“We are very pleased, dear President, dear Joe, to welcome you again in Brussels,” European Council president Charles Michel of Belgium told President Joe Biden today.
The coordination of the Putin-Fox propaganda becomes more and more overt. I don't call it "Russian" propaganda any more than I'd call what Fox is emitting "American" propaganda. There's no longer any reason to wonder how on earth America could put a Donald Trump in the White House - America didn't.
Maybe "America didn't," Anne-Louise, but sadly, the people of the US fell for it! And many of them are still in that camp, including many influential traitors like the Thomases and far too many members of Congress! It is a sham.
Many US citizens are far too gullible, far too uneducated to separate truth from fiction. Many are lacking a good education that allows them to think critically and to assess what they are being fed. That we have justices of SCOTUS or their spouses in that camp is deplorable. That a TV personality is allowed such a platform is an abomination!
I, too, listened to President Biden's press conference with pride and gratitude! No wonder Charles Michel of Belgium -- if not all US citizens --greeted him so warmly today. A prophet is never fully recognized in his/her/their land.
Propaganda works, even on some educated and smart people I know. They do some mental gymnastics, usually having to do with pie (I ain’t sharing with those lazy takers). As HST said “Socialism is the epithet they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years.” Make that 70 and still the same old rerun.
Yes, we do tend to think of the trump base as knuckle dragging, mouth breathers who haven't seen a bathtub in decades, but the truth is there is a large swath of that base that in other instances are smart, educated people that fell down the rabbit hole and can't find their way out.
And if you read Gianni Thomas’s text messages, they think the same of us, that many of us are “educated people that fell down a rabbit hole and can’t find their way out”. I am most intrigued by the crafting of propaganda to keep us so encamped. This is not a new phenomenon. It just has been weaponized on a grander scale because the new tools (FB, Twitter, cable news, etc.) allow for that to happen. We are experiencing psychological pollution, but our laws are not built to identify it, stop it, nor clean it up. The ecology of our minds,and our “data” have become commodities to be owned, retooled and deployed for gain. However that “gain” is not a better, more just society.
Great stuff, Michele. You know Ginny Thomas had been brain-sucked when she texted Meadows, “Help This Great President..." I hope Democrats will act republican and demand that her husband step down from the court.
She is an insurrectionist and should be in jail. As for him, he should not be on any court and yes, he used his position to try to cover up his wife's deed. Both of them are despicable.
“The attacks from Republicans would continue, Booker said. “But don’t worry, my sister. Don’t worry. God has got you. And how do I know that?” Booker’s voice cracked with emotion. “Because you’re here. And I know what it’s taken for you to sit in that seat.”
Only another black person who has endured the "White-Privileged-Gauntlet" and then, finally one long-awaited day, to succeed through the white social status of political hell into an earned seat in the Senate of the United States of America...
As recounted for us by an equally scared "White-Privileged-Gauntlet" journalist so that we may realize the blessedness of the impossible ascension of the first black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States of America since its inception on September 24, 1789.
TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE YEARS of enduring the insult, fear, humiliation, degradation, the oh so very unnecessary pain and the struggle to be recognized as the blessed equality of love given to everyone of us by our FATHER in Heaven!
There remain enough of goodness to save America's greatness of freedom's love of neighbor, Eh!?
Michele, I'm sure you are well meaning and obviously kind-tending, but I think you're under-counting the strong attraction of the sloth-loving, non-opioid, self-administered prefrontal lobotomy. Get yours now. A do-it-yourself model is available on Amazon, no technical preparation or night-flight qualification needed, and can be administered in the privacy and comfort of a room-of-your-own, a bomb-shelter, anywhere. Don't ask me if I'm stealing from my own stash.
This has been the most confounding part of all. DeSantis, Pompeo, both highly educated. Pompeo is a religious zealot but DeSantis has not revealed that side except for his policies.
Look at Hawley, Cruz and (John) Kennedy, all on the Judiciary Comm. Educated at the best schools but you sure wouldn’t know it from watching them at the KBJ hearings.
There's a long list. A very long list. Legions which are not househild names. I've tried to put myself in their shoes to understand. My brain can't get there. Some of these people are family. Some were once dear friends.
How can a religious person be well educated? I can go with spiritually developed or aware, but for me well educated people can go beyond performing empty rituals just for show.
As a pastor and liturgical scholar, I am sure you are correct that some people engage in "empty rituals" but I don't know any of those people. Perhaps you mean folks whose hypocrisy and shamelessness compel them to hold up a Bible in front of a church after getting the road cleared of people who love this nation (and who even love Christ). Now that's an empty ritual!
In my hometown, it was partly a society thing. Most wealthy people went to the Episcopal Church. I will never forget the time I was at the midnight Christmas Eve service with a friend, and me with one of her mother's hats on when a woman came in with no hat. Then in a sneering tone my friend observed, "low church." Yikes.
I think that is a judgment obtained with incomplete information. Why? Because the ultimate understanding of anyone is what their lives stood for and nothing else. Please note that I am not saying that all “religious” are holy — but that a fig tree is judged by their fruit, not the biological information printed on a brass plant label stuck in the ground beside them. Labels can be misleading. Actions are more directly observed and weighed.
Yes, they are and they really have to dismiss facts to achieve this. The fact is that they don't care because in the rabbit hole is their money, their mansion, their bridge playing or golfing buddies, their swanky soirees, their gated communities keeping all the peons out. Mostly they want to keep making money and using it to protect themselves from any oversight or having to pay their fair share. The peons are being played and the elite are happy for them to do the dirty work.
When society experiences chaos, there are opportunities for shifts in status and there are always alert status seekers waiting for a chance to advance.
Are they lost, fallen down a rabbit hole, or attracted to the authoritarian strong man? ANYTHING that insinuates Trumpers are "victims" ...I just cannot buy it.
My experience with Trumpers close to me is that they are not victims but they SEE themselves as victims. And this is perhaps where the "I alone can fix this" (I alone can SAVE you) comes in. Every perceived slight from birth (and it was there from toddler hood) is gas for this engine. And everyone and everything must serve it. It is I, Me, Mine, My Family versus I, Us, Community, Humanity. Insular versus expansive. It Is not about information available but actually what we choose to pay attention to. It seems to be inherent somehow in human society (white, Western, Christian cut off from nature?) which seems to predispose us to conflict. Those who will share and those who will not. I live in Bali where this "I, me, mine, you must serve me" is rare, usually outgrown in early childhood.
We all have access to the same info. What is it that inclines people to follow a man like Trump? There is no dissembling with him. He unabashedly and without an ounce of shame or compassion greedily grabs (pussy) whatever he can get his hands on. He is an authoritarian with admiration for the worst tyrants our era has to offer. Those who follow him with adulation have a different compass than you and I ...I would not call it a "moral compass." I don't know what it is. A craving for an authoritarian strong man?
It depends on when and where they were educated. If you are well-educated, but have no knowledge of/insight into critical thinking, your education is incomplete.
The right-wing media provides an immersive fictional Virtual Reality lens for a large swath of Americans. Currently, I pray that certain people "experience consequences" or "leave the planet." Clearly, I should add to my prayers/meditations/invocations that people's right-wing VR headsets crack and break apart so they can be free to be back in touch with reality. For me, it helps to visualize change.
Your comment prompts me to say that I wish Judge Brown Jackson could have used the opportunity to describe to the committee and the public what the goals of a progressive education are when Cruz held up the display of books. Private schools certainly do choose books that are provocative and controversial to stimulate critical thinking. Public schools, by and large, have their hands tied and spoon feed selected information to students. But alas, she couldn't jump into that fray. But this is why we have an electorate that is gullible, as you say, and unable to separate truth from fiction.
Octavia Butler also tapped into the future (which is now) in her books The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents. These people somehow envisioned where we were going with our modern society. I do believe in change, which helps me from being totally overwhelmed-but it is frightening to see these powerful forces loose in the world that are not for good.
Rowshan, I mostly agree and would add that Trump’s brand of fascism that promotes the idea that the world is broken and “I alone can fix it” is intended to appeal to those who feel aggrieved. I imagine a similar dynamic could exist between Putin and his supporters.
I agree. The folks I know who are devout Trumpers are bitter and aggrieved, not gullible. They are extremely well educated people who watch Faux News because they want to validate their hate and grievances. Trump satisfies something very deep in them, a worldview that cannot be changed. I have tried.
Trump won in 2016 because millions of Americans were tired of politics as usual and they got a monster. Too few Republicans have had the sense of character to admit they were terribly wrong.
My experience with the well educated devout privileged Trumpers who have children and grandchildren is that they voted for Trump in 2016 because they despised Hilary. I asked what Hillary had done that made them hate her so much. They could not tell me. I am sure it was Gingrich and Faux News. And they hate us libs with a passion. I went fishing around before the 2020 election to see if maybe 4 years later with all the revelations about the orange Jabba, they, as responsible intelligent people would vote for Biden. Nope! Not a chance. I live overseas but spent time with them because my mom died. If I brought up anything slightly liberal, humanitarian I felt a seething undercurrent of violence. Some of them are truly scary people. Decent, good people seemingly on the surface. Makes me think of the Nazis who were loving father's but sent people to the gas chamber.
Humanitarian-ism? Lord, help us! That means doing the kind of thing the Good Samaritan did, which Jesus recommended to his followers. He also said that if you have two coats, give one of them to the man who has no coat. Sounds like godless Communism, what was He thinking? Right-thinking Christians prefer the Old Testament “an eye for an eye,” and Revelations with its vision of hell for other people but not for them.
The thing is, those folks LIKE tfg...to them he is not a monster; he is trying to steer the U.S. back to the white, straight, Christian, male-dominated, misogynistic, racist that they 'remember' and yearn for...those "good old days". These sad, deluded folks cling to a very narrow, limited view because of their fear of change and their fear of a world they cannot control nor understand...and they do not want to understand it, apparently.
Fear of death -- whether literal or figurative, in their case fear of losing their way of life -- is a big part of their psychology. Terror management theory, which posits that our unconscious fear of death drives our behavior, largely in selfish and antisocial ways. see https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/terror-management-theory
I agree! I know many people that have Faux News on 24 hours a day! Some are educated some not. They just believe what they see on social media and what their friends claim. "They are coming for our guns, they are going to increase our taxes, they are making us wear masks and take shots that have chips embedded within them, they are baby killers." All of these are soundbites that determine they vote in my area for the good old boys in the Republican Party!
I can't help but feel that having any tv show on 24 hours/day, especially something as abrasive as Fox (sorta) News, is a sign of a severe disorder. Don't they get tired of the noise? What are they having to drown out?
My ex-bff had it on 24-7 literally. I spent a lot of time there in late 90‘s, it was shocking in it’s propaganda. Any idiot could have seen it. They lapped it up. Smart, educated, and kind. Lost all respect.
Wendy, I applaud you for trying. I have found, generally speaking, that the more one has invested in certain beliefs about the world, the more likely one is to resist restructuring
I've been entertaining a similar sense of being now on a side in search of validation for the positions and beliefs I have come to, some of which I worked hard and intellectually honest in their creation. I could no way imagine myself now as anything but progressive, advocate for diversity, and proponent of a liberal quest for democracy. I think, in all honesty, that I have crossed a line where more of my inquiries and subscriptions are in pursuit of my beliefs, validation, and less in data gathering that would (can?) challenge my certainty least of all open a crack where light might enter. I fear I have become the very certain who with smugness I claim Fox breathing American to be. When (or how) do we test ourselves for discernment as opposed to an achieved rigormortous?
Fred--you raise a good point. We all have enough confirmation bias without continually feeding it. I don't watch TV news or analysis, but I do read political, social, and economic articles that are more conservative than my inclinations and try to give them fair hearing. But it strikes me that it's conversations with friends or family members who aren't RWNJs but are definitely more traditional or "realist" than I am that most give me pause and (sometimes) lead to productive self-questioning and (occasionally) adjustments.
The trumpers present with diverse motivations. Many are stupid (=euphemisms such as "low information voters"), many are smart people who understand marketing, many just want to be entertained....
The dynamic is almost exactly the same! The parallels between Putin's consolidation if power and the machinations of Trump and his cohort are right out of the authoritarian playbook!
My interpretation of Trump's assertion that "I alone can fix it" ("it" being "the system") was in the sense that "the fix is in". That's what he meant.
Rowshan, I would hasten to add that a lot of our citizenry are just plain LAZY. By that, I mean "civically" lazy. They simply do not want to be bothered to expend an ounce of energy to inform themselves by looking at all the many other sources of information that are available in our society. They want others, someONE, even an autocratic ruler, to make their decisions for them. They're too busy and self-centered in their own little bubbles to lift a mental "finger" to expand their horizons. Also, many of them are relatively well off financially, not million- or billionaires necessarily, but they have their respective "piles" of money and possessions and, in their view, they do not want ANYONE, especially the government, to take any of it and dole it out to all "those black and brown people". It was true right after the Civil War, and it's true today. So, they stick to their guns-literally--and refuse to think any other way. They just don't care. I'm surrounded by it here. These people, driving their super-huge, big-ass, gas-guzzling, $100,000 pick-up trucks (you would not believe how many of them there are around here!), have a fair amount of education and disposable income. But, they just don't seem to care to do any mental, intellectual "heavy-lifting". They're content to blithely continue living their little lives, keep making their decent salaries, and let others do their thinking for them. People like that have been lulled into believing ANYTHING. Welcome to America.
I see plenty of well off, educated people in my City/neighborhood who vote Democrat but otherwise could care less about the threats to voting rights, the rise of racism nor the threat of fascism in this Country. They want to helicopter parent (man that is a whole book!) go to the latest in-season sports event and plan their vacations. They drive very aggressively and are intent upon ignoring anything beyond their smart phones and their encapsulated lives.
I never have any kind of in depth conversations anymore. Thank God for Dr. Richardson and you folks. Otherwise I might have ended up wandering the streets looking for signs of intelligent political discourse.
Yes. To everything you write, yes. So many Americans are not only uneducated, but easily sucked in to any whites-first males-first groupthink. Americans are dramatically and emphatically vulnerable to racism and sexism. Just look at the latest SC nomination, and at the vilification of Hillary, and so on. That’s also why putin and the R’s have such an affinity for each other.
Think of the groups the R's have openly offended in just 2022. Remember women are half the population. Also recall that almost 80% of the population agrees with democratic ideals. Considering all of this it would seem to follow that no republican could win any election in the United States. Mind boggling.
Except the GOP are reaping the benefits of decades of a “coup within”. They got what they wanted with a racist, undemocratic SCOTUS: “On Wednesday, in an unsigned opinion on the “shadow docket,” the court granted emergency relief to Republicans in Wisconsin, who objected to a new map of legislative districts the state Supreme Court had decided on.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/23/supreme-court-wisconsin-gerrymandering-ruling/
didn't the SC rule prior to the civil war in this fashion and also against the New Deal in the 1930s. what happened to the movement to change the composition of the court to hinder bias in either direction? As it stands they are not sticking to being the judicial branch and have moved into being activist judges. of course this is what the Conservative movement has wanted since the 1960s with all those pesky civil and human rights gains and has now achieved. I pity women and minorities for the next decade as the ruling philosophy of the court is free reign for the monied and powerful and state control for women and minorities.
You would think.... Except that the Republican sappers and miners in several R-dominated state legislatures are busily making laws to restrict and/or suppress voting (overtly targeting dem districts). They have no shame whatsoever; the R's know they cannot win in a free and fair election--so they are determined to make the midterms less free and less fair and, in the meantime, shout and wave their arms about Dem efforts to "steal" the election just to direct attention away from their own perfidy.
Well said, Rowshan. I have been a student of Buddhism for many years. One concept that I've learned (but not yet mastered) is that ignorance is pervasive in the human species. It is one reason Buddhists sit as silent observers of our minds to develop deep understanding. Our American behavior is not a matter of intelligence, but of our collective tendency to be aggressive and act rashly. The white American paradigm was enhanced by stories of revolutionaries, frontiersmen, slave owners and cowboys. We still act on these stereotypes. We celebrate the "rugged" individual and ignore cooperation. We praise financial superiority and blame the poor for their plight, on and on...We need an entirely new soul. We need to educate our children to be kind, compassionate and insightful.
For a very different POV re the US, go to <consortiumnews.com> I have often/usually found it very puzzling, but less so now that I am becoming more aware of US duplicity in the conduct of foreign relations, although I've never thought of us as perfect. I'm 95 years old, and paying attention is what I do every day; even so it's impossible to read/know 'everything.'
From the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, this: Be strong! Be strong! And we will strengthen each other. L&B&L
Yes, Ida…I am also trying to pay attention to the best sources, keeping up as best I can. This extraordinary community of people who add their wisdom and insight and wit to the Comments Section are a lifeline for me! Alabama is a lonely place for an 84 year old Lifelong Democrat!
In my old age, Margaret, I've become more radical and think of myself as a democratic socialist - no caps. Capitalism is no longer serving us - the people - well, if it ever did. Even during the New England winter I know that I'm happier here in a more liberal environment - although one beloved friend is very conservative. I did realize yesterday that I am a Conservative in the sense that I want to conserve the democratic institutions of our country. And we can strengthen each other. L&B&L
That’s the core of Republican disconnect. Really My simmer hits a boil when they dust their halos and claim exclusivity as conservatives. I know I know that they have told that lie so many times it has become their mantra. Any mealy mouthed Republican who spits that out has never seen my shop. On every one of their tombstones should be inscribed, Here lies a republican.
Hi Ida, people I don’t like very much call me a snowflake, but winter is good. My age is towards the winter as well. Like you most all of us are conservative. I almost blush at the buckets of nuts and bolts I have squirreled away because I can’t afford the hard ware store anymore. You and Margaret made me smile.
I'm going to add this website to my sources, thank you. From MediaBiasFactCheck: "Overall, we rate Consortium News Left-Center Biased based on story selection and advocacy that mildly favors the left. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting due to a lack of transparency despite a clean fact check record."
I believe that vulnerability to lies is emotional and will not be ensured with just knowledge alone. Resilence of the human mind to misinformation starts very early in life and requires attunement, authenticity, & connection from the primary caretakers. It’s a societal problem. It truly does take a community to raise children.
It is absolutely a societal problem, and I think, a mental health problem. Family values/cultures are imprinted onto children and are very hard to erase/change, many being subliminal. And abuse, neglect, criticism, absence of love and affection all affect the brain and thought patterns. Some children are more "resilient" than others. A child's early life and family culture can create problematic thinking. along with depression, anger, hatred, entitlement, insecurity, low self esteem, etc. Education is not always going to supersede this.
Sometimes I plan to write a comment mid morning and then I read yours and it’s pretty much all that I wanted to say. Our thinking is linked in the Light, Rowshan.
