Yesterday, by a vote of 285 to 120, the House of Representatives voted to remove the statues of Confederates from the U.S. Capitol. While 67 Republicans voted in favor of the measure, 120 did not. Representative Mo Brooks (R-AL), who told the insurrectionists on January 6 before they stormed the Capitol “"Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass," issued a statement titled: “CONGRESSMAN MO BROOKS DEFENDS STATES' RIGHTS, RIPS INTOLERANT SOCIALISTS WHO SEEK TO TAKE DOWN CAPITOL STATUES THEY DON'T LIKE.”
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
The more I read about current events, the more I am completely disillusioned with this Country. It is truly as if we are locked in a movie theater that is showing the worst film ever and we have no way to escape.
As much as I applaud Pelosi for shouldering through to have a Commission investigate January 6th, will it really matter what the results are? None of it will have any bearing on the Mid terms, let alone 2024. More to the point, there isn't anything a person who is entrenched in The Big Lie that will change their mind. Perhaps just an exercise for the history books.
My partner put up our flag and decorated the outside of the house for the 4th of July. We live in a small historical village district in a very Red Town. I will take it all down on the 5th. There is no honor any longer in our flag. He agreed.
The cat woke me up about an hour ago for some crunchy food. I opened Heather's letter. I watched the NYT investigative video. I wish I hadn't. As long as Republicans support the idea that there was no insurrection our country will not heal.
Today's Letter points sharply at the efforts to support and subvert Democracy in black and white. The divide is diabolically clear, strong and forbidding; how do we go on?
Yesterday Heather’s Letter opened with the following: ‘Last week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis became the latest Republican governor to sign a bill making it harder for citizens to shift away from the fossil fuels that are changing the climate’. I cannot let this subject go today. It is joined with the further menace to the migrants at the border by Abbott and Ducey, the governor of Arizona. 'Iowa governor Kim Reynolds, Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts, and Florida governor Ron DeSantis have all pledged to send law enforcement to Texas and Arizona. Yesterday, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem one-upped them by announcing that she is sending 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, and that billionaires Willis and Reba Johnson from Franklin, Tennessee, are paying for the troops. Johnson told Josh Kovensky at Talking Points Memo that he was making the donation because' “this President would rather help other countries than help America.” (The Letter)
I ask that you read the following:
Madagascar is headed toward a climate change-linked famine it did not create
In Madagascar, hunger has already left people eating raw red cactus fruits, wild leaves, even the very locusts that helped decimate crops. The southern part of the country is experiencing its worst drought in decades, with the World Food Program warning that 1.14 million people are food-insecure and 400,000 people are headed toward starvation'.
'As a vast Indian Ocean island renowned for its remote beauty and unique ecosystem, Madagascar is sometimes referred to as the eighth continent. But the problems it faces now are “catastrophic,” according to WFP — and they are not primarily the result of local political or economic disorder, nor do they stem from isolated weather events.'
“The big thing is there’s no conflict, but people are dying of hunger” in Madagascar, Lola Castro, who is WFP’s regional director in southern Africa and visited the worst-hit areas in June, told Today’s WorldView. The problem, Castro explained, was “clearly climate change.” (by Adam Taylor, Washington Post) Link below:
'It’s Some of America’s Richest Farmland. But What Is It Without Water?'
'A California farmer decides it makes better business sense to sell his water than to grow rice. An almond farmer considers uprooting his trees to put up solar panels. Drought is transforming the state, with broad consequences for the food supply.' (NY Times) Link below:
When you finish reading this comment, including the links, and consider Heather's Letter this morning, reflect on the actions of DeSantis, Abbott, Ricketts, Noam, et al. Then look to Pelosi, Biden, Fauci and many other brave and committed souls. They are going forward, and we are with them every step of the way.
Perhaps a gaff, but does the good Representative from the great State of Alabama understand that he cannot be a believer in “Federalism” and simultaneously object to the placement of confederate effigies at the Capitol under the guise of supporting his state’s desire to continue to honor its connection to a failed and racist emblem? Sad. Mo should be recalled for failing civics in junior high school. Oh, yea, he probably was taught that the south really won. My bad.🤷♂️
Mo's "states' rights" rhetoric (and my namesake Senator Mitch McConnell's similar talk in response to HR 1) put me in mind of a historical figure: Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, perhaps the most intellectually effective proponent of that doctrine. Rereading his works today might remind us that the entire Southern slave system was politically dependent on the claim that the U.S.A. was a union of states and no more than that. Southern Democrats evoked "states' rights" to defend Jim Crow - and got away with it, because their votes were needed for other measures.
