This morning, conservative pundit William Kristol wrote in The Bulwark what a number of us have been saying for a while now, and it dovetails cleanly with the current Republican attempt to suppress voting.
"I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous this is." I might be forgetting, but I don't remember Heather writing this sentence in any of the hundreds of letters she's written these past 17 months. How is it possible that we voted him out, that we won the Senate, and yet it seems we are in more danger than ever? How is it possible that rather than see that as a call to back away from these lies, to back away from all of this poisonous anti-democratic white supremacist horror, they've double down? Quadrupled down? I am spent. I hope I can get unspent so that I can do whatever I can, but I am spent.
How is it possible? I think this is actually a function of federalism, in that while the Democrats have (narrowly) won a majority in the federal elections, the Republicans still hold a majority of state political offices. And the states, especially after Shelby, have near-absolute control over access to voting.
Here in Georgia, this aspects fills me with despair. Despite no evidence of election insecurity, widespread disapproval from the public, impassioned alarm from the Democratic minority, my legislature is quickly moving ahead with voter suppression measures similar to those HCR mentioned above. The fact that the Republican-led Secretary of State's office found no fraud and the election procedures were overhauled just a few years ago has no bearing on the machinations of the Republicans in my House and Senate.
The despair? It come from realizing that the Republicans in my state legislature (italics here) do not care what I think and they do not want to protect my interests (end italics), because since I didn't vote for them, I am their enemy. In a very real sense, I have already been disenfranchised. No matter how many letters I write or how much money I donate, I will never affect the actions of a Republican representative.
The are no longer interested in democracy, because if a political party is never willing to lose and never willing to be wrong, they will never be able to participate in a democratic government. Their vision has shrunken, they will never be better than oligarchs.
Yes. Yes. This is how it is possible, yes. I didn't literally not know how. THIS is how. But still....how can it be this bad? How can THEY be this bad as human beings? So many so powerful. I cannot accept it. My mind cannot. I cannot give up. And yet, as you say, such despair. And terror. OK. It's almost 4 in the morning. I'd better shut up now.
I suggest people check out some of the series on the History Channel about Hitler and WWII. What I learned in school in the history books 50-60 years ago doesn't tell the whole story. It's frightening to see the similarities between the republican party of today and the rise of Hitler.
Janet I’m watching Rick Steve’s show on fascism and I almost didn’t because I’ve read so much about wwI and I but the interviews and footage is such a great synopsis. Thank you!
Everyone should watch RS on European fascism. Even those well-versed in the subject will learn something new. Whether in this special or his regular programs, Rick always has the right perspective, the right touch.
Yes, Janet. It's not that I don't remember. I am a second generation American Jew with great aunts, uncles, and cousins who were tortured and murdered. It beyond "remembering," in a sense, because I was born into this knowledge.
And yet. I am having great difficulty fully believing that it is happening, or could easily happen, here in the US. I understand the mechanics of it now (poo pooed the concerns before Trump, but not anymore of course), I'm just having difficulty dealing with it, fully in my bones believing it.
This is where my family came for safety. Before the war and after. This is America. Not that as Jews we didn't know that danger always lurks -- in quieter ways than it does for people of color -- but no Jew of a certain background can ever feel completely safe. But that that danger could be on the threshold of having the upper hand?
It's causing me intense cognitive dissonance. Emotional dissonance, if that is such a thing. I will continue to do what I can to fight. There's no other choice. I'm not someone who can just go "cultivate my own garden" -- tho my garden is one of the few places where I can feel a measure of freedom from this and sometimes I DO wish I could just stay there. But I cannot.
I have been part of the quiet resistance these past four years, writing postcards to voters, making phone calls to lawmakers, giving small amounts of money to whomever I thought best. I know that there was a small army of us who made a difference in this way, rarely getting attention (not sexy, women writing postcards), but crucial to helping accomplish what we did. And I will continue. It's just extremely disheartening and outright frightening right now.
Naomi, although I am not Jewish, I share your concerns, and they are tied to WWII. I was born during the war, and my earliest contact with adult conversation dealt with its horrors. We knew several Jewish people who managed to escape the Holocaust, and had neighbors who had spent years in DP camps in Europe, finally managing to make it to this country. The wife told my mother that I taught her son to speak English - apparently, my bossy nature was revealed at an early age! I still am horrified by these stories, and a visit to Auschwitz haunts me to this day. I, too, believe that these hideous fascists would jump at the chance to impose their sickness on us. Until the last four years, I never believed it was possible, but the hate-mongering is happening, and is incumbent upon all of us to educate our friends and renounce this filth. The army is larger than we think, so we can continue with the postcards, donations, and phone calls. Most of Germany didn't see it coming, but we have the benefit of hindsight.
