It should be stipulated that a ranking Republican should read the 600+ pages of the H. R. 1 bill, not the clerk. It is their idea; they should implement it.
And for the whole tribe requesting it be all present to hear it and thereby "inform" their decisions on the matter. Should any fail to obey at any moment the reading is ended and discussions begin. Enough childplay already!
That’s exactly what this is. Tit for tat. They are children! It is appalling to recap the last few days and see the ridiculousness of the words and actions of ‘adult’ men and women carry on as they are.
I had a big project that kept me occupied most of the week. I barely saw tidbits of the news, and we woke up very early and caught up on the news, and my husband related some details and I felt like the world somehow fell another 20 stories down the elevator shaft since early this week. Marsha Blackburn, Rubio, the ‘Shamam’s’ mother, the obsession with Dr. Seuss and Neanderthal DNA... WHAT is going on with this group of idiots?
How pathetic, childish, unproductive, wasting time and money while people are dying at an unprecedented level... Greg Abbot, Ron Johnson! Dear Lord!? And while we all agree that the relief bill must pass, voting rights secured, and the minimum wage be increased this silliness goes on...
I want to be the mother of these selfish spoiled brats and yell. ‘Just stop it! Right now! You are totally getting a long time out. Go to your room and think about how you are acting and when you’re ready to act like a responsible adult you can come out!
I am just fed up. Oddly enough I am reading the ‘Bully Pulpit’ by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and apparently there’s a bad gene that keeps getting transmitted generation after generation and we need a vaccine for it as well.
Sorry to be so crabby, but I am so disgusted with them all.
Hey I can crab away too then! I’m beyond disgusted like don’t get mad get even. They’re just so g-d sleazy. What they’re really afraid of is the election cycle and if the relief bill passes and people get to enjoy the results. Then they might lose their jobs like other Americans. The one I love to hate the most is The doozy Cruzy—watching him drag his paunchy body thru the airport with that big lone Star mask makes me think I’d love to smack his face hard just once! Venting or crabbing is fun sometimes.
I believe the loyal opposition sees the writing on the wall. They are not afraid yet. But they are waging a war to retain power and by extension they are waging that war on the American people.
And themselves too when u think about it— if democracy gets destroyed, they’re screwed too in the long run. I’m just hoping a whole bunch of these tired old senators call it quits before the midterms and enjoy a wonderful retirement with their families.
Yes! And I am with you 100% on punching the paunch! And don’t ask me about what I would like to do to Ron Johnson! Actually I would be over the top to see him sitting in the corner with a huge dunce cap on reading the frigging bill!
I was just about to suggest that ALL the infantile R's be banished to corners of their rooms and made to wear dunce caps with a Scarlet D on them for all time.
I did slap my stepdaughter once. I immediately regretted it and told her that if I ever slapped her again, I wanted her to slap me right back because I had no right to hit her. When my own mother slapped my face (once), rather than regretting my own actions, I had a moment of despising her for not being able to come up with a better response to my admittedly stubborn refusal to do something she wanted me to do (drink some horrid "health food" drink that tasted so nasty it always made me want to throw up - and I had a pretty strong stomach for odd food combinations).
My desire to hit, punch, and kick - Republicans, anti-maskers, and assorted dickheads - has increased exponentially in the last 4+ years. The right wingnuts should really watch out. It may take a long time to totally piss off left wing pacifist women, but the results will not be pretty!
Cynthia- were all crabby! I too am and pissed and disgusted- anyone of us who acted this way on the job would be fired!
This morning is going to be spent calling GA state Senators to tell them to how disgusting I am with this series of voter suppression bills they’re trying to pass. We’re in the middle of a fucking pandemic and people are losing their jobs and their homes and most Georgians have not received unemployment checks since December because the system is overloaded. And what are our chosen leaders doing to help us? Nothing!!
Yes for sure in MA we have millions of pockets of desperation— single mothers trying to make a living for their kids, husbands who are losing jobs and homes, kids who are getting depressed because their parents are depressed and arguing and thensuicides and large increases in domestic violence.. All this is happening in every state. Yet these so called illustrious Repugs flaunt their disdain and essentially are saying fuck you to everyone except their wealthy backers. They will go down in history for what they are— the most notably corrupt period of Congress in this nation’s history by far. Their obituaries will start with the bad shit they’ll be remembered for and frankly I think a few of them will eventually be so despondent they’ll kill themselves.
Actually if we humans have souls it’s a terrible thing to lose so no Matter what we do depending on the whole fiasco there is time to reflect and despair
If you’re offended by a common expletive but not the reason for my strong reply, then you’re missing the point. What’s happening in this country is much more vulgar than a four letter word used in the heat of the moment. Thank you.
Multiple studies have concluded that people who swear are more trustworthy. 😇I swear shamelessly these days. We all should be given a pass to swear at will (within reason). Also, we’re all adults. Our precious ears can bear it. 😉
You know, after the past 4 years, I didn't even notice the f word in that comment. Sadly it has become part of my everyday conversation. Swearing serves an important purpose, focusing your mind sharply when you need to act fast - say, when your car goes into a skid on ice - to prevent an accident. Oh, the past 4 years have been, and sadly continue to be, one scary ice skid after another. $%#!
"may the fleas of a thousand camels forever nest in your pubic hair" just doesn't have the same power as an expletive
"may you forever feel a pebble in your shoe"
These things are not very nice and yet the reflexive F**CK is all about the forbidden and the surprise, ergo "F-bomb"
I agree with Patricia about the use of a term that brings life and also great pleasure. It's origins are old.
"The earliest recorded use of "fuck" in English comes from c. 1475, in the poem "Flen flyys", where it is spelled fuccant (conjugated as if a Latin verb meaning "they fuck")."
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was a label on the sexually scintillating literature of the day in the 1600-1700's
It is NOT from:
what adulterers had written above them in the stocks: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, that being their crime. Variations: The 'acronym' is variously rendered as:
Fornication Under Consent of the King
Fornication Under Charles the King
Fornication Under Crown of the King
Fornication under Christ, King
Forbidden Under Charter of the King (a sign posted on brothels closed by the Crown)
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
File Under Carnal Knowledge (how Scotland Yard marked rape files)
I had to go back and reread it to find 'fucking'. However, I watch a lot of British and Irish TV - they don't have the same restrictions on language on TV that we have in the later than prime-time slots - when it is assumed vulnerable babies will be asleep? - so I hardly notice it. When I was an EFL teacher in Beijing and later an ESL instructor in Washington State, I often did a lesson plan on the many ways various forms of 'shit' and 'fuck' can be used - as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs. However, I also made it very clear that one must be prepared for negative reactions when one chose to use those and other words that have been deemed improper. Every culture has taboo words, so they certainly understood, but they also enjoyed the fact that there was nothing they could say to offend me with those words. There are others I find much more unacceptable.
But not more like the "mother*-s" we currently have, please (complete the term "mother*-s" with the appropriate two-syllable f*bomb. Even I have limits to my profanity, I guess.)
We all should say "don't make us come down to D.C. because if we do, heads will roll!" I don't understand how these nitwits are allowed to continue with their abysmal behavior and supported by equally unbalanced followers.
If they’re all so wanting to “Make America Great Again”, skip the timeout and tell them to cut a switch, then take them behind the woodshed. Some of them are old enough to remember that and maybe some of the younger ones should have experienced it.
I use to think of the Senate as a group of squabbling kindergartners. Now I think it is back in pre-school. The rules of the Senate must be changed in ways like the cookie rule -- one party divides the cookie in two; then other party chooses which half they want to eat.
AND the thing is: they continue to claim "they were unable to read it before"! That's obviously a lie - and if not - why not sit there & LISTEN as its read? And yeah (boy this is frustrating) they want it "out there for the American people to hear"?? The temptation of obscene language is beyond belief. Actually my language has deteriorated so very far this past four years - I sometimes shock my kids!!! And this at 83 years old! So I will contain myself - this time.
I love it!! My language has deteriorated too . . . the 4 years of the trump nightmare, the idiocy of the republicans combined with the COVID year, and the debacle that was the MA vaccine sign up, put me completely over the edge!! Primal scream therapy in the backyard and not one neighbor noticed :)
I believe the NY vaccine sign up isnt too bad - havent tested it out yet. My primary suggested waited a few weeks - likely because the only places I go (truthfully) is drive thru pharmacy & door pickup at the library! I am so fortunate in having my daughter in law do online groceries AND just pickup . A couple friends & I have compared notes on our feeling that really not much has changed in our "social lives" from before. I am also very lucky that I live in the country where I can walk my dog all around my little old 4 acres & go up by the woods in back of me. Living in the city or town has no appeal to me. And yet - I'm pretty sure the neighbors would notice if I screamed in the yard!! The picture of your "therapy" really gave me a good laugh!
It is amazing. How many people get paid for ordering a clerk to read 600 pages to the senate and there is no one in the Senate? The senate needs to change. I can’t imagine any other organization, business or school being allowed to operate like this. Start acting like responsible adults. Show up and do the work you were elected to do. Playing these games in a middle of a crisis is obscene.
What name calling are you referring to? There was none. Liz provided a pretty straightforward description of behavior by an array of obscenely anti-American lawmakers.
Profanity and sarcasm are my primary "go to" commentary languages. I have noted an objection to direct profanity (the full words themselves) but less to those that abbreviate or utilize symbols in lieu of all the letters. I am mostly able to abide by those requests to "keep it clean" although I will sometimes mention that my choice of words is intentional to avoid profanity, blasphemy, and vulgarity in my word choice. I do not feel that referring to those three (and others) as both "obscene" and indicating the nature of their currency with initials is in any way out of line.
Hi Ally I appreciate your distinction between aspects of language that are ruled often by passion and frustration— while I love finding the exact civil word , I also allow myself to curse like a longshoreman when so moved— btw I had an actual sweet Italian longshoreman who was an uncle. It’s my long considered opinion that men have reserved the fun release of these words for themselves in the company of men. So we were left out of the fun. Our caste.
Well said, David. When writing, some favorites are schist, apse-whole, and flook. When speaking, i.e. not documenting myself, word choice is more ... pungent, more ... bracing.
But here, in this forum, our hard felt comments need not be so private. We come here so that we learn, discuss, and be just downright fucking honest with one another.
My favorite philosophy professor said that the thing we needed was public flogging... he believed that it was the most effective method of controlling the social mores and norms. Just let your imagination play with that for a while...
Oh, good names, David! I retract my petty concern and apologize for my misplaced guard rail.
Dementors vote Republican! The only good Republican is a retired Republican! That is cathartic. Republicans hate earth science. Ship the Republicans back to Saudi Arabia where their loyalties lay!
SOOOO where are the news people who have guts enough to do that? Or have the media heads made the decision that that wouldn't be profitable? It shouldn't be left up to Twitter (of all places) to be truthful. (which of course a good deal of the time they are NOT).
Hmmm. Some news people do much better than others and it seems their ratings don’t suffer. Wonder if it would matter if viewers were vocal and made specific requests, like we do with our MOC? Seems like nowadays “news” personalities need training in psych in order to get to the truth?
Yeah, Christy, I shouldnt have lumped all together - yes, there are those who really say it like it is. I hope enough people LISTEN to them & comprehend! There are far too many """personalities""" whose words are taken as news. THOSE are the ones who need to have their feet burned!!
Great framework by Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Republicans are disciplined in their playbook for power, and Trump et al. are operatives using the psychological warfare tactic of repeating lies.
They really need some major changes in the Senate... term limits, more accountability, I mean that with very few exceptions it’s a old rich guy frat party.
It's right here, and in the editorial and 'Letters to the Editor' pages but there is every indication that Mr. Johnson doesn't care at all what people say about him.
Where did he get this born-again hubris? He was always such an empty suit, a real wimp! I have to believe that there are 99 pairs of eyes rolling every time he speaks!
Heather's Letter tonight is not sounding an alarm as some of her other Letters have. But the message is still there: Voting rights are the foundation of our democratic process, and they are in jeopardy, particularly by a wave of voter suppression laws making their way through state legislatures. That wave is 253 bills in 43 states. What can we do?
Heather frequently reminds us that we are the ones with the power, as by making our voices heard. Learn the basics of S.1 For the People Act. What resonates with you the most? Talk about it to friends and family, contact the politicians, post on social media, "take up oxygen!"