I am feeling a wave of prospect that many Americans are coming back to understanding how important that we unite with the common good of democracy. It has nothing to do with political malfeasance. That has created the discord. It has to do with the accord of “We the People….and that means all of us.” That accord springs forth community and compassion and that is in the heart of common good. I see it more and more in the eyes of many people. They don’t want to move forward into the past. Maybe they thought that, but living lies takes a tremendous toll. They want to move forward as decent people living decent lives. The Universe is, as always, perfect timing and room for all to be in Light, not darkness.
T***p is to hold a big rally tomorrow in Commerce, GA near us in Jackson county (SHOUT OUT TO GUS!! He's coming for ya...somebody tell him!), which should be interesting. I believe there are 8 candidates in races here that he has endorsed and they will all probably be on the dais with him--though most likely they won't get much of a chance to say anything as he'll blather on about the same old same old. His candidate for Governor, David Perdue, is trailing pretty badly in the polls, so it might be a matter of time before Trump drops him...he's only for winners, y'know.
Anyone still clinging to a hold above feeble minded would likely not want his endorsement. If he even breathed on me I would get myself to the nearest river and swim upstream until that skin peeled off.
Seems they’ve locked blatant anti-democratic racists onto SCOTUS though. That can’t be fixed with an election. (I posted a link to Wed. Shadow docket ruling on this thread)
Yes, but even should Trump's power continue to wane, Trumpism remains strong, and I fear that those people's lies, hypocrisy, malevolence and conspiracy theories will be sticking around, since it is difficult to un-brainwash people.
Too intelligent ever to be OK about that. But she's very strong, and knows herself. I like her story of the first time she spoke to Bill. He was staring at her in the library. She went up to him and said (something like) "If you're going to stare at me, you'd better know my name. I'm Hillary Rodham."
Except an angry loser who is also a narcissistic bastard. He will stop at nothing to destroy anything and everything that rejects him, especially America
And , although I believe in the 1st amendment, someone needs to take Tucker (insert traitors here - MTG, meadows, Boebert, Guiliani etc ad nauseum) aside and tell them forcefully to STFU.
I just watched some videos of the guards, clearly and loudly, admonishing the disrespectful crowds at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mind their manners. That they held guns with bayonets and sometimes cocked their guns when people messed with the boundaries around the tomb. There are clearly some narcissistic, disrespectful Americans that need boundaries spelled out strongly (like our own elected, disrespectful republican reps in our government).
"The ceremony is an impressive and solemn event. As this video clearly shows, the soldiers on duty here are very serious about what they do. Bearing in mind the significance of the tomb and their role as its guard, these individuals are extremely respectful and highly disciplined in their duties.
Understandably, of course, they also expect the same level of respect and maturity from members of the public who come to visit the Tomb. If people try to cross the barriers, are too disruptive and noisy, or are otherwise disrespectful, the guard on patrol will do something about it!"
Is it not time for the American people to demand the same dignity and respect from all elected officials and be in their job descriptions? We are witnessing belligerent people inflict abuse and taunt an incredible American like Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has been nominated to be one of the highest judges in our land. No one deserves that kind of treatment, publicly or privately, and it should have been denounced and stopped immediately. Abusive behavior of that kind should call for dismissal of the person inflicting intentional abuse.
Checks and balances must be implemented in any democracy otherwise, some humans return to below the belt, uncivilized behaviors as represented by the current leaders of the Party of Sedition. Do you not think that in order for democracy to function, Truth and Justice must be protected...For All The People?
You are spot on. Assholes like Cruz, Lee, and Hawley should have been escorted out of the room. Thank God for quick reporters and photogs who caught Cancun Cruz checking twitter immediately after his tirade. Those morons did it just for social media and they should have been shut down and shut up. But since the tRUMP (and Hitlerian) method is to say outrageous things you know aren't true over and over until they become routine, we're stuck until someone like Liz Cheney has balls enough to confront these lowlife bastards. Ketanji couldn't go too far as she wants the job but I was glad to see she did stand up and corrected them several times. What a bunch of losers.
C. Thomas should have recused himself from anything tRUMP related after his dimwitted wife started a 3-way with her, Meadows and God. Dis-gusting and illegal. I think these guys need a little truth serum added to their morning coffee.
Could not agree more, so tired of bullies taking the stage EVERYWHERE. Rocks, where is your slime. Must apologize to slime after watching the PBS show The Secret Mind of Slime. Slime is way ahead of MAGAts in intelligence and “humanity”
I have told this story on this forum before, but I will repeat it here. Back in summer of 2016, Yahoo would allow comments to their stories. I often posted a non-partisan post, I would say something along the line of know who/what you are voting for! With absolutely no mention of candidate nor of party, I would say to not listen to media, social media, friends, neighbors, your boss or pastor--go to the candidates OFFICIAL website and read what they stand for! No candidate is 100% aligned with your personal beliefs, so decide what issues matter the most to you, find which candidate best supports your views, and vote accordingly.
You would not believe the nasty, nasty replies and comments made about me personally! (and they didn't know me, I posted under the name "anonymous" which in itself got some people's Depends in knots and caused another slew of speculative comments! LOL) And I am being totally honest here, 100% of those rapid replies came from Right wing or GOP leaning persons.
I remember you posting that, and reflecting that that mirrored the experience I was getting as I engaged politically with my friends who were on a different plane in the political arena than I was. (I can't even say "side" any more, they are so far out of balance.)
Ally, I lost my long time "bff" (relationship of several decades) over tfg. She was a very wealthy person (inherited an 8 figure estate perhaps a year or so before the rise of tfg) yet lived in a solidly middle class area. It's way too long of a story for this forum. Anyhow, the rather sudden wealth combined with falling down the FOX news hole either changed her or revealed a side I hadn't seen. Racism and white supremacy came out and it destroyed the relationship. I came to see that there was a toxicity to the relationship for quite awhile before all of this which I didn't see or perhaps chose not to see. What has been shocking to me is the realization that I don't miss her at all! Perhaps because the gap has been filled by a number of other friends who do not demand that intense time commitment and attention she commanded. (ie, no joke--on a one week cruise she took 6000 photos, I do not exaggerate, and made me sit through hours of viewing them all when she returned. Which I felt compelled to do as she returned with myriad gifts--all unwanted--for me and my family and I was reared to be polite.)
I relate this, in a way, to the loonies on the Right, perhaps they will get woke and shake their heads.
Most of my "losses" in this arena have been former comrades in arms with either my own agency, or other local agencies. Well, and my father-in-law who fell down the faux noise hole and had become a bitter, angry man; he is now in some flavor of dementia (vascular? sundowners? other?) and you can no longer have any sort of conversation with him.
I always think of you, Ally, when I see a story that, to my mind, would surely change the minds of your former comrades, and then realize it won't. Can't say about your dad-in-law. I suppose at this point it's fruitless to try.
To say that Americans were duped is to let them off the hook. Many Americans believe lies, but they do so to justify their racism, which is the foundation for all Republican successes at the ballot box since 1968. Americans know which party wiil do everything it can to preserve the advantages of white Americans over all others, and the voters who favor preservation of those advantages vote for Republicans. Some of them excuse themselves through willful ignorance. Most don’t think they need an excuse.
Rupert pretty much did. One wonders when Rupert turned on America. Reagan sure thought he was on board with his script, but the worm turned, or did he???
I don't believe that Dutch Reagan was a very smart man...indeed I think he was just about as credulous a man as has ever managed to get himself elected on his charisma and personal vision alone.
As I recall, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by, um, 3 million votes... so how com tfg sat in the white house for 4 years? (I know - the electoral college)
Anne, unfortunately your words ring true. The news is so bizarre it seems like a Star Wars type movie plot, impossible to even imagine, let alone our not-so United States in this role that becomes more visible by the day.
Anne-Louise, thanks. But, if you permit one redaction, "Fox is emitting "Mother Tucker American" propaganda. If you shake it, you'll soon find it's really all gas. The Tucker base doesn't need GPS to show who's brain-dead, just look down from the Moon station where all the TV sets light up when The Man comes on to sly-smirk and smiffoodle. It's hot.
We listened to President Biden’s press conference earlier today/Thu. To hear him articulate what’s what did us and US proud.
By comparison, Clarence and Ginny Thomas, tfg, tucker carlson… I’ve not yet given up hope that justice will be served, though I’m growing ever more frustrated and impatient. May these despicable people pay dearly for their treacheries.
After the Ginni Thomas news dropped yesterday I mused that Clarence checked into Sibley so he could be "ill" and unavailable for comment. He likely had a stroke upon learning that Ginni's, as well as his, duplicity was going to be exposed.
My take is that he is actually pretty sick, and will use his health to retire. Imagine Joe getting another SCOTUS pick. Imagine the fireworks fro the rethuglicans. Hang on, cuz it's gonna be a wild ride.
Ha, he was in on it from the git go, but neither worry, they can just scream that the leftists are after them and republicans will do their smear thing. It’s all they are good for anymore. What more proof do we need.
When the heart button doesn't turn red, refresh your browser window and the button will either appear as red or you can click on it again and it will turn red.
Man, that disgusting perversion of the actual meaning and reality of lynchings that he used back then. It will still come to mind sometimes. Shame on him.
In a reality just parallel to our own, he is impeached.
I can’t quite bring myself to wish for the death of anyone…..but who am I kidding when I say that? When my brothers and I were little, we asked our life-long pacifist/activist English mother, who had served in the WRAF in London in WWII, what she would have done if fate had found her alone in a room with Hitler and she had a loaded gun (Would she kill him and thus change history?). We were always frustrated when she allowed that she would NOT kill him.
Throughout my life I have returned to that Big Time dilemma from time to time; when tfg had COVID, currently thomas, etc etc etc, I find myself torn. When trump had COVID was, perhaps, the perfect example. I sort of “officially” settled on wanting him to not die but, instead, to really, really suffer….to profoundly hurt, to come so close to death that he would fundamentally change, to, as Susan Collins so (what descriptor do I use here??) um, naively (I’m being generous) put it, “learn a lesson.”
Anyway, I am not as good or principled a person as my late mother. I am seriously torn on this issue. But if it were Hitler and I had the gun, and I seriously/honestly believed that my action could/would change history, well, I’d go for it. Sorry Mom….but it would be done for millions of right reasons.
Putin? Ditto.
trump, thomas, graham, hawley, cruz, mtg, etc, etc, etc? Well, probably not so much with the gun thing. But wishing them serious ill will, you bet, in half a heartbeat.
Of course, just so I don’t get a visit from any Secret Service types, this is not a threat. I would NOT off any one of the six horrible people listed above. But there is the old expression about “twitchy trigger fingers.” But, again, no I wouldn’t/couldn’t do it.
But to wish them agony that might, somehow, instill humility and decency? Hell yes.
My wish is that the law would swiftly and effectively work, giving people confidence that “no one is above the law”. And then I wish, to most effectively neuter their influence and actions, have their supporters turn on them.
Everyone has the right to employ a lawyer to defend their position. It should not matter if that lawyer agrees or disagrees with that position; it is their legal abilities that are being hired. The defeated former president and his acolytes do not understand that and use lawyers who believe in their position to start with and that is why they repeatedly lose in court. But doing that does buy time, resulting in the lengthy delays litigation involves, taking them out of the media spotlight.
Yes! Neutering, starting at the knees and working its way up, is what needs to happen. But they say “we have laws”. That’s the real problem. We have so many laws, so many interpretations that we have created a bottleneck. That red tape should be cut.
We need to be protected from evil beings in positions of power who plan great harm to others. Like surgery, killing is to be avoided wherever possible; but what you speak of here is killing to protect the lives of millions. If there is no other way, the morality is clear.
If we are guided by the conviction that all harmful actions will be paid for, our duty must be to do all we can to prevent harm. There is no joy in amputating a gangrened limb, it is a necessary act of benevolence. Hatred will always harm those who bear it, even only in thought. All actions must be guided by benevolence, desiring the best for others, very much including those the warrior must kill.
Even addressing this subject is horribly painful, but there is no room for sentimentality.
Here is a case of a man full of hatred for Hitler and the Nazis, who shot him in the last months of the war:
“I saw him once more at close range. This was in the autumn of 1932, as the fever began to take hold of Germany. Friedrich von Miicke and I were dining at the Osteria Bavaria in Munich when Hitler entered and crossed the restaurant to the table next to ours - alone, by the way, and without his usual bodyguard.
I had driven into town, and since at that time, September 1932, the streets were already quite unsafe, I had a loaded revolver with me. In the almost deserted restaurant, I could easily have shot him. If I had had an inkling of the role this piece of filth was to play, and of the years of suffering he was to make us endure, I would have done it without a second thought. But I took him for a character out of a comic strip, and did not shoot.”
Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen : Diary of a Man in Despair
Peter, do you think we might evolve to the point where we can keep evil from positions of power? Does that sound ridiculous to you? Seems like our mother ship might not last that long?
Bear in mind that we are all a mixture, we all have our shadow side, we all change and our behavior changes with circumstances, with temptations... especially when we have responsibility for others, power over others.
Would you please recommend one? I have only read On Tyranny and Our Malady. I’ve been on the fence about which one to read next, they all look so interesting. Thank you.
There’s supposedly an old saying from the shtetl - Gd bless and keep the Czar far away from us. We can pray for Clarence Thomas, and for that matter at least one more of the court partisan hacks, to be happy in retirement very soon as Biden nominees create a different majority on the court.
hopefully it doesn't require a continuance of partisanship politics for this post - as it is one that by its proclamations should be non-partisan. Congress should be seeking to place people of great integrity and a love of the law that do not bend to partisan politics....perhaps I may seem wholly unrealistic in this thought - but what a dream if all on the supreme court were free of these pressures and biases and performed their jobs as they are designed....doing away with shadow dockets or reserving them to real emergencies and keeping to a minimum - not as a vehicle to enforce treacherous partisan politics as what just took place for Wisconsin voting rights
Peter, I nightly wish for the evil in the world to be exterminated, however that may be. Every morning when I bring up the news, I am hoping the headlines will announce the death of the former guy and the arrests of many who follow in his wake. Am still waiting.....
What matters is that they must be indicted, tried, made to pay in full for their crimes. And punishment must be exemplary enough to deter would-be imitators.
Thanks so much for your very kind words about my images. Heather is an extraordinarily wonderful person and it's a true honor to have my work thus shared..... And, yep, it IS great having all of us in the LFAA classroom/family. We are blessed and each need to spread the word about LFAA at every opportunity!
Peter, I agree with you and the expression the end justifies the means comes to mind. All the people you mentioned are ones I have a hard time viewing as "people". They don't strike me as souls like you or I. I won't feel bad when they eventually pass, as we all will someday.
Also for those aforementioned, my late Irish Catholic Mom would make an exception as well.
Very good point. Agreed, 100%. But the basic question remains unanswered, as it has throughout my life. Would one “do it” if one thought it would prevent unimaginable mass suffering?
Time to let go of that haunting cycle, friend. In the real world, you know that assassinations do not accomplish peace. Why invent an imaginary world Where they do, then wonder what your imaginary counterpart would do? Its enough to keep us busy working out how to do actual good in this world. I've prayed for peace for Justice Thomas and protection for people threatened by his power, and I stop there. That keeps my heart in a functional place where I can have hope of bringing good into the world. The other thoughts are not about who you actually are.
I'd have to be angry enough to lose self control. I'm rarely angry enough, now that I'm 73; it does happen, but usually I'm just disappointed. Maybe there IS a reason for women's testosterone level to be relatively higher in old age.
Congratulations. I know it's hard to curb your temper.., when there seems to be no other choice. Uncle Stan said to count to ten. I asked, "What if you're still angry, what should I do? ".
He said, " Count to ten again". It's a hard lesson to learn and i too often forget.
For heaven's sake, you sound just like the worst of them, cursing your own countrymen, however deluded.
They're human beings, they too are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... even if their idea of liberty is irresponsible, even if the manner in which they pursue happiness is stupid.
Too much fascistic mind pollution in the air... Relax... relax...
I find that old age has caused me to express myself more bluntly.
I've seen my GOP tribalist nephew cheer at wildfires and drought in California, because that industrial powerhouse state does not share his prejudices. An attitude that's so senseless for one who worships the flag as to be well-nigh suicidal...
The point's simple. Americans will have to learn to live together as one nation regardless of differences. It will take one hell of a lot of doing -- but how can it even begin until those on either side of the divide grow out of their enslavement to abstract concepts and recognize themselves and their compatriots as fellow human beings?
Can't we see the consequences of vile, divisive politics staring us in the face in Ukraine today?
He needs to resign from the bench. Now. This should recuse him from participating in any decisions regarding the January 6th insurrection, and frankly, anything that ever comes to that body about anything that touches on Trump or anyone in Trump's inner circle (of hell). And Tucker Carlson needs to be removed from the air. He is now directly courting treason in my book. His excuse that he is just an "entertainer" can't stand.
Just saw a discussion on 'All In' on MSNBC (Friday 3/25) that there is a U.S. statute which forbids a judge to sit on a case in which a spouse has a substantial interest. The big question is.... how can that be enforced against a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court if he refuses to recuse himself on any cases having to do with the January 6 insurrection.
You said it out loud this time, but softer, TC. It is hard not to feel how yummy this fact is. Is there an iota of conscience? Or fear of the bright Light of Justice turning the tables on he and Ginni? Whatever, may he decide to immediately step down!
I don’t, for a nanosecond, believe that Ginni Thomas actually has a genuine love for the America that she thinks “god” favors. She is phony through and through. But not stupid. She thinks she is invincible and cannot be touched. May she be so wrong…
I’m curious, Jeri. I think Ginni “has a genuine love for the America that she thinks ‘God’ favors.” The clue for me is “that she thinks”. She and others like her have a vision of America they truly, deeply believe is righteous. HOW she can view America this way is a mystery to me. Was it Eisenhower (?) who counseled “ Never question a man’s belief. Question his wisdom.” That’s the rubric I use with Ginni & co.
Belief is such a weird thing, in this circumstance (frankly, in many others as well,) Belief that flies in the face of reason, logic, facts, and truth is what, exactly?
Some years ago, the late N.Y. Representative, Louis Slaughter introduced the Supreme Court Ethics Act, because (to my surprise) the Court isn't bound by an ethics code like the lower courts.
I believe the late Representative tried on several occasions to get the bill signed into law, but it never happened.
After reading the news today, as well as your newsletter, it's quite obvious that the Thomas's feel no obligation to support and uphold democracy in this country.
Someone should reintroduce the late Representative Slaughter's bill again.
As for Trump, the greater his legal jeopardy, the more outrageous his malignant carnival act will become.