Dearest Nomi, I cannot even begin to imagine. Your response of “intense cognitive . . . Emotional dissonance” to the vision of danger we may be seeing on the horizon feels heartbreaking. Cultivating our gardens nourishes not only our bodies but also our souls. And, I feel that is important work.
Meanwhile, on this day our Supreme Court hears what may be described as voting rights arguments and appears to be leaning toward restriction it may be time for a louder resistance.
...Supported and funded by a cabal that has been infiltrating our government for decades and are now well-placed throughout, including propaganda media and cyber warfare tearing us apart. We also have normalized anti-democracy, egregious behaviors and not called them out every single day beginning with "shooting someone on 5th Ave" and allowing a tyrant king to meet alone with a dangerous dictator and his minions.
We could solve some fraction of this to move forward by ousting the fricking seditionists we are allowing to make laws in our democracy, pretending they are normal people. That is what hurts my brain the most. Why have we standing for this and struggling to be "bi-partisan?" Thank you, Heather, for stating what the reality is, finally. We have been in a Constitutional crisis for years. And now the radical fanatics are normalized. The heads of this snake (cult leader and his SS machine) need to be removed, immediately.
Freedom of speech, for some, must be earned after proving and signing on to the overthrow of our democracy. Dems, progressives, independents and republicans who respect our Democracy need to act swiftly. Swiftly, I have been saying for years.
Our Justice system must act as quickly as our COVID response is finally acting.
We started the process when Andrew Johnson allowed the Southern Aristocracy back into power after the Civil War by simply declaring their allegieance to the Republic!
I finished reading "Dark Money" last night. Over the years William Kristol has been part of the Koch program. I find it ironic that he's now trying to fix the problem he helped make.
I have never understood why a person who uses the language: "shooting someone on 5th Ave", could be considered remotely acceptable as a Presidential candidate, let alone a “failed” businessman. Politicians need to be held to a different standard if you will. We all often say things we do not mean - a joke, trying to be “clever” - and the fallout is possibly minimal. We apologize, hopefully learn, and move on. In politics a different standard is and should be required. I have never understood the attitude: “Oh he didn’t really mean it!” I am probably naive, but that’s what my father taught me: “If you dont meant it, keep your mouth shut!”
Well, I have been obsessed since I was a child in how fascist regimes and cults rise. What T***p did to 30% of our population was textbook. He used his rallies, Twitter and Fox (as did Russian cyber warfare of bots and trolls) to target ripe populations ready for a messianic leader. He carefully messaged them with propaganda (neurolinguistic programming) in a very repetitive manner and used chanting and collectivized programming. Notice, he held rallies tweets continually throughout his presidency to maintain that mind control--was that not strange? That "shoot someone on Park Ave," in my mind was his big test to see if the brainwashing had solidified. It was a HUGE success. He and totalitarianism won at the moment and a sane America lost. Even the MSM bought it and did not make a big deal out of any of his propagandist techniques and spreading of lies and fear and division. This is how tyranny spreads and how a people are exploited. The lack of reaction in our country during the 2016 campaign after that most shocking of statements
was the pivotal moment in our history. At least it was for me.
Oh, it started long before Trump. They have been using the same rhetoric since the inception of the Republic. White supremacism has never left us, it just became more effective and vocal over the past 20 years. Xenophobia and racism became de rigueur after 9/11 and have grown in power ever since.
Exactly. Trump was just a bigger megaphone and gave people permission to do the same and mainly for his subbing the rule of law. Our founding father's were white supremacists!
Bookstores and libraries are my natural habitat. Do you run or work in a bookstore, or recommend to someone else's? Since we're both in MA, I'd consider giving you some business (but not "the business").
Thanks for the book recomendation. I think Heather has mentioned that title by Arendt, or maybe you did a few days ago. I'm still on lockdown but my pile of economics, politics and History books goes down one and then up two.
Someone else mentioned it a couple of weeks ago; now I endorse their endorsement. I believe Arendt pioneered the idea that the political spectrum is a circle, not a line. That places totalitarians like Hitler and Stalin next to each other, not at opposite ends.
And giving permission for people to vent their darkest prejudices. Great comments from everyone recommending different books and programs. I suggest reading Gellately's Backing Hitler, showing how the German public largely supported and cheered on the horrors of the Third Reich.
A decade ago I met my state senator for a drink to talk about my no longer being a lobbyist, and starting my new business. But before we could talk about my future, he was just giddy to talk about his: He and his Republican pals in the Michigan legislature had just finished gerrymandering. "We'll be in office forever!" That was the day I stopped voting Republican. My friend had gone over to the dark side, but he saw it all as a great, fun game. We have term limits in this state. He was soon gone.
