presidential Center.
Yes, Georgia, "person-to-person" as you say is part of the key. The U.S. may be fantastically larger physically, but Dems can unify, humanize their message by also attending nearest red state areas.
To the degree I can influence the outcome of an election, just by spending money. Influence the outcomes of legislation by doing so; is that not anti-democratic? Is that not patently corrupt? Like mainstream America was one inured to slavery, we seem to be inured to elephant-in-the-room corruption. Yes, money is needed to get things done, but with speed-limits and guardrails. The Constitution singles out bribery and treason as examples of intolerable crimes by politicians. Is de facto bribery less toxic by another name? Playing the devil's game by the devil's rules is sure to be a long-term losing proposition. Except, of course, for devils.
Paying no attention to current happenings that should be sparking joy rather than the usual tired, cynical snark — right on cue.
What do you think the opening of the Obama Presidential Center was, if not a return to the politics of unity across multiple boundaries of class, race, geography, culture?
Today, Pete Buttigieg will be rallying the crowds in Little Rock, Arkansas to celebrate and back a strong local Democrat, Chris Jones, running for Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District. This, on the heels of his earlier ‘fireside’ chats to voters of all stripes and persuasions in Tulsa, Butte, northwestern Georgia, Indiana, and elsewhere.
The politics of outreach is happening all around, and not just being transmitted by Mayor-Lieutenant-Secretary Pete alone. Democrats keep winning by-elections, special vacancies and outperforming themselves by 20 points or better in once ruby-red areas thought beyond reach.
Hello Phil.... Obama's Financial Bail-outs of 2009-2010 essentially amplified those that began under GWB.... Small Home-Owners, and Union Workers were left to twist-in-the-wind.... Ever Read David Bromwich's Harper Magazine Essay on the Obama Administration?... It Is Worth Reading...
Obama towers over any Republican president since Ike, and yet he had no stomach for rocking plutocracy's boat. Obviously he was under enormous pressure to head off an even deeper recession, but he did so by restoring rather than reforming, and "too big to fail", or allegedly, to hold accountable, came out of it even bigger and little abashed. I think the seeds of MAGA are ancient and grow like weeds (bearing bitter fruit), but it was Nixon, and particularly Reagan who successfully slandered government of, by and for the people, and canonized the ultra rich, who blazed the trail. Mainstream democrats have been timid about confronting economic inequities ever since. Carter tried, but was not very telegenic, which is now so much of what defines social power in these screen-dominated days.
Hello J L... Read Read David Bromwich's Harper Magazine Essay on the Obama Administration... I am Apache.. In our Traditional Moral Code, We don't say much, but 'We Walk Our Talk'... Alot of the Success of Obama-Care for instance was because of Catherine Sibelius, and Nancy Pelosi...
Repubs savaged him every day in every way as did Rupert. It’s a miracle he survived two terms. Yes, magat seeds were planted, deliberately and with malice by the tea party, repubs, and racists of all stripes
Exactly! “As if they all stood for” “…the story of America at her best”???
Although he inherited the NAFTA negotiation from George H.W. Bush, Clinton worked it through Congress and signed it into law. It greatly expanded corporate profits but caused significant working class job losses in U.S. manufacturing. He also championed the U.S. - China Relations Act of 2000, which granted China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR). This paved the way for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.
George W. Bush started a prolonged war with Iraq based on lies (WMDs), engaged in torture of prisoners (Abu Ghraib), a failed response to a disastrous hurricane Katrina, attempted to privatize Social Security, engaged in secretive surveillance operations (NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program), 45 million without health insurance, assertion of unconstitutional Executive power, cut taxes on the rich which caused a skyrocketing national deficit, politicization of the DOJ, allowed the SEC to let investment banks go unregulated which led to the disastrous home mortgage bubble/2008 financial crisis, neglected to create a strong alternative energy policy (he is an fossil fuel/oil man), during the Battle of Tora Bora he used inadequate military tactics that allowed Osama bin Laden to escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan, etc., etc.. Nothing to benefit the middle/working class but everything to benefit the rich and corporate America.
Biden did a lot to restore the U.S. government after Trump’s first term but made several fatal mistakes. He assumed Trump was so bad he would just go away. He failed to have Merrick Garland aggressively prosecute Trump from day one following the insurrection. He failed to institute safe guards to democracy such as expansion of a right-wing biased SCOTUS, passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14), etc.. His PR advisors expounded on how great the economy was doing (statistically) when the voting public was feeling the opposite and making his administration feel out of touch. He erred in going back on his promise to only run for one term until his age caught up to him and he had to withdraw causing an enormous handicap for Harris to overcome.
