Outrage continues over the Uvalde massacre of last Tuesday, May 24, in which 21 people were killed and 17 wounded. The assault on this elementary school stands out for many reasons: the youth of the victims, the apparent mishandling of the situation by law enforcement officers, and the heroism of the parents, for example. After all, there have been at least 14 mass shootings in the U.S. since the Uvalde murders, killing at least 10 people and wounding another 61, and they have gotten much less attention.
Things are coalescing in a way that exposes Republicans in the harshest light ever. Renegade, contempt for citizens and the law, corrupt, and even monstrous.
The abortion ruling, Uvalde mass murders, J6 committee, the widening Justice Department investigation, Fulton County grand jury probe of Trump and the election, and more.
But the question hovering over it all is whether the people rise up and vote like never before. And restore democracy.
Voting in numbers too massive to cover up has to be the next step. People have to realize that the GOP is not now, and has not been for decades, operating in good faith or in the best interest of the country.
We absolutely have to vote in numbers to massive to cover up. We voted that way in 2020, and look what the trump party has done. I think people thought if we just got the criminal con man out of office things would improve. The trump party is a criminal gang with people vying to be more trumpy than tRump. The Dems have to stop trying to get the R’s to join in; they WON’T!!! The Dems have to do what’s best for the country. I do agree with Joe Manchin on one thing; if Dems want to get their agenda passed, they need more Dem senators.
The popular vote in 2020 was massive...7 to 8 million more. Electorally Biden only won by about 350,000 votes. It doesn't have to be massive it just has to be statistically impossible to overturn. Massive would mean democrats win 10 to 12 senate seats.
Michael, While your first 2 paragraphs brilliantly capture much of what’s at stake, I would submit that we need to be fully engaged in ensuring, as best we can, a massive turnout. That means, for example, pressing one another to engage with grassroots organizations that continually seek volunteers for phone/text banking, postcard/letter writing, among other actions, directed particularly at voters in swing states who lean democratic but vote only sporadically.
Additionally, it means continuing what was started back in January, when Senate Dems failed by 2 votes (Manchin & Sinema, let alone every Republican) to pass the Budget Reconciliation package (BBB), a plan both to help remedy the country’s grotesque inequalities of wealth and income and also to address climate. At that time, we were pressed to prevail upon a, hopefully, tougher, stronger Biden (or surrogate, if warranted) to go to West Virginia, and also to the red parts of Mississippi and Alabama, and to other states, and say, “This is what we have tried to deliver, and these folks have voted against it.”
Imagine the impact, at a time when wages can’t keep up with inflation, were leadership to ask everyday people across the country: Who do you want here—somebody who doesn’t want to cut the price of insulin or those who do? Who doesn’t support extending the child tax credit or who does? Who doesn’t support expanding the Affordable Care Act or who does? Who doesn’t support investing in affordable, quality childcare or who does? Not Investing in Universal Pre-K or does? Not Investing in housing or does? Not investing in eldercare or does? Not investing in climate or does?My point, and note I haven’t covered what Biden and the Party have accomplished amid nearly unprecedented Republican obstruction, is that Democrats have an exceptional narrative if only they would deliver it.
Lastly, as stated previously, I would prevail upon Senate Democrats to pass, in short order, whichever Budget Reconciliation provisions can gain the support of 50 Senators to present to voters as a downpayment of more to come if Dems hold the House and pick up at least 2 Senate seats. The House already has passed the legislation. We’re simply waiting on the Senate.
Time to start volunteering! My federal representative, Angie Craig, one of the authors of the bill to lower the costs of insulin, put out the call last week for volunteers to get out the vote this coming Saturday. That same day, I received similar requests from my state senator and representative, Field Team 6 - which organizes efforts to register voters around the country, my local Climate Elders group, and several other organizations including League of Women Voters. Time to get away from the computer keyboard and start chatting with people and listening to their concerns.
I know not everyone here is comfortable doing that in person. No problem. Write postcards. Send text messages. Hell, just talk with safe friends and family and ask them to help. Do something. Please. Lets overwhelm them with ours numbers and humanity. Please help Get Out The Vote!!!
“ Time to get away from the computer keyboard and start chatting with people and listening to their concerns.
I know not everyone here is comfortable doing that in person. No problem. Write postcards. Send text messages. Hell, just talk with safe friends and family and ask them to help. Do something. Please. Lets overwhelm them with ours numbers and humanity. Please help Get Out The Vote!!!”
Have started on 200 for AZ through Postcards to Swing States, and continuing with different messages for local Native democrats…so many dedicated volunteers!
A group of HCR Substackers has formed to move talk to action in support of democracy. You'll see familiar names. For more info, email: heathersherd@gmail.com
Thank you so much. One of the things I've always appreciated here is that the discourse is not just civil and fact-based, but more likely to provide links to real action, which is all that matters now.
Joy, I simply would add, since becoming part of this community close to a year ago, that the on-line exchanges have helped elevate the quality of virtually every action I have undertaken this past year.
Sheila, Thank you for your reply. I just read through the thread of responses spawned by your comment and felt both heartened and honored to be part of this dedicated and responsive community.
Reluctantly, I have to cut back my involvement in local party (which is slowly sorting things), so today signed up with https://www.turnoutpac.org/ so I can still do something meaningful without overextending myself or going nuts. Ordered 300, so hope our little local PO has enough stamps!
The messages are brilliant!!! I want to do more than "imagine the impact!" How do get the dems who have access to "everyday people across the country" to do that? Maybe if everyone is this amazing community calls for this? I think there are readers more savvy than I about how.....
Also I would add "Who plans to end Medicare and Social Security or who doesn't? Who plans to tax all Americans no matter the income and who doesn't? And then there's the whole social justice aspect, which probably needs a more careful selection of audiences: Who plans to make voting harder especially for people of color and who doesn't? Who plans to make abortion illegal with no exceptions and who doesn't? Who works to stop any sensible gun safety legislation and who doesn't?
Sometimes I don’t think Republicans understand they may be shooting themselves in the foot with these voter suppression laws. Making it harder to register, do mail-in voting, decreasing the number of polling places effects everyone’s ability to cast a ballot. Even their own voters. I do understand that they have gerrymandered certain areas, but there is no evidence that Americans will accept these crappy laws. One example is Texas’ new registration policy. All kinds of voters are being rejected due to complexity of the process.
I think you are right....So it continues to be a numbers game....getting as many Democrats registered and voting as possible. I'm 76 and I don't remember an earlier time when it was so critical to vote to uphold the basics of democracy.
Chaplain, Thank you for your affirming reply. I understand from various news reports that White House staff currently are helping Biden with “messaging.” Frankly, I believe that many of us who reside outside the DC bubble are more attuned to how best to represent the interests of the widest range of people situated between extremes. To that end, I am grateful for all your added suggestions and plan to work them into future letters to leadership.
Michael, Thank you for replying and including the link, which reinforces the importance of providing enough information about issues and candidates to demonstrate that voting is vital and can make a difference in resolving problems effecting everyday people.
Barbara, I agree! And your most important advice is: "That means, for example, pressing one another to engage with grassroots organizations that continually seek volunteers for phone/text banking, postcard/letter writing, among other actions, directed particularly at voters in swing states who lean democratic but vote only sporadically." I have been doing these things, and now I need to ramp it up!
Elizabeth, Thank you for your reply. Frankly, I take heart from the presence of virtually everyone on this thread, clearly, committed to ensuring that eligible voters have enough information about issues and candidates to recognize that voting is vital to resolving the issues they most care about.
But the caveat is that in GA's recent primary it was by and large REPUBLICANS who turned out in record numbers, not Democrats. This was mainly because Democrats in general "had less skin in the game", there were less high profile candidacies at stake in the primary, so there wasn't as much impetus to turn out as there will be in November. That is when we need massive Democratic turn out, and that concerns me. Republicans here are fired up as never before to take their state back, even if it means voting in a clueless Senate candidate who is dumb as a box of hammers (a simile I've used before...). Kemp is pretty popular and I fully expect even the T***pies to fall in behind him. Marjorie Taylor "Bill Gates is growing meat in peach-tree dishes" Greene and Andrew Clyde (whose campaign posters along our highways feature an AKA 15 prominently displayed) will more than likely cruise to victory in their districts. Statistics show in the last primary, about 7% of the Republican vote was Democrats crossing over to vote for candidates they want to run against. There's no way of telling what effect, if any, this will have. We have a huge task ahead of us here.
I live in a state (TN) that seems to me just about as hopeless as Georgia, but perhaps not as much as AL or MS. I have to tell you - it is so discouraging to lay out common sense arguments, moral arguments - only to get shut down with insane counter-arguments. Insane. And Trump's popularity? After all this? How can a person who claims to be a good citizen still support that uber-corrupt excuse for a human? And then openly express their hatred for Biden - a compassionate and just leader? How can a person who sees the horror of Uvalde only to double down on his/her "right" to own an AR? How can a person listen to the dire concerns about climate change, and just smile and nod their heads and say "just keep drinkin' the Kool-aid"? Here in TN, those people abound. And believe me they hate us - regardless of what has been accomplished on their behalf. The very best we can hope for with this sect of our population is that a statistically significant percentage of them stay home in November, disgusted by what they heard from the 1/6 report-outs.
As I said below, if Georgia can do it, other states in the South can as well. It really does come down to turn-out. There are blue islands in TN (Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga) that could go a long way to helping make TN turn a little more purple. I have friends in TN (I was born there!) and they are all quite liberal and are doing all they can to move TN forward. Don't give up entirely! Change can be glacially slow, but if enough people can get riled up, change CAN happen!
Even in Illinois we have the Trumper loyalists. Met an older, blonde woman who is a great trainer in dog obedience on Saturday. Her skills are fantastic. She has beautiful and well trained goldens. She was a bit tiring because she could only talk about herself. Later, she mentioned how Biden and the Democrats were destroying our nation which came up AFTER she denied COVID even existed. This ran into not wanting her taxes to be spent on supporting people who don’t work especially during the pandemic. I asked her if she felt that people are faking losing jobs and being ill and such. She indicated most of them were just like Trump pointed out. (I think it was Fox who had this belief.) told her that I struggled with conversations with people with delusional ideas and judgments and left. Egads, it was a horrible conversation, but helped me understand her complete focus on herself.
To me, not a Georgian, a Black woman governor and a Black senator plus a Jewish senator must seem like a a bridge too far from white male Christian dominance. If I lived in Georgia I would vote for all three, and I have sent donations to them. It is much to Georgia's credit that they have prevailed in addition to calling Trump's bluff. Your should be proud and I would emphasize this incredible positivity.
OH, I AM!! I am enormously proud of what Georgia has shown potentially, POTENTIALLY, can happen. Georgia's diversity, especially propelled by the metro area of Atlanta of 6½ million people, is what I believe is a microcosm of what this country is becoming. A young, urban White and Black (the largest African-American middle and upper class in the country) influx from the rest of the country over the years has fueled an amazing diversity. However, the situation in the 2020 elections here, in particular the race to fill the remaining tenure of the vacant Senate seat now occupied by Sen. Warnock, were a bit out of the ordinary. A significant percentage of the Republican electorate stayed home as they were not thrilled with Kelly Loeffler (appointed to the seat by Gov. Kemp) who was endorsed by Trump and who was not that popular. That won't be the case this time and the Republicans are raring to go. Now, the fly in the ointment for them is Herschel Walker who is about as vulnerable as they come. The guy can barely put a sentence together--SERIOUSLY! Democrats are chomping at the bit to exploit his weaknesses, which are legion. But it remains baffling to me how someone SO incredibly inept and ill-suited for political office can STILL manage to garner votes (polls show him like 1%-point ahead of Warnock). Between now and November he could very well stumble in a BIG way, in spite of the Republican operatives trying to "program" him with stock far right-wing talking points. Once Republicans get a good look at how dumb he is (and I hate to use such a pejorative, but the guy really is thick as a post) many of them may get turned off by him enough not to vote for him. Again, NOBODY is more proud than me of what this state, considered "The Empire State of the South", has accomplished. It bodes well for the future. I pray that what happened in 2020 will not be an outlier and a one-off thing. I'm just hoping that Democrats can hammer home their message--something Democrats have traditionally been not so good at--enough that people here will be amped up to get out and vote to foment change. The automatic weapons issue and women's health in themselves SHOULD be huge rallying points, but it remains to be seen if these things matter enough to get people off their asses to vote. The next 5 months or so should be interesting to watch. I hope and pray my state can continue to advance and lead the way for a new and better South. We have a LOT working against us. End of sermon...church, say "AMEN!!"
This is an ad just released today by a Democratic Super PAC against Walker...ouch!!
Bruce, last round I donated more to GA than any place else. I'm not in a good place with my local Dem party this time around, and pulling back on my participation here (they are slowly getting things together- I hope, but at this point I don't much care).
Since I am spending more time at home now (not of choice, but that's how things are), what I plan to do in terms of activity is the postcard thing, because at least I know that will help make a difference in getting Dems to vote. And I am going to go through my list of monthly donations and see what I can redirect to Georgia Dems.
Stacy is my heroine and I admire Warnock tremendously. It would give a tremendous boost to democracy overall to see those two people in office in spite of all the obstacles thrown at them and at black and poor Georgian voters.
Georgia pulled the entire country back from the abyss in 2020. This I know. But GA is not that different from AL next door. AL has its little islands of progressivism too although not like Atlanta. I guess I am still, after all this time, stung by Doug Jones' (a fine and capable lawmaker) defeat at the hands of Tuberville (a complete dolt). In the deep south, a football background can be a big thing. It is as obvious as the nose on your face why Walker is in there. Football background, and he is black. Period. Blacks in GA should be enraged that they are being played like this. Split and conquer is the plan. Against Warnock - who has shown that he too is a fine and capable lawmaker, and black. I sure hope I am pleasantly surprised.
There are many good sources of election data; as for potent data, Steve Kornacki on MSNBC "at the Big Board" is excellent. Of course, Stacey Abrams for GA & many other states.
I would have agreed completely with you before Rafensperger won in Georgia.
Although many Republicans, and all of the one's in Congress, are now completely off their rockers, there are some left with some courage.
And........the fact that Rafensperger won will give others courage.
Honestly, we should recognize Rafensperger as a modern day hero. His family has been death threatened, he has been death threatened, people with guns were outside his home, and he STILL did not bend to Trump's will.
I am not optimistic either Rowshan, because, I just spent some time in Texas and it does not look good. BUT, it is not over.
Rowshan, Absent either Manchin’s or Sinema’s willingness to modify the filibuster to allow for an up or down vote on federal voter protection safeguards, our only recourse is to turbo-charge turnout. Hence, my reason, as part of this thread, for just posting, in my view “best strategies” for mobilizing not only the Base, but also Independents and moderate Republicans.
Very good analysis of the Australian Parliamentary results 'Down Under' where a rapidly developing party such as the LNP can become part of the ruling Government & take ruling government positions.
Some folks get through to the NRA without mussing a hair on their heads. If you want to see how it is done 'watch the tape'. It is linked in the following article on the front page of today's Washington Post. See link below.
'... Jason Selvig grabbed a microphone at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting this weekend and — just days after a shooter massacred 21 people at a Texas elementary school — applauded the gun lobby’s longtime leader for his efforts to stop mass shootings.'
'Selvig told fellow convention attendees that he was “sick and tired” of critics blaming NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre for not doing enough to stop the decades-long scourge in the United States. He has done plenty, Selvig told them —…' See link below.
That was great! I hope the attendees got the sarcasm, but it may have been over their heads! (There I am questioning the I.Q.s of the NRA. Naughty of me.)
Wasn't it fun, Hope. I loved looking at LaPierre. He didn't know what to do - stuck in his seat. Yes, you're real cute when when naughty. Here I am encouraging you. Christine called me a 'fabulous rascal'. How about that!
That video was hilarious! Judging from the frozen faces, I don't know if many of those attendees had the wherewithal to understand what was happening. Selvig was just amazing!
Hey, Fern! Just one teeny, tiny correction. Selvig did not grab the microphone. He was recognized to speak, which makes it all the more delicious! "The Chair" - who I assume is LaPierre - "recognizes the gentleman at microphone 1A." And then the dig down the rabbit hole commences...
Lynell, I love your big scoops and tinyweenie ones. How Selvig got the mic was not my job! So, there! One more, correction for YOU! LaPierre was not the choosing who spoke. Did you watch the tape? It's worth a minute.
LOL...definitely not your job! I see that it was WaPo's wording.
And, I only heard a voice saying, "The Chair recognizes..." Realized after posting, the Chair was not LaPierre. Watched the tape about four times now, which doesn't make me an expert in the least!
The question hovering over it all in my neighborhood is will ANY of this change any repuglitan minds? They are still loud, obnoxious, homophobic, misogynistic and whine about the price of gas.
"Another link to try is: www.fieldteam6.org. They write postcards to unregistered voters in swing states to get them to register. They say they’ve already had an impact. And you can order the postcards which are very artistic!"
Is there a GOTV (get out the vote) group that targets young voters?
Lynn, that is an excellent point. I honestly don't feel you can change their minds. As far as I'm concerned they are dead to me. Lost souls not worth saving. I feel we need to put our time with the people that comprehend the magnitude of what we have to lose if we don't show up at the poles. Sadly, many of the Biden enthusiasts have lost interest everytime they go to the gas pumps and grocery store.
That's correct Lynn. This event was like Geo Floyd, only in the fact it involved some 'colored' Americans, unlike Columbine (remember that one?) which was mostly 'white' kids. This too will pass.
Common denominator between George Floyd's murder and gun-related mass murders? Racism, surprise surprise. ICYMI, Teri Kanefield on the history of our gun control policies:
The Uvalde shooter threatened girls online, shot his grandmother and 16 of the 21 victims were female (that's over 75%). Coincidence? When there's not a racial motivation, most often there's misogyny.
