President Joe Biden spoke at Arlington National Cemetery today to remember those who gave the “last full measure of devotion” to the United States, dying in our service.
In other news, Lt. Col Yevgeny Vindman tweeted that under the UCMJ, Retired General Flynn's remarks could be actionable. Flynn made a BIG mistake by publicly advocating the overthrow of the American Government. See: https://twitter.com/YVindman/status/1399347403724034055
Something doesn't compute about Flynn. How could a superstar tactical intelligence officer earning 3 stars turn into the Islamophobe and crazy conspiracy theorist. Can't help but wonder what happened that changed him so radically. He's dangerously mentally ill now for whatever reason.
Cathy....he did it once and got away with it. He might also simplistically....and this is obviously the level of their political sophistication.....figure that it would happen again and he has nothing to fear from the democratic, people's law! He figures that Trump's whims are his law.
Many have made that mistake before of thinking that they are irreplaceable in Trump's, and similar wouldbe dictator's, entourage...untill he has a new fancy, a new whim and you are inconvenient old news. In Trump's autocratic future, as in Myanmar today, he might just be not become yesterday's news, he might wind up dead. Only when the jackals appreciate that Trump is actually a threat to them too do they make sure that he disappears......cowardice and pack values reign!
Or Trump threatened to disclose the skeletons in Flynn's closet. It wouldn't surprise me that many of the Republican legislators still supporting 45 are on the same boat.
I tend to agree with you. I remember early on how antsy so many of Trump's cabinet and toadies became with the rumor they had dark money connections with Russia, including Mitch and Trump. Thanks to the Repub Congress,(especially Mitch,) impeachment and investigations were derailed. We never knew for sure. Putin is an expert at "Kompromat," finding skeletons in closets and holding feet to the fire. He would love a mini-revolution within his arch-enemy, the USA.
No rumor. Former guys cabinet ALL have Russian oligarch ties in banking or business. Or they were conservative military types. True believers in the cause.
I suspect we are in for some revealing FBI treats over the next year. The agency, along with DOJ, is playing its hand close to the chest to insure no screwups before or during the trials to come.
I fully agree, Sally! That's one more area where the Democrats need to revamp up their publicity strategies: they need to better promote the Dem legislators' accomplishments AS WELL AS implement some archaeological digging for those "bones of contention" that I would bet do exist.
I recently wanted to quote a tweet and send it to the Democrats who were really working on the big issues, Trump, Insurrection, voter suppression. I know immediately who all are the problem Republicans and the ok Republicans... but honestly having trouble knowing who the Democrats are that are really up front fighting for all this. Republicans have clear lies in messaging but still clear... we have?
I've wondered if this would explain the Republicans' outrageous allegations. Then, I remember Sydney Powell's assertion that “No reasonable person would conclude that [her Dominion voter fraud] statements were truly statements of fact,” and I lean toward a hypothesis that the actual "conspiracy theories" are those being bred by the Right and that they are all fully cognizant of what they are plotting: a way to safeguard their power--and, under the threat of skeleton disclosures, save face among their constituents and their own families and loved ones.
I think these folks say whatever suits their audience and/or whatever they think they can get away with. It boggles the mind that they say stuff on camera then say, "Oh, no, I didn't say that!" It is insanity!
It is like when the Trump kids got off with a slap on the wrist because they claimed, "Oh we didn't know". They know they can say anything, no matter how crazy or far fetched - like the beef lies. They know they can then say, well of course I was kidding... Trump got away with it... they know they will as well. Nothing has been done to stop this. How many times did Trump use, I was just kidding.
Just a thought - reaching 3 stars doesn’t automatically confer intelligence.
When I served the idea was that for many officers they had to give up 10% of their intelligence for each promotion. To be fair, that applies to some enlisted as well. Power easily corrupts.
It was one of things that was both sarcastic but also too true too often.
It always seems that the more money and/or authority/power that people get (even perceived power), the more out of control and out of the loop of normalcy they become.
A while back I remember a GA politican who was caught using the taxpayer credit card to pay for everything personal. It was a tremendous amount, morgages, furniture, cars, tuition.... you name it. When she was caught, she gave an interview saying it was so easy to get caught up doing this, because it is the norm. Everyone is doing it and you just fall into it little by little till you are criminal.
There you go. Obama fired him for being an asshole. And I would question his 'tactical intelligence ability' anyway. Obama also warned Trump not to bring him into the inner circle. This man was defective before Trump. He is(as they say down here) a legend in his own mind.
Cathy, not a super star. A “dark star” from Iraq. Thinking on this and what it means. Flynn got to unleash the worst of humanity. In Iraq, he was tasked with getting Iraqis soldiers to turn on their own military leaders, pitting clan against clan, families against families, brother against brother to find Saddam and all his henchman. Knowing this, it’s easy to see how a man could lose his humanity. Flynn’s become the evil he was tasked with destroying in the Middle East.
Flynn is by trade a terrorist hunter. Gathering the intel for finding, locating, and extrajudicially killing of counter insurgents or "terrorists". Terrorist can be label for ones political enemies. Something to dismiss and destroy. This plays into the post 911 worldview of authoritarians and dictators, that when faced with an uneasy populace at home, turn to national populism to rekindle support around the nation. There is nothing quite like "terrorism" to give a super boost to that National Populism, and take advantage of it. Stalin and Hitler used these techniques with impunity. But Putin's War on Terror is a little different you see. People who crave power like Putin, war on terror becomes "terror management" ( Tim Snyder). If there is nothing stronger to rally popular support like a terror event (911), or state staged event ( Russia) like the Moscow apartment bombings leading to another false war in Chechnya. These happen before "false ceremonial" elections. This is what started the first Ukraine war and why it continues today...because support for Putin in waning before the "ceremonial election". So more terrorism and/or war needs to be executed to boost the nationalism.
So, it makes sense for the former guy to get the former military general with the most terrorist finding, framing skills, and know how to help execute dictator "terror management" here in the US. Thing is, once you have all that power, any challenge or challenger can be framed and dealt with as a terrorist. Any challenge internationally can be framed as a "terrorism" to rally support behind a false leader.
Counter intelligence not tactical. He’s a spook and he got turned somewhere somehow by the Russians who are extreme anti Muslim. Putin uses anti Muslim/middle eastern the way America exploits white and black relations and fears. People with a racist bent are easy to manipulate. But it’s also the money. He needs it to pay legal debts.
Admiral William McRaven. Yes, good man. We are very fortunate in the people who move to the top of our military in their character and nonpartisan dedication to protecting the Constitution.
Thank you for this link. I am waiting for justice to come down on Trump, his family, Manafort and Gaetz . Why hasn’t Gaetz been arrested? If he were a black man and not a legislator, he would be in jail already. It makes my stomach churn.
Could it be that just the announcement of the investigation was sufficient to sack his chances of re-election? Surely, we are not stooping to that, but really, too many investigations and not enough arrests in my book!!
And remember that the former guy just wanted Ukraine to just announce an investigation into Hunter Biden...that alone would seemingly help his re-election chances.
After just re-reading 'Handmaids Tale'and 'The Testaments' it's very scary to me that there is still talk of over-throwing the Biden government. Very dangerous talk and although Handmaid 's Tale moved towards a theocracy we are getting more conservative all the time and it scares me to think what would happen. I'm waiting with one toe in Canada in case I all of a sudden have to jump. In my 71 years I never thought I'd even think this outside Fiction but unfortunately fiction and reality are too close for comfort these days.
The longer these people get away with all of this, including the attempted coup on January 6th, the more brazen they become. Until, when, and if that changes the country doesn’t stand a chance to preserve democracy.
In the 06/01 Boston Globe, it was noted scholars are making noise about the voter suppression that is starting to run rampant. As Heather mentioned in her Thursday (06/01) talk, (paraphrased) we all can make a lot of noise (she emphasized non violence) to make it be known "we-the-people" are not going to let our country be taken away from us. I'll add that the indictments and the rule of law needs to start moving at a much faster pace or the thugs will rule. We're running out of time.
I can't even wrap my head around the lawlessness of the prior administration let alone the justice department attorney's arguing in favor of Trump & Co's actions.
I’ve read in so many places about the number of federal career positions that are unfilled. There were so many laws broken and ethical standards laughed at. They were sadly very successful at their goal of deconstructing the administrative state. Why couldn’t we stop them when they said so clearly what their intent was? That is mind boggling to me. If someone knocks on your door and tells you they’re going to destroy your home, why on earth would you let them in???
It was beyond dispute a seditious answer to a softball question from an ignoramus who couldn’t find “Minamar” on a map if it was labeled. I apologize for my sharp language, but as I come “into contact” via television with the die hards more often now, I’m having more and more of a visceral reaction to them. No doubt many of them have been dealt a bad hand in life, but they are loudly and ignorantly making the least of it. The group think I see and hear is something to behold. There is the usual cycle in it of one-upmanship where comments get more and more incendiary/stupid/vitriolic. This has the effect of raising the temperature but most flamethrowers aren’t thinking of that. They are just desperately trying to cement themselves in the group, to be seen worthy of belonging, to be safeguarded against whispers that they might not be true believers. And so it ratchets up and up and paths back to sanity are closed off. And it’s my belief that in their heart of hearts a solid majority of this crowd actually believe that the election was stolen. They will answer to the media whom they despise that the Big Lie is not a lie. They will stir the pot and screw around with pollsters as well. But they are wannabes and mischief makers.
I was far more chilled by Sidney Powell’s quiet, lawyerly calm as she promised the acolytes the moon, the sole caveat being that Trump might not get back lost time for “constitutional reasons”. Powell is as close to a leader as these people will see in person and she affects an air of authority. Between her and Flynn, there is considerable damage being done.
Separately (but not really), It appears that a huge piece of this puzzle will fall into place by the end of June. Schumer’s announcement that the For the People Bill will be brought to a vote then was, I thought, the most important part of Heather’s post today. At last - no more wiggle room for Manchin and Sinema. One way or another they will stand up and be counted, for that bill will never be attempted without some move to quash the filibuster. Of course, as Texas showed on the weekend, there are endless procedural moves that can be made to keep this grim dance around the fire going and postpone the day of reckoning. But the building is getting smoke-filled and people are beginning to choke. At some point action has to be taken to put that fire out or let it burn the edifice to the ground.
We are nearer to clarity in one big issue and I welcome that, regardless of its end result. The enemy must be faced and hopefully vanquished.
Nor sure its laziness - There have been times I DID read over my comment - hit post & never noticed the mistake until someone else "liked" it! So dont beat yourself up about it!!
I rarely read 500-word comments, but you hooked me, Eric, with your apology for using sharp language. I read the whole thing looking for it but to my disappointment found none.
I’d like to believe some action would be taken but “could be” and “will be” is the situation we find ourselves in most often the last 7 years since trump exploded on the political scene. I return to being hopeful but often despair that these people I consider traitorous to our democracy will continue to walk free (as Flynn did) and continue to undermine our democracy. Why is this that calling for an insurrection against our government can go unpunished?
Thank you! I read Heather’s letter last night and thought, what the heck? Isn’t that treason?! And who is allowing these Qanon farce gatherings to happen on their property, or in their establishment, anyway? What a panel, ugh 😑
Side note, Lt. Vindman’s wife, Rachel, now co-hosts a great podcast, The Suburban Women Problem.
Flynn should face a court martial. Loose his pension, and passport, and be sent one way on the next flight to Moscow or Miramar, since he prefers dictatorships so god damn much.
Flynn’s remarks amid more Russian cyber attacks upon our soft infra structure by his former client Vladimir. Cyber hacking on our gov, an oil pipleline, and now the largest meat packing company.
Yeah, we might not be at war with Russia, but they are at war with us. This is the 21st century, the Information Age, and Russians are attacking us everywhere except our military directly. Russians have turned a modern former American General against his own country...and he doesn’t know it?