The bureaucracy of the Democratic Party (the DNC, DCCC, Washington beltway advisors, many Democratic Party politicians - Chuck Schumer, etc.) is not liked or trusted by the voting public because they are controlled by crony capitalism, corporate interests, PAC donations, AIPAC, foreign emoluments, secret special interests, etc. in the same way as Republicans. Now they are funding special interests toadies that are running against progressive Democratic Party candidates in primaries across the country e.g. Janet Mills against Graham Platner, Dan Goldman against Brad Lander, Adrian Espaillat against Darializa Chevalier, etc., etc.. This is counter productive to saving our democracy. If special interest toadies are elected, it won’t matter if they are Democrats or not. They are not going to change the status quo and institute the changes necessary to save democracy.
“John Lewis' last essay, read by two Dallas students - YouTube”
All any Republican politician or MAGAt has to do to piss off the DonOld is to make one single critical comment or one vote against Trump. Cornyn vote 99% of the time with DonOld and the MAGAs and it wasn't enough.
Michelle Obama, always a First Lady, you have shown us the future. The future is ours, if we work for it. We can work hard, and sing and dance and take care of our neighbors.
Meidas touch has video of Moscow burning from the Ukrainian drone attack. It’s impressive. “All HELL BREAKS LOOSE as Moscow BURNS TO GROUND!!!! - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt3SwCoSkGY. Enjoy! NATO is closing ranks behind Ukraine now that Orban is gone. Slava Ukraine! HEROYAM Slava!
Oh yeah. And Moscow was supposed to be the most protected city in the world from air attacks. The Muscovites were warned to stay inside as it was raining oil in many parts of the city. It was shocking to see how extensive and widespread the fires and black smoke was.
And it's not the first Russian city that's been covered in oil after Ukrainian drone attacks.
Apparently Russia has been forced to buy gasoline from other countries.
The Ukrainian war blogger I follow on Telegram has already posted Tik-Tok drone footage of a Ti-D-Bowl blue rim around the end of Washington’s Reflecting Pool, with a huge vat of puke-green, full algal bloom in the center, set to canned rinky-dink music. The caption simply reads: “the hydrogen peroxide affected only the edges.”
News travels fast on our small, interdependent planet. The whole world watches, laughing at us, or simply shaking their heads with pity and disgust. Donnie Dimpleknees is the last person on earth to figure this out — the same guy Macron had to steer off the stage at Evian because he insisted on wandering away in the wrong direction.
go listen to her whole speech —it’s on you tube and it starts with a paean of praise for her husband that comes from the heart and lays bare in such a subtle way how incredibly difficult it was to be president and how sterling a character he had never to lose his temper or yell or pout the way we see the current occupant of the White House act. such love!
Professor Richardson does here what I love about the other pro-democracy writers and activists I follow: They tell about the bad but then focus on the good – how we are going to win.
To help shift our intake and output of information from overwhelmingly "what's bad" to "what people are doing and can do," I made this for empowerment and action:
Mamdani in NYC and Obama in Chicago are showing what America can be as Ukraine attacks Russia and the administration fails memorably on the world stage. This treaty of Versailles is running into Congressional trouble like the last one. Celebrate Juneteenth, contact your representatives, and vote Blue!
Submitted on the “Contact the President” form at WhiteHouse.gov:
(Edited final version)
"Hey, Trump, since no one on your inept, incompetent team will tell you the truth….. I’m going to tell you the truth!
Regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, President Obama got a MUCH better DEAL than you did!
And, President Obama struck the deal without having to spend over $50 Billion in US Taxpayer money, without causing inflation in the U.S. to spiral out of control, without the loss of lives of American service members, without seriously depleting America’s weapons arsenal, without seriously depleting America’s oil reserves, without damaging relations with America’s allies, without driving up the cost of gas to ridiculously high levels, without breaking any U.S. laws…….and without lying even one time.
And, President Obama struck the deal he did without Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, without having to order the U.S. Navy to blockade Iranian ports, without having to establish a $300 Billion fund to fund reconstruction projects in Iran, and President Obama released far less Iranian assets than your dumbDEAL TACO’d up.
President Obama is a perfect example of “America’s Brightest”, whereas, to the opposite extreme, you are a perfect example of “America’s Disgrace.”
You can (and, we all know you will) lie over and over about your accomplishments, but Americans who have a working brain (or even half of a working brain) know that you will go down in U.S. History books as the G.O.A.T. Liar and The Worst President in American History."
My favorite part of Mrs. Obama’s speech was Secretary Clinton laughing aloud at this eloquent troll of the current White House occupant:
“Yet you were unflappable at every turn. Always focused, always calm, always looking at the long view to how absurd it is to even imagine that you might have buckled under the pressure, even once, lashed out in frustration, lost your temper. How absurd it is to imagine that you might have done anything but make our family and this entire country proud.