Yes, intersectionality of the various -isms that are the antithesis of white supremacy and result in discrimination and oppression, complicated by forms of self-hatred.
All of the above. I wondered if the shooter, who has Latino roots, suffered from racism and ironically wiped out Latinos as if projecting the hatred that was given to him. At any rate he was filled with hatred. Hatred itself is a commodity on MSM, video games, and in our legislatures. I wish so much that we could put a stop to spreading it.
From what I've read about his family experience, there was a lot of toxicity that would have been the foundation for his acting out against Latinx children. Critically, he lacked empathy such that he was torturing animals.
I totally agree with you. I worry that even if the masses rise up and flock to the polls, that corrupt voting laws and gerrymandering may make the results of what the people want and what they voted on to be nil. It is also problematic that the Republican cult will use a page out of the Trump playbook and refuse to acknowledge Democratic party wins. These people are evil in my humble opinion and the good citizens of this country are being held in a murderous stranglehold. Dems have been somewhat timid in their dealing with this group. I read something earlier today that said they are taking flowers to a gunfight. I keep hoping that the younger generation, along with the rest of us will come out in such jaw dropping numbers that a victory for all sane Americans cannot be denied
A privileged but thrice bankrupted failed businessman, unqualified as a leader, with questionable ethics, well known immoral and illegal patterns of behavior is resurrected by a fictional TV show post Great Recession and with huge inflows of Russian Oligarch cash via Deutsche Bank (itself sanctioned and fined for laundering for Putin)avoids a 4th bankruptcy via default, rises to power utilizing demagoguery, creates a populist grievance cult with fanatic racist intensity.
All the while, escalations are repeatedly facilitated by sycophantic political handlers and billionaire/oligarch donors, elevate the demagogue to class warrior mystic / dear leader status with true believers infiltrating the Supreme Court.
It is a parallel to Vladimir Putin’s rise! And the rule of law in our country is hanging by a thread.
If the committee can’t get the Salesforce email data, then Subpoena a wide swath of the donors. Scrub their SM accounts and posts surrounding Jan 6th. The donors were asked to come to the rally AND to bring as many ‘fellow travelers’ as possible to intimidate by sheer numbers, to overwhelm Capital Police, and make bad trouble attacking the Capital. Make them testify under oath to the American People! These low and moderate level donors do not have same ‘stuff’ that the extremely privileged have, and not for TV. The truth needs to be told at the everyday person level to break the myth and the big lie.
It is like a script for an ‘inside job’. Blame the rioters but not the ringleaders is insanity.
That would be fine if the committee had unlimited time. But it does not. If Democrats do not retain the House in November, the committee will be ended on the first day of the new Congress. And the committee needs to do its job before Election Day--and sufficiently before election day to change minds. Think Labor day, maybe the 1st of October.
New members of Congress are sworn in when the first session of Congress is convened in early January. So the 1/6 Committee has, technically, only through Dec. 31, 2022. I believe their intent is to wrap things up far earlier than that.
I have been imploring the readers of this forum to call or write their elected officials daily! I am so afraid that Uvale will become just another massacre and nothing is done. I have been told, by some of this forum, that my efforts are useless.
Here's my message to MItch today:
Senator,
The Memorial Day holiday is over. It is back to work for many Americans, but most likely not for the families of the massacred children and teachers of Uvale.
You are "back at work" so let's see some fruit of said work. We, the voters and taxpayers of this great country are actually the employers of the elected representatives in Congress. Right now, if we were to give you a job evaluation, it would not be very good. I suggest to improve you job rating, you promote gun legislation NOW, before the voters decide whom to retain and to fire in November.
Congress is off until next Monday. Hell of a time to be taking a 10 day break. Washington D.C. was a Ghost Town by last Thursday . Then to claim not have the time to read the info about 1/6 ? At the least wouldn’t you hope they could be doing some working Vaca’s ? Looks to me as if Congress is a part of that “ Slow Walk “ to run out of time. They have had 16 months minus those long breaks. Where else in this Country do you get Perks like they do ?
How about we implement democracy fully, for the very first time ever? I want to live in a place where all adult citizens are eligible to vote, regardless of their sex, skin color, gender, or political affiliation. I want to live in a place where every citizen's vote to count equally in the tally, without having to worry about some antiquated rule that protected the losers of the Civil War and the less populated states from having to accept majority rule. I want to live in a place where all children to the age of majority (when they can vote) to be fed, clothed, housed and educated, without arguments about how those things are "too costly." I want to live in a place where judges are appointed based on qualifications and judicial experience and ratings, rather than on political affiliations and corporate desires. I want to live in a place where men and women make decisions for themselves about their bodies and reproductive state, rather than having religious leaders make those decisions for them through their influence with the elected officials.
I want to live in a place where I don't have to worry about being harassed, shot, or otherwise punished for simply stating what I want, and where nobody else has to worry about that either, since our votes will settle the issues.
I want to live in a place where our Constitution isn't contorted to protect property more than it protects people.
I don't think it's too much to ask for, or to expect.
Do you know what the most protected species is in America ? The white, rich, conservative, political criminal male ? The rest of us ? Commodities, Consumers and Taxpayers that will never be able to afford true Justice. Men or Women of the 99%’rs.
Michael The machinations of Jackal Jordan and his band of co-conspirators reminds me of the movie The Day of the Jackal. From ‘Insurrection Hoax’ Trump down to Giggles Giuliani and Sanctimonious Powell (both with suspended law licenses) there is an iron wall against the Constitution and blatant insurrection.
In part they are following the Trump game plan of legal shenanigans to avoid testifying under oath. They are also seeking to play out the clock until the November House elections.
I am gobsmacked that a significant majority of the American people does not acknowledge that these are authoritarian assaults on American democracy. This is writ large in the Republican naysayers after multiple school massacres.
I have faint hope that the House 1/6 committee public hearings will affect the ‘thinking’ of some Americans. [Watergate hearings were sharply different—they were carried and then re-run on the three major TV networks and over 40 million watchers were galvanized. At the time, whether you were at a barber ship or in a diner, the hearings were being played.]
The DOJ MUST start filing indictments IMMEDIATELY on the BIG LIE and the 1/6 insurrection.
And if a Repub take’s it in 2024 all those charged will be pardoned . Add to that a Conservative Supreme Court. Long ago I believed that the Court was a Constitutional Court. Not anymore.The very reason they got Lifetime Appointments was to prevent what this Supreme Court is doing. Originalism my Butt !
Marcia The Stench Court places our Constitution in jeopardy. As far as the ‘originalists,’ they seem part of the flat worlders. I can read the full text of the 2nd Amendment. If referred to the ‘milita.’ At that time, the American Army had less than 200 soldiers, mainly protecting the West Point arsenal.
Today with have a mighty Army, Navy, & Air Force. Also, state National Guards. Would the ‘originalists’ insist that National Guarders take their ships, tanks, and nuclear missiles home with them in case of some emergency? I admit that the Founding Fathers were dealing with flint lock guns, not AK-15s and 30-clip Glocks. [It takes a minute or two to load a flint lock—a minute to shoot 300 bullets from an AK-15.]
Also, as ‘originalists’ I would welcome their interpretation of one of the two stories of creation in Genesis.If Adam and Eve had three sons, was this an extraordinary example of ‘immaculate conception?’ Or would they simply affirm that, from the outset, women were not necessary? What an abortive thought!
Honestly Keith I’m not sure I’m following you on the Adam and Eve part ? I’m not much of a Bible reader . I know it says God created them and they had the 3 sons .I know it says that Adam was created first then Eve. Yrs ago on Facebook( I’m not on there anymore ) a poster made the comment “ if God created Adam and Eve and they had 3 Sons who were the only people on earth, where did the rest of us come from ?”
Marcia On Adam and Eve, if they had three sons and no daughters, how could there be offspring? Immaculate ejection? Of course the absence of daughters would mean that the Stench Court shouldn’t concern itself with abortion, because there are apparently no impregnated women.
Perhaps a bit far fetched, but no farther than the ‘originalists.’
Mental illness resides with the Republicans in Congress, as they sit by year after year, mass shooting after mass shooting, and do nothing. That is sociopathic behavior. That is the behavior of a malignant narcissist, a politician who offers protection to those who prey on others. The Republican Party is a cult of sociopaths. Every single Republican who covers up for a predator, who stands by and watches, doing nothing while people are being slaughtered, needs to be held accountable... not slap-on-the-hand accountable, but prison-time accountable, public-register accountable, kicked-out-of-Congress accountable. I see the Republicans as malignant narcissists, no-conscience barbarians who must be stopped and neutralized by absolute and unrelenting consequences.
I think Gov. Abbutt is feeling the heat. At his event that I saw on cable news yesterday, he trotted out endless public officials who announced all the wonderful things they were going to do for the people of Uvalde. Of course he never does anything about the real problem, which is certainly of his own making in the LoneStar state. This full court press is based on his concern that he just might be on the wrong side of history, which of course is painfully obvious.
As I watched that carefully scripted, carefully choreographed FREE campaign event and listened to those officials offering complicated ways to obtain "assistance" from their various departments and agencies, all I could think was HEARTLESS and COLD. There was not a shred of human compassion from a single person speaking. Not an iota or expression of condolences. They were speaking governmental gobbledy-gook to people whose primary language, for the most part is Spanish. And they spoke in English. In jargon.
You seem to forget that half the people love what the Republicans are doing. Republican voters are the problem here, as much as Republican politicians are.
JR Interesting point. What are the Republicans ‘doing?’Tubby Trump and Turkey Chin McConnell make clear that they have no ‘policies’ for America. Of course there is the BIG LIE, the 1/6 insurrection, and restricting non-white voting in about half of America’s states. I surmise that the Republicans support fear and being against.
The big question is how many of the Independents among the 74 million votes for Trump in 2020 are up for ‘rational’ grabs.
Republican voters won’t tell pollsters what they really feel about race and hate and resentment. If you go by the polls, and the issues, Dems would win every election by 10-20 points. If you go by the nasty, dirty fears in Republican voters’ dark souls you get the results we see today. Republicans are going to clean up in the midterms. The issues don’t matter, hate and fear drive the Republican base.
I disagree to a point. Voter sentiment regarding abortion and some key gun control measures favor Democrats by significant proportions. Also, many Republicans don't favor what their party is doing necessarily — even when the GOP had the majority under Trump it accomplished very little — but they are very upset about inflation, pandemic restrictions, and other issues. Naturally they blame Biden for everything.
Also, from a Gallup poll:
"Overall in 2021, an average of 29% of Americans identified as Democrats, 27% as Republicans and 42% as independents. Roughly equal proportions of independents leaned to the Democratic Party (17%) and to the Republican Party (16%)."
That’s not how they vote. If voter sentiment, as reflected in polls, mirrored actual vote outcomes, Republicans would have a 10 seat minority in the Senate and a 40 seat minority in the House. Voters may tell pollsters they disagree with Republican stances on issues, but they still vote for Republicans.
If there was any remaining doubt about the degree of hypocrisy in the GOP response to gun violence the reactions to Uvalde and Buffalo should put it to rest.
Everything Abbott, McConnell, Gomhert, Jordan, and the rest of the Republican leadership say is just for distraction. It seems very much like they throw out ludicrous statements just so that people will waste time and effort refuting them.
Speaking in Uvalde the day after the massacre Greg Abbott had the nerve to start banging the "mental health crisis" drum. This is the same man who has diverted over $200,000,000 from TX Health and Human Services Commission to his border fortification farce.
The GOP continues to talk about mental health after every incident of domestic terrorism (unless it is perpetrated by a non-Christian or person of color). The GOP also consistently cuts mental health funding and kills any discussion of broadening access to health care in general. However, that's not the point. Because in the two sentences it took me to write that for a few moments I had to think about something other than how to vote them out of power.
The same is true of the talking points on hardening schools, adding more armed security in schools, and having more law enforcement with heavier weapons and more training. Uvalde had all those things. Multiple agencies that had recent training on how to handle this very situation completely ignored their training and SOP and did nothing while the shooter was killing more kids. But the GOP knows that, and they even know that everyone else knows it. They just want us to waste time talking about it. (Like I just did)
There is nothing about the GOP stance on gun violence, gun control, and the second amendment that is not utterly self serving and disingenuous. No matter what they say at this point it is not, in any way shape or form, discussion in good faith. It is all smoke and mirrors and that is why it is time to stop the conversation about how to work with GOP lawmakers on how to address gun violence and to focus entirely on how to vote them out of power.
I can only hope that this time it is so glaring that enough people will stop arguing and start voting that we can turn the tide.
Your point is 1000% correct, Darin. All that people have to do to refrain from talking about all the Republican blah- blah is one of two things. Understand anything they talk about in regards to the American people is a lie. Mental health reform? No. Anyone mentally ill will be marginalized, ignored, or incarcerated at will under their RULE. Hardening schools? No. Open carry with guns is their goal so people will shoot each other at the least prevarication. Marshall and vigilante law under their RULE. They are total complete charlatans. Snake oil peddlers protected by moneyed interests.
The other suggested strategy to avoid giving any talking space refuting them or constantly indulging the nonsense by waiting for the next outrageous response is to counter every remark or complaint with SOMETHING read or heard about that supports life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness no matter how seemingly trivial in the face of Republican outrageousness. For example, I heard about and watched part of a CNN original movie called Julia. Come to find out that Julia Child single-handedly really got the American people interested in cooking food again not for convenience but for caring and loving people by doing so and increasing community. Through public television appearances. Thank goodness or frozen TV dinners would always be fare of choice. What a character she was and remains in legend. She had a 3-part robust mantra for a woman keeping a man happy and being able to run her life as she saw fit without manipulation. I almost fell out with laughter. Catch the little slice of life of a past decade. She’s so much more interesting than Stefanik, Desantis, Jordan, “burn the notes” Meadows, blah blah blah etc etc etc. Know thine enemy. However, do not assist in giving them the fame and attention they so crave.
She was also an intelligence officer for the OSS. Pretty cool.
And I agree about not obsessing about the miscreants too much or too often. All that does is giving them the attention they crave, creates chaos and saps the energy to do more and better things.
Dean, this is my point exactly. As soon as we engage in these arguments we have lost because the only goal of the GOP, the Gun worshipers, and the rest of the far right is to make us waste time and energy arguing.
I don't know if I believe they are clever enough that they intentionally make their talking points so idiotic that it almost feels like a compulsion to refute them, but that seems to be the result. The inconsistencies, logical fallacies, and outright lies are so blatant that rational people (or at least pedantic, OCD, "rational" people like me) feel the need to point out all these inconsistencies.
They don't care. Because they aren't actually trying to discuss or debate they are only trying to stall and divert.
There is no point in making a case to the Fox obsessed republican voters. They are not listening. They would not recognize logic or facts no matter how obvious. They are not going to abandon their precious, self-righteous fantasy world.
The only argument even vaguely worth pursuing is talking to people who have lost faith and given up on voting. Convincing half of the eligible voters who have been sitting out elections due to fatigue, disgust, inconvenience, or whatever, that it is worth their time to vote might, just might, make the numbers so overwhelming that the "stop the steal" crowd will be relegated to a fringe annoyance instead of an existential threat to free and fair elections.
The reaction to George Floyd's murder by so many people from all races and backgrounds gave me hope two years ago that it would kindle a movement and we'd finally address police reform and social justice. It didn't happen. Now at Uvalde we have both the barbaric act of the gunman made possible by the AR-15 where the bodies of children could not be identified by their own parents and the cowardly police who put their own lives above the lives of children and other victims calling for help shattering the argument that "good guys with guns" will somehow handle mass shootings. The long delay in action by police actually caused more deaths as the police sat there while listening to gun shots each signifying yet another child's death. This should mean court martial for each and every one of them and impeachment of both Texas "Senators" for not upholding their oath to the Constitution and putting all their constituents in mortal danger. There is no way for the Republicans to distract us this time. Change is now inevitable and the movement close at hand. There are no "good" Republicans anymore. What is possible now is action: Step 1: President Biden declares a national emergency and raises the age to buy guns to 21. Step 2: President Biden issues an executive order on police reform in July 2022 Step 3: We, the People, oust every Republican in November 2022 and vote in a super majority of over 67 Senate seats to non-Republican candidates. Step 4. In January 2023 a new law codifying gun safety and accountability is passed and bans assault guns. Step 5: The illegitimate Justices on the rogue Supreme Court are impeached in February 2023. Step 6: President Biden nominates the replacement Justices in March 2023. Step 7: in April 2023 the George Floyd Police Reform Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act are signed into law. Step 8: In May 2023, all the rights including women's rights taken away in June 2022 are restored. Step 9: We, the People, all of us live happily ever after not in a fairy tale but with the United People of America.
“There are no "good" Republicans anymore.” Such a true statement, Cathy. And everyone who recognizes the serious trouble of a two party system when one party simply refuses to govern, has blocked legislation and reversed or ignored laws that protect even those who voted for them. Their power is their purpose. With no end in sight. In the light of the tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, of an entire classroom of school children and teachers while law enforcement stood outside the classroom, it is more obvious than ever that our children and our country are paying for the corruption of the GOP. Where are the gun laws that would have protected our children? Years of dismantling and blocking not only leave us all unprotected but assure more mass shootings will occur while Americans have more guns, including military style weapons and fewer laws and restrictions than any other “developed” country. And more shootings. And states including Texas, with open carry “laws”. Lawmakers in the pockets of NRA. Whether loading the courts with Federalist Society picks, stonewalling legislation that supports laws and regulations for health including Covid 19, gun safety laws; voting rights, education, women’s reproductive rights, environmental regulations, the “simple” transfer of power of a legitimate presidential election, our future is in trouble. I’m stating the obvious. I voted today and am hanging on to the hope that we can rescue our democracy and begin to govern again. What is Plan B for an entire nation at risk?
