442 Comments

Aaron Salter Jr. should be awarded posthumously the Congressional Medal of Honor for Conspicuous Gallantry and bravery for defending citizens who came under assault rifle terrorist attack in Buffalo, NY. The 55 year old retired policeman and security guard who was not wearing body armor, outgunned and knew it, armed only with his service pistol, and alone in defense, engaged the Buffalo shooter who did have body armor, an assault rifle with multiple high capacity magazines, and other weapons. Officer Salter left safety of cover to engage and shoot the suspect multiple times in an attempt to shield innocent shoppers at deadly risk to himself. Officer Salter’s actions of selfless courage and bravery saved lives and bought time for some to escape until more help could arrive. Alone, Aaron’s quick action, made in the heat of battle, without regard for his own safety, cost him his life, a willing and costly sacrifice to the people of Buffalo, New York, United States of America.

Defending a country means you defend its citizens, the people, and that’s exactly what Arron Salter Jr did this past weekend. President Biden should present him posthumously with the highest military honor for bravery on behalf of our country.

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"Action above and beyond the call of duty." It certainly does qualify for an MoH.

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I wrote that because I thought that while we aren’t at war with any of our fellow citizens or groups, they are at war with us. White Supremist declared war a long long time ago. They are waging an insurgency with guerrilla tactics, taught by the Turner Diaries: Independent cells and/or loner ambush attacks upon soft targets: our schools, markets, concerts, nightlife clubs or districts. We don’t know when or where their next strike will be, but it will be perpetrated on the weaker, the very young, the vulnerable, places where our families shop, learn, worship, or just gather to relax and have fun.

Perhaps we can teach the press and our leaders on how to start framing racial violence the correct way. This is a domestic war whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. It is being waged upon us. It is time to become highly organized and focused. The time has come for us to wage our peaceful counter attack, unholster the collective common sense.

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"This is a domestic war whether we choose to acknowledge it or not."

Yes, but the smart members of the other side are not committing violence so that they go to jail.

Instead, they incite violence with words from places that, apparently, are immune from legal prosecution in this country. Apparently, it is simply not possible to bring charges of sedition anymore (although it once was).

Good news though!! Schumer wrote a letter to Rupert to beg that Tucker stop fomenting death and destruction and be a good boy.

I wonder how much laughter that will cause in the halls of Murdoch's kingdom?

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The Murdochs may chuckle. They can afford to laugh off any criticism. Perhaps Schumer's (and lot's of other prominent people, please) next letter should be to the advertisers on Fox and specifically on the shows like Carlson's and Hannity's. It is always about the money.

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Advertising means a lot less to them than the huge fees they reap from being on every cable service in the country. Congress should pass legislation requiring cable services to offer menus to subscribers from which they can choose what channels they want available. Let's find out how many people actually want their dreck.

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Yes!

Congress should also pass some legislation that prevents the internet monopolies from squeezing Americans - talk about inflation!

We have two choices: Comcast and Verizon. But Verizon doesn't offer true high speed internet in our neighborhood. So...we are stuck with one of the most unpopular companies in America. Why? Just try to buy only internet service. They black mail us into packages involving TV and phone we don't want.

BTW, this is not just a "rural problem". I could walk to Boston if I needed to.

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Many people (including me) don't have cable anymore just for that reason. We need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/955/fairness-doctrine.

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Carol and Jim, yes, yes, YES!!!! Best idea ever. This had been recommended individually, but if this is brought before Congress, EVEN IF IT DOESN'T PASS, it can get the press coverage to really start a movement. The one problem is unbundling the Fox Sports channel from the rest of it. (Not for me, but many. Not insurmountable, though. )

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For what it's worth, I disconnected cable and I'm entirely on streaming with an Apple + device. I can't say often enough how satisfied I am and I have a bit more $ in my pocket. (If I don't subscribe to several streaming sites at once.) I got disgusted with the tripe on cable and their ever-increasing fees.

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True that, but hitting the advertisers is a good place to start. Not so much for fiscal reasons, but for the optics. Other media sources might pick up a boycott story .