Just saw a discussion on 'All In' on MSNBC (Friday 3/25) that there is a U.S. statute which forbids a judge to sit on a case in which a spouse has a substantial interest. The big question is.... how can that be enforced against a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court if he refuses to recuse himself on any cases having to do with the January 6 insurrection.
"212 legal scholars jointly urged the Supreme Court to adopt the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges. To date, more than 130,000 Americans have signed a petition to Chief Justice John Roberts, asking him to adopt a code of ethics for the high court. The public’s disapproval of the Court remains at a near historic high." This was dated 2017.
Yes she has and quite frankly, the code of ethics should be brought up once again by those who originally sought to see it pass. Perhaps Ben Sasse would like to join in.
1) Yesterday (Thursday) I spent the bulk of the day watching 11 of Senator Whitehouse's 13 YouTube videos about Dark Money and the Republican capture of the Supreme Court. Though I could not find the clips in numerical order this link provides the bulk of them. https://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorWhitehouse/videos
My overall takeaway: Rhode Island chose wisely when they elected this man to serve their state!
3) Waiting for the right moment to post this delightful story of one man's journey from drug dealer to master falconer. Since there doesn't seem to be a right moment, I'm posting it anyway:
Senator Whitehouse has been masterful at connecting the dots, hasn’t he? Having been born just after WWII I have lived through all these changes in our country and have been alarmed at the incremental moves toward what? Fascism? Greed for money and power obliterating our strengths. Systems that allow such greed to flourish lead to our extinction. Transparency going forward will be key. Thank you, Sen. Whitehouse.
I am left wondering, Janet, whether the greed, money and power that we see so clearly now has always been there but more easily hidden then than it is today. But we do need more Whitehouses among us, that's for sure.
My belief is that greed is part of our nature. Could it be survival instinct run amok without needed regulation and accountability? We have found it so easy as individuals to forget that we are human, dare I say, animals. We are all in this together, aren’t we?
I see greed as something beyond what one needs to survive, so taking from another just because. I do agree that most of us would be hard-pressed to self-regulate, but to your point, accountability is something our survival instinct would probably not allow us to do on our own.
And I wouldn't be insulted if I were called a human animal!
I remember the Whitehouse investigation and commentary during psycho justice Barrett confirmation hearings. I hoped that evidence/ info was to go to some investigation- but haven’t heard anything (or not much) since.
Hey, Dianne. In Senator Whitehouse's "Scheme 11" video of January 2022, he referenced a Biden Supreme Court Commission that met, culminating in a December 2021 report:
Senator Whitehouse ends all of his "Scheme" videos with the promise: "To Be Continued." At his "Scheme 11" video he expressed disappointment in the report (link above) for not accomplishing what he thinks should be done about the SCOTUS issue and Dark Money. With beleaguered resolve, he ended his Scheme 11 video thusly: "To Be Continued."
There is a Scheme 12 and 13 I have yet to watch, but will do so today.
I love Sheldon Whitehouse and his posters! He is hammering away at what is turning the SC into a "bought and paid for" entity instead of the intended critical, non- partisan judiciary part of our checks and balances. He wanted Barrett to hear the facts and expressed the hope that she might work to change the control of the SC by dark money. He is on a mission. But in this Jackson hearing he had the grace first to read out loud the praise of others for the amazing young woman sitting before him. That was classy.
Yesterday HCR wrote that the behavior of some of the Committee towards her was abuse, clear and simple. Another display of entitled power ( both male and female-- Blackburn) gone amuk. Jackson is more accomplished and courageous than any of her abusive grandstanders and she exercised what I can only describe as superhuman grace and restraint under pressure.This all proved to make her even more richly qualified for the job while her abusers came off as cheap, self absorbed operatives, unworthy and unable to serve!
When the heart button doesn't turn red, refresh your browser window and it should appear as red. If not, just click on it again, and it should turn red.
Good morning, Lynell! Wow, how did I manage to miss the super yacht video when I read the article? Yes, RI did choose very wisely. We should be very grateful for that.
Morning, Daria! I almost missed it myself. But the main NYT article seemed vague to me, so I kept pressing the links in it to see if I could find a better explanation about this particular yacht. Not surprising that I have avoided using its name, as it's long and complicated to spell!
Vis a vis Russian super-yacht troubles, I saw a story a couple of days ago about one that is marooned at a port in Sweden because workers refused to refuel her so she could leave. Sorry I don't have a cite (too lazy to look for it online) but it's a lovely story.
Thanks for the links, especially for the one about Rodney Stotts, the drug dealer turned master falconer, who tells at-risk kids, "You are not your mistake."
We're safe of course but we have Putin's Ukrainian War in the midst of a Presidential election in which the incumbant is telling us that the election is a waste of his "valuable" time and a foregone conclusion. His message is that we should just be listening to his promises for the future and not waste time moaning about what has actually done. If he passes again the streets will explode by the autumn.
Many thanks. We are doubtless suffering more from existential problems rather than material and physical dangers and less in need of sympathy than others. But it's a very real mess nonetheless.
Good morning everyone. Feeling fragile lately. Need to focus on personal things now, but wanted to say how much you all mean to me. I'm so proud of President Biden and so grateful for HCR and all of you.
Take time to stagger breathe. Time honored low brass method during the 30 measures of tied together low whole notes. I breathe in odd numbered measures, my tuba buddy breathes on the even numbered measures. Sometimes I go for 4 or 5, sometimes every other one...
Suing Hilary and Steele? Uh… good luck. Wouldn’t tfg have to SHOW his books if subpoenaed? Wouldn’t that demonstrate what we all know is true? …all that capital Don JR bragged they were getting from Russian “investors”, actually just funneled From Oligarchs from Putins exported billions? Hmmmm, maybe that’s why Manafort tried to hop a jet to Dubai? Paul’s thinking “oh uh…even I need to get distance from tfg!”
Thomas should be impeached for this! You can’t have that kind of cross pollination ‘tween the executive branch and judiciary. That is collusion to overthrow the federal government!!!!
And what kind of infection puts someone in the hospital? Was it a bacterial infection? A kidney infection? A viral infection? Why not be more specific? Timing and disclosure smell fishy to me. Seems more like a fascist infection to me. The whole thing reeks.
Thomas should be impeached for this! You can’t have that kind of cross pollination ‘tween the executive branch and judiciary. That is collusion to overthrow the federal government!!!!
Good luck getting 66 votes for conviction in the Senate.
It’s a clickbait charade for political donations. The loser of the 2020 election knows this will not hold up to any judicial scrutiny, it doesn’t have to. It just had to get in the MSM and get people clicking.
I look forward to the fruits of discovery. And, if he decides to drop the suit, a countersuit with its own discovery. Whether the country will remain a democracy until the end is a concern.
The threat of the suit is its value. Click bait. The shinny thing for us to get our knickers in a twist over. That thing to keep the game going, to continue the charade. Will not be brought. Has won already.
Trevor Noah has posted a montage of the knit brow variations etched from a lifetime of dealing with the jackassery of the "extraordinarily vicious attacks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson:"
It says I have to sign in or set up an account. I'm so inundated with accounts with passwords, I wanted to avoid that. No worries. I may see part of it elsewhere!
When the link opens, there's a large blue bar at the bottom which gives the impression that you need to sign in but, if you look at right-hand corner, there's an 'x' you can click. Then you'll have the full page open to watch.
The former president appears to be using lawsuits by the dozens as means to feed the press a never-ending steady diet of allegations that will, in turn, feed his supporters with fodder for their anger-based political support. There has to be a means for courts to resist being used for purposes other than to litigate actual offenses. Can they not simply refuse to hear a case if it's claims are too outrageous, unsupported by at least a shred of evidence? Can they disbar the suits that clog up the dockets with garbage claims? Where will we finally find the means to muzzle this uber-brat? Perhaps we need the kind of medieval justice that chops off the body part that commits the crime? A hand, a tongue, other "parts" that cooperate in the commitment of criminal behavior? Yeah, I know...we'd be stooping to his level. I just wish I could rid myself of this infernal ringing in my ears that amplifies everytime someone refers to him or his evil spawn.
Regarding Trump's SLAPP suit, it was pointed out by legal observers today that all the defendants will have to do on their first appearance in court is refer to the bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence Committee released in 2019, which documents Trump's collusion with Russia, and the result will be the sanctioning of the two legal jeanieusses who filed the suit for bringing a "frivolous lawsuit."
There is such a mechanism; it is call a Frivolous Claim. The definition below explains it.
“A frivolous claim, often called a bad faith claim, refers to a lawsuit, motion or appeal that is intended to harass, delay or embarrass the opposition.
A claim is frivolous when the claim lacks any arguable basis either in law or in fact Neitze v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). That means, in a frivolous claim, either: “(1) "the 'factual contentions are clearly baseless,' such as when allegations are the product of delusion or fantasy;" or (2) "the claim is 'based on an indisputably meritless legal theory.'" Livingston v. Adirondack Beverage Co., 141 F.3d 434, 437 (2d Cir. 1998).
If a court decides a claim is frivolous, the court can dismiss the case, order the party which files the frivolous claim and the party’s attorney to pay any reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees incurred as a result of the frivolous claim.’’
Yes, R. Dooley, but before a court can dismiss the claim, the parties have to exert time, energy and money to get to that point. In tfg's case, it doesn't appear he actually wants to get very far when he files these lawsuits; he just wants donations.
Yes and that’s because he doesn’t have any dough regularly coming in from his Russians friends anymore. I imagine the Kochs and the Mercers are paying his bills.
Thank goodness for mechanisms that still work. Thankful for info from you, RDooley, TC, and others today. Ties in succinctly with Professor Richardson’s Letter today.
Understood and understand, R Dooley. My comment was not meant as a swipe at you. I just wanted to add to your comment what it takes to secure that relief, which may add insult to injury in some people's minds. Hope this clarifies things.
Heather's letter only came out an hour ago. I was awake after a fitful sleep. Heather's letter hadn't been posted at 1:30 AM. Many of us are losing sleep over this domestic chaos at a time of international violence agression.
I am not sure my parents lost as much sleep during WWII. I suspect the difference were several. They had a good leader, FDR through many years of challenges, followed by Truman and Eisenhower, not occasional fair leaders facing off against bomb throwers and demagogues in the Whitehouse and Congress. They had a clear plan, a single objective, and a common well defined enemy who had struck first as Putin's Russia has done. They had no home grown domestic terrorists and corrupted political party participating with the enemy, Putin's Russia, to overthrow our democracy. They had clear, direct, hard work and sacrifice which they undertook with unity and resolve. They certainly did not have the equivalent of Russia's state owned media in FOX spreading misinformation and propaganda to bring all government effectiveness to a halt. Had they had any part of this, we would all be speaking German and saluting Heil Hitler, Putin or Trump with only one media source FOX in the American hen house.
This involvement by Ginni Thomas is crazy. If she was not married to a Supreme Court Justice, she'd be just another Q-Anon conspiracist with few facts on her side. But she actually has roped in Justice Thomas. There is no way, in an ethical world, that he wouldn't recuse himself from any related decisions or resign entirely.
Just saw, on 'All In' with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, discussion of a U.S. statute that requires a judge (any judge) to recuse on any case in which the judge's spouse has a substantial interest. The question is... how to enforce it. Would CJ Roberts force it? or ignore it?
Gratitude to you, Heather, for organizing the news for us. It’s an overload of facts, tragedies and stories of courage and inspiration. And more Gratitude. I’m grateful President Biden is working with other leaders and countries for possible solutions to the devastating humanitarian crisis, the war in Ukraine continuing, after war crimes by Russia and Putin continue to turn the world upside down, especially for the millions of Ukrainian people. And I’m grateful Biden is our president and grateful I’m a Democrat. Especially after the days of hearings for the supremely qualified Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Her poise and patience and courage during the interviews by senators is amazing. Shout outs to the many many Democrats who have been respectful and positive in their questions and praise, in conversations with Judge Brown Jackson. How hard is it to be respectful? Evidently it’s more than challenging if you are a repub and your purpose is to humiliate and embarrass, proudly demonstrating your racism and rudeness. Their base and failed leader would be proud. And again I’m grateful for the few repubs who acted like humans, carrying out their jobs of elected U.S. Senators. For good press, video and more positive stories of the hearings check out these links. Good to end on a positive note. “Senator Booker Moves Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Tears with Tribute” https://www.c-span.org/amp/video/?c5007679 and
“Robert Reich Office hours: Will Republicans pay any price for how they've treated Judge Jackson?
As always Professor Cox-Richardson, thank you for your constant work to inform and enlighten those who have ears to hear ... I do wonder ... is there a more suitable term than "personality" to use when referring to Fox propagandists ... maybe "commentators", "mouthpieces", "personas", or maybe just "persons" ...? Personality implies character or charisma ... somehow, it doesn't seem like such a good fit to me ....
Kathleen, I am struggling to reply to your earnest question of what to call these folks. Sadly, I can't get the term "Poop Purveyors" out of my head. So sorry!
Lynell and Marlene - while I can relate to your suggestions, I think it is best to assert respect (whether or not it is deserved) - otherwise we descend into the mud-slinging pits where everyone gets slandered - and all possibility of healing resolution is defeated ....
I just can’t do that, Kathleen. Not after everything we have all been through and witnessed since then. I try to respectful where it is due but when speaking of these abhorrent people…I cannot be nice.
Which is why I believe propagandist is the best term to use. It is accurate. While one might not like to be called a propagandist it is neither pejorative or disrespectful yet is very specific about the role they play.
Marlene, I hear you - with all my heart ... still, I need to focus on what it takes to transcend the negative energies and dynamics that keep us locked in cycles of strife and contention - clearly, where so many are stuck (happily so, it would seem) ... if we are blessed with conscience/integrity and intelligence to sense the difference, it falls to us to set a fresh pattern - change the story - starting with the language and attitudes that keep us locked in conflict with associated hatred and polarizing sentiments ... trust me, it is possible - can be accomplished - just reach deep in the heart for higher purpose and let that guide ... otherwise, what hope do we have of change?
I get that words matter, I do, Kathleen. We can intellectualize until the cows come home. I am 70 now and have fought against injustices for over 50 years. I have no intentions of stopping. When I have conversations with those who oppose decency and fairness, I do not get into a shouting match because that’s worthless. But please understand, when your parents were Holocaust survivors who lost precious family members and then unknowingly had PTSD, their children often have a different view of the world and people. At least, that is my side of the story.
Is there any other way, Pat? Some folks make it look easy - I feel life is full of 'opportunities' to grow through - I for one simply am amazed to be alive, and able to function at all ... up hill both ways? How about any way we can - whatever it takes ... more like a miracle against all odds ...?!
Here are a couple of links - hopefully, to support and inspire through these times of challenge and choice - seemingly, highly improbable - yet possible ... 'choice always is ours' - one breath at a time ...:
I was thinking maybe "attack dogs" - but why slander the canines ... maybe "sh!t spitters - but once again, that just invites more of the same vile derogatory hyperbole ... what purpose does that serve ...?
I always have used "...pause....'individuals'...pause"
As in, "When discussing the situation with that...individual...I determined that they were being extraordinarily untruthful and self-serving in their purported statement regarding the incident. Their statement cannot be regarded with any sort of confidence in what is relayed."
Some us may think we know by family experience, readings or instinct what associations older Ukrainian citizens are making with what they are now experiencing. Unlike Putin's other wars in Grozny (Chechnya, Russia) or Aleppo (Syria) which were not covered as Ukraine is -- that's another story -- we are becoming familiar with the people. As for the associations and memories of older Ukrainians, nothing can replace their own accounts.
‘A Frightening Repeat’: Ukrainian World War II Survivors Face Conflict Again'
Borys Zabarko was 6 years old when the Nazis invaded what is now Ukraine in 1941 and his hometown, Sharhorod, became a Jewish ghetto. Women, children and old men slept in packed rooms with no bathrooms or water, he said. As typhus epidemics raged, the ground was too cold to dig graves, and bodies were thrown on top of each other. Mr. Zabarko’s father and uncle, who fought with the Soviet army, died in combat.'
'After the liberation, Mr. Zabarko said he became convinced that nothing like that would ever happen again.'
'Now 86, he spent a recent night in the freezing train station in Lviv, in the west of Ukraine, standing on a crowded platform, as he tried to get on a train to escape another war.
'Most Ukrainians watched in shock in recent weeks as their country was hit by violence and destruction on a scale they had never seen before, with children killed, mass graves, and bombing of homes and hospitals.'
'For some older Ukrainians, Russia’s invasion has revived painful memories of World War II, in which more than five million people were killed in Ukraine, even if the toll and scale of the current conflict is incomparable.'
Echoes of the world war have been omnipresent since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
'Dumskaya.net, a news website in Odessa, ended articles with a sentence adapted from one that local newspapers used during World War II. Instead of “Death to the German occupiers,” it now read “Death to the Russian occupiers.”
'For Ukrainians, “World War II is the single most unifying emotional touchstone,” said Markian Dobczansky, a historian at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. While the Ukrainian state is evoking those memories, the Ukrainian people also “make that connection on their own,” he said.'
'When Mr. Zabarko heard air-raid sirens on a recent morning, he ran for an underground garage. There, he found people who had slept the night, hiding from the missiles and bombs dropping on the city, including mothers with children in strollers who were afraid to leave. His mind immediately went back to 1941'
“The feelings are the same,” he said, “it’s death that flies above you.”
'After spending days sheltering in his apartment, his granddaughter was suffering from unbearable anxiety, he said, and his daughter begged him to take her out of Ukraine. They both got sick with Covid, after traveling by train in overcrowded carriages.'
“We believed that we and our children and our grandchildren would live a peaceful life,” he said, “and now there is another war with people dying, blood spilling.”
'After Germany invaded what is now Ukraine, it ceded the region of Transnistria to its ally in Romania, which deported thousands of Jews to Sharhorod, confining them there.'
'After the war, Mr. Zabarko became a historian, wrote books about the Holocaust and headed an association of survivors. Now, he feels as if his life’s work had fallen on deaf ears.'
“This is my personal tragedy,” he said, “If we had learned those lessons, we wouldn’t have war in Ukraine, we wouldn’t have any war.” (NYTimes) The link below is gifted. It very long and it also works.
Once! Holocaust. Twice! Annihilation! America today! Russia today! Brazil today! and there are more examples of that. What human beings do for and against one another. Any other animals behave this way?
Allen, thank you for keeping us in your communication loop. Every day I pray for the safety of you and Tanya. I am relieved when we hear from you. On to Calgary!!!
After the war, Mr. Zabarko became a historian, wrote books about the Holocaust and headed an association of survivors. Now, he feels as if his life’s work had fallen on deaf ears.'
