Hello KEM... The Flicker Of Hope Burns A Little Brighter Tonite... To Safeguard It, It will require as does Freedom, Eternal Vigilance... From HCR Today, "But in fact, today voters resoundingly rejected Trump and Trumpism, and tomorrow, politics will be a whole different game."... Hope Creates Action, Action Creates Hope...
The nation will come to a screeching halt when the air traffic controllers call in sick and the airlines are shut down. Honestly, Russia and China both are laughing. We no longer have a functional State.
Democrats must hold the line even if financial markets collapse. There will be more pain and ultimately it will be blamed on the one who caused it; Orange Diaper Pants.
It needs a lot of mending. To wit; getting rid the the Electoral College, electing senators per population numbers, making clear that the 2nd amendment never gave individuals the right to own guns. For starters.
We should have treated the first tRump administratin as a stress test for all of the governmental systems from the Constitution on up through all the overlay that addresses how it's translated and applied to everyday governing. Not having done so, we need to be very certain not to make that same mistake again. Not only do we now know that someone like tRump really might come along, but he has probed and discovered avenues both legal and illegal to circumvent the Constitution and laws. Like neural pathways, use strengthens and increases the ease of using problematic government channels unless they are trimmed.
Don't be too anxious to have a Constitutional convention. Because republicans are in control of the most states, they'd control the convention and it might turn out very differently than you imagine.
To all who want a “new Constitution” as opposed to amendments to the one we have:
This has been the dream of the far right, especially anti-abortion and authoritarian people, and they already have a frightening number of states on board with them. They claim, with what justification I don’t know, they can take over a Constitutional Convention, and write Project 2025 into a new constitution. Considering that conservative states outnumber liberal ones, they may be correct. It seems to me that probably safety should rule, and we stick to Amendments.
Just read Article V. two-thirds of the States can call for a Convention to propose Amendments, but ratification of any proposed Amendment requires three-quarters of the States. That is 38 States.
I agree. The Electoral College needs to be abolished. The issue of two U.S. Senators is also a problem. California has two U.S. Senators. There are 22 states when combined have the same population as California, yet they have 44 U.S. Senators. Will it ever happen? Not by a peaceful process.
I agree the voters yesterday were angry and getting angrier. However, the exit polling suggests the anger is principally a result of the financial stress that the Trump oligarchy has perpetrated on the 99%, and not so much on the broader ongoing fascist takeover of the federal and state governments. In other words, most voters are apparently more upset by the cost of living rather than the quality of living, which is a just and humane society and clean environment that only a strong federal government can assure.
I'm not convinced yet that the majority of voters are that concerned with the existential threats to our country's democracy, national security, health care, environmental protection, etc. The damage the Trump-izis have already done to the federal government is horrendous. Unless we have a much better informed and educated populace when 2028 comes around, we may get a new administration, but one that is not able to take the necessary steps to get the ship of state off the rocks, because it seems like all it can do is keep it barely upright.
Sadly, I don't think the voters are AWARE of the existential threats to our country. At least not enough of them are aware enough. If that makes sense.
But each day more people do become aware of what is happening and more people start to ask questions.
Yes Christine, I think you may be right. I know I’m pretty angry. However, I was really happy to see the results last night. I was beginning to wonder just how much of this cruelty We The People would tolerate. Happily, it would seem, we’ve had enough!
While benefiting massively from what the GOP is doing?
I think they're laughing.
Remember, these are dictatorships. Dictatorships thrive on anger. Fake news and anger is basically all they have to offer. So now seeing how the US is going there too... it has basically been their wet dream for decades already.
What the GOP wants is installing neofascism as fast as possible. History has shown that to the extent that public services fall apart, the combination of the destruction of society with the presence of massive fake news is EXACTLY what is needed to make people WANT a dictator...
At the same time, the alternative by now is impossible. It would mean having Democrats voting FOR the destruction of people's healthcare, and without ANY negotiations with the GOP, so without getting anything in return for their constituents.
They can't do that.
So we're stuck.
"We the people" (read: Democrats, since they're the only ones still standing up for us) will only win IF we can inform fellow citizens fast enough of who's doing what in DC. It will all depend on our own civic engagement and willingness to have real, respectful debates with those who either don't vote or who vote GOP or who are into cynical Dem bashing...
Hope is alive - still, and so is determination. I do wish that Mamdani and Bernie would quit calling themselves Socialists. They aren't. They are Pragmatic Capitalists, as are the Scandinavian countries. Neither Zohran nor Bernie advocate for the state ownership or control of the means of production. Frances Perkins, FDR's Sec. of Labor and the person responsible for our having Social Security summed it up almost perfectly: (paraphrasing) The people are what matter to government and government should do what it can to provide the opportunities, ways and means for all to enjoy the best life possible.
I agree Richard. The word socialist always causes my mind to show pictures of socialist countries & the harm that can occur. Pragmatic Capitalists is a great term. No wonder I read about so many people moving to Scandinavian countries. Be kind, one to another!
Tonight, legal scholar John Pfaff wrote: “Every race. It’s basically been every race.... Long-held [Republican] dog-catchers. School boards. Flipped a dungeon master in a rural Iowa D&D club....."
It's really bad news for Trump and all of the Republicans when the rural D&D clubs flip to the Dems. /S
Same. I don't care who runs as a republican. I have never voted republican and never will... even if mother teresa is the GOP nominee... although I am an atheist, so that really doesn't make sense. Anyway, GOP is a party of cruelty, racism, lawlessness and oppression. They only care about money for themselves - via grifting and corruption.
The only Republicans I have ever voted for were Oregon Senators Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood. They did good work for Oregon in the 60's and 70's. No one since.
Tuba I voted for Ike and, in 1972, was on the Nixon White House Enemies List. In recent years, the thought of voting Trumpublicans makes me apoplectic.
I hope that the Democrats get their act together and go visceral against the current ‘King’ Donald who is destroying the soul of my country that my five grandchildren will inherit. I recall Churchill, during the bleakest days of WW II:
Ally, me too and Norma Paulus, who I actually met. Too bad about Packwood. We had a case going and one of our attorneys was representing the Packwood women. I also have voted for my neighbor who was a Marion County Commissioner. He is now an I as he can't stand current Rs and is happily retired from politics Also in his favor: he is Duck fan. Watched the men's game last night which they won by one point. Their play was awful. We were delighted by the election results however.
I unfortunately went through a period where I voted republican due to the influence of the people I spent a lot of time with. I got straightened out when I met my now husband, and am ashamed of how naive I was back then. I was raised by democratic voters, and am now happily back to being that.
Yeah .... family dynamics are so weird .... Mom's parents were dems, but of the 7 kids, 5 are repubs. And some of their kids are too. Poor things. I hope none of them need SNAP.
Yes Tom. With so many younger republicans, I would like to know who spoon fed them the crap they now defend? When did it start? I hope all of them have a very hard time sleeping @ night.
Ugh. In VA a few state rep etc. positions went to Rs and by huge leads (like 75 to 25 or worse... for us) but fewer than went to Ds by the same sort of enormous lead. Overall, they're calling the VA outcome an overwhelming blue victory even at the individual district level.
Flat out jarring to this old Iowan. For over 30 years D&D was used to refer the Iowa to the Iowa School for the Deaf and Dumb, just east of Council Bluffs
Apache, I would note, while my local Indivisible chapter is celebrating this extraordinary moment for our party, we also are mindful of what we’re up against in 2026 where, in our view, everything is on the line.
Barbara Jo, YES about 2026. And let's not forget, as Michael Steele said last night on MSNBC, that trompy and the republicans have a "Plan B" in mind for next year -- i.e., sowing chaos, further limiting voting rIghts and access, instilling fear, etc. And let's also not forget that election interference by foreign actors who like America's status quo remains real.
True, but if we don't pause to celebrate our victories, people won't have the courage to fight on. Republicans have an endless supply of anti-democratic maneuvers, but when we address them, a lot are paper tigers as this election demonstrated.
I hope our hostess's analysis -- quoted by Apache, above -- is correct. But I fear it is not. We know Trump has bottomless contempt for anyone -- voters, judges, officials -- whomever dares oppose him; in fact he has repeatedly denounced us all as "enemies within." He has also repeatedly threatened to declare a state of emergency and thereby impose martial law. Hence I fear he will vindictively maximize his continued destruction of our democratic processes. The atrocities within his capabilities and expressed intentions include violent, shoot-to-kill military invasions of opposing states and cities and military violence against individual opponents, especially governors, mayors, other officials, journalists and academics. I also suspect he will make both the government shutdown and his nullification of Congress permanent, the latter by ordering his obscenely submissive Christonazi Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to (never) call the House back into session, then rigging or cancelling subsequent elections. (Johnson, from the murderously white-male-supremacist state of Louisiana, is superbly popular in his RepubliKlan district, and could easily hold office for life.) Therefore I cannot but suspect the "different game" will be the same malevolent MAGATry escalated to maximum terrorism. Goddess grant that I am wrong.
Heather Cox Richardson (born October 8, 1962) is an American historian who works as a professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians. She previously taught history at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Richardson has authored seven books on history and politics. In 2019, she started publishing Letters from an American, a nightly newsletter that chronicles current events in the larger context of American history. Richardson focuses on the health of American democracy. As of July 2025, the newsletter had over 3.2 million subscribers, making it one of the most popular Substack publications.[1]
Richardson attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.[2][3] She received her AB, MA, and PhD from Harvard University,
Newsletter: Letters from an American (2019–present)
In September 2019, Richardson began writing a daily synopsis of political events associated with the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Originally posting late every evening or in the early hours of the next day on her Facebook page, Richardson pivoted to writing a daily newsletter, entitled Letters from an American.[5][6] The newsletter deals with contemporary events she explains and relates to historical developments, with a focus on the health of American democracy.[7]
As of December 2020, Richardson was "the most successful individual author of a paid publication on . . . Substack" and on track to bring in a million dollars of revenue a year.[8] The newsletter received a "Best of Boston" award for "2021 Best Pandemic Newsletter" from Boston magazine.
n 2021, Richardson appeared on the Forbes 50 over 50 list[23] and received the Frances Perkins Center Intelligence and Courage Award.[30][31][32] In 2022, USA Today recognized her as one of the Women of the Year.[33][7] In 2023, The Guardian described her as the single most-important progressive pundit since Edward P. Morgan from the 1960s.[11] In 2024, the Authors Guild Foundation awarded her the Baldacci Award for Literary Activism for 2024.[34][35] In November 2024, Richardson was awarded the Kidger Award by the New England History Teachers Association at the NCSS Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.[36] In July 2025, Richardson was named to the Time100 Creators of 2025 for Letters from an American, which appears on Facebook (3.2 million followers) and Substack (2.5 million subscribers).[37]
Ms. Mullen, I'm aware of all that; I applaud and often cite the superb analysis she did in "How the South Won the Civil War." As I have said a number of times in these threads, I regard Ms. Richardson as the best -- that is, the most accurate, valiant and trustworthy -- information source on Christonazi atrocities and the MAGAT malignancy in general available anywhere, online or off; I recognize how uniquely vital she is to the anti-Christonazi resistance. And at age 85, my near-lifelong history of locally award-winning print journalism and intervals of hard-left activism -- as a result of which I am a proud Civil Rights alumnus of the Knox County Jail -- make that an absolutely valid judgement. What's your point? "Hostess" is a term of respect and politeness. It is under no circumstances -- save perhaps amongst the doctrinally deluded -- anything less. (Obviously you're seeking fault where none is to be found. Are you perhaps offended by my he/his pronouns? Or are you one of those who refuses to acknowledge the truly bottomless magnitude of Trump's commitment to Evil?)
People... to quote another woman of stature, "We are in this together."(JWV) If we address differences respectfully, perhaps we can unravel the core of a message. We celebrate big wins tonight, but cannot break into squabbles. We have work to do.
Yup. Let's allow ourselves to feel really good! I feel like this election was like a positive jolt of sanity.
Whether this will be recorded as the "tipping point" can't be known yet. But I, as an old white guy of WASPY background, am celebrating the election of two women of integrity to run two important states.
