I can already hear the cries of hypocrisy after the Republican Party regains complete control in 2024 and immediately abolishes the filibuster the first time the Democrats try to use it. The Democratic Party is fiddling as Rome burns and singing Kumbaya as the Titanic sinks.
I completely agree. It seems like the Democrats, awarded with power, are afraid to use it.
Why Trump was not arrested on Day 2 of Biden's Presidency is a true mystery to me. A guy tries to overthrow the legitimate government with an armed mob and that is not illegal? Taht is not reason? Sedition?
C'mon. The bully will always win if nobody fights back. And, the bullying will get worse if nobody fights back.
We're not a dictatorship, yet. Our government is based on the rule of law. The president can't order someone to be arrested. Investigations, especially of complex crimes, take time. I'm as frustrated as anyone as to why the wheels of justice move so slowly in a crime like this. But the Department of Justice and House select committee are investigating Trump's attempted coup, and charges will be forthcoming. Only then will we know if the system still works.
Except that it is obvious to anyone who isn't blinded by cognitive biases that Trump caused an insurrection. All the evidence is on video. The "investigation" should have taken about five minutes if rule of law was applied equally to all citizens. The office of the executive has way too much unearned, dangerous, foolish privilege. The applies outside the cult of Trump.
The only way they win is if enough local law enforcement agencies join their side, inevitably led by the inept traitor, Michael Flynn. Some would join. Hopefully, the military would intervene. The toll would be horrible, even if democratic forces won. Hard to believe I'm even writing this.
Every time I get a request from the DNC for $ (almost daily now), whether by text, snail mail, or email, I reply back that I will not give a penny UNTIL they get rid of the filibuster and pass the two voting rights bills. I don't know if that message is "trickling up" but I daresay that if more of us did this, SOMEONE would eventually get the word that the tank is dry and nothing more will be forthcoming until they discover their b$$$$ and act like they know what they're doing. Dithering doesn't get it as far as I'm concerned. And I don't know what planet they live on or what "calendar" they live by, but it doesn't match the one I'm on or the one I live by.
Ellen, I love your idea! I get the same stuff from the dnc, but I haven’t yet felt like I could give anything to them. Just couldn’t bring myself to hit the ActBlue link, you know? Still give monthly to Indivisible, FairFight — and Sen Warnock (not yet, but I will).
I will immediately put your reply idea into action! With a letter as well, about voting rights — the house passed the infrastructure bill tonight — but I have always believed that voting rights should be the absolute top of the priority agenda. What good is infrastructure without the vote? We’d be giving it all to the MAGATS who will take the house and senate in 2022, having stolen our votes!
Yes, Ellen, I'm a lot like you. When I receive emails from the any of the various incantations of the Democratic Party asking me, as a Democrat, to take one of their surveys, most of the time, I'll do the survey. However, we all know what follows, which is their plea for money. I never give them anything. Then I click the at the bottom to send the survey. Of course, what appears on the screen is the second request for money, often with a photo of Obama or what I consider f,ing stupid, one of Mich McConnell. That makes me thing that maybe Mitch gets a cut. But I just delete and go on to my next email. I wonder if they actually receive the surveys. Oh no, my next email is from your fellow Texan, Bet'o. Shit, I instantly delete him. No, not because he is gay, just because I don't think he would be a good government leader.
The problem with Biden and his centrist Democratic elites it is that they are too damned afraid to make decisions that could accomplish their goals. Since the Republicans have mounted a concrete wall to block everything the Democrats want to be done, it's now time to do what Neitzche said, which was that so many of us never get to do what we want because we fail to make the decisions that would get us to our objectives. Democrats, stop procrastinating and do what obviously needs to be done to pass your bills: get rid of the filibuster.
With the Republicans, we can be absolutely clear - there is an enemy down every passageway, plotting malfeasance or parading it to the light at the nearest opportunity.
We are *sure* of that. The prospect of death by a thousand cuts has never been more evident. They have no idea why they want to win political power - it is probably not much more deeply thought out than that they want to win the meme war. But they lust for power and trust that they can disappear the Democrats, Trump or no Trump, when that day occurs.
What is surprising and more than a little disconcerting is how the Democrats are acting out their wish-fulfillment’s in such a way as to guarantee the Republicans victory.
The two major bills, which are spraying Democrat ineptitude in all directions at the moment, are a case in point. In their desperation to get anything, anything at all, a cross the line, the party of our choice is covering itself in mud, much to the disgust and contempt of would-be voters.
It’s often instructive to turn to the Onion for the most piercing bon mot. This week, one of their headlines captured the situation with a sad but piercingly true headline: Biden’s Social Spending Bill Whittled Down To $10 Billion Check to Joe Manchin.
Sad, but true in a spiritual sense.
Somehow Democratic policy makers (I use that term advisedly) are seemingly completely unaware that they have become the laughingstock of that part of the nation which skews left.
They desperately want to give Manchin and Sinema what Manchin and Sinema want. But Manchin and Sinema present ever-changing elusive targets. So it becomes impossible to sign away enough of the right stuff to make them happy enough to deign to cast a vote.
Nancy Pelosi (she who can count) may be a long-forgotten historical figure before she ever gets to call a vote in the House on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Primaya Jayapal (“We only want to pass Joe Biden’s agenda”) leads the flight of the Progressivewing from any blame for the failure of the party to pass legislation which America needs and *Americans want*.
Meanwhile nobody in any caucus dares say a negative word against President Manchin and his kooky courtier, Krysten Sinema. Tired as I am of hearing the Progressives bleat that is simply President Biden’s agenda, my gorge rises even higher when I hear, “My good friends in the Senate come from very difficult districts for Democrats to win”. Well, they chose to run there, didn’t they? They’re collecting a hefty paycheck for not saving America and not helping to save the world from the unimaginable horrors of climate change.
It’s supposedly off-putting to see how the sausage is made. I am much more ill-tempered by the spectacle of how the sausage is not made.
Enough! Enough! Enough!
Tell Manchin and Sinema that the bills are coming off the table unless they are fully signed within 48 hours and the two holdouts have agreed to a significant number of compromises on their side.
Yes the Democrats will lose. But they will lose with dignity, not with their clown pants on backwards.
Then put the filibuster to the vote. They may lose again, but by this time the wolves in sheep’s’ clothing will have been fully exposed for the Democrats are not.
The voting legislation will not have been passed. The infrastructure bills will languish. Roe v Wade will be extinguished.
But with the Democratic farce out of the way, the light will shine with full force on the knavery of DeSantis and Abbott and Noem plus, plus, plus. The unscrupulousness of the redistricting scenarios will be exposed in all their petty connivances. Manchin and Sinema will be shredded with a ferocity they could not have imagined.
There will be a vacuum as the Democrats throw up their hands and bluntly admits that they cannot govern. But Nature abhors a vacuum and perhaps it will be filled by Republicans overplaying their hand in criminal or at least criminally stupid ways. They will surely be exposed as they flail about looking for something constructive (anathema to power seekers) to do.
And we can blessedly focus our attention on the January 6 committee for as long as it remains digging into the pigpen of Republican treason. We can encourage and support and publicize their work.