Plan B is that WE, The People, get our shit together and VOTE VOTE VOTE these criminals out! We do it by heavily educating those who usually don’t put their two cents in. We can’t wait any longer.
Agree, Irenie. My desire, my expectation is that people will not slink back into their usual way of life anymore. George Floyd’s horrific death should have changed the the rules, it did not. This shooting should get people off of their couches. The Pro-Rape party cannot depend on their people being ignorant anymore. Even McConnell is having Cornyn and others negotiate with the Dems on gun control laws. The Dems better come packing with a surefire solution to get bipartisan support. Don’t know if you saw the video I posted but it’s quite a humdinger. The NRA has to be dissolved.
Our country is bad in part (with our partying Prime Minister), but many of us are completely bewildered by the stranglehold of the Republicans which seems an altogether different level of vileness. Where do I find the video?
I know several Rs who did not vote for death star. Our next door neighbor, a long time county commissioner, is now an independent who has put D signs in his yard.
I think my courage would be severely tested in a situation where the criminal was likely to be better armed and armored than me. Courage and cowardice are beyond my capacity to judge. I haven't been tested in war, hope never to be so, never intend to carry a weapon for any reason. I tip my hat to the police and members of our armed forces, however perfectly or less than perfectly they carry out their oaths. We're all collectively responsible for allowing our streets to become shooting galleries, or not preventing it heretofore. Ignorance, apathy, ambivalence are all potential forms of collusion in a democracy.
While I appreciate the sentiment, the fact remains that people trained to protect and defend stood by while children were massacred. This is evidence enough that the suggestion to arm more people, in particular arm teachers, is absolute rubbish.
The real point is, even police do not have the will nor fortitude to stand against someone with an assault weapon of mass murder. BAN ALL assault weapons. Get them off the streets and out of paranoid people's stockpiled basements.
Exactly, if the police can't face an 18 year old sociopath with an assault rifle then Congress MUST. Restore the ban, buy back their 20 million pathetic substitutes for manhood and ban them forever.
I understand. It is something that I wrestled with and prepared for. I am glad I was never put to the test, for which I am grateful. I did the work, and in my mind I was ready. Unless there had been a major call very near my town that had just finished, or the SWAT team was on a lunch break from training in my town, I was gonna be going in by myself because (per my training and study, 5 minutes was too long to wait, and response time for my cover would be at least that long.)
In looking at photos from various sources, I can tell that a LOT of non-uniformed cops had the time to respond, either from HQ or home...
Ally, thank you for your perspective. You are the one person who knows about police training and what to do in a crisis situation. I am grateful that you have never been in that situation. What no one has talked about is common sense! There is a serious lack of that, it seems, in the world of police forces. Maybe not where you are but…
This thought goes to after-the-vote, as I am in agreement that massive Democrat turnout is the only 2022 strategy to retain the present majority control. What do we do next though, more strategic, more long-term? I've wondered about this for sometime, since George Floyd, especially. Perhaps, because I had a brother who was racist, well-loved, and a cop in a large Western state and I retired from a university/department that now offers a concentration in criminal justice in counseling. Were I starting out in my career, or from an oppressed group, instead of aspiring to be part of or influence the powers (e.g., developing policy, influencing laws, organizing via the professions), I might consider a career in public safety fields that have a real direct effect on where justice is rendered (e.g., law, police, fire, community mental health, emergency and women's health care, urban-rural planning). Many of those fields are facing large scale retirements as they come under pressure because of Floyd et al. A new generation or two that takes control of these strings of power within communities may become more important after-the-voting and achieve lasting changes to systemic circumstances that those who write the laws rely upon or laws in the interests of those who hold perceived power. Strategy: Get control over the strings of social justice instead of prioritizing advocacy for better candidates, tighter laws, and stronger regulations. I know of one graduate from our department, now in law school, who I intend to keep watching as she goes about her career, hopefully in community rather than corporate law.
I know the same as my niece who made choices to further social justice in her career as a lawyer. This is a very viable and practical strategy for next Gen, Fred. They will respond to it because it is proactive and not reactive. Smart kids, the next gens. I have a lot of faith in them.
Cathy, apart from "happy ever after" not being of this world, apart from the acute unhappiness in store for all those bamboozled millions -- as though they weren't so unhappy already as to have taken to political methamphetamine -- this fine project will all be like Putin or Picrochole's dreams of world conquest unless the Justice Department makes a hard, sharp move to behead the January 6th conspiracy.
Meanwhile, the conspirators are prevaricating and preparing their next, more effective coup, while Putin is counting on America to implode before the year's end. His last hope...
Eyes on the road, every inch of the way... while the hoodlums do their damnedest to distract us or force us off the road.
Exactly right, Cathy; but you forgot one critical step. Every government employee, from office drone, to military, to legislator who took part in 1/6 must be expelled and permanently barred from public office. If we leave them alone, the corruption will continue and accelerate.
Yes, we do need accountability in government and most certainly for the people who had a role in 1/6. We do seem to have lost the fundamental premise of checks and balances. What is the check on the Roberts Supreme Court? The broken Congress?
The present SCOTUS is a joke now. We have a justice whose wife is a seditionist, a funder of an insurrection. A drunken justice who lied to Congress about upholding “precedent” and who got his home mortgage paid off by the Federal Society. Oh and the handmaiden justice who thinks women can just drop their babies off at doorsteps or fire departments for someone else to take care of them, after they had been raped! The Italian justice who can’t for the life of him, fathom that others before him, approved abortions! Roberts is meek now. He longer has a handle on this group but he’s also a Federalist Society worshipper. Accountability is utmost now and if it reveals Dems too, are as corrupt, so be it.
Unfortunately, someone came up with defund the police which gives every rube something to rally against. This week I have seen two long Next Door threads about that, without understanding anything about police in schools, school buildings, teachers, why the police are short staffed etc. And of course, here in Oregon just blame Kate Brown or the school superintendent. These people are unreachable and everyone of them is an "expert" in everything. That being said, we will be donating here in Oregon and around the country and already donate to register the vote and get it out entities.
😢😤😖😤😢 ... This is so discouraging, Daria - how likely is it that such dynamics also exist among non-indigenous families, only go unreported, since telling the truth is an invitation to homelessness, or the psych ward ...? What kind of man can accept such a paradigm and have any self respect as a man?!
Well, like any country it's far from perfect and has a troubled past, as Daria points out. And there are still tensions with the indigenous people, who aren't shy about pushing to correct wrongs and assert sovereignty rights. But Canada has nothing like the hate and strife tearing apart the U.S., the government functions far better, it's not awash in guns, it has a higher emphasis on social justice and education, and much more. Canada is also decidedly multicultural and proud of it.
The lesson here is that while one bill that would eliminate hand guns was tabled, another capping the number was passed. IOW, progress, all important progress, was made. Neither side here in the USA understands meaningful compromise as the essence of responsible governance.
In the UK parliament, "tabled" is not the same as in the US Congress. Rather than "put aside to die", it means "up for immediate consideration". I believe it is the same in the Canadian parliament. Perhaps a Canadian can correct or refine its meaning for us if one sees this.
"After all, there have been at least 14 mass shootings in the U.S. since the Uvalde murders, killing at least 10 people and wounding another 61, and they have gotten much less attention."
Staggering... 6 short days.
If not for the trust I maintain in the author who is summarizing for us, I'd be tempted to describe LFAA as a piece of ongoing tabloid journalism. After all, can you recall a period of time when news from Washington DC and around the nation carried such a profound degree of outrageous, sensational and infuriating content. When compiled and edited in the fashion we all are enjoying, it's hardly a stretch to connect the dots.
Many things seem, and are, inevitable. As long as our nation is awash in guns, the killing will continue. as long as there is a political process, individuals will seek positions of power/influence and proceed to abuse them. As long as unimaginable amounts of money can be channeled into influencing people without the need for public disclosure (think; advertising, political action committees, corporate donations, "foundations" and any other means of purchasing the votes of politicians), the corruption will continue. Money in politics simply leads to corruption, period. I just saw an article about the amount of NRA money that has been received by Texas politicians over the years. Guess who tops the list at about half a million dollars? John Cornyn. Just the guy you'd want leading a conversation over "doing something" about epidemic mass violence against children in schools. Just naming him displays a degree of narcissism on the part of McConnell that shows he has lost any sense of connection to the greater public, perhaps other than a voter block in the great state of Kentucky. The inmates really ARE running the asylum. Remember, though, many steps taken by many people in many places have lead us from the 1980 presidential race to where we are now. The "Party of No" did not achieve this in a vacuum. 42 years of effort, all the while witnessed and perhaps contested by the political opposition; 10 presidential elections, countless local, regional, statewide, congressional elections, supreme court nominations have led us to where we find ourselves today. This is a "mass movement" over at least 2 generations. I can't imagine things materially changing for the better with anything less than a similar effort over a similar period of time in every corner of our nation. I will certainly be ashes in the wind before the end of such an effort, if we can muster the determination to do this. Sadly, it seems that the only thing big enough to galvanize us to seek our better selves is the threat of war on our own shores. Something has to take us all down several pegs and innoculate us with the humility to seek trust in one another, to view our common interests as something other than a zero-sum game. Thus far, even the threat global warming fails to shock us out of the Grand Kabuki Theatre we're experiencing. I wonder how we'd act if the giant astroid was truly aimed directly at us with an arrival date shortly after 2024? I keep looking for signs of hope here between our shores. We do have some powerful levers still in place. Freedom of the press, a still substantial freedom to vote, the opportunity for those so inclined to engage in the political process and attempt to directly influence our way forward, substantial freedom of speech all come to mind. None of those mean anything, however, if we can't summon the courage to hit the reset button and "throw the bastards out" who have clearly demonstrated their willingness to abuse the power vested in them. We're fools to hope that the justice system will bale us out of the political crisis we're in. Justice comes later, or not at all. Political verdicts would suit me just fine, except that the steps required to reach them just don't seem to be visible most places I look. I just hope I can personally survive the roller-coaster we're on without digging a deep hole and crawling in it before the end of the calendar year.
Re the asteroid: See the Netflix movie "Don't Look Up" to see just how selfishly and stupidly we might react to such an impending disaster. The movie's funny, but doesn't give me confidence of how we might react in reality.
Ted Cruz is fond of pointing out that gun control measures that Democrats propose will not stop mass murders. Unfortunately, he’s probably right about that. Only a tiny fraction of people are inclined to mass murder. No legislation will change that percentage, and common sense” gun control measures will not keep assualt rifles with high-capacity magazines away from fringe people who are determined to get them. Measures that could possibly reduce the occurrence of mass murders, at a minimum, make all guns that can be shot dozens of times without reloading nearly impossible to get, which means it will have to be illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess such a firearm in the United States. Lesser measures might reduce gun-related violence, overall, but are doomed to failure on the mass murder front. Republicans know this, and if by some miracle Democrats were able to pass “common sense” gun control legislation, Republicans would be licking their chops waiting for the next mass murder so they could gloat about how ineffective Democratic governance is. This is the Republican method: obstruct as long as possble, and when legislation making incremental changes gets through in spite of their best efforts to stop it, wait until it fails to have the desired effect and then start screaming about how ineffective Democrats are, and pound another nail in the coffin of decent government. Incremental change in the matter of gun control wiil have no effect whatever on the incidence of mass murder. Go bold or go home. Anyone caught with a gun that holds more than one bullet must serve time in prison. That’s the minimum. Nothing less will stop next month’s mass murder.
We need to collect millions of guns and melt them down, and I'm absolutely not kidding. We have way too many in rotation- over 400 million. It is mental illness.
Excerpt: "States with stronger firearms legislation have fewer gun deaths, according to a study by Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun laws. Everytown identifies five “foundational” policies for reducing gun deaths:
Requiring background checks and permits to purchase handguns.
Requiring permits to carry concealed firearms in public.
Extreme risk laws, which allow courts to remove guns from those who pose a serious threat to themselves or others.
Yes, so-called “common sense gun control” would reduce gun deaths. That would be an improvement. The point if my comment is that such measures will not reduce the number of mass murders (which are a more specific problem), and when it becomes clear that the legislation had no effect on the mass-murder rate, Republicans will gloat about how right they were to oppose gun control. Nevermind that the legislation did reduce gun violence. Their lede will focus on mass murders, and most white Americans will continue to let the NRA and other nefarious people limit what can be done about gun violence.
Just prior to reading tonight's Letter I watched Trump's remarks at the NRA convention, (beginning @1:48), while following the transcript. His speech was typical, full of lies and misinformation but he was very clear about his, (and the GOP's), vision for the United States — more guns and more gun owners. His bizarre belief that a gun owner taking a basic gun and range safety course is equal to a highly trained marksman is absurdly dangerous. But it's what his base wants to hear and believe. The things that were even more disturbing, though, were his remarks about further ramping up police forces, a dragnet approach to "cracking down on crime", and referencing his use of National Guard troops after George Floyd's murder. The idea he seemed to be conveying, at least to me, that if re-elected, declaring martial law will be a simple flip of a switch. The other troubling statement had to do with how easy wiping out "communism and socialism" in one fell swoop will be. His references to "failed" Democrat policies were frequent. Clearly, Trump was campaigning. He used the typical buzz words and tossed out tiny chunks of red meat for his base to gnaw on. And, I think he was relying on the fact that most center and left leaning wouldn't bother to watch/read his speech.
The issues that need to be addressed by a sane House and Senate are piling up. It's critical we know what our adversaries are saying and doing to build momentum for the midterms. Knowing their positions is the only way we can build ours. As painful as it may be, please take the time to read the transcripts of Trump and other right wing candidates.
Yes. Smart to know their fascist stupidity and not support it one whit. I made sure to watch his remarks. I want to know the web he’s spinning. It’s full of gaping holes and few flies.
I can’t abide his voice or his image, I know well what he looks like and says. No way that current verbiage could make me anymore disgusted. He is the epitome of evil
Jeri, I can't either but, and I'm going to be very blunt - burying your head in the sand because you cannot abide his voice/ image, and you believe you know what he's going to say every time he opens his mouth, is dangerous and foolish. I'm not trying to be insulting, but look, if more people watched/listened to him, (and others), they might actually get angry enough to push him and all who follow him over a political cliff. It has to be sustained, unrelenting anger against all things Republican. Trump and Republicans have learned how to harness anger directed towards Democrats/Progressives/Liberals and every BIPOC, non-Christian, non-heterosexual and disabled person, in the country. In doing so they have been able to dismantle hard fought gains in civil and human rights. They are taking us back to a very dark time. Know your enemy.
Daria, thank you for patiently explaining why we can’t bury our heads in the sand regarding trump’s speech. I felt exactly like Jeri but you convinced me to watch the speech. He sickens me. I will go back and try again. I made it through only the first 5 minutes. Can someone tell me where to get the transcript? Thanks.
Everyone with a heartbeat needs to be protesting June 11th. Pick your cause, but get out there like Belarus. Millions of us, across the country. MSM has been blowing off the protests so far; we need to make it too big for them to trivialize.
I can't and won't bathe in that rhetoric for the purpose of "maintaining my outrage". I can't live in a constant state of angry arousal. I know what I need to do and I am resolute in my intention to use the power I have on election day. I hardly call that burying my head in the sand. One doesn't need to watch pornography to recognize it when confronted by it, including political pornography.
Every vote counts. No one is asking you to bathe in political pornography, however, every time we read material further away from the original source the danger in that material is diluted.
I don't watch political speeches (from anyone) for the same reason. I read the transcripts. It's much easier to ingest them without having to endure all the showmanship, bluster, pseudo-religiosity, and attempts at manipulation.
I generally prefer transcripts. I watched Trump's NRA speech to get feel for the attendees' responses. Some were not very enthusiastic, which surprised me.
Daria, I can't imagine listening to the orange one blather on. I admire that you can do so, and then help the rest of us understand what needs to be done as we approach any elections....both 2022 and 2024. I agree that he will readily enforce martial law, and the country will then devolve into chaos. My hope is that voters are beginning to finally wake up to the rethuglicans inability/unwillingness to address any of the ills currently infecting this country. That coming to consciousness will send many to the polls to insure we don't fall further into the chasm of chaos. (I know......hope doesn't bring voters out, but maybe this time a speck of hope will ignite a fire.)
Sigh. Pam, see my response to Jeri. If more anti-trumpers actually listened to his words they might get angry enough, en masse, to stand up to him and his ilk. Republicans have learned to generate, sustain and harness anger. Democrats have not. Republicans keep their base constantly stirred up. Democrats do not. We need to harness our outrage against all they stand for. There is no better way than to see and hear what they say, undigested by the media or commentary. Know your enemy.
Daria, you're right of course, but I will not listen to their garbage. I'd rather get folks energized in a way that uses their words against them....words that come from already posted journalists, not from the trash hatred pushes.
Pam, and how's using words from already posted journalists working out for us? I'm saying that in order for people to get angry enough to act they need to hear/read the hateful rhetoric in order to understand how deep and visceral the Republican hatred of anything/anyone not Republican. We don't benefit by having someone else parse out everything we consume. Honestly, I don't care what people do but when state and federal seats are taken over by those thugs I don't want to be part of any conversations where people ask why because we'll know why.
I can see you are fixated on anger as the necessary currency to compel change. Sustained anger is actually a pretty destructive emotion, irrespective of the reason. It is certainly not the only motivation to action. I can think of plenty of other less caustic, still effective emotions, like resolve, sadness, determination, even enthusiasm and joy. Feel free to drink at that trough, but don't dismiss those of us who are already convinced of our role and have moved beyond anger.
I'm not fixated on sustained anger. I am, however, sick and tired of watching rights being stripped away because, frankly, people are willing to let right wing anger steam roll over the entire of country. They are sucking the life out of the nation while we're sad and joyous. It hasn't worked in the past and it will definitely not work now. We are not sheep.