Psychological weapons are real, they are effective, and cheaper than force. I think it was Carl con Clausewitz who said it best on war. “Better than fighting, get your adversary to do what you want, without him knowing it”
He is quite correct (& as an AG would know). I surely hope it isn’t dismissed. I fear it will be by President Biden as potential bad optics to have him recalled and charged - but I hope not.
Late on Saturday night, these Texas Democrats killed the voter suppression bill, SB7. They took a bold action in the face of Republicans breaking rules in order to make new rules for elections, so as to keep Republicans in power—mainly white men representing the population of Texas which is almost 60% people of color. For how long have we been watching Republican rule-breaking? Finally, not just “oh darn,” but a response of fighting fire with water--they doused it. Yes, Gov. Greg Abbott plans to call a special session by the end of the year, but for now, the Texas legislative session has ended and is not scheduled to reconvene until January 10, 2023. It meets every two years. While Abbott plans to defund the pay of the legislators in retaliation, I’d be happy to donate to these Democratic heroes. Texas Democrats literally walked the talk in service of democracy.
“Senate Republicans suspended chamber rules on Saturday night in order to review the legislation, 12 pages of which had not been previously considered and were added without public visibility…”
"’It became obvious Republicans were going to cut off debate to ram through their vote suppression legislation,’ Turner said in a statement early Monday…”
“The walkout happened after State Rep. Chris Turner, (D), the party's House caucus chair, sent a text message to Democratic lawmakers at 10:35 p.m. local time saying: ‘Members, take your key and leave the chamber discreetly. Do not go to the gallery. Leave the building…’"
What are the demographics of the legislators compared to the people they represent in Texas?
“61% of lawmakers in the state House and Senate will be white, although white Texans make up just 41% of the state's population…All but five of the 100 Republicans in the Legislature are non-Hispanic white people.”
I heard on Monday that the Dems had figured that Abbot would dock their pay, but since they get paid scarcely nothing--which is one reason why BIPOC in Texas find it difficult to run for legislative office, since you have to have an independent income to survive--they calculate that their pay would be docked about $16 each. So they don't consider it really all that much of a punishment.
Abbot does has line-item veto power, but are individual legislator salaries a specific line in the budget? Can he cut democrats' salaries without touching republicans?
My understanding is that a legislator's salary is $600/month. During session, the per diem is $221.
On NPR this morning, a Republican legislator was interviewed. I understood him to say that there was increasingly more ballot fraud that needed to be addressed. His wording was just vague enough -- he implied without providing specifics, without providing evidence.
Hey, cig. So whenever a Republican legislator says there was an "increasingly more ballot fraud that needed to be addressed," reporters should be asking if the Cornyn win was a result of ballot fraud.
I think if auditing was to have been done, it should have been done bi-partisan and with all the safety provisions in place. These sham audits are nothing but promotion for the Big Lie. But now even if they did legally and above board look into suspicious races like McConnell and Graham it just gives the fake audits more ammunition. What a total mess. These audits should never have been allowed as they were compromised as soon as they left storage.
Smart that they took their keys. When NH Dems tried this on the republican led state legislature a few months back, the rethuglicans locked the doors and wouldn't let them back in. They were meeting in a sportsplex for social distancing rather than the statehouse since the gop covid deniers wouldn't wear masks even though their speaker had dropped dead of covid a week after being elected to the position. You almost can't make this stuff up.
Beth Benham is correct. I live in NH too. The R's are hiding bills in the State Budget since they can't pass them as a result of voter input via the Remote Testimony option for the public to register their opposition to bills. One of the most atrocious is the gag order bill that FORBIDS essentially any school, business, police, etc from teaching about Critical Race Theory, training about implicit/complicit bias, sexism and more. Basically they are denying people's Freedom of Speech. Another is 1. strip public education funds and give them to private/religious schools and home schoolers. Then 2. after they've done that, the public education funds are cut back EVEN MORE.
Actually, if you listen, they're talking about a coup in "Minamar," wherever in hell that is. Not only can they not spell right, they can't talk right. #$%^$$@#$%#@#@!!! morons.
TC, I have to admit that I tend to have a visceral reaction to seeing all their smug pasty white plump faces--which is one reason why I don't watch TV news and listen to it only on the radio or read it in print. I know that fantasies of violence are verboten on this site and I agree with that wholeheartedly. But I do fantasize about swinging cricket bats . . .
Listening again, the questioner begins with "I'm just a simple marine..." Proof once again that "You can always tell a Marine. You just can't tell him very much."
I think that the QAnon rally was every bit as dangerous as the precursor to January 6th. Is Flynn simply priming the pump for the next insurrection? I think we would be kidding ourselves to think that January 6th was a one and done action. If, the call to overthrow the Government by Flynn is not met with immediate recourse, then it would seem to me the net of deceit of this Administration is far wider than I initially thought.
I did not watch President Biden's speech yesterday, but did read the transcript. It was encouraging to see the words of a President that understood the meaning of the day and chose to properly intertwine the importance of what we may likely lose to what those men and women fought their lives for.
I think I should add to my post - Jan 6th was a practice run but not only in the sense of “how easy will it be to actually invade the Capital”. It was a practice run to see what the responses would be.
1. How well did the Capital Police defend their position?
2. How fast did the National Guard respond?
3. How did Congress respond?
4. How did the Democrats/non-Republicans respond? Have they continued their opposition over time or allowed it to die out?
5. How did DOJ respond?
6. Were the insurrectionists arrested immediately or at all?
7. Was trump arrested for fomenting dissent and insurrection?
8. If arrested (immediately or later), were the insurrectionists kept in jail until trial or were they released to continue to plan and agitate?
9. How long can the trials be dragged out?
10. Can we influence the media to not only report our version of events but to spread them far and wide?
11. What were the outcomes of the trials, if any actually come to fruition?
12. How is the next administration treating the insurrection? Calling it out forcefully and by name and plain language? Or ignoring it?
13. How many citizens can we count on next time? Let’s not forget to factor in human behavior such as mob mentality.
14. How many military personnel hold our views? Will they defend the Constitution or will they switch sides during the next insurrection? How do we reach them and keep things stirred up so they will switch sides? Can we make them part of the plan?
15. Can we continue to support sedition and insurrection publicly? Will there be any repercussions at all or just angry texts and statements?
The answers to these questions and more will form the plan for the next try.
I think it is obvious that January 6th will not be the only attempt. Republicans are going to work on several scenarios to not only stay in power but to become the only party in power (ie. a dictatorship/authoritarian rule). That is why they are doing all they can to change laws and rules on voting and suppression, having people like Powell and Flynn spew seditious propaganda, installing their ‘believers’ in key positions of election officials, keeping people like DeJoy dismantling the USPS so we won’t trust the Postal Service at all by 2022, keeping the airways flooded with their lies and bullshit and planning for the next actual takeover if it is needed. I think people who ignore this as “ah, it’ll never go that far” aren’t willing to face the ugly facts that our democracy (or oligarchy as it has been since Citizens United) is in very grave danger of being wiped out as soon as 2022 and definitely by 2024.
If you look at how authoritarian or fascist takeovers work, step by step, we are well on our way to that happening here. The patterns are quite clear.
I very much hope that I am wrong. I will gladly say I was wrong if this doesn’t occur.
Kasumii... glad you added to your post. Accurate outline of a credible scenario. And the DeJoy detail? Important. That sycophant has only been in that appointed position for a year and has wreaked havoc.
Why President Biden refuses to use the power and authority of his position to fire the entire USPS board for incompetency and deliberately trying to affect mail-in ballots in the election is frustrating and even infuriating. He’s still trying to work with the Republicans in getting the three new board members he wants accepted. Only then will he think about having DeJoy removed. Maybe. He could settle this in one day. Fire the entire board. Fire DeJoy. It’s a very bold move yes. But the longer DeJoy stays the more damage he deliberately and quite openly (gleefully even) does. And, the longer President Biden refuses to act on this the more his refusal to fix this taints his Presidency. I wonder if it is because he has had staff deal with his mail for decades? Has he lost touch with how important the mail is to the rest of us? I don’t know. I did write about this to the White House but did not receive a response.
I definitely support the postal workers but if service slows down even further, as DeJoy plans, I will have to take my business elsewhere if I want it to actually arrive or to arrive on time. I hate doing that because I realize this loss of confidence in the USPS is exactly what DeJoy (and trump) want but I can’t afford to just send things and hope they might arrive some day.
By the way, yesterday there was an article about new changes DeJoy is making - stamps increase by 3 cents, significant slow downs in delivery (even what is supposed to be Priority Mail) and significant layoffs. Sorry, I don’t have the link at hand.
Kasumii....This article helped to update me. I will be searching to stay updated on what Pres Biden’s admin will do to restore integrity to the USPS. It is outrageous to me that McConnell’s Senate never approved former Pres Obama’s 3 choices for governing board, and then former Pres Trump stepped in and filled them.
Thank you for the link Christine. I read that and was surprised the president can’t outright fire DeJoy. He can remove the entire board though and that would get things moving.
What really boggles my mind about Congress is how one man (McConnell) is allowed to just stop working (not debating legislation, refusing to fill open judgeships, even refusing to hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee) in order to twist everything to his agenda. Why aren’t there rules about this, about how to remove a person who does this? Or if there are, why haven’t they been implemented? This bothers me a lot. If one person can control Congress like this - for years on end - what’s the point of Congress? (That’s sort of rhetorical.)
I didn’t include answers to the ones that could be answered because I didn’t want to create a mile long post but yeah, they are depressing. I really wish the media would start covering this topic (the slow takeover) with urgency and competency.
Its such a novelty to hear a president who speaks clearly, doesnt badmouth other people, and does what he says he will do. Now saying that, I still think there is so very much MORE that must be done - either with or without (more likely) the opposition Party! And the Dems better get on the ball and get BUSY.
You nailed the message I needed at the end of this memorial day, although, it was not the one I had wanted. The one I wanted had to do with the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, but the one I needed was a reinforcement of the ideals of democracy by our President.
President Biden accentuated the primary reason for our entry into the two world wars -- the sacral duty to defend our four freedoms against the tyrannies of totalitarian rule, the primary rationale for the sacrifices of our progeny and our kin, our democratic freedoms as highlighted by President F. D. Roosevelt: freedom of speech, freedom from want, freedom of fear, and freedom of worship. Our president brought these to bear on the precariousness of our present situation and you caught the beauty of his message on a memorial day like no other: one that spoke to our need to value the foundations of this republic. In Biden's words:
"Democracy thrives when the infrastructure of democracy is strong; when people have the right to vote freely and fairly and conveniently; when a free and independent press pursues the truth, founded on facts, not propaganda; when the rule of law applies equally and fairly to every citizen, regardless of where they come from or what they look like.”
“[T]he right to vote, the right to rise in a world as far as your talent can take you, unlimited by unfair barriers of privilege and power—such are the principles of democracy."
I wanted one historical grounding, but needed the other in order to recognize that without the one, my hopes for the other will never be realized. My deepest thanks go to you, dear HCR.
Biden is now using every written, verbal, or visual opportunity to take up the "Bully Pulpit" for democracy as he should and for that I am thankful; a sure sign that he has his "strategic" priorities in order and is using the tactics necessary to achieve his goals.
A day of remembrance seems a good symbol but i would have hoped for something more pragmatic as well; a Presidential Decree that would rectify the any remaining "errors" made by the Federal Government following the massacre which made the hurt to the Greenwood Black Community even deeper and last longer.
Just so that everyone can read Biden's proclamation on the Tulsa Massacre here is the link.
You're absolutely correct, Stuart, and my hopes/wishes are the same as yours. I believe that he is also being ultra cautious with all the flack that is being spewed at our VP of late. He will be meeting with some survivors tomorrow, I believe -- let's hope that he uses that encounter with wiser precision.