“This is my personal tragedy,” he said, “If we had learned those lessons, we wouldn’t have war in Ukraine, we wouldn’t have any war.” (NYTimes)
I can only imagine Mr. Zabarko's "personal tragedy". To have experienced the catastrophic events and sufferings through WWII in his region; then to write and teach about that history; and in the end to feel that such lessons and teachings are just dismissed. The futility of it all!
The Soviet Union had close to 27,000,000 civilian and military deaths during WWII, and that includes the Ukraine's loss of 5,000,000. It's too much for us in the U.S. to truly grasp. Yet, it's imperative that we all learn and remember what degree of destruction took place and is possible again. And even more deaths if we dare to think of a nuclear holocaust in full bloom.
You have summarized what drew me to the article. If we get through this one, Heydon, we will not have learned. There will be other Stalins, Hitlers, Putins and the world didn't do well at the hands of W. Bush and several other American presidents. The will to power, corruption, greed, propaganda... and we've got nuclear weapons and social media to boot...seem irresistible or in our genes. We cannot stop fighting for justice and democracy, but are you hopeful, Heydon? If so, please share it. Salud.
I agree, Fern. If we get through this one, we will not have learned. I don't think nuclear weapons will come into play, but only because I believe Putin as a billionaire will not be willing to die, especially through such a suicidal move. And yes, we're bound to see more dictators. I don't know if they'll reach the scale of a Stalin or Hitler. Greed for wealth and power are ever-present and will be until enough human hearts are changed to see the light. I think Lord Acton's quote about power applies here.
I just thought of one example of greed which sticks with me. A good friend of mine told me of someone he met in high school who was already starting the early steps of becoming a gangster. In high school, the thug already walked around with a big wad of cash in his pocket. Not long after high school, the gangster was involved in a number of rackets and soon a millionaire. Pat told me that Jerry became a multi-millionaire not long after that, but he never got enough wealth. Regardless of the millions Jerry already had, if he knew that you had a dollar in your pocket, even if it was the last money you had in the world, he wanted it; Greed is a demanding and insatiable monster.
I'd like to talk about those subjects of propaganda and the media, but it is late, so I'll stop for now.
Hello, my friend. I am concerned about how far, deep and nuclear this could go. The guy is stuck in his windowless cave, getting beat back, and he's getting bad-er. I don't usually go to the darkest possibility, but this guy is pure чернить (black in Russian).
Yes, I try not to think about Putin's mental state so I can function in my own life. The only viable solution seems to be for diplomats/world leaders to make a concerted effort to offer an 'off-ramp' that is acceptable to Putin. I do not know the process Russia has to launch nuclear weapons, or what (if any) safe guards/protocols are in place.
His off ramp is he wants Ukraine, period. It looks as though many Ukrainians, including Zelensky are not giving it away. And what a way to grow old, but then think about being a young one. The children --
Steve, I'm not here to debate 'Biden's Last Line', but do you think that a good song title? Next question, are you ready for Fern's last line? Steve, I will miss you. I wish we lived in the same neighborhood. It is time for me to spend more time on other worthy pursuits, so I've decided to absent myself from the forum. I will continue to read HCR's Letters and Notes. This decision has been stewing for about two months. It is important for me maintain to a wall between myself and the forum or I'll slide back before properly addressing stuff that has pilled up. I know after I've made progress, you'll find me at your door. Stay well. Your wisdom and clarity as well as the contributions of other subscribers make the forum valuable. Cheers, my friend.
Oh Fern, I will really miss you as well. If Johnny Cash were a bit more political, he may well have penned a song called 'Biden's Last Line'. Though I will miss your sagacity and acumen, your taking some time to address other things seems like the right thing to do. When one does "the next right thing", the world has a way of falling into connection, almost all by itself. The pull you feel from other areas means something, and needs to be addressed. We will chat again on this forum. This is au revoir, not adeiu. Much love, Steve.
'For Ukrainians, “World War II is the single most unifying emotional touchstone,” said Markian Dobczansky, a historian at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.'
An excellent descriptor for many nations' experiences of World War II--"the single most unifying emotional touchstone." WWII's effect on the world and individual nations is something which should be studied endlessly, at least until we learn from all the lessons it provided.
For example, most nations learned that it only made sense--not to mention being humanitarian--to have a national health insurance program and thus created such programs within a few years after the end of the war (e.g., Canada, England, the Scandinavian nations, Germany, France, et al). However, in the U.S., we were in good financial shape after WWII and left financial control of medical costs to the medical industry. Now, we have so many of our population in very bad health and often going bankrupt due to medical expenses. This should not have happened. We in the U.S. were on top of the world in terms of having our country and industries not bombed and left completely intact at war's end. We were the wealthiest and most influential nation on earth. We should have created a model society. We had our opportunity, but what we've ended up with is a country with immense wealth disparity.
I'm always optimistic that we can turn things around and achieve a true democracy here in the U.S., but the populace must become educated about what has happened to us and why it did. We need to return to study the lessons of WWII. I read a book titled "The Year Zero" about conditions in nations destroyed by WWII which ended in 1945. That is what 1945 was in effect for so many countries--The Year Zero. As we try to establish a real democracy in the U.S., maybe we should include the concept of 'The Year Zero' in our national efforts to achieve that.
Heydon, Whenever I ask you for guidance you return to enrich our thinking and knowledge. 'The Year of Zero' will be ordered today. My eyes are falling out as I write to let you there are three books to be read ahead of it. You will hear from me once I've finished the book.
A very thoughtful subscriber recommended that I see a lecture by John Mearsheimer, graduate of United States Military Academy (West Point), served for five years as an officer in the air force, rising to the rank of captain.'... later a research fellow at the Brookings Institution; a research associate at Harvard University; he became a professor of political at the University of Chicago There is a lot more... but I'll stop here. am grateful to him. I saw the first lecture, linked below, which is perfectly organized and informative. I recently found a second, much more recent lecture and haven't yet watched it, linked below When and if you see both both, I would appreciate your review. His assessment of the West's responsibility for the war in Ukraine is fundamentally different than what what has been espoused and believed in U.S.
Hello, Roland. Correction to your comment '....history lesson that Mr. Zarbarko has been laboring to AVOID.' or shall I say he was teaching so that it would not be repeated again. Salud! Roland
Thank you for posting this story. Heartbreaking! In the meantime, there's an even more recent example of a national commitment to a free and democratic country: Poland in the 1980s. Velshi (MSNBC, Rachel Maddow Show) just did an excellent segment on the decade which, finally, resulted in free and fair elections less than a decade after the murderous put-down by Russian military following the Polish "Solidarity Revolution" in 1980. There should be a link tomorrow msnbc.com for TRMS of tonight; well worth watching and remembering what was happening in Poland beginning 40 years ago and why, I believe, one reason the Polish people are so willing to accept and help the huge flood of refugees from Ukraine.
Just want to bear witness that Tucker Carlson is a traitor to democracy and an enemy of the European Union. As a dual citizen of the US and the EU I condemn him in the strongest possible terms.
"Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson continues to promote pro-Russian, anti-Biden propaganda. Today the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Biden’s son Hunter’s foundation had financed biological labs in Ukraine (which earlier propaganda said were developing biological weapons); less than 12 hours later, Carlson made the same claim."
Here is a NY Times Gift link anyone can read completely debunking the Bioweapons lab lies from Tucker Carlson
One observation: Biden DID make a mistake trying to help out his floundering son Hunter by getting him some cushy job in Ukraine which paid him too much for what was likely no work.
That is not illegal. Helping one's kids is sort of normal and Trump installed his entire family in the White House so they could profit from the experience and the contacts. In fact, it is likely that White House visitors had to first stop at Jared's office and deposit money in his lap before seeing Trump (although I don't have a public link to that activity since IF they did that activity they would not have published a link noting that fact for me to post here).
:-)
BUT, it is a mistake to involve one's children if one is President in both cases above where long term consequences are relevant.
Hunter left Biden exposed to the right's propaganda continuously.
Similarly, having Jared ram around the Middle East collecting money leaves all of us exposed to the risks of compromise that Jared will have in a second term of Trump.
I’m curious as to why you say Joe “got” Hunter a cushy job. I’ve read a lot about Hunter and thought there was a good degree of separation between his business dealings and his dad
Regarding Trump's SLAPP suit, it was pointed out by legal observers today that all the defendants will have to do on their first appearance in court is refer to the bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence Committee released in 2019, which documents Trump's collusion with Russia, and the result will be the sanctioning of the two legal jeanieusses who filed the suit for bringing a "frivolous lawsuit."
I remember reading that report, in pertinent part. And, yes, even the Republicans on that committee agreed to his collusion. But there it lay, filed away somewhere where all "submitted for the record" documents go.
The coordination of the Putin-Fox propaganda becomes more and more overt. I don't call it "Russian" propaganda any more than I'd call what Fox is emitting "American" propaganda. There's no longer any reason to wonder how on earth America could put a Donald Trump in the White House - America didn't.
Maybe "America didn't," Anne-Louise, but sadly, the people of the US fell for it! And many of them are still in that camp, including many influential traitors like the Thomases and far too many members of Congress! It is a sham.
Many US citizens are far too gullible, far too uneducated to separate truth from fiction. Many are lacking a good education that allows them to think critically and to assess what they are being fed. That we have justices of SCOTUS or their spouses in that camp is deplorable. That a TV personality is allowed such a platform is an abomination!
I, too, listened to President Biden's press conference with pride and gratitude! No wonder Charles Michel of Belgium -- if not all US citizens --greeted him so warmly today. A prophet is never fully recognized in his/her/their land.
Propaganda works, even on some educated and smart people I know. They do some mental gymnastics, usually having to do with pie (I ain’t sharing with those lazy takers). As HST said “Socialism is the epithet they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years.” Make that 70 and still the same old rerun.
Yes, we do tend to think of the trump base as knuckle dragging, mouth breathers who haven't seen a bathtub in decades, but the truth is there is a large swath of that base that in other instances are smart, educated people that fell down the rabbit hole and can't find their way out.
And if you read Gianni Thomas’s text messages, they think the same of us, that many of us are “educated people that fell down a rabbit hole and can’t find their way out”. I am most intrigued by the crafting of propaganda to keep us so encamped. This is not a new phenomenon. It just has been weaponized on a grander scale because the new tools (FB, Twitter, cable news, etc.) allow for that to happen. We are experiencing psychological pollution, but our laws are not built to identify it, stop it, nor clean it up. The ecology of our minds,and our “data” have become commodities to be owned, retooled and deployed for gain. However that “gain” is not a better, more just society.
Great stuff, Michele. You know Ginny Thomas had been brain-sucked when she texted Meadows, “Help This Great President..." I hope Democrats will act republican and demand that her husband step down from the court.
She is an insurrectionist and should be in jail. As for him, he should not be on any court and yes, he used his position to try to cover up his wife's deed. Both of them are despicable.
It BOGGLES my MIND that anyone could perceive tfg as a "great president"!
Psychological pollution. Great phrase and exactly correct.
Michele Lyons-Russell....
Au contraire mon frère:
“The attacks from Republicans would continue, Booker said. “But don’t worry, my sister. Don’t worry. God has got you. And how do I know that?” Booker’s voice cracked with emotion. “Because you’re here. And I know what it’s taken for you to sit in that seat.”
Only another black person who has endured the "White-Privileged-Gauntlet" and then, finally one long-awaited day, to succeed through the white social status of political hell into an earned seat in the Senate of the United States of America...
As recounted for us by an equally scared "White-Privileged-Gauntlet" journalist so that we may realize the blessedness of the impossible ascension of the first black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States of America since its inception on September 24, 1789.
TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE YEARS of enduring the insult, fear, humiliation, degradation, the oh so very unnecessary pain and the struggle to be recognized as the blessed equality of love given to everyone of us by our FATHER in Heaven!
There remain enough of goodness to save America's greatness of freedom's love of neighbor, Eh!?
See link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/24/cory-booker-doesnt-let-gop-ugliness-tar-ketanji-brown-jacksons-historic-moment/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_opinions&utm_campaign=wp_opinions
👍🏼
Michele, I'm sure you are well meaning and obviously kind-tending, but I think you're under-counting the strong attraction of the sloth-loving, non-opioid, self-administered prefrontal lobotomy. Get yours now. A do-it-yourself model is available on Amazon, no technical preparation or night-flight qualification needed, and can be administered in the privacy and comfort of a room-of-your-own, a bomb-shelter, anywhere. Don't ask me if I'm stealing from my own stash.
This has been the most confounding part of all. DeSantis, Pompeo, both highly educated. Pompeo is a religious zealot but DeSantis has not revealed that side except for his policies.
Look at Hawley, Cruz and (John) Kennedy, all on the Judiciary Comm. Educated at the best schools but you sure wouldn’t know it from watching them at the KBJ hearings.
Their MO is PERSONAL GAIN AT ALL COSTS.
There's a long list. A very long list. Legions which are not househild names. I've tried to put myself in their shoes to understand. My brain can't get there. Some of these people are family. Some were once dear friends.
Just being on a campus doesn't mean they attended classes or learned anything.
I would pay to hear Hawley or Cruz, under truth serum, tell what motivates.
It is a very simple truth...FOLLOW THE MONEY, EH!?
How can a religious person be well educated? I can go with spiritually developed or aware, but for me well educated people can go beyond performing empty rituals just for show.
As a pastor and liturgical scholar, I am sure you are correct that some people engage in "empty rituals" but I don't know any of those people. Perhaps you mean folks whose hypocrisy and shamelessness compel them to hold up a Bible in front of a church after getting the road cleared of people who love this nation (and who even love Christ). Now that's an empty ritual!
In my hometown, it was partly a society thing. Most wealthy people went to the Episcopal Church. I will never forget the time I was at the midnight Christmas Eve service with a friend, and me with one of her mother's hats on when a woman came in with no hat. Then in a sneering tone my friend observed, "low church." Yikes.
I think that is a judgment obtained with incomplete information. Why? Because the ultimate understanding of anyone is what their lives stood for and nothing else. Please note that I am not saying that all “religious” are holy — but that a fig tree is judged by their fruit, not the biological information printed on a brass plant label stuck in the ground beside them. Labels can be misleading. Actions are more directly observed and weighed.
They lust for more and more power. And they're taking the easiest path to it.
Ha! Ha! My grandmother described that type of person as someone who has to cut the giant off at the knees so “he” can look him in the eye.
Yes, they are and they really have to dismiss facts to achieve this. The fact is that they don't care because in the rabbit hole is their money, their mansion, their bridge playing or golfing buddies, their swanky soirees, their gated communities keeping all the peons out. Mostly they want to keep making money and using it to protect themselves from any oversight or having to pay their fair share. The peons are being played and the elite are happy for them to do the dirty work.
Worth a quick moment.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cbh323Ug6xO/?utm_medium=copy_link
Thanks. I did enjoy this. However, I blame Joe in part for the Clarence Thomas. A bad mark on his record.
Thank you Ted. Absolutely worth it!
Or don't want to find their way out. Some people enjoy this chaos.
Those that enjoy the distress they cause others, and the chaos they themselves create are not leaders, they are demagogues.
When society experiences chaos, there are opportunities for shifts in status and there are always alert status seekers waiting for a chance to advance.
One may be educated, but not very smart. If you employ rote learning, you memorize, but don't necessarily analyze.
Are they lost, fallen down a rabbit hole, or attracted to the authoritarian strong man? ANYTHING that insinuates Trumpers are "victims" ...I just cannot buy it.
My experience with Trumpers close to me is that they are not victims but they SEE themselves as victims. And this is perhaps where the "I alone can fix this" (I alone can SAVE you) comes in. Every perceived slight from birth (and it was there from toddler hood) is gas for this engine. And everyone and everything must serve it. It is I, Me, Mine, My Family versus I, Us, Community, Humanity. Insular versus expansive. It Is not about information available but actually what we choose to pay attention to. It seems to be inherent somehow in human society (white, Western, Christian cut off from nature?) which seems to predispose us to conflict. Those who will share and those who will not. I live in Bali where this "I, me, mine, you must serve me" is rare, usually outgrown in early childhood.
Yes. Being a self righteous victim. Must be so satisfying
Misled, manipulated. They lost their moral compass following false leaders. This what demagoguery, greed, craving, propaganda can do to people.
We all have access to the same info. What is it that inclines people to follow a man like Trump? There is no dissembling with him. He unabashedly and without an ounce of shame or compassion greedily grabs (pussy) whatever he can get his hands on. He is an authoritarian with admiration for the worst tyrants our era has to offer. Those who follow him with adulation have a different compass than you and I ...I would not call it a "moral compass." I don't know what it is. A craving for an authoritarian strong man?
Shakespeare nailed it in Richard lll.
Cuz demagoguery works.
You hit the nail on it’s head. So many people believe giving to others short changes them.
It depends on when and where they were educated. If you are well-educated, but have no knowledge of/insight into critical thinking, your education is incomplete.
Socialism is the epithet the haves have hurled since the 1870’s.
The right-wing media provides an immersive fictional Virtual Reality lens for a large swath of Americans. Currently, I pray that certain people "experience consequences" or "leave the planet." Clearly, I should add to my prayers/meditations/invocations that people's right-wing VR headsets crack and break apart so they can be free to be back in touch with reality. For me, it helps to visualize change.
Make it closer to every social safety net advance in the past 80 years.
Your comment prompts me to say that I wish Judge Brown Jackson could have used the opportunity to describe to the committee and the public what the goals of a progressive education are when Cruz held up the display of books. Private schools certainly do choose books that are provocative and controversial to stimulate critical thinking. Public schools, by and large, have their hands tied and spoon feed selected information to students. But alas, she couldn't jump into that fray. But this is why we have an electorate that is gullible, as you say, and unable to separate truth from fiction.
I am currently reading 1984! Hummm! Get rid of history!
I just read Fahrenheit 451, another oldie, but still very relevant.
Both terrifyingly relevant to today. Along with "The Handmaid's Tale".
Octavia Butler also tapped into the future (which is now) in her books The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents. These people somehow envisioned where we were going with our modern society. I do believe in change, which helps me from being totally overwhelmed-but it is frightening to see these powerful forces loose in the world that are not for good.
I have read "The Handmaid's Tale".
Charles Michel's greeting struck me as a significant
as well. He acknowledged the leader and he acknowledged the compassionate man that is Joe Biden.
Your second paragraph is a rightful indictment of our many institutional and personal failures.
Rowshan, I mostly agree and would add that Trump’s brand of fascism that promotes the idea that the world is broken and “I alone can fix it” is intended to appeal to those who feel aggrieved. I imagine a similar dynamic could exist between Putin and his supporters.
I agree. The folks I know who are devout Trumpers are bitter and aggrieved, not gullible. They are extremely well educated people who watch Faux News because they want to validate their hate and grievances. Trump satisfies something very deep in them, a worldview that cannot be changed. I have tried.