Pam, here're my final thoughts. In WAPO today there was an opinion piece about the possibility of women being forced to give birth. Why? So we can watch our children and grandchildren be gunned down in a classroom or movie theater? Why? So our kids can be pushed through a substandard public educational system only to end up drones doing scut work because higher education costs are prohibitive? Why, because the color of their skin, their parentage, their religion doesn't meet the sniff test of the white patriarchy? In pieces in several publications it has been pretty much proven that every shred of information released after the Uvalde massacre was a lie. Is that enough to stir outrage? Are children, teens and women raped by clerics not enough to outrage a body? Are non-conforming individuals of any sort lesser individuals, lesser beings? Is the fact that police protection is NOT a constitutional right because people are not property not bother anyone? What the fuck is it going to take for people to stand up and fight for the bare skeleton of civil and human rights we have left? Maybe anger is poisoning my spirit right now but it is a legitimate anger and fury. I sit in Mérida where the Yucatán Chapter of Democrats Abroad is nothing more than one giant cocktail party. I read US MSM and see watered down snippets of right wing rhetoric and I read on THIS page where sadness and enthusiasm are a better way to a democratic victory when silly twits like MTG are spouting bullshit about eating fake meat grown by Bill Gates in peach tree dishes and said fake meat will give you a zap if you eat a real cheeseburger made of beef. WTF? What's holding us back from being a driving force? Our lack of outrage. Our politeness. Our unwillingness to get down and dirty and fight fire with fire. I don't care anymore. I am well beyond childbearing age. I live in a very, very safe place in a so called shithole country knowing that there is no way I can ever, ever feel safe living in the United States as it is now. I contribute and do what I can to the causes of my choice but it seems to no avail. I'm sorry to unload like this but as long as we live in an echo chamber we are insulated from the horrific rhetoric being spread by the right there will be no victory. They are literally willing to die for bullshit ideas such as MTG is spreading. They are willing to storm Congress and threaten lives. They are okay with mass murder. And so far, we have not been able to stop them with our sadness and politeness. I am desolate. I am disappointed. I'm done.
He is increasing his calls for civil war. To much smaller audiences, but greatly inflated by far right media, the only ones allowed inside. His events are heavily staged to make crowds seem bigger than they are. The calls for and threats of violence are ramping up ahead of the Committee hearings. They are like insane cornered rats. They will try to attack. I hope the feds are going through their trash like busy raccoons.
I agree. Listening to him, sometimes even just thinking about him, raises my hypertension and makes me wonder if its time to call my old therapist and restart sessions and antidepressants. :(
"The Chair recognizes Speaker 1A" (the microphone that was supposed to comment in favor of...I don't know what) But the audience applauded because he was speaking at the "For" microphone, not the "Against"! 😵💫🤣
Great letter. Many important issues. The first one getting my attention was:
"The assault on this elementary school stands out for many reasons: ...."
That's for sure. The more I've thought about the Uvalde school shooting terror, the more striking the incident becomes. Consider the case of the child who could only be recognized through DNA testing. (Maybe that happened to more than one child.) That's a world of horror in itself. If the parents of the victim were agreeable, someone could make a poster of the missing face of the destroyed child. They could make a worthy martyr out of this ultimate victim. Make some sort of monument to "The Tomb of the Unknown Child." I believe if that poster were broadcast to the entire U.S., enough people would be ashamed of even allowing that condition to exist in the country. that they would gather in masses and demand change.
Heydon, America's ecstasy of violence infects our minds with imaginings of the moments beforehand, the deadly impact and the results of a daring massacre. Don't video games prep our children for such days? How faraway is an exhibition of the Reconstructions of the Remains of American Children Blown Away by AR - 15s? For culpability, the following article in The Intercept lays the story out. (excerpts) Link to the article is below.
'AR-15s Were Made to Explode Human Bodies. In Uvalde, the Bodies Belonged to Children.’
‘Parents awaiting word on their kids were asked by police to provide DNA samples to help identify the children’
‘PARENTS WAITED in anguish for news about their children following the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, they received a chilling request from police. Officers asked for DNA samples from parents to help establish the identities of the children who had been killed in the massacre, the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.’
The request pointed to the obvious, horrifying conclusion that many of the children who had been killed were so grievously injured that it was likely impossible to identify their bodies.’
‘How we got here should be obvious: the AR-15 rifle.’
‘Much has been made of how easily the killer, Salvador Ramos, strode into a store and bought two AR-15s the week before the attack, an apparent birthday gift to himself. Anyone paying attention gets that the ease of purchase for such weapons — which are frequently used in mass killings — is an indication of how deep the gun problem in America runs.’
‘It cannot be emphasized enough, however, exactly what the AR-15 is: It is a weapon of war. It was made to blow humans apart. It is successful in doing just that. The requests for DNA tests in Uvalde stand as a testament to the gun’s success, but the conclusion that the weapon excelled at blowing people apart was well documented by the U.S. military itself during early field tests.’
‘IT IS HARD to comprehend a weapon like this being used against small children in an elementary school. The impact of the AR-15, a tool designed not just for killing but for ripping apart adult human bodies in the most extreme manner, being turned on the small, delicate limbs and organs of young children does not need to be imagined. The parents waiting outside the school in Uvalde for news of their loved ones who were asked for DNA tests were being clued into something horrifying about the types of weapons floating around American society, so easily available that even a disturbed 18-year-old could get his hands on them.’
‘In the aftermath of mass shootings targeting children, it is sometimes suggested that the public should be allowed to see the bodies. The impact of seeing actual flesh-and-blood children killed by assault rifles might shake the sensibilities of Americans enough that they enact serious changes to gun control laws that would make it less likely that AR-15s would be used again for such massacres.’
‘Public aside, however, the reality is that the government has known for a long time what these weapons do. It has been sending AR-15s to wars abroad for decades and has documented in graphic detail the exploded and mangled corpses left behind. That such knowledge exists, and yet AR-15s are still commercially available for use by civilians in this country, tells you all you need to know about what pro-gun politicians are willing to tolerate.’ See link below.
On NPR this morning an ER trauma doctor made the case that we need to see photos of those blown apart bodies, even though it may sicken us, to understand the power of the AR-15 in order to ban it. She compared it to Emmitt Till's mother keeping an open casket, which eventually led to the civil rights movement.
'Citizens need to see the destruction military-style weapons wreak, surgeon says
'NPR's Lelia Fadel talks to trauma surgeon Amy Goldberg, who says Americans are so desensitized to gun violence that the only way to cut through partisanship is to look at graphic photos of victims.'
I am not a subscriber, but you may be able to listen to the 4 minute report if you open the link below.
‘Public aside, however, the reality is that the government has known for a long time what these weapons do....'
Fern, I just read this article which illustrates what many of us are now thinking: the effectiveness of portraying the horrible results of the destructive power of the AR-15.
A decade ago, I had an acquaintance who had been drafted during the Vietnam War and ended up serving in a frontline infantry unit. One night, after he had a few drinks, he began talking of a particular combat experience. Chaz said his squad was out on patrol in the bush one day when a squad of Viet Cong suddenly appeared along the trail. Both sides started firing. Chaz was shot in the leg, air-evacuated, and had many surgeries over the years in trying to fix it. Before being shot, Chaz, who was using an AR-15, shot an enemy and said, "His head exploded like a melon." He said it twice, and I could tell it was an image which would never leave his mind--the killing and also watching that head blow apart. That's what AR-15s do.
Yes, Heydon, it was because of the message relayed in your comment and your understanding of what is a stake that I stopped by with a delivery. Where is the government and the military on this? We know where. 'LOOK AT WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND CONTINUES TO BE DONE TO HUMAN BEINGS - OUR CHILDREN.
This Uvalde shooting horror brings another shooting tragedy to mind; that is, the assassination of JFK. Like many of us here, I well remember that Friday in November 1963, then the subsequent weekend when everyone was in shock and watching TV for the latest info about it.
The Uvalde catastrophe bothers me more than the JFK assassination for multiple reasons. For one thing, JFK was riding in a parade and smiling when a sniper suddenly shot and killed him. In Uvalde, these kids were locked into rooms and terrorized as they watched their friends being shot and knowing their turn was coming up. Still, no help coming from law enforcement who were sworn to protect them. And no response to their critically desperate 911 calls which drew no response from the outside. These kids were being tortured psychologically to the max before being shot. I've no doubt that many young couples now will seriously debate about whether to have children or not when they realize that the Uvalde kids could be their own.
NPR just ran a story about a pediatrics emergency doc who would like to publish photos of what assault weapons does to child bodies. I say that these should be sent in an unceasing stream to all the members of Congress who are more enamored of guns and policing female uteruses than their mendacious claims to love "life" and "Jesus." They will probably not see them, but their staff members will be forced to do so. And that might have an effect. I would use stronger language about coercive acts that force these f***ers to see but my rage is pretty much unchecked these days and apparently people are offended by my sarcasm. https://www.npr.org/2022/05/31/1102097106/citizens-need-to-see-the-destruction-military-style-weapons-wreak-surgeon-says
Not knowing what to expect, I clicked the link simply because I trust the value LFAA commenters add. This link to a 2 minute 10 second video clip of active shooter training at a small business goes from typical to wow! in the time it takes young school-age Kayleigh to tell it like it is for every school-age kid today. The song her teacher taught her is haunting. Powerful stuff that needs every eyeball on it ASAP..
OMG! This video should be shown to the captive audience of every state government representative and the USA Congress. A child who represents the Truth. Heartbreaking that any government thinks a solution to the “problem” is Hardening schools and Arming teachers: beyond absurd. Students all over the country have been practicing lockdowns for years. Just like the kids in Texas. No one has a chance against a gun. A high powered killing machine designed for war and rapid killings. Even a handgun. The only hardening are hearts of lawmakers who continue to offer prayers to families and bow down to the Gun Lobby and the GOP. Keep on the message, we must work to change gun laws. Vote. Don’t give up.
I learned last year that Kentucky has a law makes it a crime to pass a local gun control law/ordinance.. Many other states have preemptively passed laws to prevent local efforts.
So your last statement seems discouraging. How can we keep our outrage evident? How can we overcome their manipulations? It seems we keep pulling the punch at the last effort. We must be LOUDER and angrier and more determined. The bullshitters are winning and we are saying, well whatta are ya gonna do??" The smoke and mirrors seem to be successful. We need to get them all arrested for not obeying the subpoenas. Or something vile like red dye on them. We all at my level seem shy or bewildered. All I have is outrage and one vote.
Jump into this mighty river--join everyone else with our outrage and votes. Hope starts the plans which starts the actions. Just here on Heather's Substack are hundreds of thousands of other readers.
Thanks to Ellie, we have the ability to send out cards/letters to voters. And before reading her comments, months ago, I never would have dreamed of calling or emailing elected officials. We can do this daily.
Just those few comments months ago from Ellie got me started, and I have a small group who also now calls and emails.
Oh my goodness, that is so heartening! For focus and inspiration, if you don't already know of Jessica Craven's "Chop Wood, Carry Water" blog, you'll love her energy and how she makes actions so easy to follow through.
I have been trying to have discussions about just a few gun safety regulations with my rural neighbors on my Neighborhood App. It is frightening! More than several say that no laws should be passed restricting their access to guns of any kind. They talk about their necessity of owning assault rifles, because they need a means to be able to use them in an insurrection against the government. One woman even advitsed people to get their guns before August 2nd, which is the date of my State of Michigan's primary election. These same people insist Donald Trump won the 2020election and that they need to be ready for the next election or anybody mandating masks. Almost all of them reside in Jackson County, which is heavily Republican. It gives me nightmares!!!
Things are coalescing in a way that exposes Republicans in the harshest light ever. Renegade, contempt for citizens and the law, corrupt, and even monstrous.
The abortion ruling, Uvalde mass murders, J6 committee, the widening Justice Department investigation, Fulton County grand jury probe of Trump and the election, and more.
But the question hovering over it all is whether the people rise up and vote like never before. And restore democracy.
Voting in numbers too massive to cover up has to be the next step. People have to realize that the GOP is not now, and has not been for decades, operating in good faith or in the best interest of the country.
Too massive to cover up: yes. This is vital.
We absolutely have to vote in numbers to massive to cover up. We voted that way in 2020, and look what the trump party has done. I think people thought if we just got the criminal con man out of office things would improve. The trump party is a criminal gang with people vying to be more trumpy than tRump. The Dems have to stop trying to get the R’s to join in; they WON’T!!! The Dems have to do what’s best for the country. I do agree with Joe Manchin on one thing; if Dems want to get their agenda passed, they need more Dem senators.
Darrin, I wholeheartedly agree. Hence, my reason, as part of this thread, for just posting, in my view, “best strategies,” for turbo-charging turnout.
The popular vote in 2020 was massive...7 to 8 million more. Electorally Biden only won by about 350,000 votes. It doesn't have to be massive it just has to be statistically impossible to overturn. Massive would mean democrats win 10 to 12 senate seats.
Michael, While your first 2 paragraphs brilliantly capture much of what’s at stake, I would submit that we need to be fully engaged in ensuring, as best we can, a massive turnout. That means, for example, pressing one another to engage with grassroots organizations that continually seek volunteers for phone/text banking, postcard/letter writing, among other actions, directed particularly at voters in swing states who lean democratic but vote only sporadically.
Additionally, it means continuing what was started back in January, when Senate Dems failed by 2 votes (Manchin & Sinema, let alone every Republican) to pass the Budget Reconciliation package (BBB), a plan both to help remedy the country’s grotesque inequalities of wealth and income and also to address climate. At that time, we were pressed to prevail upon a, hopefully, tougher, stronger Biden (or surrogate, if warranted) to go to West Virginia, and also to the red parts of Mississippi and Alabama, and to other states, and say, “This is what we have tried to deliver, and these folks have voted against it.”
Imagine the impact, at a time when wages can’t keep up with inflation, were leadership to ask everyday people across the country: Who do you want here—somebody who doesn’t want to cut the price of insulin or those who do? Who doesn’t support extending the child tax credit or who does? Who doesn’t support expanding the Affordable Care Act or who does? Who doesn’t support investing in affordable, quality childcare or who does? Not Investing in Universal Pre-K or does? Not Investing in housing or does? Not investing in eldercare or does? Not investing in climate or does?My point, and note I haven’t covered what Biden and the Party have accomplished amid nearly unprecedented Republican obstruction, is that Democrats have an exceptional narrative if only they would deliver it.
Lastly, as stated previously, I would prevail upon Senate Democrats to pass, in short order, whichever Budget Reconciliation provisions can gain the support of 50 Senators to present to voters as a downpayment of more to come if Dems hold the House and pick up at least 2 Senate seats. The House already has passed the legislation. We’re simply waiting on the Senate.
Time to start volunteering! My federal representative, Angie Craig, one of the authors of the bill to lower the costs of insulin, put out the call last week for volunteers to get out the vote this coming Saturday. That same day, I received similar requests from my state senator and representative, Field Team 6 - which organizes efforts to register voters around the country, my local Climate Elders group, and several other organizations including League of Women Voters. Time to get away from the computer keyboard and start chatting with people and listening to their concerns.
I know not everyone here is comfortable doing that in person. No problem. Write postcards. Send text messages. Hell, just talk with safe friends and family and ask them to help. Do something. Please. Lets overwhelm them with ours numbers and humanity. Please help Get Out The Vote!!!
Thanks, Sheila !
“ Time to get away from the computer keyboard and start chatting with people and listening to their concerns.
I know not everyone here is comfortable doing that in person. No problem. Write postcards. Send text messages. Hell, just talk with safe friends and family and ask them to help. Do something. Please. Lets overwhelm them with ours numbers and humanity. Please help Get Out The Vote!!!”
⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️
💙 my new t-shirt…and it helps start the convo !
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Voting: 100% more effective than complaining on the internet.
I love this idea, Kathy!
And: https://www.lwvmd.org/volunteer
Here’s a place to write postcards. I’ve had several
Postcard writing parties: https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/
Thanks Joy. I just order 200 postcards for where they are most needed.
You rock! We can do this.
Have started on 200 for AZ through Postcards to Swing States, and continuing with different messages for local Native democrats…so many dedicated volunteers!
Putting another 120 in the mail today. . . .
Thank you! Let's have everybody on this comment section get busy doing everything we can to to ensure our democracy can survive and even thrive.
Joy, Thank you both for posting the links and for amplifying that our engagement, our energy, our caring, our work can make a meaningful difference.
A group of HCR Substackers has formed to move talk to action in support of democracy. You'll see familiar names. For more info, email: heathersherd@gmail.com
I just signed up, and contributed. Let's DO this thing!
Thank you! Action is the antidote to despair.
Framing this in neon lights!
Just signed up, thanks for the suggestion and link.
Thank you so much. One of the things I've always appreciated here is that the discourse is not just civil and fact-based, but more likely to provide links to real action, which is all that matters now.
Joy, I simply would add, since becoming part of this community close to a year ago, that the on-line exchanges have helped elevate the quality of virtually every action I have undertaken this past year.
And: https://sisterdistrict.com/volunteer/
Sheila, Thank you for your reply. I just read through the thread of responses spawned by your comment and felt both heartened and honored to be part of this dedicated and responsive community.
Reluctantly, I have to cut back my involvement in local party (which is slowly sorting things), so today signed up with https://www.turnoutpac.org/ so I can still do something meaningful without overextending myself or going nuts. Ordered 300, so hope our little local PO has enough stamps!
BUMPER STICKERS!! BE VISIBLE
The messages are brilliant!!! I want to do more than "imagine the impact!" How do get the dems who have access to "everyday people across the country" to do that? Maybe if everyone is this amazing community calls for this? I think there are readers more savvy than I about how.....