We need it all--commemoration of the Tulsa massacre 100 years ago, as well as so many other massacres of Black people--and reinforcement of the ideals of democracy by our President. It is all connected. And of course commemoration is only one part of the process of learning what happened and building empathy to support anti-racist thinking and action at the level of federal policy, individual interactions, and levels in between.
What am I talking about. I appreciated the tweet and map that the Tulsa massacre was not the only one. But killing of non-white non-Christian peoples on this continent started with the European colonizers for whom devaluation, dehumanization, and disregard for the Others’ lives was the norm. Death and suffering came in so many forms, in countless numbers, enslavement, forced/manipulated relocation to reservations...
Ellie, yes! Just heard a BBC piece on NPR in the middle of the night about the possibility of a deliberate introduction of smallpox to the indigenous peoples of Australia. Early biological warfare. They cannot explain its presence otherwise. Apparently the Europeans who had been dealing with smallpix outbreaks for years carried vials of smallpox scabs and pus on the ships and may have meant to use it to "subdue" the natives. Sounds far fetched? maybe not......,
In what is now Pittsburgh, in 1763, “This event is best known as an early instance of biological warfare, where the British gave items from a smallpox infirmary as gifts to Native American emissaries with the hope of spreading the deadly disease to nearby tribes. The effectiveness is unknown, although it is known that the method used is inefficient compared to respiratory transmission and these attempts to spread the disease are difficult to differentiate from epidemics occurring from previous contacts with colonists.”
I agree Rowshan. I had to look for news reporting of the Tulsa memorial activities for the weekend. Discover that the concert performers and speakers canceled. Find out after searching that the commission that raised so many millions to to bring the details to light can not agree on reparations to living survivors and their descendants. Hear the governor of Oklahoma, after participating in the commission, declare it too radical with a left agenda. Hear of the new Black Panther Party in attendance for the commemoration, march through the streets creating their own commemoration. None of this on the news yesterday evening celebrating day with my fam. Only repeating video of Flynn, Powell, and comments from QAnon dissidents.
And very few words of Pres Biden on the news loop.
My question too Christine, where is the media coverage of the lawful resistance to tyranny? We have inspiring role models that need the spotlight. Covering ignorant fanatics has only emboldened them.
Thank you for putting it all in perspective with events/non-events and data. It's sad, but ever-so true, that a heavy chunk of our citizenry are not of a mind to forsake institutional and structural racism.
It’s the “ever-so-true”, Rowshan that is becoming intolerable.
The dedication to keeping it the mindset of “ a heavy chunk of our citizenry” weighs heavy on my spirit. To think it is at the core of excuse, not reason, to keep people enslaved still in this year of 2021 is of tremendous consequence.
To even see some governors now preparing to legislate violence against protest which is bound to happen this summer further erodes paths to enact actual change to smite the forces of racist practice to keep the caste system in place in this country.
I don’t even wonder anymore how we “got here”. It’s apparent and meets approval from not a fringe, but from millions.
I'm with you 100%, Christine, which is why I am so sarcastic about it. Structural and institutional racism are so embedded in our culture, that even the "woke" are still asleep!
Earlier this morning, before Professor Richardson’s Letter had reached my mailbox, I saw this article on the front page of The Guardian with the headline: ”Rise of armed civilian groups in Myanmar fuels fears of full-scale civil war Dozens of grassroots people’s defence forces have emerged to take on brutal military”
I was reminded of our conversation here about the Second amendment, and Rep. Gaetz and others whipping up their supporters to believe they could legitimately take up arms against their country because of their Leader’s loss to President Biden in the 2020 election.
And now, former US Army General Flynn is advocating for armed insurrection and Louis Gohmert and other elected representatives are standing at his side to support this mortally dangerous and morally bankrupt rhetoric.
Included below is an excerpt from the Guardian article, and it stands as a damning rebuke to Flynn, Gaetz, Trump, Gohmert and all their fellow traitors who appear hell-bent on returning the most anti-democratic President in our history, to office.
The role they have chosen for themselves and are encouraging their followers to execute, is not that of the civilians of Myanmar who are assembling to save themselves – it is the polar opposite. The Trump-Flynn-Gaetz model is that of the Myanmar military that assumed power in a coup and is enforcing their rule through brutality, terror, and murder.
President Biden’s words are inspiring, but I believe we have entered a time when language should be used to name the thing for what it is: Those aligned with the former President and his actions to overturn the 2020 election are knowingly engaging in sedition.
“At least 833 people have been killed by the military since it seized power in February, according to estimates by the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma. Thousands have been detained, often in unknown locations where they are at risk of torture.
An activist who has met young people who are training to fight the military, and who asked to remain anonymous, said volunteers believed violence was the only language the military understood. “They want to scare the soldiers coming into their communities making arrests, beating and torturing,” she said. “Some people are hoteliers, some have their own restaurants, bars – and they have now left all their businesses.”
One young medical student had fled alone to train, the activist said. “She was so passionate because her friends got killed. Her place was terrorised under martial law. She saw people burning alive in front of her. That experience pushed her to pick up the gun.””
I agree. I’m sick of inspiring words. I want Biden to call out what’s happening in plain terms. I want him to call them out by name. That includes Manchin & Sinema. But he won’t because it might look bad - can’t have bad optics while democracy is being destroyed.
Professor, so often you go deep, down through the news and facts you share. Thank you so much. I was hoping we would hear that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema were willing to forego the Filibuster and open the gates of America's democracy wide. As Americans toil on, it is time for a response from Washington. As you write today, "The approximately 60 Texas Democratic lawmakers were forced to walk away from bills they had hoped to pass, but they felt they had to send a message. State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer said, 'Breaking quorum is about the equivalent of crawling on our knees begging the president and the United States Congress to give us the For the People Act and give us the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.' " We must restore our Democracy.
Oh boy. The marine who asked Flynn about Minamar AKA Myanmar is a simpleton. The overly enthusiastic cheerleaders of a Myanmar style coup shown in the video clip seem to have ingested large amounts of amphetamines. A hefty number of US Americans have thrown out the baby, the bathwater and the tub...they've ditched all common sense. Heck yeah, they say, we want a coup!
We're watching a segment of our population succumb to a deep insanity...is it in the water? The air? Have they been poisoned by eating food contaminated with ergot*? What did these people obsess about before Trump and Q Anon? How can we draw them back into a reality based frame of mind and not belittle them in the process?
I admire Biden for reminding us again and again what Democracy is and what it means. I appreciate his consistently positive approach to addressing the needs physical, social and emotional needs of the the American people. I'm hopeful that one by one he will change the hearts and minds of those who've gone off the deep end.
*Ergot poisoning has long been my very favorite explanation for en masse insane behavior. I'm being sarcastic when I suggest it here, but geez, these people are crazy!
Fascinating. But I do wonder if some other source might be causing this in Texas? What are they ingesting? Is it the tattoo ink? Are they eating unknown mushrooms found in fields?
Have you ever studied cults and mob mentality? A good place to start is to look at the research that Stanley Milgram did in the 60’s on how far people would go to hurt another person and how they rationalized and even justified doing so. This can be applied not only to shocking someone (as they thought they were doing) but to behavior in racism, bigotry, misogyny and so on.
Thanks for the phrase “ergot poisoning”! I’ll use that in future and give you credit 😀.
I do remember that specific study. I was stunned by the lengths people went to in order to comply.
I've been married for over 40 years. During those years ergot poisoning has been my go to explanation for craziness. Mostly I jest. My husband just rolls his eyes and says, "ergot poisoning" before I even utter the words.
Yes, I remember when ergot poisoning was thought to explain the behavior of girls whose strange reports (hallucinations) were "evidence" for accusations in the Salem Witch Trials. Indeed there are delusions that effect an entirely new crowd of crazies who seek to undermine ordinary peaceful citizens.
Good day, dear Stephen! We're staying with our vegan daughter and I've consumed way too much tofu and not enough animal protein to stave off snarkiness. That's my excuse and I'm sticking too it.
Tofu was brought to the American consciousness and diet by a single person in the 70's, a hippie/commune leader by the name of Stephen Gaskin (may his soul find peace). He traveled the American countryside with a caravan of 150 school buses with their freak flags flying at full tilt boogie. After a year and a half on the road, he came across land for sale in Summertown Tennessee, where he put down roots and his followers with him. He was originally an acid head and Vietnam vet who would take high doses of LSD on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and then give his famous 'Monday Night Talks' to students in Berkeley in the late 60's. At the commune, he gave up on synthesized hallucinogenics and espoused only plant based trips. He and his community were early adopters of the Vegetarian craze sweeping the youth at that time, and in an effort to give his gang access to complete protein on the cheap, started growing soybeans on The Farm (as his commune was called).
Now soybeans were in common use in Asian cultures at the time, yet it was rare to find any culture using them as a mainstay in their diet, mainly because they just don't digest well. Asian cultures were far ahead of the curve and mainly used soy in fermented form such as tempeh, miso, soy sauce, etc.
That Stephen Gaskin and crew were able to endure their commune experiment with no one questioning the appropriateness of Tofu in their daily diet is a total failure in the 'Body Sensing' department.
Friends don't let friends drink soy milk or eat tofu. I mean seriously...
On the other hand, his wife Ina May Gaskin pretty much reinvented the dying art of midwifery in the early 70's. She is still going strong to this day.
There's a lot more I could say, having lived with Stephen and Ina May for a bit back in the 90's. Fun times...
Wow. I'm impressed by your creds. I was a lacto-ovo through the 70s and part of the 80s. My daughter was born during that period, I think I damaged her taste buds in utero (Haha!). Oddly, the few times in her life when she was a meat eater she loved ribs and bacon. Go figure. Midwifery in the US still needs to grow. We had one in for our daughter's birth in 1981, they were pretty rare then. L I can imagine you can tell some pretty neat stories.
Now is the time to aim your podcaster and reel in the brand new podcast with Prof. Richardson and Prof. Joanne Freeman, “Now and Then.” The first episode dropped today, and each and every Tuesday. Topics today, from the description: On this first episode of Now & Then, “Entangling Alliances,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss the emerging Biden Doctrine and the relationship between foreign and domestic policy throughout American history. Heather and Joanne focus on the French Revolution, Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive turn, and the cultural legacies of the Vietnam War as three moments from “then” that can particularly inform this transitional moment for America’s role in the world. See https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/now-then/id1567665859?i=1000523750443
I immensely respect what Professors Richardson and Freeman have to say. I've valued listening to their talks together. I want to pay my share for her work. I do not want to rain on a parade. But as we Google this and order on Amazon that, at what point is our participation in the oligarchy of Big Tech hypocritical to our criticism of oligarchy? I tweeted this link to HCR after she announced this new podcast last week.
It is of course time that the Big-Tech majors and the net be largely considered as "utilities", broken up if and when necessary and regulated to ensure respect of the "public interest".....but I still want to be able access English texts in far away places when no other means is available.
Yes. They are contemporary utilities!!! I have believed this for years now. This is actionable - to get them designated as such, and would be helpful for democracy.
I understand that there are many who find it difficult to maintain friendships with those with whom they radically disagree in this era of political polarization. As a lifelong progressive, now living in an area of Texas that is predominantly Republican locally, I am frequently appalled by the rhetoric and extreme views of Trumplicans. However, I remind myself that there are still many moderate and sane Republicans, Independents, and Progressives in my surrounding neighborhoods. Not even all Republicans are nuts. I refrain from engaging the complete wackos in controversies. However, I do not hesitate to advocate as an activist and supporter of progressive causes and policies simply because I may have neighbors who disagree with my positions.
