Today is the anniversary of Georgia Senator Alexander Stephens’s Cornerstone Speech, given in 1861 just after he became the provisional vice president of the Confederacy. All these years later, the themes of that speech are still with us. Stephens spoke in Savannah, Georgia, to explain the difference between the United States and the fledgling Confederacy. That difference, he said, was slavery. The American Constitution was defective because it based the government on the principle that all men were created equal. Confederate leaders had corrected the Founding Fathers’ error by basing the Confederate government on the idea that some people were better than others.
If many in the GOP had their way, the contents of your letter could not be taught in our public schools and universities. A very sad statement to have to make over 150 years since the 14th and 15th Amendments were incorporated into our Constitution. -- This is not CRT. This is OUR shared history.
"Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked an apparently nonplussed Judge Jackson, 'Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate Critical Race Theory into our legal system?'"
Anyone ridiculous enough to ask such a ludicrous question reveals, not only their lack of knowledge, but also their own bigotry. CRT, embraces, as you note, Steve, "OUR shared history," and more pointedly, OUR shared humanity!
Rowshan, Seeing Brown Jackson’s confirmation, in all likelihood, is a foregone conclusion, I imagine, on the Republican side, the hearings largely will be driven by an effort to raise issues meant to lay the groundwork for midterm election campaigning. Seen through that lens, their questions/remarks will make sense, albeit it tragically so.
And for 2024, there are 3 or 4 wannabes on the Republican side of the committee. It will be a circus but Judge Jackson seems up to the challenge. Sen. Blackburn's contact with civility and reality has never been more than tenuous.
LOL. Any credit is more than she deserves Jon as is her seat in the Senate. Is it the idea that she was once civil or once in touch with reality that you're questioning?
And then there is the ghastly senator from Iowa who wanted to know if she is an originalist....oh yeah, when only propertied white males could vote. Sigh. So many threatening things for people who want our country to be a white, male, Christian nation.
And now the awful senator from SC asks the judge about her faith on a scale of one to ten and about her church attendance. She cited the Constitution as part of her answer.
Ms. Blackburn is my Senator (I live in TN). Hardly a day goes by that I do not get a sense of anger that she represents me. And, she is firmly ensconced, it appears. She won her last election by a landslide. I have ceased writing letters of disapproval to her office (I have written plenty). I am convinced she doesn't care about minority opinions of her constituents, and I am not into beating my head against a wall. My hope is that TN will find an equivalent Stacey Abrams to run these racists out of office in my state.
She may hold that elective office, yes... however, you NEVER have to believe that she represents you. Please don't stop writing. It's not beating your head against a wall, it's a confirmation of your determination to be represented by a sane, smart, decent office holder.
Thank you for this comment, mlbrowne. I, too, have a senator (RonJohn) and congresspersons who I must remember to say do not represent me, though I live in WI.
One thing we can do: in this ridiculous age in which ‘clicks’ influence a media topic’s coverage and reach, don’t mindlessly click on any Marsha Blackburn, Cruz or Hawley news bits.
Also add CRT to the list of the republicans’ false flag (divisive) tropes to avoid: abortion, guns “rights”, border wall, mask/vaccination mandates, any political thing about what so-called truckers are doing, CRT and more.
We have to train ourselves to identify these dog whistle, bald-faced distractions, temper our irritation and disgust, and band together to deprive them of our oxygen. Remember, less than two years ago more people voted Biden/Harris than the other, and that’s enough to affect the algorithmic trajectory of these false news stories. We have to work in concert.
I wholeheartedly agree -- if sharing the latest outrageous tweet or post, do NOT Quote Tweet or link to it. Screenshot it -- and share that. Share their nonsense in away that does not give them oxygen.
Exactly the strategy we must learn how to execute. /make their verbal nonesense a 'non-issue'.for comment.All their twists of the facts just invite good honest intelligent people to fall into their trap, so they can skewer any rebuttle. Further making their base love the sound-bite quality. Ugh!!
You hear her again today, Rowshan? She makes my skin crawl with her ridiculous allegations and questions re: Roe v. Wade, religion, and CRT in elementary schools. Well, actually Ms. Lindsay, Pickin’ Cotton, and Hee Haw Hawley’s line of questioning crossed racial lines numerous times and then good ole Ted’s BS…
So let's not let that happen. Every one of us can find a way to step up for democracy over authoritarianism. Get a shot of energy and inspiration from the dynamic folks in this video of The Union Town Hall. Joe Trippi and the Lincoln Project have launched a matchmaker for individuals and progressive grassroots organizations. Something for everyone--check it out!
I have joined. Thrilled to see Trippi with The Lincoln Project. He and Rick Wilson were on Friday night. Trippi is being schooled by Wilson on how to get the Democrats to stop explaining facts and being defensive and to effectively combat Republicans. Sorry to digress from the topic at hand.
That was fun to watch last night!! Am excited to participate and really work towards winning the midterm elections. We The People. All of us this time!
The contents of her letter was not taught in my school back in the sixties and seventies. I had no idea nor had ever heard of Stephen's. I didn't learn any of this until much later in life. And now they are trying to enact laws to make sure it isn't taught. I will be sure to teach this to my grandson as I have no faith in our schools.
"This is not CRT. This is OUR shared history." I believe so. But I still have a problem: as Americans the 4th of July and Juneteenth are equivocal and captured by the Constitution. What the GOP fears about CRT is that the have-nots may learn enough math to recognize the Zero Day Exploit in the Gregorian Calendar which keeps them have-not.
Thanks for the likes. It's nice to know some people got what I was saying, but how the weaponization plays out is the main point. A Republican Senator recently committed a non sequitur and was called out for it.
"Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn confused the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and she's getting called out for it". I'll let HCR provide the reference (pssst ... search the full title).
The Senator is selectively "projecting". The audience of me and my posse of likes would appreciate it if she would occasionally misquote the Juneteenth Proclamation just to keep things fair. We can call her out for that too without dependency on Harvard Lawyers for analysis.
It is a peculiar sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. … One ever feels his twoness — an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
—W.E.B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, activist, 1897
The chasm between the principles upon which this Government was founded … and those which are daily practiced under the protection of the flag, yawns so wide and deep.
—Mary Church Terrell, clubwoman, businesswoman, activist, 1906
We will kneel in, we will sit in until we can eat in any corner in the United States. We will walk until … we can take our children to any school in the United States. And we will … lie in until every Negro in America can vote.
—Daisy Bates, civil rights activist, president of Arkansas NAACP, 1963
2020
Every police killing of an un-armed black man, woman or child damages our country. ... These killings are a tragedy for families and communities. But they are also a stain on our nation's very soul.
—Sherrilyn Ifill, president, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Am on vacation and painting trip on the coast of Maine near Boothbay Harbor. Feeling close to Heather and Buddy with the beauty and lobstah pots and boats out the window.
Should not have read Heather today. As a therapist, I see the cruelty of humanity close up. I cannot freely speak and write because of my position in being a "blank slate." I keep breaking that boundary because there is so much wrong-mindedness in our country. My retirement has to be sped up in a few months as I cannot continue to be a blank slate in the larger world. I am pissed and refuse to allow bad behaviors of entitled white people to prevail any further. As a business person, artist, writer and activist my canvas will be anything but blank. We are all needed to speak out, to march, to stand up for All Our People. Did we learn nothing from history? Are we learning nothing from Ukraine? Where the hell is empathy from our elected officials? How do people in 2022 believe they are better than other people? And say it out loud? I thank Obama for unknowingly revealing the intense white supremacists who are now emboldened so we see who they are. It began with mitch. And no one stood up to him. We are all being pushed to make a VERY CLEAR STAND. It has to be LOUDER, STRONGER and full of JUSTICE and TRUTH. The only way to deal with narcissist bullies and supremacists is to draw the line in the sand and stop them with consequences. It is time for the latter. Okay, back out exploring today. The seaside is like The Day the Earth Stood Still. Most things are still shut down for the season. We can walk in the middle of the street freely as we rarely see cars. The few people we have met are wonderful. I am soaking up the quiet and hoping when the busy summer life returns to these little seacoast towns that people are very circumspect and conscious as they come out of the pandemic and balance themselves with playfulness combined with standing up for all people's rights including the earth's where they play in and on her waters and enjoy the beauty she could, endlessly, provide, if we take care of her.