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or perhaps our government officials should address the plague of propaganda that has handcuffed them... a cabinet-level commission.

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Rupert loves power, he told a reporter in the UK that he wanted Tony Blair to answer the phone when he called; you are 109% right. Money = power. It always has.

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I think there is something incredibly needy and hollow in people who want that kind of power. Something tragically lacking inside.

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We need to get a list of companies advertising on fox 'news' and start a national boycott.

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Just cancel cable. It is not a need, but a want. We use an antenna instead ($60 one time purchase) and I recognize also being fortunate to be able to stream movies or sports. Some areas don’t yet have that option. But for this group here, if enough in a community stopped being held hostage by their cable company, it might make them sit up and take notice. Naïve, I know. ;) There have been boycotts recently but then it drops off the radar and the companies go back to donating $$ to lobby to protect against having to cough up their fair share of taxes. Think Toyota. Under a fascist leader they would probably have to cough up profits to him/her instead of shareholders. That might make them wince.

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B-I-N-G-O, Bill. Bingo.

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Good thought. I believe the only way to get to these creeps is through their pocketbook. Tank their ratings.

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I was just thinking that it a great idea to target the advertisers and thought perhaps we could all start creating a list - that is until I realized In would have to watch the show. A perfect dilemma. But I think your idea is sound. I have never started a petition but that might be an idea too. So I will start tonight first to see if I can find out on line who the advertisers are, or god forbid I will watch the show.

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I am glad that Schumer called the “journalist” Rupert by name. It’s a first. He thinks owning the WSJ gives him cover for Fox’s treasonous rhetoric. Of course journalists are protected in myriad ways as our “Free press” has been corrupted beyond recognition by Murdoch. This despite Fox being legally described as entertainment. Reagan gave him license to take down our “Walter style” communication and “entertain” us all the way to chump. Waiting for the day when Rupert Murdoch’s name is synonymous with Goebbels. Of course, Goebbels didn’t have that entertainment aspect.

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Why aren't the names called out like Ingraham, Carlson, Doocey, etc who promote racism and incite violence? What is the purpose of not naming names?

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Wondering how a Trump-appointed Judge would have reacted to claims by Goebbels and Julius Streicher that they were "just entertainers."

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Many Germans believed, and many German Jews also believed that once Hitler got to power, fulfilling his goal, he would mellow out & lead Germany like a normal politician. They just couldn't' believe that their country would produce someone could perpetrate such evil things. Maybe we should use terms like grooming for what is really going on. That Republican's are grooming their base for Authoritarianism. And as they 'obey in advance', the base teaches the leadership how much power over them they really have. It is extraordinary to observe this phenomenon today.

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We need a repeal of the Section 230 exception that protects social media from the propagation of hateful content and enforce the liability of Fox news and tucker carlson to prosecution for their disinformation and fostering these attacks.

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One of the Buffalo families is going to sue the gun manufacturer - maybe they can sue Tucker as well!

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I think we’ll all be hearing the reverberations of their laughter. Yesterday I shared a glass of wine with a neighbor and upon saying goodnight I noticed her partner was glued to Fox. Domestic warfare is so much trickier than the kind of wars we’re familiar with.

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I have a good friend whose husband watches Fox, to her horror. When she suggested he watch something else, he decided to flip between 3 channels MSNBC, CNN and Fox. He reported that MSNBC and CNN talked about racists and old, white supremacists and Fox supported old white men-- which, evidently, felt comfortable to him.

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You shouldn't share a glass of wine during the pandemic.

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" they incite violence with words from places that, apparently, are immune from legal prosecution in this country."

TCinLA wrote this yesterday about "stochastic terrorism":

https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/stochastic-terrorism?r=17d5s&s=r

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TC's is an excellent and important essay to read. He makes the clear connection between the extreme media and internet sites to the so-called "lone wolf" assassins. I've posted it to my FB feed.

