alas, not only am I not the author, but I changed Burrough's words, as Dear Daria posted the poem for everyone to read as written. I was sparked by HCR, as I am daily, with her metaphor/reality of tides. I post the entirety of William Blake's 'A robin redbreast in a cage" - another poem that is consistently in my mind , also apropos for our times. I remain cautiously pessimistic as to how our near future unfolds & am buoyed by HCR & this community.
Leslie, from wherever they originated, the words moved me. Your thoughts evoked my poetic reply, and the appreciation of others as we all responded to Buddy's picture. All of it, a moment of shared Joy.
Blake's words describe my heart and soul perfectly. I have never heard them before, but they are now my mantra, my prayer to our Maker. Thank you for that gift! May you be lifted by what you have given.
These streams of poetic sharing remind me of why I enjoy reading the conversations HCR stimulates even when she does the occasional snooze. Could be friends at a salon or English major classmates testing their literary prowess. Gently, the stimulation on a quiet Sunday morn that provides comfort and a salve to the worries set aside for the next day and rising tide. Thanks.
Yes, I like the Sunday coffee klatches when the Boss takes a break. Free-floating streams of thought, casual regard for Friends we’ve never met in person. The Monday tides will rise soon enough. Hope the Boss got some good rest this weekend.
Unser Chef arbeitet bestimmt viel zu viel. [Our Boss assuredly overworks herself] I love today because I know she’s getting a tiny bit of rest. I wish she took two days or three days off, but I guess this is her passion.
Well, she wrote a full Letter after all, and it's a doozy. A winner. So much for resting....Nice to have you back Roland. I'll be absent for awhile, not sure when but soon. "I'll be bach." 🧙♂️
Opinion: It’s not ‘polarization.’ We suffer from Republican radicalization.
By Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
November 18, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST
Listen to political scientists, pollsters and well-meaning elected officials, and you’ll likely hear a lot of chatter about “polarization.” That characterization of our current political environment misses the point — and is dangerous.
You know the argument: America is divided into warring camps. The center has collapsed. Compromise is impossible. We have become uncivil and angry.
While it’s true that the country is more deeply divided along partisan lines than it has been in the past, it is wrong to suggest a symmetrical devolution into irrational hatred. The polarization argument too often treats both sides as equally worthy of blame, characterizing the problem as a sort of free-floating affliction (e.g., “lack of trust”). This blurs the distinction between a Democratic Party that is marginally more progressive in policy positions than it was a decade ago, and a Republican Party that routinely lies, courts violence and seeks to define America as a White Christian nation.
The Republican Party’s tolerance of violence is not matched by Democrats. Nor is the Republican Party’s refusal to recognize the sanctity of elections. Democrats did not call the elections they lost in 2020 and 2021 “rigged,” nor are they seeking to replace nonpartisan election officials with partisan lawmakers. Republicans’ determination to change voting laws based on their insistence that Donald Trump won the 2020 election is without historical precedent.
The GOP’s willingness to force a default on the debt is likewise indicative of a party that has fallen into nihilism. And Republicans’ refusal to give a sitting president’s Supreme Court nominee a hearing followed by the effort to push through a nominee of their own party during an election shows the party lacks any modicum of restraint and respect for institutions.
Only one party conducts fake election audits, habitually relies on conspiracy theories and wants to limit access to the ballot. A recent study from the libertarian think tank R Street found: “In Republican states, legislation tended to scale back the availability of mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes and to provide more uniform, if not shorter, early voting windows. Meanwhile, in Democratic states, legislators sought to increase the availability of early voting not only by expanded voting windows but also by instating universal vote-by-mail.”
Terrific article. I’ve been thinking along those lines as Republicans threaten to strip Democrats of their positions in the House in retaliation for what the Democrats have
done to Greene and Gosar. And to use the subpoena to get Democrats in legal trouble as Democrats have done to Bannon. But the thing is, Democrats have not refused to come before Congress to testify (eg: Hillary Clinton’s 11 hours on Benghazi) and they are not adhering to unhinged q-anon theories. So the Republicans are not just an opposition party, they are a threat to sanity and to reality. They are institutionalized haters who will become ruthless oppressors if they come to power.
We still have the means to prevent this - the voting rights bills. THEY MUST PASS! My fantasies this morning were about Lisa Murkowski voting with Dems on revising the filibuster. May it be so!
First those Republicans are going to have to win the House back. The Republicans, urged on by the media, are already claiming victory in 2022. We'll see.
I contend this could be a GWBush kinda midterm where the opposition doesn't take a House of Congress if the Democrats can unify behind the reality that is Infrastructure + Build Back Better.
Yes that's absolutely right, but I can give you two reasons why it's not likely and you know what they are. That's the problem we're facing and the major problem within our party.
It's good to read conservative's articles when they are sincere. You have to be able to accept some blame b/c they do have principled differences of opinions. Living in an echo chamber = certain doom.
For me it will be 58 yrs ago tomorrow on Nov.22, 1963. My President ,JFK was murdered right in front of us.And way to many followed soon after. After the Warren Commission we were told the findings of his death would be sealed for 50 yrs. We have had a ‘Snippet ‘ over time. But to this day they remain sealed. I soon learned the adage “ Two Wings of The Same Bird “ in Ref. to our two party system.Our Country became silent that day except you heard crying everywhere for about 2 weeks. The day of the funeral you heard soft mourning and the Wheels of the Caisson.When Little John-John saluted his father as it gently passed by him, there wasn’t a dry eye in the world.Evil did that.And to his Brother. And all the others. And they still walk amongst us. The only difference is, Fresh Stock and Deadlier Guns. I hope anyone with a Flag remembers to Fly it tomorrow.I still do.TFG told them they were “ The Forgotten One’s“. The White Privileged Republicans are ‘Victims ‘. And the kid in WI just rubber stamped that. If I or any one of us stands with any person of Color, Culture, Religion, any right of Equality, to Vote. The ‘Victims’ can shoot us because that threatens them.We are all now the hunted. Just like my President was and all those that were Fallen after him.Oh ! But they are all Christians and Abortion is murder ! But by all means shoot me because I believe in Equality for All ! Even them. I hope I’m long gone when they discover their regrets. When Kennedy asked “ What we could do for our Country “ I’m 99.9% sure he didn’t mean to Destroy it.
I was at work at NASA when I heard a co-worker say, well, about time somebody did that. Later learned he was a John Bircher. Was so appalled. He was a self-righteous arse so made me ultra sensitive to his ilk from there on. I doubt he has had one regret. He and Samuel Gompers made me a Dem though…
I remember too. I was watching TV when it happened. And then one after another. Seems from then on it has escalated until we have weekly, daily shootings and killings and somehow we dont hear any more "thoughts & prayers" - pretty much little mention of it at all. Remember how politicians would claim "this isnt the time to do anything - too soon"?
I will never forget that day. I still have many questions. Then there was Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy in the same year, riots from anti war protesters and African Americans in cities protesting what they experienced daily and what we white people are just starting to scratch the surface of learning about their experience in the past few years (see Kerner Commission for analysis of race in America which is still pertinent today).
I don't know if things radically changed after 11-22-63 by design or if "the change" is the actual truth about an aspect of American reality that we either didn't notice or not want to notice.
I have read and heard it said that on that day, 22 November 1963, America lost its innocence and saw the cold, hard, brutal reality in the world. I've always thought it was the beginning of our "education" as a nation. The long, slow process of self-awareness begun that day that--guess what??--showed we were NOT the perfect country we thought we were.
I hope this isn't a duplicate post (my previous one sprang into the Ethers before I hit "Post") but the feelings I had after November 2016 election were similar to the feelings I experienced after 11-22-63 when a succession of rapid fire events occurred quickly leaving little time to "process". I would describe it as an assault on my senses.
Kathleen, that’s a good way to put it. And maybe your “sprung” posts will meet up with some of mine, out there in the ether! Maddening when that happens....
Yeah, the so-called Christians are extremely un-Christianlike. I still find it shocking how evil these people are behaving and refusing to act with civility. Very scary.
I'm watching a L&O SVU rerun in which a doctor who performed abortions is killed (the original L&O had a few plot lines about anti abortion activists). They were showing who they were in the 80's and the 90's but to my recollection the news media did not report their activities except as a sideline reference to the story.
I was in 5th grade in Ft. Worth Tx on that day. My step-dad was an Air Force meteorologist at Carswell AFB where AF1 landed right outside his office before it hopped over to Love Field ih Arlington. We were sent home when it happened and I ran home to find my mom, a life long active Democratic Party volunteer, crying on the couch. It was too close to home and it rocked all our lives to the core.
She speaks for me. Why is the obvious so hard to see. Maybe it's the cult megaphone from Fox. I have seen sanity slip slide away for decades and the right become wrong in ways i could only imagine in a nightmare, and being embraced by a coalition of zygote warriors, Pharisees, gun worshipers, and casual racists as well as the radical white supremacists. A cult that spews propaganda about Democrats that Goebbels would be proud of.
"Casual racists"; how perfect. Those who bleat "I'm not racist" in one moment but counter with some statement/scenario/belief that is, in fact, racist at its core.
