Today’s news hit like a firehose, which is to be expected after the Thanksgiving holiday. This year, though, that normal firehose is intensified by the news of the new Omicron COVID variant that the World Health Organization has labeled a “variant of concern.”
Don't forget how lucky we are to have people with the intellect and conscience running the show right now - specifically in the white house, both houses of Congress, and the DoJ. They aren't ignoring anything. They have to pull the levers - which they have been doing successfully for just 10 months and they did it during a pandemic. More has happened for the middle class in 2021 than I can remember ever happening. The national awakening because of Trump was needed. Now let's move on and fight the fight and make sure the Democrats don't mess up and not show up at the polls in 2022. That is our job. I think we need to stop second guessing their actions, they really do know what their doing. That is why I wasn't interested in any of the ingenuous that ran against Biden. We couldn't afford a learning curve after Trump destroyed government. These Democrats are not blindly making decisions and neither is Garland. These are wise people. The press persists in trying to make them seem like bumbling idiots. They got to the top of their chosen profession having worked hard to get there . The hate and anger that gave us Trump was real, but he was the result of the perfect storm (maybe Super Storm Sandy was a sign of what was coming). The press aided and abetted his winning, Hillary is just not liked (it doesn't matter why - but Bernie wouldn't have surged as her strongest alternative if she had truly been a strong candidate to beat whomever the Republicans put forward), after two terms of a democrat voters typically go Republican (I still don't understand that). The press and news broadcasters speculate for most of their air time about the Republican idiots and if they will be brought to justice. I guess it is easier than trying to talk about the content of the new infrastructure bill. I ask you, now what? What happens now that it has passed? Surely something exciting.. Instead they rage against Trump, Cruz Green, etc...and that empowers them.. I couldn't even name the representative from the backwaters of North Carolina a year ago! And now I know all three of her names like she is some kind of 90s rock star!! I lived Obama. He was a brilliant, inspiring, man. His administration was the rabbit. Now we have to have a little faith in the tortoises. People that want instant gratification are being unrealistic. Things look bad but we can't believe yet that the outcome is inevitable and dire.
"But if Trump is permitted to hand over control over the machinery of our elections to his loyalists, today’s 'crazy' is going to look quaint."
Why this specimen of a man (?) is not arrested and jailed forthwith, I cannot understand! He's a danger to our country, our citizens and to peoples of the world, not to mention, to our beloved planet, home to all life -- sentient and insentient, animate and inanimate.
As the saying goes "We ain't seen nothing yet!" If the people can't vote, their votes are ignored, uncounted, gerrymandered or rejected then any spending bill successes that the Biden administration might achieve in the meantime will be ephemeral, wisps in the violent wind blowing away our democracy. We are less than one year away from giving it all away as we can't get our priorities right and all our troups to march in the same direction. We are playing toy soldiers while the opposition is using atom bombs.
Time for my weekly ask of Maine U.S. Senators Collins and King to "enact both the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act. If not, as an alternative, please enact both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Our Representative democracy hangs in the balance."
Get the Freedom to Vote Act passed. Tell the person in line ahead of you at the grocery store. Your family. The Amazon delivery man. Call your Senator and Congressman https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_current_members_of_the_U.S._Congress - nothing else matters right now! We all have responsibilities. Poet Nikki Giovanni implores us in these words from Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day: "... and while I don't expect you to save the world I do think it's not asking too much ... " Rabbi Tarfon says "It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either." Gloria Estefan sings Get on your feet, Get up and make it happen Get on your feet, Stand up and take some action. I asked a friend yesterday: Why is no one outraged that more than 700,000 of our neighbors have died of Covid? That 27 people, including children and a pregnant mom drowned in search of what we have and are losing? And finally, tell everyone you know to read this newsletter!
Dr. Richardson: I now have reread today’s LFAA several times and can state unequivocally that, more so than any other reading I recently have encountered, this piece comes closest to capturing the very deep, complex, and tragic sense of this moment. I imagine I’ll have more to say after getting some sleep and fulfilling the day’s obligations.
Just a reminder that if the Voting Rights Bill was made into law, the entire GOP legislative strategy would crumble. Obstructionism and immobility don’t work as well on a level playing field. They’d have far less time to be outlandish and maybe far less of an appetite for it now if they knew it mattered later. It’s not just about the votes. It’s about the right to have a functioning government.