Trump won in 2016 because millions of Americans were tired of politics as usual and they got a monster. Too few Republicans have had the sense of character to admit they were terribly wrong.
My experience with the well educated devout privileged Trumpers who have children and grandchildren is that they voted for Trump in 2016 because they despised Hilary. I asked what Hillary had done that made them hate her so much. They could not tell me. I am sure it was Gingrich and Faux News. And they hate us libs with a passion. I went fishing around before the 2020 election to see if maybe 4 years later with all the revelations about the orange Jabba, they, as responsible intelligent people would vote for Biden. Nope! Not a chance. I live overseas but spent time with them because my mom died. If I brought up anything slightly liberal, humanitarian I felt a seething undercurrent of violence. Some of them are truly scary people. Decent, good people seemingly on the surface. Makes me think of the Nazis who were loving father's but sent people to the gas chamber.
Humanitarian-ism? Lord, help us! That means doing the kind of thing the Good Samaritan did, which Jesus recommended to his followers. He also said that if you have two coats, give one of them to the man who has no coat. Sounds like godless Communism, what was He thinking? Right-thinking Christians prefer the Old Testament “an eye for an eye,” and Revelations with its vision of hell for other people but not for them.
That’s exactly who they are. I know them well.
I hear bells...
❤️
The thing is, those folks LIKE tfg...to them he is not a monster; he is trying to steer the U.S. back to the white, straight, Christian, male-dominated, misogynistic, racist that they 'remember' and yearn for...those "good old days". These sad, deluded folks cling to a very narrow, limited view because of their fear of change and their fear of a world they cannot control nor understand...and they do not want to understand it, apparently.
Fear of death -- whether literal or figurative, in their case fear of losing their way of life -- is a big part of their psychology. Terror management theory, which posits that our unconscious fear of death drives our behavior, largely in selfish and antisocial ways. see https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/terror-management-theory
One of the founders of that theory showed a correlation between 'death salience' and Trumpism. see https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/do-voters-adore-trump-because-they-dread-death/
There is also a very interesting book about this, called "The Worm at the Core" . Here is a review: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/31/the-worm-at-the-core-on-the-role-of-death-in-life-solomon-greenberg-pyszczynski-review
Bronwyn, I found your links fascinating and appreciate your posting them.
Thanks, Browyn!
Wow! Thanks for the links.
I agree! I know many people that have Faux News on 24 hours a day! Some are educated some not. They just believe what they see on social media and what their friends claim. "They are coming for our guns, they are going to increase our taxes, they are making us wear masks and take shots that have chips embedded within them, they are baby killers." All of these are soundbites that determine they vote in my area for the good old boys in the Republican Party!
I can't help but feel that having any tv show on 24 hours/day, especially something as abrasive as Fox (sorta) News, is a sign of a severe disorder. Don't they get tired of the noise? What are they having to drown out?
My ex-bff had it on 24-7 literally. I spent a lot of time there in late 90‘s, it was shocking in it’s propaganda. Any idiot could have seen it. They lapped it up. Smart, educated, and kind. Lost all respect.
Wendy, I applaud you for trying. I have found, generally speaking, that the more one has invested in certain beliefs about the world, the more likely one is to resist restructuring
I've been entertaining a similar sense of being now on a side in search of validation for the positions and beliefs I have come to, some of which I worked hard and intellectually honest in their creation. I could no way imagine myself now as anything but progressive, advocate for diversity, and proponent of a liberal quest for democracy. I think, in all honesty, that I have crossed a line where more of my inquiries and subscriptions are in pursuit of my beliefs, validation, and less in data gathering that would (can?) challenge my certainty least of all open a crack where light might enter. I fear I have become the very certain who with smugness I claim Fox breathing American to be. When (or how) do we test ourselves for discernment as opposed to an achieved rigormortous?
Fred--you raise a good point. We all have enough confirmation bias without continually feeding it. I don't watch TV news or analysis, but I do read political, social, and economic articles that are more conservative than my inclinations and try to give them fair hearing. But it strikes me that it's conversations with friends or family members who aren't RWNJs but are definitely more traditional or "realist" than I am that most give me pause and (sometimes) lead to productive self-questioning and (occasionally) adjustments.
The trumpers present with diverse motivations. Many are stupid (=euphemisms such as "low information voters"), many are smart people who understand marketing, many just want to be entertained....
And are afraid of others having the same opportunities they have.
The dynamic is almost exactly the same! The parallels between Putin's consolidation if power and the machinations of Trump and his cohort are right out of the authoritarian playbook!
My interpretation of Trump's assertion that "I alone can fix it" ("it" being "the system") was in the sense that "the fix is in". That's what he meant.
Rowshan, I would hasten to add that a lot of our citizenry are just plain LAZY. By that, I mean "civically" lazy. They simply do not want to be bothered to expend an ounce of energy to inform themselves by looking at all the many other sources of information that are available in our society. They want others, someONE, even an autocratic ruler, to make their decisions for them. They're too busy and self-centered in their own little bubbles to lift a mental "finger" to expand their horizons. Also, many of them are relatively well off financially, not million- or billionaires necessarily, but they have their respective "piles" of money and possessions and, in their view, they do not want ANYONE, especially the government, to take any of it and dole it out to all "those black and brown people". It was true right after the Civil War, and it's true today. So, they stick to their guns-literally--and refuse to think any other way. They just don't care. I'm surrounded by it here. These people, driving their super-huge, big-ass, gas-guzzling, $100,000 pick-up trucks (you would not believe how many of them there are around here!), have a fair amount of education and disposable income. But, they just don't seem to care to do any mental, intellectual "heavy-lifting". They're content to blithely continue living their little lives, keep making their decent salaries, and let others do their thinking for them. People like that have been lulled into believing ANYTHING. Welcome to America.
I see plenty of well off, educated people in my City/neighborhood who vote Democrat but otherwise could care less about the threats to voting rights, the rise of racism nor the threat of fascism in this Country. They want to helicopter parent (man that is a whole book!) go to the latest in-season sports event and plan their vacations. They drive very aggressively and are intent upon ignoring anything beyond their smart phones and their encapsulated lives.
I never have any kind of in depth conversations anymore. Thank God for Dr. Richardson and you folks. Otherwise I might have ended up wandering the streets looking for signs of intelligent political discourse.
...with a lantern, like Diogenes? Me too!
LOL! I thought that a nanosecond before my eye went on to your comment....
Shame on the cult. America has been hijacked or I was delusional for 60 years.
Trump opened Pandora's box,
Yes. To everything you write, yes. So many Americans are not only uneducated, but easily sucked in to any whites-first males-first groupthink. Americans are dramatically and emphatically vulnerable to racism and sexism. Just look at the latest SC nomination, and at the vilification of Hillary, and so on. That’s also why putin and the R’s have such an affinity for each other.
Think of the groups the R's have openly offended in just 2022. Remember women are half the population. Also recall that almost 80% of the population agrees with democratic ideals. Considering all of this it would seem to follow that no republican could win any election in the United States. Mind boggling.
Except the GOP are reaping the benefits of decades of a “coup within”. They got what they wanted with a racist, undemocratic SCOTUS: “On Wednesday, in an unsigned opinion on the “shadow docket,” the court granted emergency relief to Republicans in Wisconsin, who objected to a new map of legislative districts the state Supreme Court had decided on.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/23/supreme-court-wisconsin-gerrymandering-ruling/
didn't the SC rule prior to the civil war in this fashion and also against the New Deal in the 1930s. what happened to the movement to change the composition of the court to hinder bias in either direction? As it stands they are not sticking to being the judicial branch and have moved into being activist judges. of course this is what the Conservative movement has wanted since the 1960s with all those pesky civil and human rights gains and has now achieved. I pity women and minorities for the next decade as the ruling philosophy of the court is free reign for the monied and powerful and state control for women and minorities.
You would think.... Except that the Republican sappers and miners in several R-dominated state legislatures are busily making laws to restrict and/or suppress voting (overtly targeting dem districts). They have no shame whatsoever; the R's know they cannot win in a free and fair election--so they are determined to make the midterms less free and less fair and, in the meantime, shout and wave their arms about Dem efforts to "steal" the election just to direct attention away from their own perfidy.
Well said, Rowshan. I have been a student of Buddhism for many years. One concept that I've learned (but not yet mastered) is that ignorance is pervasive in the human species. It is one reason Buddhists sit as silent observers of our minds to develop deep understanding. Our American behavior is not a matter of intelligence, but of our collective tendency to be aggressive and act rashly. The white American paradigm was enhanced by stories of revolutionaries, frontiersmen, slave owners and cowboys. We still act on these stereotypes. We celebrate the "rugged" individual and ignore cooperation. We praise financial superiority and blame the poor for their plight, on and on...We need an entirely new soul. We need to educate our children to be kind, compassionate and insightful.
Thank you for this, Hope.
The cult collective may be a minority but the money has given them the power for the inmates to take over the asylum
For a very different POV re the US, go to <consortiumnews.com> I have often/usually found it very puzzling, but less so now that I am becoming more aware of US duplicity in the conduct of foreign relations, although I've never thought of us as perfect. I'm 95 years old, and paying attention is what I do every day; even so it's impossible to read/know 'everything.'
From the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, this: Be strong! Be strong! And we will strengthen each other. L&B&L
Yes, Ida…I am also trying to pay attention to the best sources, keeping up as best I can. This extraordinary community of people who add their wisdom and insight and wit to the Comments Section are a lifeline for me! Alabama is a lonely place for an 84 year old Lifelong Democrat!
In my old age, Margaret, I've become more radical and think of myself as a democratic socialist - no caps. Capitalism is no longer serving us - the people - well, if it ever did. Even during the New England winter I know that I'm happier here in a more liberal environment - although one beloved friend is very conservative. I did realize yesterday that I am a Conservative in the sense that I want to conserve the democratic institutions of our country. And we can strengthen each other. L&B&L
Republicans have made conservative a swear word to me
That’s the core of Republican disconnect. Really My simmer hits a boil when they dust their halos and claim exclusivity as conservatives. I know I know that they have told that lie so many times it has become their mantra. Any mealy mouthed Republican who spits that out has never seen my shop. On every one of their tombstones should be inscribed, Here lies a republican.
Hi Ida, people I don’t like very much call me a snowflake, but winter is good. My age is towards the winter as well. Like you most all of us are conservative. I almost blush at the buckets of nuts and bolts I have squirreled away because I can’t afford the hard ware store anymore. You and Margaret made me smile.
So is Texas
Sounds like the current public policy statement for Ukraine!
I'm going to add this website to my sources, thank you. From MediaBiasFactCheck: "Overall, we rate Consortium News Left-Center Biased based on story selection and advocacy that mildly favors the left. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting due to a lack of transparency despite a clean fact check record."
I check 'em out, too.
You're a treasure!
And so do I regard all of you who share your thoughts with me. L&B&L
Good for you.
Ida, we are never too old to care!
I believe that vulnerability to lies is emotional and will not be ensured with just knowledge alone. Resilence of the human mind to misinformation starts very early in life and requires attunement, authenticity, & connection from the primary caretakers. It’s a societal problem. It truly does take a community to raise children.
It is absolutely a societal problem, and I think, a mental health problem. Family values/cultures are imprinted onto children and are very hard to erase/change, many being subliminal. And abuse, neglect, criticism, absence of love and affection all affect the brain and thought patterns. Some children are more "resilient" than others. A child's early life and family culture can create problematic thinking. along with depression, anger, hatred, entitlement, insecurity, low self esteem, etc. Education is not always going to supersede this.
💯💯💯 and subliminal, definitely!! ❤️🙏
Sometimes I plan to write a comment mid morning and then I read yours and it’s pretty much all that I wanted to say. Our thinking is linked in the Light, Rowshan.
I am feeling a wave of prospect that many Americans are coming back to understanding how important that we unite with the common good of democracy. It has nothing to do with political malfeasance. That has created the discord. It has to do with the accord of “We the People….and that means all of us.” That accord springs forth community and compassion and that is in the heart of common good. I see it more and more in the eyes of many people. They don’t want to move forward into the past. Maybe they thought that, but living lies takes a tremendous toll. They want to move forward as decent people living decent lives. The Universe is, as always, perfect timing and room for all to be in Light, not darkness.
United, Rowshan and All!
I love that we are united in the Light, dear Christine!
I am no lawyer, but I do wonder why Tucker Carlson hasn't yet been charged with a crime - surely sedition comes to my mind.
I’ve been wondering about that for some time!
He is the Elmer Gantry of news darlings. “Ugh”
Morning, Rowshan. "A prophet is never fully recognized in his/her/their land." I agree with this completely!
True
Thank you, Lynell, and a good afternoon to you!
Here is an interesting article from CNN on trump's waning power:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/23/opinions/trump-fatigue-republican-party-bond/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0tviuqG-SPFmabS7YqU8ojeJ1e0R0DcM0fc6sPbGoR5ytDYQ4DIZu987E#:~:text=For%20Trump%2C%20the%20party%27s%20over
T***p is to hold a big rally tomorrow in Commerce, GA near us in Jackson county (SHOUT OUT TO GUS!! He's coming for ya...somebody tell him!), which should be interesting. I believe there are 8 candidates in races here that he has endorsed and they will all probably be on the dais with him--though most likely they won't get much of a chance to say anything as he'll blather on about the same old same old. His candidate for Governor, David Perdue, is trailing pretty badly in the polls, so it might be a matter of time before Trump drops him...he's only for winners, y'know.
Anyone still clinging to a hold above feeble minded would likely not want his endorsement. If he even breathed on me I would get myself to the nearest river and swim upstream until that skin peeled off.
Seems they’ve locked blatant anti-democratic racists onto SCOTUS though. That can’t be fixed with an election. (I posted a link to Wed. Shadow docket ruling on this thread)
Oooo! This is wonderful!
Yes, but even should Trump's power continue to wane, Trumpism remains strong, and I fear that those people's lies, hypocrisy, malevolence and conspiracy theories will be sticking around, since it is difficult to un-brainwash people.
Amen!
Rowshan Nemazee:
"A prophet is never fully recognized in his/her/their land."
Perhaps Luke 4:24
Eh!?
That is correct, Anne-Louise. I wonder how Hilary can ever be ok about that. Perhaps when justice is served on treason.
Too intelligent ever to be OK about that. But she's very strong, and knows herself. I like her story of the first time she spoke to Bill. He was staring at her in the library. She went up to him and said (something like) "If you're going to stare at me, you'd better know my name. I'm Hillary Rodham."
Nothing surpasses the scorn of an angry woman.
Except an angry loser who is also a narcissistic bastard. He will stop at nothing to destroy anything and everything that rejects him, especially America
So much in common with his benefactor, putin
And , although I believe in the 1st amendment, someone needs to take Tucker (insert traitors here - MTG, meadows, Boebert, Guiliani etc ad nauseum) aside and tell them forcefully to STFU.
I just watched some videos of the guards, clearly and loudly, admonishing the disrespectful crowds at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mind their manners. That they held guns with bayonets and sometimes cocked their guns when people messed with the boundaries around the tomb. There are clearly some narcissistic, disrespectful Americans that need boundaries spelled out strongly (like our own elected, disrespectful republican reps in our government).
"The ceremony is an impressive and solemn event. As this video clearly shows, the soldiers on duty here are very serious about what they do. Bearing in mind the significance of the tomb and their role as its guard, these individuals are extremely respectful and highly disciplined in their duties.
Understandably, of course, they also expect the same level of respect and maturity from members of the public who come to visit the Tomb. If people try to cross the barriers, are too disruptive and noisy, or are otherwise disrespectful, the guard on patrol will do something about it!"
Is it not time for the American people to demand the same dignity and respect from all elected officials and be in their job descriptions? We are witnessing belligerent people inflict abuse and taunt an incredible American like Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has been nominated to be one of the highest judges in our land. No one deserves that kind of treatment, publicly or privately, and it should have been denounced and stopped immediately. Abusive behavior of that kind should call for dismissal of the person inflicting intentional abuse.
Checks and balances must be implemented in any democracy otherwise, some humans return to below the belt, uncivilized behaviors as represented by the current leaders of the Party of Sedition. Do you not think that in order for democracy to function, Truth and Justice must be protected...For All The People?
You are spot on. Assholes like Cruz, Lee, and Hawley should have been escorted out of the room. Thank God for quick reporters and photogs who caught Cancun Cruz checking twitter immediately after his tirade. Those morons did it just for social media and they should have been shut down and shut up. But since the tRUMP (and Hitlerian) method is to say outrageous things you know aren't true over and over until they become routine, we're stuck until someone like Liz Cheney has balls enough to confront these lowlife bastards. Ketanji couldn't go too far as she wants the job but I was glad to see she did stand up and corrected them several times. What a bunch of losers.
C. Thomas should have recused himself from anything tRUMP related after his dimwitted wife started a 3-way with her, Meadows and God. Dis-gusting and illegal. I think these guys need a little truth serum added to their morning coffee.
It is deliberate, they know and love the notoriety, no shame no where
Could not agree more, so tired of bullies taking the stage EVERYWHERE. Rocks, where is your slime. Must apologize to slime after watching the PBS show The Secret Mind of Slime. Slime is way ahead of MAGAts in intelligence and “humanity”
Don’t hold back girl.
I have told this story on this forum before, but I will repeat it here. Back in summer of 2016, Yahoo would allow comments to their stories. I often posted a non-partisan post, I would say something along the line of know who/what you are voting for! With absolutely no mention of candidate nor of party, I would say to not listen to media, social media, friends, neighbors, your boss or pastor--go to the candidates OFFICIAL website and read what they stand for! No candidate is 100% aligned with your personal beliefs, so decide what issues matter the most to you, find which candidate best supports your views, and vote accordingly.
You would not believe the nasty, nasty replies and comments made about me personally! (and they didn't know me, I posted under the name "anonymous" which in itself got some people's Depends in knots and caused another slew of speculative comments! LOL) And I am being totally honest here, 100% of those rapid replies came from Right wing or GOP leaning persons.
I remember you posting that, and reflecting that that mirrored the experience I was getting as I engaged politically with my friends who were on a different plane in the political arena than I was. (I can't even say "side" any more, they are so far out of balance.)
Ally, I lost my long time "bff" (relationship of several decades) over tfg. She was a very wealthy person (inherited an 8 figure estate perhaps a year or so before the rise of tfg) yet lived in a solidly middle class area. It's way too long of a story for this forum. Anyhow, the rather sudden wealth combined with falling down the FOX news hole either changed her or revealed a side I hadn't seen. Racism and white supremacy came out and it destroyed the relationship. I came to see that there was a toxicity to the relationship for quite awhile before all of this which I didn't see or perhaps chose not to see. What has been shocking to me is the realization that I don't miss her at all! Perhaps because the gap has been filled by a number of other friends who do not demand that intense time commitment and attention she commanded. (ie, no joke--on a one week cruise she took 6000 photos, I do not exaggerate, and made me sit through hours of viewing them all when she returned. Which I felt compelled to do as she returned with myriad gifts--all unwanted--for me and my family and I was reared to be polite.)
