Seeing all these signs: the flags, the Supreme Court rulings that restrict and take away freedoms, reading Project 2025 and all the rest, I feel like I’m watching a documentary from the far future entitled “The Year it Ended in Darkness”. PT Barnum had it right except suckers aren’t just born every minute, they’re converted because someone took away their pacifier that they are somehow more deserving and entitled and this is their chance to lash out. Usually, I can laugh and rage at this and I don’t know why knowing Leonard Leo also flies the Appeal to Heaven flag is my final straw tonight but this seems creepy and terrifying, like a secret handshake we see out in public and not enough people believe us. I know I’ll be ok again tomorrow but wow.
Thank you Dr Richardson as always for shining a light of knowledge and context.
I love being proven wrong in this way. I had been complaining that HCR 'did not talk about Leonard.' And in today's Letter she leads with Leo! (ThankYou also to a fellow commenter who provided a Letter from almost exactly a year ago.)
It's not just the politicians and party, populists and plutocrats, pundits and personalities, with a bent for authoritarianism. And in this case, religious extremists hungry for a corporate clerical fascist state. It's all those who step up to do the day to day work. The Eichmanns and apparatchiks. All those filling out applications for The Heritage Society's Project 2025. As a path to personal advancement.
"For when I speak of the banality of evil, I do so only on the strictly factual level, pointing to a phenomenon which stared one in the face at the trial. Eichmann was not Iago and not Macbeth, and nothing would have been farther from his mind than to determine with Richard III 'to prove a villain.' Except for an extraordinary diligence in looking out for his personal advancement, he had no motives at all… He merely, to put the matter colloquially, never realized what he was doing… It was sheer thoughtlessness—something by no means identical with stupidity—that predisposed him to become one of the greatest criminals of that period.
And if this is 'banal' and even funny, if with the best will in the world one cannot extract any diabolical or demonic profundity from Eichmann, this is still far from calling it commonplace… That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together which, perhaps, are inherent in man—that was, in fact, the lesson one could learn in Jerusalem.
- Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
Tragically, today in Jerusalem, having seemingly missed the lesson of the Eichmann trial, we have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich et al. And in the US, AIPAC, the Evangelicals, and the Republican party. Whose reflexive and thoughtless response to the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7, are piling wreckage on wreckage. On Palestinians, on Israel itself, and by extension the USA. And of course, Hamas and Iran saw an opening for their attack in the Netanyahu regime's preoccupation with a Leonard Leo style court capture, throwing Israeli government and society into disarray.
Of course, you know, lin, how these characters always self-identify.
They speak in slogans, abstractions, dead metaphor, bureaucratic cliché, and all the other forms of what Orwell called "bad language."
And yes, so many of them -- all kissing up to power, always. Never possessed of any humanities, which ground us in the specifics of things we love, things that hurt.
Not in MAGAmerica! They are not crimes in that country, they are the means to an end! And that end, well, I think that each of us has a fitting answer so I'll leave it to you. the reader, to complete the thought of what end you will see. Each of us I think will agree on much but with different emphasis depending on our experiences & wisdom.
I worked really hard to educate people and the media (through comments and letters) about the No Labels Party. A lot of people did. This is what is takes.
None of this is luck. My biggest concern about this Election isn't the power of the Democrats but the malaise and defeatist attitude of the electorate.
Phil, and those are the guys who don't want real history taught in our schools or the humanities unless they are books approved by themselves, folks who hardly read anything but their own propaganda. They also are working to shape and totally take over our social media platforms by "permitting" anything to be spewed forth. They have more money than ordinary people, so can see that more of the lies and disinformation are entered than the truth which they have been pretty effective at blotting out or hiding from all but the very persistent. We need ways to wake up at least a few of these people imprisoned in their likes and sharing what is not true, so we can get Democrats elected at every level in this nation so this insanity can be turned around.
The current term for banal is “normalize.” Once you’ve normalized evil, people tend to just roll over and accept it. Evil becomes banal. The norm. And here we are.
At a public lecture, a geophysicist speaking on subduction zones described one as, "folding fracturing, fissuring friction forces". It sounded like poetry to me and I wrote those words on pots after that and gave him one -- I never saw him appreciate the wondrousness he gave me. ( I was a potter privileged to have samples from scientists' scraps of muds and rock powders that I used for glaze. Since I had materials from converging and diverging plate boundaries, I was eager to grasp plate tectonics.)
I think you are right Lin and it is devastatingly simple. I look at good people around me who vote to protect their wealth, or their lifestyle, or their comfort. Ignoring the long term consequences of white supremacy or the idea that those who give themselves extraordinary power can take that lifestyle, comfort, and wealth in a nanosecond.
I have been confused by this behavior, concocting extravagant reasons for their choices...but after reading your post I think it is simple. They want to protect what they spent a lifetime building...not willing to consider future ramifications of their choices.
Susan, those that have created a good life for themselves only think that trump will help them keep their nest egg but in the long run but I know they are not any better off. Especially like you say they cannot see the road of authoritarianism ahead. Stupid, ignorant and self centered just like their leader or idiot they follow.
Maybe it could be that simple ... among old people or folks at what they perceive to be nearing the end of their acquisition stage. Gotta keep what is mine if I'm going to make it to the finish line with my dime in my pocket with the tribe I chose.
lin, I chuckled this morning reading LFAA and seeing Leonard Leo mentioned in the first sentence. Having read your recent comments here and elsewhere, the timing was both excellent and sweet for calling out Leo’s destruction of the Supreme Court. And connecting the dots for those who don’t seem to get how influential the Federalist Society is.
I grew up Catholic and had dozens of opportunities, with my parents, to discuss how faithful Catholics could or should vote and/or be active in politics as an American.
Leo and the many who work with him, fail every measure, every policy ideal, every rule I learned. Biden, on the other hand, walks the walk. Every day.
As hammered as I feel given the complete corruption of the Supreme Court by Leo and his ilk, I will do what I always do under pressure - help get out the vote (Field team 6 - register Democrats).
Elect more Democrats. Expand the court. Preserve democracy. Rinse. Repeat.
Along with ProPublica, True North Research, and Accountable USA, the National Catholic Reporter has done fine critiques of Leo.
I think the American Council of Bishops might represent a schism in the church. More aligned with the GOP and Evangelicals than with Pope Francis. Or even with Vatican 2.
I have been saying ( mostly to myself, because people shut out what I say) and now I know, firsthand, how a nation like Germany could fall under the spell of fascism. Before this year ends, we may be saying to ourselves, why didn’t we stop this when we were still able to? The future for democracy is uncertain. These people had this plan in the works since the 1990’s IMHO.
Quite likely, I wondered why my Republican friend got religion so suddenly and unexpectedly, now I know why. He also made the bizarre statement that Democrats should not be allowed to vote. I disregarded it back then but it has become relevant now.
I know, Jean, I’ve wondered in comments here before how is it possible to have my hair on fire whilst being chilled to the bone by it all???!!! This was my realization after reading Project 2025 & the Heritage Foundation’s announcment of it back when it dropped to the public.
"That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together which, perhaps, are inherent in man—that was, in fact, the lesson one could learn in Jerusalem. " Chilling.
Hamas does not get nearly enough credit in our discourses for the horror of Gaza. YahYa and friends knew what would happen when they attackef Israeli grandmas in their beds. They are getting the result they wanted.
Thank you for the quote! I have in my mind the recurring thought about the banality of evil in our time, in ourselves, in humanity itself as well. We are delft to the point of blindness.
With luck and encouragement, everyone who can vote will have a "break my soul" moment and act to stop the nightmare. Otherwise we are truly and and irrevocably lost.
I was at a restaurant some years ago, eating at the bar and chatting with the black woman manager. Her bartender kept making the white power sign at her, but she didn't know what it meant.
I told her.
The next time he did it she demanded to know if that was what he meant, and the smarmy prick dared her, yes it was.
Your post reminds me of being a kid back in the 50’s and coming home and asking my parents what does *xxx* mean? It was usually something I heard on the playground regarding an ethnic or cultural group & I had no clue, but was usually in a mocking tone. My folks would explain the meaning, and tell us kids that we don’t use such words as they are disrespectful. Never, not once, do I recall hearing my parents/grandmother/aunts & uncles speak such words.
Sioux—just got finished reading the ProPublica article once more, “We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority” 10-11-23, which is basically the history of Leo Leonard.
It’s people like him that view our country as having basically 3 classes: the poor who serve, the middle class who basically fund the country with their labor and taxes, and the uber-rich who control and rule and supply the jobs so that the other 2 classes do their jobs for the only class (the God-given class) that really matters.
A woman’s role is to birth and know her place (barefoot and pregnant), and all people of color and immigrants to serve and also to be clear about their status or lack of same. And unless the aging can support themselves by being one of the self-sustaining and therefore, deserving, they should die.
This is the belief system that is justification for this .05% of the population who are the billionaires — this is the order of things and the status quo that has been disrupted since WW2 and they intend to be reestablished.
This above vision protects leeches like Leo and many others like multibillionaire Republican megadonors like, and so many more.
What they want is to protect their billions from that pesky, pushy majority of the population. After all the billionaire class has got the power and funds to manipulate the system.
If they can keep laws from taxing them as they should, they can also wait as long as it takes for laws to be changed to match their vision of how the real “chosen”see things as they should be. Right now they make the laws, they own the companies that control news distribution and one way or the other, they control politics, if the rest of us let them.
We know what is wrong with the other side. I just wish we would examine ourselves and determine what is wrong with us and make adjustments. But we won’t because we are all hardwired to think we can do and think no wrong.
They note the hypocrisies on our side that we don't see. Like nobody is applauding South Carolina's move to create more diversity and inclusion in their Congressional Districts.
I don’t believe errors of omission to be necessarily hypocritical but rather a question of priorities. There is no possible way to please critics who demand that “their” issue should be getting front burner attention
Because knife ends with an e, so knifefight pushes the brain toward “nyfehfyt” instead of nyfyt. A double ff (“nyffyt”) begs for a pause between them. So we naturally get knife-fight.
Exactly. I mean, I think they're much worse than we are, but like on this gerrymandering issue, it's not race, but votes. Our side thinks there's nothing wrong with bending a rule about racial gerrymandering to serve our political purpose in getting more of our votes in one Congressional district. What always strikes me is how often we see it noted that Trump supporters are white rural males without a college degree. Somehow implying that maybe they're not as well educated as us and isn't it a shame that they vote like that. But we have no problem fighting as hard as we can to make sure that urban blacks without a high school degree get to vote. I don't think either side really cares about a person's race other than how it relates to how they vote.
We should meet them halfway and condone abortion only when a court says it is OK (which, given this nation's courts, the decision would come down along about the 33rd week)...?
What? How about we go back to the correct decision in Roe v Wade that stood for over 50 years? The one where women were recognized as equal human beings. The one where their healthcare was between them and their doctors, not freaking politicians or anyone else suggesting a "compromise."
This is exactly the issue. Nine individuals on the Supreme Court shouldn't have had to make "the law of the land" on abortion. Congress should have done it. If our Democracy worked right, we would all vote for our congress people, and they would deliberate, and make good laws, but instead we're in this ridiculous situation where our vote for president is made important because the president appoints those judges and we (both sides) are looking to those judges to make law. And we love it when those judges do what we want, and hate it when they do what the other side does. It should be Congress. We need to fix Congress.
In this nation’s courts, that would be the 6th week, before many women even know they are pregnant. We should NOT meet them halfway. We should do what is right. And what is right is to leave these decisions to women and their doctors.
The true democracy way to deal with an issue like abortion is Citizen Assemblies. Google Ireland, abortion and Citizen's Assembly. When people get together a deliberate on what the law should be, they make good decisions.