Oh, my goodness, Fern. What a hard, beautiful message to the world by Stevie Wonder. I am so full of gratitude that you sent it to us. I am going to pass it to my American/Ukrainian friends who are really struggling with news of loved ones over there. Today, as we explored Southport and E. Boothbay Islands, we kept noticing white flags with big pink hearts on them. I thought, oh, they are sending love to the world. Seeing this video and hearing Stevie sing the message made me understand what is happening. And the white flag of asking hate to surrender to love. Love is in need of Love today... everybody, hold onto your hearts, we are going to make this the last war. When I get home, I am going to hang a white flag with a pink heart on my barn, too. I don't know what I would do without Heather and this community. I am so glad we have this forum. Love to all.
p.s. We kept seeing pairs of bald eagles today, despite strong winds, at very significant moments when we were talking about our country. It was deeply moving.
Pensa, You keep giving. I lived in your message this morning. It was full, overflowing, singing and sharing through NYC's buildings, the hills, the rivers and close, so close to our feelings, the feeling of being one together.
Thank you, I have heard this and never tire of it either. We are blessed with so many talented musicians. Now let's keep working on talented representatives for The People!
Thank you for this march of quotes through time, Fern. It shows that we have not gone as far as we thought we had, and that this is the battle that must be fought to save our democracy.
Yes, Ally, over many lived years from idealism and Brotherhood in the 1950's, Civil Rights, August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.'s, 'I Have a Dream' speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.; disappointments, jubilation, anger, deaths, heroism, hanging together, deceptive highs and bitter lows, until June 6th 2020, when a half of million of us joined protests in 550 places around the country after George Floyd's was murdered by police -- and here we are, March 22, 2022, 'We shall not be moved'.
Another brilliant HCR history lesson linked to current events and our potential future.
It seems Republicans want states to govern as they see fit, as quasi independent nations essentially free to ignore parts of the Constitution they find meddlesome — especially the 14th Amendment. But they never come right out and declare it, unlike the more philosophically honest leaders of the Confederacy like Alexander Stephens.
Without a Supreme Court majority and a filibuster-proof Senate majority, we face long odds in slowing the steady erosion of what Lincoln envisioned. But as the Republicans become more radical, more emboldened, they help rally Democrats to fight back and vote in unprecedented numbers.
The juxtaposition of Republicans exploiting the system to destroy democracy from within and Ukrainians risking their lives to save their fledgling democracy is a sight to behold.
Paragraph #2 - precisely. And yet, as those states function as quasi independent nations the poorly functioning ones rely on tax dollars from more prosperous states to prop them up – they demand federal support in the form of subsidies for various industries, assistance when disaster strikes, and, of course, fully expect the federal government to provide essential services like air traffic control or levee construction and maintenance. In essence, like rabid dogs, they continually bite the hand that feeds them.
The republican-led state’s stated goal is for the federal government to reflect their prejudices, just like before. (ALEC is one way, fear-based propaganda another). Somebody has studied how Prohibition became national; it was a way to circumvent the will of the majority. It worked and is working again. It is indeed destroying democracy from within and by design.
I continue to wonder if there is some way for wealthier blue states to somehow use the laws and the power -- or at least publicity -- of their excess contributions to the federal government, to expose the hypocrisy of these staunchly Republican poorer southern and western states. Their loud Republican legislators contemptuously cast as "socialism" any policy or legislation that would fairly redistribute some of the wealth of privileged individual whites to raise up the people of color they have for centuries pushed down Yet they are very happy to accept the socialism of rich blue states subsidizing their poorer red-state budgets, while seething with scorn and derision for every enlightened principle of equality the blue states hold dear.
I wonder those things myself. It's no secret that many red states are unable to stand on their own two feet but it's not something right wing politicians or media are going to amplify. And if Democrats mention it, it is, of course, all lies. We are in a bind.
It's too bad states weren't required to sign a contract renewable every X number of years when admitted into statehood. Failing to uphold the terms of the contract could result in suspension and/or expulsion. The bottom line is this: the founding settlers and those going forward were greedy. They were hellbent on acquiring massive amounts of land and making it part of the union so they could exploit the resources each.parcel offered. It was foolish but predictable. We are suffering the consequences of that greed.
Damn: A sobering note from Finland about America's role in all of this
Published Saturday by Josh Marshall for Talking Points Memo, an accusation and a plea.
Translated into rough English, from a Finnish TPM member who believes that the U.S. has yet to come to terms with the role we’ve played in providing the backdrop for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. His thesis is that Russia has viewed the U.S. as a “back door” towards weakening Europe and NATO in its reaction to the invasion.
"I understand you would like to see your heroic country as the navel of the world and as the main focus of any operation, but I am sorry to inform that, in this case, you are only cheap tools. You had to be weakened (and Britain manipulated to Brexit etc) in order to facilitate invasions to Ukraine, Belarussia and a list of other neighboring pieces of land in Putin’s future Menu.
"So, as a KGB officer would plan, they came exactly from the opposite direction than where they were expected. They professionally built an operation web among the rural redneck cowboys, evangelical christians, the NRA, the most republican of all republicans, your law enforcement, some military people, big business etc etc. They popped up to the surface from within the “core americans”, but their long dive before that was planned and had started from the Kremlin’s operation board."
An excerpt copied from the article published Saturday by Josh Marshall for Talking Points Memo that struck me:
“So, if you really want to do something for the Ukraine, for the Europe and to any other decent country or person, please also Do. Your. Own. Homework! Show to both your home audience and to the rest of the world that also the western flank of Putin’s army, the one located in your country, is kept accountable! No special treatment, just f**king enforce your old existing laws to ultra-rich/influential white dudes, as well! You are just tools, but you are very important tools for Putin also in the European front. Don’t let him use you.”
Many (most) Americans have been screaming this same thing. Our (snails pace) justice system is enabling and emboldening those who seek to turn our democracy into an autocracy which can then put it’s knee on the necks of those who are “less than”. And “less than” no longer refers to just people who are not European whites, but now includes ALL women.
... and, of course, people of color and First Nations people who will be given no air time - denied opportunity and equity while We The People divert our attention and support to the refugees of this theatre - but not those from south of the border, or others around the world who suffer similar conditions and worse - not to mention those of us who do not play for the Home Team ... so much for freedom and self determination of the blinded, mindless, metastasizing masses - ever hungry for more, more, more - never enough ... (oh, my aching belly - not to worry, doctor's going to fix you right up ....)
In form and message, a poet shows both adults and kids that the world can be looked at another way.
As millions of people flee bombing in Ukraine, most media and political comment has been rightly sympathetic. But refugees from other parts of the world, like those escaping war in Syria or violence in Central America, are often described very differently. That scapegoating is turned around in “Refugees,” a 2016 poem by British poet Brian Bilston. It’s a “reverse poem,” meant to be read from the top and then from the bottom—completely changing the framing from suspicion to sharing.
The poem went viral again this month on Twitter, which the pseudonymous Bilston uses so effectively he’s been called “the Banksy of poetry.” With illustrations by José Sanabria, Refugees is also beautifully rendered as a children’s picture book that can be read in two ways. With their natural sense of justice and humanity, kids are quick to understand the poet’s message.
Refugees
by Brian Bilston
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way (now read from bottom to top)
One only need look at the situation in this country right now, the enormous divisions that are ripping us apart, to see just how apt this Finnish description is. All it has taken has been massive misinformation, gamely applied in the right situations, and buying off the right people. Nobody could have ever expected it and it came off, continues to, like clockwork. Brilliant actually. They supplied the rope and we are hanging ourselves. And people are too stupid and naïve to see how they're being duped.
The Finnish assessment is spot on. I read another essay from a Finnish writer the other day that was similar - I have a suspicion the sentiment throughout the Baltic states might be pervasive.
Anyway, Bruce, truth. I have long believed as you say, "They supplied the rope and we are hanging ourselves. And people are too stupid and naïve to see how they're being duped."
Dear Senator Blackburn; is it your personal and not-so-secret agenda to offensively suggest that every person of color has a secret agenda to declare systemic racism present in everything we strive to accomplish in this nation? By asking the question you asked, are you not drawing attention to the fact that systemic racism is, in fact, imbedded in a great deal of our nation's history? Indeed, it won't surprise me a bit if part of the MAGA dogma will soon include the concept that the American caucasian male is an endangered species, a discriminated minority, worthy of constitutional protection. Are you offended that a woman of color has been promoted to candidacy for the highest court in our nation? Would you have asked that question of a white woman? Since the caucasian male has blatantly promoted exclusionary and discriminatory policies across the centuries in this country, why shouldn't an American who isn't a part of that demographic be vigilant about identifying the next expression of that perverse tendency? Personally, I find your question disgusting and unbecoming of a US Senator who is part of a demographic that only gained the right to vote a mere 100 years ago.
Blackburn is a reminder that you always have to know the political affiliations of your medical professionals, lest you have an inbred moron like her touch you (she used to be an RN). Before she sold her soul to the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma.
This is her background, per Ballotopedia. No mention of having been a nurse.