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I heard President Biden speaking about the shooting victims as I was headed to the grocery store. The ordinary places where people go as part of everyday life (the grocery store, for gosh sakes) feel dangerous now. Does anyone ever wonder when you go to do a normal errand that you might not come home?

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When I moved from teaching high school to a software job in 1998, my mother was relieved that I was less likely to killed by a shooter.

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What a horrible statement this comment makes when it says what it does about our country. Your Mom was spot on.

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I believe this is how a lot of teachers and kids feel but do not speak about it. Subconsciously what is the effect on having "active shooter drills", like how if you are over 50, we had fire drills, Tornado drills, Nuclear War Fall out drills. This vulnerability has to be traumatic for our kids, at school. How can one learn to their potential while being traumatized by school shootings over and over again? This trauma has to affect an individuals ability to learn to potential. This is weakening our country. It is unacceptable.

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Ally, just a little primary election update. It looks like Salinas has prevailed in CD six on the D side while after spending tons of crypto money, flannel shirt Carrick Flynn has not won. Kurt Schrader is behind, but ballots are not counted yet in Clackistan because of a printing error. It looks like three women vying for governor.

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That is so incredibly sad.

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"The culture of fear" has been manufactured as a political weapon to cement power.

In Maslow's hierarchy of needs physiological needs (food and shelter) are the foundation, then security. When you control these lower level subconscious needs: economic suppression and by allowing for and encouraging fear by growing gun violence you are maintaining a baseline of psychological insecurity, you inhibit higher order decision making and thinking. In this way, power over voting is secured as people are manipulated by fear to not participate. " I cant worry about politics and voting, i have to work two or three jobs to make ends to put food on the table, make rent, and pay bills, keep my kids safe." Psychologically exhausted the poor and many in the middle class do not have time for politics. Then add fear with racism and gun violence. Its unbearable to the subconscious mind. Retreat into daily life is the only option. This is how oppression operates in American Society. It doesn't have to be this way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

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I studied Maslow’s theory and you are so right on tying it to what is happening now. Just take the baby formula crisis!! We are oppressed, yes. We have the right to protest but we fear we may shot or maimed. What we didn’t have before was a means of communication directly to the powers that be, like Chump, Congress, corporations. These can/have work(ed) to our advantage. We have to be louder and more demanding so we can be the tired and poor messengers, on their behalf.

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No more bowling alone. Robert Putnam explains how to, from history from the Progressive Era.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03js37m

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Yup

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Absolutely! It’s a terrible feeling.

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You read my mind, and expressed coherently what I have not been able to. I have been thinking that the war has started and we don’t want to admit it. You articulate the problems and some solutions beautifully and I salute you.

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I have thought this has already begun for a long time. I am sure our neighborhood is bristling with guns with many owners who would love to plug libs and people of a different hue or ethnic group.. I would feel better if I thought the local constabulary were likely to do something about people like this, but too often they seem to aid and abet. What really angers me is all the hand wringing and thoughts and prayers when the obvious solution is much stricter gun laws. Yes, I know, dream on.

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It’s been a long time since I commented here, but your recommendation is well reasoned and heartbreaking to read. I wanted to agree. Thank you. ❤️🤍💙

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Ted, I agree with what you said in awarding Aaron Salter the Congressional Medal of Honor and do it on July 4. It is time that prominent people in politics and journalism call out Murdoch, Carlson, Hannity, prominent members of the Republican party, and others for the part they play in these acts. Senator Schumer's letter should be posted in all the major Sunday newspapers. The Democratic party should purchase Super Bowl type ads during the NBA and NHL playoffs, major PGA golf tournaments, and televised NASCAR races that calls out the big three and their part in promoting white supremacy. Continue the assault during the NFL season and MLB playoffs and World Series. Buy ad space at the major sporting venues and pass the message on. DO NOT RELENT until Fox News acknowledges their role in stoking the flames. Corporations need to pull their advertising from Fox the way McDonald's closed the doors in Russia. They say money talks.

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Thanks Arthur, I think this speech by Robert Kennedy helped reframe racial and institutional violence in his times, although I am not certain, I thnk our leaders need to try some new pressures.