My decisions about my body are my business alone. Not yours, not the government’s, and not a Citizen’s Assembly.
I would also like to point out that we women are f’ing pissed off. This one issue may be the issue that keeps our democracy intact, as pissed off people are more likely to vote. That’s why Fox News keeps rousing the rabble.
Dennis, would you like a citizens Assembly to determine your health needs? Would you like them to tell you that new breakthroughs in science have made it possible for the father to carry a fetus. Since the female partner has a very low probability of carrying to term, we are voting to implant the fetus into the male cocreactor of said fetus. Oh, this was unplanned and you are not emotionally, psychologically, financially, or mature enough to have a child. Citizens Assembly does not care. Our only purpose to to ensure propagation of the species. We don’t care about the quality of parents lives, or even the child’s life after the fetus stage. Or would you like the committee to determine who gets ED treatment? Abortion in its many reasons for being needed is healthcare and should be an equal basic human right of a woman. As a woman, I sure don’t think I have the right to interfere in your healthcare. Why do you feel this entitlement?
Exactly! It infuriates me that the most outspoken leaders of the antiabortion movement are MEN! Yet do we hear anything about the role/need of male sperm to fertilize an egg???? Bet not!
Hmmm, assuming a lot of things about me...(I am 100% pro-choice and I think Roe v. Wade got it right.) The first question is, should there be a law about abortion? or are we talking some sort of divine or inalienable right? If the latter, then this political thread is inappropriate. If the former, then, the question is how best to come up with the law of our land on abortion. Our politicians use abortion to get our votes, on both sides, and there is no evidence they actually care either way. A Citizen's Assembly is exactly that, say 100 people randomly chosen from all walks of life chosen to listen to and discuss all sides of an issue and come up with a recommended law expressing as best they can the sentiments of a nation. Exactly like a jury. Ireland had anti-abortion in its constitution, and it was a political football, just like here, but they decided to try a Citizen's Assembly (CA). These were non-politicians, debating, thinking, hearing each other, and they came up with a recommendation that something like 70% of the country voted for and approved. It was very similar to the Roe v. Wade decision, but it wasn't nine elites who decided but rather 100 Irish citizens, not politicians. Google it. Really it's a much better way to deal with any contentious issue, like say immigration or health care. Our Congress could convene a CA on abortion and stop using it as football. I'll tell you what p*sses me off. It's all the Democrats who are glad about Dodd because they think it will p*ss women off and get them out to vote for Democrats. They couldn't care less about the individual suffering it's caused.
Bern, there are late term miscarriages of 33 weeks because of nonviable pregnancies—they’re rare, but they happen. The standard of care is to allow the doctor to “finish cleaning out” the uterine lining so that the woman doesn’t hemorrhage or go septic (and this dilation and curettage is called abortion). So, setting the date at 33 weeks will not solve the problem. By the way, setting any date will encourage a chipping away by those legislators who want to ban it entirely. Look at what is happening with contraception—start with IUD’s and end up outlawing all contraception that is used by women.
I'm hip tp (some of( the outer limits of pregnancy. That 33 was just a way to point out that the courts will never rule on this sort of thing til after the kid is carried to term, therefor moot.
Bern, we’ve already seen instances of miscarriages in which the court did not rule until after the fact, but it wasn’t moot because the ruling set the stage for another hospital board or lawyer to use that ruling as a reason to deny treatment until the woman ended up in the ICU. I’d like good attorneys to take the hospitals to court from ICU bills and damages.
It seems to be an unspoken conspiracy. An understanding among a certain group of coconspirators . Their influence is outsized because of money and influence.
Hello Sioux. Agreed, creepy. And no matter how well the economy is doing it does nothing to undo what the extreme republicans are doing to our country, taking us back to the late 1800’s. And there is literally nothing we the people can do.
Keeping the truth out there and public is the only way to combat these traitors. Expose them for the nazis they are.
I tell EVERYONE I talk to about what is at stake and what it is those traitors are trying to do to ALL Americans, even the foolish maga people who think those people give a damn about them. Truth. It's the only way.
Sioux, I’m with you. It’s hard to believe in all the turmoil around us but we have to keep the faith that Justice and Liberty will prevail for us all.
I have such a hard time thinking about the issue of race because there’s not one person in United States that was born here unless you’re a Native American, why does color or ethnicity matter. I wish we would be more like Canada and be a mosaic rather than thinking we have to be a melting pot .
Sioux Fleming, You sum up my take on Dr Richardson's letter perfectly. We must be full awake and we must do our best not to argue with those that think all those negative things about our economy but to replace their thinking that is fed to them because they are not reading what is really going on; we must point them to the facts and explain it is time to wake up, to smell the coffee, to think for yourself. Share Professor Richardson's Letters From an American. Vote. encourage anyone that cares about our Democracy and not wanting to go back to the 4 years prior to President Biden's term of service to America and ALL of us.
Gradual takeover of an authoritarian government has occurred so far in countries of single race - Germany, Japan, China, Hungary and so on. America is a nation of diversified races and religions and this structure cannot be unified easily except law and rules, namely democracy.
Remember the lengths Lincoln had to go to. He thought the war had won an eventual peace, when, in fact, the same evil that was temporarily overcome has risen from purgatory and plagues us today.
Good comment Jeri. The same evil has risen....... And what is the motive? The Slave owners had a lot of power, i.e. wealth. Today the power of the minority is wealth. And the only way to maintain that power is to undermine democracy. The conservative mentality is to preserve the rights of the wealthy. Nothing changes same old same old. Alito and Thomas are more than a disgrace. They are on the Court because elections have CONSEQUENCES!! This is what conservatism has wrought. In order to get elected they need an electorate that is misinformed and lacks critical thinking. The level of ignorance of the American voters can never be UNDERESTIMATED.
A road to where we are in the last 15 years was Citizens United, then Russian interference in 2015 2016 election, then Comey's Hillary laptop use right before the election, Trump putting 3 SC members after McConnell refused to bring Obama's pick, Garland, forward to the Senate because it was too close to an election, but put Amy Coney Barrettt up and on the SC while Early Voting was already started in some states, etc etc etc!!! And here we are! And I say again, where is the OUTRAGE!!!
Sandra, what really incenses me is that Comey chose to reveal an ongoing investigation into Hillary’s laptop twice while keeping silent about the investigation into Russian ties to, and assistance for, 45’s campaign.
Boy, did chump prove what a cretin he is. Instead of being grateful to Comey, he trashed him unmercifully. A lesson to any who bet on him, except the Heritage Society billionaires of course.
Four score and seven years ago, ICYMI, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, IMHO, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, FFS.
If I recall, another letter by HCR detailed how Lincoln had to fight, fight, fight to push our nation to outlaw slavery...and then it was a fight, fight, fight to establish an infrastructure to combat racism....one that has been pushed back on so many levels....by our own Supreme Court.
No need for elections anymore, when the “legislature may pursue partisan ends when it engages in redistricting.” Just pick your voters and all is well. The right’s takeover of state legislatures has solved our election questions for perpetuity, it seems. The SC makes it so??
Yes, Jeri, but worse, the Powell memo made it worse from 1971 on.
It was, more specifically, ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) which began scripting, lobbying, dictating to all Republican state legislatures shortly after the Powell memo.
And when it came to higher ed, ALEC sold all the Dem legislatures, too, on the ease of reducing funds for the public colleges and universities which had been the source of American strength from the Justin Morrill legislation of 1862 till that Powell memo.
Thus the reduction in tenure slots, the competition for narrowest orthodoxies for the few remaining tenure slots.
Thus the marginalization of humanities.
Thus the throwing of students to the banker predators for the biggest debt load in American history.
And thus, too, the lobbying of all states to let the standardized testing behemoths rule all K-12, killing humanities for that, introducing the conceits of numbering all life, giving all K-12 teachers only one agenda: teach to the test.
No argument from me here. Took me a while to see the big picture, but it was being painted by the numbers, and lo, it appeared on the horizon as pieces were filled in.
These “Christians” behave as if they totally missed the message of Jesus. I wish there were some way to linguistically differentiate them from true Christians, those who clearly understand His message. No one is sinless but God, but someone like Jimmy Carter clearly understood the real meaning of the teachings of Jesus, just as it is clear that Leo, Sam, et al. do not.
Yes, enemies. I’m wondering how many people they have to harm or kill before we step up to get rid of them permanently. They’re never going to stop. They’re taking over one state at a time until we have no choice but to divide the country to cut out the cancer. If these slimebags are so pro-life, they sure have a sick way of showing it - bunch of power hungry sociopaths.
The only problem with using “Fundamentalists” is that that term can apply to a branch of almost all major religions. One of the more successful identifiers I know is “Islamist”. I tried using Christianists for our parcel of lovelies, but it failed to catch on.
Pilgrim, white evangelicals works pretty well because that encompasses most of the people who are in the Trump camp along with Alito and the other SC conservatives. The Thomas/Alito crowd are mostly Catholic, but Catholicism has moved steadily into the white evangelical camp for decades. Even though there are other than white groups among American Catholics, most seem to buy into the same nonsense of keeping Jesus in the church and doing whatever you want outside the church.
Phil, I also do not capitalize christian when I am referring to the folks like Alito and I do not capitalize god when referring to what they worship too. It seems to work or at least those who read my pieces understand.
I use "Fundamentalist" *because of* that fact. They are indeed polluting all major religions, and each faction has more in common with the other Fundies in other religions than they do with the religion they claim to be part of. They ARE one overall religion: Fundamentalism. And that is why they are indeed The Enemy, to be rooted out.
My differentiation is between "Beatitude Christians" and "Revelation-ists." The former are the people who try to live by the precepts in Matthew 25. The latter start at the revengeful Old Testament, dip into the New to pull quotes that justify their hard-right political positions then await the Apocalypse which they assume will give them the ability to blow raspberries at all the non-believers. It's sickening.
If we haven't made the planet utterly uninhabitable before then, it is guaranteed that the End Times will be approximately five billions years from now, when our Sun will go supernova.
Back when I had a TV I would occasionally come across a program on one of those Christian channels. It was an attractive, articulate couple whose whole schtick was The End Times, oh and getting suckers to send them money.
Pilgrim, the sad thing is that I think those guys know Jesus's message, but have decided it is not for them, but they like the power of the church so have decided to use it. They know there are a lot of scared white people out here and some white wannabees who claim to be christian but are desperate for some kind of recognition and not just for being white or a white wannabee. Leo, Trump, Alito, and all the rest have found their sweet spot; say how you are for the working people, then spend the rest of the time turning their heavy negative emotions on particular persons and situations. Those people can then be manipulated into believing almost anything because you tell them how god is on their side and wants bad stuff done to those evil Satan-worshippers. The manipulated folks will then spread that hatred among their friends who didn't happen to get it firsthand and we have 60+ million people who voted in 2020 for an ignorant, whiny, serial lying, white toddler-man who has no positive ideas for anyone. Now, we need to figure out how to cut the chain that keeps those people tethered to the users and abusers of our Constitution and the American people in general.
I got all the way to the end of the replies as of May 24 at 5 PM, and realized that I was not showing much true Christianity in the way I referred to "the other side". If I really am a true Christian, I should be praying fervently that the Fundamentalists find and accept the true Jesus of the Beatitudes and Mathew 25 (the entire chapter). I confess to being almost unable to do this, though I come closer with them than with Trump and other hypocrites. In fact Trump proves what I have been saying about him since 2016: he has one talent, just one: to bring out the worst in people. I catch myself wishing he would be struck by lightning on the golf course.