I relate this, in a way, to the loonies on the Right, perhaps they will get woke and shake their heads.
Your bff's loss is our gain, Miselle!
This kind of separation is usually a life-saver -- unless it's with close family.
Most of my "losses" in this arena have been former comrades in arms with either my own agency, or other local agencies. Well, and my father-in-law who fell down the faux noise hole and had become a bitter, angry man; he is now in some flavor of dementia (vascular? sundowners? other?) and you can no longer have any sort of conversation with him.
I always think of you, Ally, when I see a story that, to my mind, would surely change the minds of your former comrades, and then realize it won't. Can't say about your dad-in-law. I suppose at this point it's fruitless to try.
I have come to embrace "you cannot reason with unreasonable people". I still hope they will see reason, but until then, I'm done.
Cults don’t deprogram themselves
Once bullies smell blood, they are worse and “worser”
Gees, Miselle!
Or Russian trolls. We were invaded at least a decade ago.
I can only imagine! Your Your suggestions were too logical/well thought-out for them
Amen Anne!
To say that Americans were duped is to let them off the hook. Many Americans believe lies, but they do so to justify their racism, which is the foundation for all Republican successes at the ballot box since 1968. Americans know which party wiil do everything it can to preserve the advantages of white Americans over all others, and the voters who favor preservation of those advantages vote for Republicans. Some of them excuse themselves through willful ignorance. Most don’t think they need an excuse.
Watched it happen, just as you articulated. Truth more than many want to admit. A cult as large as this will destroy us.
Nice piece. Duped too. That DOESN’T let them off the hook because tHey learned the truth and said “so what” and went back to cultivating corn.
Thank you for this piece Rex. Beautifully said. 🏆
Rupert pretty much did. One wonders when Rupert turned on America. Reagan sure thought he was on board with his script, but the worm turned, or did he???
I don't believe that Dutch Reagan was a very smart man...indeed I think he was just about as credulous a man as has ever managed to get himself elected on his charisma and personal vision alone.
Had a good script writer (Noonan) and a good PR man (Deaver). He was wrapped in a flag at every event, spouting platitudes
No doubt it was about the money!
As I recall, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by, um, 3 million votes... so how com tfg sat in the white house for 4 years? (I know - the electoral college)
And not even the electoral college, the second time around.
Anne, unfortunately your words ring true. The news is so bizarre it seems like a Star Wars type movie plot, impossible to even imagine, let alone our not-so United States in this role that becomes more visible by the day.
Anne-Louise, thanks. But, if you permit one redaction, "Fox is emitting "Mother Tucker American" propaganda. If you shake it, you'll soon find it's really all gas. The Tucker base doesn't need GPS to show who's brain-dead, just look down from the Moon station where all the TV sets light up when The Man comes on to sly-smirk and smiffoodle. It's hot.
Remarkable adjectives! ;-)
Thank you Heather.
We listened to President Biden’s press conference earlier today/Thu. To hear him articulate what’s what did us and US proud.
By comparison, Clarence and Ginny Thomas, tfg, tucker carlson… I’ve not yet given up hope that justice will be served, though I’m growing ever more frustrated and impatient. May these despicable people pay dearly for their treacheries.
Hopefully Thomas will suffer a relapse over the weekend that will result in a "negative outcome."
After the Ginni Thomas news dropped yesterday I mused that Clarence checked into Sibley so he could be "ill" and unavailable for comment. He likely had a stroke upon learning that Ginni's, as well as his, duplicity was going to be exposed.
My take is that he is actually pretty sick, and will use his health to retire. Imagine Joe getting another SCOTUS pick. Imagine the fireworks fro the rethuglicans. Hang on, cuz it's gonna be a wild ride.
If this happens, I think he should nominate another black woman!
Well if we’re wishing: we need to honor Indigenous Americans with a SCOTUS seat!
Yes!!! Absolutely Christy!
If we can have wishful thinking, I think I'd like a transgendered person. Ohhh can you just imagine the kerfuffle over that!?
Ah, it's Friday. A little levity during this time of madness. I'm worn out.
How about an Asian American
Ha! That would be so great.
Pam, from your lips to whatever pure power for good resides in our universe...
Now THERE's something I can pray for.
Agree, Pam.
Let it be!!
I think he had a stroke knowing that the facts are coming out now about her actions and how they could implicate him!
Ha, he was in on it from the git go, but neither worry, they can just scream that the leftists are after them and republicans will do their smear thing. It’s all they are good for anymore. What more proof do we need.
Repubs are really good at yelling, aren’t they? Round ‘em up in a corral. Rope ‘em like they love watching the cowboys do to cattle in a rodeo.
My thoughts too. It was very convenient! Funny his hospitalization happened right before the Ginni news broke! It is just a bit consequential.
👍🏼
Neither are worried, just victims of antifa. Tried and true bull Schitt…
It’s a “high-tech lynching.”
I can’t heart you, but your comment is very apropos.
When the heart button doesn't turn red, refresh your browser window and the button will either appear as red or you can click on it again and it will turn red.
Man, that disgusting perversion of the actual meaning and reality of lynchings that he used back then. It will still come to mind sometimes. Shame on him.
In a reality just parallel to our own, he is impeached.
It is quite a coincidence!
Once again serious internal conflict.
I can’t quite bring myself to wish for the death of anyone…..but who am I kidding when I say that? When my brothers and I were little, we asked our life-long pacifist/activist English mother, who had served in the WRAF in London in WWII, what she would have done if fate had found her alone in a room with Hitler and she had a loaded gun (Would she kill him and thus change history?). We were always frustrated when she allowed that she would NOT kill him.
Throughout my life I have returned to that Big Time dilemma from time to time; when tfg had COVID, currently thomas, etc etc etc, I find myself torn. When trump had COVID was, perhaps, the perfect example. I sort of “officially” settled on wanting him to not die but, instead, to really, really suffer….to profoundly hurt, to come so close to death that he would fundamentally change, to, as Susan Collins so (what descriptor do I use here??) um, naively (I’m being generous) put it, “learn a lesson.”
Anyway, I am not as good or principled a person as my late mother. I am seriously torn on this issue. But if it were Hitler and I had the gun, and I seriously/honestly believed that my action could/would change history, well, I’d go for it. Sorry Mom….but it would be done for millions of right reasons.
Putin? Ditto.
trump, thomas, graham, hawley, cruz, mtg, etc, etc, etc? Well, probably not so much with the gun thing. But wishing them serious ill will, you bet, in half a heartbeat.
Of course, just so I don’t get a visit from any Secret Service types, this is not a threat. I would NOT off any one of the six horrible people listed above. But there is the old expression about “twitchy trigger fingers.” But, again, no I wouldn’t/couldn’t do it.
But to wish them agony that might, somehow, instill humility and decency? Hell yes.
I’m pretty sure Mom would understand.
My wish is that the law would swiftly and effectively work, giving people confidence that “no one is above the law”. And then I wish, to most effectively neuter their influence and actions, have their supporters turn on them.
Too bad the law doesn’t act as swiftly to hold the rich people accountable as it does to hold the poor people accountable.
Absolutely!!!
Everyone has the right to employ a lawyer to defend their position. It should not matter if that lawyer agrees or disagrees with that position; it is their legal abilities that are being hired. The defeated former president and his acolytes do not understand that and use lawyers who believe in their position to start with and that is why they repeatedly lose in court. But doing that does buy time, resulting in the lengthy delays litigation involves, taking them out of the media spotlight.
Yes! Neutering, starting at the knees and working its way up, is what needs to happen. But they say “we have laws”. That’s the real problem. We have so many laws, so many interpretations that we have created a bottleneck. That red tape should be cut.
Perfect! This will help to keep me from checking for news of Clarence Thomas’ health status.
Along with his Republican supporters.
TFG has figured out how to beat the law!
We need to be protected from evil beings in positions of power who plan great harm to others. Like surgery, killing is to be avoided wherever possible; but what you speak of here is killing to protect the lives of millions. If there is no other way, the morality is clear.
If we are guided by the conviction that all harmful actions will be paid for, our duty must be to do all we can to prevent harm. There is no joy in amputating a gangrened limb, it is a necessary act of benevolence. Hatred will always harm those who bear it, even only in thought. All actions must be guided by benevolence, desiring the best for others, very much including those the warrior must kill.
Even addressing this subject is horribly painful, but there is no room for sentimentality.
Here is a case of a man full of hatred for Hitler and the Nazis, who shot him in the last months of the war:
“I saw him once more at close range. This was in the autumn of 1932, as the fever began to take hold of Germany. Friedrich von Miicke and I were dining at the Osteria Bavaria in Munich when Hitler entered and crossed the restaurant to the table next to ours - alone, by the way, and without his usual bodyguard.
I had driven into town, and since at that time, September 1932, the streets were already quite unsafe, I had a loaded revolver with me. In the almost deserted restaurant, I could easily have shot him. If I had had an inkling of the role this piece of filth was to play, and of the years of suffering he was to make us endure, I would have done it without a second thought. But I took him for a character out of a comic strip, and did not shoot.”
Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen : Diary of a Man in Despair
Cfr. https://archive.org/stream/DiaryOfAManInDespair/Reck-Malleczewen%2C+Friedrich+-+Diary+of+a+Man+in+Despair+-+A+Non-Fiction+Masterpiece+about+the+Comprehension+of+Evil+_djvu.txt
Just like many did about TFG!
But he IS a character from a comic strip!
Peter, thank you for posting this. I will read it today.
Peter, do you think we might evolve to the point where we can keep evil from positions of power? Does that sound ridiculous to you? Seems like our mother ship might not last that long?
What a question, Christy!
Bear in mind that we are all a mixture, we all have our shadow side, we all change and our behavior changes with circumstances, with temptations... especially when we have responsibility for others, power over others.
I suggest reading Timothy Snyder on this.
Would you please recommend one? I have only read On Tyranny and Our Malady. I’ve been on the fence about which one to read next, they all look so interesting. Thank you.
There’s supposedly an old saying from the shtetl - Gd bless and keep the Czar far away from us. We can pray for Clarence Thomas, and for that matter at least one more of the court partisan hacks, to be happy in retirement very soon as Biden nominees create a different majority on the court.
hopefully it doesn't require a continuance of partisanship politics for this post - as it is one that by its proclamations should be non-partisan. Congress should be seeking to place people of great integrity and a love of the law that do not bend to partisan politics....perhaps I may seem wholly unrealistic in this thought - but what a dream if all on the supreme court were free of these pressures and biases and performed their jobs as they are designed....doing away with shadow dockets or reserving them to real emergencies and keeping to a minimum - not as a vehicle to enforce treacherous partisan politics as what just took place for Wisconsin voting rights
I pray for Clarence Thomas's happiness in retirement beginning April 1st, 2022! I've learned it really helps to be specific with prayers.
Amen
Peter, I nightly wish for the evil in the world to be exterminated, however that may be. Every morning when I bring up the news, I am hoping the headlines will announce the death of the former guy and the arrests of many who follow in his wake. Am still waiting.....
What matters is that they must be indicted, tried, made to pay in full for their crimes. And punishment must be exemplary enough to deter would-be imitators.
Exactly!
Peter,
On a completely different, significantly lighter topic
(I preface as not to in any way diminish your seriously thought-provoking pondering of good eliminating evil),
a world of thanks to you for the photographic gifts you’ve given us via HCR. I find them meditative and soothing, much needed in this broken world.
Glad to be in this LFAA classroom with you.
Thanks so much for your very kind words about my images. Heather is an extraordinarily wonderful person and it's a true honor to have my work thus shared..... And, yep, it IS great having all of us in the LFAA classroom/family. We are blessed and each need to spread the word about LFAA at every opportunity!
Dear wonderful photographer Peter, thank you for making me feel less yucky about wishing agony would befall all those you mentioned.
Thanks so very much......
Peter, I agree with you and the expression the end justifies the means comes to mind. All the people you mentioned are ones I have a hard time viewing as "people". They don't strike me as souls like you or I. I won't feel bad when they eventually pass, as we all will someday.
Also for those aforementioned, my late Irish Catholic Mom would make an exception as well.
There are other ways to make a Hitler ineffective, create long term hell on earth for him, etc.
Very good point. Agreed, 100%. But the basic question remains unanswered, as it has throughout my life. Would one “do it” if one thought it would prevent unimaginable mass suffering?
Time to let go of that haunting cycle, friend. In the real world, you know that assassinations do not accomplish peace. Why invent an imaginary world Where they do, then wonder what your imaginary counterpart would do? Its enough to keep us busy working out how to do actual good in this world. I've prayed for peace for Justice Thomas and protection for people threatened by his power, and I stop there. That keeps my heart in a functional place where I can have hope of bringing good into the world. The other thoughts are not about who you actually are.
I cannot really argue with a word of what you so thoughtfully offer. My mother would have liked you, as do I.
Thanks for your thoughts. It's hard to keep on track sometimes. I needed To be reminded of the ripple effect.
I'd have to be angry enough to lose self control. I'm rarely angry enough, now that I'm 73; it does happen, but usually I'm just disappointed. Maybe there IS a reason for women's testosterone level to be relatively higher in old age.
Whenever I have those thoughts, this one arises: "Choose your enemies carefully...."
Indeed. Agreed.
But in the cases/names I cite, I believe that they are already the openly declared enemies of decency and all that is right and good. What then?
As someone said earlier:
"𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘪𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨." --Texas Aphorism
Amen, Peter.
I got booted from Twitter for voicing my opinion that it would be nice if Trump suffered an embolism.
Congratulations. I know it's hard to curb your temper.., when there seems to be no other choice. Uncle Stan said to count to ten. I asked, "What if you're still angry, what should I do? ".
He said, " Count to ten again". It's a hard lesson to learn and i too often forget.
Or even to eleven.
There are 74 million Americans without whom the planet would be better off.
For heaven's sake, you sound just like the worst of them, cursing your own countrymen, however deluded.
They're human beings, they too are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... even if their idea of liberty is irresponsible, even if the manner in which they pursue happiness is stupid.
Too much fascistic mind pollution in the air... Relax... relax...
I agree. A little too harsh for my liking.
Do you think so?
I find that old age has caused me to express myself more bluntly.
I've seen my GOP tribalist nephew cheer at wildfires and drought in California, because that industrial powerhouse state does not share his prejudices. An attitude that's so senseless for one who worships the flag as to be well-nigh suicidal...
The point's simple. Americans will have to learn to live together as one nation regardless of differences. It will take one hell of a lot of doing -- but how can it even begin until those on either side of the divide grow out of their enslavement to abstract concepts and recognize themselves and their compatriots as fellow human beings?
Can't we see the consequences of vile, divisive politics staring us in the face in Ukraine today?
I could go with “Homo sapiens,” but “human beings” gives them more esteem than Trump voters deserve.
Gosh Peter, my thoughts surely align with yours! I think your mom, like my parents, would definitely understand.
He needs to resign from the bench. Now. This should recuse him from participating in any decisions regarding the January 6th insurrection, and frankly, anything that ever comes to that body about anything that touches on Trump or anyone in Trump's inner circle (of hell). And Tucker Carlson needs to be removed from the air. He is now directly courting treason in my book. His excuse that he is just an "entertainer" can't stand.
And...Mitch McConnell?
Just saw a discussion on 'All In' on MSNBC (Friday 3/25) that there is a U.S. statute which forbids a judge to sit on a case in which a spouse has a substantial interest. The big question is.... how can that be enforced against a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court if he refuses to recuse himself on any cases having to do with the January 6 insurrection.
He gets a virus and goes to hospital. Fixed.
You said it out loud this time, but softer, TC. It is hard not to feel how yummy this fact is. Is there an iota of conscience? Or fear of the bright Light of Justice turning the tables on he and Ginni? Whatever, may he decide to immediately step down!
watch what you ask for - as these kinds of thoughts for inflicting harm on any person is exactly what you are protesting -
On my knees praying!
I don’t, for a nanosecond, believe that Ginni Thomas actually has a genuine love for the America that she thinks “god” favors. She is phony through and through. But not stupid. She thinks she is invincible and cannot be touched. May she be so wrong…
I’m curious, Jeri. I think Ginni “has a genuine love for the America that she thinks ‘God’ favors.” The clue for me is “that she thinks”. She and others like her have a vision of America they truly, deeply believe is righteous. HOW she can view America this way is a mystery to me. Was it Eisenhower (?) who counseled “ Never question a man’s belief. Question his wisdom.” That’s the rubric I use with Ginni & co.
Belief is such a weird thing, in this circumstance (frankly, in many others as well,) Belief that flies in the face of reason, logic, facts, and truth is what, exactly?
If they are continually isolated, their get will die out.
Karma is always out there. Seen it too many times to believe it isn't.
Some years ago, the late N.Y. Representative, Louis Slaughter introduced the Supreme Court Ethics Act, because (to my surprise) the Court isn't bound by an ethics code like the lower courts.
I believe the late Representative tried on several occasions to get the bill signed into law, but it never happened.
After reading the news today, as well as your newsletter, it's quite obvious that the Thomas's feel no obligation to support and uphold democracy in this country.
Someone should reintroduce the late Representative Slaughter's bill again.
As for Trump, the greater his legal jeopardy, the more outrageous his malignant carnival act will become.
“Malignant carnival act” is a terrific way to describe both the Thomases.
"Malignant carnival act" is also perfect for the "Putin wing" of the Republican party.
Hmmm. New popular abrevistion: RMCA
No code of ethics! That's the caption for their photo.
Just saw a discussion on 'All In' on MSNBC (Friday 3/25) that there is a U.S. statute which forbids a judge to sit on a case in which a spouse has a substantial interest. The big question is.... how can that be enforced against a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court if he refuses to recuse himself on any cases having to do with the January 6 insurrection.
Thank you. Curious about this and went looking: https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-slaughter-introduce-supreme-court-ethics-bill-to-restore-public-confidence-in-the-nations-highest-court
"212 legal scholars jointly urged the Supreme Court to adopt the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges. To date, more than 130,000 Americans have signed a petition to Chief Justice John Roberts, asking him to adopt a code of ethics for the high court. The public’s disapproval of the Court remains at a near historic high." This was dated 2017.
I wasn’t aware of it until today so am working on reading up but it’s apparent we need to #TurnUSBluein22
And lo & behold…nothing has been accomplished, to date. What a cruel laugh!