No, you were too busy.
I'm not done. Y'all. Not done. So much to say.
You were doing the people's work, rescuing our economy, expanding health care, ending a war, ordering the bin laden raid, saving an auto industry, winning a peace prize. For keeping us safe from Ebola, regulating the banks, standing up for marriage equality, listening to science and comforting an entire nation in the face of unspeakable tragedies. And you did it all with such grace and class and cool that you made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.”
and don’t forget: " Eight years in The Crucible and not once did you melt from the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence, your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage. Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency. Your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber.” Now THAT was a glorious paean to her husband and a graciously un-subtle dig at the current occupant of the People’s House in DC...
Don't know much about New York, only been there once, a long time ago when airfare from California to NY was a $90 once-in-a-lifetime event. Had a great time. However HCR is right on the money, along with NY Mayor Mamdani, about We the People can all come together. We don't have to be divided. We may not agree on everything, except the week of the Obama Library opening, but we can overcome the divisiveness brought on by old trumpy/MAGA/Republicans. Yes, we can.
“…Barack Obama welcomed living presidents and first ladies, except the Trumps, who were not invited: President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton, President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush, and President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden.”
Who all had one helluva good time, while Hakeem Jeffries bogeyed to the groove up front, assisted by his back-up band of Angela Markel, Justin Trudeau and Billie Jean King all keeping the beat behind him.
Fun. Remember the last time we connected the word “fun” to politics on a beautiful summer day on the shores of Lake Michigan?
Sad to see W there but guess he looks good compared with chump. He will never be forgiven by me. He was just dumb practice and has had no discouraging words about chump. At least Chaney woke up.
There could be no greater contrast this week between what we saw from Trump, and what we saw from the Obamas, and in the triumph of the Knicks.
Stupidity, ignorance, dishonesty, callousness, and surrender from Trump.
Hope, empathy, intelligence, decency, and patriotism from the Obamas.
Accomplishment, joy, can-do spirit, and teamwork from the Knicks.
Georgia, I watched with a link from the Chicago Sun Times. I had voted for Barack both times in that park where the Obama Center now is. After work taking my young daughter with me. I was reminded of what it feels like to have good people in politics. Something we have learned to value more over the past 10 years.
That is my Chicago community, although I was watching it from Germany. I saw people I knew on that screen. My daughter was in class with Marty Nesbitt's son. His wife had been one of my obstetricians during my pregnancy while she was pregnant herself. Our children born in the same hospital as the Obama's children.
Malia's security person would stand in the hall outside my classroom when she had art in the class next door and sometimes we would chat. Michelle and Sasha held the door open for us one morning when I was bringing my 3-year-old into the building in her seat on my bike which I kept in my classroom.
My union president's son was their chef. I knew him when he was a star on the school's baseball team.
Valerie Jarrett went to school with me as her daughter then went to our school too, the same one the Obama's sent their children to when they lived in Chicago, with their house being about 5 blocks from where my apartment is.
It reminds me of the power of goodness. Let us hope we get it back again.
Happy Juneteenth!
A local holiday in the District of Columbia today, where we just all but elected a new mayor and a new delegate to Congress by means of ranked-choice voting-by-mail — all without fraud, fuss or fuckupery — or trying to deprive people of their constitutional franchise because they forgot to add their middle initial on their signatures on the back of their ballot envelopes.
Those votes were electronically tracked from the moment they were picked up by the post office, arrived at the Registrar’s Office, then formally counted — the voter being notified by email and text at all three stages of counting. Since the pandemic, DC has joined the ranks of other states with virtually all voting done by mail or drop-off at hundreds of ballot boxes across the city.
It all works just fine.
Was this the first DC experience with ranked-choice voting?
Yes. They’re still counting votes for Mayor but the second-ranked candidate has already conceded.
Voters were asked to make a total of 5 ranked choices for Mayor and Delegate. You could, of course, vote only for 1 if you chose. But the process itself encourages voters to take more time studying issues and candidates and ask themselves ‘who could I live with if my gal/guy doesn’t make it?’
I agree. It has enormous benefits because it allows people to have more input into the process by counting their opposition and allowing it to impact the outcome. It also helps new parties to grow and influence political thought on major issues. Politicians will look at how votes flowed during the ranking process and see where coalitions could form on issues emphasized in different candidates’ campaigns.
I think it is especially important in primaries where, as you point out, the candidates are less well known, so you are induced to do some research before you vote.
What fantastic memories to share! Thank you!
What is striking is that when you have interacted with people before they reached the height of their fame, there are ones who exhibit basic decency and kindness, and they maintain it. Then there are others who are narcissistic, and that just worsens with time. I saw it in the science community.
