For three hot days, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, more than 150,000 soldiers from the armies of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America slashed at each other in the hills and through the fields around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Exactly so, Laura. Incredibly powerful. The tonic we need to bolster ourselves and head into our own “battles.” Shame on our Democratic leadership who has been utterly absent and mute in these dark days, despairing days. Thank you, Heather Cox Richardson for knowing and offering just the right medicine.
The Democrats in the Senate are working to get every open Federal judgeships filled before January. If the Republicans agree to recess appointments then Biden can usher through the remaining open positions.
There is much game-ship going on right now by the Democrats and if they shout about what they are doing Trump and his minions will do what they can to curtail it.
Plus the corporate media only really gives a damn about what Republicans say and do because of the $$$$$s.
And we should do that again....and again. As well as teach civics in the fifth, eighth and senior year of HS. As a retired educator there is value in memorizing just as there is value in creating and problem solving. And there is GREAT value in knowing our Democratic values and what our Democracy stands for and is made up of.
She said Democratic, Mary. Bernie is an Independent.
And thank you Leslie. It seems horrible to me that I have not realized this until you wrote it and I read it. It appears I have been far more upset by all of this than I have realized until now. And I was just wondering why I was crying as I read tonight's message and looked at the photo.
That’s nothing! I can name all the states and capitals, do a correct geography map, name all the Presidents in correct chronological order, the Preamble to the constitution, the Bill of Rights, know what the Monitor and the Merrimack are. Where the Civil War began, all from 6th grade American history class where I forgot more than I retain at 67 yo. We were required to do a research project in one 9 week period. It also included references, index, and bibliography cards. Handwritten in cursive at least 10 pages long. Anyone else remember projects like this in grammar school?
Actually in most states the social studies curriculum has the study of the one's own state in fourth grade and the study of the United States in fifth.
What is that supposed to mean? Bernie Sanders has been busy in DC trying to get something done to stop the incoming monster from destroying our country!!!!
Democratic leaders are waiting for the election statistics to shake out. We already know Trump didn't reach 50% of the voters and Harris is within <2% points.
Why start planning how to CHANGE or how to APOLOGIZE when this was an election most probably due to anti-incumbency vote? Anti-incumbency happened this year around the globe. Yes, there are things the Dems can improve, but ...
1) The Republicans across the country that purged voter roles and passed legislation to suppress the vote and create fear to vote among certain demographics.
2) The oligarchs bought Senate seats in OH, MT, FL and TX. They also spent huge sums of money working to defeat several House members. They also plowed hundreds of millions into other propaganda.
3) The corporate media for chasing Joe out of the race and not acknowledging the myriad accomplishments of the Biden administration. If Biden and the Democrats had had four more House seats they could have continued to pass meaningful legislation for the people. Plus, they were more than happy to print hundreds more articles about Trump's hateful and angry rhetoric.
4) Trump and the Republicans had four years to undermine the 2024 election vs fewer than 100 days for Harris/Walz. What they accomplished was fucking amazing.
5) As Heather stated last week the voters that weren't paying attention to politics and never do, voted overwhelmingly for Trump. You can't cure ugly and you can't cure apathy.
1/3 of the registered voters didn't even vote. That is pathetic for an election as consequential as this one is likely to be.
You can educate ignorance, you can treat mental, but there is no cure for stupid. And that includes cult brain freeze. Rupert has done a job on my friends, family, and neighbors. Yours too, no doubt.
Don't think this election was decided by anti- incumbency common around the globe. After all we are not talking about a spreading virus. This election was decided by the lazy by staying home, the uninformed and by people landing on earth on election day after living on the moon for a long time.
Please - don’t forget that it was bought by muskrat, Miriam Adelson and the oligarchs, including Putin. The lazy, yes. But we were hoodwinked, flim flamed, and reminded of our racist, sexist proclivities non-stop and with the force of cannons.
It's a globe-wise phenomenon — not an internet-speak “virus.” It was a result of the pandemic and the resulting inflation — around the globe. Even though Biden’s policies brought us out on top.
Less than 50% of our short-attention-span electorate — uninformed as they are -- thought change was a good idea. Not catching, just widespread. (Yeah, I know there are the ⅓ who agree with Trump and Bannon.)
Thanks for bringing up the fact that not everything that’s a world-wide phenomenon is a disease/virus.
The 'blame game' is being pursued by the Punditariat class who cannot seem to think of anything better to do than pontificate on issues that actually need more time, distance and perspective to settle out.
It's too easy for any ol' lazy opinion columnist to churn out an article pointing at this or that "mistake", but that doesn't make their analysis the correct one. In fact I'm pretty sure there is no ONE specific reason--it will more l=than likely turn out to be a complex combination of all of them.
Personally, I'm ignoring all the articles that claim to have THE prescription for what ails us until a bit more time has passed.
We continue on the road to minority rule and kleptocracy. Will there be a true election in even two years? I doubt it. Unconventional measures must be taken NOW.
Wish somebody would offer the rage that I feel is appropriate. The election was stolen right from under our noses. The flip from Biden to Harris was a godsend. Sexism and racism all rolled up. You could tell when chump went from whining about having to change the script to entertaining and getting crazy headlines at his rallies. He knew the fix was in.
Giving the Dems the benefit of the doubt, I think they are still counting votes too. I am concerned that the Swing states votes are not getting a recount after reading this letter from Stephen Spoonamore.
He makes a compelling case to look into these irregularities. Coupled with Musk having had regular conversations with Putin we must assume that they were discussing Putin's experiences with vote fixing. Prof. Timothy Snyder points this out.
