"Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not the end." - Deborah Moggach, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
I have been keeping this in mind as my mantra all day today because it fits. I believe we will be alright at the end of this election. As someone pointed out today, yeah, we're still stuck with the despicable …
"Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not the end." - Deborah Moggach, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
I have been keeping this in mind as my mantra all day today because it fits. I believe we will be alright at the end of this election. As someone pointed out today, yeah, we're still stuck with the despicable McConnell and his ilk, but at least we will get rid of the swamp monsters that OOO-45 dragged in to destroy every vestige of good government.
I can hardly wait for that breath of fresh air.
I'm grateful to the voting officials and volunteers who are working so hard and so carefully to count and process millions of ballots across the country.
I'm grateful to HCR for helping us stay sane and centered.
I'm going to bed with real hope in my heart for the first time in years.
Quite rightly...this is not the end! Biden will now need to emulate Teddy Roosevelt and use his Presidency as his Bully Pulpit to force the Senate to bend. Only the force of public opinion threatening McConnell for the mid-terms will shift him grudgingly along the "road to righteousness" to move the country forward at a snail's pace.
Add to this the challenges Biden will encounter from Dem. party Progressives, e.g. AOC et al, and from Bernie's supporters. Some have continued to advocate for their left-leaning platforms (their right, certainly); a few tweets I saw were highly critical of what Biden will do before he even DOES anything! I would hope that all of us can decide to unite in service to the greater good rather than to constantly carp about the slice of pie that we didn't get this time around.
The thing is, voters have to be educated that IF you vote, you get a little bit of what you want, then KEEP voting to get farther - KEEP voting! . You cant give up just because it didnt get you EVERYTHING you want. On the other hand - pushing too hard for everything right in the beginning - will put the "opponents" backs up - then where are you? Look at the fight for civil rights - you think WE are frustrated! Look how long its taken for African Americans to get this far - you think they havent had any pushback? This division & partisan divide is nasty - thats an issue that somehow has to be overcome - somehow. I dont really know if this country can ever pull together - for instance, as it did during World War II. I'm sure there were people who were against everything (like now) but from all I've read & people I talked to - pretty much everyone pulled together. Think about that!!! I'm old enough to have had several uncles AND aunts in the service at that time - a couple were hurt but they all came home. It was the RIGHT thing!
Maggie, you are so right! Vote, Keep Voting, and recognize that we all need to band together to advocate for what is right and good. Your example of the Civil Rights movement is perfect. It can't be fought for in fits and starts, it has to be fought for in a non-stop continuous stream. Beyond that, success in the civil rights movement cannot be declared by white people but only by the people who have suffered the most from the denial of Civil Rights.
I'm almost 80. It's clear to me this time is like no other. As it's clear to me that the "old ways" are dead - except for those who've lived long and are still hooked into the old ways of the past in their minds. We live in an oligarchy today. [Google - Gillens and Page.] (University researchers into Democracy). In the '50s - '70's we enjoyed a democracy. A brilliant Princeton philosopher named Wollin after a long and deep study of our democracy concluded we live in a state of "inverted totalitarianism" today. ("While the classical totalitarian regimes aimed at the constant political mobilization of the populace, inverted totalitarianism aims for the mass of the populace to be in a persistent state of political apathy." )Wikipedia. As that song says - "the times they are a changin'". New times require new structures, forms, institutions, approaches, solutions, understandings, ways of seeing. The past is dead. Life is challenging us to develop and grow again.
Political apathy is right! The times sure are changin - the older I get the less I like change. I think many of us did enjoy a democracy through the 50s-70s but not all.
Yeah, Lynell, I think it did. Dont remember anyone actively speaking out against us right then. Do remember numnut's claim that there were people celebrating at the time! But thats just one of many lies..
Yes -- having a more informed citizenry is so important (we have surely failed on THAT recently). A good example of people deciding to pull together despite some resistance to a given issue is seen in the isolationist America First Committee, of which Charles A. Lindbergh was a darling. When the US entered WWII, within days of the attack on Pearl Harbor America First disbanded. Wikipedia has a few good quotes from Lindbergh and others re why it was important to "pull together." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Committee
Oh my. Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee is a horrible example of people deciding to pull together. Lindbergh's antisemitic tendencies and his pros eugenics stance leave a very bad taste in my mouth. A better example would be the Victory Garden Movement that became a matter of pride for tens of thousands of families across the country.