I live in a Democratic stronghold, Maryland, where the Congressional Districts are outrageously gerrymandered. You only need to look at Dist 3, to get the idea. Gerrymandering and it's "giddy" delight is non-partisan. Whichever party is in control of the state gerrymanders it to their favor, thus planning to rule "forever." What is surprising is that a Republican won the Governorship. Oops. The state House and Senate remain Democratic. I'm grateful, but I'm now anti-party and pro-independent. I don't know that my choice makes a difference, but I vote carefully and I feel better.
I'm in the 5th - recently I got a letter that was pro-gerrymandering. MD Democrats are in a tough spot - keeping things as they are keeps it safely Democratic but we are suppose to (rightly so) be anti-gerrymandering. What is good for the goose I guess - which means we might find ourselves a swing state yet!
That great democrat, Thomas Jefferson, claimed that most citizens were inately capable of distinuishing wrong from right and would ultimately do the right thing. This was why he claimed "all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights." And those who were deficient in knowing wrong from right could be educated. And that enormous task continues 245 years later.
With each undemocratic excess committed by the Trumpublicans, a few real Republicans might begin to see the basic difference between right and wrong and I hope modify their views. It will take a long time, but it will happen and the party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower will resume its rightful place, getting rid of the CPAC trash which now dominates it, just as the racist trash which dominated the Democratic Party up until the 1960's was ultimately gotten rid of.
I saw a movement at the CPAC event to start a new party, "The Patriots." If the trumpers succeed in breaking off from "The Republicans", rather than keeping control of it, could that be a good thing and the beginning of their demise?
“Evil is banal”-Hannah Arendt. Evil is ordinary. All ordinary people are capable of cruelty, of atrocities, of just following orders, and of looking away.
This is exactly the situation in my state, Florida. In his response to my last letter to Rick Scott, he spewed The Big Lie and more. Our Governor was #2 pick for President in 2024 behind 45 among CPAC attendees. And add at least one more thing, gerrymandering. Heck, add dark money. I see no other solution than doing away with the filibuster in order to pass necessary legislation. I have never been so involved in politics but I am a young retiree and feel compelled to do so to ensure my retirement remains secure!
I’m with you, Daria. I now have 3 forms of heart arrhythmia. My heart is literally broken by all this nonsense. I can only read so much these days. Hoping the heart electrician can fix me soon. In the meantime, I read Heather’s letters and not much more pertaining to the news.
Huge uphill battle. I'm putting my efforts into Nikki Fried's campaign. She hasn't yet announced a run for Governor, but it's a matter of time. Florida is an expensive media market so she will need national support. Anybody here on Twitter can follow her here:
Agree!! I’m listening to the Lincoln project podcasts and their mission is to secure our democracy. The cast consists of former republicans who in 2020 spent $81B to oust 45 and are eager to do the same to these congressional trumpists who call themselves “republicans”, all the while trying to destroy our country, and betraying to their oath to defend our constitution.
Watch the videos, fine. I enjoy them myself. But please don't donate. The Lincoln Project are anti-Trump, but they are still small government Republicans. Not to mention the sexual predation and money management scandals that have arisen among the founding group.
Kelly, I sometimes think Florida is a lost cause. I have also written to Scott and Rubio to no avail. But almost even worse is my congressman, Gus Bilirakis, who puts out a newsletter each week. He spews partisan garbage and then has the nerve to say he is the most bi-partisan congressman in the House. I nearly throw up reading it. And then today I read a post from a Florida FB group saying that DeSantis has a good chance of being re-elected. I am frustrated and really don't know what to do.
In Florida, if you follow how the Republicans used Spanish media print, radio, social media and TV claiming the Democrats were socialists and won the Cuban and Hispanic vote. Start now and use that same strategy to fight back. Talk to Democratic mayors and enlist their support. Build fir the future and take back your state like Stacy did in Georgia. Its proof this can be done!
Ha! You could've been communications consultant for Nikki Fried, the only statewide elected Dem in Florida. She put this out yesterday where she not only defines herself as a Capitalist, she says it in Spanish!
Most FL Repugs are a lost cause, but don't surrender the whole state to them. Join with Dems and progressives to build an alliance to bring more responsive, responsible government to FL. It's a Herculean task but the rewards are great.
Santorum’s been licking DT boots. He’s gonna keep lickin da boot to win the nomination for VP. Now reimagine the Jan 6th riot with Dick Rick presiding over the senate.
A harsh critic of Santorum once said he wasn't fit to live with pigs. I defended him by saying he IS fit to live with pigs. (That's bad luck for the world's swine.)