Another thing that they are busy doing is getting in as many judges as they can approve. This is how one strengthens a democracy too. Even when we would like our leaders to comfort us, we need them not to say things while they are planning a way forward and doing what they can with this gift of 2 months to staunch the flood of evil doings that lies ahead. Andrea Pitzer clues us in to what we can expect and what we can do. https://substack.com/home/post/p-151702504
Not Gavin newsome and many other governors. Not many organizations. Every one of us needs to lead forward in all the ways we can. We will get through this!
Good point, where are the Democratic leaders? Selling up property and getting affairs in order for a quick exit to Canada? It seems strange to have had them and all their high profile supporters and celebrities on our airwaves day and night, and now zip.
Abe Lincoln had the Dignity, the Class, that he Earned rising up from very Rough, and Modest Beginnings, to call the Fallen at Gettysburg Patriots & Heroes... DJT who is Putin's Puppet, and a Fake Tough Guy, would call them Suckers & Losers...
Imagine after the Civil War, Jefferson Davis had been elected president of the US. That’s basically what people have done. Jefferson Davis was a traitor, and so is 45.
I have the images of two presidents on the walls of my home. One is the original engraving of the Emancipation Proclamation created in edition in 1866 — the first off the press given to the widow, Mary Todd Lincoln . The other is an elderly image of Jimmy Carter, whom I much admired for the work he achieved post-president.
Jimmy Carter, a decent man who tried to live out his faith, was voted out of office in favor of Ronald Raygun . Raygun espoused “voodoo” trickle down economics.
I guess we're going to find out just how long this nation, "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" ...will endure.
I’m hopeful tfg’s actions will be so outrageous (“bloody” as he says) the pendulum will swing faster. We all have an obligation to speak up where we can.
yes, Evelyn, our culture has created silo’s where certain races, genders, religions and class wealth has separated ourselves. Power-hungry elites would rather cage our neighbors who have a skin color they associate as ‘criminal’. Ignorant / prejudiced voters feel their short-term thirst for wanting “it” all, right “now” is worth polluting our world, poisoning our birds and animals, and robbing future generations of a chance to live a healthy lifetime on a beautiful planet and raise families.
America has sunk to new lows in the eyes of our global allies- our “nation, ( is not ) under God, with ( no ) government of the people, ( not ) by the people, ( not ) for the people, ( and ) shall perish ( alone and unhappy ) from the earth.”
Hi Evelyn, I think our nation-bastion will endure and have the will power to rebuild into a more perfect union if given the chance. By then ,and given the vacuum created by lack of lidership, abandoning our allies and ignore our international agreements, this vacuum will be filled by Russia and China and it might take WW III to to return to the American Century and Pax Americana principles. No guarantees to win that one and even if we do our world would be irreconocible.
The time to recognize that the intention is to dismantle Government and the Constitution is NOW. This Nation is what Biden swore to uphold and defend from threats domestic and foreign. With every move, threat, and statement Trump and his ilk have uttered, even preemptively he seeks to undermine and overthrow the rule of law and individual rights.
Is Biden equal to the moment? If any one normal person had said a fraction of what Trump has said, they would have been awaiting trial for conspiracy to overthrow the Government among other things.
Heather, the time to recognize the intention was November 5th. Regarding what to do with trump, I think that if we were able to think and act as a maga, as repugnant as it sounds, at least for day or two, trump would be in jail for all you mentioned and more.
Lincoln grew up reading the Bible, King James version. He had a serious frame of mind, and he grew to the resonant English and its cadences worthy of humanity at its heights.
He also knew that the federal soldiers who died at Gettysburg, and at other battles, all took seriously the union, all would and did put their lives on the line for something called democracy, something for which their parents and grandparents in most cases had quite deliberately left a feudal old world behind them.
Lincoln could scarcely imagine a buffoon as great as the grifting orange felon. He, Lincoln, knew and enjoyed the wild yarns Americans even then were spinning on the frontier, but he knew this all as frolic -- nothing at all like the "bing-bing-boing-bong" gratuitous nonsense the convicted criminal we have today has ever used to gild his lies, his repeated rapes, cheating, sycophant courting of the world's most wantonly murderous and dehumanized dictators.
Lincoln genuinely grieved the genuine loss of life, maiming, illness, and injury Yankee lads suffered to put down the enslavers and their preposterous efforts to kill national democracy. So by their examples, the guys in federal blue, he could take seriously the dangers of kleptocrats, oligarchs, and would-be autocrats. He'd know the otherwise empty Trump for the menace his cravings for power would represent.
But, Hope, he'd have nothing at all to say to him.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled there had already said all there was to say, so far beyond our poor powers to add or detract.
He didn't "win" anything. A huge network of treachery, deceit, and threats, typified by that choreographed picture of him rising defiantly against the sky, a flag flying over his head.
Yeah, Grift-o the Great…perhaps we could commission a large statue of him made out of trash and refuse. OK, now I’m just being petty. Maybe my new moniker should be Pretty Petty the Persnickety Pontificator……🤪
I remember being in Italy when Obama was first elected. They were ecstatic about America.s future. Flash forward sixteen years. I was in Italy on Election Day. The people there are in shock (except for the far-right folks, they're giddy). They are afraid that the calming reassurance that through NATO, America had their back is now replaced by uncertainty and fear.
All the while, Putin and Xi are smugly sitting back with smiles on their faces.
But sadly, and more menacingly still: Orban, Netanyahu, the Iranian mullahs, Sisi, Erdogan, Rico, Mohammed bin Salman, Assad, Kim, Modi, and several hundred of the U.S.'s dark money billionaires in hate media and other revenue streams for the Clarence court and the near-totally corrupted Republicans and their convicted criminal leader.