In reading more about it, Slaughter introduced it as far back as 2012. She was certainly a big loss to the work of strengthening our democracy! https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/supreme-court/rep-slaughter-wants-a-supreme-court-code-of-ethics/
Yes she has and quite frankly, the code of ethics should be brought up once again by those who originally sought to see it pass. Perhaps Ben Sasse would like to join in.
Did you see he’s voting no on Jackson?Referencing himself when he spoke of “jackassery” obviously!
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!!
1) Yesterday (Thursday) I spent the bulk of the day watching 11 of Senator Whitehouse's 13 YouTube videos about Dark Money and the Republican capture of the Supreme Court. Though I could not find the clips in numerical order this link provides the bulk of them. https://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorWhitehouse/videos
My overall takeaway: Rhode Island chose wisely when they elected this man to serve their state!
2) At first I thought this 15-minute clip was a comedy skit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyYp9xPLa8s but I found it imbedded in a NYT article about the crew of a "superyacht" - drydocked in Italy - having "left their jobs." https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/world/europe/russia-superyacht-crew-putin.html
If nothing else, I found it quite entertaining.
3) Waiting for the right moment to post this delightful story of one man's journey from drug dealer to master falconer. Since there doesn't seem to be a right moment, I'm posting it anyway:
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-a-drug-dealer-turned-his-life-around-to-become-one-of-few-black-master-falconers-in-us/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab4f&eid=0883f646f6a26e54156a44178b8edd7e02ad8e2b
Senator Whitehouse has been masterful at connecting the dots, hasn’t he? Having been born just after WWII I have lived through all these changes in our country and have been alarmed at the incremental moves toward what? Fascism? Greed for money and power obliterating our strengths. Systems that allow such greed to flourish lead to our extinction. Transparency going forward will be key. Thank you, Sen. Whitehouse.
I am left wondering, Janet, whether the greed, money and power that we see so clearly now has always been there but more easily hidden then than it is today. But we do need more Whitehouses among us, that's for sure.
And Frankins
Yes!
My belief is that greed is part of our nature. Could it be survival instinct run amok without needed regulation and accountability? We have found it so easy as individuals to forget that we are human, dare I say, animals. We are all in this together, aren’t we?
I see greed as something beyond what one needs to survive, so taking from another just because. I do agree that most of us would be hard-pressed to self-regulate, but to your point, accountability is something our survival instinct would probably not allow us to do on our own.
And I wouldn't be insulted if I were called a human animal!
Morning Lynell. You always post cool things just in time for the weekend. Good stuff.
I'll take that compliment and raise you double for your "cool things..." Morning, Christine!
I remember the Whitehouse investigation and commentary during psycho justice Barrett confirmation hearings. I hoped that evidence/ info was to go to some investigation- but haven’t heard anything (or not much) since.
Hey, Dianne. In Senator Whitehouse's "Scheme 11" video of January 2022, he referenced a Biden Supreme Court Commission that met, culminating in a December 2021 report:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/SCOTUS-Report-Final.pdf
This CBS News synopsis is shorter to read than the report itself:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-commission-biden-submit-report-reforms/
Senator Whitehouse ends all of his "Scheme" videos with the promise: "To Be Continued." At his "Scheme 11" video he expressed disappointment in the report (link above) for not accomplishing what he thinks should be done about the SCOTUS issue and Dark Money. With beleaguered resolve, he ended his Scheme 11 video thusly: "To Be Continued."
There is a Scheme 12 and 13 I have yet to watch, but will do so today.
I love Sheldon Whitehouse and his posters! He is hammering away at what is turning the SC into a "bought and paid for" entity instead of the intended critical, non- partisan judiciary part of our checks and balances. He wanted Barrett to hear the facts and expressed the hope that she might work to change the control of the SC by dark money. He is on a mission. But in this Jackson hearing he had the grace first to read out loud the praise of others for the amazing young woman sitting before him. That was classy.
Yesterday HCR wrote that the behavior of some of the Committee towards her was abuse, clear and simple. Another display of entitled power ( both male and female-- Blackburn) gone amuk. Jackson is more accomplished and courageous than any of her abusive grandstanders and she exercised what I can only describe as superhuman grace and restraint under pressure.This all proved to make her even more richly qualified for the job while her abusers came off as cheap, self absorbed operatives, unworthy and unable to serve!
He is a class act, that’s for sure!
By contrast alone Sheldon Whitehouse showed our nation they were all upside down.
My sentiments exactly, Carol.!
If you would prefer to read it this is the link to Whitehouse's website:
https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/speeches/the-scheme-1-the-powell-memo
Substack is not allowing me to "heart" you so ❤️
Funny, most times I do prefer to read than watch. But in this case I like looking at Senator Whitehouse😊
Oh you devil yoi!!😃
😁
Thanks. Reading a transcript is faster for me.
Thanks, Joan. Scheme #1 sets the stage for the rest of them. ❤
When the heart button doesn't turn red, refresh your browser window and it should appear as red. If not, just click on it again, and it should turn red.
Thanks for this link; it's very much appreciated.
Good morning, Lynell! Wow, how did I manage to miss the super yacht video when I read the article? Yes, RI did choose very wisely. We should be very grateful for that.
Morning, Daria! I almost missed it myself. But the main NYT article seemed vague to me, so I kept pressing the links in it to see if I could find a better explanation about this particular yacht. Not surprising that I have avoided using its name, as it's long and complicated to spell!
And yes, kudos to Rhode Island!
Saw a story several days ago about another Russian super-yacht, marooned in Sweden because the locals refuse to refuel her.
#1. Watched Whitehouse today questioning that Alabama bobblehead who could not, for some reason, give a straight answer. Whitehouse is so effective!
#2. That skit was okay at the beginning but then became annoying.
#3. Really enjoyed the $700 million story of the mega yacht. The captain should be flogged until he reveals the owner’s or owners name (s).
#4. The falconer story was really one of perseverance and determination. Loved it!
Okay, my work is done here.
Thanks for reading, Marlene...morning!
Morning, my fabulous friiend!
Whitehouse is awesome. PS thank you dr Richardson
Vis a vis Russian super-yacht troubles, I saw a story a couple of days ago about one that is marooned at a port in Sweden because workers refused to refuel her so she could leave. Sorry I don't have a cite (too lazy to look for it online) but it's a lovely story.
😉
Thanks for the links, especially for the one about Rodney Stotts, the drug dealer turned master falconer, who tells at-risk kids, "You are not your mistake."
Yes, I loved that.
Very wise falconer, I'd say...thanks, Mim!
Morning Lynell.
Morning, Stuart! Happy to hear from you.
I'm with you all but currently somewhat preoccupied by one or two concerns a little closer to home.
We're safe of course but we have Putin's Ukrainian War in the midst of a Presidential election in which the incumbant is telling us that the election is a waste of his "valuable" time and a foregone conclusion. His message is that we should just be listening to his promises for the future and not waste time moaning about what has actually done. If he passes again the streets will explode by the autumn.
Hearts aren't working this morning. Please know we all hold you in our thoughts. Your focus is exactly where it needs to be. ❤
Many thanks. We are doubtless suffering more from existential problems rather than material and physical dangers and less in need of sympathy than others. But it's a very real mess nonetheless.
Alternative: Mélenchon??? I marched in the manif, the year that Le Pen somehow got into the second round. I think the whole of Paris turned out.
Unlikely to be Melenchon. Macron is detested and the others somewhat mediocre. Not a real choice.
When is your election?
April 10 & 24th for President then the Assembly 6 weeks later.
❤🌼
Yes, I can imagine you might be having a little angst. Please stay safe!
Boy howdy, I get that. Hope you and yours are (or will be) okay.
Stuart, I’m worrying vicariously with and for you.
End of May, I’m scheduled to be in Paris…hard to fathom it happening.
Repeat after me, Ashley: "I will have a great time in Paris!"
Merci, mon ami.
Just in time for the Assembly elections which should produce a stalemate!
😕
Morning, Lynell! Well, looks like I have some catching up to do. Is this homework?🤓
Morning, Marlene! Homework? Yes, indeed. There'll be a quiz on Monday at circa 2:00 a.m. Don't be late (and if I'm not here, start without me!)
😂 well, okay then!
Morning, Lynell!
Morning, Ally!
Good morning everyone. Feeling fragile lately. Need to focus on personal things now, but wanted to say how much you all mean to me. I'm so proud of President Biden and so grateful for HCR and all of you.
Take care of yourself, Gailee. The spirit of this group keeps all of us in their hearts. Good thoughts always.
Hugs
Gailee, please take the time to care for yourself. We will be here for you. 💞
Thank you. Heart
Gailee, keeping you in my heart. With gratitude, for you🌷
Morning, Gailee. Grateful for you as well!
Take time to stagger breathe. Time honored low brass method during the 30 measures of tied together low whole notes. I breathe in odd numbered measures, my tuba buddy breathes on the even numbered measures. Sometimes I go for 4 or 5, sometimes every other one...
Love the " stagger breathing" as analogy-- applies to so many challenges! Thanks.
The top sopranos have to do something similar during the last part of Beethoven's 9th, über Sternen muss er wohen, pianissimo.
Will be keeping you in my thoughts and heart.
🌹🌹🌹
Suing Hilary and Steele? Uh… good luck. Wouldn’t tfg have to SHOW his books if subpoenaed? Wouldn’t that demonstrate what we all know is true? …all that capital Don JR bragged they were getting from Russian “investors”, actually just funneled From Oligarchs from Putins exported billions? Hmmmm, maybe that’s why Manafort tried to hop a jet to Dubai? Paul’s thinking “oh uh…even I need to get distance from tfg!”
Thomas should be impeached for this! You can’t have that kind of cross pollination ‘tween the executive branch and judiciary. That is collusion to overthrow the federal government!!!!
And what kind of infection puts someone in the hospital? Was it a bacterial infection? A kidney infection? A viral infection? Why not be more specific? Timing and disclosure smell fishy to me. Seems more like a fascist infection to me. The whole thing reeks.
Thomas should be impeached for this! You can’t have that kind of cross pollination ‘tween the executive branch and judiciary. That is collusion to overthrow the federal government!!!!
Good luck getting 66 votes for conviction in the Senate.
Let’s turn the numbers upside down and expect 99 to impeach. What nasty shenanigans by Ginni and Clarence. Sheesh.
TC, I think u will love this short from Noel Casler Comedy. Put the some dates with Ginni Thomas’s behavior, matching emboldened behavior to funding.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cbh323Ug6xO/?utm_medium=copy_link
Ur right. Not gonna get 66 votes. So again, we continue normalize the unwinding of democratic norms. Thomas should resign. He has no honor.
Honor is a foreign concept
Fascist infection! A new diagnosis for some of the puzzling diseases in Washington.
It’s a clickbait charade for political donations. The loser of the 2020 election knows this will not hold up to any judicial scrutiny, it doesn’t have to. It just had to get in the MSM and get people clicking.
The Tik-Tok kids need to crash his donation “channels!”
I look forward to the fruits of discovery. And, if he decides to drop the suit, a countersuit with its own discovery. Whether the country will remain a democracy until the end is a concern.
The threat of the suit is its value. Click bait. The shinny thing for us to get our knickers in a twist over. That thing to keep the game going, to continue the charade. Will not be brought. Has won already.
yup. The ghost of Roy Cohn.
Exactly
Trevor Noah has posted a montage of the knit brow variations etched from a lifetime of dealing with the jackassery of the "extraordinarily vicious attacks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson:"
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cba-6SxlJwL/
Ellie, it is painful, though, watching KBJ wince over and over and over. Her strength and her grace are absolutely amazing.
It is but it also reveals her undying restraint. I literally wanted to jump into the tv and strangle the R’s!
Oh Ellie, that was sure fun! I was gritting my teeth when she went through the grueling “procedures”.
Morning, Ellie! Thanks, no Instagram but sure Trevor done good.
You can't open the link to the video?
It says I have to sign in or set up an account. I'm so inundated with accounts with passwords, I wanted to avoid that. No worries. I may see part of it elsewhere!
When the link opens, there's a large blue bar at the bottom which gives the impression that you need to sign in but, if you look at right-hand corner, there's an 'x' you can click. Then you'll have the full page open to watch.
Thanks, Judith. I'll try that!
Try again, Lynell. It opened just fine for me without having to sign in or set up an account.
okay!
Darn it, sorry!
The former president appears to be using lawsuits by the dozens as means to feed the press a never-ending steady diet of allegations that will, in turn, feed his supporters with fodder for their anger-based political support. There has to be a means for courts to resist being used for purposes other than to litigate actual offenses. Can they not simply refuse to hear a case if it's claims are too outrageous, unsupported by at least a shred of evidence? Can they disbar the suits that clog up the dockets with garbage claims? Where will we finally find the means to muzzle this uber-brat? Perhaps we need the kind of medieval justice that chops off the body part that commits the crime? A hand, a tongue, other "parts" that cooperate in the commitment of criminal behavior? Yeah, I know...we'd be stooping to his level. I just wish I could rid myself of this infernal ringing in my ears that amplifies everytime someone refers to him or his evil spawn.
As I posted above:
Regarding Trump's SLAPP suit, it was pointed out by legal observers today that all the defendants will have to do on their first appearance in court is refer to the bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence Committee released in 2019, which documents Trump's collusion with Russia, and the result will be the sanctioning of the two legal jeanieusses who filed the suit for bringing a "frivolous lawsuit."
jeanieusses
brilliant ‼️‼️
Oh, come on, TC! Let's have some fun with discovery. Don't take away our joy!
Any day I don't have to think about or hear about or worry about Trump I count as a good day.
Has that happened yet..............................? Lord, I am so weary of this man! Just go away already!!!
There is such a mechanism; it is call a Frivolous Claim. The definition below explains it.
“A frivolous claim, often called a bad faith claim, refers to a lawsuit, motion or appeal that is intended to harass, delay or embarrass the opposition.
A claim is frivolous when the claim lacks any arguable basis either in law or in fact Neitze v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). That means, in a frivolous claim, either: “(1) "the 'factual contentions are clearly baseless,' such as when allegations are the product of delusion or fantasy;" or (2) "the claim is 'based on an indisputably meritless legal theory.'" Livingston v. Adirondack Beverage Co., 141 F.3d 434, 437 (2d Cir. 1998).
If a court decides a claim is frivolous, the court can dismiss the case, order the party which files the frivolous claim and the party’s attorney to pay any reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees incurred as a result of the frivolous claim.’’
This from the Legal Information Institute: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/frivolous
Yes, R. Dooley, but before a court can dismiss the claim, the parties have to exert time, energy and money to get to that point. In tfg's case, it doesn't appear he actually wants to get very far when he files these lawsuits; he just wants donations.
Yes and that’s because he doesn’t have any dough regularly coming in from his Russians friends anymore. I imagine the Kochs and the Mercers are paying his bills.
Agree, Marlene. I forgot to mention "distraction" is probably another motivation he has.
Love it
Can’t ❤️ this!
And Peter Thiel $$$
Don’t get me started!🤬🤬🤬
I was simply answering the question as to whether such relief was available, and it is.
Thank goodness for mechanisms that still work. Thankful for info from you, RDooley, TC, and others today. Ties in succinctly with Professor Richardson’s Letter today.
Understood and understand, R Dooley. My comment was not meant as a swipe at you. I just wanted to add to your comment what it takes to secure that relief, which may add insult to injury in some people's minds. Hope this clarifies things.
But but but he’s a billionaire
Heather's letter only came out an hour ago. I was awake after a fitful sleep. Heather's letter hadn't been posted at 1:30 AM. Many of us are losing sleep over this domestic chaos at a time of international violence agression.
I am not sure my parents lost as much sleep during WWII. I suspect the difference were several. They had a good leader, FDR through many years of challenges, followed by Truman and Eisenhower, not occasional fair leaders facing off against bomb throwers and demagogues in the Whitehouse and Congress. They had a clear plan, a single objective, and a common well defined enemy who had struck first as Putin's Russia has done. They had no home grown domestic terrorists and corrupted political party participating with the enemy, Putin's Russia, to overthrow our democracy. They had clear, direct, hard work and sacrifice which they undertook with unity and resolve. They certainly did not have the equivalent of Russia's state owned media in FOX spreading misinformation and propaganda to bring all government effectiveness to a halt. Had they had any part of this, we would all be speaking German and saluting Heil Hitler, Putin or Trump with only one media source FOX in the American hen house.
They also were in a war that did not include the 24-hour Age of Information and global connectedness, like we have, to aid in sleepless nights.
This involvement by Ginni Thomas is crazy. If she was not married to a Supreme Court Justice, she'd be just another Q-Anon conspiracist with few facts on her side. But she actually has roped in Justice Thomas. There is no way, in an ethical world, that he wouldn't recuse himself from any related decisions or resign entirely.
Just saw, on 'All In' with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, discussion of a U.S. statute that requires a judge (any judge) to recuse on any case in which the judge's spouse has a substantial interest. The question is... how to enforce it. Would CJ Roberts force it? or ignore it?
My guess: enforce it if a Dem in violation; ignore it if Thomas or another GOP in violation.
She rules the roost, betcha.
Gratitude to you, Heather, for organizing the news for us. It’s an overload of facts, tragedies and stories of courage and inspiration. And more Gratitude. I’m grateful President Biden is working with other leaders and countries for possible solutions to the devastating humanitarian crisis, the war in Ukraine continuing, after war crimes by Russia and Putin continue to turn the world upside down, especially for the millions of Ukrainian people. And I’m grateful Biden is our president and grateful I’m a Democrat. Especially after the days of hearings for the supremely qualified Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Her poise and patience and courage during the interviews by senators is amazing. Shout outs to the many many Democrats who have been respectful and positive in their questions and praise, in conversations with Judge Brown Jackson. How hard is it to be respectful? Evidently it’s more than challenging if you are a repub and your purpose is to humiliate and embarrass, proudly demonstrating your racism and rudeness. Their base and failed leader would be proud. And again I’m grateful for the few repubs who acted like humans, carrying out their jobs of elected U.S. Senators. For good press, video and more positive stories of the hearings check out these links. Good to end on a positive note. “Senator Booker Moves Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Tears with Tribute” https://www.c-span.org/amp/video/?c5007679 and
“Robert Reich Office hours: Will Republicans pay any price for how they've treated Judge Jackson?
Why Josh Hawley is below contempt” https://robertreich.substack.com/p/office-hours-will-judge-jackson-be-2?s=r
Onward!
Sometimes when I look at tom cotton and josh hawley, they seem like twins and, in fact, they must be brothers from a different mutha!
Yes, Marlene, in fact I think that mutha had a lot of repub kids.