The losses will be political and temporal. But there will be dignity. Right now there is daily humiliation and that is driving the headlines.
The American Republic will survive if one party stands firmly for what is right. I do not doubt that a majority (probably a small-ish one) will somehow see to that.
Arrest the craven behavior. Roll the dice. It will turn out better than you can imagine.
How many subscribers would like a replay or missed Bernie Sanders vs. Joe Manchin? It won't end:
'Opinion: BERNIE SANDERS ERUPTS AT JOE MANCHIN, and a deeper dispute is revealed'
'Sanders has been mercilessly lambasting this worldview. On Rachel Maddow’s show, he sought to turn the word “entitlement” back on Manchin, saying this:'
'I believe all Americans are entitled as human beings to health care. I believe people are entitled to quality education regardless of their income. I believe that people are entitled to affordable housing. I don’t believe that two people are entitled to own more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of American society.'
'Sanders’s rejoinder is that the government should guarantee a much higher social minimum than Manchin wants. Hence the bill’s expansion of health-care subsidies and its assistance with college and housing. Taxing wealth, cracking down on elite tax avoidance and stopping inherited fortunes from evading taxation would rebalance our political economy.'
'But we can say more in response to Manchin.'
'Manchin wants a “caring and rewarding society,” which seems to mean giving welfare to the truly needy, while refraining from giving away too many “entitlements” that will sap initiative, thus encouraging them to seek “rewarding” work. For Manchin, of course, the additional benefit of this is less spending, which means less inflation and debt.'
'But this is far too cramped and outdated a view of the actual trade-offs involved here. His worldview neglects the idea that many of these programs wouldn’t merely establish a material minimum. They would also empower people to seek “rewarding” work and boost the broader economy, with positive social ripple effects.' (Washington Post)
“I am going to fight for the strongest piece of legislation that we can,” Sanders said, when asked what he could ultimately accept on drug pricing. “I think I’m going to begin calling out some of those members of Congress.”
'Sanders made the remarks at his second press conference this week, held just as the president’s multi-trillion-dollar agenda remains stalled — in large part over confusion as to what key moderates like Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will ultimately accept.'
'Manchin has expressed support for drug pricing reform, praising the idea when protesters recently kayaked up to his house boat. But he has has repeatedly said he’ll only accept a price tag of $1.5 trillion for the bill, or $2 trillion less than the figure House and Senate Democrats have worked with for months.'
“It makes no sense at all that we don’t go out and negotiate,” Manchin told reporters this week on drug pricing. “The [Department of Veterans Affairs] does a tremendous job at it. Medicaid does it. Why doesn’t Medicare?”
'Sanders held another press conference on Wednesday to scold both Manchin and Sinema for holding up the party-line spending bill. He echoed a lot of the same frustration on Friday, refusing to engage on questions about slashing the overall price tag of the legislation or shrinking its size to appease moderates.'
'When asked if he should sit down with the two centrists to work things out, Sanders said, “This is not a movie.”
“I’m not here to attack them or question their motives or anything else,” he said. “Manchin’s views, I know, are different than mine.”
“But the point that I’m trying to make … It is simply not fair, not right, that one or two people say, ‘My way or the highway,‘” he added. (Politico)
He's a fossil fuel cowboy, in it for the attention, power and money. West Virginia in in awful shape by all measure. Manchin serves himself not the people living in the state.
So correct. One might wonder when Manchin leaves the Senate after finally loosing how he'll get his houseboat to WV. I'm pretty sure this coal baron will get some of his coal miners to do it.
Getting the first legislation over the line and signed into law is a huge accomplishment. Now that it’s done and if the Build Back Better is also passed, then the filibuster will not stand in the way of the Voting Rights Act. It will be changed in some way to allow voting rights to be firmly reestablished. Tide did not turn on election night because of 2 governor races. It turns tonight because of legislation that the former had no desire to spearhead. All Democrats (including ones not voting in favor) and some Republicans got it to the president’s desk.
It so easy for some to find fault with the the Democratic Party. Its messaging has got to improve, but this DEMOCRATIC party is working incredibly hard for us and delivering against the wall, which Trump, The MONEY BOYS and the REBPUBLICAN PARTY built to keep the American people down and out!
REMEMBER the first credibly important legislation that Biden, Schumer and Pelosi got passed: H.R.1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
117th Congress (2021-2022) |
FACT SHEET: The American Rescue Plan Will Deliver Immediate Economic Relief to Families
March 18, 2021
The current public health crisis and resulting economic crisis have devastated the health and economic wellbeing of millions of Americans. From big cities to small towns, Americans – particularly people of color, immigrants, and low-wage workers – are facing a deep economic crisis. More than 9.5 million workers have lost their jobs in the wake of the pandemic, with 4 million out of work for half a year or longer.
The American Rescue Plan will change the course of the pandemic and deliver immediate and direct relief to families and workers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis through no fault of their own. This law is one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in history, and will build a bridge to an equitable economic recovery.
This is so right. Come on Democrats you have the authority to lead, use it. The fate of our democratic form of government hangs on the words used by our leaders. Waiting for the Repugs to meet their obligation under the US Constitution will only bring more disaster and autocracy, which is their goal.
Those are remarkably discouraging numbers on the extreme gerrymandering. While with effort one could still get elected once you have a six or eight point disadvantage, I don't see how one can ever win with 20 or more point disadvantage. This is worse than I thought by a lot. Now our "elections" will be just like Russia's -- totally predictable and meaningless. Think I will go reread Tim Synder's book On Tyranny and George Lakey's book "How We Win" and see if there is any hope. We have to have the Freedom to Vote Act become law!!
After the calumny of the Supreme Court in 2013 gutting the 1965 Voting Rights law, the Republicans have used specious states’ rights to restrict voting by those who aren’t part of the Republican white cadre. The filibuster MUST be removed from the John Lewis voting rights bill. If Manchin has other than coal-bed-principles, he must support this soul-of-America bill. As for Sinema, she is inscrutably scummy on issues of substance and principle. I just hope that she has an ounce of goodness in her.
At first I thought Lakey was a typo and you meant George Lakoff. He also wrote several good books about framing our message. One is called “Don’t Think of an Elephant - Know your values and frame your debate”.
George Lakey is an expert on non-violent resistance and making change happen starting with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. I attended a webinar he gave on non-violent resistance and was so impressed. Like in a protest you do not want to escalate confrontation so if you can't think of anything else just sit down. He also talks about reaching out beyond your own group to bring together all the groups that support your cause.
Elections in NC have been like Russia’s since the Rethuglicans have been in power. The guy who helped draw maps with surgical precision to dilute minority voting was indicted for financial crimes. Arrested for voter fraud crimes were two Republican operatives. Is anyone seeing a pattern here?
A friend started sharing her subscription to "Letters" well over a year ago to a small group of like minded people who termed us a tribe. We are a mere subset of those who read and comment here. I was thinking yesterday about this month of Thanksgiving and what I am thankful for. A little over a year ago I was fretting that the former guy would be reelected--a year later, that fear seems almost simple after all that has been revealed.