I don't think that Abe Lincoln could conceive of someone like DJT being Elected as U.S. President... Abe Lincoln knew Scarcity, and Hard-Work, was Studious & Devout... DJT was born with a Silver-Spoon in his Mouth... DJT is Ignorant, Devious, and the only thing that works hard is his Mouth...
Kamala was among the very best candidates to have run for President in my life time. She came from a working class family and she. actually worked in a service job.
Trump is a mobster, who has likely NEVER done a single day's anything physical including cooking, cleaning, changing a diaper, pounding a nail or carrying his own golf clubs. And he constantly pretends he understands the needs of his low-information voters.
His cabinet picks so far confirm that he thinks the government is HIS government and they will do his bidding. So far, it's possible that this cabinet is even worse than the revolving door cabinet of his first term.
I will put money that he knew Shakespeare better than the Bible - he oft cited his works. There is an excellent discussion of this in James Shapiro's Shakespeare in a Divided America. Check it out (Shapiro's The Playbook which just came out a few months ago is the second of a three part series on Shakespeare in America).
Not sure when he got his hands first on either of the two, but historians and biographers agree that his education for many years dwelled on both. Deeply. Reverently. Then, too, he had the advantage of camp meetings and their preachers.
Staged productions of the bard of Avon, or of anyone else? Were but I better read in those biographers and colleagues of Heather's.
Lincoln convened a team of rivals as his cabinet. The man elected on November 5 dreams of commanding a ship of fools. I hope and pray that the Senate members uphold their oath to the Constitution and block the most egregious of the current nominees. Of course, that would be all of them.
Thank you for this reminder of the good and great things one individual can do, what words can mean, what aspiration and inspiration can help us achieve. I feel compassion and pity for those who live without courage, integrity, truth, self-respect, kindness, and dignity. The rest of us must continue to set an example of decency and help lead our communities and country forward. It's never been easy, but we can do it.
It would have been so easy for Lincoln to air his grievances on the members of the Confederacy. Instead he spoke so eloquently about the lofty goals that the founders voiced and urged both sides to aim for them. Let us keep his words in mind as we fight for the country he so loved.
We need to be reminded of Lincoln's words every day, the truth that it is up to us "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
I know that in these time, it's easy to feel that there's nothing we can do, but it is up to us to find something. Today a friend and fellow activist and I had a phone call with our sheriff, a wonderful woman who had promised us that when she was elected, she would cancel the 287(g) agreement with ICE to let them know when people were being released from the jail so that ICE could scoop up any who were undocumented and deport them. She was as good as her word, and for the last two years, the department has been ICE free. But recently, ICE has been pressuring all of the sheriffs in MA, even though Biden still has two months to go as president, to start cooperating again. So my friend and I agreed to start a low-key campaign, informing supporters of what's going on, and asking for small donations as a way to stay connected. I hate asking for money, especially now that many people are tapped out, but I know that many people are also looking for a small but significant way to stay involved, so that's what we're going. Please find something small but significant in your community that you can do to keep Lincoln's words alive.
Good to know that you have a decent sheriff to work with. Too many here in Oregon are Oath Keepers. I hope people will find ways, even if small, to stave off some of what has been threatened. I am truly worried about the bill in the House which would allow death star and the treasury secretary to take away tax-exempt status from non-profits that oppose them. The bill went down once, but I do not know where it is now. I see a lot of people really worried about their investments and retirement income too. I hope you are successful.
Michele, you're spot on about some of our Sheriff's. Ours is not, as far as I can tell (I've known him since he was 16...) Several are, especially over east.
I thought the bill was about removing tax exempt status from non-profits that were supporting terrorist groups. That seems okay. Could the law be used for nefarious ways?
The red flag with the details of the Bill's wording is that there are no safeguards for not -for -profits to defend themselves. In the hands of T administrators, it is open to great abuse. Go to ACLU website for more information.
Like the Heritage Foundation and others that support TRUMP? I would support that, but my guess is that the Dems will do nothing and Trump will turn things around snd remove tax-exempt status from ecological, scientific, and non-Trump think tanks.
I am unaware of any more lucid or eloquent way to express it: "government of the people, by the people, for the people". One hears it so much it might start to sound stale; but it's the key to a free society. What if every governmental action and policy was measured by that yardstick? How many would pass? How many would show a need for improvement? How many are a betrayal? I mean for real. " that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom".
Thanks for this Heather. I can think of no grosser betrayal of Lincoln's words than a vote for what is about to occupy the White House. For an excellent analysis and history of Lincoln's speech I highly recommend Gary Will's Lincoln at Gettysburg. It is very readable, and if memory serves was a best-seller when it came out in the 90s. An equal study is due about his magnificent second inaugural. "With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right . . . "
Tho' not necessarily the end. That said, Lincoln would likely be very steamed over the fate of of his party and our collective lack of care for the rights he worked so hard (and ultimately died) preserving.
Not if WE don’t let it be so, Thomas. It’s up to US, the people, to see his vision strengthened. Other than those who are in it for the money or power, I don’t think the “average” voter (now I hear latest stats of him not hitting the 50% mark of cast votes) really understands what they’ll (alas, we will all) be getting.
Thomas - I think not. It is an awakening of what democracy really means to us everywhere around the world. This is a living thing that needs all of us to engage and to re-ignite the flame of truth csuch as Lincoln would have hoped 🇺🇸🗽🥁🕯️
Things always mean more in retrospect—but the path back is likely to be sabotaged at every turn. As Rachel Maddow said Monday, “Nobody likes Congress … but we will miss it when it’s gone.” Trump is already stripping Congress of its Constitutional powers by preemptively forcing capitulation of largely spineless demagogues. Hungary’s Orban’s puppet nominal ‘democracy’ took little time to be brought to heel and really ‘They won’t have to vote anymore’—because the outcome is preordained.