Here's a book worth reading... The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever David M. Friedman; Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers; 2007.
BUT people DID pull together regardless of Lindbergh & his popularity - in a good way. The Victory Garden was another example, right. I think there were likely a lot of different ways that Americans actually wanted to help the country come together. Thats something that we need more right now.
I think that the world is not going their way. Western society doesn't look as though it is going in a "progressive" direction. AOC etc will I think be marginalized and remain so. Why would the US buck this wider global trend? The US stopped leading the world some time ago. Bush was a disaster with his intervention in Iraq to finish what his father sensibly resisted, Obama mostly withdrew or procrastinated on the international scene once Clinton left him and Trump just kept on digging the hole deeper and deeper.
I agree about the wider global trend. Which is why I hope that Biden can generate strong support for steering a middle course, carefully and strategically. He is not going to be able to accomplish a whole lot (not unless a miracle occurs re control of the Senate...). To me, his greatest gift to the nation (and the world?) will be a sane, competent, truthful presence in the White House. Four years of that can, I hope, heal some of the most egregious rifts in our international relationships and maybe move us forward a centimeter or two... One step at a time!
I think actually firstly you are right about internal politics. He will put the Feds back together and annul by Directive what was destroyed by Directive. However his main agenda will probably be international where he is likely to find more easily non-partisan support.
Given what you see as his greatest gift, at the end of his 4 years what do you sense will have changed? As the two university researchers -Gilens and Page- found - we no longer live in a democracy but an oligarchy. The results of their scrutinizing legislation over a significant period of time showed not the interests of the people in them but rather those of corporations and the rich. "Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence."(Google).The Earth House is burning. These structures are in place at the same time. Who and What and How will effect the required necessities to meet the fact of this conflagration and the associated multiplicity of political/social/economic/problems?
Stuart, you write great, but apparently have a very short memory? If elected, Biden WILL have to deal with the incalcitrance of the far left wing. You may recall Ted Cruz and the Tea Party managed to shut down the federal government in 2013.
Since when did Cruz and the Tea Party represent the "far left wing"? McConnell can shut down the government whenever he likes by refusing to deal with The House's Budget or the debt ceiling....AOC could too if she voted with the Republicans or abstained in the House vote on the same. I don't think that would be too popular! Where would it get her with the NYC crowd? Progressive measures are not going to be considered by the Senate anyway under McConnell and she can't be seen as aiding and abetting McConnell can she?
I got the point, but I think you missed it, Stuart. The Tea Party were extremists, and insistent on doing things their way. Some people see AOC et al as also extreme (actually they are not) and fear their pushing things too far left. Problem is that we have shifted so far right that what too many people think is far left are actually pretty close to centrist. There are people left of AOC and I am one of them- and consider myself fairly moderate. My values are pretty much what my Dem parents had in mid-20th century. Nowadays you'd have to call us Social Democrats, I guess. What cracks me up is knowing that the Republicans proferred a system of health care back then that was very similar to what the Social Dems and Progressive wing of the Dem party support now. Ironic, isn't it?
Please provide some sources for your observation of the "incalcitrance of the far left wing." Who are they? Ted Cuz and the Tea Party are Republican. Thanks.
Replicated observation leads me to conclude the AOC and Bernie Sanders factions in Congress are not open to compromise and could have a similar obstructionist effect on a Biden administration centrist agenda as did the Tea Party on the Obama agenda.
Whether the faction is of the same or opposing party as the President is irrelevant; the point is that a small fringe group can gum up the entire works.
Are readers on this site so unable to process any idea contrary to the prevailing echo chamber that it is necessary to draw a map for what should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer? Let me try...Ted Cruz, a Republican Senator from Texas was elected in 2012. Ted Cruz became the de facto leader of a small group of ultra conservative Republican Congresspeople known as the Tea Party. This group rebelled against Congressional party leadership in both the Senate and House of Representatives, refusing to vote in favor of federal government funding; this led to a shutdown of the federal government in 2013 and ultimately led to the resignation of John Boehner as Speaker of the House.