Will I be able to find, if I go through all of the comments posted this morning here, any which disagree with Ms. Rubin's Washington Post column? Of course not. They don't follow LFAA nor read columns like hers. Democracy is still challenged by most of the 74 million who voted for the ex-president in 2020, and who constitute a majority in most States, enabling their legislatures to pass laws that restrict voting opportunities. Democrats in both Houses of Congress must use every tactic available to them to preserve democracy, starting with passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, even if this means first fighting the battle to eliminate filibusters.
Actually, as HCR has pointed out, 2020 trump voters comprise a minority in many states that have recently passed redistricting laws for 55-85% representation in their state legislatures. True minority rule over both party and racial identity.
Yes to passing national voting rights legislation.
And pay attention to state and local races. Listen and read David Pepper’s Laboratories of Autocracy:
Here’s more via LFAA reader Joan Garvin: a 4 minute watch on how Ohio Republicans refused to participate in the nonpartisan redistricting commission, thereby sending the task to the Republican legislature, a scary template for states across the country.
In Georgia, which went for Biden like 51% to 49%, our gerrymandered state will probably end up being 60% to 40% representation in the state house in favour of the Republicans. Welcome to democracy Southern style...
Thanks for answering Barbara. But how often do we assume that people understand what we talk or write about when they really don't? Beyond acronyms, an example might be "Reconstruction," which without HCR's historical posts, many might think was something it wasn't.
Barbara, don’t feel left out. Plenty of us painfully attempt to figure arcane acronyms out on our own, rather than just ask. One good thing happens when the words I come up with are really funny, having no relationship to the real meaning. Sometimes I do that on purpose....
We are not that far removed from more civilized times. The drift of the GOP from conservatism to whatever you want to call them now has many causes. A lot of it we brought on ourselves for the way we treated them. Most of it, as Heather has pounded into our brains, goes back to the 19th century mentality that only rich white men are smart enough to vote and government's role should be to maintain that status quo.
My daughter and her daughters (12 and 14) are fully aware of what's going on. Kids today have the ability to be just as informed as we are and many more are engaged that you or I might think.
It will most like require an earth-shaking event to bring us together. It can't come too soon for me.
Beautiful! I live on CapeCod,and the fact that I can go to the beach and see that the tide continues to come in and go out is always a comfort when the rest of the world feels out of control. I love the photos you send out. Thank you! Sleep well.
Sleep well, and know we are grateful for your wisdom and your work. We are more informed, and in a better place to articulately communicate on these major issues that you follow, because of your historic lens and excellent writing. Thank you so much, Heather. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Dr. Allen Guelzo is a distinguished American historian who boldly marches to his own drummer. He has written widely-acclaimed books on Lincoln, Gettysburg, Jonathan Edwards, and, most recently, Robert E. Lee/ Speaking about THE JOY OF HISTORY, he has succinctly expressed his personal credo on his joy and responsibility in writing history:
"No history can ignore how easy our lives have been made, compared to the lives of our great-grandparents. Bear in mind, though, that we developed all of this, sitting right beside Jim Crow, the limitation of the franchise to males (mostly white), the predations of the robber barons, and [feeble] protections for free speech.
Finding meaning in history does not compel you to tell one story which is all beaming with goodness and light, or to play constant games of beggar-my-neighbor by only telling another story full of misery and oppression."
He relates this to his recent book on Robert E. Lee. He regretted Lee's failure to speak out against slavery. He lamented that by joining the South Lee dishonored the flag and the Constitution he had served for thirty years as a U. S. Army officer. On balance, he writes well of Lee. For Guelzo, good history writing never lets us put out the sunlight: it finds, side-by-side, generosity and courage and tragedy, and it never allows us to indulge meanness or contempt.
Guelzo spoke of history's unhealthy state. In many schools the study of history has sharply declined as have college history majors. He is troubled by conspiracy history. History can be done badly. It can be the product of poor craft and unreadable writing; worse still, it can be perverted from the search for meaning in the past to the service of suspicion and conspiracy-mongering in the present. He observed that we are suckers for history around suspicion because we are habitually suckers for suspicion.
Guelzo believes that conspiracy theories are particularly risky because they are self-reflective; in their passion to explain everything, they cannot admit any detail which might falsify them, and anyone who intrudes an objection is held to be in on the fix. He referred to Richard Hofstadter's seminal book on the paranoid style.
Guelzo is heartened that local historical societies have blossomed, history non-fiction outsell fiction titles, and producers clamber over one another to produce history programs and documentaries (including two new Lincoln documentaries on which Guelzo is involved).
Guelzo believe that perhaps history can do its best service by offering us moral models-examples of human behavior either to embrace or to avoid, and the ironic truth that both can sometimes inhabit the same skin. Guelzo cautions that if we allow ourselves to become indifferent to our history of republicanism, then that will involve a system failure of civic education and self-knowledge at every level. He states bluntly that if we do not tend to our history, the flame of our civil community will gutter-out.
George Orwell 1984: WHO CONTROLS THE PAST CONTROLS THE FUTURE; WHO CONTROLS HE PRESENT CONTROLS THE PAST.
True. In most fields, if an inventory consists of only debits, or only credits, then it is not actually an inventory. Any human endeavor is doomed without a robust, accurate, and repeatable way to take inventory. History, business, medicine, science, etc., are replete with examples of such failures. Also, while the roster is quire a bit shorter, there are many enterprises that have succeeded at this.
Keith, Your comment, in addition to being apt for public discussion, given the extremism in thought and action by the far-right, autocratic forces, Fox News and social media. I also think a symposium of selected historians, social psychologists, and intellectuals in the field of political science may enlighten the American people to our divisions.
In providing the views of Dr. Allen Guelzo as reflected in his THE JOY OF HISTORY, you wrote, 'Guelzo believes that conspiracy theories are particularly risky because they are self-reflective; in their passion to explain everything, they cannot admit any detail which might falsify them, and anyone who intrudes an objection is held to be in on the fix. He referred to Richard Hofstadter's seminal book on the paranoid style.' Which of Hofstadter's books were you referring to, perhaps, 'Anti-Intellectualism in American Life' (1963)? A link about Richard Hofstadter, including his books, is below.
This line, in particular, caught my attention, 'For Guelzo, good history writing never lets us put out the sunlight: it finds, side-by-side, generosity and courage and tragedy, and it never allows us to indulge meanness or contempt.' I have noted that rigidity is not simply wedded to the fascistic mode of extremism on the right. Many of us, democrats, liberals and left-wing Americans seem to be extreme in our criticisms of the Democratic Party, Merrick Garland, President Biden, etc. Our disappointment having grown over time and warranted fear appears to lock us in, to the point of seeing very little light and the belief that our sense of the darkness is more realistic than the views of others. It is as though people also deeply concerned and active, pro-democracy advocates are threatening in their praise for Biden and or advancing opinions in support of moves being made now on behalf of the American people. The unmistakable advance autocracy has put many of us in locked boxes. In addition to the monumental challenge of defeating the autocratic and white supremacist movements, we are challenged within as is the Democratic Party. Pro-democracy advocates need to better listen to one another and draw down the walls between us.
Thank you for this, I am one of those who can’t see much light having been observing the republican slide into evil cult for 40 years. Yes, I get impatient and bitchy (especially about the Trojan horses in the Dem party) but I must keep in mind every hour of every day that I don’t wake up to tfg in charge. I am still the golden rule gal, even to family crazies…
Dear Golden Rule Gal Jon Meacham’s marvelous book on THE SOUL OF AMERICA chronicles the ups, downs, and then ups in America’s history. I agree that we have been in a prolonged down exacerbated by Trump and his sycophants. With moderate optimism I believe that President Biden, with his integrity, street-smart savvy, and professional administration, is crafting 21st century programs that will improve the well being of a large majority of the American people. Whether this will have a major impact on the Republican-rigged 2022 elections is a massive question. It requires believing in the American people, 74 million of whom voted for Trump last year.
As a youth I recall the naysayers when Churchill took office in a dire situation. They were proved wrong. Can lightening strike twice?
Fern The Paranoid Style of American Politics. Warm thanks for your keen insights. I posted my write up of Dr. Guelzo’s presentation at the Princeton Old Guard. I was almost scrupulous in scribing his views, rather than my own. I would have liked to highlight GUELZO BELIEVES THAT PERHAPS HISTORY CAN DO ITS BEST SERVICE BY OFFERING US MORAL MODELS-EXAMPLES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR EITHER TO EMBRACE OR TO AVOID, and the ironic truth that both can sometimes inhabit the same human skin.
This Guelzo demonstrated in his excellent book on Robert E. Lee. By contrast, Wheatcroft’s recent book focusing on Churchill’s weaknesses and failures neglects the fact that Churchill perhaps saved England and Western civilization. Sensation sells as do conspiracy theories. The blatant and false negativism of Trump and his sycophants in Congress and Fox ‘news’ is one example. However, the bickering between ‘progressive’ and ‘moderate’ Democrats may prove just as debilitating for America. I see that President Biden has turned Trump’s Titanic on to a positive course and that his modern New Deal/Great Society legislative proposals are remarkable in creating a better physical and social infrastructure for my grandchildren. That his ‘Democratic team’ is playing sandlot baseball instead of focusing on winning as a team is, I believe, something that Guelzo would abhore.