Thank you Dr. Richardson for this reminder. Then we fought and won a bloody battle to protect our Constitutional rights to endure freedom for eternity. Now we stand on the brink of losing it in a bloodless coup created by a minority group of racist bigots and a handful of greedy billionaires.
Amen, Judy. That the US voters could pass over 2 brilliant, knowledgeable, accomplished and competent women who ran for POTUS to put this buffoon in office is beyond me.
My father was a Civil War buff. An entire bookcase devoted to it; multi-volume accounts, the whole business. When we traveled, we would visit Civil War battlefields, including, especially, Gettysburg. I wrote a 20 page term paper on Gettysburg for my American History class in high school. The teacher had us memorize the Address. This battle and Lincoln’s speech represented one of the pivotal moments in American history for me. I never imagined that Lincoln’s words would take on so much weight in the nation’s current affairs during my own lifetime. I am now grateful for that legacy.
I read and re-read Lincoln’s words again. It hit me emotionally. On this day we learn that Matt Gaetz paid $7000 to one young girl he raped immediately after meeting her. The Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and the Women Suffragettes must return from the dead and haunt those who use fear, racism, and sexism, as a knife to our throats.
Marlene, I love the Gettysburg Address made in the midst of all that sorrow.....just the right words. And the right words for now and I thank Heather for reminding us.
Indeed she does. Start every morning with her. Also I am a history person, so enjoy that perspective. Also every time i see something about the Civil War I am reminded of a book I read about the effect of all the deaths and how they were so hard on those who remained.
I'll never forget Obama's whistle-stop tour on the vintage train, from Philadelphia to Washington, commemorating Lincoln at every stage of the journey to the White House.
I teared up reading this, Marlene. It is a balm to my soul as well, and feeds my resolve to do what I can to see our shared vision “shall not perish from this earth”.
I wholly concur with you Barbara, my friend. A balm to the soul indeed. Let us dedicate ourselves similarly, to the great task remaining before us in our day, that the new births of freedom that we have all witnessed in our lifetimes, will continue to move forward, in the face of the adverse wind moving in the opposite direction.
Lincoln harkens to the Declaration. The Constitution had obvious issues
In addition to "The Proposition", a standing call to test the Vision of the self-evident truths, the Preamble lays out the Mission of the Constitution.
I believe that all branches, especially the Supreme Court, should test whether that decision or any decision, moves our People further to the goals of the Declaration.
Obviously, the Preamble states the Duty of all 3 Branches, to always strive to "form a MORE PERFECT Union".
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union"
Thank you for this powerful reminder of this day in history. Brings things into perspective for a brief few moments.
Exactly so, Laura. Incredibly powerful. The tonic we need to bolster ourselves and head into our own “battles.” Shame on our Democratic leadership who has been utterly absent and mute in these dark days, despairing days. Thank you, Heather Cox Richardson for knowing and offering just the right medicine.
Not Bernie Sanders.
The Democrats in the Senate are working to get every open Federal judgeships filled before January. If the Republicans agree to recess appointments then Biden can usher through the remaining open positions.
There is much game-ship going on right now by the Democrats and if they shout about what they are doing Trump and his minions will do what they can to curtail it.
Plus the corporate media only really gives a damn about what Republicans say and do because of the $$$$$s.
Thanks, Gary - share cites if/when you can!
When I was an elementary school student, we not only were taught this history, we were required to recite the Gettysburg Address from memory.
And we should do that again....and again. As well as teach civics in the fifth, eighth and senior year of HS. As a retired educator there is value in memorizing just as there is value in creating and problem solving. And there is GREAT value in knowing our Democratic values and what our Democracy stands for and is made up of.
We learned it too. It’s beautiful.
She said Democratic, Mary. Bernie is an Independent.
And thank you Leslie. It seems horrible to me that I have not realized this until you wrote it and I read it. It appears I have been far more upset by all of this than I have realized until now. And I was just wondering why I was crying as I read tonight's message and looked at the photo.
Before you correct me too, I know Liz a Republican. The point we are making is that their are brave people who have spoken truth to the lies.
Oh, you’re fun at parties, aren’t you?
That’s nothing! I can name all the states and capitals, do a correct geography map, name all the Presidents in correct chronological order, the Preamble to the constitution, the Bill of Rights, know what the Monitor and the Merrimack are. Where the Civil War began, all from 6th grade American history class where I forgot more than I retain at 67 yo. We were required to do a research project in one 9 week period. It also included references, index, and bibliography cards. Handwritten in cursive at least 10 pages long. Anyone else remember projects like this in grammar school?
My report in 5th grade was all about the state of South Carolina.
Actually in most states the social studies curriculum has the study of the one's own state in fourth grade and the study of the United States in fifth.
Here's my favorite Gettysburg song. 20th Maine - Fightin' Chamberlains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z63wb0LpDfQ
I can name all the “helping” verbs. Or could.
What is that supposed to mean? Bernie Sanders has been busy in DC trying to get something done to stop the incoming monster from destroying our country!!!!
Or Liz Cheney
Democratic leaders are waiting for the election statistics to shake out. We already know Trump didn't reach 50% of the voters and Harris is within <2% points.
Why start planning how to CHANGE or how to APOLOGIZE when this was an election most probably due to anti-incumbency vote? Anti-incumbency happened this year around the globe. Yes, there are things the Dems can improve, but ...