Unfortunately, the Constitution does in fact place the administration of elections in the hands of the states. HR1 is intended to change that by introducing comprehensive Federal rules, without actually ammending the Constitution. An uphill climb, as we see.
We need to remember where all this "states' rights" talk originally came from. But remembering is not enough: the DEMS need to work harder to take back more state legislatures, to make the arc of the Constitution "bend toward justice"!
I watched the NY Times video after reading today's letter. Here is my response. It was 243 words too long for the NY Times comments, but you can read it. You might be able to tell I was incensed after watching it:
Anger isn't nearly a strong enough word to describe my feelings after watching this video. I agree with other posters that every person involved in American politics - local, state, federal - should be forced to sit down and watch the entire video. Why forced? Because it's obvious that many will say, just like their dictator wannabe Trump, that the January 6 insurrection was just something dreamed up by left-wing radical socialists, the universal name Republicans have bestowed on Democrats in order to keep the red venom flowing. This is a totally disgusting video to watch, yet that's why it is so good. It was real, it happened, and no one can deny what was caught on video by the insurrectionists' own cameras. Every one of the 500 or so rioters who have been arrested should be put in jail. Trump should go to prison for the rest of his life, and his Republican acolytes who continue to call the 2020 election a fraud and refuse to accept a clean defeat should be stripped of their office and never allowed to enter politics again. With Trump now criss-crossing the country and spewing the same vitriol he began many years ago - not just during his time in office - I have no doubt his dimwitted followers will attempt more insurrections. What will resolve this situation, a civil war? I hope not, but that's what Trump's animals are gearing for. And he is just feeding the frenzy with his seditionist diatribe. And this is the United States of America? How dare we even allow something like this to take place? God bless this democracy as time goes on, for it appears the hopes of the Founding Fathers to establish a true democracy are in jeopardy, due in large part to a very sick, totally narcissistic individual who would be king.
Regarding the removal of statues, if I am given a gift that is offensive, I have no obligation to display it. I may make the gift-giver angry. So be it. Misguidedly displaying the gift does not create an obligation to continue to display it. Why should Congressman and US Senate candidate Mo Brooks think it appropriate to display statues honoring those who led a rebellion against the United States, a rebellion undertaken in order to enslave people in their states? It is regrettable that statues of Confederates were ever displayed at the US Capitol.
I hope we keep following these additional law enforcement officers and National Guard members being sent to Texas. What will they do when they get there? Anything? It sounds like when Trump sent active duty military personel to the border, where they hung around, strung some barbed wire, and sweltered in the heat. Net effect on immigration = zero. Wasted money and military morale = millions.
Cruelty being the point, nothing Republicans are doing is designed to make the lives of their constituents better. Rather, it is about feeding red-meat/ schadenfreude to their base, and making the lives of women and minorities, miserable.
I retired after a 36 year career as a high school teacher and assistant principal. Therefore, I am extremely interested in discussions concerning the teaching of Critical Race Theory in our schools. To listen to the trump right, one would think the curriculum of every school from preschool to high school is inundated with CRT. It was my belief that it was sometimes taught in law school. Is this false? I personally know of no district that is including this in their curriculum. And yet, I see “concerned” lawmakers waxing eloquently of the dangers and evils that the theory poses to our children. This appears to be yet another disinformation campaign that so many see and believe. Am I wrong? I personally believe our curriculum needs to be revised with truth instead of myth. An uphill battle, especially in my home state of Texas, but a battle that must be fought. As my grandmother used to say, “One way or the other, the truth will out.”
Thanks as always for putting today’s events in the context of history.
Here’s an excellent piece on State attempts to ban discussion of critical race theory. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/magazine/memory-laws.html. The analogy to Stalin in the ‘30s seems apt. And it seems clear that the ReTrumplicans who rail against “cancel culture” are doing their best to cancel the emergence of those parts of the American story that don’t mesh with their lily-white fiction.
