296 Comments

Heather, you should write a rebuttal to the WSJ op ed you wrote about. WSJ readers sure could use a history lesson! Thx for doing what you do… your blog gives me hope that we will yet succeed in fixing the System!

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I agree, a counterbalance article by HCR would be perfect!

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And it would absolutely sway some votes! Millions perhaps.

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I’d like to see and read that.

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Perhaps a little more than this, despite its evident interest for those that read WSJ, is required to save the nation.

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HCR has already explained the historical comparison to Solon and Greene’s article. We have the rebuttal right here in our forum. HCR already on to today’s significant happenings.

May I suggest we each forward today’s HCR Letter from an American to 5 or more other Americans or use any of its information as talking or writing points as we continue to be a powerful voice. Her pen and ours is mightier than a sword.

Let’s go!

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From the sidelines here in Orstralia, it's unbelievably worrisome. And, really there is not a damn thing that we can do from here. So more power to all your arms!!

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There are some things that can be done from Oz. Write to members of the US Congress; tell them you'll vacation and shop in blue states (CA, MA, NY, etc), but boycott red states (AL, AR, FL, etc). Then follow through. Thanks, mate!

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Believe me, it's worrisome here too! And a lot of the time I feel like there's not a damn thing I can do either!

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Blessings, Hugh. Would be great if you all could roll bandages!

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I see Sydney's heating up again. covid is as covid does!

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Morning Stuart!

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And a very good morning to you , Christine. Hope the rest of the day is as good. Here it's raining hard!

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Or perhaps we get involved and write letters as well. Also write one letter from all of us. We can share e-mails and create one together.

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Yes! Would love to see that!

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URGENT: Subscribers -- INDIVISIBLE -- the grassroots organization that helped defeat -- you know who -- and kept the Affordable Care Act alive wants you -- FOR THE PEOPLE ACT. The battle won't be over tomorrow. DEMOCRACY IS UP TO YOU. Contact the link below:

https://deadlinefordemocracy.org/?source=website

Take Action

'We’ve got to make this July recess (June 28th - July 10th) big. We’re encouraging local activists to begin planning their visible, public, press-worthy events now to tell Senators—Democrats and Republicans alike—that the American people are showing up to demand a democracy that works for all the people and that we need them to act urgently on the For the People Act, no excuses.'

This is our time to make a difference.

https://indivisible.org/

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Signed up last night to attend rally at Blackburn’s office 7\5!

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Marcy, Good for you. Please let us know how it goes!

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Good luck with Marsha!

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You never know - dissenters SHOWING UP & being vocal likely wont change Blackburn's mind - but it just might wake more people up!

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Just found an event in Evanston (first burb north of Chicago) this Sunday---even though our Senators and Congresswoman are firmly behind this initiative. Thanks for the heads-up.

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Great, JP. There will be pictures, it will be covered. Other Americans will be spurred on and get involved. PATRIOTISM for July 4th -- FREE and FAIR Elections in the USA.

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Perfect plan for the 4th, Fern

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Done.🙏 Fern!

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Cannot wait to see 'home' tomorrow. I love the water. It's 'medicine' for me, too.

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Yes. Going up north soon. Love me a stream or a river splashing and sparkling and dancing through a forest.

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Good medicine for the soul.

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Yes Fern! Found event in Florida. Will be in Midwest during part of this time. Have my fam and friends searching for events there. What a great Independence Day this year!

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You gave me a 5:58 AM SMILE! There is a lot going to happen all around the red/white and blue

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Thank you, Fern! Signed up for a rally on Sunday.

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Thanks to you, Beth, I'm having the best morning!

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My sign at the rally is going to read, "Political Nobody for Free and Fair Elections - pass the 4 the People Act!"

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We can appreciate the sarcasm here of “Political Nobody,” but in a wider public setting, I think it confuses the message. The rest is clear, direct, pitch perfect! Rally rally rally safely as possible. It’s still a Covid-scary world out there!

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Beth, I love it -- no McConnell -- are you.

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As we follow the money, it is as important to support corporations proactively taking a stand in favor of voting rights as is it to boycott corporations staying complicit with new laws for voter suppression and overturning elections.

70+ companies signed a letter urging the Senate to pass the S1 For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA). Signers include @patagonia, @NHL, @tumblr, @AtlantaDream and more.

Add your voice! Call your Senators at the Senate Switchboard 202-224-3121 and demand they pass the #ForThePeopleAct #S1. (Call Monday-Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm ET, since their voicemails get full quickly. And no, it’s not a waste of time because their staff track the number of Ay versus Nay calls.)

https://www.democracydocket.com/2021/06/70-companies-urge-the-senate-to-pass-the-for-the-people-act/

(Amplifying message from Kathleen on More Perfect Democracy.)