And I am even more excited about Mamdani. All Democrat politicians are looking at this stunning victory by a young Muslim democratic socialist and at least a little...tweaking their messages. They will need to - in order to survive.
Let's celebrate a big tent that shows that we shelter and cultivate moderates and progressives. All are welcome at this table!
Democrats picking at each other is what Republicans celebrate. They stick together, even when those among them are openly Nazis. Sick...but there is a lesson.
Loren, I get you, as I feel like she is a gracious hostess who allows us all into her home where we feel welcomed. And nourished--as education and the exchange of ideas nourishes us!
Thank you. Next to my late father -- himself boarding-school educated (Exeter included) -- Ms. Richardson is by far the most knowledgeable historian I have encountered. Reading and/or listening to her work is (always) thought-provoking and often a learning experience -- and I am reasonably well-read in history myself.
That said, this is probably an opportune spot to note that as a gentrification-exiled, John-Lindsay-voting New Yorker, I am overjoyed by Zorhan Mamdani's victory in the City. Never have I been more proud of my birthplace and intellectual motherland; if he is allowed to do as he intends, he will restore the City to the metropolis celebrated by James Baldwin: "Another Country" -- that is, the antithesis of the realm that spawns MAGATry.
Nevertheless, though I'm delighted by yesterday's resounding repudiation of Christonazi theocracy and MAGAT ecogenocide, I also recognize it as merely the heartening outcome of a battle in a war that has yet to be won -- that Tuesday's triumphs are as far removed from final triumph as the 1941 Battle of Moscow was from the 1945 capture of Berlin.
Yes; at least 2,200 people believed the Titanic to be unsinkable, and approximately 1,500 of them died. (https://www.britannica.com/event/)
And don't forget that 870,444 Wisconsin voters -- 54.32 percent of the state's electorate -- gave Sen. Joseph Raymond McCarthy his second term in 1952, two years (after) he began the venomously ruinous anti-progressive, homophobic rabble-rousing for which he is infamous.
That said, I recognized the addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance as a tacit declaration of theocracy, have been predicting the Christonazification of the nation since the Goldwater candidacy, and identified self-imprisonment by inescapable surveillance as the hidden purpose in our relentlessly pimped addiction to computers and cell-phones. In response I have been mercilessly damned as a Cassandra. But my analysis has been proven correct in each of these instances. Hence I don't give a tinker's damn about "the room."
Suggestion: Given that your hatred and contempt for any of us born male is so irremediably intense, why don't you, your posting supporters and your coterie of like-mates all petition Ms. Richardson to start a division of this website from which all us males are excluded? A site that requires irrefutable proof of femaleness for admission would shield you from "mansplaining" (a term every bit as venomous as the sexist and racist pejoratives spewed by white-male-supremacists); and such shielding would presumably grant you the intellectual and psychological freedom you so earnestly desire.
Barbara I am reminded of Perle Mesta, who was named ambassador to Luxembourg. There was a song about her: THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST. (This was by Irving Berlin in the play Call Me Madam.) Let’s sing this about Heather.
Keith. Are you guys serious? I know what time period that song is from. And just because somebody sang it to a woman before does not it make it respectful. I am 1000% certain the women in this thread know exactly what I am referring to. Dr. Richardson is a national voice in America who comes to us with immense credentials and expertise. It is out of place to the moment and the credentials of Dr. Richardson.
I will not sing some party ditty. It is called respect. Nor will I call Dr. Richardson a hostess.
Do not even try to make this about someone being a hostess.
Barbara Should I apologize for some 5 am frivolity? As you have seen in my many past commentaries, I am a fervent admirer of Heather—indeed, we went to the same high school.
Barbara, as I posted above, this old woman wasn't even remotely offended by the term "hostess" in fact, it seemed warm and complimentary, and as I said, Heather's podcasts remind me of someone open and welcoming to all who join her.
I’m reading this at 7 a.m. Less funny. Let’s see how things are at 9 a.m..
Having said that, I am thrilled at the results of yesterday’s elections. However, as the congressional Rs are still in thrall to 47, I don’t see them doing anything to reopen the government until he tells them to. They don’t seem bright enough to see what yesterday portends. Also 47 doubles down when thwarted. I hope yesterday’s results mean people are getting tired of his same old shtick.
can we stop fussing over what could be a badly used referent and focus on his message (which I also wrote about)? This ain't over by a long shot. Trump will lash out at everyone he thinks wronged him in this election cycle. Rs will fall in step. Celebrate these victories, but stay alert ... it coudl get a lot uglier.
The asshole would burn his own house down out of spite, so he'd certainly bring this country down out of the same ignorant vengeful spite.
The wondrous part is that we'll have a ringside seat for the meltdown as this stronger than he expected country has just sent the first shot over the bow and it may have taken out one of the headsails in the process. More to come as the fall of the bumbling fascist looms almighty. Rock on USA!
Of course dark and dangerous days are ahead. But we just showed that are uniting and active. Pessimism serves no purpose other than to further a fascist agenda.
What you're denouncing as "pessimism" is in fact trained compliance with Sun Tzu's core axiom that complete knowledge of the enemy -- that is, of enemy capabilities and intentions -- is by far the most vital prerequisite to victory. It is indeed that caliber of knowledge that enables us to transform enemy strengths into exploitable weaknesses. If you don't want this sort of information, don't read my comments.
Good question; thank you. I have no problem with respectful disagreement; like competent editing, it invariably prompts me to sharpen my work, and sometimes it is a genuine learning experience -- that is, a true epiphany, and therefore one of the very few delights available to a physically crippled 85-year-old. Nevertheless, it seems you are oblivious to the fact it was fanatical sexist intolerance of my (respectful, rare, mild, conditional and habitually polite) disagreement with our hostess's analysis that provoked the ongoing identity-politics tantrum of abuse clearly intended -- as unequivocally proven by Ms. Mullen's "I reported your response" -- to drive me forever from this website.
If you'll please review my posts, you'll discover the few disagreements I "refuse to accept" -- by which I assume you mean "reject with hostile retort" -- are (not) disagreements per se but rather confrontations in which an abuser exploits disagreement as a defamation-of-character license to deluge me with hateful invective. The vast majority are too enfeebled to acknowledge. The present deluge of defamation is the third Substack episode -- by far the most hateful of the lot -- to which I have felt it necessary to respond. In truth, the antagonisms evoked by my years in journalism and my interludes of hard-left activism -- the associated hostilities include three attempted murders, a slain beloved dog, a half-dozen assaults with nightsticks or fists and more death threats than I can count -- have grown me a proverbially thick, notably tolerant skin -- equally resistant to the additional abuse provoked by the fact that, since retirement from salaried censorship, I make no secret of my Marxian tendencies.
Please, for your own peace of mind, stop doom scrolling. The events you are predicting have become less likely because of our recent elections, not more likely. We have a LONG way to go, but it seems the Trumpian strategy of always doubling down on bad decisions is finally being exposed to enough of us to make a difference at the poles and in other areas of civic life. Celebrate today, tomorrow, back to work.
Stop Debbie Downing us. It's been a hell of a year and we had a great night. Let's pause and celebrate the good in that. There IS hope. You can get back to fear tomorrow if you choose but we're not having it today❤️
I fear that P2025 will up the ante and repubs will get even more vicious. After all this vote is a threat to their power. Who needs elections…if money can’t buy them. And they surely tried.
This is the time to push even harder against the rank and file Republicans in Congress. We must make it clear that the people are a greater threat to their positions than tRump is, and that they will not be able to rely on the regime's schemes to undermine the 2026 election process.
If Senators are distressed by the prospect of tRump making their lives "a living hell", we must remind them that they have the power to put a stop to this by defanging this lame duck.
Loren. I hope you are wrong for the sake of our country and the PEOPLE who care for the good of all. Let the 1%, the richest go to hell! Yikes. I’m not being very kind or Christ like😩
As I said above, my statement now drowned by the identity-politics tsunami, I too hope I'm wrong, profoundly so. But the relevant history, sociology and psychology -- i.e., the enemy indications -- are undeniable. Remember how the Original Nazis behaved when they realized the Red Army was unstoppable. Knowing what I know, I would be guilty of the worst sort of betrayal were I to suppress my apprehensions.
Loren, I think a fire has been lit & this admin. will not get away with the BS. There are still some good citizens in our government. Give them all the support you can!
Action. Many Congressional Republicans privately admit Trump is nuts.
I keep posting. According to Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Trumpepstein may cause an "Epstein bomb" causing over 100 Republican members to "jailbreak" from Trump.
Yes, it is going to be interesting to see what Republican Senators and Representatives say, but I would also suggest that we listen to FOX and NewsMax, etc.
god, that's a hard road to walk just to find out what the nutbars are saying to each other... I will wait to have someone who is paid to listen to those outlets to tell me. First hand is too close to the poison for my taste.
Between Decoding Fox (link above), The Bulwark (written and YouTube) and clips on Bluesky, I feel like I’m keeping up with the trends of fox and the rest, without having to subject myself to too much of the craziness. Lots of people doing good work here!
Yup, you’re correct, John: “a hard road,” but, listening to the “other side” - not just Republican politicians and pundits, but also my sister-in-laws and my nephews, etc. Will Speaker Johnson go with RIGGED? Will John Thune start to negotiate an end to the Shutdown?
Plus, what about the Epstein Bomb? To me, it’s much more than who’s on the list? Most importantly, it’s which Republican Congresspeople will cast their vote to keep the list concealed or vote “Present” and chicken out?
I’m listening to FOX right now. 1.) They are covering a Chicago “Riot” calling the “Rioters” Pro-Immigration while the “Riot” is about the ICE Raids which they believe are illegal and that INNOCENT “brown” are being harassed. 2.) Speaker Johnson is holding a “speech” (not a press conference) about the Democrat Shutdown. 3.) Trump is heading to Miami.
Politics may be a game, but Democracy is not. Once elected, the winners of every party must get down to business and follow the constitution. Potus has literally gotten away with murder ( over 100 killed by drones unlawfully), mayhem (ICE grabbing AMERICANS off the streets in blue states) and evil (Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. 218th Representative Grajalva is a Democrat and fearful leader Mike Johnson recessed the House for over a month so he would not have to swear her in and open an investigation into potus/epstein which King Charles took VERY seriously). Get on the Capitol Hill Switchboard phone today and leave a messages to him and anyone in Congress.
But we still have to contend with the fact that trump doesn't care how people vote because he doesn't intend to leave the office. The project 2025 group is taking away all the guardrails that would prevent him being forced out. They control the military, the justice department and the supreme court. Who will be able to force him to leave?
Apache, I hope this carries forward as we noted several attempts to make voting difficult. But we are smiling this morning and noting that death star is raging. Yes, more action.
As shareholders in many of the companies that supported DJT like Walmart, The Home Depot, AT&T Amazon etc. we can vote our shares against the MAGA directors and quit financing them with our purchases.
"Walmart heiress and billionaire businesswoman Nancy Walton Laurie’s $300 million megayacht is as silent as a stealth warship. Purchased from the Qatar royal family, the 361 feet long mammoth vessel is so grand that it has the most marble and stone ever installed on a yacht."
And she's not the only Walton heir with a $100 million plus yacht.
We certainly can't expect the Trustifarians to give a damn about hungry or homeless Americans.
I didn't mean to imply they care about hunger or homelessness, I meant that they care about their bottom line. As "Beau of the Ranch" used to say, billionaires aren't really "blue" or "red" they are "green" --not environmentally but like in green backs. They care who will bring them the most money.
Miselle, I worked for an advertising agency that created campaigns for candidates of both parties. Besides political clients, we served both black and white clients. Someone questioned him about how he could do that. He replied, "I'm colorblind. I only see green."
Agreed KEM, our Vote is our Voice! We must keep showing up peacefully, proudly continuing to make our voices heard.
This administration’s cruelty and hypocrisy is now on full display and threats of retaliation are filling the air:
“Trump “will make their lives a living hell.” “He will call them at three o’clock in the morning. He will blow them up in their districts. He will call them un-American. He will call them old creatures of a dying institution. Believe you me, he’s going to make their lives just hell.”