I am very grateful for these letters, so I decided it was time for my own subscription as a thank you to Heather, and also that I might thank a number of you who I have come to know and respect. There are certainly more than just these I will list as I know I am missing a few in this list, but profound gratitude and admiration to Ellie Kona (thanks to you, I have emailed and called a number of people in Congress and started writing postcards). Also to TCinLA whose astute comments I have often copy/pasted/sent to my little tribe. And for Lyneel, Stuart Atewell, Fern, Ally House, Rowshan Nemazee--thank you. To Sandy Lewis--often the stream of consciousness posts confuse me, and sometimes your hostility seems misdirected, but I do believe you are trying to fight the good fight, so I thank you for that.
I also have a comment of a thought I had which I've not seen discussed: regarding the recent spread of "Let's go, Brandon"--I must say when I heard about this I thought "seriously?" I recall junior high/high school when there were code words that held some meaning to those that were "in" and now hearing about this, it seems that there is the same juvenile mentality, a snickering about seemingly getting away with saying something rude. To me, it doesn't convey any power, it just seems........childish. I might not agree with it or like it, but I actually would hold more respect for someone holding a sign with the real words.
The only power this code phase conveys on me is sadness, that apparently among a lot of "adult" voters it is true: that you can grow older without growing up.
Thank you, Miselle, for subscribing to Letters from an American (LFAA) and joining the forum. Your journey to us is deeply appreciated. My head was too full and distracted to comment today until reading your post. A human touch in the midst of the battle for democracy and understanding is. at heart, where we want to be. I felt it when you described your reaction to "Let's go, Brandon'. Your perspective instructed me and prompted mine. A slur, which is so hard, dismissive and threatening that I wouldn't approach it or mention it, as though it didn't exist, but it does. I hesitate to launch into a comment about neo-fascism right now. We have reason to carry on our exchange. A hearty welcome, Miselle. To more human touches between us. Salud!
You and others like you are why I really enjoy forum. It is having thoughtful compassionate good friends all over the place. I used to do the Maddow blog forum until it folded and while I enjoyed several people there, it was also full of trolls. I still have a contact from the Virgin Islands from there as we managed to exchange email addresses. He has an interesting perspective and life story and he loves to bake. We have been lucky enough to enjoy some of his endeavors which are damn good.
Thank you for your post here. I am in the same boat; I had no clue how far from reality the Republiqans could go in a year. Thank gods for my daily jaunts into this shared community.
I reread HCR’s posts from this time last year. I would not have survived each day’s assault on our democracy without her. The daily letters and talks on Tuesdays and Thursdays reduced my stress levels and likely prevented a stroke. Subscribing to Substack was the least I could do. The comments from like-minded followers were bonuses. I am grateful.
Oh, let's go is absolutely childish as are so many of the antics of death star and his minions. It appeals to those who love to see what the class is trying to achieve derailed. Today amongst my email was a cite to a local TV station reporting the resignation of a Keizer (a city right next door to Salem) city council because some councilors wanted to add the word diverse to a civic engagement committee. He was sure it would be used to accuse people of being racist, etc. as he has been and and quite the outburst. Well, look in the mirror, buddy and the city council will be better now that this clown has resigned. Yes, I know diverse is such a scary word because it says more than just the good ol' white boys need to have say.
We had a similar situation here with the local school board president, who was adamantly opposed to mandated masks (which brought down our numbers and protected our children and their families.) He apparently had a screaming fit and quit in the middle of the meeting. I'm told there were cheers. At the very least, NO ONE misses his presence.
I am elated when I see people like this quit. I am very tired of rude all over the place. Kudos to you that this guy left your board.
Rude does not get us anywhere. Where we are getting our prescriptions is now short staffed and the lines are long. Part of the problem is that some people quit when customers were over the top rude to the them. And if I hear one more complaint about how people can't get their favorite fast food and blaming it on unemployment and people being lazy, I might scream myself...here at home though. There are many reasons why there are staff shortages and UI isn't one of them, but getting abused in low paying jobs is.
I will add to that by saying I feel so sorry and sad for the children that have to live and grow up with these kind of Ppl. So much chaos and conflict . Just imagine what dinner time must be like ?
As a staunchly abolitionist state, Maine contributed the proportionally highest number of citizens to the Union cause. One soldier, Walter Stone Poor wrote home "What a splendid cause is this on which we are engaged. I think it is the grandest that ever enlisted the sympathies of man. Nobler even than the Revolution for they fought for their freedom while we fight for that of another race."
Maine's motto, Dirigo (We Lead), is said to refer to Maine's historically progressive voting rights, which now include early mail in and drop box, as well as ranked choice, voting.
Yet, Maine Sen. Susan Collins is singing from the Dixicrat GOP 'states rights' songbook to oppose Federal civil rights protections for American citizens. Collins is the height of hypocrisy because despite her voting record in staunch support for the McConnell Trump GOP agenda, she was reelected in Democratic leaning Maine - which disproves GOP claims of being disadvantaged by a fair access to voting.
But, today, 151 years after the Civil War became inevitable, resulting in so many deaths of promising young men, we find ourselves back where we started.
Sure, Blacks are not slaves anymore, that work is done by illegal migrants now who are treated the same as slaves.
Blacks just are never hired into jobs. Good jobs, bad jobs or any jobs. OK, Burger King will hire them.
So, now, looking back at history, what young man looking at America today and the net result of all the dead bodies in the civil war, would run to die in another one?
My son is 23. He has a minority last name although he was born in America. He scrounged and scrounged to get a job after college. Almost nobody would hire him. Would I encourage him to go and die in some fight for America where a bunch of ignorant white dudes want to keep control? AND, where the same people are in control of the means to make a living??
Honestly, I think I would rather see him head to Canada. Or, perhaps Greece and the EU. Find a life in a country without these problems and let the US decay into whatever it decays into. Why throw a promising young man at a dead horse?
Also, its not like I feel, as a long time engineer having watched all of manufacturing be offshored by ALL of USA management, north and south, and watched thousands and thousands of jobs be outsourced in a bipartisan way both north and south, that I think America is necessarily worth saving.
In Germany, outsourcing does not occur. Nor in Sweden or Japan.
Americans are unique in their willingness to sell out other Americans for a bigger bonus, NORTH AND SOUTH.
So, my son? I say: Go North young man. Or go to the EU.
But, don't die for a country that is willing to sell you out at moments notice for a bigger bonus, a nicer car, a bigger house and higher social standing at church.
For a better understanding of your paragraph #2, see the new book, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200 Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth by Roy Beck. It's a good read despite being well footnoted with academic (economic history) research, but it's also full of quotes of Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglass. Available for $8 on Amazon.
Please try to get the book from someplace other than Amazon. Here in Oregon, we have the wonderful book store, Powell's where you can order books, and I am sure there are some independents in other places. Yes, people may have to pay more, but please try to support local businesses.
I know that happens sometime. We have a local bookstore that will order books. Once I knew the author of the book, but it wasn't available at Powell's, only Amazon. Somehow it became available at Powell's and I bought it there. I confess to despising Amazon and go to great lengths to avoid giving them a cent.