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Ellie. Thank you for your tremendous reserve of information and guideposts.

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Thank you, Ellie. I emailed my senators a couple months ago and was relieved to hear back that they are both in support of S1. If I had first read this in a paper I would have not bothered to contact them but your point of registering calls is well taken. Even if we know our senators stand on the side of passing this bill, we should still register our opinion with them.

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Amplified on my FB page. Thank you.

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Ah, yes, the NHL, my favorite. (Go, Lightning🏒).

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I think you’re going to win it all, twice in a row. Hats off to your team!!

I’d settle for the Leafs winning a single series.

And you stole our colors. :) :)

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Thank you, Heather. I admire the effort it must take for you to write with such apparent equanimity about how increasingly fragile and fraying the fabric of our democracy is.

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Yes! This is maddening, critically important stuff. Thank you, Heather for the early post we have work to do.

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Democracy is not a spectator sport. All those “political nobodies” that Mike Solon and Bill Greene pretend to care about better get involved if they want to keep this representative democracy. Or democratic republic, whatever expression suits you. In the words of Jim Wright, aka Stonekettle Station, "If you want a better nation, be a better citizen."

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My concern is who were the people who stormed the capitol on Jan. 6 or planned to kidnap Gretchen Whitmire or stormed the Oregon statehouse? I'm worried that they are the "nobodies." And they vote for the people who want them to be nobodies. They don't really seem to care about democracy. They want it their way or else...If they are not spectating, they are violent. Their version of being a better citizen. Uggh.

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Those nobodies and a good portion of GOP legislators still believe the Lost Cause fantasy. I recall their flags were a mingle of desecrated American flags, Trump flags, bibles, and Confederate battle flags. They claim that the continuation of slavery was not their intention, but it is/was written into their Confederate Constitution as well as a number of Southern state constitutions. They despise democratic government and our constitution. Sen. Rand Paul declared last week that democracy and majority rule to be the cause of all 'our' troubles.

Some of us seek truth while others declare that they already possess it and no other truth is permissible.

"On the other side are those who espouse a belief system or ideology which pre-packages all the answers, who have faith in it, who trust the authorities, priests and prophets, and who either think that the hows and whys of the universe are explained to satisfaction by their faith, or smugly embrace ignorance. Note that although the historical majority of these latter are the epigones of one or another religion, they also include the followers of such ideologies as Marxism and Stalinism – which are also all-embracing monolithic ownerships of the Great Truth to which everyone must sign up on pain of punishment, and on whose behalf their zealots are prepared to kill and die."

A. C. Grayling 08/16/2009

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It's interesting to listen to HCR's podcast recently about QAnon and cults. It made me wonder, is Trumpism not a form of cultism?

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This has been decided by some who would know. And Hassan has a website that offers his reprogramming services called Freedom of Mind.

https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/The-Cult-of-Trump/Steven-Hassan/9781982127343

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Yes, I would think so. Trump is the driving force behind the movement: his followers idolize him, the individual, no matter what he says or does. He is a demigod. His followers are unable to listen to reason. They will believe anything he says, do anything he asks, eschew news sources, launch an attack, volunteer to kill those who stand in their way. They have been brainwashed, and don't know it. They act against their own interest and don't know it. That, to me, seems compatible with a cult.

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"desecrated American flags" -- hey, you all, you're adding to my vocabulary. Sharp wits, sharp tongues, pithy sayings galore. Thanks!

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Politics might be spectator entertainment for those who feel powerless and victimized.

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Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! Today's Letter is a call. Many here are already responding with their actions. The Department of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is holding a full committee hearing for "Examining DC Statehood." Hearing starts at 10:00 a.m., to be held in the Senate Dirksen Building, with video conference. Here's a great plan: Give DC statehood!

https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/examining-dc-statehood

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Wow. That had gone to my back burner. Thank you Lynell! Great strategy. Get all the burners going!

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Wouldn't it be loverly if West Virginia and Arizona were not needed anymore? Just sayin'!

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Good morning, Lynell! Time indeed for DC Statehood!

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Morning, Ally!! Del. Holmes Norton seems really optimistic about it. I am not sure what is supposed to happen next. It would be so cool if this got done in time for 2022.

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Mike Solon and Bill Greene have spent too much time in the stratosphere of their ivory towers. Their brains must be starved of oxygen to pen such an arrogant, boneheaded op-ed in a national newspaper. This is the kind of paternal, elitist rhetoric that is usually spoken in hushed tones behind closed doors, not shouted from the town square. Time to take our gardening gloves off and start disrupting the status quo. We will not be dismissed.

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Yes, take off the gardening gloves and get your hands dirty, very dirty, pulling up weeds.