Also I would add "Who plans to end Medicare and Social Security or who doesn't? Who plans to tax all Americans no matter the income and who doesn't? And then there's the whole social justice aspect, which probably needs a more careful selection of audiences: Who plans to make voting harder especially for people of color and who doesn't? Who plans to make abortion illegal with no exceptions and who doesn't? Who works to stop any sensible gun safety legislation and who doesn't?
Sometimes I don’t think Republicans understand they may be shooting themselves in the foot with these voter suppression laws. Making it harder to register, do mail-in voting, decreasing the number of polling places effects everyone’s ability to cast a ballot. Even their own voters. I do understand that they have gerrymandered certain areas, but there is no evidence that Americans will accept these crappy laws. One example is Texas’ new registration policy. All kinds of voters are being rejected due to complexity of the process.
I think you are right....So it continues to be a numbers game....getting as many Democrats registered and voting as possible. I'm 76 and I don't remember an earlier time when it was so critical to vote to uphold the basics of democracy.
Chaplain, Thank you for your affirming reply. I understand from various news reports that White House staff currently are helping Biden with “messaging.” Frankly, I believe that many of us who reside outside the DC bubble are more attuned to how best to represent the interests of the widest range of people situated between extremes. To that end, I am grateful for all your added suggestions and plan to work them into future letters to leadership.
You're right on. Surely getting this messaging across would help to light a fire under a good number of the 80 million people who didn't vote in 2020. It's a depressing number given how much was — and continues to be — at stake. https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/12/nonvoters-2020-counted-out-examines-reasons-80-million-americans-opted-out-of-presidential-election/?fj=1
Michael, Thank you for replying and including the link, which reinforces the importance of providing enough information about issues and candidates to demonstrate that voting is vital and can make a difference in resolving problems effecting everyday people.
Bravo! Your words are spot-on!
Thank you, Victoria, for your affirming reply.
Barbara, I agree! And your most important advice is: "That means, for example, pressing one another to engage with grassroots organizations that continually seek volunteers for phone/text banking, postcard/letter writing, among other actions, directed particularly at voters in swing states who lean democratic but vote only sporadically." I have been doing these things, and now I need to ramp it up!
Elizabeth, Thank you for your reply. Frankly, I take heart from the presence of virtually everyone on this thread, clearly, committed to ensuring that eligible voters have enough information about issues and candidates to recognize that voting is vital to resolving the issues they most care about.
The problem is that the Republicans have rigged all chances of fair voting!
Perhaps. The only way to find out is to vote with a revolutionary fervor that would make it clear if rigging occurred.
You mean take precedent over the Kardashians, where do you live?
Hahahaaaa..., Under god, of course!
Need to increase presence and oversight during ballot counting, certification, etc
Deal with it with MASSIVE turnout like GA in the 2020 election. Recent "Early Voting" in GA was up 168 percent over the 2018 governor primary.
But the caveat is that in GA's recent primary it was by and large REPUBLICANS who turned out in record numbers, not Democrats. This was mainly because Democrats in general "had less skin in the game", there were less high profile candidacies at stake in the primary, so there wasn't as much impetus to turn out as there will be in November. That is when we need massive Democratic turn out, and that concerns me. Republicans here are fired up as never before to take their state back, even if it means voting in a clueless Senate candidate who is dumb as a box of hammers (a simile I've used before...). Kemp is pretty popular and I fully expect even the T***pies to fall in behind him. Marjorie Taylor "Bill Gates is growing meat in peach-tree dishes" Greene and Andrew Clyde (whose campaign posters along our highways feature an AKA 15 prominently displayed) will more than likely cruise to victory in their districts. Statistics show in the last primary, about 7% of the Republican vote was Democrats crossing over to vote for candidates they want to run against. There's no way of telling what effect, if any, this will have. We have a huge task ahead of us here.
I live in a state (TN) that seems to me just about as hopeless as Georgia, but perhaps not as much as AL or MS. I have to tell you - it is so discouraging to lay out common sense arguments, moral arguments - only to get shut down with insane counter-arguments. Insane. And Trump's popularity? After all this? How can a person who claims to be a good citizen still support that uber-corrupt excuse for a human? And then openly express their hatred for Biden - a compassionate and just leader? How can a person who sees the horror of Uvalde only to double down on his/her "right" to own an AR? How can a person listen to the dire concerns about climate change, and just smile and nod their heads and say "just keep drinkin' the Kool-aid"? Here in TN, those people abound. And believe me they hate us - regardless of what has been accomplished on their behalf. The very best we can hope for with this sect of our population is that a statistically significant percentage of them stay home in November, disgusted by what they heard from the 1/6 report-outs.
As I said below, if Georgia can do it, other states in the South can as well. It really does come down to turn-out. There are blue islands in TN (Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga) that could go a long way to helping make TN turn a little more purple. I have friends in TN (I was born there!) and they are all quite liberal and are doing all they can to move TN forward. Don't give up entirely! Change can be glacially slow, but if enough people can get riled up, change CAN happen!
I am in MT
James, If I had to sum up the word I've used most often in the last few years, it would have to be insane, closely followed by insanity.
I wonder about the turnout in FL after so many of the elderly voters died of COVID or have long COVID and cannot go to the polls.
I live in a very RED state that has the less amount of gun laws so I feel with you.
Even in Illinois we have the Trumper loyalists. Met an older, blonde woman who is a great trainer in dog obedience on Saturday. Her skills are fantastic. She has beautiful and well trained goldens. She was a bit tiring because she could only talk about herself. Later, she mentioned how Biden and the Democrats were destroying our nation which came up AFTER she denied COVID even existed. This ran into not wanting her taxes to be spent on supporting people who don’t work especially during the pandemic. I asked her if she felt that people are faking losing jobs and being ill and such. She indicated most of them were just like Trump pointed out. (I think it was Fox who had this belief.) told her that I struggled with conversations with people with delusional ideas and judgments and left. Egads, it was a horrible conversation, but helped me understand her complete focus on herself.
To me, not a Georgian, a Black woman governor and a Black senator plus a Jewish senator must seem like a a bridge too far from white male Christian dominance. If I lived in Georgia I would vote for all three, and I have sent donations to them. It is much to Georgia's credit that they have prevailed in addition to calling Trump's bluff. Your should be proud and I would emphasize this incredible positivity.
OH, I AM!! I am enormously proud of what Georgia has shown potentially, POTENTIALLY, can happen. Georgia's diversity, especially propelled by the metro area of Atlanta of 6½ million people, is what I believe is a microcosm of what this country is becoming. A young, urban White and Black (the largest African-American middle and upper class in the country) influx from the rest of the country over the years has fueled an amazing diversity. However, the situation in the 2020 elections here, in particular the race to fill the remaining tenure of the vacant Senate seat now occupied by Sen. Warnock, were a bit out of the ordinary. A significant percentage of the Republican electorate stayed home as they were not thrilled with Kelly Loeffler (appointed to the seat by Gov. Kemp) who was endorsed by Trump and who was not that popular. That won't be the case this time and the Republicans are raring to go. Now, the fly in the ointment for them is Herschel Walker who is about as vulnerable as they come. The guy can barely put a sentence together--SERIOUSLY! Democrats are chomping at the bit to exploit his weaknesses, which are legion. But it remains baffling to me how someone SO incredibly inept and ill-suited for political office can STILL manage to garner votes (polls show him like 1%-point ahead of Warnock). Between now and November he could very well stumble in a BIG way, in spite of the Republican operatives trying to "program" him with stock far right-wing talking points. Once Republicans get a good look at how dumb he is (and I hate to use such a pejorative, but the guy really is thick as a post) many of them may get turned off by him enough not to vote for him. Again, NOBODY is more proud than me of what this state, considered "The Empire State of the South", has accomplished. It bodes well for the future. I pray that what happened in 2020 will not be an outlier and a one-off thing. I'm just hoping that Democrats can hammer home their message--something Democrats have traditionally been not so good at--enough that people here will be amped up to get out and vote to foment change. The automatic weapons issue and women's health in themselves SHOULD be huge rallying points, but it remains to be seen if these things matter enough to get people off their asses to vote. The next 5 months or so should be interesting to watch. I hope and pray my state can continue to advance and lead the way for a new and better South. We have a LOT working against us. End of sermon...church, say "AMEN!!"
This is an ad just released today by a Democratic Super PAC against Walker...ouch!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzUnFQYUpMw
That is some ad. Wowser.
Bruce, last round I donated more to GA than any place else. I'm not in a good place with my local Dem party this time around, and pulling back on my participation here (they are slowly getting things together- I hope, but at this point I don't much care).
Since I am spending more time at home now (not of choice, but that's how things are), what I plan to do in terms of activity is the postcard thing, because at least I know that will help make a difference in getting Dems to vote. And I am going to go through my list of monthly donations and see what I can redirect to Georgia Dems.
Stacy is my heroine and I admire Warnock tremendously. It would give a tremendous boost to democracy overall to see those two people in office in spite of all the obstacles thrown at them and at black and poor Georgian voters.
Georgia pulled the entire country back from the abyss in 2020. This I know. But GA is not that different from AL next door. AL has its little islands of progressivism too although not like Atlanta. I guess I am still, after all this time, stung by Doug Jones' (a fine and capable lawmaker) defeat at the hands of Tuberville (a complete dolt). In the deep south, a football background can be a big thing. It is as obvious as the nose on your face why Walker is in there. Football background, and he is black. Period. Blacks in GA should be enraged that they are being played like this. Split and conquer is the plan. Against Warnock - who has shown that he too is a fine and capable lawmaker, and black. I sure hope I am pleasantly surprised.
"Peach-tree dishes"? How appropriate for Georgia, the Peach Tree State! Too bad it has such a nincompoop as one of its Congress people.
Yes! She really did say that...maybe they're guarded by the "gazpacho police"?
Good data Bruce particularly "7 percent" Crossovers by Dems or Independents I presume, and identify the "Crossovers" & turbocharge the turnout.
Hell of a statistic - just fabulous!! Thanks Bryan!
There are many good sources of election data; as for potent data, Steve Kornacki on MSNBC "at the Big Board" is excellent. Of course, Stacey Abrams for GA & many other states.
Rowshan,
I would have agreed completely with you before Rafensperger won in Georgia.
Although many Republicans, and all of the one's in Congress, are now completely off their rockers, there are some left with some courage.
And........the fact that Rafensperger won will give others courage.
Honestly, we should recognize Rafensperger as a modern day hero. His family has been death threatened, he has been death threatened, people with guns were outside his home, and he STILL did not bend to Trump's will.
I am not optimistic either Rowshan, because, I just spent some time in Texas and it does not look good. BUT, it is not over.
But the mountain is high, and the trek arduous. Living in Texas sucks the life out of me, but the battle must be won, Zelensky told me so.
We need to be positive, brave, Warriors against autocracy/corporatocracy.
As Stacey Abrams makes the distinction: determination not just "hope."
🙋🏽♀️
Made me smile….and heck, at least we don’t have Russian tanks on our borders.
Got that right Mike, far from over.
Rowshan, Absent either Manchin’s or Sinema’s willingness to modify the filibuster to allow for an up or down vote on federal voter protection safeguards, our only recourse is to turbo-charge turnout. Hence, my reason, as part of this thread, for just posting, in my view “best strategies” for mobilizing not only the Base, but also Independents and moderate Republicans.
Spot on analysis Barbara Jo; super Messaging: "Turbo-charged Turnout",
"not only the Base, but also Independents and moderate Republicans."
This is what's just happened in Australia (for "Republicans" read "LNP"), and it worked. We've got a new, centre-left, majority government.
Very good analysis of the Australian Parliamentary results 'Down Under' where a rapidly developing party such as the LNP can become part of the ruling Government & take ruling government positions.
Keep the faith, Rowshan.
Some folks get through to the NRA without mussing a hair on their heads. If you want to see how it is done 'watch the tape'. It is linked in the following article on the front page of today's Washington Post. See link below.
'... Jason Selvig grabbed a microphone at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting this weekend and — just days after a shooter massacred 21 people at a Texas elementary school — applauded the gun lobby’s longtime leader for his efforts to stop mass shootings.'
'Selvig told fellow convention attendees that he was “sick and tired” of critics blaming NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre for not doing enough to stop the decades-long scourge in the United States. He has done plenty, Selvig told them —…' See link below.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/31/nra-lapierre-thoughts-prayers/?itid=hp_national
That was great! I hope the attendees got the sarcasm, but it may have been over their heads! (There I am questioning the I.Q.s of the NRA. Naughty of me.)
Wasn't it fun, Hope. I loved looking at LaPierre. He didn't know what to do - stuck in his seat. Yes, you're real cute when when naughty. Here I am encouraging you. Christine called me a 'fabulous rascal'. How about that!
I think "fabulous rascal" is what I like about you, too. No doubt about it, your I.Q. is way up there...even if the term is passe and judgmental.
Hope, I'm not supposed to like your reply...(with a stage whisper) but I do.
That video was hilarious! Judging from the frozen faces, I don't know if many of those attendees had the wherewithal to understand what was happening. Selvig was just amazing!
Hey, Fern! Just one teeny, tiny correction. Selvig did not grab the microphone. He was recognized to speak, which makes it all the more delicious! "The Chair" - who I assume is LaPierre - "recognizes the gentleman at microphone 1A." And then the dig down the rabbit hole commences...
Lynell, I love your big scoops and tinyweenie ones. How Selvig got the mic was not my job! So, there! One more, correction for YOU! LaPierre was not the choosing who spoke. Did you watch the tape? It's worth a minute.
I did ... clever & gutty political activity with large number of "views".
LOL...definitely not your job! I see that it was WaPo's wording.
And, I only heard a voice saying, "The Chair recognizes..." Realized after posting, the Chair was not LaPierre. Watched the tape about four times now, which doesn't make me an expert in the least!
You get my vote, Lynell!
Exactly, and in broad daylight. And yet, the MSM does the corruption of the fairness doctrine 24/7
The question hovering over it all in my neighborhood is will ANY of this change any repuglitan minds? They are still loud, obnoxious, homophobic, misogynistic and whine about the price of gas.
We can't change their minds. The key is waking up the 50% of Americans who never vote.
And that, my dear, is the question! Is it the same old outraged Dems, or is there new blood in the fight.
Help mobilize young voters. Register them, teach them how important their voices and ideas are to change our direction.
From Joan (CA) last November:
"Another link to try is: www.fieldteam6.org. They write postcards to unregistered voters in swing states to get them to register. They say they’ve already had an impact. And you can order the postcards which are very artistic!"
Is there a GOTV (get out the vote) group that targets young voters?
Younger voters use social media more. Like Instagram and twitter and now Twitch??
Only temporarily, Jeri.
Sometimes I worry that we have lost the Millennials and Gen Z entirely. Bless them, they can't afford rents much less buying a home.
Lynn, that is an excellent point. I honestly don't feel you can change their minds. As far as I'm concerned they are dead to me. Lost souls not worth saving. I feel we need to put our time with the people that comprehend the magnitude of what we have to lose if we don't show up at the poles. Sadly, many of the Biden enthusiasts have lost interest everytime they go to the gas pumps and grocery store.
Here's a man who allowed reality to affect his belief system: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/30/uvalde-shooting-guns/
Joy, I hope others follow suit.
That's correct Lynn. This event was like Geo Floyd, only in the fact it involved some 'colored' Americans, unlike Columbine (remember that one?) which was mostly 'white' kids. This too will pass.
Common denominator between George Floyd's murder and gun-related mass murders? Racism, surprise surprise. ICYMI, Teri Kanefield on the history of our gun control policies:
https://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield/status/1529284319750987776?s=20&t=AjxCsOgNO0EunvBKRB-hBA
The Uvalde shooter threatened girls online, shot his grandmother and 16 of the 21 victims were female (that's over 75%). Coincidence? When there's not a racial motivation, most often there's misogyny.
Yes, intersectionality of the various -isms that are the antithesis of white supremacy and result in discrimination and oppression, complicated by forms of self-hatred.
All of the above. I wondered if the shooter, who has Latino roots, suffered from racism and ironically wiped out Latinos as if projecting the hatred that was given to him. At any rate he was filled with hatred. Hatred itself is a commodity on MSM, video games, and in our legislatures. I wish so much that we could put a stop to spreading it.
From what I've read about his family experience, there was a lot of toxicity that would have been the foundation for his acting out against Latinx children. Critically, he lacked empathy such that he was torturing animals.
I totally agree with you. I worry that even if the masses rise up and flock to the polls, that corrupt voting laws and gerrymandering may make the results of what the people want and what they voted on to be nil. It is also problematic that the Republican cult will use a page out of the Trump playbook and refuse to acknowledge Democratic party wins. These people are evil in my humble opinion and the good citizens of this country are being held in a murderous stranglehold. Dems have been somewhat timid in their dealing with this group. I read something earlier today that said they are taking flowers to a gunfight. I keep hoping that the younger generation, along with the rest of us will come out in such jaw dropping numbers that a victory for all sane Americans cannot be denied
A privileged but thrice bankrupted failed businessman, unqualified as a leader, with questionable ethics, well known immoral and illegal patterns of behavior is resurrected by a fictional TV show post Great Recession and with huge inflows of Russian Oligarch cash via Deutsche Bank (itself sanctioned and fined for laundering for Putin)avoids a 4th bankruptcy via default, rises to power utilizing demagoguery, creates a populist grievance cult with fanatic racist intensity.
All the while, escalations are repeatedly facilitated by sycophantic political handlers and billionaire/oligarch donors, elevate the demagogue to class warrior mystic / dear leader status with true believers infiltrating the Supreme Court.
It is a parallel to Vladimir Putin’s rise! And the rule of law in our country is hanging by a thread.