My suggestion to all: HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, LET HIM THROW THE FIRST STONE.
Keith, the intensity with which Churchill fought to save England and by extension the West is poorly understood, I think. I cannot imagine the resolve and gall he had to rally a people being beaten down daily for years on end. The utter exhaustion he must have felt and yet he persevered. He did not tolerate sandlot baseball, that's for sure.
Keith, Thank you for returning. This strongly resonated with me, 'GUELZO BELIEVES THAT PERHAPS HISTORY CAN DO ITS BEST SERVICE BY OFFERING US MORAL MODELS-EXAMPLES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR EITHER TO EMBRACE OR TO AVOID, Historian, Timothy Snyder, is on this track, but I think we need many more examples and modes of expression conveying 'Moral Models'. On the news, in movies - music, - dramas and on comedy shows - artists, performers, athletes, writers -- let's combine our talents to get this message across.
Beautifully stated Fern. “Draw down the walls between us” is ultimately the only solution. Getting there through the disinformation and chaos is the problem before us now.
Thanks for your additional commentary Fern. On first glance I confused Richard with Douglas Hofsteader (author of Goedel, Escher Bach) and thought it remarkable that one person could be so diverse as to be authoritative in both History and Philosophy. Once again, caught forming opinions without knowing the facts. So easy to do.
Not at all familiar with Richard. Only familiar enough with Douglas to catch the odd reference to him in Calvin and Hobbs. Like so many pseudo intellectuals of the 80’s I have a copy of Goedel Escher Bach on my bookshelf uncompleted. Still waiting for the abridged version or the study notes. ;/
Christian, I had only heard of 'Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid'. Some brilliant and very accomplishment individuals attracted my attention, still do, but I was in the woods about technology and artificial intelligence -- my own intelligence frequently needed prodding. Out of curiosity, I found an article about Douglas Hofstadter in the Atlantic, circa 2013, called 'The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think'
'The idea that changed Hofstadter’s existence, as he has explained over the years, came to him on the road, on a break from graduate school in particle physics. Discouraged by the way his doctoral thesis was going at the University of Oregon, feeling “profoundly lost,” he decided in the summer of 1972 to pack his things into a car he called Quicksilver and drive eastward across the continent. Each night he pitched his tent somewhere new (“sometimes in a forest, sometimes by a lake”) and read by flashlight. He was free to think about whatever he wanted; he chose to think about thinking itself. Ever since he was about 14, when he found out that his youngest sister, Molly, couldn’t understand language, because she “had something deeply wrong with her brain” (her neurological condition probably dated from birth, and was never diagnosed), he had been quietly obsessed by the relation of mind to matter. The father of psychology, William James, described this in 1890 as “the most mysterious thing in the world”: How could consciousness be physical? How could a few pounds of gray gelatin give rise to our very thoughts and selves?' A link to the article is below.
On the November 11, 2021 Washington Post there is an article called "Opinion: The danger of critical race theory" by Marc Thiessen (who I believe has a casual relation with morality and truth). Anyway. In this article Thiessen has a lot of quotes by Guelzo on CRT.
Also. I am distressed to see that not only has the far right coopted the American Flag they have claimed MLK as one of their own. (see this article by Thiessen).
Don’t let them co-opt the American flag. We are the patriots supporting the Constitution and democratic process. Fly the American flag proudly. Don’t give away our power or let the purveyors of disinformation define us.
Barbara, I think the subject of CRT and Guelzo may or may not have been fudged by Thiessen, Quoting from the Opiniion, Guelzo says, is a subset of critical theory that began with Immanuel Kant in the 1790s. It was a response to — and rejection of — the principles of the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason on which the American republic was founded. Kant believed that “reason was inadequate to give shape to our lives” and so he set about “developing a theory of being critical of reason,” Guelzo says. --Note, Barbara, where Thiessen is literally quoting Guelzo and isn't. Thiessen's Opinion is depending on on a study by AEI. 'But many do not know just how radical or pernicious CRT is — because, as a new study from the American Enterprise Institute shows, the media does not explain its key tenets in its coverage.'
Frederic M. Hess is the founder of AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network, which includes hundreds of the nation's most influential conservative educators and education policy makers and hosts the “Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda series.”
'Distilling knowledge from over twenty-five years working in and around school reform, Hess has become a leading voice on issues including the Common Core, No Child Left Behind, the role of for-profits in education, education philanthropy, and the impact of education research. Under Hess, AEI Education has grown into a predominant center of conservative thought for K-12 and higher education policy.' (Wikipedia)
I have reason to think it may be difficult to untangle the political bias and bending the truth in this Opinion. Below is a link to the Opinion and an article written by Hess,
Barbara I sent my ‘simple’ questions related to CRT to Guelzo and received a two page response. It was too hifalutin for me to comprehend. Started with some 19th century philosophers. I’m standing pat with my ‘simple’ questions related to specific events in American history where Blacks seemed the victims and whites were not.
I saw it, he has a very broken relationship with the truth in my estimation. I haven’t conceded the flag to them. I had one at my house, and when people assumed too much, I promptly corrected them. As to MLK, he might do a JFK resurrection like the MAGAts think he will do in Dallas. Lordy, and people don’t want to call them a cult.
Loved your comment. I maintain my subscription at the Washington Post for 2 reasons. To see what the cult members are writing. To counter what the cult members are writing.
I'm currently reading Erik Larsen's The Splendid and The Vile, the chronicle, of Churchill's perseverance against Hitler in the span of one year, 1940 - 1941. The phrase "carry on" crops up more than once. Back then, the good people of the world did carry on and eventually quashed Nazism, yet here we are again standing against a tide of hatred. We are creatures who do not learn our lessons easily.
I wish I lived inside of Buddy's photos. Thank you both for your generosity. Sleep, rest, carry on.
Churchill “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Are we capable of that or do we have too much internal turmoil?
I too was in amazement at their perseverance in the face of the unimaginable; but it was also an outside threat, easier to mobilize against perhaps? It seems scarier when our own countrymen and women are asking “when can we use the guns?”
Carol, it is far scarier to me that our own countrymen and women are asking when can they use the guns. We have watched any number of countries devolve into civil war and we've been horrified, but there are those here eager to plunge in and wage war at home. Why are so many in the US champing at the bit to gun down their neighbors? Do they think that civil war is a 9 - 5 operation with coffee and lunch breaks?
My theory about why people are eager to engage in civil war is pretty simple. We don't know the terror of invasion. We have never had to fend off an outside enemy for years on end. We have never had to put aside our differences, come together, and fight for our survival. We don't understand national unity, certainly our politicians don't. Since the Civil War, we've not once formed a national unity government.
The majority in the United States do not understand the truth about war – schools, businesses and homes being bombed to bits, body parts lying in the streets, entire families wiped out in the blink of an eye, no food or water, refugee and prison camps. The sights, sounds and smells of persistent violence and death. But this is what some who call themselves Patriots are ready and willing to begin. And it scares the hell out of me.
(There are some who will point to 9/11 as an invasion. As horrible as that day was, it was not an invasion. It resulted in churning up hatred and violence against those of Middle Eastern descent and our further military intrusion into the Middle East, most recently, Iraq and Afghanistan.)
It amazes me that after all those lives lost in Viet Nam and Afghanistan - both American and others (many many others) and, honestly, the rousing DEFEAT in which we left those countries - they dont see the obvious truth that "both sides suffer destruction - just ONE gives up first". (great description, Daniel)
Again, I refer to Milton Mayer’s “They Thought They Were Free, Germany 1935-1945. We have our “forms” which keep us deluded. Nothing chilled me like a post from a MAGAt about killing his beloved dog; he wanted to see if he could kill someone that he didn’t know. That was his test. And some resist calling them a cult.
I just posted this (next paragraph) above, I copy/paste to add to your comment as I would love to have todays photo on my desk! Perhaps it will inspire someone out there in the LFAA universe:
A thought this morning upon viewing yet another of Buddy's beautiful photos: I would love to see some enterprising and talented person create a charitable organization that would benefit Democratic groups, offering these photos as blank note cards, greeting cards, or printed and framed to hang on a wall (with Buddy's and HCR's blessings, of course) . I do not have those abilities, I was a healthcare worker, never in business or retail--but I would make a purchase!
I am sitting down in Maricopa Arizona enjoying the cold Winter weather of the seventies.
I do want to commend you Prof. Heather for comparing the Wall Street provoked recession to the more recent Pandemic recession.
The difference in each can be found in how a President and Congress react to stem the severity of a recession. In 2008, Main Street paid for Wall Street's dalliance. The President Barack Obama was blocked from creating a economic stimulus package which would have eased the fallout created by the collapse of Wall Street and Banks. McConnell and Republicans were more interested in making Barack Obama a one term president over applying a greater stimulus package to save their constituency.
In 2021, we find ourselves much better off, the results of which come from a President and a Democratic Congress more attuned to the needs of all of the constituency regardless of political beliefs. Where Barack was blocked, Joe Biden was supported. We can see the results.
We sit on the verge of a large stimulus package to rebuild the infrastructure of this nation. One in which will alleviate some of the strain we are experiencing today with a supply chain lacking capacity to carry the needs of the people from overseas to the nations cities much of which comes by train out of California.