The shutdown is where “the buck stops” we must stay strong and not give into the authoritarian threats of “Comply or Die!” Our sense of community is our biggest shield and negotiation is the rallying cry. Our Democratic leaders are ready…❤️🤍💙
“The 2025 government shutdown now is officially the longest on record. Here’s why.”
by Jim Puzzanghera and Tal Kopan
“Past federal government shutdowns ended in one of two ways: a significant number of rank and file senators struck a bipartisan compromise or a top-down deal was brokered by congressional leaders of both parties and the president.”
““The president is not in charge of the United States Congress, and we need to stand up and tell the president he is not a king,” Nevada Senator Jackie Rosen, a moderate Democrat, said of his calls to end the filibuster. “He is an elected official like the rest of us. We are three co-equal branches of government. And frankly, I’m sick of everyone treating the president like he’s not.”
Tomorrow (today), His Royal Pissiness will be treating all Republican Senators to at least two hours of his sparkling wit and gracious charm, filling the room with the sweet aroma of total obeisance emanating from his diapers.
Were they not all an obstinacy of useless, prevaricating schmucks, I might be tempted to feel sorry for them. (Temptation came..and passed, whew).
May I suggest ICTT posting such descriptions well after breakfast time please. Just kidding 😂. Your comment was more powerful than the coffee I'm drinking. Thanks!!
I bet that temptation didn’t last much longer than a nanosecond. If it wasn’t so harmful to our nation I would say that his meetings with his suck-ups was comical in its depravity. “Stick your nose in here, I’m going to fart, oh that feels good Little Marco”.
The funniest line from an extremely unfunny piece of nauseating detritus, who lives within his own make-believe land, but got shown exactly where the garbage heap of history lies. Trump was on every ballot in every hamlet, county, borough, burg and post office box in the country last night. EVERY county in Virginia bled red tonight, even the ruby-reddest ones. I can’t even think when that’s ever happened before.
it is also interesting that Trump's other explanation of the voting (besides that he was not on the ballot) is the shutdown. Isn't that a clear recognition that the voters blame the shutdown on Republicans? (That is correct, of course, but he has always taken the other line.)
I learned a new word today: Illeism. It's the term used to describe that habit of referring to oneself in the third person. It is widely believed to be the habit of a narcissist. Illeism (or self-talk) is a speech technique that enables the speaker to detach himself from responsibility or criticism. Hmmm ... That tracks.
HCR: "...tomorrow politics will be a whole other game."
Heather called out 2 newly elected national leaders, Abigail Spanberger a former CIA Officer & Mikie Sherrill, yes, that Mikie Sherrill, the former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, Mikie Sherrill.
Abigail won "the Governorship of Virginia by 15 points". Abigail Husband words to Abigail kids, "Your Mom s going to be Governor of Virginia". Gov Elect Spanberger to Supporters last night: "Those words have never been spoke before". And, Mikie Sherrill won the "Governorship of New Jersey by more than 10 points".
Fight back & bring on 2026.
***************************
Wednesday Update:
Further to 2026 & importantly to 2028, Pennsylvania Voters strongly REJECTED Trump's call to dump 3 Pennsylvania Supreme court Judges. With over 50% of the vote ALL 3 Pennsylvania Judges were retained on their seats. Per the Associated Press (AP) on 11/4:
* Judge David WECHT retained with 61.1% of the vote.
And remember to vote in EVERY election in 2026, not just the Federal election in November.
The Republicans funded two ballot initiatives in ME and got their asses handed to them. But, they will continue to fund far-right candidates and we need to beat them back in the primaries and the general elections.
I wonder how much dark money from Elon and the other oligarchs has gone into elections in 2025.
In my sleepy little town of 18,000 dominated by Republicans, Democrats swept every board: education, finance, town representative & zoning. Our Indivisible group has been quietly working behind the scenes as well as front & center. Maybe we’re breaking through or Trump is waking people up.
"Hope, humor, and hummus", said Wajahat Ali, of the Left Hook Substack. Let's all stay engaged and keep doing the inner work that's key to reformation.
‘‘The people have spoken. The tantrum is over. The adults are home again, and they brought ballots.’’
America just sent out a certified letter marked Return to Sender: Authoritarianism Not Accepted. The voters have spoken, and their message was less a polite disagreement and more a collective “absolutely not.” The red wave turned out to be a puddle of self-pity and cheap hairspray.
Abigail Spanberger didn’t just win in Virginia, she demolished. Fifteen points ahead and making history as the state’s first female governor, she turned the map bluer than a Smurf convention. Every county shifted toward the Democrats. Even the lawn signs looked surprised. The Virginia House of Delegates flipped so hard that Republican strategists are still trying to remember where they left their talking points.
In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill won the governorship by double digits, sending a clear message to anyone still clutching a MAGA hat like a security blanket. Pennsylvania voters kept their liberal Supreme Court majority, which is important because the last thing America needs is another court run by people who think the Constitution came with a gun rack.
Georgia Democrats flipped two statewide seats, Mississippi broke a Republican supermajority, and Maine told everyone that democracy is better when you can vote without a permission slip. Colorado decided that feeding schoolchildren is more important than another yacht for the wealthy. California approved Proposition 50 by a landslide, making it difficult for Trump to cry “rigged” with a straight face.
And New York City? Voters chose Zohran Mamdani for mayor, proving once again that the future belongs to people who actually believe in one.
Everywhere, from school boards to state courts, the nation’s political furniture was rearranged by voters who have clearly had enough of the circus. Legal scholar John Pfaff summed it up: “Every race. It’s basically been every race. Governors. Mayors. Dog catchers. Dungeon masters. Uber drivers. Everything.” It was less an election and more an exorcism.
Then, right on cue, Trump posted in all caps that Republicans lost because “TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT.” That is a bit like saying the Titanic sank because the captain was on break. America is moving on, and he is still explaining why it’s everyone else’s fault.
Yesterday, voters didn’t just reject Trumpism. They buried it under a landslide of reason, compassion, and common sense. The MAGA movement tried to claim the country. The country just claimed itself back.
And Michael, perhaps most importantly, yesterday’s outcomes have provided all of us voters a HUGE boost in morale, reminding us that even with MAGATS in charge of all sectors of government, WE STILL MATTER!
It's a very good start, now they (we) have to stay focused. It's a long road ahead and you can be sure the GOP will try every trick to cause failures. We have to recognize that and stay united in our purpose. Hopeful.
I went to bed giddy with the results that had come in. NYC! VA! NJ! CA! CO! ME! Retaining the judges in my state to PA! How refreshing it is, KEM! You're right American voters do care, they do oppose cruelty and I think we are going to continue to fight like hell to prove that again and again! Cheers to a bright day ahead.
But let’s keep in mind all Heather’s most recent columns and how they’ve kept returning to how truly mad and pernicious all Donald’s cronies are. With this larger context still bearing on us, let’s go to the one remedy to fascism’s tide.
Our schools – all with English-learning youth in their mid- and upper teens – need essay writing for seeing others as people – individuals inhabiting complications.
All start with classroom introductory essays, each identifying oneself by one’s food, clothing, and shelter styles. (Shelter includes building interiors, outside landscapes, and travel modes.)
Styles. All come first from families and communities. Later, when we notice, we chafe at some of these givens. We change them. Become different.
With intros written, everyone reads everyone’s. Discuss. Rewrite to cite best points in others. Most of our to-be-gotten skills deal in aptness of transition from our voices to others’. Eventually (more revising, discussion), all the essays go as a group to another school – in a neighboring culture, even to one stereotypically adversarial.
All get personal. Good at seeing others as individuals dealing with complications.
Authoritarian states like Russia depend on layers of fear and sleaze coating all -- so individuals disappear in the primordial ooze.
If schools could equip themselves with the arts and decencies to see others as individuals, dictatorships could never take hold with all their prefabricated hatreds and group think.
This is an interesting idea, Phil. and could be a useful attempt to have our kids develop technical skills, self-knowledge, and knowledge of how other people live. But if I remember correctly, essaying is also a fundamental part of Party rectification processes in Communist countries. Victims of criticism are forced to write and endlessly rewrite exercises in self-criticism until they are accepted in their abnegation or otherwise purged from the Party or punished. Our POWs in Vietnam were similarly forced to do so. These essays were instruments of control/punishment or attempts, in the case of the Vietnam POWs, to glean elements of useful information that could be used in the interrogation of other POWs.
I wonder how such a program of discovery and potential socialization could be instituted in our schools without it being seen by MAGAts as an exercise in control or punishment. "Woke" groupthink, if you will.
Like just about any tool, words can be used as weapons as well as for self-expression and understanding. Perhaps the most worthy mission of education is to provide methods and encouragement to empower our capacity to observe, reason and empathize with others, by improving our abilities to communicate, to express our thoughts or vision in ways that are clear and accessible to others. To see and listen in ways that a fruitful sense of others thoughts and experience comes though to us. That frustrates the agenda of would-be bullies, who try to manufacture and force a sense of reality in which their bullying is legitimatized.
J L - For as long as I can remember (I’m 64), “words are important” has been my touchstone in life in relationships whether personal (spouse, mom, aunt) or professional (school bus driver, instructor, volunteer, et al).
Yours is the best description I’ve ever seen that crystallizes why I wholeheartedly believe Words Are Important. Thank you.
I think word purity can go overboard by we need to be aware how (as advertisers and other propagandists are aware) the word choice and focus frame communication. I had a professor once who had advised presidents, and he sometimes asked questions of the class to which there was no correct answer (not on tests though) in order to illustrate flawed assumptions hidden often hidden in a question. Errors and lies can easily be buried in misnomers, doubtful premises, and omissions, even though most modern"Republican" lies seem to be hidden in the plainest of sight. I am troubled by the degree to which nearly all media, including sometimes here, repeats cliches that I regard is missrepresentative. I believe the words 'Small Government", "Free Trade", and for that matter, "freedom", "Pro Business", and "Christian" often refers to a reality the is pretty much an Orwellian antipode of what the label would seem to imply, It part of the "Republican" AKA, "dedicated to dismantling the republic", modus operandi.
Trouble is, in all these authoritarian regimes, communication of all sorts just reduced to slogans, party boilerplate, and cliché.
The great thing about quoting, citing others as individuals, for their personal and personally specific experience, is that the personal and specific perspectives nullify, override, displace all the canned and packaged.
That's a good point, Phil. There's an old joke about Vietnamese Communism: Being a Communist in Vietnam is like being a Catholic in France. Everybody knows the words, but nobody believes it. (Speaking here as a retired VN specialist and practicing Catholic. :-) )
Same here. I would like to participate in Essaying Differences. I would begin with this topic: discuss the tension between working full time for the minimum wage, and paying the rent, and paying for food, and paying for a list of necessary expenses, such as health insurance, and school supplies, and getting the car repaired, and paying for after-school child care, etc. And maybe she has a post-secondary degree, but every job offer within driving distance has eight or ten applicants and she never gets chosen. And the situation gets worse when people who have vastly more money than they need to live -- get a tax break, increasing their coffers -- thereby worsening the economic plight of millions of fellow citizens who already need to be subsidized, just to stay afloat. This policy promulgated by our current federal government seems like a peculiar form of insanity. Or a class war. Try to offer a rational explanation, Girls and Boys!
I see you'd give it a tilt toward economic and social justice concerns, which could be great. But it'd be something other just to stick with basic skills for awhile first, I think -- basics on seeing themes in others, teasing the fit of their specific examples to their themes, and then applying further examples and themes from others in the room. To see how closely individuals may match, how further, widening perspectives may apply.
Get these skills set, and then next chapter may be application of examples from the lit of various cultures, other arts in those cultures.
When I began my university education I wanted to become an electronics engineer. In high school, in 1962, physics, chemistry, and math seemed easy to me. After my first semester in college, with a 5-credit calculus class, and a 5-credit chemistry class, I decided I didn't really want to strain my brain quite so much. In the second semester I enrolled in an Anthropology class, among other subjects, and I found that I enjoyed "Anthro" very much. Fast forward to 1975, at age 27, with the Army and the war behind me, I re-enrolled in the U. of Wisconsin system. At first I thought I wanted to major in English, but I quickly jumped into philosophy. I received a BA in Philosophy in 1978 at age 30. I can easily recall my younger years, up until around 1975, when my friends and I could argue about politics all day, and half the night, but we always remained friends. That is the model of American life that I hope to experience again in my lifetime.