We are where we are because too many of us stopped recognizing, expecting, and demanding decency and integrity in our candidates and government officials. No one is perfect, but we have to re-learn how to make those ethical judgments. We need to be able to talk frankly and openly about these issues, and whether personal lapses are likely to cross the line into areas where those people will exercise power.
I agree Geogria. We should be able to expect decency. WE have allowed the bar to go too low. Let us raise it again.
A Full and Un-redacted List (Unlike the Jeffery Epstein files) of President Trump’s Medications -hum… Maybe (From my blog)
Representative Jammie Raskin of Maryland has requested from the White House a full list of medicines that has been prescribed by Mr. Trump’s 22 doctors. Although the press spokesperson at first objected to this request, Dr. Oz. Administrator of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid as a stand-in for Karoline Leavitt while she gives birth and nurses a future MAGA bambino, has offered a list which he states if full and complete. The following medicines are:
1. Antiparasitics for shaking hands with too many parasitic tyrants
2. Anti flea medicine to keep tics to a minimum
3. Bleach taken twice a day in morning and evening to clear any vestiges of coronavirus
4. Benzodiazepine for bipolar mood swings
5. Finasteride (Propecia) that keeps hair loss to a minimum at the same time reduces testosterone and frustrates the user who is prone to sudden needs for military aggression
As Doctor Oz was about to turn the page and expose some really bad medications President Trump is currently taking, staff hurriedly came out to announce the press conference was ending.
I don't believe democracy can work, at least not as advertised, without good faith on the part of a preponderance of participants; and we need to recognized provable bad faith as a threat. That's why Nixon was driven from office. Systematic winning just by me, of just for my faction, is a dealbreaker for all those things we say our country should be. We need liberty and justice for all. For real.
Sadly, the more candidates resemble Ken Paxton, the better repubs like them. Time for us to value what we teach our children to value. Not the chumps or the muskrats but those of us who have a tad of humanity. I have a hard time calling chump human. I hope he is a mutation that goes extinct instead of the worst case of parental failure.
Love the “tan suit” reminder of Obama’s “scandal.” It is way past time to hold, not only our politicians, but our fellow Americans, to account for behavior that we would not tolerate from our fifth graders. Bullying, stealing lunch money, and subtle violence hsve metastasized into mob tactics in our government and our neighborhoods. Don’t let bullies win, we tell our children. Time to take back our civilized society. We have to, Ike is no longer with us to lead the charge. Thanks for the voices from our better selves, HCR leads the pack.
MS-NOW sent Alicia Menendez to host the opening ceremony for the station. I admit, I am a huge fan of hers, because she is constantly pointing out the flaws in the Trump administration in Walter Cronkite like fashion.
But yesterday, for several hours she was giddy at times laughing and joyful at the celebration taking place all around her.
MS-NOW interviewed so many celebrities and politicians like David Letterman, Tom Hanks, Governor Pritzker and Governor Newsom and dozens of others.
What was noticeably missing were the uber wealthy oligarchs who support hate instead of love and cruelty instead of kindness.
agree about Alicia Mendez. Am also a big fan.
What wonderful memories, thank you for sharing. It’s amazing at who at the core someone is before all the notoriety…
Did you notice how little “me, me, me, I’m so great”-dribble there was in Michelle’s speech? Quite refreshing.
I agree. I found her speech to be consistent with the kind of person she has appeared to me to be.
Remember computer software term, WYSIWYG (/ ˈwɪziwɪɡ / WIZ-ee-wig; what you see is what you get)? Ghandi spoke of people whose public selves match their inner selves -- I think of it as authenticity. We need more of it!
Also in Mamdani's speech! Both re-readable. Both uplifting!
Tom Hanks told the roving MS-NOW reporter that he wanted a transcript of Mrs. Obama's speech as well as President Obama's. The reporter replied, "I can get that for you."
In everyone's speech DM. Humility, hope and joy.
And the same was evidenced in NYC with Mandami celebrating the Knicks along with everyone else.
To me, this was THE 250th anniversary celebrating freedom and hope for the continuation of a more perfect union.
Now we need to get out there and get Democrats and Independents elected that have the courage to stand up to Trump and his brown-shirted thugs and to impeach and disbar the Fascist lawbreakers throughout the DOJ and the Trump regime.
My parents would have tanned our hides if me and my siblings bullied, blathered nonsense, took no responsibility, blamed others and tooted our own horns. Lots of parental failures in the magat cult.
Most encouraging after,seventeen months of darkness. I was going compare Trump with President Obama, but decided that doing so was in poor taste to the forty-fourth President.
Agreed.
The text of the permanent words on the side Obama building in South Chicago 2026
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"You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
–President Obama, 2015
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🎶 Don't Stop Thinking 'bout Tomorrow ... It soon Will Be Here 🎶
Thank you for posting that! It is such a powerful and inspiring quote.