Blackburn graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's in home economics. She owns Marketing Strategies, a promotion event management firm. She previously worked for the Southwestern Book company selling Bibles and educational books door-to-door.[2] Prior to her election to the U.S. House, Blackburn served in the Tennessee State Senate.[3]
The adult on the playground ensures all play fair, take turn, rein in bullies, protect the vulnerable. It’s an essential and tireless job — the bullies are forever testing, protesting, picking on, ganging up, name calling, breaking rules, taking more than their share. Federal oversight is the firm, benevolent adult on-duty, and the bullies will always complain and resent her.
But battered and worn out after centuries of assault from the bullies who never rest. The biggest bully of all is waiting in the wings, with his cult on the ready. It will take a “woke” constituency who knows that the fight for democracy is not only in Ukraine. Sorry to use a word that republicans have vilified to make it sound evil, but it fits.
Yes. And with redirection we were able to turn the self same bullies into positive roles with the peers they once harangued. Win win. (It didn’t hurt matters that I was the wrestling coach). It marked a turning point in their lives and the heretofore cretins made our jaws drop. What teachers do matters. Thank you Berry!
An excellent letter that needs to be read by everyone in our United States. I can't believe how far back in history the republicans are trying to push us. I was part of the sit ins in VA in the 60's when I was in college. I was born and raised in CT but went to college in VA. I found dealing with the segregation in VA unbelievable. I'm sharing your letter with many.
Ironic or maybe not that this anniversary of a speech so divisive comes on a day of the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a black woman. The first in the court’s history. The questions or comments by Dems were positive and congratulatory. The repubs made sure they complained about the Dems bad behavior for the previous TFG nominations. So highly qualified, she should be confirmed unanimously but that’s not predicted to be the case. At all. Forever forward will we be divided as if we were/are two countries, North and South? Again? States afraid of teaching the truth to school children, that ban books, ban abortion, restrict voting, but protect gun rights. Take us backwards. Grateful there should be/will be more than enough votes for the first black woman Supreme Court Justice in history. So highly qualified the vote SHOULD be unanimous.
You called it Irenie. Is there some way we can approach without threatening them? Can we bewilder them by asking for their help in resolving these combative differences? Can we isolate and table our differences so that we may find a respectful way forward? I attended 24 different grade schools and two different high schools. Usually 3 to 4 fights per school were sufficient to grant me space to breath. If I couldn’t achieve that I would go for the nuclear option. My dreaded big sister! One of the big surprises was that sometimes one or two of the most dangerous predators on the playground actually liked me, especially after they rendered me unconscious a few times. Surprised hell out of me. They respected the “little mouthy new kid”. With a little help with their homework I had an army to help me “tame” the rest of the bullies. Not to mention my big sis having my back. Respect goes a long way for both sides. I really don’t have any more magic than that up my sleevies. (Sorry, old North Dakota joke. Where do North Dakotans keep their armies?). Humor respect recognition resolution. I know of no other route. But I know we have to embark on a more successful one. What we are doing is driving a deeper wedge into the heart of the tree. Eventually the tree will split.
Sorry for your move! Me and my 5 siblings went on a breathtaking journey. We had a mom. We were the luckiest kids I know. All still alive today, thanks mom!
Pat, you are a survivor for sure! Attitude is so critical. Maybe good genes. My eleven moves, maybe my family carrying out the legacy of diaspora, weren’t that helpful. Or maybe they were. Or maybe being connected with a big family was your ticket. I know there’s more to your story. Have you written it? And resilience! You’re on the right track. Connection is a human need. We know the importance of belonging. So TFG himself wasn’t the draw, but his movement, bringing people together, yes. Like gangs. We have to find the key. Because the political gangs can be deadly. The little wars and the world wars. We humans are complicated. Humor Respect Recognition. Yes! What’s the next step. Thank You for sharing.
Chu hoi leaflets? Oh…….no you have to be able to read. Probably not cynicism either. Maybe the bars. They did say rednecks! This movement forward is what we want. The people are just the people. We are not those things that live under bridges and eat billy goats and children. Open the super bowl, have one of their rallies but to promote that crazy stuff you and Fern and others are putting forward. You know love needs love too stuff. Maybe put a ban on wedges. What Arnold said. What Greta said. Especially we need to hear what our little Finnlander said. Their little cheeks are so cute whey smile. Don’t mind me everyone in the family knows I’m damaged. It beats making bird sounds all the time. The olive branch has to come from us. Don’t ever forget they are the victims. If we offer our hand there is a good chance it will work better than our fists.
You mentioned diaspora and caught me guessing, Central Europe ??
There is your story Irenie!!! Pardon me if you have written it. We have a story about ranching in Eastern Montana. I don’t think anyone ever bought the book but is somewhat cathartic just to know.
Thank you. I refer your readers to today's article in The Guardian by Thomas Zimmer where he exposes the beliefs of the dominant conservative thought that underlies the Republican party of today. The long term agenda is to return the US to a society based on white patriarchal Christian principles with a redefinition of what citizenship is and who can be a citizen. It is all of a piece and a long term agenda. It meshes with Heather's letter. And both pieces demand that concerned citizens get busy to stop the erosion of the constitution.
Thank you so much for this link. For others here's on paragraph:
"What is most alarming is the underlying ideology that leads so many on the right to consider Democratic victories invalid – even if they concede there was nothing technically wrong with how the election was conducted. It has become a core tenet of the Republican worldview to consider the Democratic party as not simply a political opponent, but an enemy pursuing an “un-American” project of turning what is supposed to be a white Christian patriarchal nation into a land of godless multiracial pluralism. Conversely, Republicans see themselves as the sole proponents of “real” America, defending the country from the forces of radical leftism, liberalism and wokeism."
The whole article is great but this part should be a solemn read. -saw-
Wow. That is truly one of the scariest of the several articles I have read on the subject. Wish it was going to be easier to drown the notion (and love) of white patriarchy by those so-called "authentic Americans" (most of whom are white patriarchs--and their sycophants--of course) in that bathtub of Norquist's.
It would appear that one thing that the Republican autocrats in all three branches of federal and state governments are consciously ignoring is the Federal Supremacy clause in the Constitution. As I understand it, the federal government takes priority over state governments.
There is another phrase for ignoring the Constitution & all the Amendments & Article III ( only 1 SCOTUS); that is "Seditious Conspiracy", 18 USC 2384.
Simply put, are we color blind or color bound? Is Black as good as it gets or is Black or any color inferior to white? And what is white, after all, if not the absence of color? Put differently, are not we all people of some color, isn’t white a fiction in the first place? Who remembers what the first man and woman looked like? Was Charles Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection logical or not, should we teach Darwin in Tennesse or not? Who decides what we teach, what books our children should read? Are we all created equal or not? Should we all vote or not? It’s Putin or Zelenskyy, Ukraine or Russia, fascist or free, no?
Thank you Heather for showing a big picture view of why “the confirmation hearing of a Black woman, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court matters.”
My earlier view had been simpler; Judge Jackson’s experience and character qualify her to serve on the Supreme Court.
Immediately following all the bullshit about slavery, Stephens goes on to describe "Southernomics," which we see today espoused the past 50 years by the GOP:
Again, the subject of internal improvements, under the power of Congress to regulate commerce, is put at rest under our system. The power, claimed by construction under the old constitution, was at least a doubtful one; it rested solely upon construction. We of the South, generally apart from considerations of constitutional principles, opposed its exercise upon grounds of its inexpediency and injustice. Notwithstanding this opposition, millions of money, from the common treasury had been drawn for such purposes. Our opposition sprang from no hostility to commerce, or to all necessary aids for facilitating it. With us it was simply a question upon whom the burden should fall. In Georgia, for instance, we have done as much for the cause of internal improvements as any other portion of the country, according to population and means. We have stretched out lines of railroads from the seaboard to the mountains; dug down the hills, and filled up the valleys at a cost of not less than $25,000,000. All this was done to open an outlet for our products of the interior, and those to the west of us, to reach the marts of the world. No State was in greater need of such facilities than Georgia, but we did not ask that these works should be made by appropriations out of the common treasury. The cost of the grading, the superstructure, and the equipment of our roads was borne by those who had entered into the enterprise. Nay, more not only the cost of the iron no small item in the aggregate cost was borne in the same way, but we were compelled to pay into the common treasury several millions of dollars for the privilege of importing the iron, after the price was paid for it abroad. What justice was there in taking this money, which our people paid into the common treasury on the importation of our iron, and applying it to the improvement of rivers and harbors elsewhere? The true principle is to subject the commerce of every locality, to whatever burdens may be necessary to facilitate it. If Charleston harbor needs improvement, let the commerce of Charleston bear the burden. If the mouth of the Savannah river has to be cleared out, let the sea-going navigation which is benefited by it, bear the burden. So with the mouths of the Alabama and Mississippi river. Just as the products of the interior, our cotton, wheat, corn, and other articles, have to bear the necessary rates of freight over our railroads to reach the seas. This is again the broad principle of perfect equality and justice, and it is especially set forth and established in our new constitution.