If you have not yet read the late David Graeber's "Democracy Project" I recommend it highly. The final chapter, in particular, is very poignant. To achieve consensus, all parties to the conversation must agree to keep talking, and arguing, until consensus is achieved. If there are holdouts, the body of folks who have come to consensus must then work together to persuade the holdouts of the wisdom of the consensus. Kinda like jury duty.
I'll begin by trying to find a copy of the David Graeber here in Japan.
From what you say of yourself, I can see I'm one year older than you, but otherwise with very similar experience.
I left the U of Michigan in spring of 1969 with my undergrad degree, proficient in several languages, to which I added Vietnamese next fall, when I began a year at South Post Ft. Myer (between the Pentagon and Arlington Memorial Bridge).
Upon leaving the army, I was a bit out-of-it, dismayed at the stupidities I'd seen (especially with bureaucratic authority, which always spoke and wrote in passive voice, and in parallel to that the consumerism status quo). Spent a long time reading -- especially American classics -- then entered the American Studies program, again in Ann Arbor.
After my tour in the war I was assigned to an ASA field station near Hakata, Japan. My friends said I was lucky, it was like a resort. During my 30 days leave I flew back home. I visited my Congressman's local office and begged the staff to try to get me reassigned to the States. They were successful, so I reported to the Headquarters Company at Ft. Meade, which was located a block or two from The Building, the HQ of No Such Agency. At that point I had about a year and a half remaining on my enlistment.
After a few months I applied for discharge as a conscientious objector. I declined the interview with a "knowledgeable officer" and I let my application rest entirely on my own written statement. I was successful, and was discharged "Under Honorable Conditions" seven months before the end of my 4 year enlistment.
On the day of my discharge, in late May 1971, it was like a party atmosphere among my fellow enlisted men in the personnel office, smiles all around. The only person who was not happy was a staff sergeant who did not like me at all, and who had tried to get me transferred to an armored division at Fort Riley, if I recall. He thought I would suffer because of that. I think he never knew that I had just spent a year with the First Cavalry Division in the war. Fort Riley would not have bothered me. If that last day could be depicted as a cartoon, that E6 would have had smoke coming out of his ears. He was so disappointed that he could not punish me.
Another thing that came out of the war was that I decided, while I was still in the war, that I would eventually become a vegetarian. It took five years, until January 1975 to become exclusively vegetarian -- and have been ever since. My wife is also vegetarian, and she is an excellent cook.
One more thought: I tried to learn as much as I could in that bad situation in the war. I did learn a lot, and I did change in various ways, inevitably. But I would not recommend it for anyone.
I have long thought that, in a diverse multicultural society such as ours, an Anthropology class should be a required course at some time during every student's K-12 education.
Jane, I agree completely. I view much of the uncivil discourse as a lack of empathy -- which would surely occur more seldom, and would be less severe, if they had been schooled in how similar we are in so many ways. And it would also help to acquire a healthy dose of humility along the way. I imagine they view humility as a sign of weakness, instead of respect, and patience.
Correct and well stated! My great luck was to go to a junior high/high school where my teachers valued independent thinking, research on issues, commitment to truth, and follow through. This open dialog exercise made all the difference - how I evaluate issues, what's being stated and what is really at stake behind the fog of "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain". I am grateful. Decernment is a good thing.
I took a week-long summer course with a volcanologist in an environment (BC, Canada) of volcanic features. On reaching destinations of field trips, he would ask us to take a few minutes to see what we noticed. He asked us to wonder how the circumstances of the site might have evolved. He was encouraging close observation. I think observation (with all the senses we have available) is a distinct and fundamental skill, and that one can be clever and/or educated without being particularly observant. Or be not so clever and/or clever and still be fairly keenly observant. For sure, it is an asset for discovery, or for that matter, survival.
Thanks Phil... Essay Writing is an Excellent Practice... Let just make sure that the Kids cannot use their little Handheld Cheat Sheets, AI enabled of course... Maybe get up, and Debate their Works Afterwards... This will build Public Spirit, and Comity....
Funny story told by John Fugelsang the Progressive podcaster and host on Progress Radio.
He just released a bestseller a couple of months ago - "Separation of Church and Hate". He said he used AI to help him find corroborating quotes to use in his book. When he turned in his first draft, his editor called and said many of your quotes are not real or made by the people you credit them to.
It seems thet AI just made up quotes that fit what he was looking for. It took him weeks to rewrite using real quotes.
The Democrats need to call their cheating out because the corporate media is owned and controlled by the oligarchs. 60 minutes allowed DonOld to lie and ramble on. They edited 73 minutes of his lies and BS down to 28 minutes and it still was full of lies and hate.
YES GJ! This was a recent HCR column I believe and quite shocking. He was truly off his rocker. The Lincoln Project could run with that one. WHAT’S HE HIDING??
A good ability to communicate is the most essential element not only in maintaining a solid democracy but in bridging our differences. I vote into our Constitution that it be mandatory to include essay writing for seeing others as people in all junior and high school curricula — in ANY language!
No, let’s NOT keep fixating on how mad and pernicious they are, shall we?
Everybody on this comment board (well, almost everybody) knows that already, and doesn’t need to be reminded of it for the 147th time. Tonight is a moment for realizing that whatever motivates it, tyranny eventually fails and tyrants almost never see it coming. It’s a moment not to obsess on the obvious, but to celebrate right action taken for the right reasons, quietly realizing that it might just as well have gone the other way.
I’ll take that over utopian musings about essay-writing any old day. Fortuna fortes favet and all that.
Phil, we (well, most of us) appreciate your championship of good testing and literacy. Although you occasionally mention the humanities, as a graphic artist and once-upon-a-time musician, I think we don't give enough attention or credit to the arts.
The visual arts teach the student to actually •see• things and people, their form, their structure. The visual arts teach attention to detail. The student cannot truthfully represent what s/he sees as art without first focusing on the details.
This transfers to how we manage our relationships with other people. One of the biggest problems we face in our modern society is self-absorption and failure to fully pay attention to the people around us so we can truly understand them. Understanding leads to empathy.
Music teaches the student discipline and cooperation, two principles sorely lacking in our modern society. Music also teaches the student to listen with purpose. We need more of that.
These are just the highlights of better arts education. I don't disagree that literacy is our primary need, and better testing follows. But let's not forget the arts!
Love this idea, and the thread it started. I learned to write essays in jr high school in the 60s. Ten years later I saw my 8th grade US History teacher and asked him if he was still terrorizing kids with essays. He looked sad, and said, "No. You guys bitched and moaned, but you could do it. My kids now can't." It hasn't gotten better. Now I volunteer in a local middle school US History class, and even the best students struggle with essays. Most just can't do it. But the teacher persists. You only make progress a tiny step at a time. Giving up is not an option.
And I would love to see the 50% of Americans that read at a 6th grade level or below improve their reading skills. We have to do better. But, I suspect the literacy and numeracy skills in the 18th century were far worse than they are now.
Except I have seen, heard, many times how literacy, newspaper subscription, and attendance at public debates in colonial times far exceeded ours today.
Heather would probably know about literacy through the ages in the US. My grandmother went to school in the late 1890's through around 1905 in a one room school house in rural Nebraska. She only graduated from the 8th grade where all of the students learned Swedish as well as English. But, she wasn't scholarly as far as I know, but she did write several letters a month to her sisters and cousins. So, I have no idea what her or anyone else in her communities education level was. And back in the 1700's I imagine the same was true.
IRAC could work well with many -- especially with teachers tuned to it. And many teachers could be tuned to such standards as you know. I think most American teachers are very well disposed to new and eye-opening next possibilities.
Tonight, legal scholar John Pfaff wrote: “Every race. It’s basically been every race. Governors. Mayors. Long-held [Republican] dog-catchers. School boards. Water boards. Flipped a dungeon master in a rural Iowa D&D club. State senators. State reps. A janitor in Duluth. State justices. Three [Republican] Uber drivers. Just everything.”'
It felt good to laugh out loud again! Thanks, Professor.
Newsom: "The Rule of Law...Not the rule of Don". Mamdani: "Hope over Despair." We should celebrate these big wins tonight... And for everyone who contributed in any way (including all protests) to any of the 52,000 elections and ballot measures, all actions matter... These election wins are our referendum on our Democracy and the Regime cannot take that away from us. And though we keep fighting, we can be inspired... And breathe....
Yesterday, Newsom correctly said that Diaper Don didn’t expect people to fight back, he assumed “we’d all hold hands or maybe write an op-ed in the LA Times.” Newsom correctly gambled that California (and the nation) was not in an op-ed writing moment last night.
Sometimes history just happens. And other times it gets deliberately made. Yesterday was an example of the latter, not the former. I hope this is not lost on us.
I’m a psychologist. This is going to sound very harsh, and of course, I would never suggest this for an ordinary patient, but the stakes are global at this point. Trump won’t change course — he never has not eventually gotten what he wants with these narcissistic tactics, and at 80, he has absolutely no reason or incentive (nor does he have the capacity) to consider other behaviors.
But, unwavering reality can and eventually will drive him into a psychotic state. If the Dems refuse to back down, if his poll numbers continue to plummet, if the government remains closed, if the media keeps these election results on center stage, if the courts continue to forbid him from doing what he wants to do, if the massive protests continue, he’ll have a breakdown. I believe he’s close, and Americans need to keep pushing.
Break down, or lash out and cause massive damage? That is a concern, as well. He does seem to go into modes of extreme obsessiveness and spiral and spiral in repetition over an issue.
Good point; I should have explained this more clearly from a psychological perspective. He’s currently lashing out and causing massive damage because his ego is still functioning. A psychotic break is when a person’s ego collapses and they begin spewing jibberish and clearly need to be hospitalized….they’re completely non-functioning, absolutely untethered to reality. He can and will cause more damage between now and the breakdown. But there’s no way out but through, unfortunately.
Agree that jibberish is already happening. And again, I’m glad you’re commenting and forcing me to choose my words more carefully. In a psychotic state, a person is just very disconnected from concrete reality, for example….
OK, now I’m laughing 🤣 Because every single example I can think of that I’ve heard from someone in a psychotic state is something Trump has already said. “I think my uncle is laundering Russian mob money”, “there are remote-controlled sharks in the ocean near where I live”, “I don’t eat vegetables because someone’s trying to kill me by genetically modifying them”, “Who knows…I might live forever”. So, PipandJoe, you’re really putting me in a whole new mindset here. We might be a lot closer to the breakdown than I’d imagined!
Jibberish is already happening, but then I think his dad Fred had dementia, as well. Trump has never seemed as if he is fully sane to me from the get go.
Agree that jibberish is already happening. And again, I’m glad you’re commenting and forcing me to choose my words more carefully. In a psychotic state, a person is just very disconnected from concrete reality, for example….
OK, now I’m laughing 🤣 Because every single example I can think of that I’ve heard from someone in a psychotic state is something Trump has already said. “I think my uncle is laundering Russian mob money”, “there are remote-controlled sharks in ocean near where I live”, “I don’t eat vegetables because someone’s trying to kill me by genetically modifying them”, “Who knows…I might live forever”. So, PipandJoe, you’re really putting me in a whole new mindset here. We might be a lot closer to the breakdown than I’d imagined!
Margaret, the one time I broke into a psychotic state, I began saying that I thought that someone was putting something in my food. You would think that that would be the end of it and I really was nuts, except that a couple of weeks after I was released from the hospital, I walked in on one of my roommates cooking crack in my cookware, which I surmise he had been doing with some regularity. So never not consider that a break is not a break, just that it's remotely possible that it isn't.