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Morning Diane! “Time to take our gardening gloves off and start disrupting the status quo.” Oh, that’s good. I’ve already sent out this rallying call. Class is still in session and time to school the ignorant.

Write on!

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Morning, Diane!! Me thinks they have been emboldened by their Republican lawmakers who have already "come out of the closet"!

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Murdock still control the OPed parts of the WSJ.

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Jun 22, 2021
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Condescending drivel says it all

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On my score sheet, I have to rate this as one of your best, most timely, and informative.

Last week, Rand Paul, with his normal lack of awareness, made the statements below. I point this out because of the direct relationship between the mind of the slavers of a hundred and seventy years ago and the GOP legislators of today. It is very disturbing to see how Paul openly identified democracy and the constitution as a problem, and as the source of Jim Crow laws. Chances are that his target audience never knew it was wrong and anti-American.

“The idea of democracy and majority rule really is what goes against our history and what the country stands for,” Paul said. “The Jim Crow laws came out of democracy. That’s what you get when a majority ignores the rights of others.”

Sen. Rand Paul, Ky.

Rep. Justin Hill, Mo., in March, rationalized his opposition to the Medicaid expansion in remarkable terms:

“Even though my constituents voted for this lie, I’m going to protect them,” he said. “I am proud to stand against the will of the people.”

That is astonishing.

According to Rand Paul, this is how the system is supposed to work.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rand-paul-offers-an-accidentally-useful-jim-crow-analogy-in-rationalizing-his-party-s-illiberal-shift/ar-AAL1OUz?ocid=msedgntp

I see two possible reasons that Republican voters would return such people to represent them in Congress. First, they are totally disconnected from reality. Second, they are quite aware of the intention of the GOP to destroy our republic and support them in their effort.

Finally, I want to thank you for an excellent article and for posting all the sources.

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Third, it’s easier to re-elect than do the work to choose someone new. <sigh>

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Especially when the incumbent has millions in his war chest while his opponent has thousands.

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Especially when it's re-elect by not bothering to vote at all.

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"There are signs that the Democrats are preparing for an epic battle over this bill. " Good. Great. Fantastic. Awesome. Wonderful. It's about time. Godspeed. May the force be with you. You go guys. Hotdamn. Don't give up.

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Today (June 22) two events occurred that had effects that are still felt today. (Including the topic of HCR's post here):

80 years ago, Adolf Hitler signed his own death warrant when he sent his armies east, invading the Soviet Union. There are very few things - in fact this may be the only one - that I agree with Vladimir Putin about, but he's right that we in the West disrespect the absolutely crucial, major contribution to eventual victory made by the Soviet Union. 80 percent of *all deaths in World War II* happened on the Eastern Front; More Soviet soldiers died at Stalingrad than all US casualties in the war. Had Stalin not honored his agreement to begin the 1944 summer offensive within 72 hours of the Allied landings at Normandy, the Normandy invasion would have failed when the Germans could bring all their resources to bear to oppose it; instead, they fought for their lives over the rest of the year over on the Eastern front. And despite what you have been told all your lives, the A-bombs didn't end World War II. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, begun 90 days after the defeat of Germany, as Stalin had promised at Tehran in 1943 and reaffirmed at Yalta in 1945, was the determining event. That's because the Japanese had no defenses in Manchuria or northern Japan, having put all their effort into opposing an American invasion of Kyushu (which they might have accomplished). They knew the Soviets could conquer Hokkaido and Honshu before the US invasion happened. Of course, they told us the bombs worked because it made us responsible to them for defense, and allowed them to become the Ultimate Victims rather than the perpetrators of the Pacific War. Everything that has happened politically around the world in the 80 years since Hitler's invasion was the result of that act. (Including all the external acts and internal responses of the US to world events that led to the creation of the modern Republican Party).

The other event that happened today might not seem as momentous as the above, but it is: 77 years ago, FDR signed the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the GI Bill of Rights. The result of that was the creation of the American middle class, transformed society by the development of the single-family social unit (allowing people who couldn't have done so before to buy homes of their own), transformed American higher education, and created the world the readers of this blog grew up in. And in so doing stimulated the politics in this country in the 77 years since.

In both events, like all other Major Historical Events, the people involved with them at the time would be the most surprised to see their results down the timestream.

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Heather McGhee says in The Sum of Us that only 4% of black GIs were able to access the GI Bill to buy homes. If I recall correctly, due to redlining. So, GI Bill benefits were theoretically available but blacks were unable to access those benefits due to government policy and private discrimination. This is the history taught in Critical Race Theory. Is she correct TCinLA? (I don't have my copy of her book available to double check my statement. Apologies if I misquoted the author.)

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Yes, that's accurate. It wasn't until the Vietnam GI Bill that access improved for African-American veterans, following passage of the civil rights bills. I'm certain access still wasn't as easy for them as it was for someone like me.