Agree, Laura. As Dr. R has said, we don't usually get everything we want in a democracy but that is to be expected. Having a Biden win will hopefully restore good government, as you say. I mirror your gratitude to the voting officials and volunteers. They rock! As for Dr. R, well, yeah, she rocks, too!
I agree. No, we didn't get everything, but the mid-terms in two years could produce a Senate flip, and in the meantime, with the Orange Menace and his henchman, Barr, gone, the few remaining moderate Republican Senators will no longer quiver in fear at the maniac's rage and retribution. Moscow Mitch can't live forever, so keep that in mind. He's just as evil as the Menace, and much more crafty, but his venom can't control the entire country
Yes, it's disheartening that the race has been as tight as it is, and the obvious prevalence of hatred and potential violence exists, but Biden will have the bully pulpit, and he has the experience to know how to exert pressure on the opposition. What we all need to resist is the very Democratic habit of eating our young. AOC and the Squad shouldn't be marginalized, and we need to work with all the diverse players on our side to do what is best for everyone. We need to understand that, ugly as it was, the Republicans know how to proceed in lockstep, and we should resolve our differences without a bloodbath within our ranks.
With the Menace no longer in office, hopefully the temperature will come down, if slowly, and without the Attorney General in a despot's pocket, we can take action against potentially violent hate groups. Besides, part of the Menace's frantic desire to remain in office is his frantic fear of prosecution. Now that he won't have that protection, I doubt that he'll have time to be standing on a street corner fomenting violence among the crazies, and Fox will try to remove his stench - they have enough of their own.
This country has myriad problems, much of which can be laid at the doorstep of the Menace and the radical right wing, but we must also address problems for which they are not totally responsible - inequality, racism, lack of quality education across the board, immigration, and much more. Our deepest problems existed before the 2016, although the Menace and his enablers fanned the flames and pushed the buttons to bring all of it to a head. He will be gone, and we must do our best to repair the damage with the means available, and stop whining that it can't be done. I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will provide a good new beginning. Early on, Biden wouldn't have been my first choice. Now, however, I think his even temperament, decent instincts, and a lifetime of experience working across the aisle are exactly what we need, and Kamala's intelligence, youth, pragmatism and real experience dealing with racial and cultural issues will make her an invaluable asset to Biden and all of us. We can't be a single-party government, and need to have a way to work together to make things fair and equitable.
We've all been traumatized by the last four years, but if we just hold our collective breath and stand in the rubble, weeping, the Menace and his minions will have won, regardless of who occupies the White House. We're better than that, and more resourceful!
I'm less sanguine about the riches of a Biden-Harris duo. The two have a distinct track record which if continued will not meaningful address the necessity of systemic change. One could even say political choices they've made have contributed to the very spiritual malaise with its spectrum of manifestations on the practical level before us today. That said. We today are living "in the crack" of the cosmic egg. Meaning there is an opening today that hasn't existed in my long life except perhaps for the '60s. Our Earth house is burning. Structures long taken for granted and causative, are finally being questioned. Good ole Joe may want us to heave our sigh of relief, go have brunch, and let him take care of tamping down the uproar. Wrong. Because of the Opening, this is the epic moment when we breathe that sigh and pronto get our rears in gear and our perspicacity shined up, and our petition pens, protest sneakers, and minds running full tilt to challenge our own past-due-date rigid ideas to focus whole heartedly on what are today-tomorrow requirements that must be met courageously, clearly, and creatively. Essential to remember: a higher order solution is demanded for a lower order problem. A problem to be solved cannot be solved with the very-mindset that created it. A broader and deeper (more creative) and more acute consciousness/mind frame is being demanded of us. The kind, for example, that was behind sending that spaceship to the moon. Remember? Our job is to know clearly was is going on and in seeing a detour, put the pressure on those two to do "right" by Us.