Super interesting comment, and you’re absolutely correct. One of my colleagues was seeing an African man who was insisting that someone back in Africa had put some sort of hex on him that was causing him to bleed abdominally, and he was complaining of very acute pain due to this “injury”. Well, some weeks later, my colleague read up on the man’s tribal religion and discovered that this belief in hexes was a profound psychic force in his culture. As a result, he referred him for a scan and the poor guy had a huge bleeding ulcer. He wasn’t psychotic at all — he’d taken his experience (pain) and put it into a context that he understood. Mental phenomenon happen along a spectrum in every human individual and it can be really hard to discern what makes “sense” and what doesn’t.
Please explain from a professional perspective. I have not heard the word ego used in a long time in a professional conversation, since even 40 years ago, psychology textbooks already referred to Freud as simply a turning point in the discussion and that nothing he did or said was still taken seriously. It is not a term typically used in scientific based studies.
I see you just deleted the the reply below that went to my inbox admitting that you were not actually a psychologist.
So I’m actually a Jungian analyst; I just say “psychologist” because it’s generally easier for people to understand. As you are likely aware, Jung was a student of Freud’s but split off from him in the early 1900s. One of the major disagreements between the two men had to do with the structure of the psyche, and that impacts the use of the word ‘ego’. Freud seems to have initially used it to mean: my sense of ‘me’, who I think I am, how I experience myself, etc…. He later developed his theory of the id, the ego and the superego, and then my best understanding is that he used ‘ego’ to mean: the part of my psyche that mitigates/negotiates/compromises between my id (what I really want) and the superego (societal norms/how I think I have to behave). All very general, but this is about the best I can do on the fly, and I’m definitely not an expert on Freud. Jung, meanwhile, considers the ego to be the center and coordinator of consciousness, but not the center/coordinator of ‘me’/my entire existence (Jung would call this the ‘Self’). So when I speak of ‘ego’, I’m speaking of it in Jungian terms — the idea that the ego is the ‘command center’ of my consciousness. But not the center of my entire existence. From a Jungian perspective, a person can be quite psychotic but still ‘themselves’….it’s just that their ego would have ceded control to a higher order of organization, the ‘Self’. This is quite complex; I’m impressed with anyone still reading this comment!
Freud based his ideas on only a very few case studies of a few women who came to see him and simply "speculated."
He is no longer taken seriously and has not been for at least half a century or more because none of it had any scientific bases at all - nor did he even have a large enough sample size even for any relevant observational speculation or assumptions - it was all just him simply wondering aloud. It might as well have been him making things up (well in reality it was).
He is considered relevant only because he mainstreamed the topic of conversation about the mind, experiences, and the influences of live experiences on behavior. Like I said even in textbooks 40 years ago he was a footnote as the "father of psychology" and it was pointed out that no one took him seriously anymore and for good reason. College textbooks actually say this.
Sadly, movie making causes many to think there was ever a "there-there" with his ideas when there never was a real basis for anything he said. He simply speculated ideas off of the top of his head. It has lead to a lot of other non-proven and unscientific nonsense like the idea of repressed memories, which also have zero basis in reality. Sorry to be nit-picking but a lot of damage has been done to people with some of this stuff. It just was a red flag when I read someone calling themselves a professional psychologist using a word like "ego." Neither men have any science behind their ideas, and whether one likes their ideas or not is a personal preference. I enjoy the idea of "collective unconscious" just like I like the idea of a soul. It is interesting that so many cultures have some similar themes, as well, but then all modern humans came from Africa at one point and may have simply passed similar ideas down through countless generations or some concepts may arise as fairly similar as social beings but the I too am just "seculating."
I strongly disagree. While it’s true that many of Freud’s actual theories are no longer in use, without Freud, there would be no John Bowlby, no Erik Erickson, and no Donald Winnicott, all of whom were Freudians before they branched off into developing their own theories which are very much in use in modern day psychology. Your comment is a bit like saying that the first surgeon that ever tried a heart transplant is no longer taken seriously and anyway, may have just been digging around in someone’s chest cavity pointlessly. Knowledge evolves, but it needs to begin somewhere, with some brave soul willing to hypothesize. Freud was that brave soul. Anyone who’s ever benefitted from mental health treatment has him to thank in some measure.
It will be interesting to see what the last straw will be before his palace court decides their political heads are also at stake and they challenge the king.
He’s already causing massive damage. I don’t know why that should be a show-stopper, however. I’m all in favor of getting the psychotic breakdown over with — it’s coming anyway and we might as well be the instigators. We already got a whiff when he started waving his little hands at Norah O’Donnell, claiming he didn’t know the scumbag he’d just officially pardoned. So brace yourselves for the inevitable moment of ultimate dribble.
We shall see. Little JD Wanker has all the charisma of used blotting paper and the charm of a small, cold eel. I don’t see him spearheading much of anything.
Yes, to a narcissist, all perceived threats are existential. Yes, reality is catching up to our narcissist-in-chief. However, he is wrapped in a thick blanket of sycophancy that shields him from reality and feeds his narcissism for it's own purposes. The oligarchy of ass-kissers will will continue to function for the time being, but as you say, when they fail, dark, dangerous times will follow. I do believe that most of the darkness and danger will fall on Trump and his sycophants, however.
What form do you think the break down will take? He is pretty clearly under treatment for a number of ailments. For someone as vain as he is, that alone, thst daily sign of failing, has to be adding to his desperation.
A massive myofark? A leap off the roof (we can hope, it would be the easiest).
Furthermore, Donnie is calling for the Republicans under his control to end the shutdown that HE caused thinking he could bully the Dems once again. But he should be careful what he does now. Ending the shutdown means that the House will reconvene. That means that Grejalva will have to be sworn in. And what follows her swearing in is that the discharge petition will pass and the Epstein files will be released. He has managed to get himself in a no win corner. This is going to be fun to watch. Hang on, it may get rough.
It was a good day. But Trump and his minions are going to do everything they can to crush dissent. How's long will Johnson keep the House recessed? Voting is not going to be enough. It is going to take continued, loud, peaceful resistance. And a constant insistence on the truth in the face of the dictator's lies.
Want to end shutdowns? Pass a law stating that neither senators nor representatives may be considered essential employees. As too many Americans already know, missing paychecks has a marvelous ability to focus the mind.
Definitely there should be a law in which members of Congress forfeit their paychecks during any government shutdown. Additionally, the Speaker of the House and/or Senate Majority leader will incur penalties and punitive fines after 2 weeks of government shutdown and inability to compromise or perform basic legislative functions that said leaders were elected to do. Sending a chamber of Congress into recess for more than a month without good cause should be grounds for immediate dismissal as House or Senate leader.
I cannot describe how pissed off I am that they get great health care and are paid for the BS they spew on the rest of us. Not to mention all they steal along the way.
I sent the following to both of my Senators yesterday (which I quoted from another Substack poster - thank you!): “Constitution, Article 1, Section 5 includes "Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting."
“Please demand that the House have a pro forma meeting every three days. Once that meeting convenes, Immediately call for a vote of no confidence in the Speaker if he does not swear in Adelita Grijalva. And, for good measure, even if he does swear her in, call for a vote of no confidence. Every three days.”
The statement by an administration member that Donnie will “make their life hell” makes me wonder if any of these people are adults. He’s going to call them names?!! He will call them at three in the morning?!! Do not answer!! He will cause them trouble in their districts? If their popularity at home is so poor that a liar like Donnie can destroy them, they did not have much to offer anyway. Stand up to this petty bully! It would only take a few Republicans to stand up to Donnie, and his support would crumble.
And he will continue allowing Miller, Vought, Noem, Kegsbreath, Putin, etc. to do whatever they want as long as they continue to kiss his ample derriere.
The turnout in yesterday's election was certainly encouraging. But Charlie Munger, Jr. financed the opposition to Proposition 50 in CA. Just another oligarch helping fool some of the people all of the time.
This is good news! we have some folks waking up! That is good! Keep voting, showing up and strengthening our commitment to restoring democracy (and reforming it too..). We cannot rest until the maga st&co/minions, project 2025, and all the other rot that we have been experiencing is swept clear of us, and remain a bad turn and pothole in our road to reformation..... We have much to do , this is a first step...let's keep it up!
The GOP will still try to control the mid terms so we need to keep the momentum going. Who's going to jail for defying a court order? My vote is Vought. Regarding the useful idiot Leavitt, is she auditioning for a Fox career in 2029?
We The People have spoken and rather loudly. What did this administration think would happen after they have inflicted unspeakable horror on Americans?Did they expect working people to not object to out of control grocery prices?Were we supposed to welcome the capture and disappearment of legal citizens? The unabated murder by our military on the high seas?The occupying of our mainly blue cities by armed National Guard? On and on and on goes the horribleness of it all and in just 10 months into this regime. Do they think citizens welcome this?No one and I reiterate NO ONE voted for any of this.Full stop. Smfh
You don’t ask those kinds of questions once you’re inside the cult, surrounded by all that chintz and fake gold crap, dancing away the night dressed as a flapper at your boss’s Great Gatsby party. The same if you’ve self-lobotomized by keeping Fox TeeVee on 24/7.
Propaganda is very strong. It always has been, right until the moment it isn’t.
I'm with JD in TX: I hope that moment is near. I don't see it coming anytime soon with my former work cohort who are doubling down on their MAGAt beliefs. Admittedly, I haven't trundled over to Facebook yet to see what they're saying today; thought I'd get some info here before wading into that cesspool.
Ally, wondering what they'd say about this thought I had: why did the Gatsby party have all the dancing ladies and the martini-bathing beauty? Why weren't there some dancing "Chippendales" or a near naked man in the martini glass?
I have to say this has been the most hassle of any election I’ve ever experienced. I’ve lived in Japan for several decades and always vote with an absentee ballot. Up until the year 2000, I always received my ballot in plenty of time. The US Post Office was reliable and it took less than a week for my ballot to arrive. But with George Bush’s tricks, I had to start sending my ballots by FedEx, then by DHL at a cost of $40 to $80 each time. But still I voted because I know how important it is. For the last presidential election, my ballot arrived 3 days before the election day and the envelope was ripped with parts missing. So I faxed my ballot. This time my paper ballot still hasn’t arrived, although I’d received an email in September saying that it had been sent. So I requested an online ballot. That was really hard to access and all the pages didn’t print out. I haven’t been able to find a fax machine that will fax internationally. At last I found an online fax service. They said my fax arrived. Fortunately I’m registered in a small town in California and can communicate with the staff at the County Clerk Registrar of Voters. They emailed me the missing pages and yesterday confirmed that my ballot was received and counted.
Excellent question. Trump is engaging in unprecedented collusion with Republican dominated states to cement gerrymandering into place and guarantee a Republican “victory” in 2026. I am sorry you have had problems with your ballot, but I can’t help thinking it’s deliberate on the part of the Post Office.
The Japanese Post office discourages sending anything to America by regular mail or airmail because they have no idea when it will arrive. They recommend sending it EMS, like special delivery which costs a minimum of $20.
Even my brother in California sent a letter to our cousins in Iceland but it didn’t arrive and was returned, even though the address and postage were correct.
Next the censors will probably start opening our letters to make sure we aren’t making anti-tRump statements, like the old days in the USSR and Eastern Europe.
Not surprised. When my sister was in Europe on her semester abroad, people advised her not to send anything through the Italian postal service (her campus was in Italy. Now the same cautions apply to the USPS. I am sure we’ll see a host of censorship.
Good for you Kristin for jumping the barriers repubs set. A lesser person would have given up. You should write some editorials to share your experience with other Americans overseas to prepare them for midterms. ✍🏼👍🏻🎉
With the obvious shift against Trumpism given the election results, I would expect a doubling down by MAGA and Trump. But it may be that some of the current Republican lawmakers realize that it is time to come to the table and together with Democrats take back their power of the purse if they want to retain their seats. Too much of MAGA policies are hurting their own constituents, and those constituents may eventually rebell and send them packing in the next election.
Yes, tomorrow, some brave Republican Senator will actually stand up in that little fireside chat planned, facing His Demented Gibberish, and simply say:
“I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a great and terrible resolve...”
Hm... let's see. We just had the biggest protests against a US government ever (7 million people), followed by a blue wave election win for Democrats. Apart from that, Democrats are fighting for what 79% of the American people want, namely NO massive increase of healthcare premiums.