Connect with an organization that is already mobilized. Get the most bang for your buck. Places to start:
League of Women “Boters” is a group I would happily join and enjoy my quietude sitting on my boat in the Gulf! ☺️ (Seriously, I know what you mean bit couldn’t resist—some of my best times have been on boats!)
Me too Marcy are u down by the Gulf —we have some great friends at Seaside Fl— Marblehead is right on a beautiful harbor and it’s actually a peninsula about 20 miles north of Boston. So boats are very big here.
Perhaps my favorite place on Cape Ann is Dogtown Common, the alleged village of witches. The Whale's Jaw was an impressive sight, but it collapsed a few years ago.
This probably sounds like gibberish, but it's worth looking up.
(In addition to Fair Fight, New Georgia Project has been very active in registering new voters and fighting back against voter suppression.)
Right now, I'm volunteering with Common Cause as a social media monitor to report disinformation to their disinformation experts. Even though this is sometimes disheartening, I feel I'm doing a little bit to help. Hope some of you will consider getting involved!
I find it mind-boggling that all of this state legislative activity to suppress voting rights is based on the myth of a stolen election (and the reality that the R's can't win elections without suppressing the vote). Do the Republicans actually believe the election was stolen? It seems to me that until we can convince enough people of the truth of the matter, American democracy is at grave risk. I am looking for a source that spells out the specific arguments that Republicans are making for calling the election stolen. In other words, I am looking for a list of the instances in which they believe that specific states changed voting rules illegally before and during the election. How is this list different from all of the many court challenges that were lost?
I would say that facing reality is not one of the strong points of the Republican Party!
For the past 40 years, the Republican way has been to create their own version of reality. Yours and mine do not count to them. Trump's Big Lie that the election was stolen from him is an extension of that pattern, and we see that it is still going strong in defiance of rational logic.
Attributed to Karl Rove:
"People like you are still living in what we call the reality-based community. You believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality. That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you are studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors, and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
Karl Rove gave us the GOP playbook 20 years ago and rather accurately named our weakness in a dynamic political & social landscape. We ignored it. This is painful for me to say, but, Democrats have indeed been guilty of the “paralysis of analysis.” We want to please everyone, we want to be fair and respectful. We keep bringing facilitators with their rule book to a gun fight.
I’m not suggesting we use their tactics, but, we need to rethink our own. We have to figure out how to assess, act, evaluate and adjust much more quickly. We must be more nimble. The young ones are deeply frustrated at the pace and stodginess of our process.
Social media, online commerce and digital information move at lightening speed now and we either speed up our process or get left behind. The danger of inaction is greater than the danger of imperfection.
Indeed, Diane. I'm far away from my youngster years and *I* and getting frustrated! Why are we vainly attempting bipartisanship? It's playing into their hands, as Lucy lures Charlie Brown to kick the football. I don't suggest lying and illegality be our banner as it is for their lot, but Call Their Bluff!! DEMAND proof, start some aggressive offense instead of waiting to play defense, and flood the 'airwaves' with reality, history & get in their face! I'm happy the FBI is starting to really dig in - it should have started long ago. I think the dems need to stop stuffing bills with too many issues that become tangential to the main point. Work hard and keep short, targeted, clear bills flowing. Overwhelm the reps with legislation that MOST people WANT, but stop the 600+ stuff because that will always be picked apart. One issue, one bill, boom. Next!
And might I add to your suggestions for tactics, we need to be ANTICIPATORY in our thinking. I agree with you that we do need to be more nimble as we assess and adjust, but this puts us always in a reactive mode and feeds right into Karl Rove's playbook. While we are nimbly figuring out what to do, the GOP is already leaping ahead and creating an entirely new reality with alternative "facts" and spin...keeping us always in that "eddy" HCR described yesterday. I also agree with you that we don't need to use their tactics, but I do think we need to use their approach and their skills of anticipating and planning WAY out front. We have the know how; but do we have the courage? Maybe that's why we need more youth in leadership. If lightning speed is where they are right now, then warp speed may be where we really need to be.
It's interesting to me that the "GOP" is lead by a bunch of Old Guys. And they speak loudly, carry a big stick, and lie thru their teeth. I'm not sure it's "youth" we need as much as, you say Ellen, forward thinking strategies and having the balls to jump out in front of their smoke screen with new simple, powerful ideas and challenge their fabrications.
But then, the "pioneer" and "cowboys" periods of yesteryear and mythologized for profit didn't actually either last long or reflect any form of reality....but theyare still, obviously, massively influential still in these people's "thinking" and view of the world. This nostalgia for what wasn't is killing us!
Yes and unfortunately, the sedition party seems to keep growing. As Diane Love just stated we need to figure out how to act quickly so we don’t lose another 40 years to them.
I find it hard to believe that I don’t constantly hear, that if the election was stolen how come so many Republicans won seats in the house, were their victories fraudulent? I never hear that mentioned, maybe because the election wasn’t fraudulent in the first place.
Mine just argue that it is that situation (other Republicans elected) that "proves" that the presidential election was rigged. You can't have a battle of facts with an unarmed person...
They prefer using dog whistle type signals that alert the white supremacist constituents so they don’t have to say what they really mean. In other words, they don’t go around saying—we’re going to subvert democracy— they’re much sneakier than that— so the MAGA logo for Cheeto was really MAWA — make American white again but that wouldn’t work on the hats or at the rallies. Hitler understood the same principles in terms of promoting his racial agenda and he had to have a population that was already deeply identified with white supremacy. The Nazis used our racially restrictive laws as a model when the were creating the Holocaust. You can read about this in more detail in Caste.
Yes, Republicans' tactics are to appeal to emotional reactivity and not to the thinking, rational brain. And given human nature, it is sadly and dangerously effective. What's that statistic? Gossip spreads 6 times faster than a plain boring fact?
So I’m doing all this posting without my glasses and I was trying to read your last line and I thought it said gossip spreads faster than a plain boring fart. But I bet that’s true too. I think Hitler and the radical right are adept at playing on our subconscious and subliminal emotions. I also think they count on our attention spans being very short. They also prefer— the uneducated. Remember when Cheeto said that— I love the uneducated!
Facts take time to verify. That is what Heather does for us. She read the 6oo+ pages and then wrote one concise and clear summary. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
There was some research into what aspect of information people remember and it turns out people remember the content way longer than the source. If they hear something from an unreliable source they tend to forget it might not be true before they forget the content. They also forget if it was true or not even if that is part of the original content. They also forget the positive or negative factual loading before the emotional loading thus things that support biases are retained longer than things that don't, true or not, and there is name and subject recognition long past context memory. Thus the saying that any publicity is good publicity.
I’m 3/4 through Caste and find I have to stop after a chapter or two and turn to something else, maybe “Shouts and Murmurs” in the New Yorker, to calm me down. It’s a difficult, yet essential, book to read. The anecdotes are heart-wrenching. I just finished reading about the two couples, one Black, one white, who immersed themselves in the 1930s in a southern city to study caste in that society. Even though the distinguished Black academic was the leader of the team, he had to pretend to be subservient to the white male in order to do his work. Heroes! I agree with Pam that everybody should read this. Of course, we know not enough will.
As I pay attention to our "real" history, I really WONDER how an historian like heather can keep her Pollyanna like hopeful outlook. My hat is off to her, may her positive, enthusiastic outlook persist.
Yes yes yes TRJ— we shall have a new birth in 2021 and onward for our people and their future people and let’s not forget the polar bears and the planet.
I just finished it. I’m an American of Mexican decent and heard plenty of stories from my parents, as well as witnessed racist comments against Hispanics in my almost 69 years. Even so, there were so many times while reading Caste that even I felt shame as an American. Everyone on the planet should read this book and then DISCUSS it. We cannot fix what we don’t acknowledge. There is a path. I hope we get there before I die.
I was also sickened to visualize the horrible action against those lower caste people. At the same time and by the end I became aware of the ways I had always been in the female caste— the subtle motions that I make of a certain female subservience.
I have so many wonderful books to suggest...but one of the very best...someone here recommended it (was it you?!) "Braiding Sweetgrass".... it should new read ofter..it was like opening a window, feeling a spring breeze, seeing meadows, smelling flowers, hearing birds... and penetrating your should in a way that we all could use!
When ordering books, please consider local/independent/minority stores, or charities. They need business more than chains or the evil empire. NB, I have no financial or other interest in any store.
Or, if you absolutely have no local store and find that Bezos' company is the only place to get a title you can't find anywhere else, please use smile.amazon.com and a portion of your purchase price can go to support a non-profit of your choice.
Yes! Been doing that for years... oh, how clever he is... it’s bad enough that he has such a crazy sweet deal with taxes, but he’s got a huge write off for charitable donations!
But alas, I try to alternate with independent book stores!
I know what you are saying is true, but I don't know that I can read anymore. I pegged tRump as Hitler-lite (now dark) 5 years ago, then predicted the Miller/Bannon Capitol insurrection a year ago. Knowing isn't enough. What do we DO?
I think we get out our comfort zones and engage with people who might still be unenlightened about this shit show— I’m als purchasing some subscriptions to Heather so other people too can engage with the site and then spread it around. Last I heard this site has over 200,000 people if we grow to a million or two we could be a very intelligent democratic force to offset the dimming down of the repugs— birthday presents, anniversaries— July 4th presents of Heather’s forum. Maybe we set a goal some number by July 4 and another goal by 2022.
In the NYT article about this site (Letters from an American), Heather said that she would stop writing after Biden's first 100 days. I don't know if this has changed or if she will do a different format, but you might want to find out more so that you don't purchase subscriptions to a service that is about to end.
I simply cannot believe that she would engage in selling a subscription and then not provide the product or an equivalent or refund the price so perhaps by increasing the number of subscriptions the reading public can provide the momentum to persuade her to continue Letters or something equivalently synthesizing and valuable.
I'm not saying that - I'm just cautioning Liz to do a bit more research about how long "Letters "will continue. I'm certain that Heather would honor subscriptions or make it clear that the newsletter is ending if that is the case. I don't know what's in store, but I'd love it if Heather would continue to writing something.
I googled Heather today and watched an interview— I suggest we all do that. I loved how she answered every question as the Maine light filled her office. There were several YouTube videos available and I chose the one that pertains to her latest book about the Civil War.
Right now it lives in another reality. (Forget about the Dr. Seuss crap. It is not worth wasting words and energy on.) Meanwhile, It is useless for President Biden and Congressional Democrats to try to work with Republicans. As the song goes, “It takes two to tango.” Despite support of Democratic programs by most Republicans, the G.O.P. is controlled nationally and locally by “movement conservatives’ whose lifetime goal is to undo FDR’s New Deal and the decades of liberal legislation which followed, not to mention their not-so-covert racism and isolationism. Typical Republican voters cannot be inspired to throw out this leadership, although what it advocates is not in their interests. The G.O.P.’s tools are (1) State legislation to suppress voting, (2) the threat of violence by its domestic terrorist component (which shut down the House yesterday) and (3) the reluctance of sensible Republican voters to arouse the enmity of their neighbors whose behavior is often nourished by an anger fueled with Trumpublican lies. The task for Democrats is to disarm these three tools.
And even though you rejected all Seussian crap. They could certainly learn a moral or two from the majority of his books that will be published.
"But now," says the Once-ler, "now that you're here, the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
Oh, they are great at facing reality: they will never win another election if voting is fair. And they will do anything to hang on to power. AND they will feel justified in doing so because what they REALLY believe is that we on the left want to give all their money to Black people, allow abortion on demand, let homos run wild and transgender people use the bathroom of their choice. We are tearing at the fabric of their little, straight, cis, white world and they simply can't have that. Things were so good, don't you know, when darkies stayed in their place and queers stayed quietly in the closet, and you could shoot any of them who got out of line without facing consequences.
Well said. That is EXACTLY what they fear. That, coupled with being treated as badly as they have treated others. You did forget the "assault on Christianity" component of their fears, however. That is another strong "sincerely held belief."
Reid, I know that you are writing what the unethical GOP would be voicing, but some of your words really grate and are surely offensive to others. I know that we can't make corrections on substack, but I wonder if you would consider using more LGBTQ & BIPOC friendly ones in the future. Thanks so very much.
I think we risk sanitizing the bigotry of those who are trying to retain power if we fear describing their attitudes as they are. But I will take your criticism under advisement.