Maybe every Democratic candidate should have that read at the start of every campaign event this fall before they come to the mic. And once they take the mic, just start simply. “I believe that.”
love this, am copying and sharing and will attribute to you ~
Georgia, don’t forget the positivity from Mamdani in NYC. I wish we could put a Mamdani-roll-up-your-sleeves candidate to represent the Democrats now - today. We need strong leadership in order to beat the GOP. The hyperscalers will block our momentum with their wealth. Their appetite to exceed the Data Centers growth month over month is not being regulated and the pollution generated is heating up our planet.
We need the right people to push a vision of fiscal responsibility because the republicans are drowning us in debt.
Groundswell / Regeneration | Official Trailer | Prime Video (6/5/26)
https://youtu.be/ZaTUABb2c0I?is=m_MO0QWjkMqkJR8P
The answer is beneath our feet.
100% on on side greed, hatred, incompetence and division. The other side, where the great artists of our time choose to be: hope, integrity, shared humanity and humility. Night and Day.
Michelle Obama joked about her husband's greying hair at the event, but take a look at Trump without his oompa loompa make-up at the G7.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/insight/trump-s-g7-optics-spark-debate-over-image-and-diplomacy/gm-GM357E365B?gemSnapshotKey=GM357E365B-snapshot-8&uxmode=ruby&ctsrc=dgst&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=U531&cvid=6a3507d775a949ca8940af50e223ada2&ei=57
He kinda looks like Angela Merkel would if she was wearing drag…
Vote, help others register to vote, do whatever you can to ensure votes are counted. Each one of us has that power. Use it.
Agreed, Marina! Toolkit to bring on the BLUNAMI:
https://tinyurl.com/4e2zsxmj
Actions any of us can take today!
Thanks for sharing that link Eric!
We don't memorize much any more, but even after we forget the exact words of Mayor Mamdani and former First Lady Obama, their expressions of joy, of community, of hope, and of shared dreams will long resonate in our hearts and in our minds. They will inspire us to declare our love of our country and to take back our democracy. Yes, we can. Together we can.
Hello Betsy... Compare the Oratory of JFK against that of DJT... JFK Soars, and Inspires, and DJT leaves on Dumbstruck...
He can drop the IQs of listeners by two standard deviations.
Nice one JD. He is ALWAYs such a downer and an embarrassment.
Are there ANY Republican politicians that truly give a damn about any of their constituents other than the wealthiest ones that keep them in power.
John Stewart also praised the joyous iconoclasm (that's a deliberate understatement) of the Knicks fans compared with the miserable hostility of the far right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsAQ_B7zVJI
Thank you, Heather, for giving us a Letter that gives us hope rather than fear. I would encourage you to write Letters like this more often. I know it's important to track what "the bad people" are doing. But it's also important to uncover and promote ("amplify" in today's lingo) what good people are doing! It's innovators who are going to save democracy! Let's hear from them and about them!
Hey, Steve! I subscribe to Today's Edition newsletter with Robert Hubbell. Every day, Robert posts lots of photos of protests throughout the country. They are truly inspirational to me, especially since every single photo reflects smiling people while they deliver their pro-democracy message.
This, exactly!!! I've strongly recommended Robert's newsletter to anyone looking for pragmatic optimism along with a dose of news, and those photos are especially what I look for in each newsletter. It lifts my heart to see others out there and to know that we are not alone in resisting.
Selfishly, I admit the camaraderie and joy from the protests makes them so easy to attend.
Exactly my view and what I created this for, Steve -- check it out!
https://the80-20list-prodemocracyresources.netlify.app/
Yes, of course Heather loves what Barack Obama said on the dais today.
As well as she loves that, we can all love that he said it with his wife, Michelle, their two daughters, and Republican George W. Bush and his wife, and Dems Bill Clinton and Joe Biden and their wives – as if they all stood for “the story of America at its best,” as Barack put it, “because it reflects a basic faith in the decency of our fellow citizens.”
I've been reading in a couple books from the film criticism of Pauline Kael, both published by Library of America, one compiling her best, the other with film criticism by many, many.
One of her main themes was orthodoxy, for which she often focused on how schools, academia, and teachers often represented institutional impulses as good, normal, conventional. Film studios, marketers, publicists, and directors have often tilted to these. Her own genius ever best rose more in defense of spontaneity, in honor of what we could call the American vernacular.
I’d love Dems to return to red state U.S. also in honor of our working classes, who so got their jobs offshored, 1,000s of American communities destroyed.
The DNC abandoned all these fellow Americans – focused instead on suburban and college-educated fund-raising, fund-raising, fund-raising, ever for expensive TV buys.