Now, a judge ordered the GOP to do something else that the vast majority of the American people want: continue SNAP as it is legally obliged to do.
And yet... all that Republicans have to say is that DEMOCRATS should "fold"? And do what? Go against what their own constituents want? To become as unpopular as the GOP?
Why would any representative in their right mind do that... ?
Heather, please remind everyone in your next letter:
a) the reason for the shutdown is the House and Senate have not passed the 12? appropriations bills.
b) the House should be in session working and passing all of them so a continuing resolution is not even needed. The deadline as we all know was before October 1.
c) I am sure there is much other work the House could do as well instead of the Republicans being on vacation for umteen weeks.
The American people need to insist that the House return to work. And yes finally seat the new Congresswoman from Arizona so she can do work for her constituents. She should have been sworn in weeks ago during this shutdown.
Wayne, I would add that Heather also address Article 1, Section 5, Clause 4 Sessions of the U.S. Constitution:
"Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting." Mike Johnson needs to hear this!
My own take away from today’s voting is a renewed respect for American voters. They do care. They do understand. And they oppose cruelty.
Hello KEM... The Flicker Of Hope Burns A Little Brighter Tonite... To Safeguard It, It will require as does Freedom, Eternal Vigilance... From HCR Today, "But in fact, today voters resoundingly rejected Trump and Trumpism, and tomorrow, politics will be a whole different game."... Hope Creates Action, Action Creates Hope...
"Tonight we have spoken in a clear voice. Hope is alive. Hope is a decision..."
Zohran Mamdani Mayor Elect of New York City
The nation will come to a screeching halt when the air traffic controllers call in sick and the airlines are shut down. Honestly, Russia and China both are laughing. We no longer have a functional State.
Democrats must hold the line even if financial markets collapse. There will be more pain and ultimately it will be blamed on the one who caused it; Orange Diaper Pants.
We have the seedling of a new Constitution, which is badly needed.
Not so fast. We just need to enforce the one we have.
You mean like the gun laws?
It needs some amending for sure. But by and large, it's still a great governing doc.
It needs a lot of mending. To wit; getting rid the the Electoral College, electing senators per population numbers, making clear that the 2nd amendment never gave individuals the right to own guns. For starters.
Let's get on with the amending as we were directed to do by the Constitution!
We should have treated the first tRump administratin as a stress test for all of the governmental systems from the Constitution on up through all the overlay that addresses how it's translated and applied to everyday governing. Not having done so, we need to be very certain not to make that same mistake again. Not only do we now know that someone like tRump really might come along, but he has probed and discovered avenues both legal and illegal to circumvent the Constitution and laws. Like neural pathways, use strengthens and increases the ease of using problematic government channels unless they are trimmed.
Don't be too anxious to have a Constitutional convention. Because republicans are in control of the most states, they'd control the convention and it might turn out very differently than you imagine.
Agreed that a CC would be a bad idea, but I didn't notice anyone suggesting that. What did I miss?
To all who want a “new Constitution” as opposed to amendments to the one we have:
This has been the dream of the far right, especially anti-abortion and authoritarian people, and they already have a frightening number of states on board with them. They claim, with what justification I don’t know, they can take over a Constitutional Convention, and write Project 2025 into a new constitution. Considering that conservative states outnumber liberal ones, they may be correct. It seems to me that probably safety should rule, and we stick to Amendments.
Exactly, well said.
Wow are you over your skis.. down girl. We have so much to do!!
Just read Article V. two-thirds of the States can call for a Convention to propose Amendments, but ratification of any proposed Amendment requires three-quarters of the States. That is 38 States.
I agree. The Electoral College needs to be abolished. The issue of two U.S. Senators is also a problem. California has two U.S. Senators. There are 22 states when combined have the same population as California, yet they have 44 U.S. Senators. Will it ever happen? Not by a peaceful process.
Why? What exactly would you change?
I bet the rich wanting to fly in their private jets will be the ones to force the orange monster to give in.
I don't think Russia or China is laughing. I think they may be a bit nervous watching just how angry We The People can get.
I love your attitude. Of course the whole world is watching. And I'll bet the NATO countries are breathing easier today.
HOPE springs eternal?
Because a blue city votes blue... ?
I agree the voters yesterday were angry and getting angrier. However, the exit polling suggests the anger is principally a result of the financial stress that the Trump oligarchy has perpetrated on the 99%, and not so much on the broader ongoing fascist takeover of the federal and state governments. In other words, most voters are apparently more upset by the cost of living rather than the quality of living, which is a just and humane society and clean environment that only a strong federal government can assure.
I'm not convinced yet that the majority of voters are that concerned with the existential threats to our country's democracy, national security, health care, environmental protection, etc. The damage the Trump-izis have already done to the federal government is horrendous. Unless we have a much better informed and educated populace when 2028 comes around, we may get a new administration, but one that is not able to take the necessary steps to get the ship of state off the rocks, because it seems like all it can do is keep it barely upright.
Sadly, I don't think the voters are AWARE of the existential threats to our country. At least not enough of them are aware enough. If that makes sense.
But each day more people do become aware of what is happening and more people start to ask questions.
Yes Christine, I think you may be right. I know I’m pretty angry. However, I was really happy to see the results last night. I was beginning to wonder just how much of this cruelty We The People would tolerate. Happily, it would seem, we’ve had enough!
While benefiting massively from what the GOP is doing?
I think they're laughing.
Remember, these are dictatorships. Dictatorships thrive on anger. Fake news and anger is basically all they have to offer. So now seeing how the US is going there too... it has basically been their wet dream for decades already.
It's tricky though.
What the GOP wants is installing neofascism as fast as possible. History has shown that to the extent that public services fall apart, the combination of the destruction of society with the presence of massive fake news is EXACTLY what is needed to make people WANT a dictator...
At the same time, the alternative by now is impossible. It would mean having Democrats voting FOR the destruction of people's healthcare, and without ANY negotiations with the GOP, so without getting anything in return for their constituents.
They can't do that.
So we're stuck.
"We the people" (read: Democrats, since they're the only ones still standing up for us) will only win IF we can inform fellow citizens fast enough of who's doing what in DC. It will all depend on our own civic engagement and willingness to have real, respectful debates with those who either don't vote or who vote GOP or who are into cynical Dem bashing...
Hope is alive - still, and so is determination. I do wish that Mamdani and Bernie would quit calling themselves Socialists. They aren't. They are Pragmatic Capitalists, as are the Scandinavian countries. Neither Zohran nor Bernie advocate for the state ownership or control of the means of production. Frances Perkins, FDR's Sec. of Labor and the person responsible for our having Social Security summed it up almost perfectly: (paraphrasing) The people are what matter to government and government should do what it can to provide the opportunities, ways and means for all to enjoy the best life possible.
I agree Richard. The word socialist always causes my mind to show pictures of socialist countries & the harm that can occur. Pragmatic Capitalists is a great term. No wonder I read about so many people moving to Scandinavian countries. Be kind, one to another!
Tonight, legal scholar John Pfaff wrote: “Every race. It’s basically been every race.... Long-held [Republican] dog-catchers. School boards. Flipped a dungeon master in a rural Iowa D&D club....."
It's really bad news for Trump and all of the Republicans when the rural D&D clubs flip to the Dems. /S
I didn't vote for ANYONE on the Republican line in our small town, even if they were running unopposed.
Same. I don't care who runs as a republican. I have never voted republican and never will... even if mother teresa is the GOP nominee... although I am an atheist, so that really doesn't make sense. Anyway, GOP is a party of cruelty, racism, lawlessness and oppression. They only care about money for themselves - via grifting and corruption.
The only Republicans I have ever voted for were Oregon Senators Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood. They did good work for Oregon in the 60's and 70's. No one since.
Tuba I voted for Ike and, in 1972, was on the Nixon White House Enemies List. In recent years, the thought of voting Trumpublicans makes me apoplectic.
I hope that the Democrats get their act together and go visceral against the current ‘King’ Donald who is destroying the soul of my country that my five grandchildren will inherit. I recall Churchill, during the bleakest days of WW II:
“NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!”
Ally, me too and Norma Paulus, who I actually met. Too bad about Packwood. We had a case going and one of our attorneys was representing the Packwood women. I also have voted for my neighbor who was a Marion County Commissioner. He is now an I as he can't stand current Rs and is happily retired from politics Also in his favor: he is Duck fan. Watched the men's game last night which they won by one point. Their play was awful. We were delighted by the election results however.
I unfortunately went through a period where I voted republican due to the influence of the people I spent a lot of time with. I got straightened out when I met my now husband, and am ashamed of how naive I was back then. I was raised by democratic voters, and am now happily back to being that.
Yeah .... family dynamics are so weird .... Mom's parents were dems, but of the 7 kids, 5 are repubs. And some of their kids are too. Poor things. I hope none of them need SNAP.
THANK YOU
Same
THANK YOU
Yes Tom. With so many younger republicans, I would like to know who spoon fed them the crap they now defend? When did it start? I hope all of them have a very hard time sleeping @ night.
Same and I don’t intend to ever vote for a republican again.
THANK YOU
Same.
THANK YOU
Same, Ellen, and Dems rolled across the board in our municipality, from Aldermen to School Board.
A few county-level positions (e.g., DA) went to the Republicans, but that wasn't unexpected, and the lead wasn't very big.
Ugh. In VA a few state rep etc. positions went to Rs and by huge leads (like 75 to 25 or worse... for us) but fewer than went to Ds by the same sort of enormous lead. Overall, they're calling the VA outcome an overwhelming blue victory even at the individual district level.
THANK YOU
THANKYOU!
Yes, I was concerned about the Iowa D&D race. Glad the club is in good hands now :)
It seems that ALL the other races were won by LARGE margins, so the inevitable cries of "fraud" from the LOSERS will be much less credible.
😂
Thanks for the laugh
I was a little confused about the D&D thing (I know what Dungeons & Dragons is, just don't get this reference).
Flat out jarring to this old Iowan. For over 30 years D&D was used to refer the Iowa to the Iowa School for the Deaf and Dumb, just east of Council Bluffs
Oh! Well, perhaps I'm totally wrong about the reference. Perhaps Steve Abbott will clarify what he is referencing.
Still waiting for the big boo- woo party!
Don’t forget “Republican Uber drivers.”😁
🤣
It's the beginning of the end for the Republicans.
If only. The oligarchs can buy any politician they want, especially DJT and his billionaire buddies.
I had to read that line a couple of times😃
Apache, I would note, while my local Indivisible chapter is celebrating this extraordinary moment for our party, we also are mindful of what we’re up against in 2026 where, in our view, everything is on the line.
Barbara Jo, YES about 2026. And let's not forget, as Michael Steele said last night on MSNBC, that trompy and the republicans have a "Plan B" in mind for next year -- i.e., sowing chaos, further limiting voting rIghts and access, instilling fear, etc. And let's also not forget that election interference by foreign actors who like America's status quo remains real.
True, but if we don't pause to celebrate our victories, people won't have the courage to fight on. Republicans have an endless supply of anti-democratic maneuvers, but when we address them, a lot are paper tigers as this election demonstrated.
Progwoman, we can do both, can't we? Celebrate the recent while be concerned about the future? Onward!
Sure hope the recent elections will make more people pay better attention to the political news- hopefully NOT the fox kingdom.
Today's voting shows what that American voters are capable of doing at the ballot box! Now...onward!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸!!!
Absolutely, the fight goes on. But take today and bask in the victories!
I hope our hostess's analysis -- quoted by Apache, above -- is correct. But I fear it is not. We know Trump has bottomless contempt for anyone -- voters, judges, officials -- whomever dares oppose him; in fact he has repeatedly denounced us all as "enemies within." He has also repeatedly threatened to declare a state of emergency and thereby impose martial law. Hence I fear he will vindictively maximize his continued destruction of our democratic processes. The atrocities within his capabilities and expressed intentions include violent, shoot-to-kill military invasions of opposing states and cities and military violence against individual opponents, especially governors, mayors, other officials, journalists and academics. I also suspect he will make both the government shutdown and his nullification of Congress permanent, the latter by ordering his obscenely submissive Christonazi Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to (never) call the House back into session, then rigging or cancelling subsequent elections. (Johnson, from the murderously white-male-supremacist state of Louisiana, is superbly popular in his RepubliKlan district, and could easily hold office for life.) Therefore I cannot but suspect the "different game" will be the same malevolent MAGATry escalated to maximum terrorism. Goddess grant that I am wrong.