Blame game, anyone?
I'll take a stab at your rhetorical question.
1) The Republicans across the country that purged voter roles and passed legislation to suppress the vote and create fear to vote among certain demographics.
2) The oligarchs bought Senate seats in OH, MT, FL and TX. They also spent huge sums of money working to defeat several House members. They also plowed hundreds of millions into other propaganda.
3) The corporate media for chasing Joe out of the race and not acknowledging the myriad accomplishments of the Biden administration. If Biden and the Democrats had had four more House seats they could have continued to pass meaningful legislation for the people. Plus, they were more than happy to print hundreds more articles about Trump's hateful and angry rhetoric.
4) Trump and the Republicans had four years to undermine the 2024 election vs fewer than 100 days for Harris/Walz. What they accomplished was fucking amazing.
5) As Heather stated last week the voters that weren't paying attention to politics and never do, voted overwhelmingly for Trump. You can't cure ugly and you can't cure apathy.
1/3 of the registered voters didn't even vote. That is pathetic for an election as consequential as this one is likely to be.
You can educate ignorance, you can treat mental, but there is no cure for stupid. And that includes cult brain freeze. Rupert has done a job on my friends, family, and neighbors. Yours too, no doubt.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Rupert got caught up in the deportation of American citizens too?
@ Loft. How do you say "it was the Russians, stupid" in Russian?
Don't think this election was decided by anti- incumbency common around the globe. After all we are not talking about a spreading virus. This election was decided by the lazy by staying home, the uninformed and by people landing on earth on election day after living on the moon for a long time.
Please - don’t forget that it was bought by muskrat, Miriam Adelson and the oligarchs, including Putin. The lazy, yes. But we were hoodwinked, flim flamed, and reminded of our racist, sexist proclivities non-stop and with the force of cannons.
Decided by disinformation
Remember Downballot Dem successes whatever the disinformation.
It's a globe-wise phenomenon — not an internet-speak “virus.” It was a result of the pandemic and the resulting inflation — around the globe. Even though Biden’s policies brought us out on top.
Less than 50% of our short-attention-span electorate — uninformed as they are -- thought change was a good idea. Not catching, just widespread. (Yeah, I know there are the ⅓ who agree with Trump and Bannon.)
Thanks for bringing up the fact that not everything that’s a world-wide phenomenon is a disease/virus.
Let’s call that virus what it is: Ignorance, Stupidity and some Hate tied together called Racism …
Mr. Riley...better throw in a measure of misogyny, as well. That was certainly a factor in devastating results of this horrible election.
Very well on target 👏
Yes, fixing was isn’t broken. Many cannot live without chaos. We used to call that codependency
Your point is well taken.
Also a massive firehosing of disinformation by Putin's troll/bot farms "flooding the zone with shit" (in Slob Bannon's memorable phrase)
American voters NEVER turn out in force, ie over 66%, this was a 2nd highest turnout by historical standards
The 'blame game' is being pursued by the Punditariat class who cannot seem to think of anything better to do than pontificate on issues that actually need more time, distance and perspective to settle out.
It's too easy for any ol' lazy opinion columnist to churn out an article pointing at this or that "mistake", but that doesn't make their analysis the correct one. In fact I'm pretty sure there is no ONE specific reason--it will more l=than likely turn out to be a complex combination of all of them.
Personally, I'm ignoring all the articles that claim to have THE prescription for what ails us until a bit more time has passed.
We continue on the road to minority rule and kleptocracy. Will there be a true election in even two years? I doubt it. Unconventional measures must be taken NOW.
Thanks, M
Not Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Bill Clinton was on Colbert’s the Daily Show tonight, offering calm and encouragement to us.
Wish somebody would offer the rage that I feel is appropriate. The election was stolen right from under our noses. The flip from Biden to Harris was a godsend. Sexism and racism all rolled up. You could tell when chump went from whining about having to change the script to entertaining and getting crazy headlines at his rallies. He knew the fix was in.
Talk to the men who overall voted for Trump.... i almost think Kamala's pro women campaign pushed more males than otherwise towards Trump.
Giving the Dems the benefit of the doubt, I think they are still counting votes too. I am concerned that the Swing states votes are not getting a recount after reading this letter from Stephen Spoonamore.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-151721941
He makes a compelling case to look into these irregularities. Coupled with Musk having had regular conversations with Putin we must assume that they were discussing Putin's experiences with vote fixing. Prof. Timothy Snyder points this out.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-phantom-campaign
Another thing that they are busy doing is getting in as many judges as they can approve. This is how one strengthens a democracy too. Even when we would like our leaders to comfort us, we need them not to say things while they are planning a way forward and doing what they can with this gift of 2 months to staunch the flood of evil doings that lies ahead. Andrea Pitzer clues us in to what we can expect and what we can do. https://substack.com/home/post/p-151702504
The above link comes from Andra Watkins who is doing a series on what can we do called Purposeful Disengagement to give suggestions on how people can address the fact that Christian Nationalists will be running our country, along with Putin. https://open.substack.com/pub/andrawatkins/p/purposeful-disengagement-who-could?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Not Gavin newsome and many other governors. Not many organizations. Every one of us needs to lead forward in all the ways we can. We will get through this!
Good point, where are the Democratic leaders? Selling up property and getting affairs in order for a quick exit to Canada? It seems strange to have had them and all their high profile supporters and celebrities on our airwaves day and night, and now zip.
Leslie M.
Did no one listen to Kamala Harris' words???
I voted for her!!!
Now we are where we are!
The crooks and parasites are taking over. We allowed this to happen!!!!