The Federalist Society's Leonard Leo delayed the start of his employment at the Federalist Society so that he could help Clarence Thomas through Thomas's Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Leo also led the Senate campaigns supporting the nominations of Alito, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
All are Catholics, a seeming requirement if you are to make Leonard Leo’s list of nominees or to receive Leonard Leo’s help in gaining Senate approval.
Leo has been on the board of directors of the Catholic Association; the Catholic Association Foundation; the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast; The Busch School of Business at Catholic University.
As the Dobbs decision showed, the Supreme Court is now a religious court where legal precedence and stare decisis have been replaced by religious dogma -- with Leonard Leo as puppet master of the court's Catholic majority.
Leonard Leo is also on the board of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) which claims to
promote the “Judeo-Christian moral tradition.”
One of its major programs is The Catholic Studies Program - which “explores the many connections between Catholicism and public life and seeks to clarify and deepen knowledge of modern Catholic social thought.”
The EPPC claims on its tax declaration that “The Center and its scholars seek to defend the great Western ethical imperatives: respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, individual freedom and responsibility, justice, the rule of law, and limited government.”
However, its concept of individual freedom and responsibility does not extend to women, having filed an Amicus brief with the Supreme Court challenging the FDA’s decades-old approval of the mifepristone abortion pill.
The separation of Church and State is not on Leonard Leo’s agenda.
It sounds all high-minded, doesn’t it? What has happened is these people are first right-wingers, second arrogant white men (even Thomas feels he has finally joined the white establishment) and third, Catholics. Pope Francis does not agree with many of their positions. However, when one marginalizes some of God’s people to support one’s elevated view of one’s self and one’s superiority, one becomes a Pharisee. Catholic bishops are arguing among themselves and some aligning with republicans, others not. The polarization we see in our country has crept into the presbyterate; it’s so much easier to further arguments (mis)using God as your authority.
Well, if God is your authority, you can say literally anything. It is obvious that you can't use or misuse God as an authority because God, as commonly defined, is a construct and has no authority at all. I think most Popes even know this. They know that playing God is just a charade, and a lot of fun to boot. And they'd rather subject the world to chaos and terror than give up their sinister pleasures.
Did you notice that the American Catholic bishops wanted to excommunicate President Biden for trying to defend Roe? My guess: Pope Francis put a stop to that.
Appalling is too polite a word. As an erstwhile Republican, I do not understand how throwing our society so far out of balance can be good for the country. We hear Trump claiming that President Biden had issued permission to use lethal force -- or "shoot-to-kill" -- during the Mar a Lago search for stolen secrets. And the cognitive under-class sucks it all up. 😱
If a civil war be in the offing, it will occur along the lines of what President / General Grant said: "If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” 😳
As I am older and not particularly attached, I am prepared to defend the Republic, though I can barely hit the side of a barn with a firearm. Fortunately, M.A.G.A. militants and militia memberss are often so 'substantial' that they ARE a side of barn. What is frightening to me is that three per cent of Americans own half of the guns, or about twenty on average. 🤢
You can bet that those ten million people own the great majority of assault rifles and that many or most are M.A.G.A. militants and 'anti-establishment' militia members. So, our hope is that President Biden wins re-election, which I believe he will, and that finally his good efforts on behalf of the country make their way through the haze of the smoke-blowing Trump. 🤞
Ned, I try to avoid thinking about armed conflict between fellow Americans. I absolutely hate the idea of it.
I think it was Howard Zinn who talked about the deliberate misdirection orchestrated by the super-wealthy movers and shakers, who worked to trick the masses to blame each other for whatever is wrong in society, instead of blaming the real culprits. The real culprits are the relatively few people among us who have managed to move the vast common wealth of the majority of people up into the hands of that tiny minority of extremely wealthy people.
The militias and the religious zealots are mad at the wrong people.
We should be hammering away at that message, that the fake billionaire wannabe is teaching his followers to stop looking at the people who manipulate public opinion by spending vast sums on messaging.
I don't advocate that the angry militias should hurt the "masters of the universe" or super-rich influencers. But they do need to understand that it's not their fellow common citizens who are causing the problems in society. Don't blame the victims! The feud between the "conservatives" and the "liberals" is ridiculous, baseless, unfounded, not real. It's all just mental manipulation. The real problem rests with the people who wield vast fortunes in unhealthy ways.
Too many of those wealthy people are trying to keep their rapacious juggernaut rolling into the distant future. They would destroy the natural Earth just to gain financial wealth.
We can retool our economy to become regenerative, to repair the damage we've inflicted with our industrial revolutions, and to share the wealth in a more just and equitable way. The would-be authoritarians don't want that to happen, so they try to trick us into fighting amongst ourselves. President Biden appears to understand that, and his administration is working toward a more fair and just society. We want peace and prosperity -- not fighting in the streets.
Thank you for a really well thought out message. As I age, I am getting a bit taut emotionally. I let the dark side of my thinking out in the open this evening. Funny, thirty years ago, I used to chuckle and say that I was a curmudgeon ahead of my time; now I am a curmudgeon on schedule. On C-Span's morning call-in show, the anger of right-wingnuts manifests almost unrestrained.
Some of these abrasive, often hurt, and usually self-satisfied shrill-seekers do mention a civil conflict, but not many. As an article of faith, I still believe that we will muddle through and redress the inequalities you mention. I keep the fuzzy faith not because I want to, but because I have to. Thank you for talking me off the proverbial ledge, David; I really am grateful. 🤝😇⚖️
No, I want to see the call-ins because I want to see how others are thinking. It is infuriating, yes. I am happy to report that the great majority of people, of various political views and different walks of life, are respectful and quite perceptive.
The worst part is how many people who damn well know better (e.g., Senator J.D. Vance, Governor DeSantis, Tucker Carlson) and are pursuing not what they esteem to be frankly opportune ideals but are in pursuit of rankly opportunistic ambitions. It reminds me of those stories of so many German, Japanese, Russian, and Italian intellectuals flocking to (fascist) totalitarianism. Thank you, William.
Yes, the “cognitive underclass” falls in line with neofascist graduates of Ivy League schools who take their orders from Leonard Leo and they all hop aboard the electoral college express to put the wood to all of us. And they’ve succeeded beyond measure.
I used to cherish the electoral college as a guard-rail against regionalism. Then came manipulating it for serving an ideology and demographic rather than a region. The rural states need to have a voice. How big a voice remains disturbingly unsettled, at least for me. Thank you, William. ✌️
Ned, it is not the "cognitive underclass" entirely. It is a bunch of former cops as well. They got upset with me when I told them it is standard language in all search warrants for the FBI. Two of them were former SWAT guys who went through a very difficult time on our team when we had a deadly force incident following a armed barricaded subject; we ultimately addressed several criteria to use for future call outs or search warrants based on this incident.
Yours being a first-hand perspective on the procedures, I appreciate your informed perspective. While I trust the statements of the F.B.I. and Attorney General Garland, a 'primary source' affirmation helps, Ally. Thank you for that.
Ally, I want to extend my sympathy to you for enduring an emotional ordeal and bureaucratic night-mare. My younger brothers and sisters in uniform (in conflict zones) often complained about similar of the rules of engagement.
Concerted efforts on gun control start with stake-holder alignment. That starts with the repeal of the 2005 'Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act'; that law removes product liabilities for foreseeable mis-use of the product. Get those manufacturers on the hook for predictable consequences of loosely regulated sales of their products, and the forces of the society share an interest in getting rid of these guns. At the same time, bring back assault-weapons bans, once backed by Presidents Reagan and G.H.W. Bush.
President G.W. Bush's allowing that ban to lapse with the passage of the exemption from foreseeable product mis-use liability may go a long way toward explaining the secular trend of increased mass shootings.
I post it not patronize you but to repeat my reaction to that seemingly outlandish statement when I first heard of it. The assertions of that three per cent owning most of the AR-15s and being (very) disproportionately populated by M.A.G.A. types are mine alone.
If I may edit your comments, which echo HCR’s letter about “House Divided” and its references to recent polls clearly indicating how terribly misinformed the American public is about economic truth, I would add one word to your phrase “Cognitive Underclass.”
With your permission, can we classify them as the “Cognitively IMPAIRED Underclass?”
So true. I remember forty years ago being in a discussion (AFTER college) whining about how 'quotas' kept me out of my first-choice school. My friend, a decent man for sure, basically said the 'Ns' and 'Bs' (i.e., Blacks and women) had deprived us of our just due: an ivy league education.
😯
The sinking sensation was likely like the one felt by Dorian Gray as satan's emissary saw the reality of his life manifested in the portrait in the attic. I saw myself and thought, "My parents did not raise me to act this way." Shame is often dismissed as categorically illegitimate. Not that shame, not that day.
😢
So, the cognitive corruption broke and l committed me to growing back into the man my parents had intended me to be, notwithstanding their short-comings. I have made a sporadic effort with discernible, if not necessarily creditable, progress in that halting growth.
WOWerful thought there, Steve. The worst part of that impairment -- at least in my wretched little mind -- is the willfulness in being impaired by those whom we deem as impaired. Unthinking or not, such reactions represent choices. Thank you.
💡
That willfulness is a form of cognitive corruption. As part of the demographic prone to be 'anti-woke', I can say that I have not been entirely immune to unsavory pre-judgements. What disturbs me about the 'woke' agenda is that it challenges my complacency.
😳
That sensation is, in the poli.-sci. parlance of the 1970s, an instance of cognitive dissonance -- a period of discomfort. That uneasiness leaves me with a choice: cognitive growth or cognitive corruption.
🤔
Those latter two cognitive states are not binary but more like the bounds of a continuüm. My reactions are certainly a mixture of both. Cognitive corruption occurs when I respond to dissonance with a lack of intellectual integrity by:
🤭
> e.g., rejecting decisive evidence, often with a slur;
> e.g., rationalizing my pre-judgements, often through ideology; and,
> e.g., rejecting the message, often by attacking the messenger.
⚖️
One may respond, "Hey, I know what I believe and I have read up on the subject, thank you very much." That reflexiveness may be part of human nature. Defensive push-back still represents a choice by that individual, often taken without thinking.
Steve, instead of “impaired” (since many that I’ve known score very high on IQ tests), I’d like to substitute the word “informed”. When you follow your preacher’s advice to watch only Fox News (the other news sources being godless) , it’s all too easy to fall for a twisted truth and act accordingly.
Agree with what you say, Mary (apologies for confusing you with Virginia Witmer; shrinking grey matter), especially with the findings, unethically derived six decades ago, of the Milgram experiments documenting compliance to authority, no matter how apparently deleterious to the welfare of a stranger. Thank you.
While Fox News hardly merits authority, there are people who question my 'authorities' (i.e., Drs Lee and Richardson as well as Peter Wallace, Deutsche Welle, Brooks and Capehart, B.B.C., 'Amanpour', 'Firing Line' et many al.). Such is life.
The Appeal to Heaven flag flown by Justice Alito and Speaker Johnson is more than just a political statement. It has come to represent aggressive Christian nationalism, as the symbol of the apostolic movement. The apostolics seek to make America a Christian nation, with official recognition of such. In other words, bringing back an Established church. So much for the separation of church and state.
Antidisestablishmentarianism has come roaring back in the past twenty years. And it is being spearheaded by leaders at the very top of our government. Onward Christian soldiers. Let’s go have a crusade. Praise Jesus and pass the ammunition. Is this what our Founders wanted? I think not.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (/ˌnjuːmənoʊˌʌltrəˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpɪkˌsɪlɪkoʊvɒlˌkeɪnoʊˌkoʊniˈoʊsɪs/ ⓘ[1][2]) is a 45-letter word coined in 1935 by the then-president of the National Puzzlers' League, Everett M. Smith. It has sometimes been used as a synonym for the occupational disease known as silicosis, but it should not be as most silicosis is not related to mining of volcanic dusts. It is the longest word in the English language published in a popular dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries, which defines it as "an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust".[3]
Clinical and toxicological research conducted on volcanic crystalline silica has found little to no evidence of its ability to cause silicosis/pneumoconiosis-like diseases and geochemical analyses have shown that there are inherent factors in the crystalline structure which may render volcanic crystalline silica much less pathogenic than some other forms of crystalline silica.[4][5]
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis and is known in the United Kingdom and eastern United States as the "black lung".