I believe we do need to frame it as a war. Another symbol is what that shooter wore, military fatigues and boots, he dressed as a soldier would, and he was indoctrinated to see others not like him, as enemies, as aliens as if he attended an online virtual "boot camp".

"We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community, men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear - only a common desire to retreat from each other - only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. ...For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly, destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is a slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter."

We need to demand from our leaders that they are correct to designate Fox News as neo institution of hate, and that FOX's purposeful sewing of distrust from knowing disinformation leads not to just disagreements but racially motivated violence that threatens our national security. This how to "destabilize democracies". Perhaps sanctions on Murdoch and FOX are what is required from our leaders today. For just as Putin did not stop at Chechnya, Georgia or Ukraine, Murdoch will not stop until we force him to. And that is what needs to happen.

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy/robert-f-kennedy-speeches/remarks-to-the-cleveland-city-club-april-5-1968

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Perfectly written, Ted. Your words need to be incorporated into the quote. It's time to call it like we all see it, and mean it! And it needs to be sent not only to Fox, but to OANN and all other purveyors of destruction of our democracy.

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Amen Nancy!

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Ted, you're absolutely correct in both of your comments. Even Christopher Wray articulated that these groups and their rhetoric are the most worrisome threats to our country. Their "soldiers" are the gullible, troubled, and they're armed to the teeth with military weapons, and the radical Republican lawmakers seem to approve.

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I had to read about The Turner Diaries. Shocking stuff, depressing as all get out. Reminds me of how angry I was that Charlottesville's "Unite the Right" was so badly handled by local and federal authorities. I cant bring myself to say what I want to call it. It certainly popped a cork, just as this fetid trash book appears to have done. Hate to admit it but it leaves me fantasizing about a book burning. Surely, herein, the greatest danger in these times is precisely this: fighting fire with fire turns us into "them"(?), which would certainly be their greatest victory, now, wouldn't it? On one hand....then the other...ad infinitum!

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"Violence begets violence, repression only breeds retaliation"-RFK

Bring the War Home by Kathleen Belew is a really good compliment to the 1619 Project. Both books complement one another. 1619 tells us the history and experiences of black people, while Below explains the history and viewpoint from white supremist. Belew's book explains the militarization of WS, as special forces Vietnam vets ( shared their counter insurgency war strategies and tactics) post Vietnam to both WS and the anti government crazies, Christian Evangelicals, Anti Abortion Militants. These groups have melded together into the neo white national supremist movement, and they know how to recruit new members using online recruitment ( a lot like Al Qaeda did throughout the Middle East). Now, this super neo insurgent group looks to Putin as their natural world leader on race, christian fascism, and violence as means to their ends. They have become hardened, more collective, better organized, more inspired, since 2016 when Putin's IRA went hog wild on the internet to connect these groups as one. Some crazy stuff is going down in our country and we should pay attention to it.

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This from our county democratic committee this morning- a riveting, comprehensive accounting by David Rothkopf on Twitter of the cancer in our society: "The author, columnist and podcaster David Rothkopf has done a brilliant job of connecting the dots in this matter, offering a stunning revelation of the cancer we have all seen metastasizing for years". @drothkopfMay 15

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Okay...here's his tweet...I tried to copy and paste it into some kind of form, keeping in mind these are a series of short tweets of limited number of characters. It doesn't follow grammar rules (grammarians, avert your eyes), but he makes his points.

Common Sense for the 21st Century

It's the guns, but it's not just the guns. It's the racism, but it's not just the racism. It's the misogyny, but it's not just the misogyny. It's the attacks on democracy but it's not just the attacks on democracy. It's the assault on the truth, on teaching history and science, but it's not just the assault on the truth and facts and reality and banning books. It's the corruption but it's not just the corruption and the cover-ups and the obstruction of justice and the gaming of our courts.