Selina, like you, I'm not naive enough to think that two people can solve all of our problems, and we have multitudes. Nor can anyone create great change if the populace is uninformed and unfocused. I am relieved at the prospect of removing the malignant force that has demanded the world's attention and damaged our already-challenged society. As you said, we need to sit up and pay attention, determine what is important to each of us and to our society as a whole, and then participate in repairing as much of it as possible. I do believe that, as many problems as we have, our country has the potential to mend. However, many can't see the forest for the trees, and that's where Heather's work helps to provide clarity. It is incumbent on all of us to understand the source of our many problems, then make a concerted effort to remedy what we can. There will be no easy answers, but I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will try to do "right."
Given the depth of the socio-political-economic-health care problems with Biden ominously reassuring the health insurance industry things will be alright, the red flag is up the pole calling upon the population to closely track Good Ole Nice Joe and make thunder when he shows his past austerity colors instead of doing the real changes that must be done. We can't fiddle around and make nicey nice with him when our Earth House burns, ice pack is melting, police are thuggish and killing off Blacks, unemployment and Covid figures are soaring, evictions are rising, schools are being privatized, college loans through the roof....No! Depending on him to do "right" is a perilous dependency. We must insistently and persistently "spur" him towards what is not just "wanted' but is required by the situations.
Frankly, I think your quarrel should have been with the current "president." We will have the opportunity to let President Biden understand our wishes/demands, and I'd be shocked if his response was anything resembling the chaos, criminality, thuggishness, incompetence, racism, privatized education agenda, ignorance of science and lack of care for our citizens displayed by Donald Trump. If our thunder was necessary, it should have been directed at the current dictator. The contrast between the two is stark, and if we're lucky enough to rid ourselves of this scourge, Biden should not be attacked unless or until he abdicates his responsibilities. If he fails to deliver, it should not be difficult to have him impeached by the Senate, who will likely still have a Republican majority - at least until 2022.
"Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not the end." - Deborah Moggach, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
I have been keeping this in mind as my mantra all day today because it fits. I believe we will be alright at the end of this election. As someone pointed out today, yeah, we're still stuck with the despicable McConnell and his ilk, but at least we will get rid of the swamp monsters that OOO-45 dragged in to destroy every vestige of good government.
I can hardly wait for that breath of fresh air.
I'm grateful to the voting officials and volunteers who are working so hard and so carefully to count and process millions of ballots across the country.
I'm grateful to HCR for helping us stay sane and centered.
I'm going to bed with real hope in my heart for the first time in years.
Quite rightly...this is not the end! Biden will now need to emulate Teddy Roosevelt and use his Presidency as his Bully Pulpit to force the Senate to bend. Only the force of public opinion threatening McConnell for the mid-terms will shift him grudgingly along the "road to righteousness" to move the country forward at a snail's pace.
Add to this the challenges Biden will encounter from Dem. party Progressives, e.g. AOC et al, and from Bernie's supporters. Some have continued to advocate for their left-leaning platforms (their right, certainly); a few tweets I saw were highly critical of what Biden will do before he even DOES anything! I would hope that all of us can decide to unite in service to the greater good rather than to constantly carp about the slice of pie that we didn't get this time around.
The thing is, voters have to be educated that IF you vote, you get a little bit of what you want, then KEEP voting to get farther - KEEP voting! . You cant give up just because it didnt get you EVERYTHING you want. On the other hand - pushing too hard for everything right in the beginning - will put the "opponents" backs up - then where are you? Look at the fight for civil rights - you think WE are frustrated! Look how long its taken for African Americans to get this far - you think they havent had any pushback? This division & partisan divide is nasty - thats an issue that somehow has to be overcome - somehow. I dont really know if this country can ever pull together - for instance, as it did during World War II. I'm sure there were people who were against everything (like now) but from all I've read & people I talked to - pretty much everyone pulled together. Think about that!!! I'm old enough to have had several uncles AND aunts in the service at that time - a couple were hurt but they all came home. It was the RIGHT thing!
Maggie, you are so right! Vote, Keep Voting, and recognize that we all need to band together to advocate for what is right and good. Your example of the Civil Rights movement is perfect. It can't be fought for in fits and starts, it has to be fought for in a non-stop continuous stream. Beyond that, success in the civil rights movement cannot be declared by white people but only by the people who have suffered the most from the denial of Civil Rights.