While I would hesitate to use some of the words I read in your post, I "heard" the quotation marks and/or the euphemisms as I read. I tend to agree with your view of sanitizing, but also know the hurt that words can cause. It's a complex issue - what language to use with which audience? I assumed that you wrote in the way you did because you trusted this group to understand that you do not agree with the pejorative assessments embedded in the terms, but that you were angrily quoting those who do agree with those ideas and were thereby criticizing those who do use those terms (along with even more pointedly pejorative ones) in order to wound.
Quotation marks help, but the same message can be delivered with substitutes. We can cite Pitchfork Ben Tillman et al without quoting his precise words.
Yes, exactly what I meant..I did not intend to be disparaging, I ache for that young woman. My disparaging thoughts are actually towards her parents. She has been a victim in all of that.
What a surprise— the father an esteemed attorney publicaly disparaged her boss Cheeto — that household is schizoid. I just watched an interview with Heather on YouTube and it was great. I’m thinking now of buying her latest book about the Civil War.
It was how I discovered Heather! It is an incredible book! I was glued to every page... and upon completion I was dumbstruck by the realization that somehow I had never been taught about the reality of our history..not even close!
Look no further than "Trump said so." It's a loyalty test and a way to rally their base. If they had any realistic or rational arguments they would have been adjudicated.
I don't pay much attention to their blather, but I keep hearing points about PAand WI changing rules about voting procedures, things like viable dates for accepting absentee and mail in ballots, that were done, legally I'm pretty sure, in response to Covid. They are looking for petty technicalities to hang their stolen election hat on. Again, if they had a case it would have come out in the courts.
Yes! What I said this morning! Is he really stupid or savvy? Desperate or demonic? Well... I guess both of the latter are true. But I just don’t get him. What’s his deal?!
It is about power and power only. The tRumpublicans never forget. And the Raygunites also never forget. The Thuglicans in power will unite to f**k the American people and retain their power at any cost.
The list of course is not forthcoming and they have had to say in court that it is so pitifully short and insignificant that they would be embarassed politically if they had to produce it. The lawyers were very careful not to perjure themselves.....unlike the politicians.
When my husband showed me the tape of the ‘Shaman’s mother going on about the election being stolen I thought that something is seriously wrong with people who think this. Astounding! Defies logic. I cannot imagine how anyone could believe it, or how anyone could be convinced that they are wrong?!
The simple fact that you can’t get through to anyone who can help you with any issue over the phone without waiting on hold for a ridiculous amount of time, getting cut off, calling back and waiting again, being transferred from one person to another who don’t have any idea of how to assist with the situation, it is almost funny to think that any operation as complicated as ‘stealing the election’ could be pulled off so seamlessly, completely, that the level of competence and efficiency could exist at all in this country, particularly at this time, well.... give us a break! Really?! Ugh
Yes, it is extraordinary the amount of time we all spend nowadays on hold or being transferred from one person to another, often getting disconnected in the process, and stunning how easily "stealing the election" and other Republican memes get adopted immediately.
Despite so many Republicans making vague references to proof, I never could find any specific verifiable proof of any magnitude that wasn't clearly debunked elsewhere. I really don't think most of the Republican state leaders actually believe the vote was rigged, but I do believe that many of them believe it is unfair if it doesn't result in their candidate winning (IE define "fair"), and that they need the voter suppression for Republican candidates to win so they need the suppressive laws and the public needs Some excuse (but not the real one). As to the Republican voting public, I suspect most of them are the same, but there are some who either believe the big lie or find it most convenient to pretend to themselves and others that they do. I can't tell you how many times I watched a MAGA hat wearing rally goer respond to a reporter that "they have affidavits" - apparently referring to the phone book sized stack of paper riffled through from podiums by various Republicans for the camera, feeling apparently no need whatsoever to actually read any sample or even verify the exhibited stack contained printing. It is often a product of ignorance about verifying sources (likely due to a weak education), laziness (this is a really big contributor), denial and responsiveness to the emotional reward of finding oneself to be correct, smart, and therefor important. These are the same factors found when psychologists look at vulnerability to conspiracy theories. But no: Most don't Really believe the big lie. If they had to stake their lives on it they would be pushing the "not true" button.
It is firstly going to be very interesting to see which way the Supreme Court votes on the Arizona voter suppression case that they are hearing in support of which GOP lawyers brazenly stated their real purpose of insuring they alone can win elections. What ever way this goes the Senate must pass HR1.....so the filibuster must go! If the SCOTUS has allowed the Arizona restrictions.... then the Rules of the Supreme Court and doubtless its membership have to be changed to prevent such sabotage of this new national voter framework.
I’m all for getting rid of the filibuster. Dems have to be careful here though. Sinema & Manchin could switch to the GOP. (This has happened before). If they did, one or both, it would be disastrous for anything President Biden wants to accomplish. I don’t know the solution but I’m hoping more brilliant minds prevail.
Republicans have switched to Democrat before, too. If these Republicans keep up with the Trump worship, maybe Mitt Romney or Lisa Merkowski, or Susan Collins or some other might switch.
It's unlikely that anyone will switch parties. It involves a major and painful break with longtime political, social, family networks. These days it's usually done to stay in office when public opinion shifts, but it usually doesn't work. Cf. Arlen Specter, who changed to Dem Party then lost for the first time ever. Oops!
The argument is so brazenly partisan that it’s tough for me to understand why the Supreme Court is even taking it seriously— it’s like hey if you don’t let us make these voting rights changes we’re going to keep losing. This would be like a soccer mom asking the coach to change the rules to give her child an advantage.
If the judges allow the GOP to win this we know they support white supremacy and thus must be dealt with accordingly. They are not neutral but represent the Republicans.
They s as red there in this conservative configuration for a long time and if they started taking away voting rights and supporting the fascist right, I’m not sure we would have many options.
Right. Using a fake social security number in order to pay taxes is not 'moral turpitude' when it is the only way to work. This is like the people who scream 'wasteful socialism' and 'redistribution of wealth' at increasing unemployment payments or raising the minimum wage so it's not as far below the poverty, but are quite happy to bankroll the wealthy.
The Supreme Court is already packed with Leonard Leo Federalist Society dark moneyed judges, many of whom worked to steal the 2004 election for George W. (Roberts, Kavanaugh, Thomas, Barrett...)
It’s not “packing” the court. It’s reflecting the realities of our voting population. Dems represent twice as many people. Equalize? Restore? Invigorate?
Interesting but I’m not very confident of what our rights would be if SC got wily— I was pretty happy when I saw Roberts decide in a moderate way in a few cases. I think he would be very concerned about his legacy in the history books.
Exactly— well we shall see what we shall see. If SP sides with Arizona I’ll be perusing every word of the opinions looking for what the hell they could possibly be thinking.
Bingo. Don’t we need to start suing state laws that suppress the vote? How is this done? Does it have to be after an actual election before the law is challenged?
Agree. End the filibuster. HR-1 must pass in the Senate. I believe as S-1? MLK, Jr. and John Lewis versus DJT and Mitch McConnell says all you need to know. ❤️🤍💙
SCOTUS has been pretty clear that they are not going to interfere in a state's right to manipulate elections however they choose, short of blatant suppression, though what they consider not to be suppression should embarrass them. On the other hand, I don't think the composition of the court would need to change, necessarily, if we can get the voting rights bill passed. They will uphold the law.
Their goals: delay this bill, because they don’t like it, as HCR describes. Eat up time, so Dems accomplish less. “Cause pain to the Dems,” so their tribalist supporters can feel avenged for whatever. Get publicity for being mini-donalds.
Not uncommonly, when the body is under severe stress from the process of dying, one can witness jerks and spasms of the musculature and even overt seizures. That process is happening to the current republican regime. Desperation is upon them. You can smell it. Which is the probable reason the republicans will not stay in the senate chamber to listen to the reading of the bill.
There are 411 mayors of cities that signed a bi-partisan letter encouraging the passage of the rescue plan. These are the women and men we need to speak up daily in their cities and states, testifying to the needs of suffering people.
Covid is a powerful scourge worldwide. Unless controlled EVERYWHERE, variants will continue to develop. Some worse than the original. Possibly much worse, extending our nightmare. So simultaneously with efforts to vaccinate America, we need to lead in helping vaccinate the rest of the 7.5 billion humans on earth. A long, difficult task.
The “conservative movement virus” is another threat. To the Constitution. Touted as intellectual, it is a cynical ploy. Big but empty words like “originalism” and “textualism” obfuscate the conversation. But time is up. The real “conservative movement” was on full, nauseating display at CPAC, complete with the golden bull. The veneer removed, revealing only obscene lust for power, wealth and suppression of the people.
Like for covid, there is a vaccine for this virus infecting republican souls. The vote.
There, clearly said by Bill, is reason for hope. But the extinction burst can be painful before the unrewarded tantrum ends. Heather’s perspective keeps me looking forward.
77 million people voted for a misogynistic, crude, hateful, inciting, racist murderer for President. This ugly strain of revanchist conservatism is, sadly, going nowhere.
Reid. The offical vote was Donald 74,222,960, not 77 million! Biden's final count was 81,283,361. DJT admitted Biden won by a landslide when Biden won the same number of electoral votes as DJT did in 2016, even though DJT lost by 2,868519 popular votes in 2016. Experiencing strong feelings, and even resorting to expletives and name calling are ok, but take time to look up the facts, ok?
Communism seems to have gone fairly Capitalist since '89. The rotten brand of pick-pocket Conservatism has some legs to it though. I'm continually surprised at how many people I run into who fervently believe that line of b.s.
These further examples of Republican "lawmakers" opposing legislation that even their constituents support, coupled with the blatant misrepresentation of facts over related and unrelated issues by the "conservative media," is not only demoralizing, it's just plain exhausting.
For me, that exhaustion is mostly due to the way these actions manifest a flaw in our electoral process: That GOP candidates run a bait and switch between what they purport to represent during their bid for office, and how the vote once seated. That the flaw is systemic and endemic unfortunately doesn't mean it's illegal, though I'm not sure how to make it an enforceable infraction. Sadly, it's more a reflection of voters aren't interested in a discussion of comparative facts, or who've become convinced that only candidates with an (R) by their name will truly stand up for their interests, regardless of how their actions while in office belie that assumption.
Proposed legislation that has popular appeal even to a majority of their own party's voters is belittled, berated, and opposed in advance not on the basis of factual evidence to the contrary, but.... just because. The examples are legion, so I won't detail them, but suffice it to say that it's usually around issues that would improve people's financial and social well being, or that reinforces the Constitutional protections of citizens on anything other than misinterpreted Second Amendment rights.
Until and unless the protection of "voting rights" additionally adds some emphasis to seriously address 1) candidate eligibility criteria, 2) reverses the suffocating effects of Citizens United, and 3) demands greater structure, discipline, and transparency in the "debate" process, we're doomed to be subject to electing people who have no real accountability to their constituents. Oh, sure, they COULD be primaried or voted out, but too often candidates are reelected so long as they hew to sponsors and donors and curry favor with "party leaders" despite the desires of their constituents. As a state party chair said after censuring a representative for supporting Trump's impeachment, "we didn't send them to Washington to 'do the right thing' or 'vote their conscience.'"
Last night on The Beat someone suggested many Repubs have become performative rather than legislative—their goal is to become famous and a celebrity for future riches. They are not in Congress to serve the country. Never had thought of that before ...
I was going to make the same observation. Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, et. al. don’t DO anything of substance. Then there’s Madison Cawthorn, whose staff is arranged around communicating, not legislating. He and Marjorie Taylor Greene might be in a class by themselves. They consider themselves to be in a reality show. They just “sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
It worked for Trump. They see the writing on the wall. The way to obtain and hang on to power is to do as little as possible and blow on the dog whistles for all you are worth. You can't be blamed for what you do not do (well, you can and should be, but not in current Republican party thinking), but you can be praised and rewarded for what you insist is true, no matter how demonstrably false it may be.
Sadly, I actually think they are doing PRECISELY what their constituents want. Gumming up the works of government has been a primal goal for conservatives since Reagan. The glee with which certain segments of the population view all obstructionist action is demoralizing. Two values: white people should rule and government is bad. Everything else is frosting.
Now it may be not so much what voter constituents want. Approval rates for Covid relief package are sky-high, and include millions who voted for Trumpsky and GOP Congress critters. The only constits they heed are wealthy donors. $1 mil donation earns a seat at the table; the 99% get crumbs no matter who they voted for.