If the committee can’t get the Salesforce email data, then Subpoena a wide swath of the donors. Scrub their SM accounts and posts surrounding Jan 6th. The donors were asked to come to the rally AND to bring as many ‘fellow travelers’ as possible to intimidate by sheer numbers, to overwhelm Capital Police, and make bad trouble attacking the Capital. Make them testify under oath to the American People! These low and moderate level donors do not have same ‘stuff’ that the extremely privileged have, and not for TV. The truth needs to be told at the everyday person level to break the myth and the big lie.
It is like a script for an ‘inside job’. Blame the rioters but not the ringleaders is insanity.
That would be fine if the committee had unlimited time. But it does not. If Democrats do not retain the House in November, the committee will be ended on the first day of the new Congress. And the committee needs to do its job before Election Day--and sufficiently before election day to change minds. Think Labor day, maybe the 1st of October.
They have until the end of January 2023. That is when the new members of Congress are sworn in.
New members of Congress are sworn in when the first session of Congress is convened in early January. So the 1/6 Committee has, technically, only through Dec. 31, 2022. I believe their intent is to wrap things up far earlier than that.
I have been imploring the readers of this forum to call or write their elected officials daily! I am so afraid that Uvale will become just another massacre and nothing is done. I have been told, by some of this forum, that my efforts are useless.
Here's my message to MItch today:
Senator,
The Memorial Day holiday is over. It is back to work for many Americans, but most likely not for the families of the massacred children and teachers of Uvale.
You are "back at work" so let's see some fruit of said work. We, the voters and taxpayers of this great country are actually the employers of the elected representatives in Congress. Right now, if we were to give you a job evaluation, it would not be very good. I suggest to improve you job rating, you promote gun legislation NOW, before the voters decide whom to retain and to fire in November.
202-224-3121 is the switchboard for the Senate
Here's a link to email McConnell https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=contact
It takes no more than a minute or two to do so.
the problem is...Mitch works for no-one but himself
Good for you! Your efforts are not at all useless, so ignore those who prognosticate that they are.
(1) Staff members tally the incoming letters, postcards, and emails.
(2) The more we write, the more conversant and efficient we become in our communications.
(3) The more we act, the more we talk about what we're doing, and the more we influence others to join us, exactly as you have!
Our numbers add up to a force to be reckoned with!
Congress is off until next Monday. Hell of a time to be taking a 10 day break. Washington D.C. was a Ghost Town by last Thursday . Then to claim not have the time to read the info about 1/6 ? At the least wouldn’t you hope they could be doing some working Vaca’s ? Looks to me as if Congress is a part of that “ Slow Walk “ to run out of time. They have had 16 months minus those long breaks. Where else in this Country do you get Perks like they do ?
How about we implement democracy fully, for the very first time ever? I want to live in a place where all adult citizens are eligible to vote, regardless of their sex, skin color, gender, or political affiliation. I want to live in a place where every citizen's vote to count equally in the tally, without having to worry about some antiquated rule that protected the losers of the Civil War and the less populated states from having to accept majority rule. I want to live in a place where all children to the age of majority (when they can vote) to be fed, clothed, housed and educated, without arguments about how those things are "too costly." I want to live in a place where judges are appointed based on qualifications and judicial experience and ratings, rather than on political affiliations and corporate desires. I want to live in a place where men and women make decisions for themselves about their bodies and reproductive state, rather than having religious leaders make those decisions for them through their influence with the elected officials.
I want to live in a place where I don't have to worry about being harassed, shot, or otherwise punished for simply stating what I want, and where nobody else has to worry about that either, since our votes will settle the issues.
I want to live in a place where our Constitution isn't contorted to protect property more than it protects people.
I don't think it's too much to ask for, or to expect.
Do you know what the most protected species is in America ? The white, rich, conservative, political criminal male ? The rest of us ? Commodities, Consumers and Taxpayers that will never be able to afford true Justice. Men or Women of the 99%’rs.
Michael The machinations of Jackal Jordan and his band of co-conspirators reminds me of the movie The Day of the Jackal. From ‘Insurrection Hoax’ Trump down to Giggles Giuliani and Sanctimonious Powell (both with suspended law licenses) there is an iron wall against the Constitution and blatant insurrection.
In part they are following the Trump game plan of legal shenanigans to avoid testifying under oath. They are also seeking to play out the clock until the November House elections.
I am gobsmacked that a significant majority of the American people does not acknowledge that these are authoritarian assaults on American democracy. This is writ large in the Republican naysayers after multiple school massacres.
I have faint hope that the House 1/6 committee public hearings will affect the ‘thinking’ of some Americans. [Watergate hearings were sharply different—they were carried and then re-run on the three major TV networks and over 40 million watchers were galvanized. At the time, whether you were at a barber ship or in a diner, the hearings were being played.]
The DOJ MUST start filing indictments IMMEDIATELY on the BIG LIE and the 1/6 insurrection.
And if a Repub take’s it in 2024 all those charged will be pardoned . Add to that a Conservative Supreme Court. Long ago I believed that the Court was a Constitutional Court. Not anymore.The very reason they got Lifetime Appointments was to prevent what this Supreme Court is doing. Originalism my Butt !
Marcia The Stench Court places our Constitution in jeopardy. As far as the ‘originalists,’ they seem part of the flat worlders. I can read the full text of the 2nd Amendment. If referred to the ‘milita.’ At that time, the American Army had less than 200 soldiers, mainly protecting the West Point arsenal.
Today with have a mighty Army, Navy, & Air Force. Also, state National Guards. Would the ‘originalists’ insist that National Guarders take their ships, tanks, and nuclear missiles home with them in case of some emergency? I admit that the Founding Fathers were dealing with flint lock guns, not AK-15s and 30-clip Glocks. [It takes a minute or two to load a flint lock—a minute to shoot 300 bullets from an AK-15.]
Also, as ‘originalists’ I would welcome their interpretation of one of the two stories of creation in Genesis.If Adam and Eve had three sons, was this an extraordinary example of ‘immaculate conception?’ Or would they simply affirm that, from the outset, women were not necessary? What an abortive thought!
Honestly Keith I’m not sure I’m following you on the Adam and Eve part ? I’m not much of a Bible reader . I know it says God created them and they had the 3 sons .I know it says that Adam was created first then Eve. Yrs ago on Facebook( I’m not on there anymore ) a poster made the comment “ if God created Adam and Eve and they had 3 Sons who were the only people on earth, where did the rest of us come from ?”
Marcia On Adam and Eve, if they had three sons and no daughters, how could there be offspring? Immaculate ejection? Of course the absence of daughters would mean that the Stench Court shouldn’t concern itself with abortion, because there are apparently no impregnated women.
Perhaps a bit far fetched, but no farther than the ‘originalists.’
Mental illness resides with the Republicans in Congress, as they sit by year after year, mass shooting after mass shooting, and do nothing. That is sociopathic behavior. That is the behavior of a malignant narcissist, a politician who offers protection to those who prey on others. The Republican Party is a cult of sociopaths. Every single Republican who covers up for a predator, who stands by and watches, doing nothing while people are being slaughtered, needs to be held accountable... not slap-on-the-hand accountable, but prison-time accountable, public-register accountable, kicked-out-of-Congress accountable. I see the Republicans as malignant narcissists, no-conscience barbarians who must be stopped and neutralized by absolute and unrelenting consequences.
I think Gov. Abbutt is feeling the heat. At his event that I saw on cable news yesterday, he trotted out endless public officials who announced all the wonderful things they were going to do for the people of Uvalde. Of course he never does anything about the real problem, which is certainly of his own making in the LoneStar state. This full court press is based on his concern that he just might be on the wrong side of history, which of course is painfully obvious.
As I watched that carefully scripted, carefully choreographed FREE campaign event and listened to those officials offering complicated ways to obtain "assistance" from their various departments and agencies, all I could think was HEARTLESS and COLD. There was not a shred of human compassion from a single person speaking. Not an iota or expression of condolences. They were speaking governmental gobbledy-gook to people whose primary language, for the most part is Spanish. And they spoke in English. In jargon.
Yes, how is it possible that so much corruption of power can be ignored or tolerated. Is America changing?
It has changed.
But we still have a 6-3 SCOTUS ?
And what will we, who see what’s happening, do to get the voters to go to the polls?
You seem to forget that half the people love what the Republicans are doing. Republican voters are the problem here, as much as Republican politicians are.
Of course they are.
JR Interesting point. What are the Republicans ‘doing?’Tubby Trump and Turkey Chin McConnell make clear that they have no ‘policies’ for America. Of course there is the BIG LIE, the 1/6 insurrection, and restricting non-white voting in about half of America’s states. I surmise that the Republicans support fear and being against.
The big question is how many of the Independents among the 74 million votes for Trump in 2020 are up for ‘rational’ grabs.
Republican voters won’t tell pollsters what they really feel about race and hate and resentment. If you go by the polls, and the issues, Dems would win every election by 10-20 points. If you go by the nasty, dirty fears in Republican voters’ dark souls you get the results we see today. Republicans are going to clean up in the midterms. The issues don’t matter, hate and fear drive the Republican base.
My guess is that absent inflation, the independents would flock to the Democratic side. But as we know, it's not going away anytime soon.
I disagree to a point. Voter sentiment regarding abortion and some key gun control measures favor Democrats by significant proportions. Also, many Republicans don't favor what their party is doing necessarily — even when the GOP had the majority under Trump it accomplished very little — but they are very upset about inflation, pandemic restrictions, and other issues. Naturally they blame Biden for everything.
Also, from a Gallup poll:
"Overall in 2021, an average of 29% of Americans identified as Democrats, 27% as Republicans and 42% as independents. Roughly equal proportions of independents leaned to the Democratic Party (17%) and to the Republican Party (16%)."
https://news.gallup.com/poll/388781/political-party-preferences-shifted-greatly-during-2021.aspx
That’s not how they vote. If voter sentiment, as reflected in polls, mirrored actual vote outcomes, Republicans would have a 10 seat minority in the Senate and a 40 seat minority in the House. Voters may tell pollsters they disagree with Republican stances on issues, but they still vote for Republicans.
If there was any remaining doubt about the degree of hypocrisy in the GOP response to gun violence the reactions to Uvalde and Buffalo should put it to rest.
Everything Abbott, McConnell, Gomhert, Jordan, and the rest of the Republican leadership say is just for distraction. It seems very much like they throw out ludicrous statements just so that people will waste time and effort refuting them.
Speaking in Uvalde the day after the massacre Greg Abbott had the nerve to start banging the "mental health crisis" drum. This is the same man who has diverted over $200,000,000 from TX Health and Human Services Commission to his border fortification farce.
The GOP continues to talk about mental health after every incident of domestic terrorism (unless it is perpetrated by a non-Christian or person of color). The GOP also consistently cuts mental health funding and kills any discussion of broadening access to health care in general. However, that's not the point. Because in the two sentences it took me to write that for a few moments I had to think about something other than how to vote them out of power.
The same is true of the talking points on hardening schools, adding more armed security in schools, and having more law enforcement with heavier weapons and more training. Uvalde had all those things. Multiple agencies that had recent training on how to handle this very situation completely ignored their training and SOP and did nothing while the shooter was killing more kids. But the GOP knows that, and they even know that everyone else knows it. They just want us to waste time talking about it. (Like I just did)
There is nothing about the GOP stance on gun violence, gun control, and the second amendment that is not utterly self serving and disingenuous. No matter what they say at this point it is not, in any way shape or form, discussion in good faith. It is all smoke and mirrors and that is why it is time to stop the conversation about how to work with GOP lawmakers on how to address gun violence and to focus entirely on how to vote them out of power.
I can only hope that this time it is so glaring that enough people will stop arguing and start voting that we can turn the tide.
Your point is 1000% correct, Darin. All that people have to do to refrain from talking about all the Republican blah- blah is one of two things. Understand anything they talk about in regards to the American people is a lie. Mental health reform? No. Anyone mentally ill will be marginalized, ignored, or incarcerated at will under their RULE. Hardening schools? No. Open carry with guns is their goal so people will shoot each other at the least prevarication. Marshall and vigilante law under their RULE. They are total complete charlatans. Snake oil peddlers protected by moneyed interests.
The other suggested strategy to avoid giving any talking space refuting them or constantly indulging the nonsense by waiting for the next outrageous response is to counter every remark or complaint with SOMETHING read or heard about that supports life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness no matter how seemingly trivial in the face of Republican outrageousness. For example, I heard about and watched part of a CNN original movie called Julia. Come to find out that Julia Child single-handedly really got the American people interested in cooking food again not for convenience but for caring and loving people by doing so and increasing community. Through public television appearances. Thank goodness or frozen TV dinners would always be fare of choice. What a character she was and remains in legend. She had a 3-part robust mantra for a woman keeping a man happy and being able to run her life as she saw fit without manipulation. I almost fell out with laughter. Catch the little slice of life of a past decade. She’s so much more interesting than Stefanik, Desantis, Jordan, “burn the notes” Meadows, blah blah blah etc etc etc. Know thine enemy. However, do not assist in giving them the fame and attention they so crave.
Good week all! United. 🗽
She was also an intelligence officer for the OSS. Pretty cool.
And I agree about not obsessing about the miscreants too much or too often. All that does is giving them the attention they crave, creates chaos and saps the energy to do more and better things.
I, very much, like the "United." theme.
Speaking of Abbott, we can directly help Mothers Against Greg Abbott end his gubernatorial career: https://mothersagainstgregabbott.com/
Oh damn, another monthly donation
I know!!! I consider it an investment in my daughter's future :-)
I just sent a donation. Thanks for this.
I love "stop arguing and start voting"! That needs to be a T-shirt!
Because, for one thing, even when we win the arguments we seem to lose.
Dean, this is my point exactly. As soon as we engage in these arguments we have lost because the only goal of the GOP, the Gun worshipers, and the rest of the far right is to make us waste time and energy arguing.
I don't know if I believe they are clever enough that they intentionally make their talking points so idiotic that it almost feels like a compulsion to refute them, but that seems to be the result. The inconsistencies, logical fallacies, and outright lies are so blatant that rational people (or at least pedantic, OCD, "rational" people like me) feel the need to point out all these inconsistencies.
They don't care. Because they aren't actually trying to discuss or debate they are only trying to stall and divert.
There is no point in making a case to the Fox obsessed republican voters. They are not listening. They would not recognize logic or facts no matter how obvious. They are not going to abandon their precious, self-righteous fantasy world.
The only argument even vaguely worth pursuing is talking to people who have lost faith and given up on voting. Convincing half of the eligible voters who have been sitting out elections due to fatigue, disgust, inconvenience, or whatever, that it is worth their time to vote might, just might, make the numbers so overwhelming that the "stop the steal" crowd will be relegated to a fringe annoyance instead of an existential threat to free and fair elections.
Nailed the bastards, but hope somebody besides substack comrades listen. Someone would have to overcome the 90 decibel screeds from Fox.
Pass these positive messages of our fight on trumplicans sites like faux propaganda stations. Give them ideas of why they need to wake up...and how.
Always "glaring", but the light dims quickly. Most Americans can't pronounce Uvalde.
I couldn't until I looked it up.
And, good for us. No need to appear stupid, then confirm it. Did you notice I did not use "than" in place of "then"? I'll bet you did :))
I’d love to say that I did , but no. Then and then (along with affect/effect are my personal nemeses.
I'm with you!
The reaction to George Floyd's murder by so many people from all races and backgrounds gave me hope two years ago that it would kindle a movement and we'd finally address police reform and social justice. It didn't happen. Now at Uvalde we have both the barbaric act of the gunman made possible by the AR-15 where the bodies of children could not be identified by their own parents and the cowardly police who put their own lives above the lives of children and other victims calling for help shattering the argument that "good guys with guns" will somehow handle mass shootings. The long delay in action by police actually caused more deaths as the police sat there while listening to gun shots each signifying yet another child's death. This should mean court martial for each and every one of them and impeachment of both Texas "Senators" for not upholding their oath to the Constitution and putting all their constituents in mortal danger. There is no way for the Republicans to distract us this time. Change is now inevitable and the movement close at hand. There are no "good" Republicans anymore. What is possible now is action: Step 1: President Biden declares a national emergency and raises the age to buy guns to 21. Step 2: President Biden issues an executive order on police reform in July 2022 Step 3: We, the People, oust every Republican in November 2022 and vote in a super majority of over 67 Senate seats to non-Republican candidates. Step 4. In January 2023 a new law codifying gun safety and accountability is passed and bans assault guns. Step 5: The illegitimate Justices on the rogue Supreme Court are impeached in February 2023. Step 6: President Biden nominates the replacement Justices in March 2023. Step 7: in April 2023 the George Floyd Police Reform Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act are signed into law. Step 8: In May 2023, all the rights including women's rights taken away in June 2022 are restored. Step 9: We, the People, all of us live happily ever after not in a fairy tale but with the United People of America.
“There are no "good" Republicans anymore.” Such a true statement, Cathy. And everyone who recognizes the serious trouble of a two party system when one party simply refuses to govern, has blocked legislation and reversed or ignored laws that protect even those who voted for them. Their power is their purpose. With no end in sight. In the light of the tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, of an entire classroom of school children and teachers while law enforcement stood outside the classroom, it is more obvious than ever that our children and our country are paying for the corruption of the GOP. Where are the gun laws that would have protected our children? Years of dismantling and blocking not only leave us all unprotected but assure more mass shootings will occur while Americans have more guns, including military style weapons and fewer laws and restrictions than any other “developed” country. And more shootings. And states including Texas, with open carry “laws”. Lawmakers in the pockets of NRA. Whether loading the courts with Federalist Society picks, stonewalling legislation that supports laws and regulations for health including Covid 19, gun safety laws; voting rights, education, women’s reproductive rights, environmental regulations, the “simple” transfer of power of a legitimate presidential election, our future is in trouble. I’m stating the obvious. I voted today and am hanging on to the hope that we can rescue our democracy and begin to govern again. What is Plan B for an entire nation at risk?