Peter Magyar in Hungary had zero access to TV or any other media controlled by Orban’s corrupt state. So he went in-person to communities of all kinds over that country.
Democrats got suckered into responding to Citizens United by trying to outraise all those oligarchs. It was not a fight they could win. They abandoned the places that they deemed "too red" to win and the working people who lived there to the relentless media blitz from MAGA. They thought the money could be better spent elsewhere. They didn't look at how many districts they were abandoning, or how it would lead to red states with trifectas, and what the ultimate effect on state laws would be.
The only way to win against the flood of money and disinformation is through grassroots outreach, person-to-person: asking, sharing, listening, commiserating, and talking about how to move forward together to create change. That is the lesson from Magyar and Hungary.
Exactly correct, Georgia.
So we've extra piquancy Heather pegs today, along with an earlier short comment from you here also -- two great parallel examples of people united with, celebrating diversity of neighbors mingled around them.
You both so aptly celebrate the New York City crowds happy for their Knickerbockers, and over in the Midwest so many gathered for similar trusting, enjoying one's fellows around the Obama Presidential Center.
Yes, Georgia, "person-to-person" as you say is part of the key. The U.S. may be fantastically larger physically, but Dems can unify, humanize their message by also attending nearest red state areas.
Hello Georgia... Mamdami has shown the Way... Bill Clinton was the 'New Democrat' DNC... Now look at where We are at now...
To the degree I can influence the outcome of an election, just by spending money. Influence the outcomes of legislation by doing so; is that not anti-democratic? Is that not patently corrupt? Like mainstream America was one inured to slavery, we seem to be inured to elephant-in-the-room corruption. Yes, money is needed to get things done, but with speed-limits and guardrails. The Constitution singles out bribery and treason as examples of intolerable crimes by politicians. Is de facto bribery less toxic by another name? Playing the devil's game by the devil's rules is sure to be a long-term losing proposition. Except, of course, for devils.
Paying no attention to current happenings that should be sparking joy rather than the usual tired, cynical snark — right on cue.
What do you think the opening of the Obama Presidential Center was, if not a return to the politics of unity across multiple boundaries of class, race, geography, culture?
Today, Pete Buttigieg will be rallying the crowds in Little Rock, Arkansas to celebrate and back a strong local Democrat, Chris Jones, running for Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District. This, on the heels of his earlier ‘fireside’ chats to voters of all stripes and persuasions in Tulsa, Butte, northwestern Georgia, Indiana, and elsewhere.
The politics of outreach is happening all around, and not just being transmitted by Mayor-Lieutenant-Secretary Pete alone. Democrats keep winning by-elections, special vacancies and outperforming themselves by 20 points or better in once ruby-red areas thought beyond reach.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
Hello Phil... For all his Telegenic Appeal, and Oratory Skill, Wealth-Inequality increased under his Watch, as well the Seeds of MAGA was sown...
Barack was in office 2009-2017, yes, Apache.
And the wealth inequality gap massively grew then as it had recent decades previous.
But I think a certain Citizens United case in 2010 did more to inflate the cynical dark-moneyed in one stroke than did all the years of Obama.
Hello Phil.... Obama's Financial Bail-outs of 2009-2010 essentially amplified those that began under GWB.... Small Home-Owners, and Union Workers were left to twist-in-the-wind.... Ever Read David Bromwich's Harper Magazine Essay on the Obama Administration?... It Is Worth Reading...
Obama towers over any Republican president since Ike, and yet he had no stomach for rocking plutocracy's boat. Obviously he was under enormous pressure to head off an even deeper recession, but he did so by restoring rather than reforming, and "too big to fail", or allegedly, to hold accountable, came out of it even bigger and little abashed. I think the seeds of MAGA are ancient and grow like weeds (bearing bitter fruit), but it was Nixon, and particularly Reagan who successfully slandered government of, by and for the people, and canonized the ultra rich, who blazed the trail. Mainstream democrats have been timid about confronting economic inequities ever since. Carter tried, but was not very telegenic, which is now so much of what defines social power in these screen-dominated days.
Hello J L... Read Read David Bromwich's Harper Magazine Essay on the Obama Administration... I am Apache.. In our Traditional Moral Code, We don't say much, but 'We Walk Our Talk'... Alot of the Success of Obama-Care for instance was because of Catherine Sibelius, and Nancy Pelosi...
Repubs savaged him every day in every way as did Rupert. It’s a miracle he survived two terms. Yes, magat seeds were planted, deliberately and with malice by the tea party, repubs, and racists of all stripes
Back to having faith in the basic decency of our fellow human beings. Most important words I have read tonight.
Exactly! “As if they all stood for” “…the story of America at her best”???