My advice to my friends and other activists is not to seek out controversy, do not to abuse or abandon friendships over political disagreements. However, do not hesitate to let others know where you stand and why. There is a difference between remaining silent out of fear or timidity, and courteous, respectful defense of your beliefs and positions.
My friends and family know well where I stand on issues and on the preservation of our democracy. I do not apologize for those positions. Neither do I disrespect their views even though I may strongly disagree with some of them. I respect the views of others and expect them to respect mine. But, I do believe that timid silence is a form of complicity and I will not be complicit in their attempts to undermine or overthrow our democracy.
Always good advice, Bruce, but I am losing my inner balance. I do think that the Trumplicans rely on our decency to continue feigning their outrage. At what point do we say, "No more Mr. Nice Guy?" It's clear that false rhetoric is escalating violence. It's testing the boundaries of free speech, the right to bear arms, and to vote. I am already anxious that the Biden administration is being ignored and overpowered. Who but the choir hears his voice?
I understand. But I urge you to remember this is simply a skirmish in a multigenerational battle for justice and equality. The battles over voting rights have been continuous since the founding of our country. For over 230 years each advance has taken decades of persistence and struggles for native Americans, blacks, women, Asian and Pacific Islanders, residents of D.C. and American territories to gain representation and full citizenship rights. Many continue to be denied these rights. It is likely we will continue to have to fight to achieve full and equal citizenship status and rights for many who continue to be denied those rights for a considerable time. However difficult and long, the cause of equality and full citizenship rights for all is just and will ultimately prevail. But that victory requires persistence and effort.
I urge you to think of the 72 between the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and ratification of the 19th amendment finally giving the vote to women in 1920. Yet black women in the many southern states as well as black men continued to be denied the right to register and vote until passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act. Still today we see obstacles thrown up to prevent many from ballot access. Native Americans continued to be denied the right to vote well into the 20th century despite being America’s indigenous people. Who more than they deserved full citizenship rights?
When you become discouraged and despair progress will ever be achieved, I urge you listen to this rendition of “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” by the Freedom Singers. Then put on your walking shoes and get ready to march. Don’t let nobody turn you ‘round or deter anyone from continuing to fight to retain our democracy or deny equal rights for all. The battle is long but virtuous.
Hoping you’re right Bruce. What feels different now is the constant barrage of disinformation from multiple sources. The extraordinary number of assault weapons in homes. And looming climate change which will be the ultimate challenge.
Combined with the anti democracy movement and rampant racism we are facing an extraordinary confluence of threats.
External threats once united us. Now they just drive the wedge deeper.
We can’t afford to despair, but, we dare not underestimate the dangers we face.
Everything Bruce Carpenter said and we can also support the heroic action of the Democratic Texas legislators who dealt with yet another Republican assault on rules, decency, and the right to vote by walking out last Saturday night, thereby breaking quorum and killing the voter suppression bill.
Readers of this substack may be interested in Greg Olear's substack post on PREVAIL today, titled "35 Poltroons" (https://gregolear.substack.com/p/35-poltroons - it is viewable without a paid subscription). He breaks down the 35 into Spineless Cowards, Fourth of July Traitors, Insurrection Enthusiasts and Owned Property. I appreciated the texture of the ascribed motivations...and Olear's sense of humor, biting and somewhat coarse though it may be.
As soon as my somewhat coerced subscription to The Economist expires, I will subscribe to two more Substack writers. Olear is going to be one of them; Lucian Truscot IV, Dan Rather, Diane Francis, and Steven Becheloss (sp) are the three I am debating. I support a couple other writers via Patron... and my local newspaper, Gatehouse run though it is.
A 1980s media studies prof told our class that sales and subscriptions supported newspapers and pamphlets from Luther to the mid-1900s when advertising revenue took precedence. It seemed an ominous shift to me even then. Long gone, I wonder what that teacher would say about our click-based information economy.
Lately, my few extra pennies go to ProPublica and Maine's news in the public interest, the Maine Monitor. If I could support Jason Leopold's epic FOIA work, I would do that too.
My only concern with Olear's posts is that I can't always share them on fb because of his frank and salty language. But then, THAT is the reason I read him - he tells it like it really is. Incredibly well researched with logical, if terrifying conclusions we all need to face.
Thank you Dr. Richardson for your clear presentation of the good in President Biden’s Memorial Day speech. Thank you also for the news about the Qanon gathering with Cheetos loyalists. Sydney Powell seems like a science fiction character and Flynn is playing true to form. Both sides get similar amounts of air time for their messaging—democracy in real time.
From a Ezra Klein interview with Barack Obama as reported in the NYT.
Obama was discussing the change in media coverage from when he ran in 2008 until today.
“ If I went into those same places now — or if any Democratic who’s campaigning goes in those places now — almost all news is from either Fox News, Sinclair news stations, talk radio, or some Facebook page. And trying to penetrate that is really difficult.
It’s not that the people in these communities have changed. It’s that if that’s what you are being fed, day in and day out, then you’re going to come to every conversation with a certain set of predispositions that are really hard to break through. And that is one of the biggest challenges I think we face.
But some of it is a media infrastructure that persuaded a large portion of that base that they had something to fear. And fed on that politics of fear and resentment in a way that ironically ended up being a straitjacket for the Republican officials themselves. And some of them were gobbled up by the monster that had been created. And suddenly found themselves retiring because they weren’t angry or resentful enough for the base they had stoked.
Conflict sells.”
Buying the Big Lie? No surprise if you consume a steady diet of conservative media.
And from the same interview about how tough it will be for Democrats going forward.
“But at some point in this country, in our democracy, you still have to cobble together majorities to get things done. And that is particularly true at the federal level, where — although reconciliation has now presented a narrow window to do some pretty big things — the filibuster, if it does not get reformed, still means that maybe 30 percent of the population potentially controls the majority of Senate seats.
There’s a pretty fundamental asymmetry that brings out. So I think at the presidential level, you have a three or four-point advantage for Republicans in Electoral College. At the Senate level, it’s playing the range of five points. And the House level, it’s about two. So you have this real difference now between the parties, where Democrats need to win right-of-center voters to win national power, and Republicans do not need to win left-of-center voters to win national power. And that really changes the strategic picture for the two of them.”
I continue to watch PBS for a source of news, but I am old enough to remember when it was the McNeill Lehrer News Hour and had some substance. A few decades ago, Republicans complained about tax money supporting points of view that weren't theirs. Now, The News Hour is still decent enough, but quite tepid. The majority of experts who are interviewed are yesterday's Republicans. Major donors are of the same ilk. David Koch sponsored Nova and if you listen closely, there is often a plug for capital enterprise in science.
We must have consequences in our nation for activities like the Big Lie. We have morphed from letting every white collar crime become an entrepreneurial business strategy, to becoming a political ideology and party platform, to letting treason become a political ideology and party platform. There was a time when people like those who incited the Big Lie, who spread Q conspiracy theories and those who attacked our Capitol would have been tried and hung in short order. In those days, there weren't so many. Consequences are required. Trump should have be locked up the day he lied about his Republican opponents. Not doing so demonstrated that he could announce his ability to shoot someone and get away with it. After that there have been no limits.
Trump should have been arrested the day he fomented violence against Clinton by saying
‘maybe those 2nd amendment people will do something’. Same with Gaetz saying the same just a few days ago. There are no consequences anymore - not for those with money or in positions of authority.
I need to add another PS of sorts - I should have added that there are no consequences for those with money, in positions of power and of those who are white, even more so.
In other news, Lt. Col Yevgeny Vindman tweeted that under the UCMJ, Retired General Flynn's remarks could be actionable. Flynn made a BIG mistake by publicly advocating the overthrow of the American Government. See: https://twitter.com/YVindman/status/1399347403724034055
This won't just go away quietly.
Something doesn't compute about Flynn. How could a superstar tactical intelligence officer earning 3 stars turn into the Islamophobe and crazy conspiracy theorist. Can't help but wonder what happened that changed him so radically. He's dangerously mentally ill now for whatever reason.
Cathy....he did it once and got away with it. He might also simplistically....and this is obviously the level of their political sophistication.....figure that it would happen again and he has nothing to fear from the democratic, people's law! He figures that Trump's whims are his law.
Many have made that mistake before of thinking that they are irreplaceable in Trump's, and similar wouldbe dictator's, entourage...untill he has a new fancy, a new whim and you are inconvenient old news. In Trump's autocratic future, as in Myanmar today, he might just be not become yesterday's news, he might wind up dead. Only when the jackals appreciate that Trump is actually a threat to them too do they make sure that he disappears......cowardice and pack values reign!
And these are our leaders, sigh.
But, I know, we carry on with the good fight....Oops, not fight, diplomacy.
Or Trump threatened to disclose the skeletons in Flynn's closet. It wouldn't surprise me that many of the Republican legislators still supporting 45 are on the same boat.
I tend to agree with you. I remember early on how antsy so many of Trump's cabinet and toadies became with the rumor they had dark money connections with Russia, including Mitch and Trump. Thanks to the Repub Congress,(especially Mitch,) impeachment and investigations were derailed. We never knew for sure. Putin is an expert at "Kompromat," finding skeletons in closets and holding feet to the fire. He would love a mini-revolution within his arch-enemy, the USA.
No rumor. Former guys cabinet ALL have Russian oligarch ties in banking or business. Or they were conservative military types. True believers in the cause.
Indeed! And that would explain why 45 was so apologetic of Putin, his "friend"!
More than apologetic, understanding and accepting!
You would think the FBI/CIA would be able to figure out what those skeletons are....
I suspect we are in for some revealing FBI treats over the next year. The agency, along with DOJ, is playing its hand close to the chest to insure no screwups before or during the trials to come.
Follow the money.
People keep saying this, i.e., skeletons, but no one ever gives any fact, proof, etc. We can't keep beating up the Qs, if we don't do better.
I fully agree, Sally! That's one more area where the Democrats need to revamp up their publicity strategies: they need to better promote the Dem legislators' accomplishments AS WELL AS implement some archaeological digging for those "bones of contention" that I would bet do exist.
I recently wanted to quote a tweet and send it to the Democrats who were really working on the big issues, Trump, Insurrection, voter suppression. I know immediately who all are the problem Republicans and the ok Republicans... but honestly having trouble knowing who the Democrats are that are really up front fighting for all this. Republicans have clear lies in messaging but still clear... we have?
Marc Elias https://www.democracydocket.com/
This would explain a lot.
Dementia? Off his meds?
I've wondered if this would explain the Republicans' outrageous allegations. Then, I remember Sydney Powell's assertion that “No reasonable person would conclude that [her Dominion voter fraud] statements were truly statements of fact,” and I lean toward a hypothesis that the actual "conspiracy theories" are those being bred by the Right and that they are all fully cognizant of what they are plotting: a way to safeguard their power--and, under the threat of skeleton disclosures, save face among their constituents and their own families and loved ones.
I think these folks say whatever suits their audience and/or whatever they think they can get away with. It boggles the mind that they say stuff on camera then say, "Oh, no, I didn't say that!" It is insanity!
It’s not insanity. They are following a playbook. Putin coached them quite well in the “christian fascist” arts.
Amen comrade.
It's how the Mob works.
It's batschitt craziness.
Lies become self delusion over time. Add fame, power and money to the equation and you get Megalomaniacs.
It is like when the Trump kids got off with a slap on the wrist because they claimed, "Oh we didn't know". They know they can say anything, no matter how crazy or far fetched - like the beef lies. They know they can then say, well of course I was kidding... Trump got away with it... they know they will as well. Nothing has been done to stop this. How many times did Trump use, I was just kidding.
Racism and greed I think. We would be lucky if Flynn had dementia.
purchased by Putrid?
Just a thought - reaching 3 stars doesn’t automatically confer intelligence.
When I served the idea was that for many officers they had to give up 10% of their intelligence for each promotion. To be fair, that applies to some enlisted as well. Power easily corrupts.