"At 4.5% growth over 2023, wage growth outpaced inflation, meaning that although prices have risen, workers have come out ahead." While this may be true for those in the mainstream economy, it is FALSE for many Americans NOT working in the mainstream economy. For example, most people living and working in rural settings, on individual farms, in small towns, in low paying jobs where wages are not competitive and don't need to be to fill them. Teachers, child care workers, workers in all the crummy jobs that no one wants, but who must work three of them to survive. And those without jobs. Remember that unemployment statistics fail to count people who have given up looking for work, and a severely underpaid worker is counted as employed.
We're never going to reach these people if we ignore these realities. And we're going to lose elections we should have won.
I agree. But Republicans are less likely to address these inequalities than Democrats. It takes time to turn the ship around. We’ve switched from Supply side economics to Demand side economics, but with a media based on profit rather than truth and Republican messaging based on collective anger, many are refusing to acknowledge our advancements. Once Leo’s crowd takes over, it will take generations to right the ship again—if at all. My heart aches for my granddaughter.
It's the billionaires and their offshoring, Jim, that crippled the millions of abandoned Americans.
But first they and their far-right foundations stripped K-12 of humanities, and marginalized, neutered same in higher ed -- so Americans wouldn't be aware of their predation and its human costs.
But our humanities show it: films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” and any number of hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
Who is to blame? Don’t forget the Fifth Column Koch brothers. And Koch Industries is still alive and well in Russia in spite of sanctions. If anyone has forgotten, their fortune comes initially from their father’s work for Hitler and Stalin in the 1930’s. One brother has died but the other lives on in infamy.
In point of fact if you are poor or feel poor, then America is in recession to say the least. And income inequality is at the heart of the problem, not "the economy". It's not the economy, stupid.
“We're never going to reach these people if we ignore these realities. And we're going to lose elections we should have won.”
That last paragraph says it all. It’s amazing something so clear gets lost in the messaging, but that’s what’s happening. It all comes down to President Biden’s lack of effective communication skills. This election is President Biden’s to lose, and so far he’s doing just that.
I agree. But I don’t know how to turn the tide if those who get their “news” from social media aren’t learning the truth about our economy, etc., we are doomed to lose. Yes, it seems everyone who follow HCR are “enlightened” and will vote and work to save our country, will it be enough? I believe if Biden loses, our country, as we know it, will be lost for a long time, maybe forever. I know I sound like doom and gloom but I am afraid this may become our reality. We sit and watch The Supreme Court doing the bidding of the Leonard Leo’s. What can individuals do about the court? Yes, we can vote for who puts them in their sweet jobs for life, but again, if Biden loses, the Supremes will not, for a long time, make decisions that benefit the majority. I personally believe too many Americans just don’t realize how dire life will be if Cheetolinni company take over America.
And it may not have to be Cheetolinni, though his cult of personality has shown rocks turned over. Nicky Haley waits in the wings along with myriad others.
This is the first election cycle I can remember that I have not jumped in yet to help bc it feels so futile. I am trying to push myself to do so. This in itself scares me knowing how politically active I always was and that I am sure I am not alone.
If ever you have jumped in, now is the time. Since at 90 postcards is my best contribution, I have already done over 1000 and shall continue to do 125-300 (address labels shorten time, lengthen numbers) every week until late October. Blue Wave and TonyTheDemocrat are very helpful, but linking up with your local Indivisible chapter (or starting one)will help cut the stress.
My understanding from 2018 is that postcards ARE useful. They’re a substantive reminder that a person wrote and mailed it to your mailbox. Some are mostly voting information with a sentence or two handwritten, but all are personalized. I like to think of the chicken cards on some refrigerators being seen by curious children—a link to future voters. We are at a point where everyone reads and hears, but individual tactile is sorely lacking.
You write, "Tempting as it is to blame the media for its relentless focus on bad news rather than good, a study from NBC News at the end of April showed that those who follow national newspapers and media swing heavily to Biden, while those who either don’t follow politics or get their news from YouTube and social media favor Trump or Robert Kennedy Jr.
Those sources seem unlikely to explain that Leonard, Sam, Clarence, Mike, and Donald have been swinging hammers."
It's a good thing we have you, Joyce, Jess, Robert, Simon, Dan, TC, Jay, and so many others here on Substack shining big flashlights on those swinging hammers. Now if we can only recruit more thinking Americans (yes, I believe they are out there) to get onto these Substacks...
Amen to your list of writers - I read them all. They help maintain my sanity in a period of failing mainstream media. Today’s Fifth Estate is more interested in selling soap than defending democracy with its ink. History is watching, and it will not be kind to the editors and publishers who were complicit in this abysmal failure.
And to those to whom it is available: MSNBC is where you can follow the trial with intelligent commentary (teachers of law, former prosecutors and defenders, and informed journalists). You can bear witness and plan your moves to help democracy survive in America!
What influence did Alito have in the Supreme Court's decision to take the Trump immunity case in the first place? What about Thomas's influence? Is there any way to determine that? Because, while the damage is done and SCOTUS is going to issue a ruling on that, their meddling in the issue by taking - and delaying - it may well be a result of blatant partisanship on the part of Alito and Thomas.
“And so, almost exactly 70 years after the Supreme Court unanimously decided Brown v. Board, it appears that the framed timbers designed to reverse the expansion of minority rights are falling into place.”
But who would ever have thought a Black man would be at the helm? If there’s ever been a greater American traitor, Clarence would like to get some tips.
“United States should be a nation based in Christian theology”
Putin claims to be leading a Christian nation as he assaults Ukraine. So did Hitler as he exterminated Jews. And Netanyahu claims to be leading a Jewish nation as he leads a genocide against Palestinians. Both Iran and Afghanistan claim to be Muslim nations as they keep their people in bondage.
We should correct this narrative. None of these nations, not the US, no theological state exists nor plans to be based on the core principles of any religion. They are all promoting the theology of power managed with violence and intimidation with impunity. No one lives a free religious life in peace and goodwill in any of these nations as they are being operated under the guise of their so called orthodox and evangelical religions.
The Republican Party leaders are Godless Christ-less fascists, no less than all the models they follow and aspire to be.
Silly Con Valley needs to be brought to heel next year when we have the White House, Senate and House. The over-rich Fascist-curious Incel Bros need to learn they are not masters of the universe. The best way to do that is to put several of them - Mark Andreesen, Elmo Muck and Markie Fuckerberg spring to mind as prime candidates to be the examples of What Not To Do. OpenAI needs to be shut down. Most of their "progress" over the past 30 years has been anything but "progressive."
Seeing all these signs: the flags, the Supreme Court rulings that restrict and take away freedoms, reading Project 2025 and all the rest, I feel like I’m watching a documentary from the far future entitled “The Year it Ended in Darkness”. PT Barnum had it right except suckers aren’t just born every minute, they’re converted because someone took away their pacifier that they are somehow more deserving and entitled and this is their chance to lash out. Usually, I can laugh and rage at this and I don’t know why knowing Leonard Leo also flies the Appeal to Heaven flag is my final straw tonight but this seems creepy and terrifying, like a secret handshake we see out in public and not enough people believe us. I know I’ll be ok again tomorrow but wow.
Thank you Dr Richardson as always for shining a light of knowledge and context.
2 mins ago
I love being proven wrong in this way. I had been complaining that HCR 'did not talk about Leonard.' And in today's Letter she leads with Leo! (ThankYou also to a fellow commenter who provided a Letter from almost exactly a year ago.)
It's not just the politicians and party, populists and plutocrats, pundits and personalities, with a bent for authoritarianism. And in this case, religious extremists hungry for a corporate clerical fascist state. It's all those who step up to do the day to day work. The Eichmanns and apparatchiks. All those filling out applications for The Heritage Society's Project 2025. As a path to personal advancement.
"For when I speak of the banality of evil, I do so only on the strictly factual level, pointing to a phenomenon which stared one in the face at the trial. Eichmann was not Iago and not Macbeth, and nothing would have been farther from his mind than to determine with Richard III 'to prove a villain.' Except for an extraordinary diligence in looking out for his personal advancement, he had no motives at all… He merely, to put the matter colloquially, never realized what he was doing… It was sheer thoughtlessness—something by no means identical with stupidity—that predisposed him to become one of the greatest criminals of that period.
And if this is 'banal' and even funny, if with the best will in the world one cannot extract any diabolical or demonic profundity from Eichmann, this is still far from calling it commonplace… That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together which, perhaps, are inherent in man—that was, in fact, the lesson one could learn in Jerusalem.
- Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
Tragically, today in Jerusalem, having seemingly missed the lesson of the Eichmann trial, we have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich et al. And in the US, AIPAC, the Evangelicals, and the Republican party. Whose reflexive and thoughtless response to the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7, are piling wreckage on wreckage. On Palestinians, on Israel itself, and by extension the USA. And of course, Hamas and Iran saw an opening for their attack in the Netanyahu regime's preoccupation with a Leonard Leo style court capture, throwing Israeli government and society into disarray.
Of course, you know, lin, how these characters always self-identify.
They speak in slogans, abstractions, dead metaphor, bureaucratic cliché, and all the other forms of what Orwell called "bad language."
And yes, so many of them -- all kissing up to power, always. Never possessed of any humanities, which ground us in the specifics of things we love, things that hurt.
Leonard Leo should be called to a grand jury. If he won't divulge all the judicial beneficiaries of his largesse with specifics, indict him.
I think, Daniel, he and his dark money friends foreclosed on all that in Citizens United (2010).
Bribery and perjury are crimes.
And who, with our judicial system so compromised, will enforce?
"Bribery and perjury are crimes."
Not in MAGAmerica! They are not crimes in that country, they are the means to an end! And that end, well, I think that each of us has a fitting answer so I'll leave it to you. the reader, to complete the thought of what end you will see. Each of us I think will agree on much but with different emphasis depending on our experiences & wisdom.
Solomon. Bribery and perjury may be crimes but wealth allows evasion of justice. It should be obvious now.
The good news is that their No Labels Party failed spectacularly.
Yes, this is something to be grateful for.
I worked really hard to educate people and the media (through comments and letters) about the No Labels Party. A lot of people did. This is what is takes.
None of this is luck. My biggest concern about this Election isn't the power of the Democrats but the malaise and defeatist attitude of the electorate.
Phil, and those are the guys who don't want real history taught in our schools or the humanities unless they are books approved by themselves, folks who hardly read anything but their own propaganda. They also are working to shape and totally take over our social media platforms by "permitting" anything to be spewed forth. They have more money than ordinary people, so can see that more of the lies and disinformation are entered than the truth which they have been pretty effective at blotting out or hiding from all but the very persistent. We need ways to wake up at least a few of these people imprisoned in their likes and sharing what is not true, so we can get Democrats elected at every level in this nation so this insanity can be turned around.
Please, Ruth, note mine just now to Barbara Mullen, above (or near here).
The current term for banal is “normalize.” Once you’ve normalized evil, people tend to just roll over and accept it. Evil becomes banal. The norm. And here we are.
But it doesn’t stay “banal.” At least, not for some
William As in Trump seeks to ‘normalize’ the Constitution and the judiciary.
Lin -- what a stunning sequence of "p"s: politicians and party, populists and plutocrats, pundits and personalities!