What happened in Buffalo is not just about some isolated shooter, some deranged sociopath. He was fueled by an ideology of hate promoted by an American president, by a leading American news channel, by an entire US political party. His brutality was enabled by decades of massive spending, some of it from enemies like Russia, to not just promote guns in the US but to twist & pervert the interpretation of the Second Amendment to turn America into one of the world's most dangerous, self-destructive societies. He was part of the very same movement that has political candidates blocking access to the press, offering up the same right wing catechism of hate, seeking to block access of people of color to the polls, seeking to deny gay Americans the right to love whom they want.

From Murdoch to Trump to McConnell to Alito flows the ideology of the superiority of whites...but not just of whites but of white males...and not just of white males but of white Evangelical Christian males. But their mantras and slogans of racial, cultural superiority are accompanied by other doctrines promoting fear of minorities, of white replacement theory gleefully promoted by Tucker Carlson & other despicable lunatics, of racist myths about brown babies in need of formula or caravans of "the other" assaulting our southern borders. They are not just systematically trying to deny power and basic human rights from control of their own body to the ability to cast a vote to determine the future of the nation in which they live to those with whom they disagree, they are working daily to drown out other views. They preach "free speech" as a cover for seeking discourse on the web that can promote snake oil and race war & that can destroy the reputations of their enemies even as they seek to quash elements of history, realities of scientific truth, that don't fit their warped worldview.

Compounding their hypocrisy is that the people for whom they assert they are fighting are just dupes, pawns they use to maintain power so the leaders of the movement and its funders can profit, can rig our system to promote inequality and to enhance already obscene riches. They promote conspiracy theories to distract from the fact that so much of what they do that seems isolated is actually connected, is all part of a plan, is all part of one, coherent, thought out, decades old right wing agenda.

The Buffalo shooting and political candidates selling hate, the SCOTUS decision on abortion and our insane gun laws, our national gun pathology (that the court will only make worse) and banned books in elementary schools and Texan abuse of COVID funds and DeSantis throwing reporters out of public meetings and Hawley giving the thumbs up to insurrectionists and Barr blocking prosecution of Trump for obstruction of justice and Ivanka and Jared making millions while in office and groveling to the Russians and blackmailing Ukraine and both impeachments and Congressional Xmas cards featuring kids with assault weapons and threats to hang the Vice President of the United States and the Tree of Life shooting and the babies in cages at the border and tax cuts for billionaires and Elon Musk's reasons for wanting to take over Twitter and the wink and the nod to the murder of Khashoggi and failing to help Puerto Rico after a hurricane or California after devastating fires and lying about COVID and promoting horse medicines for people and bleach into your veins and the pillow salesman and the crazies on the right in Congress and 63 Republicans voting not to support Ukraine and Rand Paul blocking aid to that country and Citizens United & Shelby County & the packing of the court and Ginni Thomas helping to promote the Big Lie and the coup and attacking the Squad and "lock her up" and calling people "pedos" and all of it...all of it...is the work of one movement, one that is destroying the US.

The funders are the same, the leaders are the same, the media mouthpieces are the same, the actions compound the effect of other actions, the grassroots supporters are the same and the consequences for each of us, for our society, for our democracy are equally dire. To defeat them takes seeing the scope of what is happening for what it is...seeing their intents are to compound the past with further abuses, attacks on our rights, institutionalization of their minority view, suppression of the will of the majority of us. It will require us to be as systematic as they are and as thorough. It requires not just winning races but undoing the damage they have done, restoring core principles to the operations of our government and of our society, ideas like equal justice under the law and decency, tolerance and one person one vote, defending the truth and common sense, honesty and the willingness to fight within the parameters of the law to defend what we value. We must do all that. It won't be easy. The outcome is not guaranteed. The risks are immense. But it all begins with seeing the big picture, recognizing the links, identifying the origins of this tragic chapter in our history.

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Yes, it won't be easy, and will "require us to be as systematic as they are and as thorough...it all begins with seeing the big picture." We must all put our emotion and outrage into seeing this through and doing our best to right the centuries of damage, or we will have to spend eternity with those who have created the carnage. Thank you, Bruce.

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Just copied and pasted and shared, with reference to Thomas Paine! David Rothkopf needs to put this into a "pamphlet" and start The 2nd American Revolution !!