Omnicron and the subsequent variants that are from COVID-19 are going to be a fact of life for us for decades to come. If it were handled differently from the start, the outcome could have been different. Water under the bridge, as the expression goes. One unfortunate aspect is that it is fodder for the Trumpers and antivaxxer crowd as they can't make memes fast enough to make fun of it. I saw one the other day from a friend, who has cancer and likely nearing the end of his journey, but yet still has the gumption to minimize this pandemic. He is from Texas and sports "Let's go Brandon " at the end of any comment he makes on Facebook. So be it.
Every day that either Voters Rights acts are not addressed marches us closer to the official end of our Democracy. We are well beyond the pulling the fire alarm in a theater position. I just don't understand why Democrats in this Administration are not making this their priority.
This is what keeps me up at night, frankly it should all of us.
That's right. If they're afraid now, wait till the next evolution. And I'm sorry, but "afraid?" Afraid of losing their job. Their personal safety? I'm sorry, they make it sound like Trump is more dangerous than Vladimir Putin. They're self-serving cowards, plain and simple--Trump has THAT part of his bloviating correct.
I think the Trumpublicans and their followers scare me more than the Omicron variant. We are in a house on fire and it seems as if the Democrats in Congress are dithering about which fire hose to use.
I am in awe of your ability (and humbled by your willingness) to gather, integrate, and summarize essential political and historical information, Dr. Richardson. Thank you for the decades of scholarship, sacrifice, and self-discipline that made you ready for this moment in history.🌿
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS AN ENEMY OF THE STATE. I cannot think of a way to say it more plainly than that. There is no nuance in all this. No wriggle room. As the professor suggests, a future under this party’s machinations will ‘make today’s crazy seem quaint.’
If we (Dems) can't pass voting rights legislation we're toast. WTF is Schumer up to? And, please, anyone of this group who might be from CA work as hard as possible to unseat McCarthy. He must be afraid of gun-toting Boebert and the rest of that sorry gang. And the same is true for voters in CO, GA and AZ. Get rid of these wackos.
Let's hope Republicans continue to resist vaccinations and "Make America Truly Great Again" with their continued permanent departures. If we could lose 2-300,000 of them, the country would really be great.
Don't forget how lucky we are to have people with the intellect and conscience running the show right now - specifically in the white house, both houses of Congress, and the DoJ. They aren't ignoring anything. They have to pull the levers - which they have been doing successfully for just 10 months and they did it during a pandemic. More has happened for the middle class in 2021 than I can remember ever happening. The national awakening because of Trump was needed. Now let's move on and fight the fight and make sure the Democrats don't mess up and not show up at the polls in 2022. That is our job. I think we need to stop second guessing their actions, they really do know what their doing. That is why I wasn't interested in any of the ingenuous that ran against Biden. We couldn't afford a learning curve after Trump destroyed government. These Democrats are not blindly making decisions and neither is Garland. These are wise people. The press persists in trying to make them seem like bumbling idiots. They got to the top of their chosen profession having worked hard to get there . The hate and anger that gave us Trump was real, but he was the result of the perfect storm (maybe Super Storm Sandy was a sign of what was coming). The press aided and abetted his winning, Hillary is just not liked (it doesn't matter why - but Bernie wouldn't have surged as her strongest alternative if she had truly been a strong candidate to beat whomever the Republicans put forward), after two terms of a democrat voters typically go Republican (I still don't understand that). The press and news broadcasters speculate for most of their air time about the Republican idiots and if they will be brought to justice. I guess it is easier than trying to talk about the content of the new infrastructure bill. I ask you, now what? What happens now that it has passed? Surely something exciting.. Instead they rage against Trump, Cruz Green, etc...and that empowers them.. I couldn't even name the representative from the backwaters of North Carolina a year ago! And now I know all three of her names like she is some kind of 90s rock star!! I lived Obama. He was a brilliant, inspiring, man. His administration was the rabbit. Now we have to have a little faith in the tortoises. People that want instant gratification are being unrealistic. Things look bad but we can't believe yet that the outcome is inevitable and dire.
"But if Trump is permitted to hand over control over the machinery of our elections to his loyalists, today’s 'crazy' is going to look quaint."
Why this specimen of a man (?) is not arrested and jailed forthwith, I cannot understand! He's a danger to our country, our citizens and to peoples of the world, not to mention, to our beloved planet, home to all life -- sentient and insentient, animate and inanimate.