And of course, the right wing media is there to maintain this alternate reality. All they have to do is keep spinning the lies that they are spending all their time fighting against socialism from the left therefore, can't get anything done. I can't see a lot of progress being made while the likes of Faux News and Alex Jones make can make up any crap they want and spoon feed it to the base day in and day out.
If HR 1 does not pass in the senate, they need to end the filibuster. A guest on Last Word tonight suggested doing it by changing the rules to male it apply to only the members actually "present and voting".
True. It would be easier if the platform let us do it within the original comment. There's got to be a reason why it doesn't, but I can't imagine what it might be.
Please tell me what the process would be for the Democrats to get rid of the filibuster. What would it entail? I ask because I see no way through passing legislation if the filibuster option remains. Barack Obama couldn’t pass much because he was hemmed in for many years. If we’re going to pass the voting act, essentially assuring the most fundamental right for all folks, the Dems have to proceed with majority rules. They will not get 10 republicans ever to support new laws about voting and immigration and safeguarding our planet. It’s crazy making.
If the Republicans thought getting rid of the filibuster would be to their advantage, they would do it in a heartbeat. To have arcane rules gum up the process of legislating is beyond ridiculous!
No GOP Senators will have a Claude Rains-like epiphany and attempt to shoot themselves. I won't say "go ahead" because suicide is not to be taken lightly.
Heather mentions the strong support of the League of Women Voters of which I am an active member for the Voting Rights Act. HR1. The majority Republican Texas Legislature like many red states has introduced 225 bills on voting many of which are voter suppression or what the Republicans are euphemistically call Voter Integrity. I like the League's balanced definition of Election Integrity: "Elections with integrity mean elections that accurately reflect the will of Texans, both through security from tampering and through the participation of eligible voters. Elections with integrity mean ensuring that all voters can be heard and counted." This will depend on modifying the filibuster. One proposal is needing 60 votes to stop the debate of a bill, you would need 40 votes to continue debate. What I don't understand is how it is possible to make this happen. Won't any bill to fix the filibuster just be defeated by being filibusted. We the People, All of Us This Time.
Yep, that’s the big problem! They simply get run over all of the time, especially by Mitch. He’s a clever and devious lad, is he not? Obnoxious and evil to the core. He, Rove, Newt, and Cheney are from the school of the Federalists. They took their schooling to the highest level...cruelty.
The Democrats need to stop playing nice and play to win. Playing to win is what the Republicans have been doing for years, to great success. Look, the odds are good based on this country's history that the Republicans will take control of the House, the Senate, or both in 2022. So, realistically, there is a two year window to get things done (less time now, of course). Get rid of the filibuster. Pass the new voting rights act. Statehood for Puerto Rico and/or D.C. Do what you can to make Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema to fall in line. But, ultimately, GET IT DONE. The time is now, and every day that goes by without these things getting done makes them less likely. After the 2022 election, the odds of any of these things passing will drop to just about zero.
Debate and discussion are important components to the democratic process but republicans have shown they are only capable of obstruction for no apparent reason except vindictiveness.
And to create an overall illusion that they’re stronger than the dems— but let’s remember we did action the Presidency and we have a slim majority in Congress. Imagine what we’d be saying if even one of those things had not occurred?
Politics may be a game to be played by some, but once elected, politicians are expected to become public servants. The millions of people in need of food, clothing and shelter will remember this Republican behavior. We pay their salaries, give them low cost excellent medical care and hefty retirement pay. In return they expect that people living paycheck to paycheck will continue to provide services to them. (Fraud 45 actually declared a meat emergency). The party is circling the drain and they don’t even get it. As for Dr Seuss, he is not being censored or canceled, but most of us have grown more respectful of others since the 1940’s. One look at the rioters tells you who lacks respect.
And Fox displays in the backgrounds the covers of the very well-known and popular Green Eggs and Ham, and Cat in the Hat, instead of the more obscure books that are the ones being discontinued.
Typical misleads/lies. Now if Horton was to go......
Republicans' assumption that their base will continue to support policies based on lies and voter suppression as opposed to clear policy initiatives is fragile at best. It does not follow that opposition to anything Democratic is the way to regain power. There's no meat in that saddle. And as HCR points out, there is overwhelming support of all Americans for the American Rescue Plan. Republican legislators will still vote against the measure despite their constituents wishes. That disconnect does not bode well for their party.
The Democratic proposal to strengthen voter rights laws should be a no-brainer. Yet Republicans in their desperation instead seek to move their party forward by cheating. The egregious voter suppression legislation in state houses across the country reflects the absence of any remaining substance in Republican philosophy or policy initiatives. The question is will voters continue to support such a fragile house of cards based on lies and deception. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Their alternate reality is alive and well.
Democracy has been in danger in North Carolina for years now. The Republican controlled legislature has been undermining democracy since 2010. Think H.B.2, the bathroom bill, just purely a naked power grab.
It should be stipulated that a ranking Republican should read the 600+ pages of the H. R. 1 bill, not the clerk. It is their idea; they should implement it.
And for the whole tribe requesting it be all present to hear it and thereby "inform" their decisions on the matter. Should any fail to obey at any moment the reading is ended and discussions begin. Enough childplay already!
That’s exactly what this is. Tit for tat. They are children! It is appalling to recap the last few days and see the ridiculousness of the words and actions of ‘adult’ men and women carry on as they are.
I had a big project that kept me occupied most of the week. I barely saw tidbits of the news, and we woke up very early and caught up on the news, and my husband related some details and I felt like the world somehow fell another 20 stories down the elevator shaft since early this week. Marsha Blackburn, Rubio, the ‘Shamam’s’ mother, the obsession with Dr. Seuss and Neanderthal DNA... WHAT is going on with this group of idiots?
How pathetic, childish, unproductive, wasting time and money while people are dying at an unprecedented level... Greg Abbot, Ron Johnson! Dear Lord!? And while we all agree that the relief bill must pass, voting rights secured, and the minimum wage be increased this silliness goes on...
I want to be the mother of these selfish spoiled brats and yell. ‘Just stop it! Right now! You are totally getting a long time out. Go to your room and think about how you are acting and when you’re ready to act like a responsible adult you can come out!
I am just fed up. Oddly enough I am reading the ‘Bully Pulpit’ by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and apparently there’s a bad gene that keeps getting transmitted generation after generation and we need a vaccine for it as well.
Sorry to be so crabby, but I am so disgusted with them all.
Hey I can crab away too then! I’m beyond disgusted like don’t get mad get even. They’re just so g-d sleazy. What they’re really afraid of is the election cycle and if the relief bill passes and people get to enjoy the results. Then they might lose their jobs like other Americans. The one I love to hate the most is The doozy Cruzy—watching him drag his paunchy body thru the airport with that big lone Star mask makes me think I’d love to smack his face hard just once! Venting or crabbing is fun sometimes.
I believe the loyal opposition sees the writing on the wall. They are not afraid yet. But they are waging a war to retain power and by extension they are waging that war on the American people.
And themselves too when u think about it— if democracy gets destroyed, they’re screwed too in the long run. I’m just hoping a whole bunch of these tired old senators call it quits before the midterms and enjoy a wonderful retirement with their families.
Yes! And I am with you 100% on punching the paunch! And don’t ask me about what I would like to do to Ron Johnson! Actually I would be over the top to see him sitting in the corner with a huge dunce cap on reading the frigging bill!
I was just about to suggest that ALL the infantile R's be banished to corners of their rooms and made to wear dunce caps with a Scarlet D on them for all time.
Purgatory or hell works better these days than f..ing dunce caps
You’re being way too generous
I’ve had a daydream of slapping him myself
Mine was vivid and I’ve actually never slapped anyone in the face
I did slap my stepdaughter once. I immediately regretted it and told her that if I ever slapped her again, I wanted her to slap me right back because I had no right to hit her. When my own mother slapped my face (once), rather than regretting my own actions, I had a moment of despising her for not being able to come up with a better response to my admittedly stubborn refusal to do something she wanted me to do (drink some horrid "health food" drink that tasted so nasty it always made me want to throw up - and I had a pretty strong stomach for odd food combinations).
My desire to hit, punch, and kick - Republicans, anti-maskers, and assorted dickheads - has increased exponentially in the last 4+ years. The right wingnuts should really watch out. It may take a long time to totally piss off left wing pacifist women, but the results will not be pretty!
Cynthia- were all crabby! I too am and pissed and disgusted- anyone of us who acted this way on the job would be fired!
This morning is going to be spent calling GA state Senators to tell them to how disgusting I am with this series of voter suppression bills they’re trying to pass. We’re in the middle of a fucking pandemic and people are losing their jobs and their homes and most Georgians have not received unemployment checks since December because the system is overloaded. And what are our chosen leaders doing to help us? Nothing!!
So yeah- I think the crabby beyond is warranted!
Yes for sure in MA we have millions of pockets of desperation— single mothers trying to make a living for their kids, husbands who are losing jobs and homes, kids who are getting depressed because their parents are depressed and arguing and thensuicides and large increases in domestic violence.. All this is happening in every state. Yet these so called illustrious Repugs flaunt their disdain and essentially are saying fuck you to everyone except their wealthy backers. They will go down in history for what they are— the most notably corrupt period of Congress in this nation’s history by far. Their obituaries will start with the bad shit they’ll be remembered for and frankly I think a few of them will eventually be so despondent they’ll kill themselves.
You have to have a soul to be despondent over your previous conduct. I just don't see that.
Actually if we humans have souls it’s a terrible thing to lose so no Matter what we do depending on the whole fiasco there is time to reflect and despair
The “f” word is not necessary. Thank you.
If you’re offended by a common expletive but not the reason for my strong reply, then you’re missing the point. What’s happening in this country is much more vulgar than a four letter word used in the heat of the moment. Thank you.
Was talking with a friend, a frontline nurse, about how we have used that word more in the last year than we have in our lifetimes.....
Fucking hell yes!
Here here
Multiple studies have concluded that people who swear are more trustworthy. 😇I swear shamelessly these days. We all should be given a pass to swear at will (within reason). Also, we’re all adults. Our precious ears can bear it. 😉
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/swear-wearing-honesty-lie-more-honest-facebook-psychology-cambride-university-maastricht-hong-kong-stanford-research-study-a7512601.html?amp
You know, after the past 4 years, I didn't even notice the f word in that comment. Sadly it has become part of my everyday conversation. Swearing serves an important purpose, focusing your mind sharply when you need to act fast - say, when your car goes into a skid on ice - to prevent an accident. Oh, the past 4 years have been, and sadly continue to be, one scary ice skid after another. $%#!
I've been doing some research:
https://casualcurses.tumblr.com/
https://thetravelingwitch.com/blog/2016/12/21/quick-curses
"may the fleas of a thousand camels forever nest in your pubic hair" just doesn't have the same power as an expletive
"may you forever feel a pebble in your shoe"
These things are not very nice and yet the reflexive F**CK is all about the forbidden and the surprise, ergo "F-bomb"
I agree with Patricia about the use of a term that brings life and also great pleasure. It's origins are old.
"The earliest recorded use of "fuck" in English comes from c. 1475, in the poem "Flen flyys", where it is spelled fuccant (conjugated as if a Latin verb meaning "they fuck")."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_false_etymologies_of_English_words
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was a label on the sexually scintillating literature of the day in the 1600-1700's
It is NOT from:
what adulterers had written above them in the stocks: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, that being their crime. Variations: The 'acronym' is variously rendered as:
Fornication Under Consent of the King
Fornication Under Charles the King
Fornication Under Crown of the King
Fornication under Christ, King
Forbidden Under Charter of the King (a sign posted on brothels closed by the Crown)
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
File Under Carnal Knowledge (how Scotland Yard marked rape files)
Well, that was fun.
I had to go back and reread it to find 'fucking'. However, I watch a lot of British and Irish TV - they don't have the same restrictions on language on TV that we have in the later than prime-time slots - when it is assumed vulnerable babies will be asleep? - so I hardly notice it. When I was an EFL teacher in Beijing and later an ESL instructor in Washington State, I often did a lesson plan on the many ways various forms of 'shit' and 'fuck' can be used - as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs. However, I also made it very clear that one must be prepared for negative reactions when one chose to use those and other words that have been deemed improper. Every culture has taboo words, so they certainly understood, but they also enjoyed the fact that there was nothing they could say to offend me with those words. There are others I find much more unacceptable.
I hear u and my husband hates when I curse like a longshoreman
Indeed!
Scary as $%#! !
🙌
Yeah but it’s so satisfying
Yes, the message is the same without it.