The “Peter Principle”, military style?
In a sad number of cases, yes.
Yikes! 10% per promotion? Frightening.
It was one of things that was both sarcastic but also too true too often.
It always seems that the more money and/or authority/power that people get (even perceived power), the more out of control and out of the loop of normalcy they become.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Petty power corrupts out of all proportion.
A while back I remember a GA politican who was caught using the taxpayer credit card to pay for everything personal. It was a tremendous amount, morgages, furniture, cars, tuition.... you name it. When she was caught, she gave an interview saying it was so easy to get caught up doing this, because it is the norm. Everyone is doing it and you just fall into it little by little till you are criminal.
His mind broke under trump.
I think it had tibe earlier than that. Perhaps when he was in Afghanistan.
There you go. Obama fired him for being an asshole. And I would question his 'tactical intelligence ability' anyway. Obama also warned Trump not to bring him into the inner circle. This man was defective before Trump. He is(as they say down here) a legend in his own mind.
Note: Flynn is not a West Pointer.
That goes a long way to explaining the lack of character.
It doesn’t explain Flynn’s brother, a general, backing him. Or Flynn’s son, a Q fanatic.
The elixir of adoring sycophants rots the brain. Note djt.
The other day, Diane, I commented on a post inviting suggestions for renaming the Republicans. I suggested “sycophants” since the
Ele”phant” is their symbol. How perfect that you use the word today. Webster defines as a “fawning parasite”. Flynn to a t.
Cathy, not a super star. A “dark star” from Iraq. Thinking on this and what it means. Flynn got to unleash the worst of humanity. In Iraq, he was tasked with getting Iraqis soldiers to turn on their own military leaders, pitting clan against clan, families against families, brother against brother to find Saddam and all his henchman. Knowing this, it’s easy to see how a man could lose his humanity. Flynn’s become the evil he was tasked with destroying in the Middle East.
That really helps me understand not just how he changed but what he changed into! Wow! Glad I asked the question and that you had the answer.
Flynn is by trade a terrorist hunter. Gathering the intel for finding, locating, and extrajudicially killing of counter insurgents or "terrorists". Terrorist can be label for ones political enemies. Something to dismiss and destroy. This plays into the post 911 worldview of authoritarians and dictators, that when faced with an uneasy populace at home, turn to national populism to rekindle support around the nation. There is nothing quite like "terrorism" to give a super boost to that National Populism, and take advantage of it. Stalin and Hitler used these techniques with impunity. But Putin's War on Terror is a little different you see. People who crave power like Putin, war on terror becomes "terror management" ( Tim Snyder). If there is nothing stronger to rally popular support like a terror event (911), or state staged event ( Russia) like the Moscow apartment bombings leading to another false war in Chechnya. These happen before "false ceremonial" elections. This is what started the first Ukraine war and why it continues today...because support for Putin in waning before the "ceremonial election". So more terrorism and/or war needs to be executed to boost the nationalism.
So, it makes sense for the former guy to get the former military general with the most terrorist finding, framing skills, and know how to help execute dictator "terror management" here in the US. Thing is, once you have all that power, any challenge or challenger can be framed and dealt with as a terrorist. Any challenge internationally can be framed as a "terrorism" to rally support behind a false leader.
sadly that makes sense
Well put, Ted! Same strategy employed by "Third World" dictators. So transparent, but you have to have read some histories to recognize the pattern...
Flynn has more in common with Heinrich Müller than any other US National Security Advisors.
Notes:
https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/AfghanistanMGFlynn_Jan2010.pdf
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/10/how-mike-flynn-became-americas-angriest-general-214362/
https://faculty.nps.edu/ljblanke/docs/BlankenOverbaugh%20INS%202012.pdf
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/read-excerpt-lt-gen-michael-flynns-field-fight/story?id=40465022
https://www.wired.com/2010/01/afghan-insurgency-can-sustain-itself-indefinitely-top-us-intel-officer/
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2016/11/other-michael-flynn/133337/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26298482?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Counter intelligence not tactical. He’s a spook and he got turned somewhere somehow by the Russians who are extreme anti Muslim. Putin uses anti Muslim/middle eastern the way America exploits white and black relations and fears. People with a racist bent are easy to manipulate. But it’s also the money. He needs it to pay legal debts.
Thank you. That makes sense.
Ur lucky in Texas in a Gen. William McCraven way.
Admiral William McRaven. Yes, good man. We are very fortunate in the people who move to the top of our military in their character and nonpartisan dedication to protecting the Constitution.
“Too much time in the dark arts”- Gen Barry McCaffery
Ir highly compensated, or blackmailed.
Jeanne Doyle10 min ago
Thank you for this link. I am waiting for justice to come down on Trump, his family, Manafort and Gaetz . Why hasn’t Gaetz been arrested? If he were a black man and not a legislator, he would be in jail already. It makes my stomach churn.
Jeanne, one aspect to remember about Gaetz is, he has been charged with anything. Who knows, maybe he will never be.
Could it be that just the announcement of the investigation was sufficient to sack his chances of re-election? Surely, we are not stooping to that, but really, too many investigations and not enough arrests in my book!!
Announcing investigations just seem to increase fundraising.
And remember that the former guy just wanted Ukraine to just announce an investigation into Hunter Biden...that alone would seemingly help his re-election chances.
I heard that he has not lost any support in his conservative district as a result of the investigation, sadly.
I wouldn't expect it to. Just like Trump, horrible behavior only makes them stronger and more endearing to their followers.
Lynn, I have thought that as well.
That should be "hasn't been charged ". Sorry.
Yeah, we got that Linda!
Just wait...
Flynn is dangerous. I hope they really move on this one.
Trump is claiming he will be re-instated by August. They are certainly planning something. I hope the FBI are really on this.
After just re-reading 'Handmaids Tale'and 'The Testaments' it's very scary to me that there is still talk of over-throwing the Biden government. Very dangerous talk and although Handmaid 's Tale moved towards a theocracy we are getting more conservative all the time and it scares me to think what would happen. I'm waiting with one toe in Canada in case I all of a sudden have to jump. In my 71 years I never thought I'd even think this outside Fiction but unfortunately fiction and reality are too close for comfort these days.
as stated before, perhaps Ms Atwood needs to testify about writing the script for the idjts... /s
The longer these people get away with all of this, including the attempted coup on January 6th, the more brazen they become. Until, when, and if that changes the country doesn’t stand a chance to preserve democracy.
And it seems Flynn in particular has escaped retribution over and over.
In the 06/01 Boston Globe, it was noted scholars are making noise about the voter suppression that is starting to run rampant. As Heather mentioned in her Thursday (06/01) talk, (paraphrased) we all can make a lot of noise (she emphasized non violence) to make it be known "we-the-people" are not going to let our country be taken away from us. I'll add that the indictments and the rule of law needs to start moving at a much faster pace or the thugs will rule. We're running out of time.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/01/nation/more-than-100-scholars-including-9-mass-sign-statement-warning-threat-american-democracy/#comment-121080391
Precisely
This was disappointing news. It certainly seemed an abuse of power and people were injured. It is worrisome that TFG and his mobster friends have wrecked the rule of law and with it our democracy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/trump-lafayette-square-civil-lawsuit/2021/05/28/c413c840-bfb3-11eb-b26e-53663e6be6ff_story.html
I can't even wrap my head around the lawlessness of the prior administration let alone the justice department attorney's arguing in favor of Trump & Co's actions.
I’ve read in so many places about the number of federal career positions that are unfilled. There were so many laws broken and ethical standards laughed at. They were sadly very successful at their goal of deconstructing the administrative state. Why couldn’t we stop them when they said so clearly what their intent was? That is mind boggling to me. If someone knocks on your door and tells you they’re going to destroy your home, why on earth would you let them in???
It was beyond dispute a seditious answer to a softball question from an ignoramus who couldn’t find “Minamar” on a map if it was labeled. I apologize for my sharp language, but as I come “into contact” via television with the die hards more often now, I’m having more and more of a visceral reaction to them. No doubt many of them have been dealt a bad hand in life, but they are loudly and ignorantly making the least of it. The group think I see and hear is something to behold. There is the usual cycle in it of one-upmanship where comments get more and more incendiary/stupid/vitriolic. This has the effect of raising the temperature but most flamethrowers aren’t thinking of that. They are just desperately trying to cement themselves in the group, to be seen worthy of belonging, to be safeguarded against whispers that they might not be true believers. And so it ratchets up and up and paths back to sanity are closed off. And it’s my belief that in their heart of hearts a solid majority of this crowd actually believe that the election was stolen. They will answer to the media whom they despise that the Big Lie is not a lie. They will stir the pot and screw around with pollsters as well. But they are wannabes and mischief makers.
I was far more chilled by Sidney Powell’s quiet, lawyerly calm as she promised the acolytes the moon, the sole caveat being that Trump might not get back lost time for “constitutional reasons”. Powell is as close to a leader as these people will see in person and she affects an air of authority. Between her and Flynn, there is considerable damage being done.
Separately (but not really), It appears that a huge piece of this puzzle will fall into place by the end of June. Schumer’s announcement that the For the People Bill will be brought to a vote then was, I thought, the most important part of Heather’s post today. At last - no more wiggle room for Manchin and Sinema. One way or another they will stand up and be counted, for that bill will never be attempted without some move to quash the filibuster. Of course, as Texas showed on the weekend, there are endless procedural moves that can be made to keep this grim dance around the fire going and postpone the day of reckoning. But the building is getting smoke-filled and people are beginning to choke. At some point action has to be taken to put that fire out or let it burn the edifice to the ground.
We are nearer to clarity in one big issue and I welcome that, regardless of its end result. The enemy must be faced and hopefully vanquished.
It’s going to be a hot summer.
Correction to my first section:
I meant to write “a solid majority of this crowd **do not** actually believe that the election was stolen.”
A less lazy person would read his message over before hitting the Post button. :(
Nor sure its laziness - There have been times I DID read over my comment - hit post & never noticed the mistake until someone else "liked" it! So dont beat yourself up about it!!
I rarely read 500-word comments, but you hooked me, Eric, with your apology for using sharp language. I read the whole thing looking for it but to my disappointment found none.
waiting to see what Biden and Co. have up their sleeves. I want to be happily surprised. Terrified of the alternative.
I’d like to believe some action would be taken but “could be” and “will be” is the situation we find ourselves in most often the last 7 years since trump exploded on the political scene. I return to being hopeful but often despair that these people I consider traitorous to our democracy will continue to walk free (as Flynn did) and continue to undermine our democracy. Why is this that calling for an insurrection against our government can go unpunished?
How is it he gets to keep his pension? Why are we funding this traitor?
Great questions Grace!
Thank you! I read Heather’s letter last night and thought, what the heck? Isn’t that treason?! And who is allowing these Qanon farce gatherings to happen on their property, or in their establishment, anyway? What a panel, ugh 😑
Side note, Lt. Vindman’s wife, Rachel, now co-hosts a great podcast, The Suburban Women Problem.
I find it worrisome that a clown like Flynn made general at all. I like my generals to be serious, y'know, like Jack Ripper and Buck Turgidson.
I sure hope it won’t but my hope diminishes the more they get away with it.
Flynn should face a court martial. Loose his pension, and passport, and be sent one way on the next flight to Moscow or Miramar, since he prefers dictatorships so god damn much.
One of the grapevines I'm connected to is saying the Army is initiating an investigation.
Good riddens.
And his spying insurgent brother at the pentagon too.
One would think right?
Flynn’s remarks amid more Russian cyber attacks upon our soft infra structure by his former client Vladimir. Cyber hacking on our gov, an oil pipleline, and now the largest meat packing company.
Yeah, we might not be at war with Russia, but they are at war with us. This is the 21st century, the Information Age, and Russians are attacking us everywhere except our military directly. Russians have turned a modern former American General against his own country...and he doesn’t know it?