Abe Lincoln had the Dignity, the Class, that he Earned rising up from very Rough, and Modest Beginnings, to call the Fallen at Gettysburg Patriots & Heroes... DJT who is Putin's Puppet, and a Fake Tough Guy, would call them Suckers & Losers...
Imagine after the Civil War, Jefferson Davis had been elected president of the US. That’s basically what people have done. Jefferson Davis was a traitor, and so is 45.
I have the images of two presidents on the walls of my home. One is the original engraving of the Emancipation Proclamation created in edition in 1866 — the first off the press given to the widow, Mary Todd Lincoln . The other is an elderly image of Jimmy Carter, whom I much admired for the work he achieved post-president.
Jimmy Carter, a decent man who tried to live out his faith, was voted out of office in favor of Ronald Raygun . Raygun espoused “voodoo” trickle down economics.
And took 2nd term with a landslide... godddd i thought at the time, star wars to boot, Trump wants to revive?
I guess we're going to find out just how long this nation, "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" ...will endure.
I am hopeful that the pendulum will swing, perhaps in 2026, but it will!
Sally, that pendulum it's going to need a lot of momentum. We all should be ready.
We all need to push. Do not obey in advance…
Some already are
We need to remind them….
It’s already in motion folks, and in control of the barbarians who are inside the gate
In rush mode..
We should all be working. We all should be spreading truth.
Ricardo - and as soon as the would-be dictator takes power we will be vigilant of his every action and plant our course accordingly.
Absolutely!!!
I’m hopeful tfg’s actions will be so outrageous (“bloody” as he says) the pendulum will swing faster. We all have an obligation to speak up where we can.
yes, Evelyn, our culture has created silo’s where certain races, genders, religions and class wealth has separated ourselves. Power-hungry elites would rather cage our neighbors who have a skin color they associate as ‘criminal’. Ignorant / prejudiced voters feel their short-term thirst for wanting “it” all, right “now” is worth polluting our world, poisoning our birds and animals, and robbing future generations of a chance to live a healthy lifetime on a beautiful planet and raise families.
America has sunk to new lows in the eyes of our global allies- our “nation, ( is not ) under God, with ( no ) government of the people, ( not ) by the people, ( not ) for the people, ( and ) shall perish ( alone and unhappy ) from the earth.”
Hi Evelyn, I think our nation-bastion will endure and have the will power to rebuild into a more perfect union if given the chance. By then ,and given the vacuum created by lack of lidership, abandoning our allies and ignore our international agreements, this vacuum will be filled by Russia and China and it might take WW III to to return to the American Century and Pax Americana principles. No guarantees to win that one and even if we do our world would be irreconocible.
The time to recognize that the intention is to dismantle Government and the Constitution is NOW. This Nation is what Biden swore to uphold and defend from threats domestic and foreign. With every move, threat, and statement Trump and his ilk have uttered, even preemptively he seeks to undermine and overthrow the rule of law and individual rights.
Is Biden equal to the moment? If any one normal person had said a fraction of what Trump has said, they would have been awaiting trial for conspiracy to overthrow the Government among other things.
Heather, the time to recognize the intention was November 5th. Regarding what to do with trump, I think that if we were able to think and act as a maga, as repugnant as it sounds, at least for day or two, trump would be in jail for all you mentioned and more.
What, whiplash here
What would Lincoln say to our shameful President-elect and the extraordinary, unqualified cabinet he is proposing?
Very good, Hope.
Lincoln grew up reading the Bible, King James version. He had a serious frame of mind, and he grew to the resonant English and its cadences worthy of humanity at its heights.
He also knew that the federal soldiers who died at Gettysburg, and at other battles, all took seriously the union, all would and did put their lives on the line for something called democracy, something for which their parents and grandparents in most cases had quite deliberately left a feudal old world behind them.
Lincoln could scarcely imagine a buffoon as great as the grifting orange felon. He, Lincoln, knew and enjoyed the wild yarns Americans even then were spinning on the frontier, but he knew this all as frolic -- nothing at all like the "bing-bing-boing-bong" gratuitous nonsense the convicted criminal we have today has ever used to gild his lies, his repeated rapes, cheating, sycophant courting of the world's most wantonly murderous and dehumanized dictators.
Lincoln genuinely grieved the genuine loss of life, maiming, illness, and injury Yankee lads suffered to put down the enslavers and their preposterous efforts to kill national democracy. So by their examples, the guys in federal blue, he could take seriously the dangers of kleptocrats, oligarchs, and would-be autocrats. He'd know the otherwise empty Trump for the menace his cravings for power would represent.
But, Hope, he'd have nothing at all to say to him.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled there had already said all there was to say, so far beyond our poor powers to add or detract.
Well said, Phil. TFFFG’s winning a second term in office is, imho, a permanent stain on our country’s soul.
He didn't "win" anything. A huge network of treachery, deceit, and threats, typified by that choreographed picture of him rising defiantly against the sky, a flag flying over his head.
Yeah, Grift-o the Great…perhaps we could commission a large statue of him made out of trash and refuse. OK, now I’m just being petty. Maybe my new moniker should be Pretty Petty the Persnickety Pontificator……🤪
The world's, Barbara, the world's soul.
I remember being in Italy when Obama was first elected. They were ecstatic about America.s future. Flash forward sixteen years. I was in Italy on Election Day. The people there are in shock (except for the far-right folks, they're giddy). They are afraid that the calming reassurance that through NATO, America had their back is now replaced by uncertainty and fear.
All the while, Putin and Xi are smugly sitting back with smiles on their faces.
Putin and Xi, yes, Herb.