Congress needs to enact a fairer system promoting truck drivers and fair wages on routes much of which was eliminated during President Carters deregulation of the industry. Indeed, independent truckers are being laden with debt as sold to them by leasers of used trucks. To resolve some of this Congress has proposed licensing 18-21 year-olds to drive cross country in rigs after a short training period. They have a much higher accident rate than old truckers.
As a result of the financial burden on independent truckers we often see them driving 60-70 hours a week to pay for their rigs, leases, fuel, and a livelihood. Most recently I wrote on this topic,
Again, I commend you on the comparison of 2008 to 2021 government reactions to the nedds of the constituency. More should be said.
I remember my brother (also named Bill!) being an independent trucker many years ago and never getting ahead; he finished his career as an employee and we could all see the results of the reduced stress
Since 1980 when they went a bridge too far with the Motor Carrier Act, it did result in lower costs to ship product. Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Sams, Costco, etc. would not have made it in the pre-1980 scenario.
However, the results were lower shipping costs through deregulation of the routes; but, it also hurt Labor or the drivers in this case. Labor is always the smallest cost of mfg. and in this case transportation. The companies are preying on the drivers today. And some in trying to make ends meet are doing that 60-70 hour routine. I had one get darn close when I was coming off of I88 to I80. It was a slow down in the going from one road to another. I finally raised my hands up as if to say slowdown, I can not go anywhere. He did.
Thanks Bill - that was very enlightening. I have to admit it did cross my mind to wonder why the ports didnt come up with the "solution" of the 24/7 shifts on their own - I mean how long had they been in business?????? Wait for the government to tell them? Had they forgotten???
The answer may be, who pays for the extra shifts and the premiums involved? Joe may have struck a deal with them. It is a bit late in happening and the lateness of this action has resulted in increased prices.
Others may different with my opinion, the current inflation may decrease as this supply bubble reaches the market and on-the-shelf supply increases. No one cares about Supply Chain till it is not on the shelf. We have become lazy.
AB was one of the first econ blogs on the internet.
Yeah I realize there is more expense, but I'm thinking that likely is the only way to get things moving - waiting longer wouldnt seem to be the option. And yes we sure ARE lazy! We want everything WHEN we want it & not a second later! That attitude certainly explains why we are in the pickle we are - environment, climate, supply chain, energy on & on. Patience is no longer a current virtue in the US or, I guess anywhere else.
Not sure what the amen is for as I have a couple of topics going on there. I am happy Prof. Heather picked up on this comparison. I had mentioned it a couple of weeks back, not that she reads my comments.
The stimulus packages of which there will have been three soon are extremely important to the health of the constituents, the nation's economy besides Wall Street which will always survive off of our sweat, and the future for our children and theirs too.
We have taken too much out of the infrastructure, the nations funding, etc. in the name of laissez-faire. It is time to put back. I have seen too much in Michigan where the legislature has been under the thumb of Republicans for decades and refuse to raise taxes for roads and in turn blame a Democratic governor.
Then there is the issue of independent truckers who should organize to force the issues they are faced with today. I addressed Carol on this (below).
Amen from where you started to ruminate sitting in Maricopa AZ. Sound observations throughout the stream thereafter. Were government to focus on investing in the lower half,, almost to the exclusion of preferential policies for the upper third I think all would do better. Note the term investment. Most of us in the upper half have figured out success and have the fiscal knowledge and capital to protect our nut and those of us who made it to the top third have strategies and a nut good enough to provide an advantage (perhaps modest enough as I think an inheritance should be) to help our progeny with a good assist (investment, rather than inheritance) to get them working up their own economic position. You stay safe as well and have a good holiday. You appear to be thankful already.
We did not really make a go of it till the three finished college, paid their loan debt off, left, are fully on their own, doing well, and we were over sixty . . . 12 years ago.
I hit a gold mine doing sales for a Korean company with my contacts. My wife also started to collect off of my SS while she still worked. I invested it in various mutual funds and we did well. We really did not have a whole heck of a lot till I was 65. We also did not need the tax break Trump handed out. We were in the fifth quintile.
Rolled our funds over to an investment firm even though they normally did not take funds as small as ours. One person at the place my wife worked asked the firm to take us on too. We have been fortunate in a lot of respects.
I have been known to help those in trouble or need. USMC Sgt's emergency funds.
Dear Dr. Richardson, if I could be your mother, I would encourage you and Buddy to have two photo days per week. Energy is finite, plus I'm selfish and I need you to be able to carry on with these essential Letters.
Yes, but as Heather has said more than once, it is harder for her NOT to write. I suspect finishing the letter each night (early morning) makes for more restful, revitalizing sleep. Or so this nurse needs to believe.
Life is a long game. Dear Heather keeps sprinting in a marathon. More Buddy photos can provide her a slower gait so that she can continue to inform and inspire her devotees much as Seabiscuit uplifted America in my youth.
I enjoy (if that is the right word for getting clarity on an unfolding disaster) your letters and also, the wonderful photos of where you live. I also live in a beautiful location (overlooking Florence Italy) and I find that beauty is a great aid to resilience. Not a distraction from the perils of the world but a reminder of why it matters to push back. I reread Keats’ Endymion (“a thing of beauty is a joy forever”) where he discusses this very thing. If you read it all you would think he was writing for today! So thank you for the knowledge and insight you share (historical ignorance is really scary) and the uplift from Buddy Poland’s wonderful photos. I grew up on the ocean (Vancouver BC) and there is nothing like a water view to soothe the soul. Stay well! :)
the stars come nightly to the sky
the tides unto the sea
nothing deep nor high
can keep my love away from thee
be well & not overwhelmed, everybody
Leslie,
Since no Citation did you render,
You must be Author
As well as Sender
Of lovely Verse that I did see;
May all you send
Come back, to Thee,
On wings of Gratitude!
Best I could do in 15 minutes. Thanks Leslie, your verse was a bookend to that picture, As if the tides were speaking to us.
For words of friends and earnest thoughts,
For caring scholar's lessons taught,
For images of life so precious,
For the growing strength among us,
Gratitude! Gratitude!
Wonderful! Buddy's photo draws us together for a special moment....
alas, not only am I not the author, but I changed Burrough's words, as Dear Daria posted the poem for everyone to read as written. I was sparked by HCR, as I am daily, with her metaphor/reality of tides. I post the entirety of William Blake's 'A robin redbreast in a cage" - another poem that is consistently in my mind , also apropos for our times. I remain cautiously pessimistic as to how our near future unfolds & am buoyed by HCR & this community.
“A Robin Redbreast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
A dove house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions.
A Dog starv’d at his Master’s Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus’d upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fiber from the Brain does tear.”
Leslie, from wherever they originated, the words moved me. Your thoughts evoked my poetic reply, and the appreciation of others as we all responded to Buddy's picture. All of it, a moment of shared Joy.
Blake's words describe my heart and soul perfectly. I have never heard them before, but they are now my mantra, my prayer to our Maker. Thank you for that gift! May you be lifted by what you have given.
Gus Koch, Thank you for your generosity!
Gustav, you’re a gem 💎
I feel like an agate for some reason....
Let’s go with diamond. If you’re feeling modest, it’ll be a yellow diamond. On a day that you’re feeling proud of yourself, blue diamond.
I can understand that working in a government agency can have that effect on people. But trust me, you are a star.
Masterful! Your poem, Gus, is the other bookend…
Thank you Rose. Kind words, to a rusty amateur!
Your choice of poetry is excellent what else is new. You always reek of excellence. And self-deprecation/modesty, a sign of high character.
The last verse of John Burroughs poem, Waiting. Lovely.
These streams of poetic sharing remind me of why I enjoy reading the conversations HCR stimulates even when she does the occasional snooze. Could be friends at a salon or English major classmates testing their literary prowess. Gently, the stimulation on a quiet Sunday morn that provides comfort and a salve to the worries set aside for the next day and rising tide. Thanks.
Yes, I like the Sunday coffee klatches when the Boss takes a break. Free-floating streams of thought, casual regard for Friends we’ve never met in person. The Monday tides will rise soon enough. Hope the Boss got some good rest this weekend.
Unser Chef arbeitet bestimmt viel zu viel. [Our Boss assuredly overworks herself] I love today because I know she’s getting a tiny bit of rest. I wish she took two days or three days off, but I guess this is her passion.
Well, she wrote a full Letter after all, and it's a doozy. A winner. So much for resting....Nice to have you back Roland. I'll be absent for awhile, not sure when but soon. "I'll be bach." 🧙♂️
Wow, you’re right, it IS a doozy.
I hope you’ll be Bach real soon. Keep up the good work. 🏆 🏆
Right on all. Regards.
That’s beautiful Fred. Thank you 🙏
You can see the full text of this very lovely poem, Waiting, by John Burroughs, here.
https://www.poetry.com/poem/22194/waiting
Good Sunday, Daria! "Anticipation is making me wait." But it's a good wait!
Very good Sunday to you, Lynell!
Leslie you took so many of us to a higher place. Thank you for the exquisite transport. 💫💥🌈💫
💕❤️💕❤️💕
Opinion: It’s not ‘polarization.’ We suffer from Republican radicalization.
By Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
November 18, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST
Listen to political scientists, pollsters and well-meaning elected officials, and you’ll likely hear a lot of chatter about “polarization.” That characterization of our current political environment misses the point — and is dangerous.