What this view did not, could not, foresee was how untrammeled corporate power would in time work to undermine and destroy local economies, localized solutions... not just throughout the USA but worldwide.
And everywhere it is society that is subverted, society and our physical environment, to suit the convenience of the very few.
Feb 25, 2008 — Robert Graham, 58, of Westport, Conn., a Gen Re senior vice president ... of financial health to insurance industry analysts and investors.
It's hard to parse your message, and yes, I can see now why the link you provided got me nowhere, but am I right in finding two points in what you've written?
1. How the "proven concept" of economies of scale, which was meant as a medicine, has become a poison, to the environment, to society?
2. How the ancient concept of the citizen (and the city) has been pushed out of the nest by the cuckoo concept of "the consumer"?
As I see it, reasoning can help save us from ourselves, rationalism can destroy us.
An early Libertarian, this guy? If a hurricane devastates your town, you’re on your own. FEMA? Certainly not, that’s socialism! Insurance. . . isn’t that a bit like socialism when you think about it? Horrors!
Plus millions of employment opportunities of all types for the non-entrepreneurial spirited population who choose not to exercise a willingness to create a product or activity that seeks out a change/improvement, but instead choose to wait and adapt to change created by the entrepreneurial pioneer.
Entrepreneurial spirited individuals choose a mindset of calculated risk which embraces critical questioning, innovation, service and continuous improvement and an attitude that there must always be a better way which is one aspect that primarily sets America apart from the remainder of the world, Eh!?
Are we earthlings, or are we tribes which continue to battle each other rather than put their considerable energy into the welfare of all. Sadly, I suspect the answer…
This “each should provide for his own need” idea was not terribly forward-looking, was it? Something else inspired Rural Electrification, the Tennessee Valley Authority and later the Interstate Highway system.
My forward-thinking grandparents in Tennessee proudly installed their tiny town’s first flush toilet in their house. But there was no sewer to connect to, and the septic tank and drainage was a failure, so it was removed and until the mid 1960s there was an outhouse and “slop jars” under the beds. At least no one had to pay taxes for anyone else’s modern conveniences.
This jogged my memory. Apart from one or two visits to Berlin, I'd never been in the former German Democratic Republic (DDR). In 2001, I and a German friend drove across what had been the border for the first time . I noticed a few minor differences about the gas stations we passed but when we came to the first village, all the roads had been dug up. My friend told me that they were laying down sewers here and in neighboring villages. I was surprised, not expecting that East Germany should be so far behind the west with the provision of such basic infrastructures...
In Russia and eastern Europe, still plenty of outhouses, and it's bitterly cold in winter...
But then, I remember outhouses behind British workers' houses in the 1950s and '60s, and in the country, beaten earth floors and no running water in farm workers' cottages. Just a hand-operated pump or a well outside... And typhoid fever still struck from time to time.
ADDENDUM: I'd just written this note when I glanced at another item in my mailbox. This told me that 100 million Americans are drinking contaminated water...
I don't doubt that all varieties of real American are represented, all shapes, all colors, all ages. Or that, however "white" they may be, your criminal politicians will despise them no less than they despise the "others". They may, however, find them more useful for their dirty work...
Sometimes, living in an ordinary city in France, I forget quite how unhealthy millions of Americans are, and look. And, now that I come to think of it, I lived for several years in Glasgow, by reputation the unhealthiest city in the UK and it didn't shock me as I've sometimes been shocked in the States. But I did live at the "better" end of town...
Did you ever see the film Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue? I don't recommend viewing unless you have a very strong stomach. I think that what I saw may have been a preliminary cut of this : https://www.mc3.edu/news/2020/crisis-in-kensington-documentary. Hell on earth in a great American city.
What is unspeakably vile is the depth of indifference on the part of so many am-I-my-brother's-keeper politicians and officials and so many oligarchs to the fate of their less fortunate compatriots. Is it surprising that they can send troops to destroy countries whose names they can't pronounce? Is it surprising that it should prove so easy at the present time to direct hatred towards Russians? (Or, in the case of certain vicious psychopaths who made it to Congress, towards Ukrainians?)
The reservoir of poison seems bottomless and nothing is easier than to open the sluices onto people we don't know, whether at home or abroad. What matters is that we should not recognize our human brothers and sisters for what they are.
For as long as Trump and acolytes move freely and engage in blatant subversion of American democracy, the world cannot be safe. They must be removed from circulation and their movement must be smashed. For your sake, for the sake of the world. Knowing that, regardless of what happens in Moscow and Beijing, there's a long, long haul before us. Regeneration may take generations. And education will be of the essence. Education in depth.
But as an Exceptional nation (USA! USA! USA!) we don’t need us no world geography, world history, or outlandish un-American languages. We don’t need ourselves no US history neither.
Yes, Peter, “unspeakably vile indifference” to the lot of anyone else or to our rather nice, and only, little planet.
Unfortunately, Carol, you have hit the target right in the bull's eye. Not that it's difficult to do that... This is something only the blind cannot see.
EXCEPTIONALISM is the alpha and omega of geopolitical evil. It lies at the heart of America’s crisis today, the challenge of a resurgent American fascism.
I’ll come back to you on this. I have already written of “exceptionalism” and the Herrenvolk in this thread and the issue is so central that I am bound to return to it .
If many in the GOP had their way, the contents of your letter could not be taught in our public schools and universities. A very sad statement to have to make over 150 years since the 14th and 15th Amendments were incorporated into our Constitution. -- This is not CRT. This is OUR shared history.
"Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked an apparently nonplussed Judge Jackson, 'Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate Critical Race Theory into our legal system?'"
Anyone ridiculous enough to ask such a ludicrous question reveals, not only their lack of knowledge, but also their own bigotry. CRT, embraces, as you note, Steve, "OUR shared history," and more pointedly, OUR shared humanity!
Rowshan, Seeing Brown Jackson’s confirmation, in all likelihood, is a foregone conclusion, I imagine, on the Republican side, the hearings largely will be driven by an effort to raise issues meant to lay the groundwork for midterm election campaigning. Seen through that lens, their questions/remarks will make sense, albeit it tragically so.
And for 2024, there are 3 or 4 wannabes on the Republican side of the committee. It will be a circus but Judge Jackson seems up to the challenge. Sen. Blackburn's contact with civility and reality has never been more than tenuous.
You give Sen. Blackburn more credit than she deserves.
LOL. Any credit is more than she deserves Jon as is her seat in the Senate. Is it the idea that she was once civil or once in touch with reality that you're questioning?
Just a general reaction. :-)
Yes, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton and one other.
Dave, On all counts you are spot on.
Thanks.
It’s the well-worn scary black woman ploy. As for Blackburn? She embarrasses herself every time she speaks.
Blackburn is a moronic embarrassment.
She's dangerous. She knows exactly who she is speaking to and they are not sitting in the Congressional Chambers.
Substack isn't allowing me to "<3" you. So, I'll just say it: HEAR, HEAR!
And then there is the ghastly senator from Iowa who wanted to know if she is an originalist....oh yeah, when only propertied white males could vote. Sigh. So many threatening things for people who want our country to be a white, male, Christian nation.
And now the awful senator from SC asks the judge about her faith on a scale of one to ten and about her church attendance. She cited the Constitution as part of her answer.
…Impacting us somewhat personally to boot….
Her questions were eye opening. Unencumbered racism. She didn't attempt to hide her disdain for Persons of color.
Ms. Blackburn is my Senator (I live in TN). Hardly a day goes by that I do not get a sense of anger that she represents me. And, she is firmly ensconced, it appears. She won her last election by a landslide. I have ceased writing letters of disapproval to her office (I have written plenty). I am convinced she doesn't care about minority opinions of her constituents, and I am not into beating my head against a wall. My hope is that TN will find an equivalent Stacey Abrams to run these racists out of office in my state.
Please don’t stop writing to her office. And thank you for doing it.
She’s my senator too. I have both but contempt for her performance and ignorance.
I meant to type “nothing but” contempt
She may hold that elective office, yes... however, you NEVER have to believe that she represents you. Please don't stop writing. It's not beating your head against a wall, it's a confirmation of your determination to be represented by a sane, smart, decent office holder.
Thank you for this comment, mlbrowne. I, too, have a senator (RonJohn) and congresspersons who I must remember to say do not represent me, though I live in WI.