Although he inherited the NAFTA negotiation from George H.W. Bush, Clinton worked it through Congress and signed it into law. It greatly expanded corporate profits but caused significant working class job losses in U.S. manufacturing. He also championed the U.S. - China Relations Act of 2000, which granted China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR). This paved the way for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.
George W. Bush started a prolonged war with Iraq based on lies (WMDs), engaged in torture of prisoners (Abu Ghraib), a failed response to a disastrous hurricane Katrina, attempted to privatize Social Security, engaged in secretive surveillance operations (NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program), 45 million without health insurance, assertion of unconstitutional Executive power, cut taxes on the rich which caused a skyrocketing national deficit, politicization of the DOJ, allowed the SEC to let investment banks go unregulated which led to the disastrous home mortgage bubble/2008 financial crisis, neglected to create a strong alternative energy policy (he is an fossil fuel/oil man), during the Battle of Tora Bora he used inadequate military tactics that allowed Osama bin Laden to escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan, etc., etc.. Nothing to benefit the middle/working class but everything to benefit the rich and corporate America.
Biden did a lot to restore the U.S. government after Trump’s first term but made several fatal mistakes. He assumed Trump was so bad he would just go away. He failed to have Merrick Garland aggressively prosecute Trump from day one following the insurrection. He failed to institute safe guards to democracy such as expansion of a right-wing biased SCOTUS, passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14), etc.. His PR advisors expounded on how great the economy was doing (statistically) when the voting public was feeling the opposite and making his administration feel out of touch. He erred in going back on his promise to only run for one term until his age caught up to him and he had to withdraw causing an enormous handicap for Harris to overcome.
The bureaucracy of the Democratic Party (the DNC, DCCC, Washington beltway advisors, many Democratic Party politicians - Chuck Schumer, etc.) is not liked or trusted by the voting public because they are controlled by crony capitalism, corporate interests, PAC donations, AIPAC, foreign emoluments, secret special interests, etc. in the same way as Republicans. Now they are funding special interests toadies that are running against progressive Democratic Party candidates in primaries across the country e.g. Janet Mills against Graham Platner, Dan Goldman against Brad Lander, Adrian Espaillat against Darializa Chevalier, etc., etc.. This is counter productive to saving our democracy. If special interest toadies are elected, it won’t matter if they are Democrats or not. They are not going to change the status quo and institute the changes necessary to save democracy.
“John Lewis' last essay, read by two Dallas students - YouTube”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_NrL3uWAhI
Wow, Michelle Obama! You'd never, ever hear words of caring like these come from any of the trumpsters.
We hear a lot of vainglorious trumpery, but yes, nothing like that.
All any Republican politician or MAGAt has to do to piss off the DonOld is to make one single critical comment or one vote against Trump. Cornyn vote 99% of the time with DonOld and the MAGAs and it wasn't enough.
Michelle Obama, always a First Lady, you have shown us the future. The future is ours, if we work for it. We can work hard, and sing and dance and take care of our neighbors.
...and keep Our republic...
Meidas touch has video of Moscow burning from the Ukrainian drone attack. It’s impressive. “All HELL BREAKS LOOSE as Moscow BURNS TO GROUND!!!! - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt3SwCoSkGY. Enjoy! NATO is closing ranks behind Ukraine now that Orban is gone. Slava Ukraine! HEROYAM Slava!
Yikes! Thanks, Fred. So, remind me, who's got all the cards?
Oh yeah. And Moscow was supposed to be the most protected city in the world from air attacks. The Muscovites were warned to stay inside as it was raining oil in many parts of the city. It was shocking to see how extensive and widespread the fires and black smoke was.
And it's not the first Russian city that's been covered in oil after Ukrainian drone attacks.
Apparently Russia has been forced to buy gasoline from other countries.
And yet -- Putin will never give up.
The Ukrainian war blogger I follow on Telegram has already posted Tik-Tok drone footage of a Ti-D-Bowl blue rim around the end of Washington’s Reflecting Pool, with a huge vat of puke-green, full algal bloom in the center, set to canned rinky-dink music. The caption simply reads: “the hydrogen peroxide affected only the edges.”
News travels fast on our small, interdependent planet. The whole world watches, laughing at us, or simply shaking their heads with pity and disgust. Donnie Dimpleknees is the last person on earth to figure this out — the same guy Macron had to steer off the stage at Evian because he insisted on wandering away in the wrong direction.
I wonder if it's yet dawned on him that Ukraine has a handful of cards these days. As does Iran.
I’ve seen footage on Facebook showing the blue just peeling up! Complete epic failure! It will soon return to its original state.
It will soon be worse than it was before. Wait, that suddenly reminds me of Iran! What an odd koinkidink…
Makes me cry all the way over here in Versailles, France.