"hostess" ?
Heather Cox Richardson (born October 8, 1962) is an American historian who works as a professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians. She previously taught history at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Richardson has authored seven books on history and politics. In 2019, she started publishing Letters from an American, a nightly newsletter that chronicles current events in the larger context of American history. Richardson focuses on the health of American democracy. As of July 2025, the newsletter had over 3.2 million subscribers, making it one of the most popular Substack publications.[1]
Richardson attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.[2][3] She received her AB, MA, and PhD from Harvard University,
Newsletter: Letters from an American (2019–present)
In September 2019, Richardson began writing a daily synopsis of political events associated with the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Originally posting late every evening or in the early hours of the next day on her Facebook page, Richardson pivoted to writing a daily newsletter, entitled Letters from an American.[5][6] The newsletter deals with contemporary events she explains and relates to historical developments, with a focus on the health of American democracy.[7]
As of December 2020, Richardson was "the most successful individual author of a paid publication on . . . Substack" and on track to bring in a million dollars of revenue a year.[8] The newsletter received a "Best of Boston" award for "2021 Best Pandemic Newsletter" from Boston magazine.
n 2021, Richardson appeared on the Forbes 50 over 50 list[23] and received the Frances Perkins Center Intelligence and Courage Award.[30][31][32] In 2022, USA Today recognized her as one of the Women of the Year.[33][7] In 2023, The Guardian described her as the single most-important progressive pundit since Edward P. Morgan from the 1960s.[11] In 2024, the Authors Guild Foundation awarded her the Baldacci Award for Literary Activism for 2024.[34][35] In November 2024, Richardson was awarded the Kidger Award by the New England History Teachers Association at the NCSS Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.[36] In July 2025, Richardson was named to the Time100 Creators of 2025 for Letters from an American, which appears on Facebook (3.2 million followers) and Substack (2.5 million subscribers).[37]
Source: Wikipedia
Ms. Mullen, I'm aware of all that; I applaud and often cite the superb analysis she did in "How the South Won the Civil War." As I have said a number of times in these threads, I regard Ms. Richardson as the best -- that is, the most accurate, valiant and trustworthy -- information source on Christonazi atrocities and the MAGAT malignancy in general available anywhere, online or off; I recognize how uniquely vital she is to the anti-Christonazi resistance. And at age 85, my near-lifelong history of locally award-winning print journalism and intervals of hard-left activism -- as a result of which I am a proud Civil Rights alumnus of the Knox County Jail -- make that an absolutely valid judgement. What's your point? "Hostess" is a term of respect and politeness. It is under no circumstances -- save perhaps amongst the doctrinally deluded -- anything less. (Obviously you're seeking fault where none is to be found. Are you perhaps offended by my he/his pronouns? Or are you one of those who refuses to acknowledge the truly bottomless magnitude of Trump's commitment to Evil?)
Are you two married?
This is a common thread among the old men in this forum. The women know what it is called.
Thank you for the attempt to restore solidarity by injection of humor.
Thanks for the chuckle - even scanning these posts was getting difficult!
HA HA!
😂😂😂
People... to quote another woman of stature, "We are in this together."(JWV) If we address differences respectfully, perhaps we can unravel the core of a message. We celebrate big wins tonight, but cannot break into squabbles. We have work to do.
Yup. Let's allow ourselves to feel really good! I feel like this election was like a positive jolt of sanity.
Whether this will be recorded as the "tipping point" can't be known yet. But I, as an old white guy of WASPY background, am celebrating the election of two women of integrity to run two important states.
And I am even more excited about Mamdani. All Democrat politicians are looking at this stunning victory by a young Muslim democratic socialist and at least a little...tweaking their messages. They will need to - in order to survive.
Let's celebrate a big tent that shows that we shelter and cultivate moderates and progressives. All are welcome at this table!
Democrats picking at each other is what Republicans celebrate. They stick together, even when those among them are openly Nazis. Sick...but there is a lesson.
AMEN
Loren, I get you, as I feel like she is a gracious hostess who allows us all into her home where we feel welcomed. And nourished--as education and the exchange of ideas nourishes us!
Thank you. Next to my late father -- himself boarding-school educated (Exeter included) -- Ms. Richardson is by far the most knowledgeable historian I have encountered. Reading and/or listening to her work is (always) thought-provoking and often a learning experience -- and I am reasonably well-read in history myself.
That said, this is probably an opportune spot to note that as a gentrification-exiled, John-Lindsay-voting New Yorker, I am overjoyed by Zorhan Mamdani's victory in the City. Never have I been more proud of my birthplace and intellectual motherland; if he is allowed to do as he intends, he will restore the City to the metropolis celebrated by James Baldwin: "Another Country" -- that is, the antithesis of the realm that spawns MAGATry.
Nevertheless, though I'm delighted by yesterday's resounding repudiation of Christonazi theocracy and MAGAT ecogenocide, I also recognize it as merely the heartening outcome of a battle in a war that has yet to be won -- that Tuesday's triumphs are as far removed from final triumph as the 1941 Battle of Moscow was from the 1945 capture of Berlin.
Didn’t you mean Dr. Richardson? Or can you just not help yourself quit the pejoratives?
126 people sign on to my comment with a like. Read the room.
Yes; at least 2,200 people believed the Titanic to be unsinkable, and approximately 1,500 of them died. (https://www.britannica.com/event/)
And don't forget that 870,444 Wisconsin voters -- 54.32 percent of the state's electorate -- gave Sen. Joseph Raymond McCarthy his second term in 1952, two years (after) he began the venomously ruinous anti-progressive, homophobic rabble-rousing for which he is infamous.
That said, I recognized the addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance as a tacit declaration of theocracy, have been predicting the Christonazification of the nation since the Goldwater candidacy, and identified self-imprisonment by inescapable surveillance as the hidden purpose in our relentlessly pimped addiction to computers and cell-phones. In response I have been mercilessly damned as a Cassandra. But my analysis has been proven correct in each of these instances. Hence I don't give a tinker's damn about "the room."
Suggestion: Given that your hatred and contempt for any of us born male is so irremediably intense, why don't you, your posting supporters and your coterie of like-mates all petition Ms. Richardson to start a division of this website from which all us males are excluded? A site that requires irrefutable proof of femaleness for admission would shield you from "mansplaining" (a term every bit as venomous as the sexist and racist pejoratives spewed by white-male-supremacists); and such shielding would presumably grant you the intellectual and psychological freedom you so earnestly desire.
Barbara I am reminded of Perle Mesta, who was named ambassador to Luxembourg. There was a song about her: THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST. (This was by Irving Berlin in the play Call Me Madam.) Let’s sing this about Heather.
Keith. Are you guys serious? I know what time period that song is from. And just because somebody sang it to a woman before does not it make it respectful. I am 1000% certain the women in this thread know exactly what I am referring to. Dr. Richardson is a national voice in America who comes to us with immense credentials and expertise. It is out of place to the moment and the credentials of Dr. Richardson.
I will not sing some party ditty. It is called respect. Nor will I call Dr. Richardson a hostess.
Do not even try to make this about someone being a hostess.
Barbara Should I apologize for some 5 am frivolity? As you have seen in my many past commentaries, I am a fervent admirer of Heather—indeed, we went to the same high school.
Barbara, as I posted above, this old woman wasn't even remotely offended by the term "hostess" in fact, it seemed warm and complimentary, and as I said, Heather's podcasts remind me of someone open and welcoming to all who join her.
Wow! 1000%! That would be like fearless leader lowering drug prices a 1000%! At 84, I can't get 100% on anything
I thought it was funny at 5am
I’m reading this at 7 a.m. Less funny. Let’s see how things are at 9 a.m..
Having said that, I am thrilled at the results of yesterday’s elections. However, as the congressional Rs are still in thrall to 47, I don’t see them doing anything to reopen the government until he tells them to. They don’t seem bright enough to see what yesterday portends. Also 47 doubles down when thwarted. I hope yesterday’s results mean people are getting tired of his same old shtick.
can we stop fussing over what could be a badly used referent and focus on his message (which I also wrote about)? This ain't over by a long shot. Trump will lash out at everyone he thinks wronged him in this election cycle. Rs will fall in step. Celebrate these victories, but stay alert ... it coudl get a lot uglier.
Yeah Barbara -- that was the first thing that struck me as well.
Hit a nerve here too. THX!
Barbara, I am so amazed at how one person can hold so much knowledge & share it the way Heather does. I do believe she 'walks on water'...
The asshole would burn his own house down out of spite, so he'd certainly bring this country down out of the same ignorant vengeful spite.
The wondrous part is that we'll have a ringside seat for the meltdown as this stronger than he expected country has just sent the first shot over the bow and it may have taken out one of the headsails in the process. More to come as the fall of the bumbling fascist looms almighty. Rock on USA!
Of course dark and dangerous days are ahead. But we just showed that are uniting and active. Pessimism serves no purpose other than to further a fascist agenda.
Let's enjoy the moment, shall we?
What you're denouncing as "pessimism" is in fact trained compliance with Sun Tzu's core axiom that complete knowledge of the enemy -- that is, of enemy capabilities and intentions -- is by far the most vital prerequisite to victory. It is indeed that caliber of knowledge that enables us to transform enemy strengths into exploitable weaknesses. If you don't want this sort of information, don't read my comments.
Is part of this philosophy a refusal to accept disagreement?
Good question; thank you. I have no problem with respectful disagreement; like competent editing, it invariably prompts me to sharpen my work, and sometimes it is a genuine learning experience -- that is, a true epiphany, and therefore one of the very few delights available to a physically crippled 85-year-old. Nevertheless, it seems you are oblivious to the fact it was fanatical sexist intolerance of my (respectful, rare, mild, conditional and habitually polite) disagreement with our hostess's analysis that provoked the ongoing identity-politics tantrum of abuse clearly intended -- as unequivocally proven by Ms. Mullen's "I reported your response" -- to drive me forever from this website.
If you'll please review my posts, you'll discover the few disagreements I "refuse to accept" -- by which I assume you mean "reject with hostile retort" -- are (not) disagreements per se but rather confrontations in which an abuser exploits disagreement as a defamation-of-character license to deluge me with hateful invective. The vast majority are too enfeebled to acknowledge. The present deluge of defamation is the third Substack episode -- by far the most hateful of the lot -- to which I have felt it necessary to respond. In truth, the antagonisms evoked by my years in journalism and my interludes of hard-left activism -- the associated hostilities include three attempted murders, a slain beloved dog, a half-dozen assaults with nightsticks or fists and more death threats than I can count -- have grown me a proverbially thick, notably tolerant skin -- equally resistant to the additional abuse provoked by the fact that, since retirement from salaried censorship, I make no secret of my Marxian tendencies.
Please, for your own peace of mind, stop doom scrolling. The events you are predicting have become less likely because of our recent elections, not more likely. We have a LONG way to go, but it seems the Trumpian strategy of always doubling down on bad decisions is finally being exposed to enough of us to make a difference at the poles and in other areas of civic life. Celebrate today, tomorrow, back to work.
"for your own peace of mind..."
Perfect. Thank you, Steve.
"Celebrate today, tomorrow, back to work."
Stop Debbie Downing us. It's been a hell of a year and we had a great night. Let's pause and celebrate the good in that. There IS hope. You can get back to fear tomorrow if you choose but we're not having it today❤️
I fear that P2025 will up the ante and repubs will get even more vicious. After all this vote is a threat to their power. Who needs elections…if money can’t buy them. And they surely tried.
Biggest threat to their power is their own voters revolting. Actually, the biggest threat to their power is continuing to bend the knee to Trump.
This is the time to push even harder against the rank and file Republicans in Congress. We must make it clear that the people are a greater threat to their positions than tRump is, and that they will not be able to rely on the regime's schemes to undermine the 2026 election process.