You know the argument: America is divided into warring camps. The center has collapsed. Compromise is impossible. We have become uncivil and angry.
While it’s true that the country is more deeply divided along partisan lines than it has been in the past, it is wrong to suggest a symmetrical devolution into irrational hatred. The polarization argument too often treats both sides as equally worthy of blame, characterizing the problem as a sort of free-floating affliction (e.g., “lack of trust”). This blurs the distinction between a Democratic Party that is marginally more progressive in policy positions than it was a decade ago, and a Republican Party that routinely lies, courts violence and seeks to define America as a White Christian nation.
The Republican Party’s tolerance of violence is not matched by Democrats. Nor is the Republican Party’s refusal to recognize the sanctity of elections. Democrats did not call the elections they lost in 2020 and 2021 “rigged,” nor are they seeking to replace nonpartisan election officials with partisan lawmakers. Republicans’ determination to change voting laws based on their insistence that Donald Trump won the 2020 election is without historical precedent.
The GOP’s willingness to force a default on the debt is likewise indicative of a party that has fallen into nihilism. And Republicans’ refusal to give a sitting president’s Supreme Court nominee a hearing followed by the effort to push through a nominee of their own party during an election shows the party lacks any modicum of restraint and respect for institutions.
Only one party conducts fake election audits, habitually relies on conspiracy theories and wants to limit access to the ballot. A recent study from the libertarian think tank R Street found: “In Republican states, legislation tended to scale back the availability of mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes and to provide more uniform, if not shorter, early voting windows. Meanwhile, in Democratic states, legislators sought to increase the availability of early voting not only by expanded voting windows but also by instating universal vote-by-mail.”
Rest at: https://wapo.st/32n9ak7
Terrific article. I’ve been thinking along those lines as Republicans threaten to strip Democrats of their positions in the House in retaliation for what the Democrats have
done to Greene and Gosar. And to use the subpoena to get Democrats in legal trouble as Democrats have done to Bannon. But the thing is, Democrats have not refused to come before Congress to testify (eg: Hillary Clinton’s 11 hours on Benghazi) and they are not adhering to unhinged q-anon theories. So the Republicans are not just an opposition party, they are a threat to sanity and to reality. They are institutionalized haters who will become ruthless oppressors if they come to power.
We still have the means to prevent this - the voting rights bills. THEY MUST PASS! My fantasies this morning were about Lisa Murkowski voting with Dems on revising the filibuster. May it be so!
"From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step" - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and writer.
First those Republicans are going to have to win the House back. The Republicans, urged on by the media, are already claiming victory in 2022. We'll see.
I contend this could be a GWBush kinda midterm where the opposition doesn't take a House of Congress if the Democrats can unify behind the reality that is Infrastructure + Build Back Better.
And the right to vote, and have it counted....
Stalin knew that who counted was more important than who voted, we are learning that it seems…
Yes, it would be nice, but we need the Voting Rights Act, or there's no way we stop them from cheating and rigging the results.
Yes that's absolutely right, but I can give you two reasons why it's not likely and you know what they are. That's the problem we're facing and the major problem within our party.
Whole lotta propaganda went into that election, Rove’s finest if memory serves…
It's good to read conservative's articles when they are sincere. You have to be able to accept some blame b/c they do have principled differences of opinions. Living in an echo chamber = certain doom.
I used to in the 80’s. It has gotten so bizarre that I won’t bother. G. Will is still sane most of the time.
For me it will be 58 yrs ago tomorrow on Nov.22, 1963. My President ,JFK was murdered right in front of us.And way to many followed soon after. After the Warren Commission we were told the findings of his death would be sealed for 50 yrs. We have had a ‘Snippet ‘ over time. But to this day they remain sealed. I soon learned the adage “ Two Wings of The Same Bird “ in Ref. to our two party system.Our Country became silent that day except you heard crying everywhere for about 2 weeks. The day of the funeral you heard soft mourning and the Wheels of the Caisson.When Little John-John saluted his father as it gently passed by him, there wasn’t a dry eye in the world.Evil did that.And to his Brother. And all the others. And they still walk amongst us. The only difference is, Fresh Stock and Deadlier Guns. I hope anyone with a Flag remembers to Fly it tomorrow.I still do.TFG told them they were “ The Forgotten One’s“. The White Privileged Republicans are ‘Victims ‘. And the kid in WI just rubber stamped that. If I or any one of us stands with any person of Color, Culture, Religion, any right of Equality, to Vote. The ‘Victims’ can shoot us because that threatens them.We are all now the hunted. Just like my President was and all those that were Fallen after him.Oh ! But they are all Christians and Abortion is murder ! But by all means shoot me because I believe in Equality for All ! Even them. I hope I’m long gone when they discover their regrets. When Kennedy asked “ What we could do for our Country “ I’m 99.9% sure he didn’t mean to Destroy it.
I was at work at NASA when I heard a co-worker say, well, about time somebody did that. Later learned he was a John Bircher. Was so appalled. He was a self-righteous arse so made me ultra sensitive to his ilk from there on. I doubt he has had one regret. He and Samuel Gompers made me a Dem though…
A friend of mine was at a faculty dinner and one her her colleagues made a similar statement. And this was in early 2000's.
Cult seems to have been in the making for a long time, Roger Stone is proof. See Netflix “Get Me Roger Stone.” Hard to be shocked anymore…
I remember too. I was watching TV when it happened. And then one after another. Seems from then on it has escalated until we have weekly, daily shootings and killings and somehow we dont hear any more "thoughts & prayers" - pretty much little mention of it at all. Remember how politicians would claim "this isnt the time to do anything - too soon"?
I sure do. It was like "something" flipped a switch on11-22-63.
I will never forget that day. I still have many questions. Then there was Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy in the same year, riots from anti war protesters and African Americans in cities protesting what they experienced daily and what we white people are just starting to scratch the surface of learning about their experience in the past few years (see Kerner Commission for analysis of race in America which is still pertinent today).
I don't know if things radically changed after 11-22-63 by design or if "the change" is the actual truth about an aspect of American reality that we either didn't notice or not want to notice.
I have read and heard it said that on that day, 22 November 1963, America lost its innocence and saw the cold, hard, brutal reality in the world. I've always thought it was the beginning of our "education" as a nation. The long, slow process of self-awareness begun that day that--guess what??--showed we were NOT the perfect country we thought we were.
I hope this isn't a duplicate post (my previous one sprang into the Ethers before I hit "Post") but the feelings I had after November 2016 election were similar to the feelings I experienced after 11-22-63 when a succession of rapid fire events occurred quickly leaving little time to "process". I would describe it as an assault on my senses.
Every hour of every day, why so many of the horrors were barely mentioned, on to the next horror show, and on and on…l
Precisely.
Kathleen, that’s a good way to put it. And maybe your “sprung” posts will meet up with some of mine, out there in the ether! Maddening when that happens....
Bruce, it’s a tragedy that after 58 years how many Americans are vehemently un-self-aware. Reality bites....
Yeah, the so-called Christians are extremely un-Christianlike. I still find it shocking how evil these people are behaving and refusing to act with civility. Very scary.
I'm watching a L&O SVU rerun in which a doctor who performed abortions is killed (the original L&O had a few plot lines about anti abortion activists). They were showing who they were in the 80's and the 90's but to my recollection the news media did not report their activities except as a sideline reference to the story.
I was in 5th grade in Ft. Worth Tx on that day. My step-dad was an Air Force meteorologist at Carswell AFB where AF1 landed right outside his office before it hopped over to Love Field ih Arlington. We were sent home when it happened and I ran home to find my mom, a life long active Democratic Party volunteer, crying on the couch. It was too close to home and it rocked all our lives to the core.
Marcia, once again you have flattened me with the way you can put things. This is a spur in the flanks for all of us. Thank you.
🦋
She speaks for me. Why is the obvious so hard to see. Maybe it's the cult megaphone from Fox. I have seen sanity slip slide away for decades and the right become wrong in ways i could only imagine in a nightmare, and being embraced by a coalition of zygote warriors, Pharisees, gun worshipers, and casual racists as well as the radical white supremacists. A cult that spews propaganda about Democrats that Goebbels would be proud of.
"Casual racists"; how perfect. Those who bleat "I'm not racist" in one moment but counter with some statement/scenario/belief that is, in fact, racist at its core.
Stole it from someone, boy does it fit some who have no clue
Thank You Christopher. Exactly. I reposted, hoping my conservative friends, still clinging to the rags of their grand old party, will see the light.
Will I be able to find, if I go through all of the comments posted this morning here, any which disagree with Ms. Rubin's Washington Post column? Of course not. They don't follow LFAA nor read columns like hers. Democracy is still challenged by most of the 74 million who voted for the ex-president in 2020, and who constitute a majority in most States, enabling their legislatures to pass laws that restrict voting opportunities. Democrats in both Houses of Congress must use every tactic available to them to preserve democracy, starting with passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, even if this means first fighting the battle to eliminate filibusters.
Jack, you won't. They "don't believe" in the press (unless it's Faux, or OANN*, or Brietbart) so they won't even read the opinion.