Thank you for the hopr and the quotes from a majestic First Lady.
go listen to her whole speech —it’s on you tube and it starts with a paean of praise for her husband that comes from the heart and lays bare in such a subtle way how incredibly difficult it was to be president and how sterling a character he had never to lose his temper or yell or pout the way we see the current occupant of the White House act. such love!
The reason chump hates him so much. He is what chump can never be
Professor Richardson does here what I love about the other pro-democracy writers and activists I follow: They tell about the bad but then focus on the good – how we are going to win.
To help shift our intake and output of information from overwhelmingly "what's bad" to "what people are doing and can do," I made this for empowerment and action:
https://the80-20list-prodemocracyresources.netlify.app/
…with a mobile-friendly toolkit of what anyone can do to Get Out The Vote and make November's results TOO BIG TO RIG.
Everyone can find their niche. No act is too small. Michelle inspires, and Barack is right: Yes we can!
Mamdani in NYC and Obama in Chicago are showing what America can be as Ukraine attacks Russia and the administration fails memorably on the world stage. This treaty of Versailles is running into Congressional trouble like the last one. Celebrate Juneteenth, contact your representatives, and vote Blue!
Submitted on the “Contact the President” form at WhiteHouse.gov:
(Edited final version)
"Hey, Trump, since no one on your inept, incompetent team will tell you the truth….. I’m going to tell you the truth!
Regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, President Obama got a MUCH better DEAL than you did!
And, President Obama struck the deal without having to spend over $50 Billion in US Taxpayer money, without causing inflation in the U.S. to spiral out of control, without the loss of lives of American service members, without seriously depleting America’s weapons arsenal, without seriously depleting America’s oil reserves, without damaging relations with America’s allies, without driving up the cost of gas to ridiculously high levels, without breaking any U.S. laws…….and without lying even one time.
And, President Obama struck the deal he did without Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, without having to order the U.S. Navy to blockade Iranian ports, without having to establish a $300 Billion fund to fund reconstruction projects in Iran, and President Obama released far less Iranian assets than your dumbDEAL TACO’d up.
President Obama is a perfect example of “America’s Brightest”, whereas, to the opposite extreme, you are a perfect example of “America’s Disgrace.”
You can (and, we all know you will) lie over and over about your accomplishments, but Americans who have a working brain (or even half of a working brain) know that you will go down in U.S. History books as the G.O.A.T. Liar and The Worst President in American History."
Thank you for your attention to this banter!
❤️
My favorite part of Mrs. Obama’s speech was Secretary Clinton laughing aloud at this eloquent troll of the current White House occupant:
“Yet you were unflappable at every turn. Always focused, always calm, always looking at the long view to how absurd it is to even imagine that you might have buckled under the pressure, even once, lashed out in frustration, lost your temper. How absurd it is to imagine that you might have done anything but make our family and this entire country proud.
No, you were too busy.
I'm not done. Y'all. Not done. So much to say.
You were doing the people's work, rescuing our economy, expanding health care, ending a war, ordering the bin laden raid, saving an auto industry, winning a peace prize. For keeping us safe from Ebola, regulating the banks, standing up for marriage equality, listening to science and comforting an entire nation in the face of unspeakable tragedies. And you did it all with such grace and class and cool that you made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.”
and don’t forget: " Eight years in The Crucible and not once did you melt from the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence, your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage. Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency. Your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber.” Now THAT was a glorious paean to her husband and a graciously un-subtle dig at the current occupant of the People’s House in DC...
“Voting is a choice. Being a decent human being is a choice…”
Most parents aspire to teach decency, at least they did at my house
Wasn’t on Fred Trump’s list of parenting tips.
Don't know much about New York, only been there once, a long time ago when airfare from California to NY was a $90 once-in-a-lifetime event. Had a great time. However HCR is right on the money, along with NY Mayor Mamdani, about We the People can all come together. We don't have to be divided. We may not agree on everything, except the week of the Obama Library opening, but we can overcome the divisiveness brought on by old trumpy/MAGA/Republicans. Yes, we can.
And in addition I would close by saying: 86-47!
“…Barack Obama welcomed living presidents and first ladies, except the Trumps, who were not invited: President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton, President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush, and President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden.”
Who all had one helluva good time, while Hakeem Jeffries bogeyed to the groove up front, assisted by his back-up band of Angela Markel, Justin Trudeau and Billie Jean King all keeping the beat behind him.
Fun. Remember the last time we connected the word “fun” to politics on a beautiful summer day on the shores of Lake Michigan?
and don’t forget Kamala and her husband—also looking very shining and proud of the Obamas...
Sad to see W there but guess he looks good compared with chump. He will never be forgiven by me. He was just dumb practice and has had no discouraging words about chump. At least Chaney woke up.