I am with you - here in Idaho our legislature just passed (both houses) into law the most restrictive requirement for any voter initiative in the country requiring 100% of districts sign on. Unlike Georgia we have no active engaged resistance. We have a few pissed off white women (in my view). Without the federal government, ie; LGBT rights, common core, ADA, Abortion we would be in the dark ages. Oh we are. 50th in the nation in school spending, 17 yr olds conceal carry. Shaking my fist in an empty room.
I have a bunch of friends who want to partition out Oregon to become "Western Idaho". They should just go there and revel in their whiteness, maleness, cisgendereredness, and gunliness.
I'm so sorry. I have a lot of dear family in Idaho that I used to visit at least monthly and for the past 20 years. Just a 5 hour drive for me. I haven't been back in almost two years. It's become extremely difficult for me to be around them anymore as they have become more blazen in their language and views as ever before. They used to hold their cards to their chest when I was around. No longer. A relative sent me a photo of her at church on Ash Wednesday in the beautiful cathedral in Boise. The majority of parishioners were not social distancing or wearing masks. The Pope issued ashes to be sprinkled on the tops of heads this year so as not to touch the forehead, yet the bishop and priest in Boise still put ashes on people's foreheads. I know this sounds trivial, but these little insidious type behaviors undermine my sanity and my hope.
It is maddening that some in the Catholic Church blatantly disregard what the Pope is saying. After Pope Francis came out in support of getting vaccinated, the archbishop of New Orleans decided to tell his parishioners not to. Not only does this put people at risk, it certainly undermines the "pro-life" stance that they are touting. I guess pro-life only pertains to fetuses. And, yes, I can say this because I am Catholic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/02/archdiocese-new-orleans-johnson-vaccine/
Horribly sad. Makes me sick. At my local cathedral, and the little tiny country church I went to during my lunch hour for Ash Wednesday, pews were blocked off, disinfectant and paper towels every where, everyone is masked (even clergy), ashes were sprinkled on heads, and on and on.
Boise is a modern city but outnumbered and surrounded by the always first and easiest to fool by demagoguery, the country folks. It’s sad, and Ammon Bundy has radicalized large swaths of the population surrounding Boise.
Agree. I was raised Catholic. New Orleans cardinal is like many, he has fallen prey to the demagoguery. His religion is not catholic any more. His religion is now DT.
Pope Francis, John XXIII, two truly fine men working a compromised environment with the world’s greatest classical music and architecture - that protects the worst, harms the best, and cons the con, as for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter, Christmas and Holy Cow, let’s face it, if you want fantasy, why leave it to Hollywood, make one up, start your own church and make a movie, call it The Chosen and film yourself... enough dark humor for a cold day in March. Spring is coming...
It’s getting to a point where I think Pope Francis (Argentinian?and what party looked the other way and supported Pinochet in neighboring Chile?) he will take the initiative, and Lead Catholics away from the Republicans. Has to, morally, now.
"I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous this is." I might be forgetting, but I don't remember Heather writing this sentence in any of the hundreds of letters she's written these past 17 months. How is it possible that we voted him out, that we won the Senate, and yet it seems we are in more danger than ever? How is it possible that rather than see that as a call to back away from these lies, to back away from all of this poisonous anti-democratic white supremacist horror, they've double down? Quadrupled down? I am spent. I hope I can get unspent so that I can do whatever I can, but I am spent.
How is it possible? I think this is actually a function of federalism, in that while the Democrats have (narrowly) won a majority in the federal elections, the Republicans still hold a majority of state political offices. And the states, especially after Shelby, have near-absolute control over access to voting.
Here in Georgia, this aspects fills me with despair. Despite no evidence of election insecurity, widespread disapproval from the public, impassioned alarm from the Democratic minority, my legislature is quickly moving ahead with voter suppression measures similar to those HCR mentioned above. The fact that the Republican-led Secretary of State's office found no fraud and the election procedures were overhauled just a few years ago has no bearing on the machinations of the Republicans in my House and Senate.
The despair? It come from realizing that the Republicans in my state legislature (italics here) do not care what I think and they do not want to protect my interests (end italics), because since I didn't vote for them, I am their enemy. In a very real sense, I have already been disenfranchised. No matter how many letters I write or how much money I donate, I will never affect the actions of a Republican representative.
The are no longer interested in democracy, because if a political party is never willing to lose and never willing to be wrong, they will never be able to participate in a democratic government. Their vision has shrunken, they will never be better than oligarchs.