Outsourcing does occur from Sweden, maybe to a lesser extent than before, and now with the obvious vulnerability of long supply chains, it may be even further questioned. Sorry to say, the bonus is not only on capital and owners, but is massively driven by consumers who all get their little shares, by looking at the price tags, and with little chance to consider working conditions and circumstances in the production. But of course in Canada or EU your son would still be on the favorable side of a border.
Absolutely. Even in my disappointment with Virginia's election outcome this week. We had 25% increased voting. This was due to improved voter access. And it BENEFITTED the Republican party. I standby my belief that the infactuation with tRump is racism and greed at it ugly dark core. I have grown frustrated with the Democrats lack of action towards getting rid of the filibuster. So frustrating.
Suzanne, this is the conclusion I came to re this week's VA elections. Virginia was hailed several months ago as having passed the best voting rights act in the country. And it sure did work -- for Republicans. We lost in Virginia because Democratic voters just didn't bother to show up. It's infuriating.
I'm not sure...Northern Virginia and most larger cities in the state voted for Terry. I think the hot-button issues surrounding schools brought non-voters out of the woodwork.
I agree that I think that was the nail that sealed it for McAuliffe. But I did read somewhere earlier (sorry, I can't find it now!) that there simply wasn't the Democrat voter numbers to put him in the win category.
McAuliffe blew the campaign when he said that parents shouldn't have a say over what is taught. And he said almost nothing about what he was for. He was as bad a campaigner as Hillary Clinton. And Youngkin was a terrific campaigner. So I wouldn't take it as so much of a bad sign.
I'm a broken record on this issue. The DNC is supposed to help identify the strongest candidates and work tirelessly on voter turnout. It has been beset with weak leadership for some time. No different than Democratic leadership in the Senate, speaking of which is inexplicably on vacation today and next week. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.
Agree 100%, David. It was painful to see those campaign ads leading up to the election, all the while knowing I had to vote for him! I said elsewhere here my preference was either McClellan or Foy, but neither got on the ballot.
This is totally irrelevant, but as a former Mainiac and extremely part-time Latin scholar, “Dirigo” is the first person singular with and implied subject, “I lead”. The plural, “We lead”, in a similar fashion, would be ”Dirigimus”. Here’s my cheat sheet - https://www.verbix.com/webverbix/go.php?D1=9&H1=109&T1=dirigo
I agree! Susan Collins is also missing out on a great opportunity to be a Margaret Chase Smith kind of hero. Apparently she doesn't see that as an opportunity.
Collins has branded herself as Chase Smith and enough people have bought it so that Collins needn't actually take a stand against the abuses/abusers in her party. She can delicately sniff and tsk - and that is more than enough for the majority of Maine voters.
If anyone, Liz Cheney has taken up the Chase Smith mantle which Collins drags through the GOP ordure.
Collins refuses to take stands or vote for things that her constituents wouldn't like. Like the other congress people, she values her position in the Senate. She would never ever be considered comparable to Margaret Chase Smith, who was a real Republican back in the 50's, like Eisenhower, who was our last real Republican president.
I am a constituent. We elect the independent Angus King and the progressive Chellie Pingree and the moderate Jared Golden - all of whom represent us by voting on Democratic initiatives which Collins will not support.
Civil War Colonel Chamberlain (Gettysburg hero), Margaret Chase Smith, George Mitchell, Susan Collins—-three greats and a pigmy (to borrow from Judge Samuel Rosenman’s book title).
Susan Collins is an offensive liar. She blathers on about her “concern” about an issue which is just performative. She looked like two kinds of a fool when she said tfg had learned his lesson. She KNEW better. Then voting for Kavanaugh. She wastes her time doing research on issues when she knows she’s going to vote party line like she’s told .
So, have we all taken off our rose colored glasses yet? Mine came off months ago.
I heard these rather bitter projections yesterday. Pretty much every threat from the GOP is coming true, in spades.
As I was waiting in line at the bank yesterday, I overheard a couple of Seniors discussing current events, with heavy disgust. The one gentleman said, " I'm glad I'm at the other end of the line, but I do fear for my Grandchildren". The other nodded and said, "yes, so do I. I appreciate all the President has done but while he spent his time getting us shots, the Republicans took over the country". I thought that was a rather broad brush stroke look at what Biden has done, but the more I thought about it, I can't disagree with him.
I'm starting to feel that in a short time, instead of hearing the republicans cry about Clinton "but her emails", we are going to hear the Democrats say " but he got us shots". Is that all we got?
Look very closely at these percentages Heather is showing you. They are spot on accurate and fu*king terrifying. This all happened in plain sight.
Yes, between extreme gerrymandering, voter suppression and an epidemic of misinformation, I'm having a hard time finding reason for hope. I am witnessing this train wreck in progress in NC.
I have been following LFAA avidly for the past year, and rely on Heather's updates and history lessons for a grounded take on this unfolding American tragedy, in a historical context. If it weren't for the looming climate catastrophe that continues unabated with little being done to mitigate it, I would tell myself this too shall pass, as history tells us such has happened before.
By the way, this is my first post on this platform. I have been appreciating the input of so many well spoken members of this community who obviously care about the general wellbeing of humanity. Being part of this community gives me a smidgeon of hope; that at least we can seek solace in each other through this. I know I am not alone.
Lisa, I, too, posted my first comment today for the same reasons you mention! Literally just 2-3 minutes ago, and also calling out Ally amongst others as those I look for amongst the comments.
I can already hear the cries of hypocrisy after the Republican Party regains complete control in 2024 and immediately abolishes the filibuster the first time the Democrats try to use it. The Democratic Party is fiddling as Rome burns and singing Kumbaya as the Titanic sinks.
I completely agree. It seems like the Democrats, awarded with power, are afraid to use it.
Why Trump was not arrested on Day 2 of Biden's Presidency is a true mystery to me. A guy tries to overthrow the legitimate government with an armed mob and that is not illegal? Taht is not reason? Sedition?
C'mon. The bully will always win if nobody fights back. And, the bullying will get worse if nobody fights back.
We're not a dictatorship, yet. Our government is based on the rule of law. The president can't order someone to be arrested. Investigations, especially of complex crimes, take time. I'm as frustrated as anyone as to why the wheels of justice move so slowly in a crime like this. But the Department of Justice and House select committee are investigating Trump's attempted coup, and charges will be forthcoming. Only then will we know if the system still works.
Well written. I get it. But. The sooner Trump is in jail the better off the whole world is.
Also, if Trump was charged and arrested without due process, Civil War would have ensued.
Except that it is obvious to anyone who isn't blinded by cognitive biases that Trump caused an insurrection. All the evidence is on video. The "investigation" should have taken about five minutes if rule of law was applied equally to all citizens. The office of the executive has way too much unearned, dangerous, foolish privilege. The applies outside the cult of Trump.
It will ensue either way - with or without due process.
If we allow the disinformation to continue that's absolutely correct.
I don’t think so. If the folks we saw at the capital are the leaders of the civil war they better get in shape.
Out of shape people can pull triggers.
The only way they win is if enough local law enforcement agencies join their side, inevitably led by the inept traitor, Michael Flynn. Some would join. Hopefully, the military would intervene. The toll would be horrible, even if democratic forces won. Hard to believe I'm even writing this.