Indeed! Worthy of the sardonic stylishness of this Letter, which is in a category of its own. As deeply depressing as it is brilliantly written.
Right up there with Rep. Crockett's "bleach-blond bad-built butch-body." (My favorite part was Chair Comer's response -- "Whut, now?")
At a public lecture, a geophysicist speaking on subduction zones described one as, "folding fracturing, fissuring friction forces". It sounded like poetry to me and I wrote those words on pots after that and gave him one -- I never saw him appreciate the wondrousness he gave me. ( I was a potter privileged to have samples from scientists' scraps of muds and rock powders that I used for glaze. Since I had materials from converging and diverging plate boundaries, I was eager to grasp plate tectonics.)
Yep and I’m loving the laugh! Thank you.
I think you are right Lin and it is devastatingly simple. I look at good people around me who vote to protect their wealth, or their lifestyle, or their comfort. Ignoring the long term consequences of white supremacy or the idea that those who give themselves extraordinary power can take that lifestyle, comfort, and wealth in a nanosecond.
I have been confused by this behavior, concocting extravagant reasons for their choices...but after reading your post I think it is simple. They want to protect what they spent a lifetime building...not willing to consider future ramifications of their choices.
Susan, those that have created a good life for themselves only think that trump will help them keep their nest egg but in the long run but I know they are not any better off. Especially like you say they cannot see the road of authoritarianism ahead. Stupid, ignorant and self centered just like their leader or idiot they follow.
And with that 'holding onto a lifestyle' thought process is a lot of privilege...I earned this and that's why I'll get to keep it.
Maybe it could be that simple ... among old people or folks at what they perceive to be nearing the end of their acquisition stage. Gotta keep what is mine if I'm going to make it to the finish line with my dime in my pocket with the tribe I chose.
lin, I chuckled this morning reading LFAA and seeing Leonard Leo mentioned in the first sentence. Having read your recent comments here and elsewhere, the timing was both excellent and sweet for calling out Leo’s destruction of the Supreme Court. And connecting the dots for those who don’t seem to get how influential the Federalist Society is.
I grew up Catholic and had dozens of opportunities, with my parents, to discuss how faithful Catholics could or should vote and/or be active in politics as an American.
Leo and the many who work with him, fail every measure, every policy ideal, every rule I learned. Biden, on the other hand, walks the walk. Every day.
As hammered as I feel given the complete corruption of the Supreme Court by Leo and his ilk, I will do what I always do under pressure - help get out the vote (Field team 6 - register Democrats).
Elect more Democrats. Expand the court. Preserve democracy. Rinse. Repeat.
Along with ProPublica, True North Research, and Accountable USA, the National Catholic Reporter has done fine critiques of Leo.
I think the American Council of Bishops might represent a schism in the church. More aligned with the GOP and Evangelicals than with Pope Francis. Or even with Vatican 2.
https://www.propublica.org/article/leonard-leo-teneo-videos-documents
https://truenorthresearch.org/
https://accountable.us/leonard-leo/
https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/speeches/scheme-18_leonard-leos-16-billion-payday/
https://www.ncronline.org/news/leonard-leo-architect-conservative-supreme-court-takes-wider-culture
Same here!
I have been saying ( mostly to myself, because people shut out what I say) and now I know, firsthand, how a nation like Germany could fall under the spell of fascism. Before this year ends, we may be saying to ourselves, why didn’t we stop this when we were still able to? The future for democracy is uncertain. These people had this plan in the works since the 1990’s IMHO.
Since Reagan was elected in 1980!
Quite likely, I wondered why my Republican friend got religion so suddenly and unexpectedly, now I know why. He also made the bizarre statement that Democrats should not be allowed to vote. I disregarded it back then but it has become relevant now.
"And in this case, religious extremists hungry for a corporate clerical fascist state. " Well said, lin. And thanks for the Hannah Arendt quote.
What you say: "those doing the work" and following with your assessment of Macbeth; outstanding!
My argument was that the 2016 election was about the Supreme Court. I hate being right. Sadly, it is even worse that I could have imagined.
The confirmation 'tip-off' for my mind was when the r's shot down Obama's appointment of Garland. That's when I knew what the real prize was.
I don’t know if I should scream or sob… oh hell, I am doing both!
I know, Jean, I’ve wondered in comments here before how is it possible to have my hair on fire whilst being chilled to the bone by it all???!!! This was my realization after reading Project 2025 & the Heritage Foundation’s announcment of it back when it dropped to the public.
Beyond tragic. Sorry you had to write this, and thank you
Thank you for that crystalline quote and reflection!
"That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together which, perhaps, are inherent in man—that was, in fact, the lesson one could learn in Jerusalem. " Chilling.
I'd also reccomend reading the book: Into That Darkness, a brilliant exploration of very ordinary people doing horrible things.
Hamas does not get nearly enough credit in our discourses for the horror of Gaza. YahYa and friends knew what would happen when they attackef Israeli grandmas in their beds. They are getting the result they wanted.
She heard you, Lin.😉 Always appreciate your wisdom…
Thank you for the quote! I have in my mind the recurring thought about the banality of evil in our time, in ourselves, in humanity itself as well. We are delft to the point of blindness.
With luck and encouragement, everyone who can vote will have a "break my soul" moment and act to stop the nightmare. Otherwise we are truly and and irrevocably lost.
It makes me weary to know the prolific gerrymandering will negate a lot of these votes.
The secret handshake.
I was at a restaurant some years ago, eating at the bar and chatting with the black woman manager. Her bartender kept making the white power sign at her, but she didn't know what it meant.
I told her.
The next time he did it she demanded to know if that was what he meant, and the smarmy prick dared her, yes it was.
She fired him on the spot.
Wish we could it felt great seeing her do that.
Your post reminds me of being a kid back in the 50’s and coming home and asking my parents what does *xxx* mean? It was usually something I heard on the playground regarding an ethnic or cultural group & I had no clue, but was usually in a mocking tone. My folks would explain the meaning, and tell us kids that we don’t use such words as they are disrespectful. Never, not once, do I recall hearing my parents/grandmother/aunts & uncles speak such words.
It does get to be a massive bummer at times, ¿does it not? 😯🫣😢
Sioux—just got finished reading the ProPublica article once more, “We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority” 10-11-23, which is basically the history of Leo Leonard.
It’s people like him that view our country as having basically 3 classes: the poor who serve, the middle class who basically fund the country with their labor and taxes, and the uber-rich who control and rule and supply the jobs so that the other 2 classes do their jobs for the only class (the God-given class) that really matters.
A woman’s role is to birth and know her place (barefoot and pregnant), and all people of color and immigrants to serve and also to be clear about their status or lack of same. And unless the aging can support themselves by being one of the self-sustaining and therefore, deserving, they should die.
This is the belief system that is justification for this .05% of the population who are the billionaires — this is the order of things and the status quo that has been disrupted since WW2 and they intend to be reestablished.
This above vision protects leeches like Leo and many others like multibillionaire Republican megadonors like, and so many more.
What they want is to protect their billions from that pesky, pushy majority of the population. After all the billionaire class has got the power and funds to manipulate the system.
If they can keep laws from taxing them as they should, they can also wait as long as it takes for laws to be changed to match their vision of how the real “chosen”see things as they should be. Right now they make the laws, they own the companies that control news distribution and one way or the other, they control politics, if the rest of us let them.
Well, I WON'T be OK again tomorrow, and neither will our country.
Support Senator Whitehouse's Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act!
Senator Whitehouse is a hero and the leading and persistent voice against corruption of and by the Court.
We know what is wrong with the other side. I just wish we would examine ourselves and determine what is wrong with us and make adjustments. But we won’t because we are all hardwired to think we can do and think no wrong.
Bill recognizing evil is a pretty simple task. What do you think we may he wrong about?
They note the hypocrisies on our side that we don't see. Like nobody is applauding South Carolina's move to create more diversity and inclusion in their Congressional Districts.
I don’t believe errors of omission to be necessarily hypocritical but rather a question of priorities. There is no possible way to please critics who demand that “their” issue should be getting front burner attention
Love this. Like Rick Wilson said 'Stop bringing a cheese plate to a knife fight'.- or something like that.
We always said "knife to a gunfight" but I really like "cheese plate to a knife fight".
Spelling/grammar question here: why is "gunfight" one word, and knife fight two?
I always wanted to know why we drive on a parkway, but park in the driveway 🤣
😂😂😂
Because knife ends with an e, so knifefight pushes the brain toward “nyfehfyt” instead of nyfyt. A double ff (“nyffyt”) begs for a pause between them. So we naturally get knife-fight.
Thanks!!
because I made a typo.
Not according to my laptop. It recognized "gunfight" but not "knifefight".
Exactly. I mean, I think they're much worse than we are, but like on this gerrymandering issue, it's not race, but votes. Our side thinks there's nothing wrong with bending a rule about racial gerrymandering to serve our political purpose in getting more of our votes in one Congressional district. What always strikes me is how often we see it noted that Trump supporters are white rural males without a college degree. Somehow implying that maybe they're not as well educated as us and isn't it a shame that they vote like that. But we have no problem fighting as hard as we can to make sure that urban blacks without a high school degree get to vote. I don't think either side really cares about a person's race other than how it relates to how they vote.
We should meet them halfway and condone abortion only when a court says it is OK (which, given this nation's courts, the decision would come down along about the 33rd week)...?
What? How about we go back to the correct decision in Roe v Wade that stood for over 50 years? The one where women were recognized as equal human beings. The one where their healthcare was between them and their doctors, not freaking politicians or anyone else suggesting a "compromise."
This is exactly the issue. Nine individuals on the Supreme Court shouldn't have had to make "the law of the land" on abortion. Congress should have done it. If our Democracy worked right, we would all vote for our congress people, and they would deliberate, and make good laws, but instead we're in this ridiculous situation where our vote for president is made important because the president appoints those judges and we (both sides) are looking to those judges to make law. And we love it when those judges do what we want, and hate it when they do what the other side does. It should be Congress. We need to fix Congress.
What?
In this nation’s courts, that would be the 6th week, before many women even know they are pregnant. We should NOT meet them halfway. We should do what is right. And what is right is to leave these decisions to women and their doctors.
In Indiana doctors are leaving. It is hard for women in need to get care!
Make that most women don’t know they’re pregnant at six weeks
The true democracy way to deal with an issue like abortion is Citizen Assemblies. Google Ireland, abortion and Citizen's Assembly. When people get together a deliberate on what the law should be, they make good decisions.
My decisions about my body are my business alone. Not yours, not the government’s, and not a Citizen’s Assembly.
I would also like to point out that we women are f’ing pissed off. This one issue may be the issue that keeps our democracy intact, as pissed off people are more likely to vote. That’s why Fox News keeps rousing the rabble.
Dennis, would you like a citizens Assembly to determine your health needs? Would you like them to tell you that new breakthroughs in science have made it possible for the father to carry a fetus. Since the female partner has a very low probability of carrying to term, we are voting to implant the fetus into the male cocreactor of said fetus. Oh, this was unplanned and you are not emotionally, psychologically, financially, or mature enough to have a child. Citizens Assembly does not care. Our only purpose to to ensure propagation of the species. We don’t care about the quality of parents lives, or even the child’s life after the fetus stage. Or would you like the committee to determine who gets ED treatment? Abortion in its many reasons for being needed is healthcare and should be an equal basic human right of a woman. As a woman, I sure don’t think I have the right to interfere in your healthcare. Why do you feel this entitlement?
Exactly! It infuriates me that the most outspoken leaders of the antiabortion movement are MEN! Yet do we hear anything about the role/need of male sperm to fertilize an egg???? Bet not!