Yes. Yes. This is how it is possible, yes. I didn't literally not know how. THIS is how. But still....how can it be this bad? How can THEY be this bad as human beings? So many so powerful. I cannot accept it. My mind cannot. I cannot give up. And yet, as you say, such despair. And terror. OK. It's almost 4 in the morning. I'd better shut up now.
How did the nazis rise? How did that aberration occur. Just the same way ours is— a raving leader spouting racist words to welcome hoards.
Some of us have some memory of our education about the rise of fascism in Europe. Many do not. Compelling watching for all—
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/fascism
I suggest people check out some of the series on the History Channel about Hitler and WWII. What I learned in school in the history books 50-60 years ago doesn't tell the whole story. It's frightening to see the similarities between the republican party of today and the rise of Hitler.
Janet I’m watching Rick Steve’s show on fascism and I almost didn’t because I’ve read so much about wwI and I but the interviews and footage is such a great synopsis. Thank you!
Everyone should watch RS on European fascism. Even those well-versed in the subject will learn something new. Whether in this special or his regular programs, Rick always has the right perspective, the right touch.
Yes, Janet. It's not that I don't remember. I am a second generation American Jew with great aunts, uncles, and cousins who were tortured and murdered. It beyond "remembering," in a sense, because I was born into this knowledge.
And yet. I am having great difficulty fully believing that it is happening, or could easily happen, here in the US. I understand the mechanics of it now (poo pooed the concerns before Trump, but not anymore of course), I'm just having difficulty dealing with it, fully in my bones believing it.
This is where my family came for safety. Before the war and after. This is America. Not that as Jews we didn't know that danger always lurks -- in quieter ways than it does for people of color -- but no Jew of a certain background can ever feel completely safe. But that that danger could be on the threshold of having the upper hand?
It's causing me intense cognitive dissonance. Emotional dissonance, if that is such a thing. I will continue to do what I can to fight. There's no other choice. I'm not someone who can just go "cultivate my own garden" -- tho my garden is one of the few places where I can feel a measure of freedom from this and sometimes I DO wish I could just stay there. But I cannot.
I have been part of the quiet resistance these past four years, writing postcards to voters, making phone calls to lawmakers, giving small amounts of money to whomever I thought best. I know that there was a small army of us who made a difference in this way, rarely getting attention (not sexy, women writing postcards), but crucial to helping accomplish what we did. And I will continue. It's just extremely disheartening and outright frightening right now.
Naomi, although I am not Jewish, I share your concerns, and they are tied to WWII. I was born during the war, and my earliest contact with adult conversation dealt with its horrors. We knew several Jewish people who managed to escape the Holocaust, and had neighbors who had spent years in DP camps in Europe, finally managing to make it to this country. The wife told my mother that I taught her son to speak English - apparently, my bossy nature was revealed at an early age! I still am horrified by these stories, and a visit to Auschwitz haunts me to this day. I, too, believe that these hideous fascists would jump at the chance to impose their sickness on us. Until the last four years, I never believed it was possible, but the hate-mongering is happening, and is incumbent upon all of us to educate our friends and renounce this filth. The army is larger than we think, so we can continue with the postcards, donations, and phone calls. Most of Germany didn't see it coming, but we have the benefit of hindsight.
Dearest Nomi, I cannot even begin to imagine. Your response of “intense cognitive . . . Emotional dissonance” to the vision of danger we may be seeing on the horizon feels heartbreaking. Cultivating our gardens nourishes not only our bodies but also our souls. And, I feel that is important work.
Meanwhile, on this day our Supreme Court hears what may be described as voting rights arguments and appears to be leaning toward restriction it may be time for a louder resistance.
What shall we do?
And we should all be compelled to watch, dare we repeat it. Thank you (I think) for this link.
I watched this when it originally aired. Excellent, and frightening. It should be required in all school curriculums (but will not be).
Thank you for posting the link about Rick Steves. Straight forward History.
Watched this after work today. Powerful and relevant.
...Supported and funded by a cabal that has been infiltrating our government for decades and are now well-placed throughout, including propaganda media and cyber warfare tearing us apart. We also have normalized anti-democracy, egregious behaviors and not called them out every single day beginning with "shooting someone on 5th Ave" and allowing a tyrant king to meet alone with a dangerous dictator and his minions.
We could solve some fraction of this to move forward by ousting the fricking seditionists we are allowing to make laws in our democracy, pretending they are normal people. That is what hurts my brain the most. Why have we standing for this and struggling to be "bi-partisan?" Thank you, Heather, for stating what the reality is, finally. We have been in a Constitutional crisis for years. And now the radical fanatics are normalized. The heads of this snake (cult leader and his SS machine) need to be removed, immediately.