Hmm....?
We need more mothers in the Senate.
YES— nice mother’s who can spare the time.
Grandmoms too, please!
Certainment
Or badass grandmothers. David needs a time out. 🤣
But not more like the "mother*-s" we currently have, please (complete the term "mother*-s" with the appropriate two-syllable f*bomb. Even I have limits to my profanity, I guess.)
We all should say "don't make us come down to D.C. because if we do, heads will roll!" I don't understand how these nitwits are allowed to continue with their abysmal behavior and supported by equally unbalanced followers.
If they’re all so wanting to “Make America Great Again”, skip the timeout and tell them to cut a switch, then take them behind the woodshed. Some of them are old enough to remember that and maybe some of the younger ones should have experienced it.
I was thinking of getting the Bully Pulpit.
Yes, the republicans are acting like children and it is past time they be called on it and their feet held to the fire. Enough of the nonsense!
I use to think of the Senate as a group of squabbling kindergartners. Now I think it is back in pre-school. The rules of the Senate must be changed in ways like the cookie rule -- one party divides the cookie in two; then other party chooses which half they want to eat.
Insult to pre-schoolers.
Oops! An insult to poor kindergarteners and toddlers! 🤣
I see them as people who have made a choice that cuts them off from their own decency
AND the thing is: they continue to claim "they were unable to read it before"! That's obviously a lie - and if not - why not sit there & LISTEN as its read? And yeah (boy this is frustrating) they want it "out there for the American people to hear"?? The temptation of obscene language is beyond belief. Actually my language has deteriorated so very far this past four years - I sometimes shock my kids!!! And this at 83 years old! So I will contain myself - this time.
I love it!! My language has deteriorated too . . . the 4 years of the trump nightmare, the idiocy of the republicans combined with the COVID year, and the debacle that was the MA vaccine sign up, put me completely over the edge!! Primal scream therapy in the backyard and not one neighbor noticed :)
I believe the NY vaccine sign up isnt too bad - havent tested it out yet. My primary suggested waited a few weeks - likely because the only places I go (truthfully) is drive thru pharmacy & door pickup at the library! I am so fortunate in having my daughter in law do online groceries AND just pickup . A couple friends & I have compared notes on our feeling that really not much has changed in our "social lives" from before. I am also very lucky that I live in the country where I can walk my dog all around my little old 4 acres & go up by the woods in back of me. Living in the city or town has no appeal to me. And yet - I'm pretty sure the neighbors would notice if I screamed in the yard!! The picture of your "therapy" really gave me a good laugh!
Mine was pretty foul to begin with - you can imagine how it has deteriorated.
I still have my sanity and my language sort of like
Maggie you have earned the right to telli how it is
Thanks Liz - have to say the older I get, the less I care what other people think! I remember years ago my aunt saying the same thing.
Don’t bother Maggie. Let it rip.. you’ve earned it!
Nahhh, call it as you see it.
Of course.
Agree 100%. Kindergarten!
Yes. And the full Senate should be mandated to stay there and listen to it.
No, that would not be a solution. They should vote on if the bill should be read. Everyone who votes yes should be required to stay.
Like that.
And they should have been forced to stay in their seats to listen to it
The fact that it was not de riguer is shameful! I mean, (apologies to whomever!) WTF!
They're too busy groveling before their donors.
Groveling, posturing, showcasing yes all in the service of obstruction. And the money keeps flowing like thick hot lava but they don’t get burned.
Sad.
Except the Republicans might drag the reading over 3 or 4 years...
It is amazing. How many people get paid for ordering a clerk to read 600 pages to the senate and there is no one in the Senate? The senate needs to change. I can’t imagine any other organization, business or school being allowed to operate like this. Start acting like responsible adults. Show up and do the work you were elected to do. Playing these games in a middle of a crisis is obscene.
These people from Ted Cruz to Johnson to Ms. Green are obscene to the core.—bs is their currency.
What name calling are you referring to? There was none. Liz provided a pretty straightforward description of behavior by an array of obscenely anti-American lawmakers.
Yes she did! Excuse me, I am the hall monitor. May I see your pass?!
Liz, you are 100% right!
Omg Cynthia thank you!
Yay!
Yes, Daria!
Daria thank you
Profanity and sarcasm are my primary "go to" commentary languages. I have noted an objection to direct profanity (the full words themselves) but less to those that abbreviate or utilize symbols in lieu of all the letters. I am mostly able to abide by those requests to "keep it clean" although I will sometimes mention that my choice of words is intentional to avoid profanity, blasphemy, and vulgarity in my word choice. I do not feel that referring to those three (and others) as both "obscene" and indicating the nature of their currency with initials is in any way out of line.
Hear! Hear!
Hi Ally I appreciate your distinction between aspects of language that are ruled often by passion and frustration— while I love finding the exact civil word , I also allow myself to curse like a longshoreman when so moved— btw I had an actual sweet Italian longshoreman who was an uncle. It’s my long considered opinion that men have reserved the fun release of these words for themselves in the company of men. So we were left out of the fun. Our caste.
Well said, David. When writing, some favorites are schist, apse-whole, and flook. When speaking, i.e. not documenting myself, word choice is more ... pungent, more ... bracing.
I love bracing — like fresh cool air we’re allowed to run around in without restrictions
Good— I try for accuracy even when bleary eyed
Why are we self policing?
Because we can and should.
Restraint is well and good, but I feel like we're walking a fine line recently. I've been getting a snowflakey vibe lately.
Self-policing helps to forestall outside policing.
Hmm
Self policing is discretion or the better portion of valor
Really?????????????? I agree with Cynthia - is there an actual hall monitor required in each comment?
In a Democracy, free people self monitor. That keeps it private.
But here, in this forum, our hard felt comments need not be so private. We come here so that we learn, discuss, and be just downright fucking honest with one another.
We do and I’m finding it a welcome release.
Only reason I like this place.
Hmm
Only the hall monitor in your head
I want to know if Senator Ron Johnson was required to stay for the reading he requested.
Of course he wasn’t. Is there no venue for public excoriation of this unethical power hungry obstructionist?
Used to be the stocks where the public could throw rotten vegetable etc!
I find this forum much more satisfying
My favorite philosophy professor said that the thing we needed was public flogging... he believed that it was the most effective method of controlling the social mores and norms. Just let your imagination play with that for a while...
I’d hate to be the flogee
Ewww! Yes! Or the flogger!
Going back 500 years already!
No need. I believe it's still done in places like Saudi Arabia and Singapore(?). Book your trips now!
Oh, good names, David! I retract my petty concern and apologize for my misplaced guard rail.
Dementors vote Republican! The only good Republican is a retired Republican! That is cathartic. Republicans hate earth science. Ship the Republicans back to Saudi Arabia where their loyalties lay!
Ship recalcitrant repugs to a planet of Saturn.
Nice explanation for how to publicly hold their feet to the fire for lying if anyone is interested. I wish this would be common practice: https://mobile.twitter.com/ruthbenghiat/status/1366799156136857613
SOOOO where are the news people who have guts enough to do that? Or have the media heads made the decision that that wouldn't be profitable? It shouldn't be left up to Twitter (of all places) to be truthful. (which of course a good deal of the time they are NOT).
Hmmm. Some news people do much better than others and it seems their ratings don’t suffer. Wonder if it would matter if viewers were vocal and made specific requests, like we do with our MOC? Seems like nowadays “news” personalities need training in psych in order to get to the truth?
Yeah, Christy, I shouldnt have lumped all together - yes, there are those who really say it like it is. I hope enough people LISTEN to them & comprehend! There are far too many """personalities""" whose words are taken as news. THOSE are the ones who need to have their feet burned!!
Great framework by Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Republicans are disciplined in their playbook for power, and Trump et al. are operatives using the psychological warfare tactic of repeating lies.
Would seem the Democrats collectively could learn something about being disciplined themselves, right? Seems to be lacking.
They really need some major changes in the Senate... term limits, more accountability, I mean that with very few exceptions it’s a old rich guy frat party.
I’m unsure about term limits because I would love to see a council of crones, surely a pipe dream currently though. But accountability would surely be a great start. Let’s put Senator Warren in charge please 🙏 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/584853.Grandmothers_Counsel_the_World
So true
It's right here, and in the editorial and 'Letters to the Editor' pages but there is every indication that Mr. Johnson doesn't care at all what people say about him.
Where did he get this born-again hubris? He was always such an empty suit, a real wimp! I have to believe that there are 99 pairs of eyes rolling every time he speaks!
He's gone off on a tangent all his own and I'm not confident that even the voices in his head know what he's going to say or do next.
He should be.
Doesn't appear that Johnson is required to stay, Jay. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/03/04/senate-chamber-empties-as-reading-of-628-page-relief-bill-gets-underway/?sh=7672d9577c15
That’s it! He should be benched for the rest of the game.
No. And he did not. Would you like his private email address?
Our tax dollars at work
NOT at work.
No they’re floating
I say that so many times a day.z ugh
Heather's Letter tonight is not sounding an alarm as some of her other Letters have. But the message is still there: Voting rights are the foundation of our democratic process, and they are in jeopardy, particularly by a wave of voter suppression laws making their way through state legislatures. That wave is 253 bills in 43 states. What can we do?
Heather frequently reminds us that we are the ones with the power, as by making our voices heard. Learn the basics of S.1 For the People Act. What resonates with you the most? Talk about it to friends and family, contact the politicians, post on social media, "take up oxygen!"
Connect with an organization that is already mobilized. Get the most bang for your buck. Places to start:
https://democracyreform-sarbanes.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/leading-grassroots-advocacy-organizations-endorse-house-democrats-once-in-a
https://campaignlegal.org/democracyu
https://indivisible.org/
League of Women Voters: https://www.lwv.org/
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
How could I forget Fair Fight? Stacey Abrams is taking her successful playbook to other states!
https://fairfight.com/
I’ll definitely support Fair Fight’s efforts as well.
Excellent. Thank you. ❤️🤍💙
You remembered!
Here is a simplified breakdown of HR1/S1 For the People Act, which has 3 divisions:
1. Voting
2. Campaign finance
3. Ethics
https://democracyreform-sarbanes.house.gov/sites/democracyreform.house.gov/files/SIMPLE-SECTION-BY-SECTION_H.R.-1_FINAL.pdf
Thanks, Ellie.
Excellent. Thank you. ❤️🤍💙
League of women Boters is endorsing it and they are such a longstanding venerable group that can organize.
League of Women “Boters” is a group I would happily join and enjoy my quietude sitting on my boat in the Gulf! ☺️ (Seriously, I know what you mean bit couldn’t resist—some of my best times have been on boats!)
Sea-renity!
Smiling my rear end off.
Me too Marcy are u down by the Gulf —we have some great friends at Seaside Fl— Marblehead is right on a beautiful harbor and it’s actually a peninsula about 20 miles north of Boston. So boats are very big here.
Perhaps my favorite place on Cape Ann is Dogtown Common, the alleged village of witches. The Whale's Jaw was an impressive sight, but it collapsed a few years ago.
This probably sounds like gibberish, but it's worth looking up.
And pay attention to what is happening at your state level!!!!
Do you mean sea level?
Sea level is another issue of climate change. Here is a dramatic art exhibit about FEMA:
https://fematrocities.com/
Those are great links! I'd like to suggest a few other organizations that working hard to improve our democracy -
https://www.commoncause.org/
(click "Join the Action Team" or Volunteer to learn more)
https://www.sierraclubindependentaction.org/
(volunteers needed to write letters to register new voters)
https://front.moveon.org/volunteer-with-moveon/
(they have texting opportunities)
https://newgeorgiaproject.org/about/
(In addition to Fair Fight, New Georgia Project has been very active in registering new voters and fighting back against voter suppression.)
Right now, I'm volunteering with Common Cause as a social media monitor to report disinformation to their disinformation experts. Even though this is sometimes disheartening, I feel I'm doing a little bit to help. Hope some of you will consider getting involved!
Thank you, Joan. Disinformation is another important issue to attend to.
Good links. Thanks, Ellie.
Thank you, well focused and said!
Excellent. Thank you. ❤️🤍💙
Thank you for sharing these links
Everyone should be registered, be a citizen and have an ID.
