Yeah, Laurie, I wondered how she is reflecting on all of this, and wondering if an unseen hand (influence from ???) is affecting her. Hopefully, someday, all will be revealed and she will take her place as a footnote to history.
Yeah, Laurie, I wondered how she is reflecting on all of this, and wondering if an unseen hand (influence from ???) is affecting her. Hopefully, someday, all will be revealed and she will take her place as a footnote to history.
Barbara, somehow I can't picture her reflecting on the rule of law or the moral obligations of a judge. She might be reflecting on her future and must know that if she tires of being a judge, she'll have a good gig on Fox or other right-wing media, or teaching at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
I'm 78 now, so I'd love to come back in about 30-40 years to see what happens re: Trump, American populism, the embrace of authoritarianism, etc. - and to see what historians have to say about this wild, scary, unreal period.
LOLтАжLaurieтАжIтАЩve often said the only reason I want to live forever is to find out how it all turns out! [and that applies to many issues that would take us to EarthтАЩs end in some 5 billion years, give or take a day or soтАж.think IтАЩd be WAY too tired to hang on that long!]
Oh my gosh, Barbara, imagine if George Washington or Ben Franklin or Jane Austen or Elizabeth I could drop in now. I wonder what they'd say about us and the world.
How about Abraham Lincoln showing up? He might say, "I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right. But part with him when he goes wrong."
Or. "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
Or, "The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts. Not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the constitution."
Compare these words of wisdom to Trump's "famous" quote.
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible."
What's even MORE incredible to me are his followers whose votes he wouldn't lose.
That third quotation is perfect. It should be used now in candidateтАЩs speeches ( properly attributed ) to remind voters what the importance of voting is all about.
Thanks for the Lincoln quotes, Pam. Maybe Lincoln had more patience dealing with obstinate wrong-headedness from his experiences with a bi-polar partner. Having been in that position I can tell you it is uber arduous.
Lauren, I didn't know Mary Todd suffered from bi-polar disorder.
I understand arduous. My father had it, my brother has it, and my son has a strain of it. He has struggled to find the right medications, but seems to be doing well now.
Yes, that is an exhausting mental illness for the person who has it and their family and friends.
Whatever experiences Lincoln had which gave him patience in dealing with obstinate people, those experiences helped him become such a wise and wonderful person and president.
I've often found myself thinking, "What is it we're doing NOW that will look positively abominable to the populace 100 years from now?" That line of thought was usually reserved for equal rights and medical issues, but now it's cozied right up to how politics plays in the courts.
I've been thinking about how we'll look to future people, Pat. In my review of the chatter about Tim Scott as a potential pick for VP (not just here, but everywhere in the media), I am coming to the conclusion that we'll all look like racists. His ethnicity ought not to be any part of how we evaluate his qualification to be first in line for the oval, should TFG win and then become incapacitated.
One of the things I liked best about 'The Handmaid's Tale' book is that it's a reconstruction of fragments a future society found and used to try to make sense of our present.
Pat, IтАЩve wondered how we view тАЬhistoryтАЭ might be changed if we could meet and learn from the actual playersтАж.as history тАЬmorphsтАЭ with the telling, especially WHO is doing the telling. I think about how many folks donтАЩt know even recent events in our nationтАЩs history, stories that arenтАЩt taught in history classes. With the advent of the increasing ability for regular folks to chronicle, via technology, what is happening in the moment (acknowledging the тАЬtruthтАЭ can often depend on if the capture of an incident is a тАЬtight shotтАЭ vs a тАЬlong shotтАЭ). Imagine if, say, in the way way way back those in the past had a way to capture real time documentationтАФhow we might reframe religions, nations formingтАжthe thought blows my mind!
Just my two cents--I feel like this same 25-35% of the population that has always been with us--slavers, KKK, Nazis, racists, authoritarians, MAGA--I don't think this era we're in is particularly unusual. We're just more aware of them, because our news comes from more heterogeneous sources.
Please include Nation of Islam leaders Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan who amplified the antisemitism of the Christian Gospels and whose bigotry against White people is the ideological flip side of KKK bigotry against Black people. (Ideological, although obviously without the practical impact.) Although, Farrakhan is a dominant Black leader and his antisemitism has seeped into Left wing activism. And has now tragically shifted the focus on recent protests - away from the abuses of the Netanyahu regime onto the antisemitism of a vehement minority of the protestors.
The hands are not unseen. They are Charles Koch's, Leonard Leo's, the foreigner Elon Musk, the men, always men,behind the investment banks, the Russian oligarchs. The hands are myriad. They play the puppet strings while we just want to mow our lawns, play with our kids, and maybe buy an electric vehicle so the planet doesn't roast.
I caught part of an MSNBC show last weekend, AymanтАЩs, where he was interviewing someone in the financial world, I believe, who when asked who he would be voting for (this after some laughing over TrumpтАЩs antics) said Trump. Why? Because STOCKHOLDERS are the most important people and them keeping their money is the most important issue. I have been appalled ever since, even though I know many who vote their portfolios and not their love of country. To just say that out loud and for the interviewer, on a network I like, not to challenge him but seem amused left me infuriated. IтАЩve thought about it these past few days. How do we get to these people who have placed what they have over what the nation needs?
Yeah, Laurie, I wondered how she is reflecting on all of this, and wondering if an unseen hand (influence from ???) is affecting her. Hopefully, someday, all will be revealed and she will take her place as a footnote to history.