Hmmm, assuming a lot of things about me...(I am 100% pro-choice and I think Roe v. Wade got it right.) The first question is, should there be a law about abortion? or are we talking some sort of divine or inalienable right? If the latter, then this political thread is inappropriate. If the former, then, the question is how best to come up with the law of our land on abortion. Our politicians use abortion to get our votes, on both sides, and there is no evidence they actually care either way. A Citizen's Assembly is exactly that, say 100 people randomly chosen from all walks of life chosen to listen to and discuss all sides of an issue and come up with a recommended law expressing as best they can the sentiments of a nation. Exactly like a jury. Ireland had anti-abortion in its constitution, and it was a political football, just like here, but they decided to try a Citizen's Assembly (CA). These were non-politicians, debating, thinking, hearing each other, and they came up with a recommendation that something like 70% of the country voted for and approved. It was very similar to the Roe v. Wade decision, but it wasn't nine elites who decided but rather 100 Irish citizens, not politicians. Google it. Really it's a much better way to deal with any contentious issue, like say immigration or health care. Our Congress could convene a CA on abortion and stop using it as football. I'll tell you what p*sses me off. It's all the Democrats who are glad about Dodd because they think it will p*ss women off and get them out to vote for Democrats. They couldn't care less about the individual suffering it's caused.
No one here have a sense of mordant humor but me?
Not on this subject, no.
Bern, there are late term miscarriages of 33 weeks because of nonviable pregnancies—they’re rare, but they happen. The standard of care is to allow the doctor to “finish cleaning out” the uterine lining so that the woman doesn’t hemorrhage or go septic (and this dilation and curettage is called abortion). So, setting the date at 33 weeks will not solve the problem. By the way, setting any date will encourage a chipping away by those legislators who want to ban it entirely. Look at what is happening with contraception—start with IUD’s and end up outlawing all contraception that is used by women.
I'm hip tp (some of( the outer limits of pregnancy. That 33 was just a way to point out that the courts will never rule on this sort of thing til after the kid is carried to term, therefor moot.
Bern, we’ve already seen instances of miscarriages in which the court did not rule until after the fact, but it wasn’t moot because the ruling set the stage for another hospital board or lawyer to use that ruling as a reason to deny treatment until the woman ended up in the ICU. I’d like good attorneys to take the hospitals to court from ICU bills and damages.
You say that as if men are willing to use contraception
I’ve known men willing to get vasectomies as well as using condoms.
It seems to be an unspoken conspiracy. An understanding among a certain group of coconspirators . Their influence is outsized because of money and influence.
My feelings exactly....yesterdays news took away a bit of my hope.
Hello Sioux. Agreed, creepy. And no matter how well the economy is doing it does nothing to undo what the extreme republicans are doing to our country, taking us back to the late 1800’s. And there is literally nothing we the people can do.
Keeping the truth out there and public is the only way to combat these traitors. Expose them for the nazis they are.
I tell EVERYONE I talk to about what is at stake and what it is those traitors are trying to do to ALL Americans, even the foolish maga people who think those people give a damn about them. Truth. It's the only way.
Very well said and over 200 readers who also liked your comment agree. Well done!
Sioux, I’m with you. It’s hard to believe in all the turmoil around us but we have to keep the faith that Justice and Liberty will prevail for us all.
I have such a hard time thinking about the issue of race because there’s not one person in United States that was born here unless you’re a Native American, why does color or ethnicity matter. I wish we would be more like Canada and be a mosaic rather than thinking we have to be a melting pot .
Spot on as always Sioux.
Sioux Fleming, You sum up my take on Dr Richardson's letter perfectly. We must be full awake and we must do our best not to argue with those that think all those negative things about our economy but to replace their thinking that is fed to them because they are not reading what is really going on; we must point them to the facts and explain it is time to wake up, to smell the coffee, to think for yourself. Share Professor Richardson's Letters From an American. Vote. encourage anyone that cares about our Democracy and not wanting to go back to the 4 years prior to President Biden's term of service to America and ALL of us.
Gradual takeover of an authoritarian government has occurred so far in countries of single race - Germany, Japan, China, Hungary and so on. America is a nation of diversified races and religions and this structure cannot be unified easily except law and rules, namely democracy.
Just as Lincoln was exactly what was needed in a president at such a critical time in history, Joe Biden is exactly the president we need right now
Remember the lengths Lincoln had to go to. He thought the war had won an eventual peace, when, in fact, the same evil that was temporarily overcome has risen from purgatory and plagues us today.
Good comment Jeri. The same evil has risen....... And what is the motive? The Slave owners had a lot of power, i.e. wealth. Today the power of the minority is wealth. And the only way to maintain that power is to undermine democracy. The conservative mentality is to preserve the rights of the wealthy. Nothing changes same old same old. Alito and Thomas are more than a disgrace. They are on the Court because elections have CONSEQUENCES!! This is what conservatism has wrought. In order to get elected they need an electorate that is misinformed and lacks critical thinking. The level of ignorance of the American voters can never be UNDERESTIMATED.
A road to where we are in the last 15 years was Citizens United, then Russian interference in 2015 2016 election, then Comey's Hillary laptop use right before the election, Trump putting 3 SC members after McConnell refused to bring Obama's pick, Garland, forward to the Senate because it was too close to an election, but put Amy Coney Barrettt up and on the SC while Early Voting was already started in some states, etc etc etc!!! And here we are! And I say again, where is the OUTRAGE!!!
Sandra, what really incenses me is that Comey chose to reveal an ongoing investigation into Hillary’s laptop twice while keeping silent about the investigation into Russian ties to, and assistance for, 45’s campaign.
Yes, exactly Mary!
Boy, did chump prove what a cretin he is. Instead of being grateful to Comey, he trashed him unmercifully. A lesson to any who bet on him, except the Heritage Society billionaires of course.
When you watch Fox nonstop, you are ignorant, and proud of it. Rupert has changed not one stripe since the big payout.
Good thing Lincoln had no Social Media.
David Sea: I would give almost anything to be gifted with the "tweets" of a live Abraham Lincoln!!
Four score and seven years ago, ICYMI, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, IMHO, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, FFS.
Yes! Best president of my lifetime.
Yes, he is. We need to work like heck to see he gets re-elected.
If I recall, another letter by HCR detailed how Lincoln had to fight, fight, fight to push our nation to outlaw slavery...and then it was a fight, fight, fight to establish an infrastructure to combat racism....one that has been pushed back on so many levels....by our own Supreme Court.
Hallelujah (with nod to Leonard Cohen)
The Nazis have come back to town.
They’ve taken our laws and cut them down.
But you don’t really have to vote now.
Do you?
They worship only billionaires.
Of regular people they don’t care.
And their money pleases Clarence.
But you know that, don’t you?
They’ve got Mike Johnson, “Christian” hypocrite.
And from Georgia bleach-blonde, bad-built, butch body – sick, sick, sick.
Howdy Doodies, marble mouths: you don’t expect anything more.
Do you?
So take our rich – they’re taking you.
Take our schools that make all fools.
It’s an old game for which we’re rubes.
You don’t expect any better, do you?
No need for elections anymore, when the “legislature may pursue partisan ends when it engages in redistricting.” Just pick your voters and all is well. The right’s takeover of state legislatures has solved our election questions for perpetuity, it seems. The SC makes it so??
Yes, Jeri, but worse, the Powell memo made it worse from 1971 on.
It was, more specifically, ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) which began scripting, lobbying, dictating to all Republican state legislatures shortly after the Powell memo.
And when it came to higher ed, ALEC sold all the Dem legislatures, too, on the ease of reducing funds for the public colleges and universities which had been the source of American strength from the Justin Morrill legislation of 1862 till that Powell memo.
Thus the reduction in tenure slots, the competition for narrowest orthodoxies for the few remaining tenure slots.
Thus the marginalization of humanities.
Thus the throwing of students to the banker predators for the biggest debt load in American history.
And thus, too, the lobbying of all states to let the standardized testing behemoths rule all K-12, killing humanities for that, introducing the conceits of numbering all life, giving all K-12 teachers only one agenda: teach to the test.
No argument from me here. Took me a while to see the big picture, but it was being painted by the numbers, and lo, it appeared on the horizon as pieces were filled in.
Lewis Powell was a wealthy southerner.
Well said, Phil.
Thank you! Yes: the conceits of numbering all life.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
These “Christians” behave as if they totally missed the message of Jesus. I wish there were some way to linguistically differentiate them from true Christians, those who clearly understand His message. No one is sinless but God, but someone like Jimmy Carter clearly understood the real meaning of the teachings of Jesus, just as it is clear that Leo, Sam, et al. do not.
They're not "Christians." They are Fundamentalists. The Enemy.
Yes, enemies. I’m wondering how many people they have to harm or kill before we step up to get rid of them permanently. They’re never going to stop. They’re taking over one state at a time until we have no choice but to divide the country to cut out the cancer. If these slimebags are so pro-life, they sure have a sick way of showing it - bunch of power hungry sociopaths.
One will feed you the other will feed on you...
Short, and perfectly to the point!!
The only problem with using “Fundamentalists” is that that term can apply to a branch of almost all major religions. One of the more successful identifiers I know is “Islamist”. I tried using Christianists for our parcel of lovelies, but it failed to catch on.
Pilgrim, white evangelicals works pretty well because that encompasses most of the people who are in the Trump camp along with Alito and the other SC conservatives. The Thomas/Alito crowd are mostly Catholic, but Catholicism has moved steadily into the white evangelical camp for decades. Even though there are other than white groups among American Catholics, most seem to buy into the same nonsense of keeping Jesus in the church and doing whatever you want outside the church.
Try quotation marks for "Christians," pilgrimRVW.
Phil, I also do not capitalize christian when I am referring to the folks like Alito and I do not capitalize god when referring to what they worship too. It seems to work or at least those who read my pieces understand.
Christian fundamentalists is the term I use.
One of the problems that we have is fundamentalists in many monotheistic religions
I use "Fundamentalist" *because of* that fact. They are indeed polluting all major religions, and each faction has more in common with the other Fundies in other religions than they do with the religion they claim to be part of. They ARE one overall religion: Fundamentalism. And that is why they are indeed The Enemy, to be rooted out.
My differentiation is between "Beatitude Christians" and "Revelation-ists." The former are the people who try to live by the precepts in Matthew 25. The latter start at the revengeful Old Testament, dip into the New to pull quotes that justify their hard-right political positions then await the Apocalypse which they assume will give them the ability to blow raspberries at all the non-believers. It's sickening.
They're either awaiting the Apocalypse, or they're working to bring on its early arrival.
Some say we are already approaching the End Times. I have a family member who believes this.
Nevertheless, the End Times will be on God's schedule, not MAGA.
If we haven't made the planet utterly uninhabitable before then, it is guaranteed that the End Times will be approximately five billions years from now, when our Sun will go supernova.
Back when I had a TV I would occasionally come across a program on one of those Christian channels. It was an attractive, articulate couple whose whole schtick was The End Times, oh and getting suckers to send them money.
Absolutely.
Pilgrim, the sad thing is that I think those guys know Jesus's message, but have decided it is not for them, but they like the power of the church so have decided to use it. They know there are a lot of scared white people out here and some white wannabees who claim to be christian but are desperate for some kind of recognition and not just for being white or a white wannabee. Leo, Trump, Alito, and all the rest have found their sweet spot; say how you are for the working people, then spend the rest of the time turning their heavy negative emotions on particular persons and situations. Those people can then be manipulated into believing almost anything because you tell them how god is on their side and wants bad stuff done to those evil Satan-worshippers. The manipulated folks will then spread that hatred among their friends who didn't happen to get it firsthand and we have 60+ million people who voted in 2020 for an ignorant, whiny, serial lying, white toddler-man who has no positive ideas for anyone. Now, we need to figure out how to cut the chain that keeps those people tethered to the users and abusers of our Constitution and the American people in general.