Plan B is that WE, The People, get our shit together and VOTE VOTE VOTE these criminals out! We do it by heavily educating those who usually don’t put their two cents in. We can’t wait any longer.
Marlene, I hope that our voting in these coming elections will be the Plan B that turns the tide. It’s obvious Plan A isn’t working.
Agree, Irenie. My desire, my expectation is that people will not slink back into their usual way of life anymore. George Floyd’s horrific death should have changed the the rules, it did not. This shooting should get people off of their couches. The Pro-Rape party cannot depend on their people being ignorant anymore. Even McConnell is having Cornyn and others negotiate with the Dems on gun control laws. The Dems better come packing with a surefire solution to get bipartisan support. Don’t know if you saw the video I posted but it’s quite a humdinger. The NRA has to be dissolved.
Our country is bad in part (with our partying Prime Minister), but many of us are completely bewildered by the stranglehold of the Republicans which seems an altogether different level of vileness. Where do I find the video?
It isn’t on Fox
Cornyn is the second worst Senator from Texas because Ted is first. He is worth zero.
Perhaps you might consider posting that video again or providing the link?
Because men keep running things....
Mostly white men who are crazed qnd greedy, and yes, running things into the ground.
"Their power is their purpose. " So true and the crux of the problem with politics in the USA. -saw-
I know several Rs who did not vote for death star. Our next door neighbor, a long time county commissioner, is now an independent who has put D signs in his yard.
I think my courage would be severely tested in a situation where the criminal was likely to be better armed and armored than me. Courage and cowardice are beyond my capacity to judge. I haven't been tested in war, hope never to be so, never intend to carry a weapon for any reason. I tip my hat to the police and members of our armed forces, however perfectly or less than perfectly they carry out their oaths. We're all collectively responsible for allowing our streets to become shooting galleries, or not preventing it heretofore. Ignorance, apathy, ambivalence are all potential forms of collusion in a democracy.
While I appreciate the sentiment, the fact remains that people trained to protect and defend stood by while children were massacred. This is evidence enough that the suggestion to arm more people, in particular arm teachers, is absolute rubbish.
Exactly so.
Exactly my position as well. If you don’t have the intestinal fortitude to do the job …
The real point is, even police do not have the will nor fortitude to stand against someone with an assault weapon of mass murder. BAN ALL assault weapons. Get them off the streets and out of paranoid people's stockpiled basements.
Exactly, if the police can't face an 18 year old sociopath with an assault rifle then Congress MUST. Restore the ban, buy back their 20 million pathetic substitutes for manhood and ban them forever.
You are so right! Teachers have enough to do and worry about without adding another worry- do I place the children in lockdown or stand and engage?
I understand. It is something that I wrestled with and prepared for. I am glad I was never put to the test, for which I am grateful. I did the work, and in my mind I was ready. Unless there had been a major call very near my town that had just finished, or the SWAT team was on a lunch break from training in my town, I was gonna be going in by myself because (per my training and study, 5 minutes was too long to wait, and response time for my cover would be at least that long.)
In looking at photos from various sources, I can tell that a LOT of non-uniformed cops had the time to respond, either from HQ or home...
Ally, thank you for your perspective. You are the one person who knows about police training and what to do in a crisis situation. I am grateful that you have never been in that situation. What no one has talked about is common sense! There is a serious lack of that, it seems, in the world of police forces. Maybe not where you are but…
Police work is a completely different animal in the south…
Animal is right
Finally a plan!!! Thank you Cathy Learoyd!!!
You can't see me, but I'm giving you a standing ovation!
This thought goes to after-the-vote, as I am in agreement that massive Democrat turnout is the only 2022 strategy to retain the present majority control. What do we do next though, more strategic, more long-term? I've wondered about this for sometime, since George Floyd, especially. Perhaps, because I had a brother who was racist, well-loved, and a cop in a large Western state and I retired from a university/department that now offers a concentration in criminal justice in counseling. Were I starting out in my career, or from an oppressed group, instead of aspiring to be part of or influence the powers (e.g., developing policy, influencing laws, organizing via the professions), I might consider a career in public safety fields that have a real direct effect on where justice is rendered (e.g., law, police, fire, community mental health, emergency and women's health care, urban-rural planning). Many of those fields are facing large scale retirements as they come under pressure because of Floyd et al. A new generation or two that takes control of these strings of power within communities may become more important after-the-voting and achieve lasting changes to systemic circumstances that those who write the laws rely upon or laws in the interests of those who hold perceived power. Strategy: Get control over the strings of social justice instead of prioritizing advocacy for better candidates, tighter laws, and stronger regulations. I know of one graduate from our department, now in law school, who I intend to keep watching as she goes about her career, hopefully in community rather than corporate law.
I know the same as my niece who made choices to further social justice in her career as a lawyer. This is a very viable and practical strategy for next Gen, Fred. They will respond to it because it is proactive and not reactive. Smart kids, the next gens. I have a lot of faith in them.
UNITA! 🗽
Thank you Fred! That is a wonderful strategy! And doable. And would be quite effective and meaningful. Bravo!
Yes.
Cathy, apart from "happy ever after" not being of this world, apart from the acute unhappiness in store for all those bamboozled millions -- as though they weren't so unhappy already as to have taken to political methamphetamine -- this fine project will all be like Putin or Picrochole's dreams of world conquest unless the Justice Department makes a hard, sharp move to behead the January 6th conspiracy.
Meanwhile, the conspirators are prevaricating and preparing their next, more effective coup, while Putin is counting on America to implode before the year's end. His last hope...
Eyes on the road, every inch of the way... while the hoodlums do their damnedest to distract us or force us off the road.
Exactly right, Cathy; but you forgot one critical step. Every government employee, from office drone, to military, to legislator who took part in 1/6 must be expelled and permanently barred from public office. If we leave them alone, the corruption will continue and accelerate.
Yes, we do need accountability in government and most certainly for the people who had a role in 1/6. We do seem to have lost the fundamental premise of checks and balances. What is the check on the Roberts Supreme Court? The broken Congress?
The present SCOTUS is a joke now. We have a justice whose wife is a seditionist, a funder of an insurrection. A drunken justice who lied to Congress about upholding “precedent” and who got his home mortgage paid off by the Federal Society. Oh and the handmaiden justice who thinks women can just drop their babies off at doorsteps or fire departments for someone else to take care of them, after they had been raped! The Italian justice who can’t for the life of him, fathom that others before him, approved abortions! Roberts is meek now. He longer has a handle on this group but he’s also a Federalist Society worshipper. Accountability is utmost now and if it reveals Dems too, are as corrupt, so be it.
Every single sane person needs to become part of this plan. How do we reach Biden en mass to demand steps 1 & 2?
Here is how you contact the White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Thank you!
Signed, Sealed, Delivered!!!
Morning Kathleen. You got it.
https://youtu.be/inXC_lab-34
Oh, yes, Christine...the wonders of Stevie!
Glory
Brava, Cathy!! BRAVA!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💞
Unfortunately, someone came up with defund the police which gives every rube something to rally against. This week I have seen two long Next Door threads about that, without understanding anything about police in schools, school buildings, teachers, why the police are short staffed etc. And of course, here in Oregon just blame Kate Brown or the school superintendent. These people are unreachable and everyone of them is an "expert" in everything. That being said, we will be donating here in Oregon and around the country and already donate to register the vote and get it out entities.
The only thing they are truly expert in is parroting Fox news bites.
And whatever they look at on the internet.
... and tabloids ...
Thank you, Cathy. Simply agree. My votes will reflect above.
Am keeping this excellent list to post all over the place, outside of our lovely substack community.
UPA rather than USA? I can live with that.
Its a nice dream....
Meanwhile, the Canadian government is moving quickly to implement tighter gun controls.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/handguns-liberal-bill-1.6470554
A civil society if there ever was one.
Well, sort of, if you exclude little things like Canada's treatment of First Nations folk...
Good point. But those sins are acknowledged everywhere you go.
Acknowledged but still prevalent. The stats in this particular study focus on women.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00004-eng.htm
😢😤😖😤😢 ... This is so discouraging, Daria - how likely is it that such dynamics also exist among non-indigenous families, only go unreported, since telling the truth is an invitation to homelessness, or the psych ward ...? What kind of man can accept such a paradigm and have any self respect as a man?!
Well, Kathleen, I have a feeling that Cananda and Canadians are guilty
of the same the systemic and institutional abuses that are being exposed in the US. Colonialism made one hell of a mess in around the world.
Ok, so what makes it civil?
Well, like any country it's far from perfect and has a troubled past, as Daria points out. And there are still tensions with the indigenous people, who aren't shy about pushing to correct wrongs and assert sovereignty rights. But Canada has nothing like the hate and strife tearing apart the U.S., the government functions far better, it's not awash in guns, it has a higher emphasis on social justice and education, and much more. Canada is also decidedly multicultural and proud of it.
Here are two helpful articles:
https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/canadian-culture/canadian-culture-core-concepts
https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2021-04-13/canada-is-the-no-1-country-in-the-world-according-to-2021-best-countries
Thank you Michael, I'll check out the articles ... here's one that just showed up on Thom Hartmann's blog:
Why Canadians Are Warning About the Collapse of American Democracy
https://hartmannreport.com/p/why-canadians-are-warning-about-the?s=r
I don't know enough about Canadian culture to comment, really - thank you for contributing to expanding awareness!!
Can we throw stones, hahahaha
Thank you Daria - my thoughts exactly.
(Not forgetting little New Zealand)
I'd love to visit there and experience what life is like. I mentioned Canada because my wife was born there and visit quite often.
The lesson here is that while one bill that would eliminate hand guns was tabled, another capping the number was passed. IOW, progress, all important progress, was made. Neither side here in the USA understands meaningful compromise as the essence of responsible governance.
In the UK parliament, "tabled" is not the same as in the US Congress. Rather than "put aside to die", it means "up for immediate consideration". I believe it is the same in the Canadian parliament. Perhaps a Canadian can correct or refine its meaning for us if one sees this.
"After all, there have been at least 14 mass shootings in the U.S. since the Uvalde murders, killing at least 10 people and wounding another 61, and they have gotten much less attention."
Staggering... 6 short days.
If not for the trust I maintain in the author who is summarizing for us, I'd be tempted to describe LFAA as a piece of ongoing tabloid journalism. After all, can you recall a period of time when news from Washington DC and around the nation carried such a profound degree of outrageous, sensational and infuriating content. When compiled and edited in the fashion we all are enjoying, it's hardly a stretch to connect the dots.
Many things seem, and are, inevitable. As long as our nation is awash in guns, the killing will continue. as long as there is a political process, individuals will seek positions of power/influence and proceed to abuse them. As long as unimaginable amounts of money can be channeled into influencing people without the need for public disclosure (think; advertising, political action committees, corporate donations, "foundations" and any other means of purchasing the votes of politicians), the corruption will continue. Money in politics simply leads to corruption, period. I just saw an article about the amount of NRA money that has been received by Texas politicians over the years. Guess who tops the list at about half a million dollars? John Cornyn. Just the guy you'd want leading a conversation over "doing something" about epidemic mass violence against children in schools. Just naming him displays a degree of narcissism on the part of McConnell that shows he has lost any sense of connection to the greater public, perhaps other than a voter block in the great state of Kentucky. The inmates really ARE running the asylum. Remember, though, many steps taken by many people in many places have lead us from the 1980 presidential race to where we are now. The "Party of No" did not achieve this in a vacuum. 42 years of effort, all the while witnessed and perhaps contested by the political opposition; 10 presidential elections, countless local, regional, statewide, congressional elections, supreme court nominations have led us to where we find ourselves today. This is a "mass movement" over at least 2 generations. I can't imagine things materially changing for the better with anything less than a similar effort over a similar period of time in every corner of our nation. I will certainly be ashes in the wind before the end of such an effort, if we can muster the determination to do this. Sadly, it seems that the only thing big enough to galvanize us to seek our better selves is the threat of war on our own shores. Something has to take us all down several pegs and innoculate us with the humility to seek trust in one another, to view our common interests as something other than a zero-sum game. Thus far, even the threat global warming fails to shock us out of the Grand Kabuki Theatre we're experiencing. I wonder how we'd act if the giant astroid was truly aimed directly at us with an arrival date shortly after 2024? I keep looking for signs of hope here between our shores. We do have some powerful levers still in place. Freedom of the press, a still substantial freedom to vote, the opportunity for those so inclined to engage in the political process and attempt to directly influence our way forward, substantial freedom of speech all come to mind. None of those mean anything, however, if we can't summon the courage to hit the reset button and "throw the bastards out" who have clearly demonstrated their willingness to abuse the power vested in them. We're fools to hope that the justice system will bale us out of the political crisis we're in. Justice comes later, or not at all. Political verdicts would suit me just fine, except that the steps required to reach them just don't seem to be visible most places I look. I just hope I can personally survive the roller-coaster we're on without digging a deep hole and crawling in it before the end of the calendar year.
Re the asteroid: See the Netflix movie "Don't Look Up" to see just how selfishly and stupidly we might react to such an impending disaster. The movie's funny, but doesn't give me confidence of how we might react in reality.
👏👏👏👏
Ted Cruz is fond of pointing out that gun control measures that Democrats propose will not stop mass murders. Unfortunately, he’s probably right about that. Only a tiny fraction of people are inclined to mass murder. No legislation will change that percentage, and common sense” gun control measures will not keep assualt rifles with high-capacity magazines away from fringe people who are determined to get them. Measures that could possibly reduce the occurrence of mass murders, at a minimum, make all guns that can be shot dozens of times without reloading nearly impossible to get, which means it will have to be illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess such a firearm in the United States. Lesser measures might reduce gun-related violence, overall, but are doomed to failure on the mass murder front. Republicans know this, and if by some miracle Democrats were able to pass “common sense” gun control legislation, Republicans would be licking their chops waiting for the next mass murder so they could gloat about how ineffective Democratic governance is. This is the Republican method: obstruct as long as possble, and when legislation making incremental changes gets through in spite of their best efforts to stop it, wait until it fails to have the desired effect and then start screaming about how ineffective Democrats are, and pound another nail in the coffin of decent government. Incremental change in the matter of gun control wiil have no effect whatever on the incidence of mass murder. Go bold or go home. Anyone caught with a gun that holds more than one bullet must serve time in prison. That’s the minimum. Nothing less will stop next month’s mass murder.
We need to collect millions of guns and melt them down, and I'm absolutely not kidding. We have way too many in rotation- over 400 million. It is mental illness.
You know them well, wish all did
I think most people know. The problem is that 60% of white Americans think the GOP modus operandi is a plus.
Excerpt: "States with stronger firearms legislation have fewer gun deaths, according to a study by Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun laws. Everytown identifies five “foundational” policies for reducing gun deaths:
Requiring background checks and permits to purchase handguns.
Requiring permits to carry concealed firearms in public.
Extreme risk laws, which allow courts to remove guns from those who pose a serious threat to themselves or others.
Requiring secure storage of guns.
Rejecting “stand your ground” laws.
Everytown tracks a total of 50 policies in each state, covering areas like the gun industry and product safety, guns in public, keeping guns out of the wrong hands, policing and civil rights, and sales and permitting." https://www.deseret.com/2022/5/27/23144447/states-with-the-strictest-gun-control-laws-mass-shooting-2nd-amendment-violent-crime-concealed-carry
Yes, so-called “common sense gun control” would reduce gun deaths. That would be an improvement. The point if my comment is that such measures will not reduce the number of mass murders (which are a more specific problem), and when it becomes clear that the legislation had no effect on the mass-murder rate, Republicans will gloat about how right they were to oppose gun control. Nevermind that the legislation did reduce gun violence. Their lede will focus on mass murders, and most white Americans will continue to let the NRA and other nefarious people limit what can be done about gun violence.
Just prior to reading tonight's Letter I watched Trump's remarks at the NRA convention, (beginning @1:48), while following the transcript. His speech was typical, full of lies and misinformation but he was very clear about his, (and the GOP's), vision for the United States — more guns and more gun owners. His bizarre belief that a gun owner taking a basic gun and range safety course is equal to a highly trained marksman is absurdly dangerous. But it's what his base wants to hear and believe. The things that were even more disturbing, though, were his remarks about further ramping up police forces, a dragnet approach to "cracking down on crime", and referencing his use of National Guard troops after George Floyd's murder. The idea he seemed to be conveying, at least to me, that if re-elected, declaring martial law will be a simple flip of a switch. The other troubling statement had to do with how easy wiping out "communism and socialism" in one fell swoop will be. His references to "failed" Democrat policies were frequent. Clearly, Trump was campaigning. He used the typical buzz words and tossed out tiny chunks of red meat for his base to gnaw on. And, I think he was relying on the fact that most center and left leaning wouldn't bother to watch/read his speech.
The issues that need to be addressed by a sane House and Senate are piling up. It's critical we know what our adversaries are saying and doing to build momentum for the midterms. Knowing their positions is the only way we can build ours. As painful as it may be, please take the time to read the transcripts of Trump and other right wing candidates.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?520549-1/president-trump-speak-nra-convention-texas
Yes. Smart to know their fascist stupidity and not support it one whit. I made sure to watch his remarks. I want to know the web he’s spinning. It’s full of gaping holes and few flies.
UNITA, Daria!
Pure poison. UNITA, Christine!
I can’t abide his voice or his image, I know well what he looks like and says. No way that current verbiage could make me anymore disgusted. He is the epitome of evil
Jeri, I can't either but, and I'm going to be very blunt - burying your head in the sand because you cannot abide his voice/ image, and you believe you know what he's going to say every time he opens his mouth, is dangerous and foolish. I'm not trying to be insulting, but look, if more people watched/listened to him, (and others), they might actually get angry enough to push him and all who follow him over a political cliff. It has to be sustained, unrelenting anger against all things Republican. Trump and Republicans have learned how to harness anger directed towards Democrats/Progressives/Liberals and every BIPOC, non-Christian, non-heterosexual and disabled person, in the country. In doing so they have been able to dismantle hard fought gains in civil and human rights. They are taking us back to a very dark time. Know your enemy.