Trump was not arrested because of his cult, and because American justice has always been class based.
Every time I get a request from the DNC for $ (almost daily now), whether by text, snail mail, or email, I reply back that I will not give a penny UNTIL they get rid of the filibuster and pass the two voting rights bills. I don't know if that message is "trickling up" but I daresay that if more of us did this, SOMEONE would eventually get the word that the tank is dry and nothing more will be forthcoming until they discover their b$$$$ and act like they know what they're doing. Dithering doesn't get it as far as I'm concerned. And I don't know what planet they live on or what "calendar" they live by, but it doesn't match the one I'm on or the one I live by.
Ellen, I love your idea! I get the same stuff from the dnc, but I haven’t yet felt like I could give anything to them. Just couldn’t bring myself to hit the ActBlue link, you know? Still give monthly to Indivisible, FairFight — and Sen Warnock (not yet, but I will).
I will immediately put your reply idea into action! With a letter as well, about voting rights — the house passed the infrastructure bill tonight — but I have always believed that voting rights should be the absolute top of the priority agenda. What good is infrastructure without the vote? We’d be giving it all to the MAGATS who will take the house and senate in 2022, having stolen our votes!
Great idea! Love it! I will also do this from now on!
Yes, Ellen, I'm a lot like you. When I receive emails from the any of the various incantations of the Democratic Party asking me, as a Democrat, to take one of their surveys, most of the time, I'll do the survey. However, we all know what follows, which is their plea for money. I never give them anything. Then I click the at the bottom to send the survey. Of course, what appears on the screen is the second request for money, often with a photo of Obama or what I consider f,ing stupid, one of Mich McConnell. That makes me thing that maybe Mitch gets a cut. But I just delete and go on to my next email. I wonder if they actually receive the surveys. Oh no, my next email is from your fellow Texan, Bet'o. Shit, I instantly delete him. No, not because he is gay, just because I don't think he would be a good government leader.
Your choice. How wonderful that you still have it.
The problem with Biden and his centrist Democratic elites it is that they are too damned afraid to make decisions that could accomplish their goals. Since the Republicans have mounted a concrete wall to block everything the Democrats want to be done, it's now time to do what Neitzche said, which was that so many of us never get to do what we want because we fail to make the decisions that would get us to our objectives. Democrats, stop procrastinating and do what obviously needs to be done to pass your bills: get rid of the filibuster.
I had the identical image in mind.
With the Republicans, we can be absolutely clear - there is an enemy down every passageway, plotting malfeasance or parading it to the light at the nearest opportunity.
We are *sure* of that. The prospect of death by a thousand cuts has never been more evident. They have no idea why they want to win political power - it is probably not much more deeply thought out than that they want to win the meme war. But they lust for power and trust that they can disappear the Democrats, Trump or no Trump, when that day occurs.
What is surprising and more than a little disconcerting is how the Democrats are acting out their wish-fulfillment’s in such a way as to guarantee the Republicans victory.
The two major bills, which are spraying Democrat ineptitude in all directions at the moment, are a case in point. In their desperation to get anything, anything at all, a cross the line, the party of our choice is covering itself in mud, much to the disgust and contempt of would-be voters.
It’s often instructive to turn to the Onion for the most piercing bon mot. This week, one of their headlines captured the situation with a sad but piercingly true headline: Biden’s Social Spending Bill Whittled Down To $10 Billion Check to Joe Manchin.
Sad, but true in a spiritual sense.
Somehow Democratic policy makers (I use that term advisedly) are seemingly completely unaware that they have become the laughingstock of that part of the nation which skews left.
They desperately want to give Manchin and Sinema what Manchin and Sinema want. But Manchin and Sinema present ever-changing elusive targets. So it becomes impossible to sign away enough of the right stuff to make them happy enough to deign to cast a vote.
Nancy Pelosi (she who can count) may be a long-forgotten historical figure before she ever gets to call a vote in the House on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Primaya Jayapal (“We only want to pass Joe Biden’s agenda”) leads the flight of the Progressivewing from any blame for the failure of the party to pass legislation which America needs and *Americans want*.
Meanwhile nobody in any caucus dares say a negative word against President Manchin and his kooky courtier, Krysten Sinema. Tired as I am of hearing the Progressives bleat that is simply President Biden’s agenda, my gorge rises even higher when I hear, “My good friends in the Senate come from very difficult districts for Democrats to win”. Well, they chose to run there, didn’t they? They’re collecting a hefty paycheck for not saving America and not helping to save the world from the unimaginable horrors of climate change.
It’s supposedly off-putting to see how the sausage is made. I am much more ill-tempered by the spectacle of how the sausage is not made.
Enough! Enough! Enough!
Tell Manchin and Sinema that the bills are coming off the table unless they are fully signed within 48 hours and the two holdouts have agreed to a significant number of compromises on their side.
Yes the Democrats will lose. But they will lose with dignity, not with their clown pants on backwards.
Then put the filibuster to the vote. They may lose again, but by this time the wolves in sheep’s’ clothing will have been fully exposed for the Democrats are not.
The voting legislation will not have been passed. The infrastructure bills will languish. Roe v Wade will be extinguished.
But with the Democratic farce out of the way, the light will shine with full force on the knavery of DeSantis and Abbott and Noem plus, plus, plus. The unscrupulousness of the redistricting scenarios will be exposed in all their petty connivances. Manchin and Sinema will be shredded with a ferocity they could not have imagined.
There will be a vacuum as the Democrats throw up their hands and bluntly admits that they cannot govern. But Nature abhors a vacuum and perhaps it will be filled by Republicans overplaying their hand in criminal or at least criminally stupid ways. They will surely be exposed as they flail about looking for something constructive (anathema to power seekers) to do.
And we can blessedly focus our attention on the January 6 committee for as long as it remains digging into the pigpen of Republican treason. We can encourage and support and publicize their work.
The losses will be political and temporal. But there will be dignity. Right now there is daily humiliation and that is driving the headlines.
The American Republic will survive if one party stands firmly for what is right. I do not doubt that a majority (probably a small-ish one) will somehow see to that.
Arrest the craven behavior. Roll the dice. It will turn out better than you can imagine.
How many subscribers would like a replay or missed Bernie Sanders vs. Joe Manchin? It won't end:
'Opinion: BERNIE SANDERS ERUPTS AT JOE MANCHIN, and a deeper dispute is revealed'
'Sanders has been mercilessly lambasting this worldview. On Rachel Maddow’s show, he sought to turn the word “entitlement” back on Manchin, saying this:'
'I believe all Americans are entitled as human beings to health care. I believe people are entitled to quality education regardless of their income. I believe that people are entitled to affordable housing. I don’t believe that two people are entitled to own more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of American society.'
'Sanders’s rejoinder is that the government should guarantee a much higher social minimum than Manchin wants. Hence the bill’s expansion of health-care subsidies and its assistance with college and housing. Taxing wealth, cracking down on elite tax avoidance and stopping inherited fortunes from evading taxation would rebalance our political economy.'
'But we can say more in response to Manchin.'