I find it mind-boggling that all of this state legislative activity to suppress voting rights is based on the myth of a stolen election (and the reality that the R's can't win elections without suppressing the vote). Do the Republicans actually believe the election was stolen? It seems to me that until we can convince enough people of the truth of the matter, American democracy is at grave risk. I am looking for a source that spells out the specific arguments that Republicans are making for calling the election stolen. In other words, I am looking for a list of the instances in which they believe that specific states changed voting rules illegally before and during the election. How is this list different from all of the many court challenges that were lost?
I would say that facing reality is not one of the strong points of the Republican Party!
For the past 40 years, the Republican way has been to create their own version of reality. Yours and mine do not count to them. Trump's Big Lie that the election was stolen from him is an extension of that pattern, and we see that it is still going strong in defiance of rational logic.
Attributed to Karl Rove:
"People like you are still living in what we call the reality-based community. You believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality. That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you are studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors, and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
https://www.spin.com/2017/09/the-national-karl-rove-response/?utm_source=share-tw&utm_medium=button
Karl Rove gave us the GOP playbook 20 years ago and rather accurately named our weakness in a dynamic political & social landscape. We ignored it. This is painful for me to say, but, Democrats have indeed been guilty of the “paralysis of analysis.” We want to please everyone, we want to be fair and respectful. We keep bringing facilitators with their rule book to a gun fight.
I’m not suggesting we use their tactics, but, we need to rethink our own. We have to figure out how to assess, act, evaluate and adjust much more quickly. We must be more nimble. The young ones are deeply frustrated at the pace and stodginess of our process.
Social media, online commerce and digital information move at lightening speed now and we either speed up our process or get left behind. The danger of inaction is greater than the danger of imperfection.
Indeed, Diane. I'm far away from my youngster years and *I* and getting frustrated! Why are we vainly attempting bipartisanship? It's playing into their hands, as Lucy lures Charlie Brown to kick the football. I don't suggest lying and illegality be our banner as it is for their lot, but Call Their Bluff!! DEMAND proof, start some aggressive offense instead of waiting to play defense, and flood the 'airwaves' with reality, history & get in their face! I'm happy the FBI is starting to really dig in - it should have started long ago. I think the dems need to stop stuffing bills with too many issues that become tangential to the main point. Work hard and keep short, targeted, clear bills flowing. Overwhelm the reps with legislation that MOST people WANT, but stop the 600+ stuff because that will always be picked apart. One issue, one bill, boom. Next!
And might I add to your suggestions for tactics, we need to be ANTICIPATORY in our thinking. I agree with you that we do need to be more nimble as we assess and adjust, but this puts us always in a reactive mode and feeds right into Karl Rove's playbook. While we are nimbly figuring out what to do, the GOP is already leaping ahead and creating an entirely new reality with alternative "facts" and spin...keeping us always in that "eddy" HCR described yesterday. I also agree with you that we don't need to use their tactics, but I do think we need to use their approach and their skills of anticipating and planning WAY out front. We have the know how; but do we have the courage? Maybe that's why we need more youth in leadership. If lightning speed is where they are right now, then warp speed may be where we really need to be.
It's interesting to me that the "GOP" is lead by a bunch of Old Guys. And they speak loudly, carry a big stick, and lie thru their teeth. I'm not sure it's "youth" we need as much as, you say Ellen, forward thinking strategies and having the balls to jump out in front of their smoke screen with new simple, powerful ideas and challenge their fabrications.
Agreed, we need to chart our own course while fending off attacks from the right. HR-1 is where we begin.
We have courage— spread the word
That’s got damn sure-/ spread the word.
But then, the "pioneer" and "cowboys" periods of yesteryear and mythologized for profit didn't actually either last long or reflect any form of reality....but theyare still, obviously, massively influential still in these people's "thinking" and view of the world. This nostalgia for what wasn't is killing us!
We need to get more People on board
Good ole Karl Rove! He and Newt are advisors to the Sedition Party, you know.
Can't keep an ol' dog down it seems.
Or teach him new tricks?
Yes and unfortunately, the sedition party seems to keep growing. As Diane Love just stated we need to figure out how to act quickly so we don’t lose another 40 years to them.
Thank you! This takes on an even more sinister meaning. It is interesting that Rove denies saying it.
anyway, he certainly could of said it as it clearly reflects both his views and strategy
My stomach churns again...
I find it hard to believe that I don’t constantly hear, that if the election was stolen how come so many Republicans won seats in the house, were their victories fraudulent? I never hear that mentioned, maybe because the election wasn’t fraudulent in the first place.
keep repeating this!!!!!!!!..."if the election was stolen how come so many Republicans won seats in the house, were their victories fraudulent?"
Let’s try to fit it on a bumper sticker!
I have said that many times in response to some stupid post on fb (friends included), but shockingly, no one answers it!
Mine just argue that it is that situation (other Republicans elected) that "proves" that the presidential election was rigged. You can't have a battle of facts with an unarmed person...
Yes! Exactly!
They prefer using dog whistle type signals that alert the white supremacist constituents so they don’t have to say what they really mean. In other words, they don’t go around saying—we’re going to subvert democracy— they’re much sneakier than that— so the MAGA logo for Cheeto was really MAWA — make American white again but that wouldn’t work on the hats or at the rallies. Hitler understood the same principles in terms of promoting his racial agenda and he had to have a population that was already deeply identified with white supremacy. The Nazis used our racially restrictive laws as a model when the were creating the Holocaust. You can read about this in more detail in Caste.
Yes, Republicans' tactics are to appeal to emotional reactivity and not to the thinking, rational brain. And given human nature, it is sadly and dangerously effective. What's that statistic? Gossip spreads 6 times faster than a plain boring fact?
So I’m doing all this posting without my glasses and I was trying to read your last line and I thought it said gossip spreads faster than a plain boring fart. But I bet that’s true too. I think Hitler and the radical right are adept at playing on our subconscious and subliminal emotions. I also think they count on our attention spans being very short. They also prefer— the uneducated. Remember when Cheeto said that— I love the uneducated!
Liz! You cracked me up! Thanks... don’t put your glasses on!
Cynthia I cracked myself up with that one — hey I’d rather squint in bed until I can hardly see straight.
There's eyesight, and then there's vision.
Yes and opinion is free, verified facts cost money.
Facts take time to verify. That is what Heather does for us. She read the 6oo+ pages and then wrote one concise and clear summary. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Amen!
Stories spread fast and are remembered longer than facts. Heather tells true stories.
There was some research into what aspect of information people remember and it turns out people remember the content way longer than the source. If they hear something from an unreliable source they tend to forget it might not be true before they forget the content. They also forget if it was true or not even if that is part of the original content. They also forget the positive or negative factual loading before the emotional loading thus things that support biases are retained longer than things that don't, true or not, and there is name and subject recognition long past context memory. Thus the saying that any publicity is good publicity.
Well that's discouraging!
I’m 3/4 through Caste and find I have to stop after a chapter or two and turn to something else, maybe “Shouts and Murmurs” in the New Yorker, to calm me down. It’s a difficult, yet essential, book to read. The anecdotes are heart-wrenching. I just finished reading about the two couples, one Black, one white, who immersed themselves in the 1930s in a southern city to study caste in that society. Even though the distinguished Black academic was the leader of the team, he had to pretend to be subservient to the white male in order to do his work. Heroes! I agree with Pam that everybody should read this. Of course, we know not enough will.
Ugh
Ooops! We’ll just call that a hiccup!
Ugh
I'm reading Caste now. It is painful at times to realize how horrible our country has acted.
As I pay attention to our "real" history, I really WONDER how an historian like heather can keep her Pollyanna like hopeful outlook. My hat is off to her, may her positive, enthusiastic outlook persist.
Dr R is a Lincolnian. Optimism was a core belief of Lincoln.
"This country shall have a new birth of freedom ... government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
-- The Gettysburg Address, Nov 19, 1863
Yes yes yes TRJ— we shall have a new birth in 2021 and onward for our people and their future people and let’s not forget the polar bears and the planet.
Ty
Lynn check out her you tube interview
I just finished it. I’m an American of Mexican decent and heard plenty of stories from my parents, as well as witnessed racist comments against Hispanics in my almost 69 years. Even so, there were so many times while reading Caste that even I felt shame as an American. Everyone on the planet should read this book and then DISCUSS it. We cannot fix what we don’t acknowledge. There is a path. I hope we get there before I die.
Thank you Evelyn
Descent!
Evelyn: descended from decent people.
💜💜😘. I hate going back after not proof reading and finding an error! 🤭
Nancy I had to put that book down quite a few times lest I get any more depressed— but I reached a much better understanding.
I have paused reading it several times as well. I needed to digest and get past my emotions. I felt like I was kicked in the gut several times.
I was also sickened to visualize the horrible action against those lower caste people. At the same time and by the end I became aware of the ways I had always been in the female caste— the subtle motions that I make of a certain female subservience.
An important, hard book which should be read by everyone.
As well as her other book, The Warmth of Other Suns’!
Ok. Ty ladies, my consciousness raised for the umpteenth time since following heather and this group. 2 more books on my list!
I have so many wonderful books to suggest...but one of the very best...someone here recommended it (was it you?!) "Braiding Sweetgrass".... it should new read ofter..it was like opening a window, feeling a spring breeze, seeing meadows, smelling flowers, hearing birds... and penetrating your should in a way that we all could use!
I finally just ordered all three. Thanks, ladies. (I am a practitioner of tsundoko, however, so when I'll be reading them is unknown.)
When ordering books, please consider local/independent/minority stores, or charities. They need business more than chains or the evil empire. NB, I have no financial or other interest in any store.
Black-owned in Boston: https://frugalbookstore.net/
Support literacy programs: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/
Or, if you absolutely have no local store and find that Bezos' company is the only place to get a title you can't find anywhere else, please use smile.amazon.com and a portion of your purchase price can go to support a non-profit of your choice.
Yes! Been doing that for years... oh, how clever he is... it’s bad enough that he has such a crazy sweet deal with taxes, but he’s got a huge write off for charitable donations!
But alas, I try to alternate with independent book stores!
Good idea!
May I ask which three you are referring to? "Caste," obviously, but what are the other two?
Braiding Sweetgrass and The Warmth of Other Suns. (It seems I commented in the wrong place. Sorry.)
Braiding Sweetgrass is one.
Good for you
Painful every day.
Yes, it is. Sorrowful.
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson - is spectacular.
Read her other one.
I have it on my list.
me too
I know what you are saying is true, but I don't know that I can read anymore. I pegged tRump as Hitler-lite (now dark) 5 years ago, then predicted the Miller/Bannon Capitol insurrection a year ago. Knowing isn't enough. What do we DO?
I think we get out our comfort zones and engage with people who might still be unenlightened about this shit show— I’m als purchasing some subscriptions to Heather so other people too can engage with the site and then spread it around. Last I heard this site has over 200,000 people if we grow to a million or two we could be a very intelligent democratic force to offset the dimming down of the repugs— birthday presents, anniversaries— July 4th presents of Heather’s forum. Maybe we set a goal some number by July 4 and another goal by 2022.
In the NYT article about this site (Letters from an American), Heather said that she would stop writing after Biden's first 100 days. I don't know if this has changed or if she will do a different format, but you might want to find out more so that you don't purchase subscriptions to a service that is about to end.
I simply cannot believe that she would engage in selling a subscription and then not provide the product or an equivalent or refund the price so perhaps by increasing the number of subscriptions the reading public can provide the momentum to persuade her to continue Letters or something equivalently synthesizing and valuable.
I'm not saying that - I'm just cautioning Liz to do a bit more research about how long "Letters "will continue. I'm certain that Heather would honor subscriptions or make it clear that the newsletter is ending if that is the case. I don't know what's in store, but I'd love it if Heather would continue to writing something.
I googled Heather today and watched an interview— I suggest we all do that. I loved how she answered every question as the Maine light filled her office. There were several YouTube videos available and I chose the one that pertains to her latest book about the Civil War.
Like every criminal mob boss
Yes similar.
Right now it lives in another reality. (Forget about the Dr. Seuss crap. It is not worth wasting words and energy on.) Meanwhile, It is useless for President Biden and Congressional Democrats to try to work with Republicans. As the song goes, “It takes two to tango.” Despite support of Democratic programs by most Republicans, the G.O.P. is controlled nationally and locally by “movement conservatives’ whose lifetime goal is to undo FDR’s New Deal and the decades of liberal legislation which followed, not to mention their not-so-covert racism and isolationism. Typical Republican voters cannot be inspired to throw out this leadership, although what it advocates is not in their interests. The G.O.P.’s tools are (1) State legislation to suppress voting, (2) the threat of violence by its domestic terrorist component (which shut down the House yesterday) and (3) the reluctance of sensible Republican voters to arouse the enmity of their neighbors whose behavior is often nourished by an anger fueled with Trumpublican lies. The task for Democrats is to disarm these three tools.