Freedom of speech, for some, must be earned after proving and signing on to the overthrow of our democracy. Dems, progressives, independents and republicans who respect our Democracy need to act swiftly. Swiftly, I have been saying for years.
Our Justice system must act as quickly as our COVID response is finally acting.
We started the process when Andrew Johnson allowed the Southern Aristocracy back into power after the Civil War by simply declaring their allegieance to the Republic!
I finished reading "Dark Money" last night. Over the years William Kristol has been part of the Koch program. I find it ironic that he's now trying to fix the problem he helped make.
Yes, indeed!
Now check out “Thieves of State”
I have never understood why a person who uses the language: "shooting someone on 5th Ave", could be considered remotely acceptable as a Presidential candidate, let alone a “failed” businessman. Politicians need to be held to a different standard if you will. We all often say things we do not mean - a joke, trying to be “clever” - and the fallout is possibly minimal. We apologize, hopefully learn, and move on. In politics a different standard is and should be required. I have never understood the attitude: “Oh he didn’t really mean it!” I am probably naive, but that’s what my father taught me: “If you dont meant it, keep your mouth shut!”
Well, I have been obsessed since I was a child in how fascist regimes and cults rise. What T***p did to 30% of our population was textbook. He used his rallies, Twitter and Fox (as did Russian cyber warfare of bots and trolls) to target ripe populations ready for a messianic leader. He carefully messaged them with propaganda (neurolinguistic programming) in a very repetitive manner and used chanting and collectivized programming. Notice, he held rallies tweets continually throughout his presidency to maintain that mind control--was that not strange? That "shoot someone on Park Ave," in my mind was his big test to see if the brainwashing had solidified. It was a HUGE success. He and totalitarianism won at the moment and a sane America lost. Even the MSM bought it and did not make a big deal out of any of his propagandist techniques and spreading of lies and fear and division. This is how tyranny spreads and how a people are exploited. The lack of reaction in our country during the 2016 campaign after that most shocking of statements
was the pivotal moment in our history. At least it was for me.
Oh, it started long before Trump. They have been using the same rhetoric since the inception of the Republic. White supremacism has never left us, it just became more effective and vocal over the past 20 years. Xenophobia and racism became de rigueur after 9/11 and have grown in power ever since.
Exactly. Trump was just a bigger megaphone and gave people permission to do the same and mainly for his subbing the rule of law. Our founding father's were white supremacists!
Yup
Early answers to this question still remain among the best.
H Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
W Shirer, The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich
Yes TPJ— I’ll put them on our book store list!
Once again I feel like Lucy in the chocolate factory!
Bookstores and libraries are my natural habitat. Do you run or work in a bookstore, or recommend to someone else's? Since we're both in MA, I'd consider giving you some business (but not "the business").
Thanks for the book recomendation. I think Heather has mentioned that title by Arendt, or maybe you did a few days ago. I'm still on lockdown but my pile of economics, politics and History books goes down one and then up two.
Someone else mentioned it a couple of weeks ago; now I endorse their endorsement. I believe Arendt pioneered the idea that the political spectrum is a circle, not a line. That places totalitarians like Hitler and Stalin next to each other, not at opposite ends.
And giving permission for people to vent their darkest prejudices. Great comments from everyone recommending different books and programs. I suggest reading Gellately's Backing Hitler, showing how the German public largely supported and cheered on the horrors of the Third Reich.
Thank you— I’ll look into that too— we have so many books piled ever but that’s fun.
A decade ago I met my state senator for a drink to talk about my no longer being a lobbyist, and starting my new business. But before we could talk about my future, he was just giddy to talk about his: He and his Republican pals in the Michigan legislature had just finished gerrymandering. "We'll be in office forever!" That was the day I stopped voting Republican. My friend had gone over to the dark side, but he saw it all as a great, fun game. We have term limits in this state. He was soon gone.
I live in a Democratic stronghold, Maryland, where the Congressional Districts are outrageously gerrymandered. You only need to look at Dist 3, to get the idea. Gerrymandering and it's "giddy" delight is non-partisan. Whichever party is in control of the state gerrymanders it to their favor, thus planning to rule "forever." What is surprising is that a Republican won the Governorship. Oops. The state House and Senate remain Democratic. I'm grateful, but I'm now anti-party and pro-independent. I don't know that my choice makes a difference, but I vote carefully and I feel better.
I'm in the 5th - recently I got a letter that was pro-gerrymandering. MD Democrats are in a tough spot - keeping things as they are keeps it safely Democratic but we are suppose to (rightly so) be anti-gerrymandering. What is good for the goose I guess - which means we might find ourselves a swing state yet!
Good for you, I’m from Michigan, it breaks my heart.