*I cannot help but refer to this as "ONAN" in my head... that's just my junior high ego coming out.
Actually, as HCR has pointed out, 2020 trump voters comprise a minority in many states that have recently passed redistricting laws for 55-85% representation in their state legislatures. True minority rule over both party and racial identity.
Yes to passing national voting rights legislation.
And pay attention to state and local races. Listen and read David Pepper’s Laboratories of Autocracy:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9saW5jb2xucHJvamVjdC5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw/episode/NTJmOTAyZTctY2E2Ni00NDI5LWFhNjktN2UyMTIzMTA2ZDYy
Here’s more via LFAA reader Joan Garvin: a 4 minute watch on how Ohio Republicans refused to participate in the nonpartisan redistricting commission, thereby sending the task to the Republican legislature, a scary template for states across the country.
https://twitter.com/newday/status/1461681726124609536?s=21
In Georgia, which went for Biden like 51% to 49%, our gerrymandered state will probably end up being 60% to 40% representation in the state house in favour of the Republicans. Welcome to democracy Southern style...
Will check Peppe out. But those minorities, if properly gerrymandered, amount to a majority.
Absolutely Jack. Minority rule, the holy grail off the antebellum southern planter aristocracy. They’re finally achieving it....
What is LFAA? Oh those acronyms!
Letters from an American.
Thanks for answering Barbara. But how often do we assume that people understand what we talk or write about when they really don't? Beyond acronyms, an example might be "Reconstruction," which without HCR's historical posts, many might think was something it wasn't.
For the longest time I thought "lol" was about love. Honest!
Barbara, don’t feel left out. Plenty of us painfully attempt to figure arcane acronyms out on our own, rather than just ask. One good thing happens when the words I come up with are really funny, having no relationship to the real meaning. Sometimes I do that on purpose....
I like your method. Truth be known I believe we may just have gone overboard on the acronyms. I quit trying to figure them out and just ask.
I just call it “the Letter” and hope everyone here knows what I mean, ‘cuz I don’t like to use acronyms. We had too many of them in the military.
Heather's daily "letters" to us Americans.
Saw this a few days ago and it struck a cord. Don't accept polarization. This is a cult Republican Party. Thank you for posting it here.
You're welcome. It's strange and education to read Jennifer. She bashed Obama like a red-headed stepchild for 8 years and now this.
The old paradigms no longer stand we are being resorted from liberals and conservatives into lovers of democracy and fascists.
Exciting times!
Horrific times, I love what Jennifer writes now, didn’t know she trashed Obama. Strange happenings all over…
Should be shouted from podiums and rooftops by every concerned American until everyone knows it by heart!
Christopher, Perhaps the nihilism stems from our species' growing awareness that we have doomed ourselves, and all currently viable life with it?
We need to mitigate. And teach our descendants how to live well with each other as they cope with what is coming. Right now.
We are not that far removed from more civilized times. The drift of the GOP from conservatism to whatever you want to call them now has many causes. A lot of it we brought on ourselves for the way we treated them. Most of it, as Heather has pounded into our brains, goes back to the 19th century mentality that only rich white men are smart enough to vote and government's role should be to maintain that status quo.
My daughter and her daughters (12 and 14) are fully aware of what's going on. Kids today have the ability to be just as informed as we are and many more are engaged that you or I might think.
It will most like require an earth-shaking event to bring us together. It can't come too soon for me.
FDR was probably grateful for Pearl Harbor, as horrid as it was. All of a sudden “unity.”
Beautiful! I live on CapeCod,and the fact that I can go to the beach and see that the tide continues to come in and go out is always a comfort when the rest of the world feels out of control. I love the photos you send out. Thank you! Sleep well.
Thankful for your gentle reminders of the flow of life. Peaceful rest and sweet dreams ❤️.
You’re like Mom, teaching, giving, helping us understand the world, and then when time comes….you’re to say,‘sweet dreams, and good night moon!’
Sweet dreams to you and Buddy too!
Sleep well, and know we are grateful for your wisdom and your work. We are more informed, and in a better place to articulately communicate on these major issues that you follow, because of your historic lens and excellent writing. Thank you so much, Heather. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
THE GOOD AND BAD IN WRITING HISTORY
(take a gander and then ponder)
Dr. Allen Guelzo is a distinguished American historian who boldly marches to his own drummer. He has written widely-acclaimed books on Lincoln, Gettysburg, Jonathan Edwards, and, most recently, Robert E. Lee/ Speaking about THE JOY OF HISTORY, he has succinctly expressed his personal credo on his joy and responsibility in writing history:
"No history can ignore how easy our lives have been made, compared to the lives of our great-grandparents. Bear in mind, though, that we developed all of this, sitting right beside Jim Crow, the limitation of the franchise to males (mostly white), the predations of the robber barons, and [feeble] protections for free speech.
Finding meaning in history does not compel you to tell one story which is all beaming with goodness and light, or to play constant games of beggar-my-neighbor by only telling another story full of misery and oppression."
He relates this to his recent book on Robert E. Lee. He regretted Lee's failure to speak out against slavery. He lamented that by joining the South Lee dishonored the flag and the Constitution he had served for thirty years as a U. S. Army officer. On balance, he writes well of Lee. For Guelzo, good history writing never lets us put out the sunlight: it finds, side-by-side, generosity and courage and tragedy, and it never allows us to indulge meanness or contempt.
Guelzo spoke of history's unhealthy state. In many schools the study of history has sharply declined as have college history majors. He is troubled by conspiracy history. History can be done badly. It can be the product of poor craft and unreadable writing; worse still, it can be perverted from the search for meaning in the past to the service of suspicion and conspiracy-mongering in the present. He observed that we are suckers for history around suspicion because we are habitually suckers for suspicion.
Guelzo believes that conspiracy theories are particularly risky because they are self-reflective; in their passion to explain everything, they cannot admit any detail which might falsify them, and anyone who intrudes an objection is held to be in on the fix. He referred to Richard Hofstadter's seminal book on the paranoid style.
Guelzo is heartened that local historical societies have blossomed, history non-fiction outsell fiction titles, and producers clamber over one another to produce history programs and documentaries (including two new Lincoln documentaries on which Guelzo is involved).
Guelzo believe that perhaps history can do its best service by offering us moral models-examples of human behavior either to embrace or to avoid, and the ironic truth that both can sometimes inhabit the same skin. Guelzo cautions that if we allow ourselves to become indifferent to our history of republicanism, then that will involve a system failure of civic education and self-knowledge at every level. He states bluntly that if we do not tend to our history, the flame of our civil community will gutter-out.
George Orwell 1984: WHO CONTROLS THE PAST CONTROLS THE FUTURE; WHO CONTROLS HE PRESENT CONTROLS THE PAST.
True. In most fields, if an inventory consists of only debits, or only credits, then it is not actually an inventory. Any human endeavor is doomed without a robust, accurate, and repeatable way to take inventory. History, business, medicine, science, etc., are replete with examples of such failures. Also, while the roster is quire a bit shorter, there are many enterprises that have succeeded at this.
Keith, Your comment, in addition to being apt for public discussion, given the extremism in thought and action by the far-right, autocratic forces, Fox News and social media. I also think a symposium of selected historians, social psychologists, and intellectuals in the field of political science may enlighten the American people to our divisions.
In providing the views of Dr. Allen Guelzo as reflected in his THE JOY OF HISTORY, you wrote, 'Guelzo believes that conspiracy theories are particularly risky because they are self-reflective; in their passion to explain everything, they cannot admit any detail which might falsify them, and anyone who intrudes an objection is held to be in on the fix. He referred to Richard Hofstadter's seminal book on the paranoid style.' Which of Hofstadter's books were you referring to, perhaps, 'Anti-Intellectualism in American Life' (1963)? A link about Richard Hofstadter, including his books, is below.
This line, in particular, caught my attention, 'For Guelzo, good history writing never lets us put out the sunlight: it finds, side-by-side, generosity and courage and tragedy, and it never allows us to indulge meanness or contempt.' I have noted that rigidity is not simply wedded to the fascistic mode of extremism on the right. Many of us, democrats, liberals and left-wing Americans seem to be extreme in our criticisms of the Democratic Party, Merrick Garland, President Biden, etc. Our disappointment having grown over time and warranted fear appears to lock us in, to the point of seeing very little light and the belief that our sense of the darkness is more realistic than the views of others. It is as though people also deeply concerned and active, pro-democracy advocates are threatening in their praise for Biden and or advancing opinions in support of moves being made now on behalf of the American people. The unmistakable advance autocracy has put many of us in locked boxes. In addition to the monumental challenge of defeating the autocratic and white supremacist movements, we are challenged within as is the Democratic Party. Pro-democracy advocates need to better listen to one another and draw down the walls between us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hofstadter
Thank you for this, I am one of those who can’t see much light having been observing the republican slide into evil cult for 40 years. Yes, I get impatient and bitchy (especially about the Trojan horses in the Dem party) but I must keep in mind every hour of every day that I don’t wake up to tfg in charge. I am still the golden rule gal, even to family crazies…
Dear Golden Rule Gal Jon Meacham’s marvelous book on THE SOUL OF AMERICA chronicles the ups, downs, and then ups in America’s history. I agree that we have been in a prolonged down exacerbated by Trump and his sycophants. With moderate optimism I believe that President Biden, with his integrity, street-smart savvy, and professional administration, is crafting 21st century programs that will improve the well being of a large majority of the American people. Whether this will have a major impact on the Republican-rigged 2022 elections is a massive question. It requires believing in the American people, 74 million of whom voted for Trump last year.