Or they do understand and choose otherwise.
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2023/11/sheeps-clothing.html
I got all the way to the end of the replies as of May 24 at 5 PM, and realized that I was not showing much true Christianity in the way I referred to "the other side". If I really am a true Christian, I should be praying fervently that the Fundamentalists find and accept the true Jesus of the Beatitudes and Mathew 25 (the entire chapter). I confess to being almost unable to do this, though I come closer with them than with Trump and other hypocrites. In fact Trump proves what I have been saying about him since 2016: he has one talent, just one: to bring out the worst in people. I catch myself wishing he would be struck by lightning on the golf course.
I don't share your reliance on scripture, but that lightning idea appeals to me!
The Federalist Society's Leonard Leo delayed the start of his employment at the Federalist Society so that he could help Clarence Thomas through Thomas's Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Leo also led the Senate campaigns supporting the nominations of Alito, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
All are Catholics, a seeming requirement if you are to make Leonard Leo’s list of nominees or to receive Leonard Leo’s help in gaining Senate approval.
Leo has been on the board of directors of the Catholic Association; the Catholic Association Foundation; the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast; The Busch School of Business at Catholic University.
As the Dobbs decision showed, the Supreme Court is now a religious court where legal precedence and stare decisis have been replaced by religious dogma -- with Leonard Leo as puppet master of the court's Catholic majority.
Leonard Leo is also on the board of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) which claims to
promote the “Judeo-Christian moral tradition.”
One of its major programs is The Catholic Studies Program - which “explores the many connections between Catholicism and public life and seeks to clarify and deepen knowledge of modern Catholic social thought.”
EPPC’s idea of “modern Catholic social thought” can be found in a recent article on the EPPC website, “The ugliness of pride—and Pride Month”. https://eppc.org/publication/the-ugliness-of-pride-and-pride-month/
The EPPC claims on its tax declaration that “The Center and its scholars seek to defend the great Western ethical imperatives: respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, individual freedom and responsibility, justice, the rule of law, and limited government.”
However, its concept of individual freedom and responsibility does not extend to women, having filed an Amicus brief with the Supreme Court challenging the FDA’s decades-old approval of the mifepristone abortion pill.
The separation of Church and State is not on Leonard Leo’s agenda.
It sounds all high-minded, doesn’t it? What has happened is these people are first right-wingers, second arrogant white men (even Thomas feels he has finally joined the white establishment) and third, Catholics. Pope Francis does not agree with many of their positions. However, when one marginalizes some of God’s people to support one’s elevated view of one’s self and one’s superiority, one becomes a Pharisee. Catholic bishops are arguing among themselves and some aligning with republicans, others not. The polarization we see in our country has crept into the presbyterate; it’s so much easier to further arguments (mis)using God as your authority.
Well, if God is your authority, you can say literally anything. It is obvious that you can't use or misuse God as an authority because God, as commonly defined, is a construct and has no authority at all. I think most Popes even know this. They know that playing God is just a charade, and a lot of fun to boot. And they'd rather subject the world to chaos and terror than give up their sinister pleasures.
Did you notice that the American Catholic bishops wanted to excommunicate President Biden for trying to defend Roe? My guess: Pope Francis put a stop to that.
Does Leo recognize separation of church and state?
Appalling is too polite a word. As an erstwhile Republican, I do not understand how throwing our society so far out of balance can be good for the country. We hear Trump claiming that President Biden had issued permission to use lethal force -- or "shoot-to-kill" -- during the Mar a Lago search for stolen secrets. And the cognitive under-class sucks it all up. 😱
If a civil war be in the offing, it will occur along the lines of what President / General Grant said: "If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” 😳
As I am older and not particularly attached, I am prepared to defend the Republic, though I can barely hit the side of a barn with a firearm. Fortunately, M.A.G.A. militants and militia memberss are often so 'substantial' that they ARE a side of barn. What is frightening to me is that three per cent of Americans own half of the guns, or about twenty on average. 🤢
You can bet that those ten million people own the great majority of assault rifles and that many or most are M.A.G.A. militants and 'anti-establishment' militia members. So, our hope is that President Biden wins re-election, which I believe he will, and that finally his good efforts on behalf of the country make their way through the haze of the smoke-blowing Trump. 🤞
Ned, I try to avoid thinking about armed conflict between fellow Americans. I absolutely hate the idea of it.
I think it was Howard Zinn who talked about the deliberate misdirection orchestrated by the super-wealthy movers and shakers, who worked to trick the masses to blame each other for whatever is wrong in society, instead of blaming the real culprits. The real culprits are the relatively few people among us who have managed to move the vast common wealth of the majority of people up into the hands of that tiny minority of extremely wealthy people.
The militias and the religious zealots are mad at the wrong people.
We should be hammering away at that message, that the fake billionaire wannabe is teaching his followers to stop looking at the people who manipulate public opinion by spending vast sums on messaging.
I don't advocate that the angry militias should hurt the "masters of the universe" or super-rich influencers. But they do need to understand that it's not their fellow common citizens who are causing the problems in society. Don't blame the victims! The feud between the "conservatives" and the "liberals" is ridiculous, baseless, unfounded, not real. It's all just mental manipulation. The real problem rests with the people who wield vast fortunes in unhealthy ways.
Too many of those wealthy people are trying to keep their rapacious juggernaut rolling into the distant future. They would destroy the natural Earth just to gain financial wealth.
We can retool our economy to become regenerative, to repair the damage we've inflicted with our industrial revolutions, and to share the wealth in a more just and equitable way. The would-be authoritarians don't want that to happen, so they try to trick us into fighting amongst ourselves. President Biden appears to understand that, and his administration is working toward a more fair and just society. We want peace and prosperity -- not fighting in the streets.
Thank you for a really well thought out message. As I age, I am getting a bit taut emotionally. I let the dark side of my thinking out in the open this evening. Funny, thirty years ago, I used to chuckle and say that I was a curmudgeon ahead of my time; now I am a curmudgeon on schedule. On C-Span's morning call-in show, the anger of right-wingnuts manifests almost unrestrained.
Some of these abrasive, often hurt, and usually self-satisfied shrill-seekers do mention a civil conflict, but not many. As an article of faith, I still believe that we will muddle through and redress the inequalities you mention. I keep the fuzzy faith not because I want to, but because I have to. Thank you for talking me off the proverbial ledge, David; I really am grateful. 🤝😇⚖️
Dear Ned, Try MSNBC in the morning. You will get intelligent commentary without call-ins. It will give you a less infuriating experience.
No, I want to see the call-ins because I want to see how others are thinking. It is infuriating, yes. I am happy to report that the great majority of people, of various political views and different walks of life, are respectful and quite perceptive.
Yup. Fighting over the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table. Oldest trick in the book
Peace and prosperity vs fighting in the streets!
I keep looking for stark, simple slogans a 5th grader can grasp to see the difference between today's democrats vs republicans.
Ty David.
Don't forget about "One person, One vote!"?
“The cognitive under-class”. Well done Ned. Sometimes the truth can sound harsh.
The worst part is how many people who damn well know better (e.g., Senator J.D. Vance, Governor DeSantis, Tucker Carlson) and are pursuing not what they esteem to be frankly opportune ideals but are in pursuit of rankly opportunistic ambitions. It reminds me of those stories of so many German, Japanese, Russian, and Italian intellectuals flocking to (fascist) totalitarianism. Thank you, William.
Yes, the “cognitive underclass” falls in line with neofascist graduates of Ivy League schools who take their orders from Leonard Leo and they all hop aboard the electoral college express to put the wood to all of us. And they’ve succeeded beyond measure.
I used to cherish the electoral college as a guard-rail against regionalism. Then came manipulating it for serving an ideology and demographic rather than a region. The rural states need to have a voice. How big a voice remains disturbingly unsettled, at least for me. Thank you, William. ✌️
Ned, it is not the "cognitive underclass" entirely. It is a bunch of former cops as well. They got upset with me when I told them it is standard language in all search warrants for the FBI. Two of them were former SWAT guys who went through a very difficult time on our team when we had a deadly force incident following a armed barricaded subject; we ultimately addressed several criteria to use for future call outs or search warrants based on this incident.
Yours being a first-hand perspective on the procedures, I appreciate your informed perspective. While I trust the statements of the F.B.I. and Attorney General Garland, a 'primary source' affirmation helps, Ally. Thank you for that.
✌️
https://www.fbi.gov/about/faqs/what-is-the-fbis-policy-on-the-use-of-deadly-force-by-its-special-agents (Hardly shoot-to-kill.)
⚖️
Ally, I want to extend my sympathy to you for enduring an emotional ordeal and bureaucratic night-mare. My younger brothers and sisters in uniform (in conflict zones) often complained about similar of the rules of engagement.
YIKES! I did not know three per cent of Americans own half of the guns, or about twenty on average.
Scary.
The power of the NRA to frighten US and sell guns is only second to the power of Big Pharma to do the same.
BINGO, ¡Virginia!
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/7903
Concerted efforts on gun control start with stake-holder alignment. That starts with the repeal of the 2005 'Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act'; that law removes product liabilities for foreseeable mis-use of the product. Get those manufacturers on the hook for predictable consequences of loosely regulated sales of their products, and the forces of the society share an interest in getting rid of these guns. At the same time, bring back assault-weapons bans, once backed by Presidents Reagan and G.H.W. Bush.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/811487/number-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us/
President G.W. Bush's allowing that ban to lapse with the passage of the exemption from foreseeable product mis-use liability may go a long way toward explaining the secular trend of increased mass shootings.
https://www.cnn.com/factsfirst/politics/factcheck_22838c84-048d-49ed-b50b-30ba482fb524
Meh. Those 3 percent can only use one weapon at a time. Those are merely emotional support tools (pets).
Marj, here is an article on that topic.
https://www.npr.org/2016/09/20/494765559/nearly-half-of-guns-in-u-s-owned-by-3-percent-of-population-study-finds
I post it not patronize you but to repeat my reaction to that seemingly outlandish statement when I first heard of it. The assertions of that three per cent owning most of the AR-15s and being (very) disproportionately populated by M.A.G.A. types are mine alone.
Re: Cognitive Underclass
If I may edit your comments, which echo HCR’s letter about “House Divided” and its references to recent polls clearly indicating how terribly misinformed the American public is about economic truth, I would add one word to your phrase “Cognitive Underclass.”
With your permission, can we classify them as the “Cognitively IMPAIRED Underclass?”
Basically our schools have failed, in many if not most instances, because of racism. Hatred smothers intelligence and creativity.
I wouldn’t lay the blame on the schools as much as on the parents and the media
So true. I remember forty years ago being in a discussion (AFTER college) whining about how 'quotas' kept me out of my first-choice school. My friend, a decent man for sure, basically said the 'Ns' and 'Bs' (i.e., Blacks and women) had deprived us of our just due: an ivy league education.
😯
The sinking sensation was likely like the one felt by Dorian Gray as satan's emissary saw the reality of his life manifested in the portrait in the attic. I saw myself and thought, "My parents did not raise me to act this way." Shame is often dismissed as categorically illegitimate. Not that shame, not that day.
😢
So, the cognitive corruption broke and l committed me to growing back into the man my parents had intended me to be, notwithstanding their short-comings. I have made a sporadic effort with discernible, if not necessarily creditable, progress in that halting growth.
WOWerful thought there, Steve. The worst part of that impairment -- at least in my wretched little mind -- is the willfulness in being impaired by those whom we deem as impaired. Unthinking or not, such reactions represent choices. Thank you.