Mother Theresa said, peace begins with a smile. It’s sad that Kevin, Mitch, Ron, and the rest won’t even give a smile. Is this to be how democracy dies?
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Thank you Heather.
The more I read about current events, the more I am completely disillusioned with this Country. It is truly as if we are locked in a movie theater that is showing the worst film ever and we have no way to escape.
As much as I applaud Pelosi for shouldering through to have a Commission investigate January 6th, will it really matter what the results are? None of it will have any bearing on the Mid terms, let alone 2024. More to the point, there isn't anything a person who is entrenched in The Big Lie that will change their mind. Perhaps just an exercise for the history books.
My partner put up our flag and decorated the outside of the house for the 4th of July. We live in a small historical village district in a very Red Town. I will take it all down on the 5th. There is no honor any longer in our flag. He agreed.
Be safe, be well.
The cat woke me up about an hour ago for some crunchy food. I opened Heather's letter. I watched the NYT investigative video. I wish I hadn't. As long as Republicans support the idea that there was no insurrection our country will not heal.
I’m alarmed that private citizens are funding national guard troops... is that even legal?
Today's Letter points sharply at the efforts to support and subvert Democracy in black and white. The divide is diabolically clear, strong and forbidding; how do we go on?
Yesterday Heather’s Letter opened with the following: ‘Last week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis became the latest Republican governor to sign a bill making it harder for citizens to shift away from the fossil fuels that are changing the climate’. I cannot let this subject go today. It is joined with the further menace to the migrants at the border by Abbott and Ducey, the governor of Arizona. 'Iowa governor Kim Reynolds, Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts, and Florida governor Ron DeSantis have all pledged to send law enforcement to Texas and Arizona. Yesterday, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem one-upped them by announcing that she is sending 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, and that billionaires Willis and Reba Johnson from Franklin, Tennessee, are paying for the troops. Johnson told Josh Kovensky at Talking Points Memo that he was making the donation because' “this President would rather help other countries than help America.” (The Letter)
I ask that you read the following:
Madagascar is headed toward a climate change-linked famine it did not create
In Madagascar, hunger has already left people eating raw red cactus fruits, wild leaves, even the very locusts that helped decimate crops. The southern part of the country is experiencing its worst drought in decades, with the World Food Program warning that 1.14 million people are food-insecure and 400,000 people are headed toward starvation'.
'As a vast Indian Ocean island renowned for its remote beauty and unique ecosystem, Madagascar is sometimes referred to as the eighth continent. But the problems it faces now are “catastrophic,” according to WFP — and they are not primarily the result of local political or economic disorder, nor do they stem from isolated weather events.'
“The big thing is there’s no conflict, but people are dying of hunger” in Madagascar, Lola Castro, who is WFP’s regional director in southern Africa and visited the worst-hit areas in June, told Today’s WorldView. The problem, Castro explained, was “clearly climate change.” (by Adam Taylor, Washington Post) Link below:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/01/madagascar-climate-famine/
'It’s Some of America’s Richest Farmland. But What Is It Without Water?'
'A California farmer decides it makes better business sense to sell his water than to grow rice. An almond farmer considers uprooting his trees to put up solar panels. Drought is transforming the state, with broad consequences for the food supply.' (NY Times) Link below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/climate/california-drought-farming.html
When you finish reading this comment, including the links, and consider Heather's Letter this morning, reflect on the actions of DeSantis, Abbott, Ricketts, Noam, et al. Then look to Pelosi, Biden, Fauci and many other brave and committed souls. They are going forward, and we are with them every step of the way.
Perhaps a gaff, but does the good Representative from the great State of Alabama understand that he cannot be a believer in “Federalism” and simultaneously object to the placement of confederate effigies at the Capitol under the guise of supporting his state’s desire to continue to honor its connection to a failed and racist emblem? Sad. Mo should be recalled for failing civics in junior high school. Oh, yea, he probably was taught that the south really won. My bad.🤷♂️
Mo's "states' rights" rhetoric (and my namesake Senator Mitch McConnell's similar talk in response to HR 1) put me in mind of a historical figure: Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, perhaps the most intellectually effective proponent of that doctrine. Rereading his works today might remind us that the entire Southern slave system was politically dependent on the claim that the U.S.A. was a union of states and no more than that. Southern Democrats evoked "states' rights" to defend Jim Crow - and got away with it, because their votes were needed for other measures.