But sadly, and more menacingly still: Orban, Netanyahu, the Iranian mullahs, Sisi, Erdogan, Rico, Mohammed bin Salman, Assad, Kim, Modi, and several hundred of the U.S.'s dark money billionaires in hate media and other revenue streams for the Clarence court and the near-totally corrupted Republicans and their convicted criminal leader.
I don't think that Abe Lincoln could conceive of someone like DJT being Elected as U.S. President... Abe Lincoln knew Scarcity, and Hard-Work, was Studious & Devout... DJT was born with a Silver-Spoon in his Mouth... DJT is Ignorant, Devious, and the only thing that works hard is his Mouth...
Kamala was among the very best candidates to have run for President in my life time. She came from a working class family and she. actually worked in a service job.
Trump is a mobster, who has likely NEVER done a single day's anything physical including cooking, cleaning, changing a diaper, pounding a nail or carrying his own golf clubs. And he constantly pretends he understands the needs of his low-information voters.
His cabinet picks so far confirm that he thinks the government is HIS government and they will do his bidding. So far, it's possible that this cabinet is even worse than the revolving door cabinet of his first term.
They were ready this time, cheated getting in and ready to go.
Much worse.
And when he was younger, some other body part...🤔
...just as inconstant, if not as prolix.
The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak
(Archibald MacLeish)
The young dead soldiers do not speak.
Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses:
who has not heard them?
They have a silence that speaks for them at night
and when the clock counts.
They say: We were young. We have died.
Remember us.
They say: We have done what we could
but until it is finished it is not done.
They say: We have given our lives but until it is finished
no one can know what our lives gave.
They say: Our deaths are not ours: they are yours,
they will mean what you make them.
They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for
peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say,
it is you who must say this.
We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.
We were young, they say. We have died; remember us.
I will put money that he knew Shakespeare better than the Bible - he oft cited his works. There is an excellent discussion of this in James Shapiro's Shakespeare in a Divided America. Check it out (Shapiro's The Playbook which just came out a few months ago is the second of a three part series on Shakespeare in America).
Good quandary, Steve.
Not sure when he got his hands first on either of the two, but historians and biographers agree that his education for many years dwelled on both. Deeply. Reverently. Then, too, he had the advantage of camp meetings and their preachers.
Staged productions of the bard of Avon, or of anyone else? Were but I better read in those biographers and colleagues of Heather's.
Lincoln convened a team of rivals as his cabinet. The man elected on November 5 dreams of commanding a ship of fools. I hope and pray that the Senate members uphold their oath to the Constitution and block the most egregious of the current nominees. Of course, that would be all of them.
DJT will convene a Team of Lackeys...
Indeed Margaret- And will our military leaders uphold their oath to the Constitution?
Is Fox still blasted on every tv on military bases. Without any mention of the “suckers and losers” comment, of course.
Hope, what would Lincoln say about people in this country voting for a shameful president and unqualified cabinet he will impose on everybody?
Hope - He would cry.
Thank you for this reminder of the good and great things one individual can do, what words can mean, what aspiration and inspiration can help us achieve. I feel compassion and pity for those who live without courage, integrity, truth, self-respect, kindness, and dignity. The rest of us must continue to set an example of decency and help lead our communities and country forward. It's never been easy, but we can do it.
It would have been so easy for Lincoln to air his grievances on the members of the Confederacy. Instead he spoke so eloquently about the lofty goals that the founders voiced and urged both sides to aim for them. Let us keep his words in mind as we fight for the country he so loved.
As Kamala and Walz did?
We need to be reminded of Lincoln's words every day, the truth that it is up to us "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
I know that in these time, it's easy to feel that there's nothing we can do, but it is up to us to find something. Today a friend and fellow activist and I had a phone call with our sheriff, a wonderful woman who had promised us that when she was elected, she would cancel the 287(g) agreement with ICE to let them know when people were being released from the jail so that ICE could scoop up any who were undocumented and deport them. She was as good as her word, and for the last two years, the department has been ICE free. But recently, ICE has been pressuring all of the sheriffs in MA, even though Biden still has two months to go as president, to start cooperating again. So my friend and I agreed to start a low-key campaign, informing supporters of what's going on, and asking for small donations as a way to stay connected. I hate asking for money, especially now that many people are tapped out, but I know that many people are also looking for a small but significant way to stay involved, so that's what we're going. Please find something small but significant in your community that you can do to keep Lincoln's words alive.
Good to know that you have a decent sheriff to work with. Too many here in Oregon are Oath Keepers. I hope people will find ways, even if small, to stave off some of what has been threatened. I am truly worried about the bill in the House which would allow death star and the treasury secretary to take away tax-exempt status from non-profits that oppose them. The bill went down once, but I do not know where it is now. I see a lot of people really worried about their investments and retirement income too. I hope you are successful.
Michele, you're spot on about some of our Sheriff's. Ours is not, as far as I can tell (I've known him since he was 16...) Several are, especially over east.
I don't think ours is either, but he is new, but in the force. for a while. I thought at one time Linn County had a bad one, but maybe not now.
During Trump’s last presidency ICE came through Oregon and scooped up immigrants in our town.
I wonder what they would do differently?
I thought the bill was about removing tax exempt status from non-profits that were supporting terrorist groups. That seems okay. Could the law be used for nefarious ways?
Terrorist groups can be defined many ways. Me Too and Black Lives Matter are favorites of the bill’s supporters.
The red flag with the details of the Bill's wording is that there are no safeguards for not -for -profits to defend themselves. In the hands of T administrators, it is open to great abuse. Go to ACLU website for more information.
Like the Heritage Foundation and others that support TRUMP? I would support that, but my guess is that the Dems will do nothing and Trump will turn things around snd remove tax-exempt status from ecological, scientific, and non-Trump think tanks.