Barbara, somehow I can't picture her reflecting on the rule of law or the moral obligations of a judge. She might be reflecting on her future and must know that if she tires of being a judge, she'll have a good gig on Fox or other right-wing media, or teaching at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
I'm 78 now, so I'd love to come back in about 30-40 years to see what happens re: Trump, American populism, the embrace of authoritarianism, etc. - and to see what historians have to say about this wild, scary, unreal period.
LOLтАжLaurieтАжIтАЩve often said the only reason I want to live forever is to find out how it all turns out! [and that applies to many issues that would take us to EarthтАЩs end in some 5 billion years, give or take a day or soтАж.think IтАЩd be WAY too tired to hang on that long!]
Oh my gosh, Barbara, imagine if George Washington or Ben Franklin or Jane Austen or Elizabeth I could drop in now. I wonder what they'd say about us and the world.
How about Abraham Lincoln showing up? He might say, "I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right. But part with him when he goes wrong."
Or. "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
Or, "The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts. Not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the constitution."
Compare these words of wisdom to Trump's "famous" quote.
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible."
What's even MORE incredible to me are his followers whose votes he wouldn't lose.
That third quotation is perfect. It should be used now in candidateтАЩs speeches ( properly attributed ) to remind voters what the importance of voting is all about.
Thanks for the Lincoln quotes, Pam. Maybe Lincoln had more patience dealing with obstinate wrong-headedness from his experiences with a bi-polar partner. Having been in that position I can tell you it is uber arduous.
Lauren, I didn't know Mary Todd suffered from bi-polar disorder.
I understand arduous. My father had it, my brother has it, and my son has a strain of it. He has struggled to find the right medications, but seems to be doing well now.
Yes, that is an exhausting mental illness for the person who has it and their family and friends.
Whatever experiences Lincoln had which gave him patience in dealing with obstinate people, those experiences helped him become such a wise and wonderful person and president.
Love this conversation, ladies!
I've often found myself thinking, "What is it we're doing NOW that will look positively abominable to the populace 100 years from now?" That line of thought was usually reserved for equal rights and medical issues, but now it's cozied right up to how politics plays in the courts.
I've been thinking about how we'll look to future people, Pat. In my review of the chatter about Tim Scott as a potential pick for VP (not just here, but everywhere in the media), I am coming to the conclusion that we'll all look like racists. His ethnicity ought not to be any part of how we evaluate his qualification to be first in line for the oval, should TFG win and then become incapacitated.
One of the things I liked best about 'The Handmaid's Tale' book is that it's a reconstruction of fragments a future society found and used to try to make sense of our present.
Lauren, may I recommend a thought-experiment novel by Naomi Aldermann тАЬThe PowerтАЭ: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/29751398 (also recommend her recent book тАЬThe FutureтАЭ)
Thank you, Barbara. Once I'm settled into my new place I'll need a good read or two.
Pat, IтАЩve wondered how we view тАЬhistoryтАЭ might be changed if we could meet and learn from the actual playersтАж.as history тАЬmorphsтАЭ with the telling, especially WHO is doing the telling. I think about how many folks donтАЩt know even recent events in our nationтАЩs history, stories that arenтАЩt taught in history classes. With the advent of the increasing ability for regular folks to chronicle, via technology, what is happening in the moment (acknowledging the тАЬtruthтАЭ can often depend on if the capture of an incident is a тАЬtight shotтАЭ vs a тАЬlong shotтАЭ). Imagine if, say, in the way way way back those in the past had a way to capture real time documentationтАФhow we might reframe religions, nations formingтАжthe thought blows my mind!
ЁЯСН Now that would be interesting, eh?
Just my two cents--I feel like this same 25-35% of the population that has always been with us--slavers, KKK, Nazis, racists, authoritarians, MAGA--I don't think this era we're in is particularly unusual. We're just more aware of them, because our news comes from more heterogeneous sources.
And more propaganda that competes favorably in some quarters
I refer to them as the folks who wonder where the sun goes at night.
They seem also to be the mindlessly religious, in that they've never read the book.
"slavers, KKK, Nazis, racists, authoritarians, MAGA"
Please include Nation of Islam leaders Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan who amplified the antisemitism of the Christian Gospels and whose bigotry against White people is the ideological flip side of KKK bigotry against Black people. (Ideological, although obviously without the practical impact.) Although, Farrakhan is a dominant Black leader and his antisemitism has seeped into Left wing activism. And has now tragically shifted the focus on recent protests - away from the abuses of the Netanyahu regime onto the antisemitism of a vehement minority of the protestors.
IтАЩm old but IтАЩve seen enough
The hands are not unseen. They are Charles Koch's, Leonard Leo's, the foreigner Elon Musk, the men, always men,behind the investment banks, the Russian oligarchs. The hands are myriad. They play the puppet strings while we just want to mow our lawns, play with our kids, and maybe buy an electric vehicle so the planet doesn't roast.
I caught part of an MSNBC show last weekend, AymanтАЩs, where he was interviewing someone in the financial world, I believe, who when asked who he would be voting for (this after some laughing over TrumpтАЩs antics) said Trump. Why? Because STOCKHOLDERS are the most important people and them keeping their money is the most important issue. I have been appalled ever since, even though I know many who vote their portfolios and not their love of country. To just say that out loud and for the interviewer, on a network I like, not to challenge him but seem amused left me infuriated. IтАЩve thought about it these past few days. How do we get to these people who have placed what they have over what the nation needs?
Pretty much, Jen.