Daria, thank you for patiently explaining why we can’t bury our heads in the sand regarding trump’s speech. I felt exactly like Jeri but you convinced me to watch the speech. He sickens me. I will go back and try again. I made it through only the first 5 minutes. Can someone tell me where to get the transcript? Thanks.
Heather, cspan provides the transcript below the video. He sickens me too.
Thank you, Daria.
Everyone with a heartbeat needs to be protesting June 11th. Pick your cause, but get out there like Belarus. Millions of us, across the country. MSM has been blowing off the protests so far; we need to make it too big for them to trivialize.
Agree!
I can't and won't bathe in that rhetoric for the purpose of "maintaining my outrage". I can't live in a constant state of angry arousal. I know what I need to do and I am resolute in my intention to use the power I have on election day. I hardly call that burying my head in the sand. One doesn't need to watch pornography to recognize it when confronted by it, including political pornography.
Every vote counts. No one is asking you to bathe in political pornography, however, every time we read material further away from the original source the danger in that material is diluted.
I don't watch political speeches (from anyone) for the same reason. I read the transcripts. It's much easier to ingest them without having to endure all the showmanship, bluster, pseudo-religiosity, and attempts at manipulation.
I generally prefer transcripts. I watched Trump's NRA speech to get feel for the attendees' responses. Some were not very enthusiastic, which surprised me.
Daria, I can't imagine listening to the orange one blather on. I admire that you can do so, and then help the rest of us understand what needs to be done as we approach any elections....both 2022 and 2024. I agree that he will readily enforce martial law, and the country will then devolve into chaos. My hope is that voters are beginning to finally wake up to the rethuglicans inability/unwillingness to address any of the ills currently infecting this country. That coming to consciousness will send many to the polls to insure we don't fall further into the chasm of chaos. (I know......hope doesn't bring voters out, but maybe this time a speck of hope will ignite a fire.)
Sigh. Pam, see my response to Jeri. If more anti-trumpers actually listened to his words they might get angry enough, en masse, to stand up to him and his ilk. Republicans have learned to generate, sustain and harness anger. Democrats have not. Republicans keep their base constantly stirred up. Democrats do not. We need to harness our outrage against all they stand for. There is no better way than to see and hear what they say, undigested by the media or commentary. Know your enemy.
Daria, you're right of course, but I will not listen to their garbage. I'd rather get folks energized in a way that uses their words against them....words that come from already posted journalists, not from the trash hatred pushes.
Pam, and how's using words from already posted journalists working out for us? I'm saying that in order for people to get angry enough to act they need to hear/read the hateful rhetoric in order to understand how deep and visceral the Republican hatred of anything/anyone not Republican. We don't benefit by having someone else parse out everything we consume. Honestly, I don't care what people do but when state and federal seats are taken over by those thugs I don't want to be part of any conversations where people ask why because we'll know why.
I can see you are fixated on anger as the necessary currency to compel change. Sustained anger is actually a pretty destructive emotion, irrespective of the reason. It is certainly not the only motivation to action. I can think of plenty of other less caustic, still effective emotions, like resolve, sadness, determination, even enthusiasm and joy. Feel free to drink at that trough, but don't dismiss those of us who are already convinced of our role and have moved beyond anger.
I'm not fixated on sustained anger. I am, however, sick and tired of watching rights being stripped away because, frankly, people are willing to let right wing anger steam roll over the entire of country. They are sucking the life out of the nation while we're sad and joyous. It hasn't worked in the past and it will definitely not work now. We are not sheep.
Daria, I haven't reached that level of anger yet. Maybe I'm soft. And maybe I've just given in.
Pam, you're not soft, and, no you haven't given in. I'm simply outraged that we are in this place.
Pam, here're my final thoughts. In WAPO today there was an opinion piece about the possibility of women being forced to give birth. Why? So we can watch our children and grandchildren be gunned down in a classroom or movie theater? Why? So our kids can be pushed through a substandard public educational system only to end up drones doing scut work because higher education costs are prohibitive? Why, because the color of their skin, their parentage, their religion doesn't meet the sniff test of the white patriarchy? In pieces in several publications it has been pretty much proven that every shred of information released after the Uvalde massacre was a lie. Is that enough to stir outrage? Are children, teens and women raped by clerics not enough to outrage a body? Are non-conforming individuals of any sort lesser individuals, lesser beings? Is the fact that police protection is NOT a constitutional right because people are not property not bother anyone? What the fuck is it going to take for people to stand up and fight for the bare skeleton of civil and human rights we have left? Maybe anger is poisoning my spirit right now but it is a legitimate anger and fury. I sit in Mérida where the Yucatán Chapter of Democrats Abroad is nothing more than one giant cocktail party. I read US MSM and see watered down snippets of right wing rhetoric and I read on THIS page where sadness and enthusiasm are a better way to a democratic victory when silly twits like MTG are spouting bullshit about eating fake meat grown by Bill Gates in peach tree dishes and said fake meat will give you a zap if you eat a real cheeseburger made of beef. WTF? What's holding us back from being a driving force? Our lack of outrage. Our politeness. Our unwillingness to get down and dirty and fight fire with fire. I don't care anymore. I am well beyond childbearing age. I live in a very, very safe place in a so called shithole country knowing that there is no way I can ever, ever feel safe living in the United States as it is now. I contribute and do what I can to the causes of my choice but it seems to no avail. I'm sorry to unload like this but as long as we live in an echo chamber we are insulated from the horrific rhetoric being spread by the right there will be no victory. They are literally willing to die for bullshit ideas such as MTG is spreading. They are willing to storm Congress and threaten lives. They are okay with mass murder. And so far, we have not been able to stop them with our sadness and politeness. I am desolate. I am disappointed. I'm done.
He is increasing his calls for civil war. To much smaller audiences, but greatly inflated by far right media, the only ones allowed inside. His events are heavily staged to make crowds seem bigger than they are. The calls for and threats of violence are ramping up ahead of the Committee hearings. They are like insane cornered rats. They will try to attack. I hope the feds are going through their trash like busy raccoons.
Loree, he turns up the heat a notch every time he speaks. I hope the Capitol & DC police are prepared.
I agree. Listening to him, sometimes even just thinking about him, raises my hypertension and makes me wonder if its time to call my old therapist and restart sessions and antidepressants. :(
He knows they have evidence on him and he wants to know what it is!
Oh, he knows. It's already been published in a hundred tell-alls.
One man expresses his appreciation to NRA leader LaPierre for sending thoughts and prayers (snark & smirk):
https://twitter.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1531251980705882112?s=20&t=0zpsB4UHpunaSckXhSQdCA
Sly fox. The duh confusion on LaPierre’s face is priceless.
Morning Lynell.
He truly looked unaware of where the speech was going, just like the members of the audience who applauded at the end. 🤣🤣🤣
"The Chair recognizes Speaker 1A" (the microphone that was supposed to comment in favor of...I don't know what) But the audience applauded because he was speaking at the "For" microphone, not the "Against"! 😵💫🤣
And they clapped at the end, uh “duh”
🙋🏽♀️
Great letter. Many important issues. The first one getting my attention was:
"The assault on this elementary school stands out for many reasons: ...."
That's for sure. The more I've thought about the Uvalde school shooting terror, the more striking the incident becomes. Consider the case of the child who could only be recognized through DNA testing. (Maybe that happened to more than one child.) That's a world of horror in itself. If the parents of the victim were agreeable, someone could make a poster of the missing face of the destroyed child. They could make a worthy martyr out of this ultimate victim. Make some sort of monument to "The Tomb of the Unknown Child." I believe if that poster were broadcast to the entire U.S., enough people would be ashamed of even allowing that condition to exist in the country. that they would gather in masses and demand change.
Tomb of the Unknown Child. Very powerful idea..
Heydon, America's ecstasy of violence infects our minds with imaginings of the moments beforehand, the deadly impact and the results of a daring massacre. Don't video games prep our children for such days? How faraway is an exhibition of the Reconstructions of the Remains of American Children Blown Away by AR - 15s? For culpability, the following article in The Intercept lays the story out. (excerpts) Link to the article is below.
'AR-15s Were Made to Explode Human Bodies. In Uvalde, the Bodies Belonged to Children.’
‘Parents awaiting word on their kids were asked by police to provide DNA samples to help identify the children’
‘PARENTS WAITED in anguish for news about their children following the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, they received a chilling request from police. Officers asked for DNA samples from parents to help establish the identities of the children who had been killed in the massacre, the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.’
The request pointed to the obvious, horrifying conclusion that many of the children who had been killed were so grievously injured that it was likely impossible to identify their bodies.’
‘How we got here should be obvious: the AR-15 rifle.’
‘Much has been made of how easily the killer, Salvador Ramos, strode into a store and bought two AR-15s the week before the attack, an apparent birthday gift to himself. Anyone paying attention gets that the ease of purchase for such weapons — which are frequently used in mass killings — is an indication of how deep the gun problem in America runs.’
‘It cannot be emphasized enough, however, exactly what the AR-15 is: It is a weapon of war. It was made to blow humans apart. It is successful in doing just that. The requests for DNA tests in Uvalde stand as a testament to the gun’s success, but the conclusion that the weapon excelled at blowing people apart was well documented by the U.S. military itself during early field tests.’
‘IT IS HARD to comprehend a weapon like this being used against small children in an elementary school. The impact of the AR-15, a tool designed not just for killing but for ripping apart adult human bodies in the most extreme manner, being turned on the small, delicate limbs and organs of young children does not need to be imagined. The parents waiting outside the school in Uvalde for news of their loved ones who were asked for DNA tests were being clued into something horrifying about the types of weapons floating around American society, so easily available that even a disturbed 18-year-old could get his hands on them.’
‘In the aftermath of mass shootings targeting children, it is sometimes suggested that the public should be allowed to see the bodies. The impact of seeing actual flesh-and-blood children killed by assault rifles might shake the sensibilities of Americans enough that they enact serious changes to gun control laws that would make it less likely that AR-15s would be used again for such massacres.’
‘Public aside, however, the reality is that the government has known for a long time what these weapons do. It has been sending AR-15s to wars abroad for decades and has documented in graphic detail the exploded and mangled corpses left behind. That such knowledge exists, and yet AR-15s are still commercially available for use by civilians in this country, tells you all you need to know about what pro-gun politicians are willing to tolerate.’ See link below.
https://theintercept.com/2022/05/26/ar-15-uvalde-school-shooting-vietnam-war/
On NPR this morning an ER trauma doctor made the case that we need to see photos of those blown apart bodies, even though it may sicken us, to understand the power of the AR-15 in order to ban it. She compared it to Emmitt Till's mother keeping an open casket, which eventually led to the civil rights movement.
Kathleen, Thank you. I did see the headline.
'Citizens need to see the destruction military-style weapons wreak, surgeon says
'NPR's Lelia Fadel talks to trauma surgeon Amy Goldberg, who says Americans are so desensitized to gun violence that the only way to cut through partisanship is to look at graphic photos of victims.'
I am not a subscriber, but you may be able to listen to the 4 minute report if you open the link below.
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/31/1102097106/citizens-need-to-see-the-destruction-military-style-weapons-wreak-surgeon-says#:~:text=on%20Morning%20Edition-,Citizens%20need%20to%20see%20the%20destruction,style%20weapons%20wreak%2C%20surgeon%20says&text=embedded%20audio%20player%22%3E-,NPR's%20Lelia%20Fadel%20talks%20to%20trauma%20surgeon%20Amy%20Goldberg%2C%20who,at%20graphic%20photos%20of%20victims.
‘Public aside, however, the reality is that the government has known for a long time what these weapons do....'
Fern, I just read this article which illustrates what many of us are now thinking: the effectiveness of portraying the horrible results of the destructive power of the AR-15.
A decade ago, I had an acquaintance who had been drafted during the Vietnam War and ended up serving in a frontline infantry unit. One night, after he had a few drinks, he began talking of a particular combat experience. Chaz said his squad was out on patrol in the bush one day when a squad of Viet Cong suddenly appeared along the trail. Both sides started firing. Chaz was shot in the leg, air-evacuated, and had many surgeries over the years in trying to fix it. Before being shot, Chaz, who was using an AR-15, shot an enemy and said, "His head exploded like a melon." He said it twice, and I could tell it was an image which would never leave his mind--the killing and also watching that head blow apart. That's what AR-15s do.
Yes, Heydon, it was because of the message relayed in your comment and your understanding of what is a stake that I stopped by with a delivery. Where is the government and the military on this? We know where. 'LOOK AT WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND CONTINUES TO BE DONE TO HUMAN BEINGS - OUR CHILDREN.
This Uvalde shooting horror brings another shooting tragedy to mind; that is, the assassination of JFK. Like many of us here, I well remember that Friday in November 1963, then the subsequent weekend when everyone was in shock and watching TV for the latest info about it.
The Uvalde catastrophe bothers me more than the JFK assassination for multiple reasons. For one thing, JFK was riding in a parade and smiling when a sniper suddenly shot and killed him. In Uvalde, these kids were locked into rooms and terrorized as they watched their friends being shot and knowing their turn was coming up. Still, no help coming from law enforcement who were sworn to protect them. And no response to their critically desperate 911 calls which drew no response from the outside. These kids were being tortured psychologically to the max before being shot. I've no doubt that many young couples now will seriously debate about whether to have children or not when they realize that the Uvalde kids could be their own.
🕛Midnights with extended darkness
NPR just ran a story about a pediatrics emergency doc who would like to publish photos of what assault weapons does to child bodies. I say that these should be sent in an unceasing stream to all the members of Congress who are more enamored of guns and policing female uteruses than their mendacious claims to love "life" and "Jesus." They will probably not see them, but their staff members will be forced to do so. And that might have an effect. I would use stronger language about coercive acts that force these f***ers to see but my rage is pretty much unchecked these days and apparently people are offended by my sarcasm. https://www.npr.org/2022/05/31/1102097106/citizens-need-to-see-the-destruction-military-style-weapons-wreak-surgeon-says
I agree with you 100%. I wish the Hackers Anonymous type groups would do so.
Please watch this. I sent it to everyone I know. https://mobile.twitter.com/kelly2277/status/1531433579649048577?t=a0EwvSFsoDxR9A0TSR4Tog&s=19
Not knowing what to expect, I clicked the link simply because I trust the value LFAA commenters add. This link to a 2 minute 10 second video clip of active shooter training at a small business goes from typical to wow! in the time it takes young school-age Kayleigh to tell it like it is for every school-age kid today. The song her teacher taught her is haunting. Powerful stuff that needs every eyeball on it ASAP..
We all need to get it, and other powerful visuals, out there.
Wow, Gailee. I’m in tears. That was shattering. What are we doing to our children?
And have been since at least Sandy Hook
Terrifying them.
:(
OMG! This video should be shown to the captive audience of every state government representative and the USA Congress. A child who represents the Truth. Heartbreaking that any government thinks a solution to the “problem” is Hardening schools and Arming teachers: beyond absurd. Students all over the country have been practicing lockdowns for years. Just like the kids in Texas. No one has a chance against a gun. A high powered killing machine designed for war and rapid killings. Even a handgun. The only hardening are hearts of lawmakers who continue to offer prayers to families and bow down to the Gun Lobby and the GOP. Keep on the message, we must work to change gun laws. Vote. Don’t give up.
My God, my heart rate went up watching this! I have forwarded this onto a bunch of people.
Thank you for forwarding.
I’m in tears.
I learned last year that Kentucky has a law makes it a crime to pass a local gun control law/ordinance.. Many other states have preemptively passed laws to prevent local efforts.
😖😖😖
So your last statement seems discouraging. How can we keep our outrage evident? How can we overcome their manipulations? It seems we keep pulling the punch at the last effort. We must be LOUDER and angrier and more determined. The bullshitters are winning and we are saying, well whatta are ya gonna do??" The smoke and mirrors seem to be successful. We need to get them all arrested for not obeying the subpoenas. Or something vile like red dye on them. We all at my level seem shy or bewildered. All I have is outrage and one vote.
Jump into this mighty river--join everyone else with our outrage and votes. Hope starts the plans which starts the actions. Just here on Heather's Substack are hundreds of thousands of other readers.
Exactly. And if you don’t have a kayak to navigate the river, jump in my canoe.
Salud, Ellie.
Thanks to Ellie, we have the ability to send out cards/letters to voters. And before reading her comments, months ago, I never would have dreamed of calling or emailing elected officials. We can do this daily.
Just those few comments months ago from Ellie got me started, and I have a small group who also now calls and emails.
Oh my goodness, that is so heartening! For focus and inspiration, if you don't already know of Jessica Craven's "Chop Wood, Carry Water" blog, you'll love her energy and how she makes actions so easy to follow through.
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/
You can also check out the group of fellow HCR Substackers who have formed to turn talk here into action for democracy:
heathersherd@gmail.com
More power to you and your group!
I have been trying to have discussions about just a few gun safety regulations with my rural neighbors on my Neighborhood App. It is frightening! More than several say that no laws should be passed restricting their access to guns of any kind. They talk about their necessity of owning assault rifles, because they need a means to be able to use them in an insurrection against the government. One woman even advitsed people to get their guns before August 2nd, which is the date of my State of Michigan's primary election. These same people insist Donald Trump won the 2020election and that they need to be ready for the next election or anybody mandating masks. Almost all of them reside in Jackson County, which is heavily Republican. It gives me nightmares!!!
Hugs Louise. I live amongst them too.
A great swath of Americans are FURIOUS!