I am unaware of any more lucid or eloquent way to express it: "government of the people, by the people, for the people". One hears it so much it might start to sound stale; but it's the key to a free society. What if every governmental action and policy was measured by that yardstick? How many would pass? How many would show a need for improvement? How many are a betrayal? I mean for real. " that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom".
Thanks for this Heather. I can think of no grosser betrayal of Lincoln's words than a vote for what is about to occupy the White House. For an excellent analysis and history of Lincoln's speech I highly recommend Gary Will's Lincoln at Gettysburg. It is very readable, and if memory serves was a best-seller when it came out in the 90s. An equal study is due about his magnificent second inaugural. "With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right . . . "
11/05/24 is a sad ending to Lincoln’s vision.
Tho' not necessarily the end. That said, Lincoln would likely be very steamed over the fate of of his party and our collective lack of care for the rights he worked so hard (and ultimately died) preserving.
Not if WE don’t let it be so, Thomas. It’s up to US, the people, to see his vision strengthened. Other than those who are in it for the money or power, I don’t think the “average” voter (now I hear latest stats of him not hitting the 50% mark of cast votes) really understands what they’ll (alas, we will all) be getting.
Truer words have not been spoken, Barbara. Thank you. We do not have to let it be so. It is up to us to see his vision strengthened!!
Thomas - I think not. It is an awakening of what democracy really means to us everywhere around the world. This is a living thing that needs all of us to engage and to re-ignite the flame of truth csuch as Lincoln would have hoped 🇺🇸🗽🥁🕯️
Things always mean more in retrospect—but the path back is likely to be sabotaged at every turn. As Rachel Maddow said Monday, “Nobody likes Congress … but we will miss it when it’s gone.” Trump is already stripping Congress of its Constitutional powers by preemptively forcing capitulation of largely spineless demagogues. Hungary’s Orban’s puppet nominal ‘democracy’ took little time to be brought to heel and really ‘They won’t have to vote anymore’—because the outcome is preordained.
Thank you Dr. Richardson for this reminder. Then we fought and won a bloody battle to protect our Constitutional rights to endure freedom for eternity. Now we stand on the brink of losing it in a bloodless coup created by a minority group of racist bigots and a handful of greedy billionaires.
Please consider adding the word 'misogynist' after the word 'racist.'
Amen, Judy. That the US voters could pass over 2 brilliant, knowledgeable, accomplished and competent women who ran for POTUS to put this buffoon in office is beyond me.
The Electoral College and Russian financed disinformation campaign were major contributing factors as well.
And amen to you, Barbara! <sigh> Someday....
🤞
Lies, slander, cheating. All the way
Absolutely their plans for women are horrific taking us back to at least the 19th century.
We are not going back
Indeed, they spewed it with a vengeance
History rhyming again. Time was that that ilk was colloquially known as "Robber Barons". Odd that so many suppose they aim to save us.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
My father was a Civil War buff. An entire bookcase devoted to it; multi-volume accounts, the whole business. When we traveled, we would visit Civil War battlefields, including, especially, Gettysburg. I wrote a 20 page term paper on Gettysburg for my American History class in high school. The teacher had us memorize the Address. This battle and Lincoln’s speech represented one of the pivotal moments in American history for me. I never imagined that Lincoln’s words would take on so much weight in the nation’s current affairs during my own lifetime. I am now grateful for that legacy.
Yes, Tom, they still inspire us to commit ourselves to our vision of these United States…aspirational as they are (a work of incremental progress).
And we are at no less a pivotal point on this day than we were in 1861.
Beautiful. You feed us our history and make it enjoyable. Thank you. Because your hard work is noticed and admired.
I read and re-read Lincoln’s words again. It hit me emotionally. On this day we learn that Matt Gaetz paid $7000 to one young girl he raped immediately after meeting her. The Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and the Women Suffragettes must return from the dead and haunt those who use fear, racism, and sexism, as a knife to our throats.
Marlene, I love the Gettysburg Address made in the midst of all that sorrow.....just the right words. And the right words for now and I thank Heather for reminding us.
Yes, Michele, Heather has an uncanny way of knitting pieces together, doesn’t she?
Indeed she does. Start every morning with her. Also I am a history person, so enjoy that perspective. Also every time i see something about the Civil War I am reminded of a book I read about the effect of all the deaths and how they were so hard on those who remained.
War really is hell.
Amen
I'll never forget Obama's whistle-stop tour on the vintage train, from Philadelphia to Washington, commemorating Lincoln at every stage of the journey to the White House.
I teared up reading this, Marlene. It is a balm to my soul as well, and feeds my resolve to do what I can to see our shared vision “shall not perish from this earth”.
I wholly concur with you Barbara, my friend. A balm to the soul indeed. Let us dedicate ourselves similarly, to the great task remaining before us in our day, that the new births of freedom that we have all witnessed in our lifetimes, will continue to move forward, in the face of the adverse wind moving in the opposite direction.
You’re right, Barbara. It feeds my “resolve” also.
I forgot it was on November 19th.
The best two minutes in American history.
These “truths” are still just a proposition. Their pursuit is still worth working towards.
Lincoln harkens to the Declaration. The Constitution had obvious issues
In addition to "The Proposition", a standing call to test the Vision of the self-evident truths, the Preamble lays out the Mission of the Constitution.
I believe that all branches, especially the Supreme Court, should test whether that decision or any decision, moves our People further to the goals of the Declaration.
Obviously, the Preamble states the Duty of all 3 Branches, to always strive to "form a MORE PERFECT Union".
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union"