As the saying goes "We ain't seen nothing yet!" If the people can't vote, their votes are ignored, uncounted, gerrymandered or rejected then any spending bill successes that the Biden administration might achieve in the meantime will be ephemeral, wisps in the violent wind blowing away our democracy. We are less than one year away from giving it all away as we can't get our priorities right and all our troups to march in the same direction. We are playing toy soldiers while the opposition is using atom bombs.
Time for my weekly ask of Maine U.S. Senators Collins and King to "enact both the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act. If not, as an alternative, please enact both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Our Representative democracy hangs in the balance."
Get the Freedom to Vote Act passed. Tell the person in line ahead of you at the grocery store. Your family. The Amazon delivery man. Call your Senator and Congressman https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_current_members_of_the_U.S._Congress - nothing else matters right now! We all have responsibilities. Poet Nikki Giovanni implores us in these words from Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day: "... and while I don't expect you to save the world I do think it's not asking too much ... " Rabbi Tarfon says "It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either." Gloria Estefan sings Get on your feet, Get up and make it happen Get on your feet, Stand up and take some action. I asked a friend yesterday: Why is no one outraged that more than 700,000 of our neighbors have died of Covid? That 27 people, including children and a pregnant mom drowned in search of what we have and are losing? And finally, tell everyone you know to read this newsletter!
“Federal protection of our voting rights underpins everything else.”
Absolutely! The voting rights legislation must be the Democratic priority after the housekeeping legislation is done.
If ten Republicans won’t step up in the Senate, then jettisoning the filibuster must become a priority as well.
Dr. Richardson: I now have reread today’s LFAA several times and can state unequivocally that, more so than any other reading I recently have encountered, this piece comes closest to capturing the very deep, complex, and tragic sense of this moment. I imagine I’ll have more to say after getting some sleep and fulfilling the day’s obligations.
Just a reminder that if the Voting Rights Bill was made into law, the entire GOP legislative strategy would crumble. Obstructionism and immobility don’t work as well on a level playing field. They’d have far less time to be outlandish and maybe far less of an appetite for it now if they knew it mattered later. It’s not just about the votes. It’s about the right to have a functioning government.
Protecting our elections should be THE priority of congress!
Thank you Heather.
Omnicron and the subsequent variants that are from COVID-19 are going to be a fact of life for us for decades to come. If it were handled differently from the start, the outcome could have been different. Water under the bridge, as the expression goes. One unfortunate aspect is that it is fodder for the Trumpers and antivaxxer crowd as they can't make memes fast enough to make fun of it. I saw one the other day from a friend, who has cancer and likely nearing the end of his journey, but yet still has the gumption to minimize this pandemic. He is from Texas and sports "Let's go Brandon " at the end of any comment he makes on Facebook. So be it.
Every day that either Voters Rights acts are not addressed marches us closer to the official end of our Democracy. We are well beyond the pulling the fire alarm in a theater position. I just don't understand why Democrats in this Administration are not making this their priority.
This is what keeps me up at night, frankly it should all of us.
Be safe. Be well.
That's right. If they're afraid now, wait till the next evolution. And I'm sorry, but "afraid?" Afraid of losing their job. Their personal safety? I'm sorry, they make it sound like Trump is more dangerous than Vladimir Putin. They're self-serving cowards, plain and simple--Trump has THAT part of his bloviating correct.
I think the Trumpublicans and their followers scare me more than the Omicron variant. We are in a house on fire and it seems as if the Democrats in Congress are dithering about which fire hose to use.
I am in awe of your ability (and humbled by your willingness) to gather, integrate, and summarize essential political and historical information, Dr. Richardson. Thank you for the decades of scholarship, sacrifice, and self-discipline that made you ready for this moment in history.🌿
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS AN ENEMY OF THE STATE. I cannot think of a way to say it more plainly than that. There is no nuance in all this. No wriggle room. As the professor suggests, a future under this party’s machinations will ‘make today’s crazy seem quaint.’
If we (Dems) can't pass voting rights legislation we're toast. WTF is Schumer up to? And, please, anyone of this group who might be from CA work as hard as possible to unseat McCarthy. He must be afraid of gun-toting Boebert and the rest of that sorry gang. And the same is true for voters in CO, GA and AZ. Get rid of these wackos.
Let's hope Republicans continue to resist vaccinations and "Make America Truly Great Again" with their continued permanent departures. If we could lose 2-300,000 of them, the country would really be great.