That great democrat, Thomas Jefferson, claimed that most citizens were inately capable of distinuishing wrong from right and would ultimately do the right thing. This was why he claimed "all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights." And those who were deficient in knowing wrong from right could be educated. And that enormous task continues 245 years later.
Hopefully everyone on the list serv voted for public education even if it meant higher property taxes.
I'm totally in favor of public education. Please raise my taxes.
Those who "are deficient" remain so.
With each undemocratic excess committed by the Trumpublicans, a few real Republicans might begin to see the basic difference between right and wrong and I hope modify their views. It will take a long time, but it will happen and the party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower will resume its rightful place, getting rid of the CPAC trash which now dominates it, just as the racist trash which dominated the Democratic Party up until the 1960's was ultimately gotten rid of.
I saw a movement at the CPAC event to start a new party, "The Patriots." If the trumpers succeed in breaking off from "The Republicans", rather than keeping control of it, could that be a good thing and the beginning of their demise?
I keep hoping for sanity and decency. I hope I live to see it. Thanks, Jacob, you're right.
Um, no, still there - just switched parties.
“Evil is banal”-Hannah Arendt. Evil is ordinary. All ordinary people are capable of cruelty, of atrocities, of just following orders, and of looking away.
No! Don’t shut up... ever! You are right, this is so awful!
I’m scratching my head along with you.
This is exactly the situation in my state, Florida. In his response to my last letter to Rick Scott, he spewed The Big Lie and more. Our Governor was #2 pick for President in 2024 behind 45 among CPAC attendees. And add at least one more thing, gerrymandering. Heck, add dark money. I see no other solution than doing away with the filibuster in order to pass necessary legislation. I have never been so involved in politics but I am a young retiree and feel compelled to do so to ensure my retirement remains secure!
You are right.....but the Dems had better win big in 2022 or all this is gone again.
Bone weary of fighting.
I am too. There are days now where I don't read a damn thing except fiction. I don't even open my tablet.
Hang in there, Daria, knowing you’re not alone. Read selectively, take care of yourselve, and stay involved. We need you.
In a chorus, singers take turns taking breaths and rests, so the music continues to flow strong and seamless. That's what we do for each other here.
I’m with you, Daria. I now have 3 forms of heart arrhythmia. My heart is literally broken by all this nonsense. I can only read so much these days. Hoping the heart electrician can fix me soon. In the meantime, I read Heather’s letters and not much more pertaining to the news.
I never turn on the television until after dinner. However, we can't be deterred! That's what they want.
I have missed your voice, Daria, but I understand the need for self-protection. Be well.
Go to the gym, get stronger.
Exactly. Or run 3 miles and ur as right as rain.
Huge uphill battle. I'm putting my efforts into Nikki Fried's campaign. She hasn't yet announced a run for Governor, but it's a matter of time. Florida is an expensive media market so she will need national support. Anybody here on Twitter can follow her here:
Check out Nikki Fried on Twitter.
Florida’s 12th Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Working to keep Florida growing. https://twitter.com/nikkifried?s=20
Please see my other post....DeSantis looks like he is strong going into the governor's election.
Ugh
Agree!! I’m listening to the Lincoln project podcasts and their mission is to secure our democracy. The cast consists of former republicans who in 2020 spent $81B to oust 45 and are eager to do the same to these congressional trumpists who call themselves “republicans”, all the while trying to destroy our country, and betraying to their oath to defend our constitution.
Yes, they are worthy of supporting!
Watch the videos, fine. I enjoy them myself. But please don't donate. The Lincoln Project are anti-Trump, but they are still small government Republicans. Not to mention the sexual predation and money management scandals that have arisen among the founding group.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/12/lincoln-project-scandal-468984
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/politics/john-weaver-lincoln-project-harassment.html
Dems are Going to have to take Florida in 2024..
Kelly, I sometimes think Florida is a lost cause. I have also written to Scott and Rubio to no avail. But almost even worse is my congressman, Gus Bilirakis, who puts out a newsletter each week. He spews partisan garbage and then has the nerve to say he is the most bi-partisan congressman in the House. I nearly throw up reading it. And then today I read a post from a Florida FB group saying that DeSantis has a good chance of being re-elected. I am frustrated and really don't know what to do.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/408216-poll-shows-ron-desantis-reelection-prospects-looking-good?fbclid=IwAR348m1vmQxZFaefWvAxYhWUfR6YHkJfxeqvWwCNn6rBFv2yUhUYVz0z-jg
In Florida, if you follow how the Republicans used Spanish media print, radio, social media and TV claiming the Democrats were socialists and won the Cuban and Hispanic vote. Start now and use that same strategy to fight back. Talk to Democratic mayors and enlist their support. Build fir the future and take back your state like Stacy did in Georgia. Its proof this can be done!