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Whoa. New history lesson for me, TC. Thank you.

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Thank you, TC, for your detailed historical overview that amplified HCR’s post today.

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Thanks TC. I knew Americans were largely under the impression that "WE" won the war, when, in fact, if any country's contribution was crucial to defeating Hitler it was Russia's, but it had never occurred to me to think the invasion of Manchuria might have been more important in defeating Japan than our two nukes. Your Japan as "ultimate victims" theory is fascinating. Is this widely accepted among historians?

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t depends on the historian. There is a lot of frustration over how Germany was forced to confront what had been done by the Nazis, and "de-Nazification," while our potwar Shogun, Douglas MacArthur, made no effort to do that (other than trying the man who defeated him as a war criminal) and even allowed most of the pre-war and even wartime leadership to form the "Liberal"-"Democratic" Party , how the Japanese were allowed to develop a history curriculum (which is still taught) that has them as the guys trying to liberate Asia from the white imperialists, then winning every battle but having to make "strategic" retreats, and then - atom bombs! There has been no official governmental acknowledgement of the Rape of Nanking, the comfort women, the Bataan Death March, the Railway of Death ("Bridge on the River Kwai") or any of the other crimes, as the German government has done. And they do play themselves as the "ultimate victims" for the bombs.

For historians, a conservative will generally buy the "official" history of the bombs, there are others who just don't question the subject (watching how the readers will jump to say "America won!"), but any of the "revisionist" historians of the past 20-30 years is in agreement with what I wrote. But there's still a lot of pushback from the USA! USA! types. I was accused of "woke history" for questioning the shibboleths of US "history" of the Korean War, which is nothing but unexamined wartime propaganda that has fossilized into coprolite over the past 70 years. I can only wait to hear the screams when my Vietnam books come this year and next, but I'm covered with a lot of public support from Admirals and other "MiG-killers" from then who are glad someone finally got at the actual facts.

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Good day! You know what, HCR? Methinks that occasional day off unplugged and featuring a miles long kayak stroll that is good for the soul also fired up all cylinders. Today’s letter sizzlin’ like bacon on the griddle.

Thank you for your precise, soulful, and hair raising inspiration. Your pen is truly a sword of a gift.

Write on! 💯💜✅

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HCR at her best; making a point with spot-on historical comparisons illustrating just what is at stake here and how we got here.

I agree with Chet Lyons that a WSJ OpEd rebuttal is called for; at least a letter, making the same points HCR made in today's letter.

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How utterly maddening and sad, that, due to an orchestrated attempt by the GOP and their man child Trump to change the subject, yet again, we are now focused on the very basic and essential fundamental aspect of this country—the quality of our democracy. How clever to stoke fear into our hearts over voting, the heartbeat of our nation, while so many, so many, issues (they hope will) languish. Don't lose the forest for the trees Dems! You can multitask. It's important. Stay focused. Keep your eyes on the prize. Tackle all the things that need tackling, including, now (thank you Trump), voting and our precious democracy. Don't let the ugly GOP steer you off course.

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One of the oldest items on the Russian agenda is to disparage US democracy and our free elections. I'm not surprised that the GOP is now carrying out its agenda and accepting its donations for election campaigns.

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this is the essence of our dilemma. Do we allow ordinary people to "meddle" in the details of policy, or just restrict them to agreeing with our domination and suppression of their humanity?

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Easy answer for me. I’ll meddle.

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You, patriotic rebel rouser, you...go on with your bad self, Christine!

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A powerful letter today! Some of us were commenting about this very thing here a few days ago. The vast majority of Americans are barely keeping their noses above water as they tread as hard and fast as possible. 163 years ago that's the way Hammond said it should be and so it still is. How desperate the gop must now be to maintain the status quo that they've put Solon and Greene to the task of trying to scare us into complacency, rather than lull us back to it as is their usual M.O.! Of course the reality is that we political nobodies (t-shirts, anyone?) have already been doing the heavy lifting of "rallying, canvassing, picketing, lobbying, protesting, texting, posting, parading and, above all, shouting” for decades but, thanks to the www and SM the efforts of organizers, much of it's so much easier and less time consuming than it used to be for the PNs to register their opinions. People on here like Ellie Kona, Mary Pat, Diane, and others who provide us links and talking points save us so much time by sending us right where we need to go. Many, many thanks! This PN bows down to you.

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So true, Beth. And I like the t-shirt idea.

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OMG! “If they knew the tremendous secret, that the ballot-box is stronger than ‘an army with banners,’... where would you be? Your society would be reconstructed, your government overthrown, your property, divided, not… with arms in their hands, but by the quiet process of the ballot-box.” And the Republican base was upset by being called “deplorable”?

I wish this was banner headline all over the country.

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