I'm almost 80. It's clear to me this time is like no other. As it's clear to me that the "old ways" are dead - except for those who've lived long and are still hooked into the old ways of the past in their minds. We live in an oligarchy today. [Google - Gillens and Page.] (University researchers into Democracy). In the '50s - '70's we enjoyed a democracy. A brilliant Princeton philosopher named Wollin after a long and deep study of our democracy concluded we live in a state of "inverted totalitarianism" today. ("While the classical totalitarian regimes aimed at the constant political mobilization of the populace, inverted totalitarianism aims for the mass of the populace to be in a persistent state of political apathy." )Wikipedia. As that song says - "the times they are a changin'". New times require new structures, forms, institutions, approaches, solutions, understandings, ways of seeing. The past is dead. Life is challenging us to develop and grow again.
Political apathy is right! The times sure are changin - the older I get the less I like change. I think many of us did enjoy a democracy through the 50s-70s but not all.
I like to think 9/11 brought the same unity.
Yeah, Lynell, I think it did. Dont remember anyone actively speaking out against us right then. Do remember numnut's claim that there were people celebrating at the time! But thats just one of many lies..
It was an opportunity for us to pull together squandered by poor leadership.
Yes -- having a more informed citizenry is so important (we have surely failed on THAT recently). A good example of people deciding to pull together despite some resistance to a given issue is seen in the isolationist America First Committee, of which Charles A. Lindbergh was a darling. When the US entered WWII, within days of the attack on Pearl Harbor America First disbanded. Wikipedia has a few good quotes from Lindbergh and others re why it was important to "pull together." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Committee
Oh my. Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee is a horrible example of people deciding to pull together. Lindbergh's antisemitic tendencies and his pros eugenics stance leave a very bad taste in my mouth. A better example would be the Victory Garden Movement that became a matter of pride for tens of thousands of families across the country.
Here's a book worth reading... The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever David M. Friedman; Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers; 2007.
BUT people DID pull together regardless of Lindbergh & his popularity - in a good way. The Victory Garden was another example, right. I think there were likely a lot of different ways that Americans actually wanted to help the country come together. Thats something that we need more right now.
Thats right! I remember reading about that - and I think there was even a tv series that showed that.
Rev. Judith, so as not to flood your in-box, just assume I will click "heart" on all comments you make!
I think that the world is not going their way. Western society doesn't look as though it is going in a "progressive" direction. AOC etc will I think be marginalized and remain so. Why would the US buck this wider global trend? The US stopped leading the world some time ago. Bush was a disaster with his intervention in Iraq to finish what his father sensibly resisted, Obama mostly withdrew or procrastinated on the international scene once Clinton left him and Trump just kept on digging the hole deeper and deeper.
I agree about the wider global trend. Which is why I hope that Biden can generate strong support for steering a middle course, carefully and strategically. He is not going to be able to accomplish a whole lot (not unless a miracle occurs re control of the Senate...). To me, his greatest gift to the nation (and the world?) will be a sane, competent, truthful presence in the White House. Four years of that can, I hope, heal some of the most egregious rifts in our international relationships and maybe move us forward a centimeter or two... One step at a time!
I think actually firstly you are right about internal politics. He will put the Feds back together and annul by Directive what was destroyed by Directive. However his main agenda will probably be international where he is likely to find more easily non-partisan support.
Given what you see as his greatest gift, at the end of his 4 years what do you sense will have changed? As the two university researchers -Gilens and Page- found - we no longer live in a democracy but an oligarchy. The results of their scrutinizing legislation over a significant period of time showed not the interests of the people in them but rather those of corporations and the rich. "Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence."(Google).The Earth House is burning. These structures are in place at the same time. Who and What and How will effect the required necessities to meet the fact of this conflagration and the associated multiplicity of political/social/economic/problems?
Stuart, you write great, but apparently have a very short memory? If elected, Biden WILL have to deal with the incalcitrance of the far left wing. You may recall Ted Cruz and the Tea Party managed to shut down the federal government in 2013.