💡
That willfulness is a form of cognitive corruption. As part of the demographic prone to be 'anti-woke', I can say that I have not been entirely immune to unsavory pre-judgements. What disturbs me about the 'woke' agenda is that it challenges my complacency.
😳
That sensation is, in the poli.-sci. parlance of the 1970s, an instance of cognitive dissonance -- a period of discomfort. That uneasiness leaves me with a choice: cognitive growth or cognitive corruption.
🤔
Those latter two cognitive states are not binary but more like the bounds of a continuüm. My reactions are certainly a mixture of both. Cognitive corruption occurs when I respond to dissonance with a lack of intellectual integrity by:
🤭
> e.g., rejecting decisive evidence, often with a slur;
> e.g., rationalizing my pre-judgements, often through ideology; and,
> e.g., rejecting the message, often by attacking the messenger.
⚖️
One may respond, "Hey, I know what I believe and I have read up on the subject, thank you very much." That reflexiveness may be part of human nature. Defensive push-back still represents a choice by that individual, often taken without thinking.
Steve, instead of “impaired” (since many that I’ve known score very high on IQ tests), I’d like to substitute the word “informed”. When you follow your preacher’s advice to watch only Fox News (the other news sources being godless) , it’s all too easy to fall for a twisted truth and act accordingly.
Agree with what you say, Mary (apologies for confusing you with Virginia Witmer; shrinking grey matter), especially with the findings, unethically derived six decades ago, of the Milgram experiments documenting compliance to authority, no matter how apparently deleterious to the welfare of a stranger. Thank you.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html 🤢
While Fox News hardly merits authority, there are people who question my 'authorities' (i.e., Drs Lee and Richardson as well as Peter Wallace, Deutsche Welle, Brooks and Capehart, B.B.C., 'Amanpour', 'Firing Line' et many al.). Such is life.
Thank you Professor.
The Appeal to Heaven flag flown by Justice Alito and Speaker Johnson is more than just a political statement. It has come to represent aggressive Christian nationalism, as the symbol of the apostolic movement. The apostolics seek to make America a Christian nation, with official recognition of such. In other words, bringing back an Established church. So much for the separation of church and state.
Antidisestablishmentarianism has come roaring back in the past twenty years. And it is being spearheaded by leaders at the very top of our government. Onward Christian soldiers. Let’s go have a crusade. Praise Jesus and pass the ammunition. Is this what our Founders wanted? I think not.
Thank you for bringing back the WORD. I remember being taught it, perhaps in fifth grade.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=7&case_insensitive=on&content=antidisestablishmentarianism
Is antidisestablishmentarianism still the longest word in the English language?
This is longer but invented. Learned about it from my kids: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
WomanVoterinPA.....LOL... you folks are WAY too esoteric for me!!
Thank you, but what’s the disease?
From Wiki:
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (/ˌnjuːmənoʊˌʌltrəˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpɪkˌsɪlɪkoʊvɒlˌkeɪnoʊˌkoʊniˈoʊsɪs/ ⓘ[1][2]) is a 45-letter word coined in 1935 by the then-president of the National Puzzlers' League, Everett M. Smith. It has sometimes been used as a synonym for the occupational disease known as silicosis, but it should not be as most silicosis is not related to mining of volcanic dusts. It is the longest word in the English language published in a popular dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries, which defines it as "an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust".[3]
Clinical and toxicological research conducted on volcanic crystalline silica has found little to no evidence of its ability to cause silicosis/pneumoconiosis-like diseases and geochemical analyses have shown that there are inherent factors in the crystalline structure which may render volcanic crystalline silica much less pathogenic than some other forms of crystalline silica.[4][5]
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis and is known in the United Kingdom and eastern United States as the "black lung".
Thank you for the research and allowing me to stick with “black lung.”
<curtsies>
"At 4.5% growth over 2023, wage growth outpaced inflation, meaning that although prices have risen, workers have come out ahead." While this may be true for those in the mainstream economy, it is FALSE for many Americans NOT working in the mainstream economy. For example, most people living and working in rural settings, on individual farms, in small towns, in low paying jobs where wages are not competitive and don't need to be to fill them. Teachers, child care workers, workers in all the crummy jobs that no one wants, but who must work three of them to survive. And those without jobs. Remember that unemployment statistics fail to count people who have given up looking for work, and a severely underpaid worker is counted as employed.
We're never going to reach these people if we ignore these realities. And we're going to lose elections we should have won.
I agree. But Republicans are less likely to address these inequalities than Democrats. It takes time to turn the ship around. We’ve switched from Supply side economics to Demand side economics, but with a media based on profit rather than truth and Republican messaging based on collective anger, many are refusing to acknowledge our advancements. Once Leo’s crowd takes over, it will take generations to right the ship again—if at all. My heart aches for my granddaughter.
It's the billionaires and their offshoring, Jim, that crippled the millions of abandoned Americans.
But first they and their far-right foundations stripped K-12 of humanities, and marginalized, neutered same in higher ed -- so Americans wouldn't be aware of their predation and its human costs.
But our humanities show it: films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” and any number of hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
Of course, but none of that changes the reality of what I observed. You're talking about CAUSE, I'm talking about EFFECT.
Yes. Biden truly needs to acknowledge this. Repeatedly. And speak clearly as to why rural and small town America is in that shape and WHO IS TO BLAME.
Who is to blame? Don’t forget the Fifth Column Koch brothers. And Koch Industries is still alive and well in Russia in spite of sanctions. If anyone has forgotten, their fortune comes initially from their father’s work for Hitler and Stalin in the 1930’s. One brother has died but the other lives on in infamy.
Never forget!
In point of fact if you are poor or feel poor, then America is in recession to say the least. And income inequality is at the heart of the problem, not "the economy". It's not the economy, stupid.
“We're never going to reach these people if we ignore these realities. And we're going to lose elections we should have won.”
That last paragraph says it all. It’s amazing something so clear gets lost in the messaging, but that’s what’s happening. It all comes down to President Biden’s lack of effective communication skills. This election is President Biden’s to lose, and so far he’s doing just that.
I agree. But I don’t know how to turn the tide if those who get their “news” from social media aren’t learning the truth about our economy, etc., we are doomed to lose. Yes, it seems everyone who follow HCR are “enlightened” and will vote and work to save our country, will it be enough? I believe if Biden loses, our country, as we know it, will be lost for a long time, maybe forever. I know I sound like doom and gloom but I am afraid this may become our reality. We sit and watch The Supreme Court doing the bidding of the Leonard Leo’s. What can individuals do about the court? Yes, we can vote for who puts them in their sweet jobs for life, but again, if Biden loses, the Supremes will not, for a long time, make decisions that benefit the majority. I personally believe too many Americans just don’t realize how dire life will be if Cheetolinni company take over America.
And it may not have to be Cheetolinni, though his cult of personality has shown rocks turned over. Nicky Haley waits in the wings along with myriad others.
I identify with what you are saying.
This is the first election cycle I can remember that I have not jumped in yet to help bc it feels so futile. I am trying to push myself to do so. This in itself scares me knowing how politically active I always was and that I am sure I am not alone.
If ever you have jumped in, now is the time. Since at 90 postcards is my best contribution, I have already done over 1000 and shall continue to do 125-300 (address labels shorten time, lengthen numbers) every week until late October. Blue Wave and TonyTheDemocrat are very helpful, but linking up with your local Indivisible chapter (or starting one)will help cut the stress.
Good job! We were already writing postcards locally when Tony started his business.
I have not been able to find any convincing evidence sending postcards is a valuable contribution to get voters to the polls.
I would love to read some fact based evidence if you know of any. Thx!
My understanding from 2018 is that postcards ARE useful. They’re a substantive reminder that a person wrote and mailed it to your mailbox. Some are mostly voting information with a sentence or two handwritten, but all are personalized. I like to think of the chicken cards on some refrigerators being seen by curious children—a link to future voters. We are at a point where everyone reads and hears, but individual tactile is sorely lacking.
And yet Traitor news is all I hear blasting 24/7. It's way more than a Biden issue.
I wonder how many of these people that the improved economy hasn't reached are in "right to work" states?
You write, "Tempting as it is to blame the media for its relentless focus on bad news rather than good, a study from NBC News at the end of April showed that those who follow national newspapers and media swing heavily to Biden, while those who either don’t follow politics or get their news from YouTube and social media favor Trump or Robert Kennedy Jr.
Those sources seem unlikely to explain that Leonard, Sam, Clarence, Mike, and Donald have been swinging hammers."
It's a good thing we have you, Joyce, Jess, Robert, Simon, Dan, TC, Jay, and so many others here on Substack shining big flashlights on those swinging hammers. Now if we can only recruit more thinking Americans (yes, I believe they are out there) to get onto these Substacks...
Amen to your list of writers - I read them all. They help maintain my sanity in a period of failing mainstream media. Today’s Fifth Estate is more interested in selling soap than defending democracy with its ink. History is watching, and it will not be kind to the editors and publishers who were complicit in this abysmal failure.
And to those to whom it is available: MSNBC is where you can follow the trial with intelligent commentary (teachers of law, former prosecutors and defenders, and informed journalists). You can bear witness and plan your moves to help democracy survive in America!
Drawing on Lincoln in a way that is nearly poetic. Great piece about sad contributors to our time.
The Republicans really do want to put us all back on the plantation and the company town.
Our last chance to stop them is next Nov. 5th.
Be there.
Ralph, you’re exactly right! And they’re not very subtle about it!
What influence did Alito have in the Supreme Court's decision to take the Trump immunity case in the first place? What about Thomas's influence? Is there any way to determine that? Because, while the damage is done and SCOTUS is going to issue a ruling on that, their meddling in the issue by taking - and delaying - it may well be a result of blatant partisanship on the part of Alito and Thomas.
Why can’t the other members do something to pressure Roberts to save the court’s reputation?
I keep asking myself this question.
Don’t forget the Cowardly Chief Justice! Who’s pushing him? W? Big Oil May be behind a lot of what we’re going through.
“And so, almost exactly 70 years after the Supreme Court unanimously decided Brown v. Board, it appears that the framed timbers designed to reverse the expansion of minority rights are falling into place.”
But who would ever have thought a Black man would be at the helm? If there’s ever been a greater American traitor, Clarence would like to get some tips.
John, Clarence Thomas reminds me of a social outcast mimicking the popular kids “see, I’m just like you! Can I eat lunch at your table?”
I wonder if he knows what happens to useful idiots iwhen they’re no longer useful? I suppose the “idiot“ part of that answers my own question.
“United States should be a nation based in Christian theology”
Putin claims to be leading a Christian nation as he assaults Ukraine. So did Hitler as he exterminated Jews. And Netanyahu claims to be leading a Jewish nation as he leads a genocide against Palestinians. Both Iran and Afghanistan claim to be Muslim nations as they keep their people in bondage.
We should correct this narrative. None of these nations, not the US, no theological state exists nor plans to be based on the core principles of any religion. They are all promoting the theology of power managed with violence and intimidation with impunity. No one lives a free religious life in peace and goodwill in any of these nations as they are being operated under the guise of their so called orthodox and evangelical religions.
The Republican Party leaders are Godless Christ-less fascists, no less than all the models they follow and aspire to be.
Tartuffe run amok.
Agreed!
Silly Con Valley needs to be brought to heel next year when we have the White House, Senate and House. The over-rich Fascist-curious Incel Bros need to learn they are not masters of the universe. The best way to do that is to put several of them - Mark Andreesen, Elmo Muck and Markie Fuckerberg spring to mind as prime candidates to be the examples of What Not To Do. OpenAI needs to be shut down. Most of their "progress" over the past 30 years has been anything but "progressive."
Love your coinages, TCinLA.
C’est grave Extrêmement grave !!!
Oui, c’est vrai.