As a youth I recall the naysayers when Churchill took office in a dire situation. They were proved wrong. Can lightening strike twice?
Fern The Paranoid Style of American Politics. Warm thanks for your keen insights. I posted my write up of Dr. Guelzo’s presentation at the Princeton Old Guard. I was almost scrupulous in scribing his views, rather than my own. I would have liked to highlight GUELZO BELIEVES THAT PERHAPS HISTORY CAN DO ITS BEST SERVICE BY OFFERING US MORAL MODELS-EXAMPLES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR EITHER TO EMBRACE OR TO AVOID, and the ironic truth that both can sometimes inhabit the same human skin.
This Guelzo demonstrated in his excellent book on Robert E. Lee. By contrast, Wheatcroft’s recent book focusing on Churchill’s weaknesses and failures neglects the fact that Churchill perhaps saved England and Western civilization. Sensation sells as do conspiracy theories. The blatant and false negativism of Trump and his sycophants in Congress and Fox ‘news’ is one example. However, the bickering between ‘progressive’ and ‘moderate’ Democrats may prove just as debilitating for America. I see that President Biden has turned Trump’s Titanic on to a positive course and that his modern New Deal/Great Society legislative proposals are remarkable in creating a better physical and social infrastructure for my grandchildren. That his ‘Democratic team’ is playing sandlot baseball instead of focusing on winning as a team is, I believe, something that Guelzo would abhore.
My suggestion to all: HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, LET HIM THROW THE FIRST STONE.
Keith, the intensity with which Churchill fought to save England and by extension the West is poorly understood, I think. I cannot imagine the resolve and gall he had to rally a people being beaten down daily for years on end. The utter exhaustion he must have felt and yet he persevered. He did not tolerate sandlot baseball, that's for sure.
Keith, Thank you for returning. This strongly resonated with me, 'GUELZO BELIEVES THAT PERHAPS HISTORY CAN DO ITS BEST SERVICE BY OFFERING US MORAL MODELS-EXAMPLES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR EITHER TO EMBRACE OR TO AVOID, Historian, Timothy Snyder, is on this track, but I think we need many more examples and modes of expression conveying 'Moral Models'. On the news, in movies - music, - dramas and on comedy shows - artists, performers, athletes, writers -- let's combine our talents to get this message across.
Beautifully stated Fern. “Draw down the walls between us” is ultimately the only solution. Getting there through the disinformation and chaos is the problem before us now.
Thanks for your additional commentary Fern. On first glance I confused Richard with Douglas Hofsteader (author of Goedel, Escher Bach) and thought it remarkable that one person could be so diverse as to be authoritative in both History and Philosophy. Once again, caught forming opinions without knowing the facts. So easy to do.
Could it be that you are more familiar with Douglas than Richard? I admit to ignorance of Douglas.
Not at all familiar with Richard. Only familiar enough with Douglas to catch the odd reference to him in Calvin and Hobbs. Like so many pseudo intellectuals of the 80’s I have a copy of Goedel Escher Bach on my bookshelf uncompleted. Still waiting for the abridged version or the study notes. ;/
Christian, I had only heard of 'Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid'. Some brilliant and very accomplishment individuals attracted my attention, still do, but I was in the woods about technology and artificial intelligence -- my own intelligence frequently needed prodding. Out of curiosity, I found an article about Douglas Hofstadter in the Atlantic, circa 2013, called 'The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think'
'The idea that changed Hofstadter’s existence, as he has explained over the years, came to him on the road, on a break from graduate school in particle physics. Discouraged by the way his doctoral thesis was going at the University of Oregon, feeling “profoundly lost,” he decided in the summer of 1972 to pack his things into a car he called Quicksilver and drive eastward across the continent. Each night he pitched his tent somewhere new (“sometimes in a forest, sometimes by a lake”) and read by flashlight. He was free to think about whatever he wanted; he chose to think about thinking itself. Ever since he was about 14, when he found out that his youngest sister, Molly, couldn’t understand language, because she “had something deeply wrong with her brain” (her neurological condition probably dated from birth, and was never diagnosed), he had been quietly obsessed by the relation of mind to matter. The father of psychology, William James, described this in 1890 as “the most mysterious thing in the world”: How could consciousness be physical? How could a few pounds of gray gelatin give rise to our very thoughts and selves?' A link to the article is below.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/11/the-man-who-would-teach-machines-to-think/309529/
Will history write that we waited too late to rise up...
On the November 11, 2021 Washington Post there is an article called "Opinion: The danger of critical race theory" by Marc Thiessen (who I believe has a casual relation with morality and truth). Anyway. In this article Thiessen has a lot of quotes by Guelzo on CRT.
Also. I am distressed to see that not only has the far right coopted the American Flag they have claimed MLK as one of their own. (see this article by Thiessen).
I couldn't get the link to work, sorry.
Don’t let them co-opt the American flag. We are the patriots supporting the Constitution and democratic process. Fly the American flag proudly. Don’t give away our power or let the purveyors of disinformation define us.
🇺🇸
Ella I totally agree!Also ‘pro life’ sticks in my craw——what concern do ‘pro lifers’ have for the unwanted born babies?
Barbara, I think the subject of CRT and Guelzo may or may not have been fudged by Thiessen, Quoting from the Opiniion, Guelzo says, is a subset of critical theory that began with Immanuel Kant in the 1790s. It was a response to — and rejection of — the principles of the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason on which the American republic was founded. Kant believed that “reason was inadequate to give shape to our lives” and so he set about “developing a theory of being critical of reason,” Guelzo says. --Note, Barbara, where Thiessen is literally quoting Guelzo and isn't. Thiessen's Opinion is depending on on a study by AEI. 'But many do not know just how radical or pernicious CRT is — because, as a new study from the American Enterprise Institute shows, the media does not explain its key tenets in its coverage.'
Frederic M. Hess is the founder of AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network, which includes hundreds of the nation's most influential conservative educators and education policy makers and hosts the “Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda series.”
'Distilling knowledge from over twenty-five years working in and around school reform, Hess has become a leading voice on issues including the Common Core, No Child Left Behind, the role of for-profits in education, education philanthropy, and the impact of education research. Under Hess, AEI Education has grown into a predominant center of conservative thought for K-12 and higher education policy.' (Wikipedia)
I have reason to think it may be difficult to untangle the political bias and bending the truth in this Opinion. Below is a link to the Opinion and an article written by Hess,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/11/danger-critical-race-theory/
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/580654-media-narrative-got-educations-role-in-virginia-election-backwards
The comment on Guelzo being quoted was more or less an FYI. I wasn't wading into the CRT debate and have no desire to do so.
Barbara I sent my ‘simple’ questions related to CRT to Guelzo and received a two page response. It was too hifalutin for me to comprehend. Started with some 19th century philosophers. I’m standing pat with my ‘simple’ questions related to specific events in American history where Blacks seemed the victims and whites were not.
I saw it, he has a very broken relationship with the truth in my estimation. I haven’t conceded the flag to them. I had one at my house, and when people assumed too much, I promptly corrected them. As to MLK, he might do a JFK resurrection like the MAGAts think he will do in Dallas. Lordy, and people don’t want to call them a cult.
Loved your comment. I maintain my subscription at the Washington Post for 2 reasons. To see what the cult members are writing. To counter what the cult members are writing.
Have a good week everyone.
I'm currently reading Erik Larsen's The Splendid and The Vile, the chronicle, of Churchill's perseverance against Hitler in the span of one year, 1940 - 1941. The phrase "carry on" crops up more than once. Back then, the good people of the world did carry on and eventually quashed Nazism, yet here we are again standing against a tide of hatred. We are creatures who do not learn our lessons easily.
I wish I lived inside of Buddy's photos. Thank you both for your generosity. Sleep, rest, carry on.
Churchill “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Are we capable of that or do we have too much internal turmoil?
Ha! Now my response to Carol is below!
Crucial question, Jeri.
See my above response to Carol.
I too was in amazement at their perseverance in the face of the unimaginable; but it was also an outside threat, easier to mobilize against perhaps? It seems scarier when our own countrymen and women are asking “when can we use the guns?”
Carol, it is far scarier to me that our own countrymen and women are asking when can they use the guns. We have watched any number of countries devolve into civil war and we've been horrified, but there are those here eager to plunge in and wage war at home. Why are so many in the US champing at the bit to gun down their neighbors? Do they think that civil war is a 9 - 5 operation with coffee and lunch breaks?
My theory about why people are eager to engage in civil war is pretty simple. We don't know the terror of invasion. We have never had to fend off an outside enemy for years on end. We have never had to put aside our differences, come together, and fight for our survival. We don't understand national unity, certainly our politicians don't. Since the Civil War, we've not once formed a national unity government.
The majority in the United States do not understand the truth about war – schools, businesses and homes being bombed to bits, body parts lying in the streets, entire families wiped out in the blink of an eye, no food or water, refugee and prison camps. The sights, sounds and smells of persistent violence and death. But this is what some who call themselves Patriots are ready and willing to begin. And it scares the hell out of me.