Psychological weapons are real, they are effective, and cheaper than force. I think it was Carl con Clausewitz who said it best on war. “Better than fighting, get your adversary to do what you want, without him knowing it”
https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/carl-von-clausewitz/201023/
Von. Oops!
Maybe Flynn and his brother could be bunk mate in Guantanamo?
He is quite correct (& as an AG would know). I surely hope it isn’t dismissed. I fear it will be by President Biden as potential bad optics to have him recalled and charged - but I hope not.
Here’s hoping!
As always, thank you, Heather. As a Texan, these are difficult times.
Heroes:
Take a look at the Democratic Party heroes of the Texas state legislature (names and pictures!):
https://www.texasdemocrats.org/our-party/leaders/electeds/
Late on Saturday night, these Texas Democrats killed the voter suppression bill, SB7. They took a bold action in the face of Republicans breaking rules in order to make new rules for elections, so as to keep Republicans in power—mainly white men representing the population of Texas which is almost 60% people of color. For how long have we been watching Republican rule-breaking? Finally, not just “oh darn,” but a response of fighting fire with water--they doused it. Yes, Gov. Greg Abbott plans to call a special session by the end of the year, but for now, the Texas legislative session has ended and is not scheduled to reconvene until January 10, 2023. It meets every two years. While Abbott plans to defund the pay of the legislators in retaliation, I’d be happy to donate to these Democratic heroes. Texas Democrats literally walked the talk in service of democracy.
“Senate Republicans suspended chamber rules on Saturday night in order to review the legislation, 12 pages of which had not been previously considered and were added without public visibility…”
"’It became obvious Republicans were going to cut off debate to ram through their vote suppression legislation,’ Turner said in a statement early Monday…”
“The walkout happened after State Rep. Chris Turner, (D), the party's House caucus chair, sent a text message to Democratic lawmakers at 10:35 p.m. local time saying: ‘Members, take your key and leave the chamber discreetly. Do not go to the gallery. Leave the building…’"
https://news.yahoo.com/texas-senate-approves-sweeping-voter-141203865.html
The Texas Democrats Chris Turner, Nicole Collier, and Trey Martinez Fischer made a statement afterward with fellow legislators behind them (video):
https://news.yahoo.com/dems-walk-stop-texas-gops-091113601.html
What are the demographics of the legislators compared to the people they represent in Texas?
“61% of lawmakers in the state House and Senate will be white, although white Texans make up just 41% of the state's population…All but five of the 100 Republicans in the Legislature are non-Hispanic white people.”
https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2020/2021-texas-legislature-representation/
I heard on Monday that the Dems had figured that Abbot would dock their pay, but since they get paid scarcely nothing--which is one reason why BIPOC in Texas find it difficult to run for legislative office, since you have to have an independent income to survive--they calculate that their pay would be docked about $16 each. So they don't consider it really all that much of a punishment.
Given that they meet every other year for max 140 days, I’d say small price to pay.
Abbot does has line-item veto power, but are individual legislator salaries a specific line in the budget? Can he cut democrats' salaries without touching republicans?
My understanding is that a legislator's salary is $600/month. During session, the per diem is $221.
On NPR this morning, a Republican legislator was interviewed. I understood him to say that there was increasingly more ballot fraud that needed to be addressed. His wording was just vague enough -- he implied without providing specifics, without providing evidence.
Hey, cig. So whenever a Republican legislator says there was an "increasingly more ballot fraud that needed to be addressed," reporters should be asking if the Cornyn win was a result of ballot fraud.
Or the 2018 election when Cruz barely beat Beto!
I do think this charade would end if Dems started “auditing” Republican wins in say, Kentucky...
I think if auditing was to have been done, it should have been done bi-partisan and with all the safety provisions in place. These sham audits are nothing but promotion for the Big Lie. But now even if they did legally and above board look into suspicious races like McConnell and Graham it just gives the fake audits more ammunition. What a total mess. These audits should never have been allowed as they were compromised as soon as they left storage.
Smart that they took their keys. When NH Dems tried this on the republican led state legislature a few months back, the rethuglicans locked the doors and wouldn't let them back in. They were meeting in a sportsplex for social distancing rather than the statehouse since the gop covid deniers wouldn't wear masks even though their speaker had dropped dead of covid a week after being elected to the position. You almost can't make this stuff up.
Wow...
Beth Benham is correct. I live in NH too. The R's are hiding bills in the State Budget since they can't pass them as a result of voter input via the Remote Testimony option for the public to register their opposition to bills. One of the most atrocious is the gag order bill that FORBIDS essentially any school, business, police, etc from teaching about Critical Race Theory, training about implicit/complicit bias, sexism and more. Basically they are denying people's Freedom of Speech. Another is 1. strip public education funds and give them to private/religious schools and home schoolers. Then 2. after they've done that, the public education funds are cut back EVEN MORE.
I love that Texan understatement. :-)
Actually, if you listen, they're talking about a coup in "Minamar," wherever in hell that is. Not only can they not spell right, they can't talk right. #$%^$$@#$%#@#@!!! morons.
Call it diphthong disorder...
"Dipthing disorder!" Love it, David!
I think "dipthing" disorder would be a different order of disorder. Mike Flynn would know what I'm talking about.
Ha, ha! That was a slip!
Yeah, and I hear they want to build even more "nucular" weapons, too.
Nails on a chalkboard!
Oh for sure!!
Today's GOP on Memorial Day!
TC, I have to admit that I tend to have a visceral reaction to seeing all their smug pasty white plump faces--which is one reason why I don't watch TV news and listen to it only on the radio or read it in print. I know that fantasies of violence are verboten on this site and I agree with that wholeheartedly. But I do fantasize about swinging cricket bats . . .
Join the club! The "club for clubbers". :-)
Listening again, the questioner begins with "I'm just a simple marine..." Proof once again that "You can always tell a Marine. You just can't tell him very much."
I immediately thought of Minimar - alago.
Bahahahaha!
I totally agree, #$%<$$@#$%#@#@!!! morons.
Thank you Heather.
I think that the QAnon rally was every bit as dangerous as the precursor to January 6th. Is Flynn simply priming the pump for the next insurrection? I think we would be kidding ourselves to think that January 6th was a one and done action. If, the call to overthrow the Government by Flynn is not met with immediate recourse, then it would seem to me the net of deceit of this Administration is far wider than I initially thought.
I did not watch President Biden's speech yesterday, but did read the transcript. It was encouraging to see the words of a President that understood the meaning of the day and chose to properly intertwine the importance of what we may likely lose to what those men and women fought their lives for.
Be safe, be well.
January 6th was the practice run.
I think I should add to my post - Jan 6th was a practice run but not only in the sense of “how easy will it be to actually invade the Capital”. It was a practice run to see what the responses would be.
1. How well did the Capital Police defend their position?
2. How fast did the National Guard respond?
3. How did Congress respond?
4. How did the Democrats/non-Republicans respond? Have they continued their opposition over time or allowed it to die out?
5. How did DOJ respond?
6. Were the insurrectionists arrested immediately or at all?
7. Was trump arrested for fomenting dissent and insurrection?
8. If arrested (immediately or later), were the insurrectionists kept in jail until trial or were they released to continue to plan and agitate?
9. How long can the trials be dragged out?
10. Can we influence the media to not only report our version of events but to spread them far and wide?
11. What were the outcomes of the trials, if any actually come to fruition?
12. How is the next administration treating the insurrection? Calling it out forcefully and by name and plain language? Or ignoring it?
13. How many citizens can we count on next time? Let’s not forget to factor in human behavior such as mob mentality.
14. How many military personnel hold our views? Will they defend the Constitution or will they switch sides during the next insurrection? How do we reach them and keep things stirred up so they will switch sides? Can we make them part of the plan?
15. Can we continue to support sedition and insurrection publicly? Will there be any repercussions at all or just angry texts and statements?
The answers to these questions and more will form the plan for the next try.
I think it is obvious that January 6th will not be the only attempt. Republicans are going to work on several scenarios to not only stay in power but to become the only party in power (ie. a dictatorship/authoritarian rule). That is why they are doing all they can to change laws and rules on voting and suppression, having people like Powell and Flynn spew seditious propaganda, installing their ‘believers’ in key positions of election officials, keeping people like DeJoy dismantling the USPS so we won’t trust the Postal Service at all by 2022, keeping the airways flooded with their lies and bullshit and planning for the next actual takeover if it is needed. I think people who ignore this as “ah, it’ll never go that far” aren’t willing to face the ugly facts that our democracy (or oligarchy as it has been since Citizens United) is in very grave danger of being wiped out as soon as 2022 and definitely by 2024.
If you look at how authoritarian or fascist takeovers work, step by step, we are well on our way to that happening here. The patterns are quite clear.
I very much hope that I am wrong. I will gladly say I was wrong if this doesn’t occur.
Kasumii... glad you added to your post. Accurate outline of a credible scenario. And the DeJoy detail? Important. That sycophant has only been in that appointed position for a year and has wreaked havoc.
Thank you.
Why President Biden refuses to use the power and authority of his position to fire the entire USPS board for incompetency and deliberately trying to affect mail-in ballots in the election is frustrating and even infuriating. He’s still trying to work with the Republicans in getting the three new board members he wants accepted. Only then will he think about having DeJoy removed. Maybe. He could settle this in one day. Fire the entire board. Fire DeJoy. It’s a very bold move yes. But the longer DeJoy stays the more damage he deliberately and quite openly (gleefully even) does. And, the longer President Biden refuses to act on this the more his refusal to fix this taints his Presidency. I wonder if it is because he has had staff deal with his mail for decades? Has he lost touch with how important the mail is to the rest of us? I don’t know. I did write about this to the White House but did not receive a response.
I definitely support the postal workers but if service slows down even further, as DeJoy plans, I will have to take my business elsewhere if I want it to actually arrive or to arrive on time. I hate doing that because I realize this loss of confidence in the USPS is exactly what DeJoy (and trump) want but I can’t afford to just send things and hope they might arrive some day.
By the way, yesterday there was an article about new changes DeJoy is making - stamps increase by 3 cents, significant slow downs in delivery (even what is supposed to be Priority Mail) and significant layoffs. Sorry, I don’t have the link at hand.
Kasumii....This article helped to update me. I will be searching to stay updated on what Pres Biden’s admin will do to restore integrity to the USPS. It is outrageous to me that McConnell’s Senate never approved former Pres Obama’s 3 choices for governing board, and then former Pres Trump stepped in and filled them.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/biden-cannot-fire-usps-louis-dejoy.html
Thank you for the link Christine. I read that and was surprised the president can’t outright fire DeJoy. He can remove the entire board though and that would get things moving.
What really boggles my mind about Congress is how one man (McConnell) is allowed to just stop working (not debating legislation, refusing to fill open judgeships, even refusing to hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee) in order to twist everything to his agenda. Why aren’t there rules about this, about how to remove a person who does this? Or if there are, why haven’t they been implemented? This bothers me a lot. If one person can control Congress like this - for years on end - what’s the point of Congress? (That’s sort of rhetorical.)
infuriating
I hope you're wrong, too, but your questions are spot on and the answers, if any, depressing.
I didn’t include answers to the ones that could be answered because I didn’t want to create a mile long post but yeah, they are depressing. I really wish the media would start covering this topic (the slow takeover) with urgency and competency.
So do I and probably most of the readers here.
We’ve gone from a chicken in every pot to a Fox in every henhouse. Mayhem was inevitable.
Its such a novelty to hear a president who speaks clearly, doesnt badmouth other people, and does what he says he will do. Now saying that, I still think there is so very much MORE that must be done - either with or without (more likely) the opposition Party! And the Dems better get on the ball and get BUSY.