👏🏼👏🏼
As always Professor Cox-Richardson, thank you for your constant work to inform and enlighten those who have ears to hear ... I do wonder ... is there a more suitable term than "personality" to use when referring to Fox propagandists ... maybe "commentators", "mouthpieces", "personas", or maybe just "persons" ...? Personality implies character or charisma ... somehow, it doesn't seem like such a good fit to me ....
Kathleen, you hit the head on the nail right off the bat, propagandists is the best and most accurate term.
I think maybe so Daria ... (kinda like the name for me - Kathkeen ...?)
Ooops, apologies for the typo in your name! Fixed now!
Aw it's ok Daria - I've been called worse ....
Kathleen, I am struggling to reply to your earnest question of what to call these folks. Sadly, I can't get the term "Poop Purveyors" out of my head. So sorry!
I say make it simple and easy. PPF
Putin's Puppet Fools (Tools) or what ever.
And we can start by using the PP* without explaining it. It's a secret code for the deep state. 😉
Okay, Beth...that's a wrap!
😁
Kathleen, perhaps lying and despicable jackasses (borrowing a little something from Ben Sasse)?
Lynell and Marlene - while I can relate to your suggestions, I think it is best to assert respect (whether or not it is deserved) - otherwise we descend into the mud-slinging pits where everyone gets slandered - and all possibility of healing resolution is defeated ....
I just can’t do that, Kathleen. Not after everything we have all been through and witnessed since then. I try to respectful where it is due but when speaking of these abhorrent people…I cannot be nice.
Which is why I believe propagandist is the best term to use. It is accurate. While one might not like to be called a propagandist it is neither pejorative or disrespectful yet is very specific about the role they play.
Marlene, I hear you - with all my heart ... still, I need to focus on what it takes to transcend the negative energies and dynamics that keep us locked in cycles of strife and contention - clearly, where so many are stuck (happily so, it would seem) ... if we are blessed with conscience/integrity and intelligence to sense the difference, it falls to us to set a fresh pattern - change the story - starting with the language and attitudes that keep us locked in conflict with associated hatred and polarizing sentiments ... trust me, it is possible - can be accomplished - just reach deep in the heart for higher purpose and let that guide ... otherwise, what hope do we have of change?
I get that words matter, I do, Kathleen. We can intellectualize until the cows come home. I am 70 now and have fought against injustices for over 50 years. I have no intentions of stopping. When I have conversations with those who oppose decency and fairness, I do not get into a shouting match because that’s worthless. But please understand, when your parents were Holocaust survivors who lost precious family members and then unknowingly had PTSD, their children often have a different view of the world and people. At least, that is my side of the story.
Sorry Kathleen (my grandmothers name, we called her Jake) you are asking us to walk up hill both ways. Do you have to do things the hard way?
Is there any other way, Pat? Some folks make it look easy - I feel life is full of 'opportunities' to grow through - I for one simply am amazed to be alive, and able to function at all ... up hill both ways? How about any way we can - whatever it takes ... more like a miracle against all odds ...?!
Here are a couple of links - hopefully, to support and inspire through these times of challenge and choice - seemingly, highly improbable - yet possible ... 'choice always is ours' - one breath at a time ...:
https://valariekaur.com/2022/03/sister-talk-ukraine/
https://instantteleseminar.com/Events/129342495
... and these, to inform ...:
https://www.democracynow.org/2022/3/25/yanis_varoufakis_biden_give_putin_exit
https://www.democracynow.org/2022/3/21/ukraine_war_strengthens_china_russia_alliance?autostart=true
... may we find peace in one breath ... one breath at a time ....
... these folks love a good mud fight ... why satisfy their appetites ...?
Okay, and so sorry.
Thank you.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I was thinking maybe "attack dogs" - but why slander the canines ... maybe "sh!t spitters - but once again, that just invites more of the same vile derogatory hyperbole ... what purpose does that serve ...?
I always have used "...pause....'individuals'...pause"
As in, "When discussing the situation with that...individual...I determined that they were being extraordinarily untruthful and self-serving in their purported statement regarding the incident. Their statement cannot be regarded with any sort of confidence in what is relayed."
Ally, in my mind's eye, I can actually see you delivering that statement.
I've done it...
Oh, I know you have!
☺️😇☺️
Some us may think we know by family experience, readings or instinct what associations older Ukrainian citizens are making with what they are now experiencing. Unlike Putin's other wars in Grozny (Chechnya, Russia) or Aleppo (Syria) which were not covered as Ukraine is -- that's another story -- we are becoming familiar with the people. As for the associations and memories of older Ukrainians, nothing can replace their own accounts.
‘A Frightening Repeat’: Ukrainian World War II Survivors Face Conflict Again'
Borys Zabarko was 6 years old when the Nazis invaded what is now Ukraine in 1941 and his hometown, Sharhorod, became a Jewish ghetto. Women, children and old men slept in packed rooms with no bathrooms or water, he said. As typhus epidemics raged, the ground was too cold to dig graves, and bodies were thrown on top of each other. Mr. Zabarko’s father and uncle, who fought with the Soviet army, died in combat.'
'After the liberation, Mr. Zabarko said he became convinced that nothing like that would ever happen again.'
'Now 86, he spent a recent night in the freezing train station in Lviv, in the west of Ukraine, standing on a crowded platform, as he tried to get on a train to escape another war.
'Most Ukrainians watched in shock in recent weeks as their country was hit by violence and destruction on a scale they had never seen before, with children killed, mass graves, and bombing of homes and hospitals.'
'For some older Ukrainians, Russia’s invasion has revived painful memories of World War II, in which more than five million people were killed in Ukraine, even if the toll and scale of the current conflict is incomparable.'
Echoes of the world war have been omnipresent since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
'Dumskaya.net, a news website in Odessa, ended articles with a sentence adapted from one that local newspapers used during World War II. Instead of “Death to the German occupiers,” it now read “Death to the Russian occupiers.”
'For Ukrainians, “World War II is the single most unifying emotional touchstone,” said Markian Dobczansky, a historian at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. While the Ukrainian state is evoking those memories, the Ukrainian people also “make that connection on their own,” he said.'
'When Mr. Zabarko heard air-raid sirens on a recent morning, he ran for an underground garage. There, he found people who had slept the night, hiding from the missiles and bombs dropping on the city, including mothers with children in strollers who were afraid to leave. His mind immediately went back to 1941'
“The feelings are the same,” he said, “it’s death that flies above you.”
'After spending days sheltering in his apartment, his granddaughter was suffering from unbearable anxiety, he said, and his daughter begged him to take her out of Ukraine. They both got sick with Covid, after traveling by train in overcrowded carriages.'
“We believed that we and our children and our grandchildren would live a peaceful life,” he said, “and now there is another war with people dying, blood spilling.”
'After Germany invaded what is now Ukraine, it ceded the region of Transnistria to its ally in Romania, which deported thousands of Jews to Sharhorod, confining them there.'
'After the war, Mr. Zabarko became a historian, wrote books about the Holocaust and headed an association of survivors. Now, he feels as if his life’s work had fallen on deaf ears.'
“This is my personal tragedy,” he said, “If we had learned those lessons, we wouldn’t have war in Ukraine, we wouldn’t have any war.” (NYTimes) The link below is gifted. It very long and it also works.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/world/ukranian-ww2-survivors.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DODmweiPsSGYyMvFrOf6NlZtI1miuEHppaLaUxReJ11PQZP1BoT0PghKq4r6k_And_r5OvDCRx1ojRXLs8_HjgNmTlI-olz_i0tEOIdWW5WqPAgXcmcRI0p5VgJVqhinRfkq7VA6UijIkFqPQhD599QDgBYjDb_KW7TkUjZ6jVK03U-QI0WOpGWDvMntL66rwIdARaCl6uX2ooqC9nq4saYIVLSf65ex0we8P-gqETD3hoKeqrAZ42TovUk9Z6oOLRa_zokuxks6316XCwAfg&smid=url-share
🥺🥺😢 So glad my parents escaped from the Nazis when they did. This story is so very tragic as many other stories are too.
Once! Holocaust. Twice! Annihilation! America today! Russia today! Brazil today! and there are more examples of that. What human beings do for and against one another. Any other animals behave this way?
Hi, Mother McBride
Bidens cavalcade passed our hotel in Warsaw an hour ago.
Tanya is feeling on top of the world. I slept 8 hours last night. No symptoms. Всё будет хорошо
❤️ 🟦🟨 🌿🍒 🟥🍁🟥 ❤️ Allen, Great to see you. So far, your news is good. Shall we keep it that way? I hope so. You are better! I knew that would happen!
So wonderful that you both got a good night’s sleep and got to see the cavalcade!! Miracles do happen. You are on your way. Peace be with you. ☮️💟❤️💙💛
💙💛
Allen, thank you for keeping us in your communication loop. Every day I pray for the safety of you and Tanya. I am relieved when we hear from you. On to Calgary!!!
Your signoff is a song. I want you to sing it and email it to me when you are in Canada. Deal?
Heart
Allen!! What a great update. ❤️🇺🇦❤️
Too many humans just don't learn the price of vast, continued wars and related conflicts.
A great Scottish poet summed up history best and in just four words--"Man's inhumanity to man."
Yes, Heydon, those last four words have been in my mind for a long time It is always good to see you and read your thoughts.
Thanks, Fern. I appreciate that.
❤️
As I recall, Freud said “Man is wolf to man.”
I am glad your parents escaped from the Nazis when they did too, Marlene.🌷
After the war, Mr. Zabarko became a historian, wrote books about the Holocaust and headed an association of survivors. Now, he feels as if his life’s work had fallen on deaf ears.'
“This is my personal tragedy,” he said, “If we had learned those lessons, we wouldn’t have war in Ukraine, we wouldn’t have any war.” (NYTimes)
I can only imagine Mr. Zabarko's "personal tragedy". To have experienced the catastrophic events and sufferings through WWII in his region; then to write and teach about that history; and in the end to feel that such lessons and teachings are just dismissed. The futility of it all!
The Soviet Union had close to 27,000,000 civilian and military deaths during WWII, and that includes the Ukraine's loss of 5,000,000. It's too much for us in the U.S. to truly grasp. Yet, it's imperative that we all learn and remember what degree of destruction took place and is possible again. And even more deaths if we dare to think of a nuclear holocaust in full bloom.
You have summarized what drew me to the article. If we get through this one, Heydon, we will not have learned. There will be other Stalins, Hitlers, Putins and the world didn't do well at the hands of W. Bush and several other American presidents. The will to power, corruption, greed, propaganda... and we've got nuclear weapons and social media to boot...seem irresistible or in our genes. We cannot stop fighting for justice and democracy, but are you hopeful, Heydon? If so, please share it. Salud.
I agree, Fern. If we get through this one, we will not have learned. I don't think nuclear weapons will come into play, but only because I believe Putin as a billionaire will not be willing to die, especially through such a suicidal move. And yes, we're bound to see more dictators. I don't know if they'll reach the scale of a Stalin or Hitler. Greed for wealth and power are ever-present and will be until enough human hearts are changed to see the light. I think Lord Acton's quote about power applies here.
I just thought of one example of greed which sticks with me. A good friend of mine told me of someone he met in high school who was already starting the early steps of becoming a gangster. In high school, the thug already walked around with a big wad of cash in his pocket. Not long after high school, the gangster was involved in a number of rackets and soon a millionaire. Pat told me that Jerry became a multi-millionaire not long after that, but he never got enough wealth. Regardless of the millions Jerry already had, if he knew that you had a dollar in your pocket, even if it was the last money you had in the world, he wanted it; Greed is a demanding and insatiable monster.
I'd like to talk about those subjects of propaganda and the media, but it is late, so I'll stop for now.
Thank-you Fern, for reminding us that real, actual people are facing the brunt of what war actually is.
Hello, my friend. I am concerned about how far, deep and nuclear this could go. The guy is stuck in his windowless cave, getting beat back, and he's getting bad-er. I don't usually go to the darkest possibility, but this guy is pure чернить (black in Russian).
Yes, I try not to think about Putin's mental state so I can function in my own life. The only viable solution seems to be for diplomats/world leaders to make a concerted effort to offer an 'off-ramp' that is acceptable to Putin. I do not know the process Russia has to launch nuclear weapons, or what (if any) safe guards/protocols are in place.
His off ramp is he wants Ukraine, period. It looks as though many Ukrainians, including Zelensky are not giving it away. And what a way to grow old, but then think about being a young one. The children --
Putins only off ramp is total defeat
Best answer, but the longer it takes the more deaths it makes!
Steve, I'm not here to debate 'Biden's Last Line', but do you think that a good song title? Next question, are you ready for Fern's last line? Steve, I will miss you. I wish we lived in the same neighborhood. It is time for me to spend more time on other worthy pursuits, so I've decided to absent myself from the forum. I will continue to read HCR's Letters and Notes. This decision has been stewing for about two months. It is important for me maintain to a wall between myself and the forum or I'll slide back before properly addressing stuff that has pilled up. I know after I've made progress, you'll find me at your door. Stay well. Your wisdom and clarity as well as the contributions of other subscribers make the forum valuable. Cheers, my friend.
Oh Fern, I will really miss you as well. If Johnny Cash were a bit more political, he may well have penned a song called 'Biden's Last Line'. Though I will miss your sagacity and acumen, your taking some time to address other things seems like the right thing to do. When one does "the next right thing", the world has a way of falling into connection, almost all by itself. The pull you feel from other areas means something, and needs to be addressed. We will chat again on this forum. This is au revoir, not adeiu. Much love, Steve.
The feeling is mutual, Steve.
'For Ukrainians, “World War II is the single most unifying emotional touchstone,” said Markian Dobczansky, a historian at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.'
An excellent descriptor for many nations' experiences of World War II--"the single most unifying emotional touchstone." WWII's effect on the world and individual nations is something which should be studied endlessly, at least until we learn from all the lessons it provided.
For example, most nations learned that it only made sense--not to mention being humanitarian--to have a national health insurance program and thus created such programs within a few years after the end of the war (e.g., Canada, England, the Scandinavian nations, Germany, France, et al). However, in the U.S., we were in good financial shape after WWII and left financial control of medical costs to the medical industry. Now, we have so many of our population in very bad health and often going bankrupt due to medical expenses. This should not have happened. We in the U.S. were on top of the world in terms of having our country and industries not bombed and left completely intact at war's end. We were the wealthiest and most influential nation on earth. We should have created a model society. We had our opportunity, but what we've ended up with is a country with immense wealth disparity.
I'm always optimistic that we can turn things around and achieve a true democracy here in the U.S., but the populace must become educated about what has happened to us and why it did. We need to return to study the lessons of WWII. I read a book titled "The Year Zero" about conditions in nations destroyed by WWII which ended in 1945. That is what 1945 was in effect for so many countries--The Year Zero. As we try to establish a real democracy in the U.S., maybe we should include the concept of 'The Year Zero' in our national efforts to achieve that.
Heydon, Whenever I ask you for guidance you return to enrich our thinking and knowledge. 'The Year of Zero' will be ordered today. My eyes are falling out as I write to let you there are three books to be read ahead of it. You will hear from me once I've finished the book.
A very thoughtful subscriber recommended that I see a lecture by John Mearsheimer, graduate of United States Military Academy (West Point), served for five years as an officer in the air force, rising to the rank of captain.'... later a research fellow at the Brookings Institution; a research associate at Harvard University; he became a professor of political at the University of Chicago There is a lot more... but I'll stop here. am grateful to him. I saw the first lecture, linked below, which is perfectly organized and informative. I recently found a second, much more recent lecture and haven't yet watched it, linked below When and if you see both both, I would appreciate your review. His assessment of the West's responsibility for the war in Ukraine is fundamentally different than what what has been espoused and believed in U.S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6mw9U62ZJU
I'll definitely watch those and let you know my thoughts. Thanks, Fern.
Putin’s war is providing the history lesson that Mr. Zabarko has been laboring to provide. What a tragedy that he has to experience it again.
Hello, Roland. Correction to your comment '....history lesson that Mr. Zarbarko has been laboring to AVOID.' or shall I say he was teaching so that it would not be repeated again. Salud! Roland
Thank you for posting this story. Heartbreaking! In the meantime, there's an even more recent example of a national commitment to a free and democratic country: Poland in the 1980s. Velshi (MSNBC, Rachel Maddow Show) just did an excellent segment on the decade which, finally, resulted in free and fair elections less than a decade after the murderous put-down by Russian military following the Polish "Solidarity Revolution" in 1980. There should be a link tomorrow msnbc.com for TRMS of tonight; well worth watching and remembering what was happening in Poland beginning 40 years ago and why, I believe, one reason the Polish people are so willing to accept and help the huge flood of refugees from Ukraine.
Thank you, Judith. I will look for it this evening.
Just want to bear witness that Tucker Carlson is a traitor to democracy and an enemy of the European Union. As a dual citizen of the US and the EU I condemn him in the strongest possible terms.
Dr. Richardson,
Regarding:
"Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson continues to promote pro-Russian, anti-Biden propaganda. Today the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Biden’s son Hunter’s foundation had financed biological labs in Ukraine (which earlier propaganda said were developing biological weapons); less than 12 hours later, Carlson made the same claim."
Here is a NY Times Gift link anyone can read completely debunking the Bioweapons lab lies from Tucker Carlson
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/us/politics/us-bioweapons-ukraine-misinformation.html
One observation: Biden DID make a mistake trying to help out his floundering son Hunter by getting him some cushy job in Ukraine which paid him too much for what was likely no work.
That is not illegal. Helping one's kids is sort of normal and Trump installed his entire family in the White House so they could profit from the experience and the contacts. In fact, it is likely that White House visitors had to first stop at Jared's office and deposit money in his lap before seeing Trump (although I don't have a public link to that activity since IF they did that activity they would not have published a link noting that fact for me to post here).
:-)
BUT, it is a mistake to involve one's children if one is President in both cases above where long term consequences are relevant.
Hunter left Biden exposed to the right's propaganda continuously.
Similarly, having Jared ram around the Middle East collecting money leaves all of us exposed to the risks of compromise that Jared will have in a second term of Trump.
I’m curious as to why you say Joe “got” Hunter a cushy job. I’ve read a lot about Hunter and thought there was a good degree of separation between his business dealings and his dad
Could you provide some background links for me?
Regarding Trump's SLAPP suit, it was pointed out by legal observers today that all the defendants will have to do on their first appearance in court is refer to the bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence Committee released in 2019, which documents Trump's collusion with Russia, and the result will be the sanctioning of the two legal jeanieusses who filed the suit for bringing a "frivolous lawsuit."
I remember reading that report, in pertinent part. And, yes, even the Republicans on that committee agreed to his collusion. But there it lay, filed away somewhere where all "submitted for the record" documents go.