'Manchin wants a “caring and rewarding society,” which seems to mean giving welfare to the truly needy, while refraining from giving away too many “entitlements” that will sap initiative, thus encouraging them to seek “rewarding” work. For Manchin, of course, the additional benefit of this is less spending, which means less inflation and debt.'
'But this is far too cramped and outdated a view of the actual trade-offs involved here. His worldview neglects the idea that many of these programs wouldn’t merely establish a material minimum. They would also empower people to seek “rewarding” work and boost the broader economy, with positive social ripple effects.' (Washington Post)
“I am going to fight for the strongest piece of legislation that we can,” Sanders said, when asked what he could ultimately accept on drug pricing. “I think I’m going to begin calling out some of those members of Congress.”
'Sanders made the remarks at his second press conference this week, held just as the president’s multi-trillion-dollar agenda remains stalled — in large part over confusion as to what key moderates like Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will ultimately accept.'
'Manchin has expressed support for drug pricing reform, praising the idea when protesters recently kayaked up to his house boat. But he has has repeatedly said he’ll only accept a price tag of $1.5 trillion for the bill, or $2 trillion less than the figure House and Senate Democrats have worked with for months.'
“It makes no sense at all that we don’t go out and negotiate,” Manchin told reporters this week on drug pricing. “The [Department of Veterans Affairs] does a tremendous job at it. Medicaid does it. Why doesn’t Medicare?”
'Sanders held another press conference on Wednesday to scold both Manchin and Sinema for holding up the party-line spending bill. He echoed a lot of the same frustration on Friday, refusing to engage on questions about slashing the overall price tag of the legislation or shrinking its size to appease moderates.'
'When asked if he should sit down with the two centrists to work things out, Sanders said, “This is not a movie.”
“I’m not here to attack them or question their motives or anything else,” he said. “Manchin’s views, I know, are different than mine.”
“But the point that I’m trying to make … It is simply not fair, not right, that one or two people say, ‘My way or the highway,‘” he added. (Politico)
This should be etched in stone on some wall somewhere prominent.
Bernie gets it. He knows the callous indifference of Manchin and the performative simpering of Sinema.
Bernie simply cares. He knows what Americans desperately need. And he hates the way this has played out.
Bernie Sanders is a public servant in the highest most noble sense of the word.
It’s great that you brought this forward, Fern.
A major problem with Manchin is that he, like #45, was born with wealth. He and most members of Congress have no idea what poverty is.
he is a repjublican but wants to torture the democrats longer than those who answer to the name
He's a fossil fuel cowboy, in it for the attention, power and money. West Virginia in in awful shape by all measure. Manchin serves himself not the people living in the state.
So correct. One might wonder when Manchin leaves the Senate after finally loosing how he'll get his houseboat to WV. I'm pretty sure this coal baron will get some of his coal miners to do it.
Getting the first legislation over the line and signed into law is a huge accomplishment. Now that it’s done and if the Build Back Better is also passed, then the filibuster will not stand in the way of the Voting Rights Act. It will be changed in some way to allow voting rights to be firmly reestablished. Tide did not turn on election night because of 2 governor races. It turns tonight because of legislation that the former had no desire to spearhead. All Democrats (including ones not voting in favor) and some Republicans got it to the president’s desk.
Here we go!
United 🙋🏻🙋🏼🙋🏽🙋🏾🙋🏿
It so easy for some to find fault with the the Democratic Party. Its messaging has got to improve, but this DEMOCRATIC party is working incredibly hard for us and delivering against the wall, which Trump, The MONEY BOYS and the REBPUBLICAN PARTY built to keep the American people down and out!
REMEMBER the first credibly important legislation that Biden, Schumer and Pelosi got passed: H.R.1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
117th Congress (2021-2022) |
FACT SHEET: The American Rescue Plan Will Deliver Immediate Economic Relief to Families
March 18, 2021
The current public health crisis and resulting economic crisis have devastated the health and economic wellbeing of millions of Americans. From big cities to small towns, Americans – particularly people of color, immigrants, and low-wage workers – are facing a deep economic crisis. More than 9.5 million workers have lost their jobs in the wake of the pandemic, with 4 million out of work for half a year or longer.
The American Rescue Plan will change the course of the pandemic and deliver immediate and direct relief to families and workers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis through no fault of their own. This law is one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in history, and will build a bridge to an equitable economic recovery.
See what it delivered below.
AND ON WE GO!
https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/fact-sheet-the-american-rescue-plan-will-deliver-immediate-economic-relief-to-families
I agree Fern.
Thank you, Mike.
My donations will go to two best candidates for Senate. Crap on the Trojan Horses
100% accurate.
I couldn't agree more.
This is so right. Come on Democrats you have the authority to lead, use it. The fate of our democratic form of government hangs on the words used by our leaders. Waiting for the Repugs to meet their obligation under the US Constitution will only bring more disaster and autocracy, which is their goal.
Those are remarkably discouraging numbers on the extreme gerrymandering. While with effort one could still get elected once you have a six or eight point disadvantage, I don't see how one can ever win with 20 or more point disadvantage. This is worse than I thought by a lot. Now our "elections" will be just like Russia's -- totally predictable and meaningless. Think I will go reread Tim Synder's book On Tyranny and George Lakey's book "How We Win" and see if there is any hope. We have to have the Freedom to Vote Act become law!!
After the calumny of the Supreme Court in 2013 gutting the 1965 Voting Rights law, the Republicans have used specious states’ rights to restrict voting by those who aren’t part of the Republican white cadre. The filibuster MUST be removed from the John Lewis voting rights bill. If Manchin has other than coal-bed-principles, he must support this soul-of-America bill. As for Sinema, she is inscrutably scummy on issues of substance and principle. I just hope that she has an ounce of goodness in her.
Manchin should take to heart not just the blood it takes, for him, to commit but also the blood, sweat, and tears it has taken to defend this country.
At first I thought Lakey was a typo and you meant George Lakoff. He also wrote several good books about framing our message. One is called “Don’t Think of an Elephant - Know your values and frame your debate”.
I thought the same, and looked up George Lakey. I found an excerpt of "How We Win" here https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/600693/how-we-win-by-george-lakey/ This looks like a book I'd like to read.
Do you mean there is a book that tells us how to win?
George Lakey is an expert on non-violent resistance and making change happen starting with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. I attended a webinar he gave on non-violent resistance and was so impressed. Like in a protest you do not want to escalate confrontation so if you can't think of anything else just sit down. He also talks about reaching out beyond your own group to bring together all the groups that support your cause.
What about PROFILES IN COURAGE?
Elections in NC have been like Russia’s since the Rethuglicans have been in power. The guy who helped draw maps with surgical precision to dilute minority voting was indicted for financial crimes. Arrested for voter fraud crimes were two Republican operatives. Is anyone seeing a pattern here?
YES! No way to out dem voter register the Jerry Mander. ❤️🤍💙
A friend started sharing her subscription to "Letters" well over a year ago to a small group of like minded people who termed us a tribe. We are a mere subset of those who read and comment here. I was thinking yesterday about this month of Thanksgiving and what I am thankful for. A little over a year ago I was fretting that the former guy would be reelected--a year later, that fear seems almost simple after all that has been revealed.