Ha! You could've been communications consultant for Nikki Fried, the only statewide elected Dem in Florida. She put this out yesterday where she not only defines herself as a Capitalist, she says it in Spanish!
https://twitter.com/nikkifried/status/1366772347571757057?s=20
Most FL Repugs are a lost cause, but don't surrender the whole state to them. Join with Dems and progressives to build an alliance to bring more responsive, responsible government to FL. It's a Herculean task but the rewards are great.
My Rep does the same! John Rutherford
Santorum’s been licking DT boots. He’s gonna keep lickin da boot to win the nomination for VP. Now reimagine the Jan 6th riot with Dick Rick presiding over the senate.
Oof. I'd rather not.
Oh, what a turd he is. Even more unelectable than Pence.
A harsh critic of Santorum once said he wasn't fit to live with pigs. I defended him by saying he IS fit to live with pigs. (That's bad luck for the world's swine.)
At least pigs give humanity their insulin. Sanatorium ( or Santis) just give insolence.
Nah. Pigs are smart. It wasn’t Dan Savage, was it?
oops, I get Santis and Santorim confused! Birds of a fascist feather
Gary Death Sentence, Rick Sanatorium
I am with you - here in Idaho our legislature just passed (both houses) into law the most restrictive requirement for any voter initiative in the country requiring 100% of districts sign on. Unlike Georgia we have no active engaged resistance. We have a few pissed off white women (in my view). Without the federal government, ie; LGBT rights, common core, ADA, Abortion we would be in the dark ages. Oh we are. 50th in the nation in school spending, 17 yr olds conceal carry. Shaking my fist in an empty room.
I have a bunch of friends who want to partition out Oregon to become "Western Idaho". They should just go there and revel in their whiteness, maleness, cisgendereredness, and gunliness.
Sounds great as long as they stay there....
Altho it does sound sad for a beautiful part of the country, doesnt it?
OK as long as it doesn't produce a proto-fascist 51st state.
One of my favorite authors refers to them as "the American Taliban."
Absolutely no difference. Maybe less eye liner.
Who’s that? It’s spot in. AL QUEDAHO
I'm so sorry. I have a lot of dear family in Idaho that I used to visit at least monthly and for the past 20 years. Just a 5 hour drive for me. I haven't been back in almost two years. It's become extremely difficult for me to be around them anymore as they have become more blazen in their language and views as ever before. They used to hold their cards to their chest when I was around. No longer. A relative sent me a photo of her at church on Ash Wednesday in the beautiful cathedral in Boise. The majority of parishioners were not social distancing or wearing masks. The Pope issued ashes to be sprinkled on the tops of heads this year so as not to touch the forehead, yet the bishop and priest in Boise still put ashes on people's foreheads. I know this sounds trivial, but these little insidious type behaviors undermine my sanity and my hope.
It is maddening that some in the Catholic Church blatantly disregard what the Pope is saying. After Pope Francis came out in support of getting vaccinated, the archbishop of New Orleans decided to tell his parishioners not to. Not only does this put people at risk, it certainly undermines the "pro-life" stance that they are touting. I guess pro-life only pertains to fetuses. And, yes, I can say this because I am Catholic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/02/archdiocese-new-orleans-johnson-vaccine/
Horribly sad. Makes me sick. At my local cathedral, and the little tiny country church I went to during my lunch hour for Ash Wednesday, pews were blocked off, disinfectant and paper towels every where, everyone is masked (even clergy), ashes were sprinkled on heads, and on and on.
Hang on! My brother and his family live there in Boise and they are wonderful and progressive. ❤️
Boise is a modern city but outnumbered and surrounded by the always first and easiest to fool by demagoguery, the country folks. It’s sad, and Ammon Bundy has radicalized large swaths of the population surrounding Boise.
Agree. I was raised Catholic. New Orleans cardinal is like many, he has fallen prey to the demagoguery. His religion is not catholic any more. His religion is now DT.
😡
I agree because I was Catholic.
Pope Francis, John XXIII, two truly fine men working a compromised environment with the world’s greatest classical music and architecture - that protects the worst, harms the best, and cons the con, as for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter, Christmas and Holy Cow, let’s face it, if you want fantasy, why leave it to Hollywood, make one up, start your own church and make a movie, call it The Chosen and film yourself... enough dark humor for a cold day in March. Spring is coming...
It’s getting to a point where I think Pope Francis (Argentinian?and what party looked the other way and supported Pinochet in neighboring Chile?) he will take the initiative, and Lead Catholics away from the Republicans. Has to, morally, now.