I do so commiserate with you!
Hoping with you, Jay!!
Or Blackburn was aiming for a sound bite for her next election showing how "tough" she is on those "liberals."
One thing we can do: in this ridiculous age in which ‘clicks’ influence a media topic’s coverage and reach, don’t mindlessly click on any Marsha Blackburn, Cruz or Hawley news bits.
Also add CRT to the list of the republicans’ false flag (divisive) tropes to avoid: abortion, guns “rights”, border wall, mask/vaccination mandates, any political thing about what so-called truckers are doing, CRT and more.
We have to train ourselves to identify these dog whistle, bald-faced distractions, temper our irritation and disgust, and band together to deprive them of our oxygen. Remember, less than two years ago more people voted Biden/Harris than the other, and that’s enough to affect the algorithmic trajectory of these false news stories. We have to work in concert.
I wholeheartedly agree -- if sharing the latest outrageous tweet or post, do NOT Quote Tweet or link to it. Screenshot it -- and share that. Share their nonsense in away that does not give them oxygen.
Exactly the strategy we must learn how to execute. /make their verbal nonesense a 'non-issue'.for comment.All their twists of the facts just invite good honest intelligent people to fall into their trap, so they can skewer any rebuttle. Further making their base love the sound-bite quality. Ugh!!
So true -- do NOT engage -- just share the nonsense for other sensible people to see and be aware of, without giving them clicks/likes/etc.
You hear her again today, Rowshan? She makes my skin crawl with her ridiculous allegations and questions re: Roe v. Wade, religion, and CRT in elementary schools. Well, actually Ms. Lindsay, Pickin’ Cotton, and Hee Haw Hawley’s line of questioning crossed racial lines numerous times and then good ole Ted’s BS…
Such a two-faced, skin crawler! Grrrrr!
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) needs help. She’s transparently racist and pathetic. Help won’t help unless she wants it. Such prejudice is inherited.
How ‘bout conversion therapy for good ole marsha?
Hahahahaha!! ;-0
Certainly you can't mean it is genetically inherited? -- Prejudice is learned.
Exactly!!
My comment about Blackburn.....🤮
Ditto!
So let's not let that happen. Every one of us can find a way to step up for democracy over authoritarianism. Get a shot of energy and inspiration from the dynamic folks in this video of The Union Town Hall. Joe Trippi and the Lincoln Project have launched a matchmaker for individuals and progressive grassroots organizations. Something for everyone--check it out!
https://twitter.com/JoinTheUnionUS/status/1506043665059233792?s=20&t=BgdrGLMZwEPJGnb02sIuTw
I have joined. Thrilled to see Trippi with The Lincoln Project. He and Rick Wilson were on Friday night. Trippi is being schooled by Wilson on how to get the Democrats to stop explaining facts and being defensive and to effectively combat Republicans. Sorry to digress from the topic at hand.
Wilson has been voicing that for years about Dems lack of proper messaging.
Yes he has. Now Trippi/Democrats are on board. Thrilled to see this.
I hope lots of people sign up.
That was fun to watch last night!! Am excited to participate and really work towards winning the midterm elections. We The People. All of us this time!
The town hall was inspiring.
The contents of her letter was not taught in my school back in the sixties and seventies. I had no idea nor had ever heard of Stephen's. I didn't learn any of this until much later in life. And now they are trying to enact laws to make sure it isn't taught. I will be sure to teach this to my grandson as I have no faith in our schools.
"This is not CRT. This is OUR shared history." I believe so. But I still have a problem: as Americans the 4th of July and Juneteenth are equivocal and captured by the Constitution. What the GOP fears about CRT is that the have-nots may learn enough math to recognize the Zero Day Exploit in the Gregorian Calendar which keeps them have-not.
Thanks for the likes. It's nice to know some people got what I was saying, but how the weaponization plays out is the main point. A Republican Senator recently committed a non sequitur and was called out for it.
"Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn confused the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and she's getting called out for it". I'll let HCR provide the reference (pssst ... search the full title).
The Senator is selectively "projecting". The audience of me and my posse of likes would appreciate it if she would occasionally misquote the Juneteenth Proclamation just to keep things fair. We can call her out for that too without dependency on Harvard Lawyers for analysis.
Exactly.
It is a peculiar sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. … One ever feels his twoness — an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
—W.E.B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, activist, 1897
The chasm between the principles upon which this Government was founded … and those which are daily practiced under the protection of the flag, yawns so wide and deep.
—Mary Church Terrell, clubwoman, businesswoman, activist, 1906
We will kneel in, we will sit in until we can eat in any corner in the United States. We will walk until … we can take our children to any school in the United States. And we will … lie in until every Negro in America can vote.
—Daisy Bates, civil rights activist, president of Arkansas NAACP, 1963
2020
Every police killing of an un-armed black man, woman or child damages our country. ... These killings are a tragedy for families and communities. But they are also a stain on our nation's very soul.
—Sherrilyn Ifill, president, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Am on vacation and painting trip on the coast of Maine near Boothbay Harbor. Feeling close to Heather and Buddy with the beauty and lobstah pots and boats out the window.
Should not have read Heather today. As a therapist, I see the cruelty of humanity close up. I cannot freely speak and write because of my position in being a "blank slate." I keep breaking that boundary because there is so much wrong-mindedness in our country. My retirement has to be sped up in a few months as I cannot continue to be a blank slate in the larger world. I am pissed and refuse to allow bad behaviors of entitled white people to prevail any further. As a business person, artist, writer and activist my canvas will be anything but blank. We are all needed to speak out, to march, to stand up for All Our People. Did we learn nothing from history? Are we learning nothing from Ukraine? Where the hell is empathy from our elected officials? How do people in 2022 believe they are better than other people? And say it out loud? I thank Obama for unknowingly revealing the intense white supremacists who are now emboldened so we see who they are. It began with mitch. And no one stood up to him. We are all being pushed to make a VERY CLEAR STAND. It has to be LOUDER, STRONGER and full of JUSTICE and TRUTH. The only way to deal with narcissist bullies and supremacists is to draw the line in the sand and stop them with consequences. It is time for the latter. Okay, back out exploring today. The seaside is like The Day the Earth Stood Still. Most things are still shut down for the season. We can walk in the middle of the street freely as we rarely see cars. The few people we have met are wonderful. I am soaking up the quiet and hoping when the busy summer life returns to these little seacoast towns that people are very circumspect and conscious as they come out of the pandemic and balance themselves with playfulness combined with standing up for all people's rights including the earth's where they play in and on her waters and enjoy the beauty she could, endlessly, provide, if we take care of her.
Beautifully stated!
'Love's in need of love today'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=014ayxah1Qo&list=RD014ayxah1Qo&index=1
Oh, my goodness, Fern. What a hard, beautiful message to the world by Stevie Wonder. I am so full of gratitude that you sent it to us. I am going to pass it to my American/Ukrainian friends who are really struggling with news of loved ones over there. Today, as we explored Southport and E. Boothbay Islands, we kept noticing white flags with big pink hearts on them. I thought, oh, they are sending love to the world. Seeing this video and hearing Stevie sing the message made me understand what is happening. And the white flag of asking hate to surrender to love. Love is in need of Love today... everybody, hold onto your hearts, we are going to make this the last war. When I get home, I am going to hang a white flag with a pink heart on my barn, too. I don't know what I would do without Heather and this community. I am so glad we have this forum. Love to all.
p.s. We kept seeing pairs of bald eagles today, despite strong winds, at very significant moments when we were talking about our country. It was deeply moving.
Pensa, You keep giving. I lived in your message this morning. It was full, overflowing, singing and sharing through NYC's buildings, the hills, the rivers and close, so close to our feelings, the feeling of being one together.
Pensa! Beautiful. You have the Light shining brightly!
My light burns brighter because of all the connections here. Thank you, Christine, for your huge heart!
You are welcome, brother. Here is a performance by Jon Baptiste…. “Blackbird”.
I listen to it often. It’s so beautiful.
https://youtu.be/H46yXW4qR_M
Thank you, I have heard this and never tire of it either. We are blessed with so many talented musicians. Now let's keep working on talented representatives for The People!
Yes, yes and yes. :’-(
May our nation’s redemption begin again in earnest. 🙏🏻
No soul, no life.
Ifill is one of my heroines. Jackson is quickly becoming another one.
Thank you for this march of quotes through time, Fern. It shows that we have not gone as far as we thought we had, and that this is the battle that must be fought to save our democracy.