Dear Prof. HCR,
You nailed the message I needed at the end of this memorial day, although, it was not the one I had wanted. The one I wanted had to do with the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, but the one I needed was a reinforcement of the ideals of democracy by our President.
President Biden accentuated the primary reason for our entry into the two world wars -- the sacral duty to defend our four freedoms against the tyrannies of totalitarian rule, the primary rationale for the sacrifices of our progeny and our kin, our democratic freedoms as highlighted by President F. D. Roosevelt: freedom of speech, freedom from want, freedom of fear, and freedom of worship. Our president brought these to bear on the precariousness of our present situation and you caught the beauty of his message on a memorial day like no other: one that spoke to our need to value the foundations of this republic. In Biden's words:
"Democracy thrives when the infrastructure of democracy is strong; when people have the right to vote freely and fairly and conveniently; when a free and independent press pursues the truth, founded on facts, not propaganda; when the rule of law applies equally and fairly to every citizen, regardless of where they come from or what they look like.”
“[T]he right to vote, the right to rise in a world as far as your talent can take you, unlimited by unfair barriers of privilege and power—such are the principles of democracy."
I wanted one historical grounding, but needed the other in order to recognize that without the one, my hopes for the other will never be realized. My deepest thanks go to you, dear HCR.
Biden is now using every written, verbal, or visual opportunity to take up the "Bully Pulpit" for democracy as he should and for that I am thankful; a sure sign that he has his "strategic" priorities in order and is using the tactics necessary to achieve his goals.
A day of remembrance seems a good symbol but i would have hoped for something more pragmatic as well; a Presidential Decree that would rectify the any remaining "errors" made by the Federal Government following the massacre which made the hurt to the Greenwood Black Community even deeper and last longer.
Just so that everyone can read Biden's proclamation on the Tulsa Massacre here is the link.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/05/31/a-proclamation-on-day-of-remembrance-100-years-after-the-1921-tulsa-race-massacre/
You're absolutely correct, Stuart, and my hopes/wishes are the same as yours. I believe that he is also being ultra cautious with all the flack that is being spewed at our VP of late. He will be meeting with some survivors tomorrow, I believe -- let's hope that he uses that encounter with wiser precision.
We need it all--commemoration of the Tulsa massacre 100 years ago, as well as so many other massacres of Black people--and reinforcement of the ideals of democracy by our President. It is all connected. And of course commemoration is only one part of the process of learning what happened and building empathy to support anti-racist thinking and action at the level of federal policy, individual interactions, and levels in between.
https://twitter.com/chris_notcapn/status/1399201923316715520?s=20
Yes, Ellie, I agree that we need it all -- but what we want and need are not always aligned.
Brilliant twitter link, thanks Ellie K.
Thanks Ellie. The 1985 bombing of MOVE in Philadelphia is one I recall too well: https://t.co/spVlObheRT
We have much to atone for.
What am I talking about. I appreciated the tweet and map that the Tulsa massacre was not the only one. But killing of non-white non-Christian peoples on this continent started with the European colonizers for whom devaluation, dehumanization, and disregard for the Others’ lives was the norm. Death and suffering came in so many forms, in countless numbers, enslavement, forced/manipulated relocation to reservations...
Ellie, yes! Just heard a BBC piece on NPR in the middle of the night about the possibility of a deliberate introduction of smallpox to the indigenous peoples of Australia. Early biological warfare. They cannot explain its presence otherwise. Apparently the Europeans who had been dealing with smallpix outbreaks for years carried vials of smallpox scabs and pus on the ships and may have meant to use it to "subdue" the natives. Sounds far fetched? maybe not......,
In what is now Pittsburgh, in 1763, “This event is best known as an early instance of biological warfare, where the British gave items from a smallpox infirmary as gifts to Native American emissaries with the hope of spreading the deadly disease to nearby tribes. The effectiveness is unknown, although it is known that the method used is inefficient compared to respiratory transmission and these attempts to spread the disease are difficult to differentiate from epidemics occurring from previous contacts with colonists.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_Pitt
This is only one instance in centuries of subjugation, exploitation, and genocide.
I agree Rowshan. I had to look for news reporting of the Tulsa memorial activities for the weekend. Discover that the concert performers and speakers canceled. Find out after searching that the commission that raised so many millions to to bring the details to light can not agree on reparations to living survivors and their descendants. Hear the governor of Oklahoma, after participating in the commission, declare it too radical with a left agenda. Hear of the new Black Panther Party in attendance for the commemoration, march through the streets creating their own commemoration. None of this on the news yesterday evening celebrating day with my fam. Only repeating video of Flynn, Powell, and comments from QAnon dissidents.
And very few words of Pres Biden on the news loop.
What we want and need are not aligned.
My question too Christine, where is the media coverage of the lawful resistance to tyranny? We have inspiring role models that need the spotlight. Covering ignorant fanatics has only emboldened them.
Yup.
Thank you for putting it all in perspective with events/non-events and data. It's sad, but ever-so true, that a heavy chunk of our citizenry are not of a mind to forsake institutional and structural racism.
It’s the “ever-so-true”, Rowshan that is becoming intolerable.
The dedication to keeping it the mindset of “ a heavy chunk of our citizenry” weighs heavy on my spirit. To think it is at the core of excuse, not reason, to keep people enslaved still in this year of 2021 is of tremendous consequence.
To even see some governors now preparing to legislate violence against protest which is bound to happen this summer further erodes paths to enact actual change to smite the forces of racist practice to keep the caste system in place in this country.
I don’t even wonder anymore how we “got here”. It’s apparent and meets approval from not a fringe, but from millions.
I'm with you 100%, Christine, which is why I am so sarcastic about it. Structural and institutional racism are so embedded in our culture, that even the "woke" are still asleep!
But "the news" is to blame as well.
Earlier this morning, before Professor Richardson’s Letter had reached my mailbox, I saw this article on the front page of The Guardian with the headline: ”Rise of armed civilian groups in Myanmar fuels fears of full-scale civil war Dozens of grassroots people’s defence forces have emerged to take on brutal military”
I was reminded of our conversation here about the Second amendment, and Rep. Gaetz and others whipping up their supporters to believe they could legitimately take up arms against their country because of their Leader’s loss to President Biden in the 2020 election.
And now, former US Army General Flynn is advocating for armed insurrection and Louis Gohmert and other elected representatives are standing at his side to support this mortally dangerous and morally bankrupt rhetoric.
Included below is an excerpt from the Guardian article, and it stands as a damning rebuke to Flynn, Gaetz, Trump, Gohmert and all their fellow traitors who appear hell-bent on returning the most anti-democratic President in our history, to office.
The role they have chosen for themselves and are encouraging their followers to execute, is not that of the civilians of Myanmar who are assembling to save themselves – it is the polar opposite. The Trump-Flynn-Gaetz model is that of the Myanmar military that assumed power in a coup and is enforcing their rule through brutality, terror, and murder.
President Biden’s words are inspiring, but I believe we have entered a time when language should be used to name the thing for what it is: Those aligned with the former President and his actions to overturn the 2020 election are knowingly engaging in sedition.
“At least 833 people have been killed by the military since it seized power in February, according to estimates by the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma. Thousands have been detained, often in unknown locations where they are at risk of torture.
An activist who has met young people who are training to fight the military, and who asked to remain anonymous, said volunteers believed violence was the only language the military understood. “They want to scare the soldiers coming into their communities making arrests, beating and torturing,” she said. “Some people are hoteliers, some have their own restaurants, bars – and they have now left all their businesses.”
One young medical student had fled alone to train, the activist said. “She was so passionate because her friends got killed. Her place was terrorised under martial law. She saw people burning alive in front of her. That experience pushed her to pick up the gun.””
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/01/rise-of-armed-civilian-groups-in-myanmar-fuels-fears-of-civil-war
I agree. I’m sick of inspiring words. I want Biden to call out what’s happening in plain terms. I want him to call them out by name. That includes Manchin & Sinema. But he won’t because it might look bad - can’t have bad optics while democracy is being destroyed.
This
Absolutely correct.
Professor, so often you go deep, down through the news and facts you share. Thank you so much. I was hoping we would hear that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema were willing to forego the Filibuster and open the gates of America's democracy wide. As Americans toil on, it is time for a response from Washington. As you write today, "The approximately 60 Texas Democratic lawmakers were forced to walk away from bills they had hoped to pass, but they felt they had to send a message. State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer said, 'Breaking quorum is about the equivalent of crawling on our knees begging the president and the United States Congress to give us the For the People Act and give us the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.' " We must restore our Democracy.
Oh boy. The marine who asked Flynn about Minamar AKA Myanmar is a simpleton. The overly enthusiastic cheerleaders of a Myanmar style coup shown in the video clip seem to have ingested large amounts of amphetamines. A hefty number of US Americans have thrown out the baby, the bathwater and the tub...they've ditched all common sense. Heck yeah, they say, we want a coup!
We're watching a segment of our population succumb to a deep insanity...is it in the water? The air? Have they been poisoned by eating food contaminated with ergot*? What did these people obsess about before Trump and Q Anon? How can we draw them back into a reality based frame of mind and not belittle them in the process?
I admire Biden for reminding us again and again what Democracy is and what it means. I appreciate his consistently positive approach to addressing the needs physical, social and emotional needs of the the American people. I'm hopeful that one by one he will change the hearts and minds of those who've gone off the deep end.
*Ergot poisoning has long been my very favorite explanation for en masse insane behavior. I'm being sarcastic when I suggest it here, but geez, these people are crazy!
Okay, Ally made me do it. Also looked up ergot poisoning. Fascinating.
http://customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/history/ergot.htm
Yeah, I'm even convinced that some of the passages in both the old and new testaments were written by ergot maddened individuals.
Revelation.
Hahaha!
Fascinating. But I do wonder if some other source might be causing this in Texas? What are they ingesting? Is it the tattoo ink? Are they eating unknown mushrooms found in fields?
Have you ever studied cults and mob mentality? A good place to start is to look at the research that Stanley Milgram did in the 60’s on how far people would go to hurt another person and how they rationalized and even justified doing so. This can be applied not only to shocking someone (as they thought they were doing) but to behavior in racism, bigotry, misogyny and so on.
Thanks for the phrase “ergot poisoning”! I’ll use that in future and give you credit 😀.
I do remember that specific study. I was stunned by the lengths people went to in order to comply.
I've been married for over 40 years. During those years ergot poisoning has been my go to explanation for craziness. Mostly I jest. My husband just rolls his eyes and says, "ergot poisoning" before I even utter the words.
😁
Had to look up Ergot Poisoning. It fits. Like a glove. By the way, I didn't read any scrambled words. But then, I am dyslexic...
Yes, I remember when ergot poisoning was thought to explain the behavior of girls whose strange reports (hallucinations) were "evidence" for accusations in the Salem Witch Trials. Indeed there are delusions that effect an entirely new crowd of crazies who seek to undermine ordinary peaceful citizens.
Good morning Daria. On fire we are.
Good day, dear Stephen! We're staying with our vegan daughter and I've consumed way too much tofu and not enough animal protein to stave off snarkiness. That's my excuse and I'm sticking too it.
Tofu was brought to the American consciousness and diet by a single person in the 70's, a hippie/commune leader by the name of Stephen Gaskin (may his soul find peace). He traveled the American countryside with a caravan of 150 school buses with their freak flags flying at full tilt boogie. After a year and a half on the road, he came across land for sale in Summertown Tennessee, where he put down roots and his followers with him. He was originally an acid head and Vietnam vet who would take high doses of LSD on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and then give his famous 'Monday Night Talks' to students in Berkeley in the late 60's. At the commune, he gave up on synthesized hallucinogenics and espoused only plant based trips. He and his community were early adopters of the Vegetarian craze sweeping the youth at that time, and in an effort to give his gang access to complete protein on the cheap, started growing soybeans on The Farm (as his commune was called).