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WOW! Thank You Bruce for translaing and compiling from Twitterish!

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Wow!!

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Thanks very much!

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For those of us who quit Twitter, can you post the text here?

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Rothkopf's dissection is right on. Here's a link: https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1525814394638286848

And the text:

It's the guns, but it's not just the guns. It's the racism, but it's not just the racism. It's the misogyny, but it's not just the misogyny. It's the attacks on democracy but it's not just the attacks on democracy.

It's the assault on the truth, on teaching history and science, but it's not just the assault on the truth and facts and reality and banning books. It's the corruption but it's not just the corruption and the cover-ups and the obstruction of justice and the gaming of our courts.

What happened in Buffalo is not just about some isolated shooter, some deranged sociopath. He was fueled by an ideology of hate promoted by an American president, by a leading American news channel, by an entire US political party.

His brutality was enabled by decades of massive spending, some of it from enemies like Russia, to not just promote guns in the US but to twist & pervert the interpretation of the Second Amendment to turn America into one of the world's most dangerous, self-destructive societies.

He was part of the very same movement that has political candidates blocking access to the press, offering up the same right wing catechism of hate, seeking to block access of people of color to the polls, seeking to deny gay Americans the right to love whom they want.

From Murdoch to Trump to McConnell to Alito flows the ideology of the superiority of whites...but not just of whites but of white males...and not just of white males but of white Evangelical Christian males. But their mantras and slogans of racial, cultural superiority...

...are accompanied by other doctrines promoting fear of minorities, of white replacement theory gleefully promoted by Tucker Carlson & other despicable lunatics, of racist myths about brown babies in need of formula or caravans of "the other" assaulting our southern borders.

They are not just systematically trying to deny power and basic human rights from control of their own body to the ability to cast a vote to determine the future of the nation in which they live to those with whom they disagree, they are working daily to drown out other views.

They preach "free speech" as a cover for seeking discourse on the web that can promote snake oil and race war & that can destroy the reputations of their enemies even as they seek to quash elements of history, realities of scientific truth, that don't fit their warped worldview.

Compounding their hypocrisy is that the people for whom they assert they are fighting are just dupes, pawns they use to maintain power so the leaders of the movement and its funders can profit, can rig our system to promote inequality and to enhance already obscene riches.

They promote conspiracy theories to distract from the fact that so much of what they do that seems isolated is actually connected, is all part of a plan, is all part of one, coherent, thought out, decades old right wing agenda.

The Buffalo shooting and political candidates selling hate, the SCOTUS decision on abortion and our insane gun laws, our national gun pathology (that the court will only make worse) and banned books in elementary schools and Texan abuse of COVID funds and...

DeSantis throwing reporters out of public meetings and Hawley giving the thumbs up to insurrectionists and Barr blocking prosecution of Trump for obstruction of justice and Ivanka and Jared making millions while in office and groveling to the Russians and...

...blackmailing Ukraine and both impeachments and Congressional Xmas cards featuring kids with assault weapons and threats to hang the Vice President of the United States and the Tree of Life shooting and the babies in cages at the border and...

...tax cuts for billionaires and Elon Musk's reasons for wanting to take over Twitter and the wink and the nod to the murder of Khashoggi and failing to help Puerto Rico after a hurricane or California after devastating fires and...

lying about COVID and promoting horse medicines for people and bleach into your veins and the pillow salesman and the crazies on the right in Congress and 63 Republicans voting not to support Ukraine and Rand Paul blocking aid to that country and...

...Citizens United & Shelby County & the packing of the court and Ginni Thomas helping to promote the Big Lie and the coup and attacking the Squad and "lock her up" and calling people "pedos" and all of it...all of it...is the work of one movement, one that is destroying the US.

The funders are the same, the leaders are the same, the media mouthpieces are the same, the actions compound the effect of other actions, the grassroots supporters are the same and the consequences for each of us, for our society, for our democracy are equally dire.