Yes, Ally, over many lived years from idealism and Brotherhood in the 1950's, Civil Rights, August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.'s, 'I Have a Dream' speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.; disappointments, jubilation, anger, deaths, heroism, hanging together, deceptive highs and bitter lows, until June 6th 2020, when a half of million of us joined protests in 550 places around the country after George Floyd's was murdered by police -- and here we are, March 22, 2022, 'We shall not be moved'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf0vf6eV6JE
Another very apt history lesson, one that fits well with today's Letter.
Another brilliant HCR history lesson linked to current events and our potential future.
It seems Republicans want states to govern as they see fit, as quasi independent nations essentially free to ignore parts of the Constitution they find meddlesome — especially the 14th Amendment. But they never come right out and declare it, unlike the more philosophically honest leaders of the Confederacy like Alexander Stephens.
Without a Supreme Court majority and a filibuster-proof Senate majority, we face long odds in slowing the steady erosion of what Lincoln envisioned. But as the Republicans become more radical, more emboldened, they help rally Democrats to fight back and vote in unprecedented numbers.
The juxtaposition of Republicans exploiting the system to destroy democracy from within and Ukrainians risking their lives to save their fledgling democracy is a sight to behold.
Michael, well put.
Paragraph #2 - precisely. And yet, as those states function as quasi independent nations the poorly functioning ones rely on tax dollars from more prosperous states to prop them up – they demand federal support in the form of subsidies for various industries, assistance when disaster strikes, and, of course, fully expect the federal government to provide essential services like air traffic control or levee construction and maintenance. In essence, like rabid dogs, they continually bite the hand that feeds them.
Paragraph #4 - It is, indeed, a sight to behold.
The republican-led state’s stated goal is for the federal government to reflect their prejudices, just like before. (ALEC is one way, fear-based propaganda another). Somebody has studied how Prohibition became national; it was a way to circumvent the will of the majority. It worked and is working again. It is indeed destroying democracy from within and by design.
How do they manage to qualify as non profit??? I don’t get it.
I continue to wonder if there is some way for wealthier blue states to somehow use the laws and the power -- or at least publicity -- of their excess contributions to the federal government, to expose the hypocrisy of these staunchly Republican poorer southern and western states. Their loud Republican legislators contemptuously cast as "socialism" any policy or legislation that would fairly redistribute some of the wealth of privileged individual whites to raise up the people of color they have for centuries pushed down Yet they are very happy to accept the socialism of rich blue states subsidizing their poorer red-state budgets, while seething with scorn and derision for every enlightened principle of equality the blue states hold dear.
I wonder those things myself. It's no secret that many red states are unable to stand on their own two feet but it's not something right wing politicians or media are going to amplify. And if Democrats mention it, it is, of course, all lies. We are in a bind.
It's too bad states weren't required to sign a contract renewable every X number of years when admitted into statehood. Failing to uphold the terms of the contract could result in suspension and/or expulsion. The bottom line is this: the founding settlers and those going forward were greedy. They were hellbent on acquiring massive amounts of land and making it part of the union so they could exploit the resources each.parcel offered. It was foolish but predictable. We are suffering the consequences of that greed.
And yet, the hand keeps feeding them!!!!! How can we prevent the Federal Government from feeding them and allowing this minority rule???
Damn: A sobering note from Finland about America's role in all of this
Published Saturday by Josh Marshall for Talking Points Memo, an accusation and a plea.
Translated into rough English, from a Finnish TPM member who believes that the U.S. has yet to come to terms with the role we’ve played in providing the backdrop for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. His thesis is that Russia has viewed the U.S. as a “back door” towards weakening Europe and NATO in its reaction to the invasion.
"I understand you would like to see your heroic country as the navel of the world and as the main focus of any operation, but I am sorry to inform that, in this case, you are only cheap tools. You had to be weakened (and Britain manipulated to Brexit etc) in order to facilitate invasions to Ukraine, Belarussia and a list of other neighboring pieces of land in Putin’s future Menu.
"So, as a KGB officer would plan, they came exactly from the opposite direction than where they were expected. They professionally built an operation web among the rural redneck cowboys, evangelical christians, the NRA, the most republican of all republicans, your law enforcement, some military people, big business etc etc. They popped up to the surface from within the “core americans”, but their long dive before that was planned and had started from the Kremlin’s operation board."
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/19/2086972/-Damn-A-sobering-note-from-Finland-about-America-s-role-in-all-of-this
An excerpt copied from the article published Saturday by Josh Marshall for Talking Points Memo that struck me:
“So, if you really want to do something for the Ukraine, for the Europe and to any other decent country or person, please also Do. Your. Own. Homework! Show to both your home audience and to the rest of the world that also the western flank of Putin’s army, the one located in your country, is kept accountable! No special treatment, just f**king enforce your old existing laws to ultra-rich/influential white dudes, as well! You are just tools, but you are very important tools for Putin also in the European front. Don’t let him use you.”
Many (most) Americans have been screaming this same thing. Our (snails pace) justice system is enabling and emboldening those who seek to turn our democracy into an autocracy which can then put it’s knee on the necks of those who are “less than”. And “less than” no longer refers to just people who are not European whites, but now includes ALL women.
... and, of course, people of color and First Nations people who will be given no air time - denied opportunity and equity while We The People divert our attention and support to the refugees of this theatre - but not those from south of the border, or others around the world who suffer similar conditions and worse - not to mention those of us who do not play for the Home Team ... so much for freedom and self determination of the blinded, mindless, metastasizing masses - ever hungry for more, more, more - never enough ... (oh, my aching belly - not to worry, doctor's going to fix you right up ....)
Flipping the Message About Refugees, With a Poem
In form and message, a poet shows both adults and kids that the world can be looked at another way.
As millions of people flee bombing in Ukraine, most media and political comment has been rightly sympathetic. But refugees from other parts of the world, like those escaping war in Syria or violence in Central America, are often described very differently. That scapegoating is turned around in “Refugees,” a 2016 poem by British poet Brian Bilston. It’s a “reverse poem,” meant to be read from the top and then from the bottom—completely changing the framing from suspicion to sharing.
The poem went viral again this month on Twitter, which the pseudonymous Bilston uses so effectively he’s been called “the Banksy of poetry.” With illustrations by José Sanabria, Refugees is also beautifully rendered as a children’s picture book that can be read in two ways. With their natural sense of justice and humanity, kids are quick to understand the poet’s message.
Refugees
by Brian Bilston
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way (now read from bottom to top)
https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2022/03/16/refugees-poem
One only need look at the situation in this country right now, the enormous divisions that are ripping us apart, to see just how apt this Finnish description is. All it has taken has been massive misinformation, gamely applied in the right situations, and buying off the right people. Nobody could have ever expected it and it came off, continues to, like clockwork. Brilliant actually. They supplied the rope and we are hanging ourselves. And people are too stupid and naïve to see how they're being duped.
The Finnish assessment is spot on. I read another essay from a Finnish writer the other day that was similar - I have a suspicion the sentiment throughout the Baltic states might be pervasive.
Anyway, Bruce, truth. I have long believed as you say, "They supplied the rope and we are hanging ourselves. And people are too stupid and naïve to see how they're being duped."
True statement. Too stupid/too naïve to see how manipulated we have been.
Can’t ❤️ this!! Yes, stupid, naive, blind, and deaf to the sounds of evil and hatred.
That is something else! Thank you for sharing this.
Kathleen, thank you. That is the shirt that fits.
Like a glove ....
We might begin to tug on that thread convincingly enough to begin reparations . Certainly enough to go after Putin with a “Louisville slugger”.
We need our heavy weights here. They know who they are.
True, but so many in Tx are much more aware of the next “Dancing with the Stars” champ. Not just a Texas thing, I’m sure.
Indeed.
Yes. “Unprecedented numbers”.
Dear Senator Blackburn; is it your personal and not-so-secret agenda to offensively suggest that every person of color has a secret agenda to declare systemic racism present in everything we strive to accomplish in this nation? By asking the question you asked, are you not drawing attention to the fact that systemic racism is, in fact, imbedded in a great deal of our nation's history? Indeed, it won't surprise me a bit if part of the MAGA dogma will soon include the concept that the American caucasian male is an endangered species, a discriminated minority, worthy of constitutional protection. Are you offended that a woman of color has been promoted to candidacy for the highest court in our nation? Would you have asked that question of a white woman? Since the caucasian male has blatantly promoted exclusionary and discriminatory policies across the centuries in this country, why shouldn't an American who isn't a part of that demographic be vigilant about identifying the next expression of that perverse tendency? Personally, I find your question disgusting and unbecoming of a US Senator who is part of a demographic that only gained the right to vote a mere 100 years ago.
Blackburn is a reminder that you always have to know the political affiliations of your medical professionals, lest you have an inbred moron like her touch you (she used to be an RN). Before she sold her soul to the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma.
She is the worst of the worst, up there with MTG and her ilk.