Since when did Cruz and the Tea Party represent the "far left wing"? McConnell can shut down the government whenever he likes by refusing to deal with The House's Budget or the debt ceiling....AOC could too if she voted with the Republicans or abstained in the House vote on the same. I don't think that would be too popular! Where would it get her with the NYC crowd? Progressive measures are not going to be considered by the Senate anyway under McConnell and she can't be seen as aiding and abetting McConnell can she?
I got the point, but I think you missed it, Stuart. The Tea Party were extremists, and insistent on doing things their way. Some people see AOC et al as also extreme (actually they are not) and fear their pushing things too far left. Problem is that we have shifted so far right that what too many people think is far left are actually pretty close to centrist. There are people left of AOC and I am one of them- and consider myself fairly moderate. My values are pretty much what my Dem parents had in mid-20th century. Nowadays you'd have to call us Social Democrats, I guess. What cracks me up is knowing that the Republicans proferred a system of health care back then that was very similar to what the Social Dems and Progressive wing of the Dem party support now. Ironic, isn't it?
Please provide some sources for your observation of the "incalcitrance of the far left wing." Who are they? Ted Cuz and the Tea Party are Republican. Thanks.
Replicated observation leads me to conclude the AOC and Bernie Sanders factions in Congress are not open to compromise and could have a similar obstructionist effect on a Biden administration centrist agenda as did the Tea Party on the Obama agenda.
Whether the faction is of the same or opposing party as the President is irrelevant; the point is that a small fringe group can gum up the entire works.
Are readers on this site so unable to process any idea contrary to the prevailing echo chamber that it is necessary to draw a map for what should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer? Let me try...Ted Cruz, a Republican Senator from Texas was elected in 2012. Ted Cruz became the de facto leader of a small group of ultra conservative Republican Congresspeople known as the Tea Party. This group rebelled against Congressional party leadership in both the Senate and House of Representatives, refusing to vote in favor of federal government funding; this led to a shutdown of the federal government in 2013 and ultimately led to the resignation of John Boehner as Speaker of the House.
You have a descriptive map of what is. What is your map of "what needs to be brought into manifestation?"
???
Good point. 👍🏻
McTurtleneck is exactly that...a snail..uh I mean snake!
What? The polls portended a Blue Wave yet McConnell rammed through the Barrett confirmation and refused to act on a COVID relief bill.
Agree, Laura. As Dr. R has said, we don't usually get everything we want in a democracy but that is to be expected. Having a Biden win will hopefully restore good government, as you say. I mirror your gratitude to the voting officials and volunteers. They rock! As for Dr. R, well, yeah, she rocks, too!
I agree. No, we didn't get everything, but the mid-terms in two years could produce a Senate flip, and in the meantime, with the Orange Menace and his henchman, Barr, gone, the few remaining moderate Republican Senators will no longer quiver in fear at the maniac's rage and retribution. Moscow Mitch can't live forever, so keep that in mind. He's just as evil as the Menace, and much more crafty, but his venom can't control the entire country
Yes, it's disheartening that the race has been as tight as it is, and the obvious prevalence of hatred and potential violence exists, but Biden will have the bully pulpit, and he has the experience to know how to exert pressure on the opposition. What we all need to resist is the very Democratic habit of eating our young. AOC and the Squad shouldn't be marginalized, and we need to work with all the diverse players on our side to do what is best for everyone. We need to understand that, ugly as it was, the Republicans know how to proceed in lockstep, and we should resolve our differences without a bloodbath within our ranks.
With the Menace no longer in office, hopefully the temperature will come down, if slowly, and without the Attorney General in a despot's pocket, we can take action against potentially violent hate groups. Besides, part of the Menace's frantic desire to remain in office is his frantic fear of prosecution. Now that he won't have that protection, I doubt that he'll have time to be standing on a street corner fomenting violence among the crazies, and Fox will try to remove his stench - they have enough of their own.
This country has myriad problems, much of which can be laid at the doorstep of the Menace and the radical right wing, but we must also address problems for which they are not totally responsible - inequality, racism, lack of quality education across the board, immigration, and much more. Our deepest problems existed before the 2016, although the Menace and his enablers fanned the flames and pushed the buttons to bring all of it to a head. He will be gone, and we must do our best to repair the damage with the means available, and stop whining that it can't be done. I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will provide a good new beginning. Early on, Biden wouldn't have been my first choice. Now, however, I think his even temperament, decent instincts, and a lifetime of experience working across the aisle are exactly what we need, and Kamala's intelligence, youth, pragmatism and real experience dealing with racial and cultural issues will make her an invaluable asset to Biden and all of us. We can't be a single-party government, and need to have a way to work together to make things fair and equitable.