And even though you rejected all Seussian crap. They could certainly learn a moral or two from the majority of his books that will be published.
"But now," says the Once-ler, "now that you're here, the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
From *The Lorax"
Oh, they are great at facing reality: they will never win another election if voting is fair. And they will do anything to hang on to power. AND they will feel justified in doing so because what they REALLY believe is that we on the left want to give all their money to Black people, allow abortion on demand, let homos run wild and transgender people use the bathroom of their choice. We are tearing at the fabric of their little, straight, cis, white world and they simply can't have that. Things were so good, don't you know, when darkies stayed in their place and queers stayed quietly in the closet, and you could shoot any of them who got out of line without facing consequences.
Well said. That is EXACTLY what they fear. That, coupled with being treated as badly as they have treated others. You did forget the "assault on Christianity" component of their fears, however. That is another strong "sincerely held belief."
The beginning of fascism is when privileged people feel like victims. Victimization becomes a sincerely held belief.
We need to get over that
Ah, yes, that pesky double standard “do as I say, not as I do”
Yup
Reid, I know that you are writing what the unethical GOP would be voicing, but some of your words really grate and are surely offensive to others. I know that we can't make corrections on substack, but I wonder if you would consider using more LGBTQ & BIPOC friendly ones in the future. Thanks so very much.
I think we risk sanitizing the bigotry of those who are trying to retain power if we fear describing their attitudes as they are. But I will take your criticism under advisement.
While I would hesitate to use some of the words I read in your post, I "heard" the quotation marks and/or the euphemisms as I read. I tend to agree with your view of sanitizing, but also know the hurt that words can cause. It's a complex issue - what language to use with which audience? I assumed that you wrote in the way you did because you trusted this group to understand that you do not agree with the pejorative assessments embedded in the terms, but that you were angrily quoting those who do agree with those ideas and were thereby criticizing those who do use those terms (along with even more pointedly pejorative ones) in order to wound.
Then my suggestion would be to place those particular words in quotation marks. That's all.
Quotation marks help, but the same message can be delivered with substitutes. We can cite Pitchfork Ben Tillman et al without quoting his precise words.
Thank you, TPJ. I agree.
In the South, they saved the bullets for the raccoons and used rope instead. So ugly, the history of this country.
Ugh
They’re good at making up reality as they go along.
and changing it when it nolonger suites.
Exactly and then remember the famous line from that completely obnoxious woman conningway — alternate facts. Oh she was good.
In a very, very bad way. A truly scary woman. Her name is so fitting - CONway.
And her poor daughter is a mess.... no alternative facts about that.
I think it would be good if we avoided disparaging remarks about adolescents/teenagers. Perhaps “troubled” would be a better description.
Yes, exactly what I meant..I did not intend to be disparaging, I ache for that young woman. My disparaging thoughts are actually towards her parents. She has been a victim in all of that.
What a surprise— the father an esteemed attorney publicaly disparaged her boss Cheeto — that household is schizoid. I just watched an interview with Heather on YouTube and it was great. I’m thinking now of buying her latest book about the Civil War.
It was how I discovered Heather! It is an incredible book! I was glued to every page... and upon completion I was dumbstruck by the realization that somehow I had never been taught about the reality of our history..not even close!
Look no further than "Trump said so." It's a loyalty test and a way to rally their base. If they had any realistic or rational arguments they would have been adjudicated.
I don't pay much attention to their blather, but I keep hearing points about PAand WI changing rules about voting procedures, things like viable dates for accepting absentee and mail in ballots, that were done, legally I'm pretty sure, in response to Covid. They are looking for petty technicalities to hang their stolen election hat on. Again, if they had a case it would have come out in the courts.
And, Look no further than "pense said so"! I can't Believe what he is saying Now!! And he was There on January 6th, at the Capital for Chr....Sake!!!
They were READY to String him up!! How soon they Forget!!!😡
And how quickly Pence (seemingly) forgave them for it.
Must have gotten his installment check.
Pence has made it OK to despise him once again.
Yes! What I said this morning! Is he really stupid or savvy? Desperate or demonic? Well... I guess both of the latter are true. But I just don’t get him. What’s his deal?!
Never stopped. One moment of cleaving to protocol does not a reformed man make.
It is about power and power only. The tRumpublicans never forget. And the Raygunites also never forget. The Thuglicans in power will unite to f**k the American people and retain their power at any cost.
The list of course is not forthcoming and they have had to say in court that it is so pitifully short and insignificant that they would be embarassed politically if they had to produce it. The lawyers were very careful not to perjure themselves.....unlike the politicians.
When my husband showed me the tape of the ‘Shaman’s mother going on about the election being stolen I thought that something is seriously wrong with people who think this. Astounding! Defies logic. I cannot imagine how anyone could believe it, or how anyone could be convinced that they are wrong?!
The simple fact that you can’t get through to anyone who can help you with any issue over the phone without waiting on hold for a ridiculous amount of time, getting cut off, calling back and waiting again, being transferred from one person to another who don’t have any idea of how to assist with the situation, it is almost funny to think that any operation as complicated as ‘stealing the election’ could be pulled off so seamlessly, completely, that the level of competence and efficiency could exist at all in this country, particularly at this time, well.... give us a break! Really?! Ugh
The QShaman will be a small footnote in history. MamaShaman doesn't even deserve that much notice.
Yes, it is extraordinary the amount of time we all spend nowadays on hold or being transferred from one person to another, often getting disconnected in the process, and stunning how easily "stealing the election" and other Republican memes get adopted immediately.
Show me the beef!🤨
I think there are those Republicans who DO believe it but we humans can convince ourselves of so many things when we think they serve us.
Despite so many Republicans making vague references to proof, I never could find any specific verifiable proof of any magnitude that wasn't clearly debunked elsewhere. I really don't think most of the Republican state leaders actually believe the vote was rigged, but I do believe that many of them believe it is unfair if it doesn't result in their candidate winning (IE define "fair"), and that they need the voter suppression for Republican candidates to win so they need the suppressive laws and the public needs Some excuse (but not the real one). As to the Republican voting public, I suspect most of them are the same, but there are some who either believe the big lie or find it most convenient to pretend to themselves and others that they do. I can't tell you how many times I watched a MAGA hat wearing rally goer respond to a reporter that "they have affidavits" - apparently referring to the phone book sized stack of paper riffled through from podiums by various Republicans for the camera, feeling apparently no need whatsoever to actually read any sample or even verify the exhibited stack contained printing. It is often a product of ignorance about verifying sources (likely due to a weak education), laziness (this is a really big contributor), denial and responsiveness to the emotional reward of finding oneself to be correct, smart, and therefor important. These are the same factors found when psychologists look at vulnerability to conspiracy theories. But no: Most don't Really believe the big lie. If they had to stake their lives on it they would be pushing the "not true" button.
It is firstly going to be very interesting to see which way the Supreme Court votes on the Arizona voter suppression case that they are hearing in support of which GOP lawyers brazenly stated their real purpose of insuring they alone can win elections. What ever way this goes the Senate must pass HR1.....so the filibuster must go! If the SCOTUS has allowed the Arizona restrictions.... then the Rules of the Supreme Court and doubtless its membership have to be changed to prevent such sabotage of this new national voter framework.
Agreed —the filibuster must go and HR 1 must pass the senate.
I’m all for getting rid of the filibuster. Dems have to be careful here though. Sinema & Manchin could switch to the GOP. (This has happened before). If they did, one or both, it would be disastrous for anything President Biden wants to accomplish. I don’t know the solution but I’m hoping more brilliant minds prevail.
Me too— I’m not up on those intricacies.
Republicans have switched to Democrat before, too. If these Republicans keep up with the Trump worship, maybe Mitt Romney or Lisa Merkowski, or Susan Collins or some other might switch.
It's unlikely that anyone will switch parties. It involves a major and painful break with longtime political, social, family networks. These days it's usually done to stay in office when public opinion shifts, but it usually doesn't work. Cf. Arlen Specter, who changed to Dem Party then lost for the first time ever. Oops!
One can hope.
Not going to happen. It’s very, very rare even in parliamentary democracies. You do it and neither side trusts you.
Manchin and Sinema will be managed. HR-1 is “wrong side of history” vote.
The argument is so brazenly partisan that it’s tough for me to understand why the Supreme Court is even taking it seriously— it’s like hey if you don’t let us make these voting rights changes we’re going to keep losing. This would be like a soccer mom asking the coach to change the rules to give her child an advantage.
If the judges allow the GOP to win this we know they support white supremacy and thus must be dealt with accordingly. They are not neutral but represent the Republicans.
We already know that. See Shelby Vs Holder.
It’s not lost on me that Clarence Thomas wife is a white supremist.
She is and he is... and there’s the irony.
With the help of his wife.
They s as red there in this conservative configuration for a long time and if they started taking away voting rights and supporting the fascist right, I’m not sure we would have many options.
They already wrote a decision that makes it much more difficult for undocumented workers who have been resident for a long time in the USA and have children who are citizens from contesting their deportation. That happened yesterday. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/04/973658292/supreme-court-makes-it-harder-for-undocumented-immigrants-to-fight-deportation So I think we can see the writing on the wall here.
Right. Using a fake social security number in order to pay taxes is not 'moral turpitude' when it is the only way to work. This is like the people who scream 'wasteful socialism' and 'redistribution of wealth' at increasing unemployment payments or raising the minimum wage so it's not as far below the poverty, but are quite happy to bankroll the wealthy.
not as far below the poverty *level*. (Substack, can we get an editing function, please please)
Point taken. We should be very worried that SCOTUS has agreed to hear this case at all?
I am because of what Arizona is arguing and I don’t think Arizona would have brought it to SCOTUS unless they felt they had a chance.
It may be their last chance!
The Supreme Court is already packed with Leonard Leo Federalist Society dark moneyed judges, many of whom worked to steal the 2004 election for George W. (Roberts, Kavanaugh, Thomas, Barrett...)
Yes indeed
Raise the volume on the talk about packing the court. Then we'll see how keen the SC is on denying voting rights.
It’s not “packing” the court. It’s reflecting the realities of our voting population. Dems represent twice as many people. Equalize? Restore? Invigorate?
That’s a good point You have just made. I think this happened in the Progressive era?
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Good idea— pack the court
And thereafter reduce the SC to its original role remove its dominant role in everything.
Interesting but I’m not very confident of what our rights would be if SC got wily— I was pretty happy when I saw Roberts decide in a moderate way in a few cases. I think he would be very concerned about his legacy in the history books.
Not to mention being complicit with the GOP’s argument they can’t win elections if the SC doesn’t vote in their favor.
Exactly— well we shall see what we shall see. If SP sides with Arizona I’ll be perusing every word of the opinions looking for what the hell they could possibly be thinking.
Amen sir!
It would be UNpacking the court, which is currently packed with extreme radical right justices.
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/who-owns-kavanaugh-5-closing-arguments?r=7ygy0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy
Perjury. Bank Fraud. Tax Fraud. hmmm.
Bingo. Don’t we need to start suing state laws that suppress the vote? How is this done? Does it have to be after an actual election before the law is challenged?
Agree. End the filibuster. HR-1 must pass in the Senate. I believe as S-1? MLK, Jr. and John Lewis versus DJT and Mitch McConnell says all you need to know. ❤️🤍💙
SCOTUS has been pretty clear that they are not going to interfere in a state's right to manipulate elections however they choose, short of blatant suppression, though what they consider not to be suppression should embarrass them. On the other hand, I don't think the composition of the court would need to change, necessarily, if we can get the voting rights bill passed. They will uphold the law.
This is the heart of the matter. Well said, Stuart.
What are Republicans hoping to gain by having the American Rescue Plan read aloud?
If their goal is to cement their role as obstructionists, then they've attained it.
If their goal is to communicate that they are uninterested in governing, then they've shouted it clearly.
If their goal is to help the American people, then they're failing miserably.
Their goals: delay this bill, because they don’t like it, as HCR describes. Eat up time, so Dems accomplish less. “Cause pain to the Dems,” so their tribalist supporters can feel avenged for whatever. Get publicity for being mini-donalds.
They are miserable failures who can not comprehend a need to change.