This is her background, per Ballotopedia. No mention of having been a nurse.
Blackburn graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's in home economics. She owns Marketing Strategies, a promotion event management firm. She previously worked for the Southwestern Book company selling Bibles and educational books door-to-door.[2] Prior to her election to the U.S. House, Blackburn served in the Tennessee State Senate.[3]
I did not see anywhere that she was an RN. Her degree was in Home Economics.
Nathan, they are already trumpeting the supposed "genocide" of the white male. It's part of their despicable platform.
Bravo, Nathan!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Yup.
The adult on the playground ensures all play fair, take turn, rein in bullies, protect the vulnerable. It’s an essential and tireless job — the bullies are forever testing, protesting, picking on, ganging up, name calling, breaking rules, taking more than their share. Federal oversight is the firm, benevolent adult on-duty, and the bullies will always complain and resent her.
But battered and worn out after centuries of assault from the bullies who never rest. The biggest bully of all is waiting in the wings, with his cult on the ready. It will take a “woke” constituency who knows that the fight for democracy is not only in Ukraine. Sorry to use a word that republicans have vilified to make it sound evil, but it fits.
We need every democrat vote, AND the registered independents.
Yes, Lynn, absolutely, but … but but but … the ELECTORAL COLLEGE!
Yes. And with redirection we were able to turn the self same bullies into positive roles with the peers they once harangued. Win win. (It didn’t hurt matters that I was the wrestling coach). It marked a turning point in their lives and the heretofore cretins made our jaws drop. What teachers do matters. Thank you Berry!
Yes.
And Everyone,
Share This!!!
Thank you Berry M.
So we'll said! Thank you, Berry
An excellent letter that needs to be read by everyone in our United States. I can't believe how far back in history the republicans are trying to push us. I was part of the sit ins in VA in the 60's when I was in college. I was born and raised in CT but went to college in VA. I found dealing with the segregation in VA unbelievable. I'm sharing your letter with many.
Ironic or maybe not that this anniversary of a speech so divisive comes on a day of the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a black woman. The first in the court’s history. The questions or comments by Dems were positive and congratulatory. The repubs made sure they complained about the Dems bad behavior for the previous TFG nominations. So highly qualified, she should be confirmed unanimously but that’s not predicted to be the case. At all. Forever forward will we be divided as if we were/are two countries, North and South? Again? States afraid of teaching the truth to school children, that ban books, ban abortion, restrict voting, but protect gun rights. Take us backwards. Grateful there should be/will be more than enough votes for the first black woman Supreme Court Justice in history. So highly qualified the vote SHOULD be unanimous.
You called it Irenie. Is there some way we can approach without threatening them? Can we bewilder them by asking for their help in resolving these combative differences? Can we isolate and table our differences so that we may find a respectful way forward? I attended 24 different grade schools and two different high schools. Usually 3 to 4 fights per school were sufficient to grant me space to breath. If I couldn’t achieve that I would go for the nuclear option. My dreaded big sister! One of the big surprises was that sometimes one or two of the most dangerous predators on the playground actually liked me, especially after they rendered me unconscious a few times. Surprised hell out of me. They respected the “little mouthy new kid”. With a little help with their homework I had an army to help me “tame” the rest of the bullies. Not to mention my big sis having my back. Respect goes a long way for both sides. I really don’t have any more magic than that up my sleevies. (Sorry, old North Dakota joke. Where do North Dakotans keep their armies?). Humor respect recognition resolution. I know of no other route. But I know we have to embark on a more successful one. What we are doing is driving a deeper wedge into the heart of the tree. Eventually the tree will split.
So much depth in this, Pat. I read it twice. "Humor respect recognition resolution." I also appreciated your N Dakota joke early in the morning.
Truly, "A house divided cannot stand." A. Lincoln
Your brief life story---wow. You must truly be a survivor! I moved ONCE as a child and it impacted me for life, not in a good way. Kudos.
Sorry for your move! Me and my 5 siblings went on a breathtaking journey. We had a mom. We were the luckiest kids I know. All still alive today, thanks mom!
Pat, you are a survivor for sure! Attitude is so critical. Maybe good genes. My eleven moves, maybe my family carrying out the legacy of diaspora, weren’t that helpful. Or maybe they were. Or maybe being connected with a big family was your ticket. I know there’s more to your story. Have you written it? And resilience! You’re on the right track. Connection is a human need. We know the importance of belonging. So TFG himself wasn’t the draw, but his movement, bringing people together, yes. Like gangs. We have to find the key. Because the political gangs can be deadly. The little wars and the world wars. We humans are complicated. Humor Respect Recognition. Yes! What’s the next step. Thank You for sharing.
Chu hoi leaflets? Oh…….no you have to be able to read. Probably not cynicism either. Maybe the bars. They did say rednecks! This movement forward is what we want. The people are just the people. We are not those things that live under bridges and eat billy goats and children. Open the super bowl, have one of their rallies but to promote that crazy stuff you and Fern and others are putting forward. You know love needs love too stuff. Maybe put a ban on wedges. What Arnold said. What Greta said. Especially we need to hear what our little Finnlander said. Their little cheeks are so cute whey smile. Don’t mind me everyone in the family knows I’m damaged. It beats making bird sounds all the time. The olive branch has to come from us. Don’t ever forget they are the victims. If we offer our hand there is a good chance it will work better than our fists.
You mentioned diaspora and caught me guessing, Central Europe ??
Ukraine. Lithuania. Escaped 1909. And much later. Some still there. Chernobyl. We all have a history.
There is your story Irenie!!! Pardon me if you have written it. We have a story about ranching in Eastern Montana. I don’t think anyone ever bought the book but is somewhat cathartic just to know.
Yes. Writing is in my soul. And in yours? Who holds the pen?
I’m betting we know people on this forum who have treated psychosis from brainwashing successfully and know how to open a discussion.
Of course - and not long ago, it may well have been.
Thank you. I refer your readers to today's article in The Guardian by Thomas Zimmer where he exposes the beliefs of the dominant conservative thought that underlies the Republican party of today. The long term agenda is to return the US to a society based on white patriarchal Christian principles with a redefinition of what citizenship is and who can be a citizen. It is all of a piece and a long term agenda. It meshes with Heather's letter. And both pieces demand that concerned citizens get busy to stop the erosion of the constitution.
Zimmer's columns frequently discuss this issue. Links to cited articles are always helpful.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/21/republicans-biden-trump-election-democracy
Thank you so much for this link. For others here's on paragraph:
"What is most alarming is the underlying ideology that leads so many on the right to consider Democratic victories invalid – even if they concede there was nothing technically wrong with how the election was conducted. It has become a core tenet of the Republican worldview to consider the Democratic party as not simply a political opponent, but an enemy pursuing an “un-American” project of turning what is supposed to be a white Christian patriarchal nation into a land of godless multiracial pluralism. Conversely, Republicans see themselves as the sole proponents of “real” America, defending the country from the forces of radical leftism, liberalism and wokeism."
The whole article is great but this part should be a solemn read. -saw-
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Most welcome. Yes, that paragraph lays it all out.
Thanks for the link, Daria.
You're welcome🌻🌷
Wow. That is truly one of the scariest of the several articles I have read on the subject. Wish it was going to be easier to drown the notion (and love) of white patriarchy by those so-called "authentic Americans" (most of whom are white patriarchs--and their sycophants--of course) in that bathtub of Norquist's.
One of your best letters. Thank you for the history lesson.
It would appear that one thing that the Republican autocrats in all three branches of federal and state governments are consciously ignoring is the Federal Supremacy clause in the Constitution. As I understand it, the federal government takes priority over state governments.
There is another phrase for ignoring the Constitution & all the Amendments & Article III ( only 1 SCOTUS); that is "Seditious Conspiracy", 18 USC 2384.
It’s a shame that allocation of federal revenue to states can’t be cut based on their ignoring the Constitution.
It can be. It has been. It will be again.
NOW
Thanks for another profound essay linking our present to our past so that we may evolve that more perfect union.
An excellent reminder. I’m sad we need it so urgently.
Simply put, are we color blind or color bound? Is Black as good as it gets or is Black or any color inferior to white? And what is white, after all, if not the absence of color? Put differently, are not we all people of some color, isn’t white a fiction in the first place? Who remembers what the first man and woman looked like? Was Charles Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection logical or not, should we teach Darwin in Tennesse or not? Who decides what we teach, what books our children should read? Are we all created equal or not? Should we all vote or not? It’s Putin or Zelenskyy, Ukraine or Russia, fascist or free, no?
Thank you Heather for showing a big picture view of why “the confirmation hearing of a Black woman, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court matters.”