To defeat them takes seeing the scope of what is happening for what it is...seeing their intents are to compound the past with further abuses, attacks on our rights, institutionalization of their minority view, suppression of the will of the majority of us.

It will require us to be as systematic as they are and as thorough. It requires not just winning races but undoing the damage they have done, restoring core principles to the operations of our government and of our society, ideas like equal justice under the law and decency,

tolerance and one person one vote, defending the truth and common sense, honesty and the willingness to fight within the parameters of the law to defend what we value. We must do all that. It won't be easy. The outcome is not guaranteed. The risks are immense.

But it all begins with seeing the big picture, recognizing the links, identifying the origins of this tragic chapter in our history.

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Thanks very much.

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Michael just beat me to it! I just posted it above...

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Jeff, I'm not on Twitter either. The link was in an email and when I cut and pasted it to this column it was no longer live. Also tried copying the whole Twitter thread to paste here but didn't work. Anyone on Twitter able to post the live link?

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See Michael Bales, above. His link worked for me although I'm not on Twitter. He cut and pasted the entire thread making it far easier to read than in the Twitter segments. I see Bruce Sellers has also copied the tweets into a more readable format.

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Very well said. Thank you.

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Your written words made a huge impact on me. Thank you, Ted.

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Sorry. I'd like to say I'da shot that POS/SOB dead in the head...BLAM... game over! But, I wasn't standing in Mr. Aaron Salter Jr.'s shoes. He probably never thought he'd come face to face with such a lunatic.., in that grocery store. When he did, his training taught him to aim so as not to miss, therefore disabling the shooter. Unfortunately, these days, pinheads all have body armor. Blowing the shooters head off is probably what most of us would've likened to do. However.., missing that moving target would not have ended well for you & me. I only hope we didn't lose this American in vain.

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That’s what I thought as well, a head shot would have ended it but it was a much smaller target if your hands are shaking and the bastard was chopping up people all around you, God Bless him, he tried.

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I have often thought that when I hear the cry of the gun lobby folks, that everyone armed would stop these things from happening. I always think--and when the police comes in, how will they know who is the bad guy shooting and who is the "good" guy shooting?

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I believe that already happened at one of the school shootings, where the good guy got shot by police. A black man, of course. Don't remember the details. Maybe someone can refresh.

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Sending strength, hope, and love to his family and to the families of all the victims of this tragedy!😔😔😔😔

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I agree with you, Ted, wholeheartedly.

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We are at war with an enemy from within—“a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, so the award would be appropriate and would send the message of a war of ideology against national security.

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Yes, he should! What a brave man he was, and his family should be so proud of him! My heart breaks for his family and friends!

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Ted, My thoughts like yours and many others of us looking for the roots of White Supremacy have found them right here in the USA, although there are other sources as well.

Today’s Letter began and ended with the ideology of White Supremacy, which may end Democracy in the United States of America. In the middle of the Letter, HCR notes that employing the Rule Of Law may finally deliver justice to traitors of our country. My comment concerns White Supremacy.

Buffalo resident, James Baldwin, to my mind, expressed the truest thought about the massacre of human beings in Buffalo, N.Y. He dismissed the notion that it was the devil who inspired the Buffalo shooter,

“That’s not the devil,” he said. “That’s America. They made him, they brought him up, they put him there.” (The Letter)

‘… in the wake of the Buffalo shooting, Miles Taylor—a member of Trump’s administration who warned anonymously of how dangerous Trump was—announced he was leaving the Republican Party and called on others to do the same. “In the wake of the mass shooting in Buffalo on Saturday,” he wrote, “it’s become glaringly obvious that my party no longer represents conservative values but in fact poses a threat to them—and to America.” (The Letter)

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This James Baldwin is absolutely correct!

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Yes, Marlene, and I was stopped by his name, stared at it and brought his namesake on stage as well. James Baldwin and James Baldwin. Too much!

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And that is true heroism.

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I could not agree more.

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Beautifully put and Aaron Salter Jr. should get an MoH.