Unfortunately, the Constitution does in fact place the administration of elections in the hands of the states. HR1 is intended to change that by introducing comprehensive Federal rules, without actually ammending the Constitution. An uphill climb, as we see.
We need to remember where all this "states' rights" talk originally came from. But remembering is not enough: the DEMS need to work harder to take back more state legislatures, to make the arc of the Constitution "bend toward justice"!
I watched the NY Times video after reading today's letter. Here is my response. It was 243 words too long for the NY Times comments, but you can read it. You might be able to tell I was incensed after watching it:
Anger isn't nearly a strong enough word to describe my feelings after watching this video. I agree with other posters that every person involved in American politics - local, state, federal - should be forced to sit down and watch the entire video. Why forced? Because it's obvious that many will say, just like their dictator wannabe Trump, that the January 6 insurrection was just something dreamed up by left-wing radical socialists, the universal name Republicans have bestowed on Democrats in order to keep the red venom flowing. This is a totally disgusting video to watch, yet that's why it is so good. It was real, it happened, and no one can deny what was caught on video by the insurrectionists' own cameras. Every one of the 500 or so rioters who have been arrested should be put in jail. Trump should go to prison for the rest of his life, and his Republican acolytes who continue to call the 2020 election a fraud and refuse to accept a clean defeat should be stripped of their office and never allowed to enter politics again. With Trump now criss-crossing the country and spewing the same vitriol he began many years ago - not just during his time in office - I have no doubt his dimwitted followers will attempt more insurrections. What will resolve this situation, a civil war? I hope not, but that's what Trump's animals are gearing for. And he is just feeding the frenzy with his seditionist diatribe. And this is the United States of America? How dare we even allow something like this to take place? God bless this democracy as time goes on, for it appears the hopes of the Founding Fathers to establish a true democracy are in jeopardy, due in large part to a very sick, totally narcissistic individual who would be king.
There is something wrong with privately funding the National Guard deployment. Period.
Regarding the removal of statues, if I am given a gift that is offensive, I have no obligation to display it. I may make the gift-giver angry. So be it. Misguidedly displaying the gift does not create an obligation to continue to display it. Why should Congressman and US Senate candidate Mo Brooks think it appropriate to display statues honoring those who led a rebellion against the United States, a rebellion undertaken in order to enslave people in their states? It is regrettable that statues of Confederates were ever displayed at the US Capitol.
Q: How long before Secession becomes a key Republican talking point in Red State legislatures?
I hope we keep following these additional law enforcement officers and National Guard members being sent to Texas. What will they do when they get there? Anything? It sounds like when Trump sent active duty military personel to the border, where they hung around, strung some barbed wire, and sweltered in the heat. Net effect on immigration = zero. Wasted money and military morale = millions.
Cruelty being the point, nothing Republicans are doing is designed to make the lives of their constituents better. Rather, it is about feeding red-meat/ schadenfreude to their base, and making the lives of women and minorities, miserable.
I retired after a 36 year career as a high school teacher and assistant principal. Therefore, I am extremely interested in discussions concerning the teaching of Critical Race Theory in our schools. To listen to the trump right, one would think the curriculum of every school from preschool to high school is inundated with CRT. It was my belief that it was sometimes taught in law school. Is this false? I personally know of no district that is including this in their curriculum. And yet, I see “concerned” lawmakers waxing eloquently of the dangers and evils that the theory poses to our children. This appears to be yet another disinformation campaign that so many see and believe. Am I wrong? I personally believe our curriculum needs to be revised with truth instead of myth. An uphill battle, especially in my home state of Texas, but a battle that must be fought. As my grandmother used to say, “One way or the other, the truth will out.”
The NYT video on the insurrection is a must-see documentary.
Thanks as always for putting today’s events in the context of history.
Here’s an excellent piece on State attempts to ban discussion of critical race theory. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/magazine/memory-laws.html. The analogy to Stalin in the ‘30s seems apt. And it seems clear that the ReTrumplicans who rail against “cancel culture” are doing their best to cancel the emergence of those parts of the American story that don’t mesh with their lily-white fiction.
Mother Theresa said, peace begins with a smile. It’s sad that Kevin, Mitch, Ron, and the rest won’t even give a smile. Is this to be how democracy dies?