Now soybeans were in common use in Asian cultures at the time, yet it was rare to find any culture using them as a mainstay in their diet, mainly because they just don't digest well. Asian cultures were far ahead of the curve and mainly used soy in fermented form such as tempeh, miso, soy sauce, etc.
That Stephen Gaskin and crew were able to endure their commune experiment with no one questioning the appropriateness of Tofu in their daily diet is a total failure in the 'Body Sensing' department.
Friends don't let friends drink soy milk or eat tofu. I mean seriously...
On the other hand, his wife Ina May Gaskin pretty much reinvented the dying art of midwifery in the early 70's. She is still going strong to this day.
There's a lot more I could say, having lived with Stephen and Ina May for a bit back in the 90's. Fun times...
Wow. I'm impressed by your creds. I was a lacto-ovo through the 70s and part of the 80s. My daughter was born during that period, I think I damaged her taste buds in utero (Haha!). Oddly, the few times in her life when she was a meat eater she loved ribs and bacon. Go figure. Midwifery in the US still needs to grow. We had one in for our daughter's birth in 1981, they were pretty rare then. L I can imagine you can tell some pretty neat stories.
More power to the Gaskins!
This one's for you Daria...
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/30328997463735712/
To not too
Oy, sorry about the scrambled words in the last paragraph!
Now is the time to aim your podcaster and reel in the brand new podcast with Prof. Richardson and Prof. Joanne Freeman, “Now and Then.” The first episode dropped today, and each and every Tuesday. Topics today, from the description: On this first episode of Now & Then, “Entangling Alliances,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss the emerging Biden Doctrine and the relationship between foreign and domestic policy throughout American history. Heather and Joanne focus on the French Revolution, Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive turn, and the cultural legacies of the Vietnam War as three moments from “then” that can particularly inform this transitional moment for America’s role in the world. See https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/now-then/id1567665859?i=1000523750443
I immensely respect what Professors Richardson and Freeman have to say. I've valued listening to their talks together. I want to pay my share for her work. I do not want to rain on a parade. But as we Google this and order on Amazon that, at what point is our participation in the oligarchy of Big Tech hypocritical to our criticism of oligarchy? I tweeted this link to HCR after she announced this new podcast last week.
https://fair.org/home/the-new-podcast-oligopoly/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork
It is of course time that the Big-Tech majors and the net be largely considered as "utilities", broken up if and when necessary and regulated to ensure respect of the "public interest".....but I still want to be able access English texts in far away places when no other means is available.
Yes. They are contemporary utilities!!! I have believed this for years now. This is actionable - to get them designated as such, and would be helpful for democracy.
Thank you for sharing this link!
Thank you!
Thank you for telling us about this. So much!
We can’t even honor our soldiers, past and present, without interruption from the Q crazies. I sure am glad Biden is our President.
I understand that there are many who find it difficult to maintain friendships with those with whom they radically disagree in this era of political polarization. As a lifelong progressive, now living in an area of Texas that is predominantly Republican locally, I am frequently appalled by the rhetoric and extreme views of Trumplicans. However, I remind myself that there are still many moderate and sane Republicans, Independents, and Progressives in my surrounding neighborhoods. Not even all Republicans are nuts. I refrain from engaging the complete wackos in controversies. However, I do not hesitate to advocate as an activist and supporter of progressive causes and policies simply because I may have neighbors who disagree with my positions.
My advice to my friends and other activists is not to seek out controversy, do not to abuse or abandon friendships over political disagreements. However, do not hesitate to let others know where you stand and why. There is a difference between remaining silent out of fear or timidity, and courteous, respectful defense of your beliefs and positions.
My friends and family know well where I stand on issues and on the preservation of our democracy. I do not apologize for those positions. Neither do I disrespect their views even though I may strongly disagree with some of them. I respect the views of others and expect them to respect mine. But, I do believe that timid silence is a form of complicity and I will not be complicit in their attempts to undermine or overthrow our democracy.
Always good advice, Bruce, but I am losing my inner balance. I do think that the Trumplicans rely on our decency to continue feigning their outrage. At what point do we say, "No more Mr. Nice Guy?" It's clear that false rhetoric is escalating violence. It's testing the boundaries of free speech, the right to bear arms, and to vote. I am already anxious that the Biden administration is being ignored and overpowered. Who but the choir hears his voice?
I understand. But I urge you to remember this is simply a skirmish in a multigenerational battle for justice and equality. The battles over voting rights have been continuous since the founding of our country. For over 230 years each advance has taken decades of persistence and struggles for native Americans, blacks, women, Asian and Pacific Islanders, residents of D.C. and American territories to gain representation and full citizenship rights. Many continue to be denied these rights. It is likely we will continue to have to fight to achieve full and equal citizenship status and rights for many who continue to be denied those rights for a considerable time. However difficult and long, the cause of equality and full citizenship rights for all is just and will ultimately prevail. But that victory requires persistence and effort.
I urge you to think of the 72 between the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and ratification of the 19th amendment finally giving the vote to women in 1920. Yet black women in the many southern states as well as black men continued to be denied the right to register and vote until passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act. Still today we see obstacles thrown up to prevent many from ballot access. Native Americans continued to be denied the right to vote well into the 20th century despite being America’s indigenous people. Who more than they deserved full citizenship rights?
When you become discouraged and despair progress will ever be achieved, I urge you listen to this rendition of “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” by the Freedom Singers. Then put on your walking shoes and get ready to march. Don’t let nobody turn you ‘round or deter anyone from continuing to fight to retain our democracy or deny equal rights for all. The battle is long but virtuous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPuBGcng6Tw
Hoping you’re right Bruce. What feels different now is the constant barrage of disinformation from multiple sources. The extraordinary number of assault weapons in homes. And looming climate change which will be the ultimate challenge.
Combined with the anti democracy movement and rampant racism we are facing an extraordinary confluence of threats.
External threats once united us. Now they just drive the wedge deeper.
We can’t afford to despair, but, we dare not underestimate the dangers we face.
Never has it been this easy to broadcast lies and propaganda to the farthest reaches of our country and some of the most vulnerable minds.
With gratitude, Bruce...
Everything Bruce Carpenter said and we can also support the heroic action of the Democratic Texas legislators who dealt with yet another Republican assault on rules, decency, and the right to vote by walking out last Saturday night, thereby breaking quorum and killing the voter suppression bill.
Readers of this substack may be interested in Greg Olear's substack post on PREVAIL today, titled "35 Poltroons" (https://gregolear.substack.com/p/35-poltroons - it is viewable without a paid subscription). He breaks down the 35 into Spineless Cowards, Fourth of July Traitors, Insurrection Enthusiasts and Owned Property. I appreciated the texture of the ascribed motivations...and Olear's sense of humor, biting and somewhat coarse though it may be.
Olear would be welcome to a rowdy game night at my house anytime.
For Sure!
As soon as my somewhat coerced subscription to The Economist expires, I will subscribe to two more Substack writers. Olear is going to be one of them; Lucian Truscot IV, Dan Rather, Diane Francis, and Steven Becheloss (sp) are the three I am debating. I support a couple other writers via Patron... and my local newspaper, Gatehouse run though it is.
Good list.
A 1980s media studies prof told our class that sales and subscriptions supported newspapers and pamphlets from Luther to the mid-1900s when advertising revenue took precedence. It seemed an ominous shift to me even then. Long gone, I wonder what that teacher would say about our click-based information economy.
Lately, my few extra pennies go to ProPublica and Maine's news in the public interest, the Maine Monitor. If I could support Jason Leopold's epic FOIA work, I would do that too.
My only concern with Olear's posts is that I can't always share them on fb because of his frank and salty language. But then, THAT is the reason I read him - he tells it like it really is. Incredibly well researched with logical, if terrifying conclusions we all need to face.
Thank you, Bill. Also his podcast is a good listen.
Thank you for this link! I “enjoyed” reading it, and like his style of writing.
Very much worth the cheap subscription, though.
Thank you Dr. Richardson for your clear presentation of the good in President Biden’s Memorial Day speech. Thank you also for the news about the Qanon gathering with Cheetos loyalists. Sydney Powell seems like a science fiction character and Flynn is playing true to form. Both sides get similar amounts of air time for their messaging—democracy in real time.
They sound like the second-rate "eggers on" of any schoolyard bully basking in reflected glory.
Similar air time for the Great Plastic Garbage Patch and the Marianas Trench.
INVEST IN STRAITJACKETS !
Here's a thought, Peter.
https://www.straitjackets.com/blog/
Bahahaha!
From a Ezra Klein interview with Barack Obama as reported in the NYT.
Obama was discussing the change in media coverage from when he ran in 2008 until today.
“ If I went into those same places now — or if any Democratic who’s campaigning goes in those places now — almost all news is from either Fox News, Sinclair news stations, talk radio, or some Facebook page. And trying to penetrate that is really difficult.
It’s not that the people in these communities have changed. It’s that if that’s what you are being fed, day in and day out, then you’re going to come to every conversation with a certain set of predispositions that are really hard to break through. And that is one of the biggest challenges I think we face.
But some of it is a media infrastructure that persuaded a large portion of that base that they had something to fear. And fed on that politics of fear and resentment in a way that ironically ended up being a straitjacket for the Republican officials themselves. And some of them were gobbled up by the monster that had been created. And suddenly found themselves retiring because they weren’t angry or resentful enough for the base they had stoked.
Conflict sells.”
Buying the Big Lie? No surprise if you consume a steady diet of conservative media.
And from the same interview about how tough it will be for Democrats going forward.
“But at some point in this country, in our democracy, you still have to cobble together majorities to get things done. And that is particularly true at the federal level, where — although reconciliation has now presented a narrow window to do some pretty big things — the filibuster, if it does not get reformed, still means that maybe 30 percent of the population potentially controls the majority of Senate seats.
There’s a pretty fundamental asymmetry that brings out. So I think at the presidential level, you have a three or four-point advantage for Republicans in Electoral College. At the Senate level, it’s playing the range of five points. And the House level, it’s about two. So you have this real difference now between the parties, where Democrats need to win right-of-center voters to win national power, and Republicans do not need to win left-of-center voters to win national power. And that really changes the strategic picture for the two of them.”
If we know the enemy, and the land, we have a chance.
I continue to watch PBS for a source of news, but I am old enough to remember when it was the McNeill Lehrer News Hour and had some substance. A few decades ago, Republicans complained about tax money supporting points of view that weren't theirs. Now, The News Hour is still decent enough, but quite tepid. The majority of experts who are interviewed are yesterday's Republicans. Major donors are of the same ilk. David Koch sponsored Nova and if you listen closely, there is often a plug for capital enterprise in science.
We must have consequences in our nation for activities like the Big Lie. We have morphed from letting every white collar crime become an entrepreneurial business strategy, to becoming a political ideology and party platform, to letting treason become a political ideology and party platform. There was a time when people like those who incited the Big Lie, who spread Q conspiracy theories and those who attacked our Capitol would have been tried and hung in short order. In those days, there weren't so many. Consequences are required. Trump should have be locked up the day he lied about his Republican opponents. Not doing so demonstrated that he could announce his ability to shoot someone and get away with it. After that there have been no limits.
Trump should have been arrested the day he fomented violence against Clinton by saying
‘maybe those 2nd amendment people will do something’. Same with Gaetz saying the same just a few days ago. There are no consequences anymore - not for those with money or in positions of authority.
I need to add another PS of sorts - I should have added that there are no consequences for those with money, in positions of power and of those who are white, even more so.
I meant Gaetz’s comments about people taking up arms against the government, not that he threatened Clinton.
Yes, consequences are required. This means accountability for one's actions and words.
Some jail time would do them all good. No electronics, just books. Make them really suffer.