(There are some who will point to 9/11 as an invasion. As horrible as that day was, it was not an invasion. It resulted in churning up hatred and violence against those of Middle Eastern descent and our further military intrusion into the Middle East, most recently, Iraq and Afghanistan.)
"The majority in the United States do not understand the truth about war"
Yes, many believe that there is a "Winner" and a "Loser", but that is false. Both sides suffer destruction; just one gives up first.
It amazes me that after all those lives lost in Viet Nam and Afghanistan - both American and others (many many others) and, honestly, the rousing DEFEAT in which we left those countries - they dont see the obvious truth that "both sides suffer destruction - just ONE gives up first". (great description, Daniel)
Again, I refer to Milton Mayer’s “They Thought They Were Free, Germany 1935-1945. We have our “forms” which keep us deluded. Nothing chilled me like a post from a MAGAt about killing his beloved dog; he wanted to see if he could kill someone that he didn’t know. That was his test. And some resist calling them a cult.
I just posted this (next paragraph) above, I copy/paste to add to your comment as I would love to have todays photo on my desk! Perhaps it will inspire someone out there in the LFAA universe:
A thought this morning upon viewing yet another of Buddy's beautiful photos: I would love to see some enterprising and talented person create a charitable organization that would benefit Democratic groups, offering these photos as blank note cards, greeting cards, or printed and framed to hang on a wall (with Buddy's and HCR's blessings, of course) . I do not have those abilities, I was a healthcare worker, never in business or retail--but I would make a purchase!
A Buddy photo business would be great. But as much as HCR endorses progressive and democratic values, she describes herself as nonpartisan.
You are right.
Dear Heather and Buddy,
Thank you for real beauty, truth, and giving so many solace.
I am sitting down in Maricopa Arizona enjoying the cold Winter weather of the seventies.
I do want to commend you Prof. Heather for comparing the Wall Street provoked recession to the more recent Pandemic recession.
The difference in each can be found in how a President and Congress react to stem the severity of a recession. In 2008, Main Street paid for Wall Street's dalliance. The President Barack Obama was blocked from creating a economic stimulus package which would have eased the fallout created by the collapse of Wall Street and Banks. McConnell and Republicans were more interested in making Barack Obama a one term president over applying a greater stimulus package to save their constituency.
In 2021, we find ourselves much better off, the results of which come from a President and a Democratic Congress more attuned to the needs of all of the constituency regardless of political beliefs. Where Barack was blocked, Joe Biden was supported. We can see the results.
We sit on the verge of a large stimulus package to rebuild the infrastructure of this nation. One in which will alleviate some of the strain we are experiencing today with a supply chain lacking capacity to carry the needs of the people from overseas to the nations cities much of which comes by train out of California.
Congress needs to enact a fairer system promoting truck drivers and fair wages on routes much of which was eliminated during President Carters deregulation of the industry. Indeed, independent truckers are being laden with debt as sold to them by leasers of used trucks. To resolve some of this Congress has proposed licensing 18-21 year-olds to drive cross country in rigs after a short training period. They have a much higher accident rate than old truckers.
As a result of the financial burden on independent truckers we often see them driving 60-70 hours a week to pay for their rigs, leases, fuel, and a livelihood. Most recently I wrote on this topic,
Again, I commend you on the comparison of 2008 to 2021 government reactions to the nedds of the constituency. More should be said.
Regards,
Bill
I remember my brother (also named Bill!) being an independent trucker many years ago and never getting ahead; he finished his career as an employee and we could all see the results of the reduced stress
Carol:
Since 1980 when they went a bridge too far with the Motor Carrier Act, it did result in lower costs to ship product. Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Sams, Costco, etc. would not have made it in the pre-1980 scenario.
However, the results were lower shipping costs through deregulation of the routes; but, it also hurt Labor or the drivers in this case. Labor is always the smallest cost of mfg. and in this case transportation. The companies are preying on the drivers today. And some in trying to make ends meet are doing that 60-70 hour routine. I had one get darn close when I was coming off of I88 to I80. It was a slow down in the going from one road to another. I finally raised my hands up as if to say slowdown, I can not go anywhere. He did.
They get tired and the senses are not as sharp. I wrote about this a bit more at the link. Just for reference. I do not want to be accused of poaching readers. It gets deeper there. https://angrybearblog.com/2021/10/trucking-railroads-and-industry
Thanks Bill - that was very enlightening. I have to admit it did cross my mind to wonder why the ports didnt come up with the "solution" of the 24/7 shifts on their own - I mean how long had they been in business?????? Wait for the government to tell them? Had they forgotten???
Maggie
You are welcome.
The answer may be, who pays for the extra shifts and the premiums involved? Joe may have struck a deal with them. It is a bit late in happening and the lateness of this action has resulted in increased prices.
Others may different with my opinion, the current inflation may decrease as this supply bubble reaches the market and on-the-shelf supply increases. No one cares about Supply Chain till it is not on the shelf. We have become lazy.
AB was one of the first econ blogs on the internet.
Yeah I realize there is more expense, but I'm thinking that likely is the only way to get things moving - waiting longer wouldnt seem to be the option. And yes we sure ARE lazy! We want everything WHEN we want it & not a second later! That attitude certainly explains why we are in the pickle we are - environment, climate, supply chain, energy on & on. Patience is no longer a current virtue in the US or, I guess anywhere else.
Amen, brother.
Fred:
Not sure what the amen is for as I have a couple of topics going on there. I am happy Prof. Heather picked up on this comparison. I had mentioned it a couple of weeks back, not that she reads my comments.
The stimulus packages of which there will have been three soon are extremely important to the health of the constituents, the nation's economy besides Wall Street which will always survive off of our sweat, and the future for our children and theirs too.
We have taken too much out of the infrastructure, the nations funding, etc. in the name of laissez-faire. It is time to put back. I have seen too much in Michigan where the legislature has been under the thumb of Republicans for decades and refuse to raise taxes for roads and in turn blame a Democratic governor.
Then there is the issue of independent truckers who should organize to force the issues they are faced with today. I addressed Carol on this (below).
Thank you for your amen and be safe.
Amen from where you started to ruminate sitting in Maricopa AZ. Sound observations throughout the stream thereafter. Were government to focus on investing in the lower half,, almost to the exclusion of preferential policies for the upper third I think all would do better. Note the term investment. Most of us in the upper half have figured out success and have the fiscal knowledge and capital to protect our nut and those of us who made it to the top third have strategies and a nut good enough to provide an advantage (perhaps modest enough as I think an inheritance should be) to help our progeny with a good assist (investment, rather than inheritance) to get them working up their own economic position. You stay safe as well and have a good holiday. You appear to be thankful already.
Fred:
Thank you.
We did not really make a go of it till the three finished college, paid their loan debt off, left, are fully on their own, doing well, and we were over sixty . . . 12 years ago.
I hit a gold mine doing sales for a Korean company with my contacts. My wife also started to collect off of my SS while she still worked. I invested it in various mutual funds and we did well. We really did not have a whole heck of a lot till I was 65. We also did not need the tax break Trump handed out. We were in the fifth quintile.
Rolled our funds over to an investment firm even though they normally did not take funds as small as ours. One person at the place my wife worked asked the firm to take us on too. We have been fortunate in a lot of respects.
I have been known to help those in trouble or need. USMC Sgt's emergency funds.
Good night sir and be safe.
Calling LFAA reader Roland for insight on trucking today! …when he is sufficiently refreshed from his 12 hour shifts.
Dear Dr. Richardson, if I could be your mother, I would encourage you and Buddy to have two photo days per week. Energy is finite, plus I'm selfish and I need you to be able to carry on with these essential Letters.
Yes, but as Heather has said more than once, it is harder for her NOT to write. I suspect finishing the letter each night (early morning) makes for more restful, revitalizing sleep. Or so this nurse needs to believe.
Life is a long game. Dear Heather keeps sprinting in a marathon. More Buddy photos can provide her a slower gait so that she can continue to inform and inspire her devotees much as Seabiscuit uplifted America in my youth.
We thoroughly enjoyed your discussion of the history of Thanksgiving! Looking forward ot you and Joanne this week! Happy Thanksgiving!
I enjoy (if that is the right word for getting clarity on an unfolding disaster) your letters and also, the wonderful photos of where you live. I also live in a beautiful location (overlooking Florence Italy) and I find that beauty is a great aid to resilience. Not a distraction from the perils of the world but a reminder of why it matters to push back. I reread Keats’ Endymion (“a thing of beauty is a joy forever”) where he discusses this very thing. If you read it all you would think he was writing for today! So thank you for the knowledge and insight you share (historical ignorance is really scary) and the uplift from Buddy Poland’s wonderful photos. I grew up on the ocean (Vancouver BC) and there is nothing like a water view to soothe the soul. Stay well! :)
Lucky you! That is one of the most beautiful parts of the world - both the natural landscapes and the man made ones.
Thankful for your daily letters, and thankful you know when it's time for you to rest! Have a good night!
Thank you for all you do.
Thank you Heather for sharing Buddy's photo. It does show us there is calmness and beauty among the contempt this Nation offers.
Be safe. Be well.