I am very grateful for these letters, so I decided it was time for my own subscription as a thank you to Heather, and also that I might thank a number of you who I have come to know and respect. There are certainly more than just these I will list as I know I am missing a few in this list, but profound gratitude and admiration to Ellie Kona (thanks to you, I have emailed and called a number of people in Congress and started writing postcards). Also to TCinLA whose astute comments I have often copy/pasted/sent to my little tribe. And for Lyneel, Stuart Atewell, Fern, Ally House, Rowshan Nemazee--thank you. To Sandy Lewis--often the stream of consciousness posts confuse me, and sometimes your hostility seems misdirected, but I do believe you are trying to fight the good fight, so I thank you for that.
I also have a comment of a thought I had which I've not seen discussed: regarding the recent spread of "Let's go, Brandon"--I must say when I heard about this I thought "seriously?" I recall junior high/high school when there were code words that held some meaning to those that were "in" and now hearing about this, it seems that there is the same juvenile mentality, a snickering about seemingly getting away with saying something rude. To me, it doesn't convey any power, it just seems........childish. I might not agree with it or like it, but I actually would hold more respect for someone holding a sign with the real words.
The only power this code phase conveys on me is sadness, that apparently among a lot of "adult" voters it is true: that you can grow older without growing up.
Thank you, Miselle, for subscribing to Letters from an American (LFAA) and joining the forum. Your journey to us is deeply appreciated. My head was too full and distracted to comment today until reading your post. A human touch in the midst of the battle for democracy and understanding is. at heart, where we want to be. I felt it when you described your reaction to "Let's go, Brandon'. Your perspective instructed me and prompted mine. A slur, which is so hard, dismissive and threatening that I wouldn't approach it or mention it, as though it didn't exist, but it does. I hesitate to launch into a comment about neo-fascism right now. We have reason to carry on our exchange. A hearty welcome, Miselle. To more human touches between us. Salud!
You and others like you are why I really enjoy forum. It is having thoughtful compassionate good friends all over the place. I used to do the Maddow blog forum until it folded and while I enjoyed several people there, it was also full of trolls. I still have a contact from the Virgin Islands from there as we managed to exchange email addresses. He has an interesting perspective and life story and he loves to bake. We have been lucky enough to enjoy some of his endeavors which are damn good.
Michele, You've awakened my hunger to eat. So, glad you're here.
I hope you find something delish. I confess to having breakfast here late.
Thank you for your post here. I am in the same boat; I had no clue how far from reality the Republiqans could go in a year. Thank gods for my daily jaunts into this shared community.
I reread HCR’s posts from this time last year. I would not have survived each day’s assault on our democracy without her. The daily letters and talks on Tuesdays and Thursdays reduced my stress levels and likely prevented a stroke. Subscribing to Substack was the least I could do. The comments from like-minded followers were bonuses. I am grateful.
I wish more of the info covered info would be available in our local newspaper and in TV news coverage so more people could be aware of it.
Looks like on twitter Democrats have taken back " Let's Go Brandon" With "Way to Go Brandon" and then list all Biden's accomplishments.
Perfect!
I also gave a gift subscription to a friend. I am considering making this my standard holiday gift this year (along with a handmade card.)
Oh, let's go is absolutely childish as are so many of the antics of death star and his minions. It appeals to those who love to see what the class is trying to achieve derailed. Today amongst my email was a cite to a local TV station reporting the resignation of a Keizer (a city right next door to Salem) city council because some councilors wanted to add the word diverse to a civic engagement committee. He was sure it would be used to accuse people of being racist, etc. as he has been and and quite the outburst. Well, look in the mirror, buddy and the city council will be better now that this clown has resigned. Yes, I know diverse is such a scary word because it says more than just the good ol' white boys need to have say.
We had a similar situation here with the local school board president, who was adamantly opposed to mandated masks (which brought down our numbers and protected our children and their families.) He apparently had a screaming fit and quit in the middle of the meeting. I'm told there were cheers. At the very least, NO ONE misses his presence.
I am elated when I see people like this quit. I am very tired of rude all over the place. Kudos to you that this guy left your board.
Rude does not get us anywhere. Where we are getting our prescriptions is now short staffed and the lines are long. Part of the problem is that some people quit when customers were over the top rude to the them. And if I hear one more complaint about how people can't get their favorite fast food and blaming it on unemployment and people being lazy, I might scream myself...here at home though. There are many reasons why there are staff shortages and UI isn't one of them, but getting abused in low paying jobs is.
And a ps--a thanks to Daria as well. I see her comments as I scroll this morning.
I will add to that by saying I feel so sorry and sad for the children that have to live and grow up with these kind of Ppl. So much chaos and conflict . Just imagine what dinner time must be like ?
As a staunchly abolitionist state, Maine contributed the proportionally highest number of citizens to the Union cause. One soldier, Walter Stone Poor wrote home "What a splendid cause is this on which we are engaged. I think it is the grandest that ever enlisted the sympathies of man. Nobler even than the Revolution for they fought for their freedom while we fight for that of another race."
Maine's motto, Dirigo (We Lead), is said to refer to Maine's historically progressive voting rights, which now include early mail in and drop box, as well as ranked choice, voting.
Yet, Maine Sen. Susan Collins is singing from the Dixicrat GOP 'states rights' songbook to oppose Federal civil rights protections for American citizens. Collins is the height of hypocrisy because despite her voting record in staunch support for the McConnell Trump GOP agenda, she was reelected in Democratic leaning Maine - which disproves GOP claims of being disadvantaged by a fair access to voting.
But, today, 151 years after the Civil War became inevitable, resulting in so many deaths of promising young men, we find ourselves back where we started.
Sure, Blacks are not slaves anymore, that work is done by illegal migrants now who are treated the same as slaves.
Blacks just are never hired into jobs. Good jobs, bad jobs or any jobs. OK, Burger King will hire them.
So, now, looking back at history, what young man looking at America today and the net result of all the dead bodies in the civil war, would run to die in another one?
My son is 23. He has a minority last name although he was born in America. He scrounged and scrounged to get a job after college. Almost nobody would hire him. Would I encourage him to go and die in some fight for America where a bunch of ignorant white dudes want to keep control? AND, where the same people are in control of the means to make a living??
Honestly, I think I would rather see him head to Canada. Or, perhaps Greece and the EU. Find a life in a country without these problems and let the US decay into whatever it decays into. Why throw a promising young man at a dead horse?
Also, its not like I feel, as a long time engineer having watched all of manufacturing be offshored by ALL of USA management, north and south, and watched thousands and thousands of jobs be outsourced in a bipartisan way both north and south, that I think America is necessarily worth saving.
In Germany, outsourcing does not occur. Nor in Sweden or Japan.
Americans are unique in their willingness to sell out other Americans for a bigger bonus, NORTH AND SOUTH.
So, my son? I say: Go North young man. Or go to the EU.
But, don't die for a country that is willing to sell you out at moments notice for a bigger bonus, a nicer car, a bigger house and higher social standing at church.
For a better understanding of your paragraph #2, see the new book, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200 Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth by Roy Beck. It's a good read despite being well footnoted with academic (economic history) research, but it's also full of quotes of Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglass. Available for $8 on Amazon.