Which country do the Republicans represent?
Confederate States of America
Saudi Arabia? Or is it Israel?? Oh, oh I know! The Cayman Islands!
Ahhh...therein lies the $64,000 question!
Yes — F -
Just say it out loud, Liz. We are adults in the room.
That was like an A- from my teaching days.
F- is a grade, not a deleted expletive.
Not uncommonly, when the body is under severe stress from the process of dying, one can witness jerks and spasms of the musculature and even overt seizures. That process is happening to the current republican regime. Desperation is upon them. You can smell it. Which is the probable reason the republicans will not stay in the senate chamber to listen to the reading of the bill.
There are 411 mayors of cities that signed a bi-partisan letter encouraging the passage of the rescue plan. These are the women and men we need to speak up daily in their cities and states, testifying to the needs of suffering people.
Covid is a powerful scourge worldwide. Unless controlled EVERYWHERE, variants will continue to develop. Some worse than the original. Possibly much worse, extending our nightmare. So simultaneously with efforts to vaccinate America, we need to lead in helping vaccinate the rest of the 7.5 billion humans on earth. A long, difficult task.
The “conservative movement virus” is another threat. To the Constitution. Touted as intellectual, it is a cynical ploy. Big but empty words like “originalism” and “textualism” obfuscate the conversation. But time is up. The real “conservative movement” was on full, nauseating display at CPAC, complete with the golden bull. The veneer removed, revealing only obscene lust for power, wealth and suppression of the people.
Like for covid, there is a vaccine for this virus infecting republican souls. The vote.
There, clearly said by Bill, is reason for hope. But the extinction burst can be painful before the unrewarded tantrum ends. Heather’s perspective keeps me looking forward.
77 million people voted for a misogynistic, crude, hateful, inciting, racist murderer for President. This ugly strain of revanchist conservatism is, sadly, going nowhere.
Reid. The offical vote was Donald 74,222,960, not 77 million! Biden's final count was 81,283,361. DJT admitted Biden won by a landslide when Biden won the same number of electoral votes as DJT did in 2016, even though DJT lost by 2,868519 popular votes in 2016. Experiencing strong feelings, and even resorting to expletives and name calling are ok, but take time to look up the facts, ok?
Yup, it's 74 mil+ for Trumpsky. But where does the 77 mil figure come from -- the latest GOP talking points?
Nope, just my inaccuracy.
As far as the rest of the world knew, Communism was going nowhere in 1989.
Don’t be so sure.
Communism seems to have gone fairly Capitalist since '89. The rotten brand of pick-pocket Conservatism has some legs to it though. I'm continually surprised at how many people I run into who fervently believe that line of b.s.
These further examples of Republican "lawmakers" opposing legislation that even their constituents support, coupled with the blatant misrepresentation of facts over related and unrelated issues by the "conservative media," is not only demoralizing, it's just plain exhausting.
For me, that exhaustion is mostly due to the way these actions manifest a flaw in our electoral process: That GOP candidates run a bait and switch between what they purport to represent during their bid for office, and how the vote once seated. That the flaw is systemic and endemic unfortunately doesn't mean it's illegal, though I'm not sure how to make it an enforceable infraction. Sadly, it's more a reflection of voters aren't interested in a discussion of comparative facts, or who've become convinced that only candidates with an (R) by their name will truly stand up for their interests, regardless of how their actions while in office belie that assumption.
Proposed legislation that has popular appeal even to a majority of their own party's voters is belittled, berated, and opposed in advance not on the basis of factual evidence to the contrary, but.... just because. The examples are legion, so I won't detail them, but suffice it to say that it's usually around issues that would improve people's financial and social well being, or that reinforces the Constitutional protections of citizens on anything other than misinterpreted Second Amendment rights.
Until and unless the protection of "voting rights" additionally adds some emphasis to seriously address 1) candidate eligibility criteria, 2) reverses the suffocating effects of Citizens United, and 3) demands greater structure, discipline, and transparency in the "debate" process, we're doomed to be subject to electing people who have no real accountability to their constituents. Oh, sure, they COULD be primaried or voted out, but too often candidates are reelected so long as they hew to sponsors and donors and curry favor with "party leaders" despite the desires of their constituents. As a state party chair said after censuring a representative for supporting Trump's impeachment, "we didn't send them to Washington to 'do the right thing' or 'vote their conscience.'"
I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here.
Last night on The Beat someone suggested many Repubs have become performative rather than legislative—their goal is to become famous and a celebrity for future riches. They are not in Congress to serve the country. Never had thought of that before ...
I was going to make the same observation. Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, et. al. don’t DO anything of substance. Then there’s Madison Cawthorn, whose staff is arranged around communicating, not legislating. He and Marjorie Taylor Greene might be in a class by themselves. They consider themselves to be in a reality show. They just “sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
It worked for Trump. They see the writing on the wall. The way to obtain and hang on to power is to do as little as possible and blow on the dog whistles for all you are worth. You can't be blamed for what you do not do (well, you can and should be, but not in current Republican party thinking), but you can be praised and rewarded for what you insist is true, no matter how demonstrably false it may be.
Much like their Fearless Leader, the dfp.
Sadly, I actually think they are doing PRECISELY what their constituents want. Gumming up the works of government has been a primal goal for conservatives since Reagan. The glee with which certain segments of the population view all obstructionist action is demoralizing. Two values: white people should rule and government is bad. Everything else is frosting.
In a nutshell, exactly!
Now it may be not so much what voter constituents want. Approval rates for Covid relief package are sky-high, and include millions who voted for Trumpsky and GOP Congress critters. The only constits they heed are wealthy donors. $1 mil donation earns a seat at the table; the 99% get crumbs no matter who they voted for.
Yet 74 million people voted for him. I still can't quite get over it.
And of course, the right wing media is there to maintain this alternate reality. All they have to do is keep spinning the lies that they are spending all their time fighting against socialism from the left therefore, can't get anything done. I can't see a lot of progress being made while the likes of Faux News and Alex Jones make can make up any crap they want and spoon feed it to the base day in and day out.
What once seemed insanity: “alternative facts”, explained as reality. 🥺
What an eloquent summary of where we are. Thank you.
Omgosh!! YOU are so right on!!! Perfectly written🤔😊
If HR 1 does not pass in the senate, they need to end the filibuster. A guest on Last Word tonight suggested doing it by changing the rules to male it apply to only the members actually "present and voting".
I know you meant "make it apply" but "male it" sounded about right. (Sorry guys).
actually, I would have fixed it, if there was an edit option, but, at least on my phone, there isn't
There is no self-edit feature on this platform, alas.
Indirect editing is possible. Copy original text; delete original comment; paste into new comment, and edit away.
True. It would be easier if the platform let us do it within the original comment. There's got to be a reason why it doesn't, but I can't imagine what it might be.
I think that was Norm Orenstein who said that.
Please tell me what the process would be for the Democrats to get rid of the filibuster. What would it entail? I ask because I see no way through passing legislation if the filibuster option remains. Barack Obama couldn’t pass much because he was hemmed in for many years. If we’re going to pass the voting act, essentially assuring the most fundamental right for all folks, the Dems have to proceed with majority rules. They will not get 10 republicans ever to support new laws about voting and immigration and safeguarding our planet. It’s crazy making.
If the Republicans thought getting rid of the filibuster would be to their advantage, they would do it in a heartbeat. To have arcane rules gum up the process of legislating is beyond ridiculous!
It is but there is no one simple solution that is obvious.
Two Democrats will not vote to end the filibuster. They are nostalgic for Jimmy Stewart and probably need money for their re-election campaign.
No GOP Senators will have a Claude Rains-like epiphany and attempt to shoot themselves. I won't say "go ahead" because suicide is not to be taken lightly.
Heather mentions the strong support of the League of Women Voters of which I am an active member for the Voting Rights Act. HR1. The majority Republican Texas Legislature like many red states has introduced 225 bills on voting many of which are voter suppression or what the Republicans are euphemistically call Voter Integrity. I like the League's balanced definition of Election Integrity: "Elections with integrity mean elections that accurately reflect the will of Texans, both through security from tampering and through the participation of eligible voters. Elections with integrity mean ensuring that all voters can be heard and counted." This will depend on modifying the filibuster. One proposal is needing 60 votes to stop the debate of a bill, you would need 40 votes to continue debate. What I don't understand is how it is possible to make this happen. Won't any bill to fix the filibuster just be defeated by being filibusted. We the People, All of Us This Time.
After seeing them mentioned I decided to contact the local office for the League and volunteer!
Yes!!!
Senate rules just pass on a simple majority i think and are out of the scope of a filibuster.
Is your point, that the Senate can make a rule requiring Ron J. To attend his own command performance?
I would think so...but the Dems are so NICE!
Yep, that’s the big problem! They simply get run over all of the time, especially by Mitch. He’s a clever and devious lad, is he not? Obnoxious and evil to the core. He, Rove, Newt, and Cheney are from the school of the Federalists. They took their schooling to the highest level...cruelty.
We are capable of being not nice but they stand together and we’re all over the place.
They now must "show and tell" to restore a little credibilty on this.
The Democrats need to stop playing nice and play to win. Playing to win is what the Republicans have been doing for years, to great success. Look, the odds are good based on this country's history that the Republicans will take control of the House, the Senate, or both in 2022. So, realistically, there is a two year window to get things done (less time now, of course). Get rid of the filibuster. Pass the new voting rights act. Statehood for Puerto Rico and/or D.C. Do what you can to make Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema to fall in line. But, ultimately, GET IT DONE. The time is now, and every day that goes by without these things getting done makes them less likely. After the 2022 election, the odds of any of these things passing will drop to just about zero.
Debate and discussion are important components to the democratic process but republicans have shown they are only capable of obstruction for no apparent reason except vindictiveness.
$$$$$$ reason enough
Unfits always the $$$$$$$$
And to create an overall illusion that they’re stronger than the dems— but let’s remember we did action the Presidency and we have a slim majority in Congress. Imagine what we’d be saying if even one of those things had not occurred?
The Republicans serve the oligarchs, not the people who voted for them. They work for the people who pay them to represent the issues of the wealthy.
Politics may be a game to be played by some, but once elected, politicians are expected to become public servants. The millions of people in need of food, clothing and shelter will remember this Republican behavior. We pay their salaries, give them low cost excellent medical care and hefty retirement pay. In return they expect that people living paycheck to paycheck will continue to provide services to them. (Fraud 45 actually declared a meat emergency). The party is circling the drain and they don’t even get it. As for Dr Seuss, he is not being censored or canceled, but most of us have grown more respectful of others since the 1940’s. One look at the rioters tells you who lacks respect.
They idolize a world where "might is right".....and devil take the hindmost.
Most of the Republican politicians I lobbied didn't get that memo - they were in it for the game high.
And Fox displays in the backgrounds the covers of the very well-known and popular Green Eggs and Ham, and Cat in the Hat, instead of the more obscure books that are the ones being discontinued.
Typical misleads/lies. Now if Horton was to go......
Republicans' assumption that their base will continue to support policies based on lies and voter suppression as opposed to clear policy initiatives is fragile at best. It does not follow that opposition to anything Democratic is the way to regain power. There's no meat in that saddle. And as HCR points out, there is overwhelming support of all Americans for the American Rescue Plan. Republican legislators will still vote against the measure despite their constituents wishes. That disconnect does not bode well for their party.
The Democratic proposal to strengthen voter rights laws should be a no-brainer. Yet Republicans in their desperation instead seek to move their party forward by cheating. The egregious voter suppression legislation in state houses across the country reflects the absence of any remaining substance in Republican philosophy or policy initiatives. The question is will voters continue to support such a fragile house of cards based on lies and deception. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Their alternate reality is alive and well.
Democracy has been in danger in North Carolina for years now. The Republican controlled legislature has been undermining democracy since 2010. Think H.B.2, the bathroom bill, just purely a naked power grab.
The GOP proposal is always the same..."You have no choice" and they quote Louis X1V...."Après moi le déluge".
Good points, thanks Stuart, but you're one Louis short on the alleged quote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apr%C3%A8s_moi,_le_d%C3%A9luge
True I was mixing it up with the probably apocryphal "L'étât c'est moi"
Anarchists would say "L'etat c'est le deluge!"
That's real, philosophical anarchists, not GOPers who simply want to oppose and wreck everything.
Yes but being run by people who want total control and to make sure their interests are the only ones that count for their "reign" .