We've all been traumatized by the last four years, but if we just hold our collective breath and stand in the rubble, weeping, the Menace and his minions will have won, regardless of who occupies the White House. We're better than that, and more resourceful!
Thank you, Nancy! A thousand times yes!
Yes, I just took my temperature and it is finally 98.6. It has been hovering at 110 degrees for 4 years.
I'm laughing - for the first time in 4 years. We make a goof pair!
I'm less sanguine about the riches of a Biden-Harris duo. The two have a distinct track record which if continued will not meaningful address the necessity of systemic change. One could even say political choices they've made have contributed to the very spiritual malaise with its spectrum of manifestations on the practical level before us today. That said. We today are living "in the crack" of the cosmic egg. Meaning there is an opening today that hasn't existed in my long life except perhaps for the '60s. Our Earth house is burning. Structures long taken for granted and causative, are finally being questioned. Good ole Joe may want us to heave our sigh of relief, go have brunch, and let him take care of tamping down the uproar. Wrong. Because of the Opening, this is the epic moment when we breathe that sigh and pronto get our rears in gear and our perspicacity shined up, and our petition pens, protest sneakers, and minds running full tilt to challenge our own past-due-date rigid ideas to focus whole heartedly on what are today-tomorrow requirements that must be met courageously, clearly, and creatively. Essential to remember: a higher order solution is demanded for a lower order problem. A problem to be solved cannot be solved with the very-mindset that created it. A broader and deeper (more creative) and more acute consciousness/mind frame is being demanded of us. The kind, for example, that was behind sending that spaceship to the moon. Remember? Our job is to know clearly was is going on and in seeing a detour, put the pressure on those two to do "right" by Us.
Selina, like you, I'm not naive enough to think that two people can solve all of our problems, and we have multitudes. Nor can anyone create great change if the populace is uninformed and unfocused. I am relieved at the prospect of removing the malignant force that has demanded the world's attention and damaged our already-challenged society. As you said, we need to sit up and pay attention, determine what is important to each of us and to our society as a whole, and then participate in repairing as much of it as possible. I do believe that, as many problems as we have, our country has the potential to mend. However, many can't see the forest for the trees, and that's where Heather's work helps to provide clarity. It is incumbent on all of us to understand the source of our many problems, then make a concerted effort to remedy what we can. There will be no easy answers, but I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will try to do "right."
Given the depth of the socio-political-economic-health care problems with Biden ominously reassuring the health insurance industry things will be alright, the red flag is up the pole calling upon the population to closely track Good Ole Nice Joe and make thunder when he shows his past austerity colors instead of doing the real changes that must be done. We can't fiddle around and make nicey nice with him when our Earth House burns, ice pack is melting, police are thuggish and killing off Blacks, unemployment and Covid figures are soaring, evictions are rising, schools are being privatized, college loans through the roof....No! Depending on him to do "right" is a perilous dependency. We must insistently and persistently "spur" him towards what is not just "wanted' but is required by the situations.
Frankly, I think your quarrel should have been with the current "president." We will have the opportunity to let President Biden understand our wishes/demands, and I'd be shocked if his response was anything resembling the chaos, criminality, thuggishness, incompetence, racism, privatized education agenda, ignorance of science and lack of care for our citizens displayed by Donald Trump. If our thunder was necessary, it should have been directed at the current dictator. The contrast between the two is stark, and if we're lucky enough to rid ourselves of this scourge, Biden should not be attacked unless or until he abdicates his responsibilities. If he fails to deliver, it should not be difficult to have him impeached by the Senate, who will likely still have a Republican majority - at least until 2022.
Such a great movie and quote, Laura. Thanks for the reminder.
It'll be so nice to breathe easy again, rather than collectively holding our breath against the latest atrocities Trump has put forth.