Please try to get the book from someplace other than Amazon. Here in Oregon, we have the wonderful book store, Powell's where you can order books, and I am sure there are some independents in other places. Yes, people may have to pay more, but please try to support local businesses.
I'm pretty certain it's only available on Amazon. Otherwise, I'm absolutely with you on supporting local bookstores.
I know that happens sometime. We have a local bookstore that will order books. Once I knew the author of the book, but it wasn't available at Powell's, only Amazon. Somehow it became available at Powell's and I bought it there. I confess to despising Amazon and go to great lengths to avoid giving them a cent.
Amazon is certainly despicable. I'll investigate if it can be obtained through a local bookstore.
(Sweden)
Outsourcing does occur from Sweden, maybe to a lesser extent than before, and now with the obvious vulnerability of long supply chains, it may be even further questioned. Sorry to say, the bonus is not only on capital and owners, but is massively driven by consumers who all get their little shares, by looking at the price tags, and with little chance to consider working conditions and circumstances in the production. But of course in Canada or EU your son would still be on the favorable side of a border.
Olof, Thank you for your info and thought. Yes. Consumers also benefit until suddenly items are no longer available.
Agree about the good side of the border. (-:
HEAR HERE!!!!!
Absolutely. Even in my disappointment with Virginia's election outcome this week. We had 25% increased voting. This was due to improved voter access. And it BENEFITTED the Republican party. I standby my belief that the infactuation with tRump is racism and greed at it ugly dark core. I have grown frustrated with the Democrats lack of action towards getting rid of the filibuster. So frustrating.
Suzanne, this is the conclusion I came to re this week's VA elections. Virginia was hailed several months ago as having passed the best voting rights act in the country. And it sure did work -- for Republicans. We lost in Virginia because Democratic voters just didn't bother to show up. It's infuriating.
I'm not sure...Northern Virginia and most larger cities in the state voted for Terry. I think the hot-button issues surrounding schools brought non-voters out of the woodwork.
I agree that I think that was the nail that sealed it for McAuliffe. But I did read somewhere earlier (sorry, I can't find it now!) that there simply wasn't the Democrat voter numbers to put him in the win category.
And let’s be real: McAuliffe was NOT the right candidate.
Absolutely correct! He was as bad a candidate as Hillary Clinton.
I actually wanted Jenn McClellan to be our candidate, or Jennifer Foy.
McAuliffe blew the campaign when he said that parents shouldn't have a say over what is taught. And he said almost nothing about what he was for. He was as bad a campaigner as Hillary Clinton. And Youngkin was a terrific campaigner. So I wouldn't take it as so much of a bad sign.
I'm a broken record on this issue. The DNC is supposed to help identify the strongest candidates and work tirelessly on voter turnout. It has been beset with weak leadership for some time. No different than Democratic leadership in the Senate, speaking of which is inexplicably on vacation today and next week. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.
Agree 100%, David. It was painful to see those campaign ads leading up to the election, all the while knowing I had to vote for him! I said elsewhere here my preference was either McClellan or Foy, but neither got on the ballot.
McAuliffe was a dated recycled candidate who did not represent the Dem position well or generate any enthusiasm.
Yes. Awkward and stiff, too.
This is totally irrelevant, but as a former Mainiac and extremely part-time Latin scholar, “Dirigo” is the first person singular with and implied subject, “I lead”. The plural, “We lead”, in a similar fashion, would be ”Dirigimus”. Here’s my cheat sheet - https://www.verbix.com/webverbix/go.php?D1=9&H1=109&T1=dirigo
A welcome point. Though my guess is that was known and the singular chosen purposefully, since the motto speaks for the singular state of Maine.
And my home state of Maine is the first U.S. state to receive the blessings of the sun each day.
Totally on point. Thank You.
I agree! Susan Collins is also missing out on a great opportunity to be a Margaret Chase Smith kind of hero. Apparently she doesn't see that as an opportunity.
Collins has branded herself as Chase Smith and enough people have bought it so that Collins needn't actually take a stand against the abuses/abusers in her party. She can delicately sniff and tsk - and that is more than enough for the majority of Maine voters.
If anyone, Liz Cheney has taken up the Chase Smith mantle which Collins drags through the GOP ordure.
Collins refuses to take stands or vote for things that her constituents wouldn't like. Like the other congress people, she values her position in the Senate. She would never ever be considered comparable to Margaret Chase Smith, who was a real Republican back in the 50's, like Eisenhower, who was our last real Republican president.
I am a constituent. We elect the independent Angus King and the progressive Chellie Pingree and the moderate Jared Golden - all of whom represent us by voting on Democratic initiatives which Collins will not support.
Susie Q is all talk and no walk.
Civil War Colonel Chamberlain (Gettysburg hero), Margaret Chase Smith, George Mitchell, Susan Collins—-three greats and a pigmy (to borrow from Judge Samuel Rosenman’s book title).
Susan Collins is an offensive liar. She blathers on about her “concern” about an issue which is just performative. She looked like two kinds of a fool when she said tfg had learned his lesson. She KNEW better. Then voting for Kavanaugh. She wastes her time doing research on issues when she knows she’s going to vote party line like she’s told .
Thank you Heather.
So, have we all taken off our rose colored glasses yet? Mine came off months ago.
I heard these rather bitter projections yesterday. Pretty much every threat from the GOP is coming true, in spades.
As I was waiting in line at the bank yesterday, I overheard a couple of Seniors discussing current events, with heavy disgust. The one gentleman said, " I'm glad I'm at the other end of the line, but I do fear for my Grandchildren". The other nodded and said, "yes, so do I. I appreciate all the President has done but while he spent his time getting us shots, the Republicans took over the country". I thought that was a rather broad brush stroke look at what Biden has done, but the more I thought about it, I can't disagree with him.
I'm starting to feel that in a short time, instead of hearing the republicans cry about Clinton "but her emails", we are going to hear the Democrats say " but he got us shots". Is that all we got?
Look very closely at these percentages Heather is showing you. They are spot on accurate and fu*king terrifying. This all happened in plain sight.
Be safe. Be well.
Yes, between extreme gerrymandering, voter suppression and an epidemic of misinformation, I'm having a hard time finding reason for hope. I am witnessing this train wreck in progress in NC.
I have been following LFAA avidly for the past year, and rely on Heather's updates and history lessons for a grounded take on this unfolding American tragedy, in a historical context. If it weren't for the looming climate catastrophe that continues unabated with little being done to mitigate it, I would tell myself this too shall pass, as history tells us such has happened before.
By the way, this is my first post on this platform. I have been appreciating the input of so many well spoken members of this community who obviously care about the general wellbeing of humanity. Being part of this community gives me a smidgeon of hope; that at least we can seek solace in each other through this. I know I am not alone.
Lisa, I, too, posted my first comment today for the same reasons you mention! Literally just 2-3 minutes ago, and also calling out Ally amongst others as those I look for amongst the comments.
It’s nice to have you here in the community, Lisa Wolfe and Miselle!
It is a community, isn’t it?
Glad to read your post! Come back again!
Welcome, Lisa Wolfe. You grow our understanding, exchanges and perspective. Cheers!