My earlier view had been simpler; Judge Jackson’s experience and character qualify her to serve on the Supreme Court.
Immediately following all the bullshit about slavery, Stephens goes on to describe "Southernomics," which we see today espoused the past 50 years by the GOP:
Again, the subject of internal improvements, under the power of Congress to regulate commerce, is put at rest under our system. The power, claimed by construction under the old constitution, was at least a doubtful one; it rested solely upon construction. We of the South, generally apart from considerations of constitutional principles, opposed its exercise upon grounds of its inexpediency and injustice. Notwithstanding this opposition, millions of money, from the common treasury had been drawn for such purposes. Our opposition sprang from no hostility to commerce, or to all necessary aids for facilitating it. With us it was simply a question upon whom the burden should fall. In Georgia, for instance, we have done as much for the cause of internal improvements as any other portion of the country, according to population and means. We have stretched out lines of railroads from the seaboard to the mountains; dug down the hills, and filled up the valleys at a cost of not less than $25,000,000. All this was done to open an outlet for our products of the interior, and those to the west of us, to reach the marts of the world. No State was in greater need of such facilities than Georgia, but we did not ask that these works should be made by appropriations out of the common treasury. The cost of the grading, the superstructure, and the equipment of our roads was borne by those who had entered into the enterprise. Nay, more not only the cost of the iron no small item in the aggregate cost was borne in the same way, but we were compelled to pay into the common treasury several millions of dollars for the privilege of importing the iron, after the price was paid for it abroad. What justice was there in taking this money, which our people paid into the common treasury on the importation of our iron, and applying it to the improvement of rivers and harbors elsewhere? The true principle is to subject the commerce of every locality, to whatever burdens may be necessary to facilitate it. If Charleston harbor needs improvement, let the commerce of Charleston bear the burden. If the mouth of the Savannah river has to be cleared out, let the sea-going navigation which is benefited by it, bear the burden. So with the mouths of the Alabama and Mississippi river. Just as the products of the interior, our cotton, wheat, corn, and other articles, have to bear the necessary rates of freight over our railroads to reach the seas. This is again the broad principle of perfect equality and justice, and it is especially set forth and established in our new constitution.
Something curious and highly ironic:
What this view did not, could not, foresee was how untrammeled corporate power would in time work to undermine and destroy local economies, localized solutions... not just throughout the USA but worldwide.
And everywhere it is society that is subverted, society and our physical environment, to suit the convenience of the very few.
Exactly, Peter. The canonization of the forefather’s vision astounds me.
Something even more curious and highly ironic:
Unfettered corporate power, Eh!?
The proven concept of “Economies of Scale” provides exactly the American consumers expectations of purchasing the same quality but at a lower price.
Getting a deal IS the American pastime.
This chosen behavioral phenomenon, “…suit the convenience of the, {very many}…”
An inconvenient fact, Eh!?
So what are we to do?
See link:
Former Gen Re and AIG Executives Found Guilty on all ...
https://www.justice.gov › opa › February › 80_crm_141
Feb 25, 2008 — Robert Graham, 58, of Westport, Conn., a Gen Re senior vice president ... of financial health to insurance industry analysts and investors.
It's hard to parse your message, and yes, I can see now why the link you provided got me nowhere, but am I right in finding two points in what you've written?
1. How the "proven concept" of economies of scale, which was meant as a medicine, has become a poison, to the environment, to society?
2. How the ancient concept of the citizen (and the city) has been pushed out of the nest by the cuckoo concept of "the consumer"?
As I see it, reasoning can help save us from ourselves, rationalism can destroy us.
Thank you, was getting a head spin
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1 + 2 = INDEED!
Good, you reassure me, I didn't want to misrepresent you.
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An early Libertarian, this guy? If a hurricane devastates your town, you’re on your own. FEMA? Certainly not, that’s socialism! Insurance. . . isn’t that a bit like socialism when you think about it? Horrors!
HST knew them well “Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.”
Insurance may be capitalized socialism.
Yes! This is what private “enterprise” leaves with us. The middle class and poor with medical debt and the CEO’ et al with their billions.
Plus millions of employment opportunities of all types for the non-entrepreneurial spirited population who choose not to exercise a willingness to create a product or activity that seeks out a change/improvement, but instead choose to wait and adapt to change created by the entrepreneurial pioneer.
Entrepreneurial spirited individuals choose a mindset of calculated risk which embraces critical questioning, innovation, service and continuous improvement and an attitude that there must always be a better way which is one aspect that primarily sets America apart from the remainder of the world, Eh!?
If it makes a profit, it’s acceptable, then?
Are we earthlings, or are we tribes which continue to battle each other rather than put their considerable energy into the welfare of all. Sadly, I suspect the answer…
Thanks for posting this. Quite the opposite view of Lincoln’s - who I stand with.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, American military, Etc., Etc., Etc.
This “each should provide for his own need” idea was not terribly forward-looking, was it? Something else inspired Rural Electrification, the Tennessee Valley Authority and later the Interstate Highway system.
My forward-thinking grandparents in Tennessee proudly installed their tiny town’s first flush toilet in their house. But there was no sewer to connect to, and the septic tank and drainage was a failure, so it was removed and until the mid 1960s there was an outhouse and “slop jars” under the beds. At least no one had to pay taxes for anyone else’s modern conveniences.
"An outhouse and slop jars..."
This jogged my memory. Apart from one or two visits to Berlin, I'd never been in the former German Democratic Republic (DDR). In 2001, I and a German friend drove across what had been the border for the first time . I noticed a few minor differences about the gas stations we passed but when we came to the first village, all the roads had been dug up. My friend told me that they were laying down sewers here and in neighboring villages. I was surprised, not expecting that East Germany should be so far behind the west with the provision of such basic infrastructures...
In Russia and eastern Europe, still plenty of outhouses, and it's bitterly cold in winter...
But then, I remember outhouses behind British workers' houses in the 1950s and '60s, and in the country, beaten earth floors and no running water in farm workers' cottages. Just a hand-operated pump or a well outside... And typhoid fever still struck from time to time.
We've been spoiled... I was aware of the unhygienic arrangements at the palace of Versailles, but consider other royal palaces... https://www.history.com/news/royal-palace-life-hygiene-henry-viii
ADDENDUM: I'd just written this note when I glanced at another item in my mailbox. This told me that 100 million Americans are drinking contaminated water...
Are they the “real” Americans or others?
I don't doubt that all varieties of real American are represented, all shapes, all colors, all ages. Or that, however "white" they may be, your criminal politicians will despise them no less than they despise the "others". They may, however, find them more useful for their dirty work...
Sometimes, living in an ordinary city in France, I forget quite how unhealthy millions of Americans are, and look. And, now that I come to think of it, I lived for several years in Glasgow, by reputation the unhealthiest city in the UK and it didn't shock me as I've sometimes been shocked in the States. But I did live at the "better" end of town...
Did you ever see the film Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue? I don't recommend viewing unless you have a very strong stomach. I think that what I saw may have been a preliminary cut of this : https://www.mc3.edu/news/2020/crisis-in-kensington-documentary. Hell on earth in a great American city.
What is unspeakably vile is the depth of indifference on the part of so many am-I-my-brother's-keeper politicians and officials and so many oligarchs to the fate of their less fortunate compatriots. Is it surprising that they can send troops to destroy countries whose names they can't pronounce? Is it surprising that it should prove so easy at the present time to direct hatred towards Russians? (Or, in the case of certain vicious psychopaths who made it to Congress, towards Ukrainians?)
The reservoir of poison seems bottomless and nothing is easier than to open the sluices onto people we don't know, whether at home or abroad. What matters is that we should not recognize our human brothers and sisters for what they are.
For as long as Trump and acolytes move freely and engage in blatant subversion of American democracy, the world cannot be safe. They must be removed from circulation and their movement must be smashed. For your sake, for the sake of the world. Knowing that, regardless of what happens in Moscow and Beijing, there's a long, long haul before us. Regeneration may take generations. And education will be of the essence. Education in depth.
But as an Exceptional nation (USA! USA! USA!) we don’t need us no world geography, world history, or outlandish un-American languages. We don’t need ourselves no US history neither.
Yes, Peter, “unspeakably vile indifference” to the lot of anyone else or to our rather nice, and only, little planet.
Unfortunately, Carol, you have hit the target right in the bull's eye. Not that it's difficult to do that... This is something only the blind cannot see.
EXCEPTIONALISM is the alpha and omega of geopolitical evil. It lies at the heart of America’s crisis today, the challenge of a resurgent American fascism.
I’ll come back to you on this. I have already written of “exceptionalism” and the Herrenvolk in this thread and the issue is so central that I am bound to return to it .
Good to know the history, thank you professor Richardson!