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👌🏼

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Elise Stefanik says mourn, don’t politicize. Does her party regret politicizing Covid public health measures? Do they mourn the unnecessary deaths that caused? So far no, and, no.

I am glad Biden named each Buffalo shooting victim and told something about each one. White Americans need to see Black Americans just being ordinary grocery-buying people. Black Americans are regular Americans. By the way, they are Legacy Americans, too, Tucker Carlson. They go way back, some as far back as 1619.

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Elise Stefanik is the worst kind of opportunist. She obviously has no moral compass and no core beliefs past "Gimme mine," and she will literally do anything to attain her goal.

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The South Park writer, Toby Morton, snagged himself a website domain called https://www.elisestefanik2022.com and has been mocking her ever since. He even includes links to other "GOP Sycophant Websites." I'm normally a turn the other cheek kinda gal...Well not these days.

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I saw this "ad" yesterday and wondered how it got attributed to Stefanik. What a great spoof.

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I saw that…brilliant! She’s such a “tool”, as my kids used to say.

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No member of the GOP has a moral compass. No, not Liz Cheney, and no, not even John McCain. They still vote for the deeply heartless policies of the party. If they had a moral compass, they would leave the party altogether.

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Holly you have hit the nail right on the head. Although, many are "nice folks" by most definitions, and I believe have just not connected the dots. Call it willful ignorance. But to me that is no excuse. The Republican platform is not based on reality, and has no ability to respond to change and progress. Furthermore, it doesn't appear to support real democracy - although it won't be said outwardly, it covertly thinks only some people are meant to vote for their government. And they are willing to subvert the process to better assure only those people vote. Under the cover of voter fraud. And most importantly to me - a political party that rejects the notion of climate change and/or a policy to do something about it. That to me is pure evil. It speaks worlds about their priorities, their morals.

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TC, in other words, she is just a normal American well within the normal American culture and popular enough to get elected in New York.

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Unfortunately, Mike, that's exactly right. She's no different than many "normal" folks who have hate in their hearts which puts money in their pockets.

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The average American doesn't have a degree from Harvard. She does. She KNOWS better.

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Isn't it interesting that Harvard does not teach empathy/compassion. Several of those "Harvard grads" don't "know" (Cruz, Hawley etc)any better either.

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Harvard is a leadership school. Beware of charismatic people with an infatuation studying leadership.

Charisma can be confused with leadership, in that confusion, the narcist tumor can fester and become malignant. "People with inflated egos are drawn to theories that glorify leader dominance and charisma. (Adam Grant).

Great leaders view their roles as an act of service, not an avenue for authority and attention." (The Narcissistic Appeal of Leadership Theories." Steffens & Haslam)

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If Harvard and Yale wanted to show leadership, they should have revoked Cruz and Hawley's degrees on Jan 7th, at 8am.

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TC Elise Stefanik emerged from obscurity only a few years ago and then scurried up the Trump ladder of sycophants to now be in the Valhalla of Trump, Cruz, Hawley, DeSantis, and other big chunks that have floated to the top.

McCarthy and Stefanik are at the top of the Republican Congressmen/women. Are you ready for an encore of the Clinton Benghazi hearing and excruciating examination of Hunter Biden’s lap top?

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the national party has an ironclad grip on its members. you can't make dog catcher without falling in line. on the other side of the aisle - 'i am not a member of any organized party; i'm a democrat.' will rogers.

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Desperado I don’t consider MAGA ‘Republicans’ as part of a national party.Like food poisoning, it will be a painful experience under Trumpites take their lumps. Hopefully, the June open sessions of the House 1/6 committee and DOJ indictments will shake Jabba the Hutt’s hold over a disparate segment of the American public. Yuck McConnell is already singing a different turn as he endeavors to sleaze back into Senate Majority Leader.

My immediate focus is on the Senate in November. That would assure a fair process, would another Stench Court opening to arise. By 2024 our country should be flourishing and the naysayer MAGAs, like McCarthyites during the 1950s, will ooze off—some founded the John Birch Society which was the MAGA of its day.

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They are still around, called MAGAts now.

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