If Senators are distressed by the prospect of tRump making their lives "a living hell", we must remind them that they have the power to put a stop to this by defanging this lame duck.
oh just stop already
Loren. I hope you are wrong for the sake of our country and the PEOPLE who care for the good of all. Let the 1%, the richest go to hell! Yikes. I’m not being very kind or Christ like😩
As I said above, my statement now drowned by the identity-politics tsunami, I too hope I'm wrong, profoundly so. But the relevant history, sociology and psychology -- i.e., the enemy indications -- are undeniable. Remember how the Original Nazis behaved when they realized the Red Army was unstoppable. Knowing what I know, I would be guilty of the worst sort of betrayal were I to suppress my apprehensions.
Ah but the voters have bottomless disgust, once aroused. And we can make guillotines.
So you’re a glass half empty kind of guy …
Nailed it!
Loren, I think a fire has been lit & this admin. will not get away with the BS. There are still some good citizens in our government. Give them all the support you can!
Have faith in our military. It will remain loyal to our Constitution.
I SO HOPE you are wrong!!!
Action. Many Congressional Republicans privately admit Trump is nuts.
I keep posting. According to Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Trumpepstein may cause an "Epstein bomb" causing over 100 Republican members to "jailbreak" from Trump.
Massive Congressional visits November 18.
https://www.instagram.com/flare.usa/p/DP_mdOyjdiG/
Visit CongressionalRepublicans.
https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/851451/
I think that if we play our cards right, many can be convinced tby the election to come forward.
They have more bombs to throw. Epstein now.
Yes! Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now. Epstein now.
Never forget pedophiles and those who excuse
Yes, it is going to be interesting to see what Republican Senators and Representatives say, but I would also suggest that we listen to FOX and NewsMax, etc.
god, that's a hard road to walk just to find out what the nutbars are saying to each other... I will wait to have someone who is paid to listen to those outlets to tell me. First hand is too close to the poison for my taste.
Somebody does it for us: https://open.substack.com/pub/decodingfoxnews/p/trumps-cbs-60-minute-interview-the?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=emailus:
Audio as well as written
Between Decoding Fox (link above), The Bulwark (written and YouTube) and clips on Bluesky, I feel like I’m keeping up with the trends of fox and the rest, without having to subject myself to too much of the craziness. Lots of people doing good work here!
Yup, you’re correct, John: “a hard road,” but, listening to the “other side” - not just Republican politicians and pundits, but also my sister-in-laws and my nephews, etc. Will Speaker Johnson go with RIGGED? Will John Thune start to negotiate an end to the Shutdown?
Plus, what about the Epstein Bomb? To me, it’s much more than who’s on the list? Most importantly, it’s which Republican Congresspeople will cast their vote to keep the list concealed or vote “Present” and chicken out?
I’m listening to FOX right now. 1.) They are covering a Chicago “Riot” calling the “Rioters” Pro-Immigration while the “Riot” is about the ICE Raids which they believe are illegal and that INNOCENT “brown” are being harassed. 2.) Speaker Johnson is holding a “speech” (not a press conference) about the Democrat Shutdown. 3.) Trump is heading to Miami.
It's a fantastic win across the board. Now we brace ourselves for Trump’s vengeance and long list of excuses. The fight continues.
Politics may be a game, but Democracy is not. Once elected, the winners of every party must get down to business and follow the constitution. Potus has literally gotten away with murder ( over 100 killed by drones unlawfully), mayhem (ICE grabbing AMERICANS off the streets in blue states) and evil (Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. 218th Representative Grajalva is a Democrat and fearful leader Mike Johnson recessed the House for over a month so he would not have to swear her in and open an investigation into potus/epstein which King Charles took VERY seriously). Get on the Capitol Hill Switchboard phone today and leave a messages to him and anyone in Congress.
Trump HASN'T "literally gotten away with murder."
He may not be in court for it - yet.
But the time WILL come. That's if he's still alive. And all those who enabled those murders will have to answer for them as well.
How about we have a little optimism and celebrating our win...
But we still have to contend with the fact that trump doesn't care how people vote because he doesn't intend to leave the office. The project 2025 group is taking away all the guardrails that would prevent him being forced out. They control the military, the justice department and the supreme court. Who will be able to force him to leave?
Apache, I hope this carries forward as we noted several attempts to make voting difficult. But we are smiling this morning and noting that death star is raging. Yes, more action.
And we can overcome the effects of Citizens United and corporate spending in general -- but we still need to do something about the Supreme Court!
As shareholders in many of the companies that supported DJT like Walmart, The Home Depot, AT&T Amazon etc. we can vote our shares against the MAGA directors and quit financing them with our purchases.
Vote with your wallet!
Since Walmart reportedly gets 25% of its revenue from SNAP, they could force the GOP hand. Wonder what they are waiting for?
"Walmart heiress and billionaire businesswoman Nancy Walton Laurie’s $300 million megayacht is as silent as a stealth warship. Purchased from the Qatar royal family, the 361 feet long mammoth vessel is so grand that it has the most marble and stone ever installed on a yacht."
And she's not the only Walton heir with a $100 million plus yacht.
We certainly can't expect the Trustifarians to give a damn about hungry or homeless Americans.
I didn't mean to imply they care about hunger or homelessness, I meant that they care about their bottom line. As "Beau of the Ranch" used to say, billionaires aren't really "blue" or "red" they are "green" --not environmentally but like in green backs. They care who will bring them the most money.
Miselle, I worked for an advertising agency that created campaigns for candidates of both parties. Besides political clients, we served both black and white clients. Someone questioned him about how he could do that. He replied, "I'm colorblind. I only see green."
I love that Miselle.
It’s hard to shop these days. Good thing I’m old snd need little
Agreed KEM, our Vote is our Voice! We must keep showing up peacefully, proudly continuing to make our voices heard.
This administration’s cruelty and hypocrisy is now on full display and threats of retaliation are filling the air:
“Trump “will make their lives a living hell.” “He will call them at three o’clock in the morning. He will blow them up in their districts. He will call them un-American. He will call them old creatures of a dying institution. Believe you me, he’s going to make their lives just hell.”
The shutdown is where “the buck stops” we must stay strong and not give into the authoritarian threats of “Comply or Die!” Our sense of community is our biggest shield and negotiation is the rallying cry. Our Democratic leaders are ready…❤️🤍💙
The Boston Globe tonight…
“The 2025 government shutdown now is officially the longest on record. Here’s why.”
by Jim Puzzanghera and Tal Kopan
“Past federal government shutdowns ended in one of two ways: a significant number of rank and file senators struck a bipartisan compromise or a top-down deal was brokered by congressional leaders of both parties and the president.”
““The president is not in charge of the United States Congress, and we need to stand up and tell the president he is not a king,” Nevada Senator Jackie Rosen, a moderate Democrat, said of his calls to end the filibuster. “He is an elected official like the rest of us. We are three co-equal branches of government. And frankly, I’m sick of everyone treating the president like he’s not.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/05/nation/government-shutdown-record/
Then why is Schumer insisting Trump get involved. The Dems want “ no kings” but they can’t get anything done without Trump?
Tomorrow (today), His Royal Pissiness will be treating all Republican Senators to at least two hours of his sparkling wit and gracious charm, filling the room with the sweet aroma of total obeisance emanating from his diapers.
Were they not all an obstinacy of useless, prevaricating schmucks, I might be tempted to feel sorry for them. (Temptation came..and passed, whew).
LOVE the verbiage (as well as the nounage) ICTT!
Well turned phrase, JohnM
May I suggest ICTT posting such descriptions well after breakfast time please. Just kidding 😂. Your comment was more powerful than the coffee I'm drinking. Thanks!!
Purrfect 👌
I bet that temptation didn’t last much longer than a nanosecond. If it wasn’t so harmful to our nation I would say that his meetings with his suck-ups was comical in its depravity. “Stick your nose in here, I’m going to fart, oh that feels good Little Marco”.
I guess if they are such cowards they are willing to be bullied like that, they deserve it.
🙏🏻 (prayer hands)
It’s now or never
“Trump wasn’t on the ballot.
The funniest line from an extremely unfunny piece of nauseating detritus, who lives within his own make-believe land, but got shown exactly where the garbage heap of history lies. Trump was on every ballot in every hamlet, county, borough, burg and post office box in the country last night. EVERY county in Virginia bled red tonight, even the ruby-reddest ones. I can’t even think when that’s ever happened before.
What an astute observation—I hadn’t thought of the elections that way. He was indeed on every.single.ballot. He lost. Bigly.
it is also interesting that Trump's other explanation of the voting (besides that he was not on the ballot) is the shutdown. Isn't that a clear recognition that the voters blame the shutdown on Republicans? (That is correct, of course, but he has always taken the other line.)
I learned a new word today: Illeism. It's the term used to describe that habit of referring to oneself in the third person. It is widely believed to be the habit of a narcissist. Illeism (or self-talk) is a speech technique that enables the speaker to detach himself from responsibility or criticism. Hmmm ... That tracks.
Well said, sir!
HCR: "...tomorrow politics will be a whole other game."
Heather called out 2 newly elected national leaders, Abigail Spanberger a former CIA Officer & Mikie Sherrill, yes, that Mikie Sherrill, the former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, Mikie Sherrill.
Abigail won "the Governorship of Virginia by 15 points". Abigail Husband words to Abigail kids, "Your Mom s going to be Governor of Virginia". Gov Elect Spanberger to Supporters last night: "Those words have never been spoke before". And, Mikie Sherrill won the "Governorship of New Jersey by more than 10 points".
Fight back & bring on 2026.
***************************
Wednesday Update:
Further to 2026 & importantly to 2028, Pennsylvania Voters strongly REJECTED Trump's call to dump 3 Pennsylvania Supreme court Judges. With over 50% of the vote ALL 3 Pennsylvania Judges were retained on their seats. Per the Associated Press (AP) on 11/4:
* Judge David WECHT retained with 61.1% of the vote.
* Judge Christine DONOHUE retained with 61.4%.
* Judge Kevin DOUGHTERTY retained with 61.4%.
The Rule of Law rules in the Commonwealth.
And remember to vote in EVERY election in 2026, not just the Federal election in November.
The Republicans funded two ballot initiatives in ME and got their asses handed to them. But, they will continue to fund far-right candidates and we need to beat them back in the primaries and the general elections.
I wonder how much dark money from Elon and the other oligarchs has gone into elections in 2025.
The only election in my district was school board. I voted anyway. Blue. (My district is pretty blue, but i voted anyway.)
Excellent. I vote in every one of our small town elections even the budget ones that are basically rubber stamp approvals.
I am so glad you voted because school boards elections are crucially important these days.
Yes, vote ALL the way down the ballot.👌🏻
In my sleepy little town of 18,000 dominated by Republicans, Democrats swept every board: education, finance, town representative & zoning. Our Indivisible group has been quietly working behind the scenes as well as front & center. Maybe we’re breaking through or Trump is waking people up.
A big “thank you” to the Blue voters :) If only for a little bit of Schadenfreude, because this pisses off Donny-Boy SO much…
"Hope, humor, and hummus", said Wajahat Ali, of the Left Hook Substack. Let's all stay engaged and keep doing the inner work that's key to reformation.
Spot on.
Yesterday’s Message: This is OUR Country!
‘‘The people have spoken. The tantrum is over. The adults are home again, and they brought ballots.’’
America just sent out a certified letter marked Return to Sender: Authoritarianism Not Accepted. The voters have spoken, and their message was less a polite disagreement and more a collective “absolutely not.” The red wave turned out to be a puddle of self-pity and cheap hairspray.
Abigail Spanberger didn’t just win in Virginia, she demolished. Fifteen points ahead and making history as the state’s first female governor, she turned the map bluer than a Smurf convention. Every county shifted toward the Democrats. Even the lawn signs looked surprised. The Virginia House of Delegates flipped so hard that Republican strategists are still trying to remember where they left their talking points.
In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill won the governorship by double digits, sending a clear message to anyone still clutching a MAGA hat like a security blanket. Pennsylvania voters kept their liberal Supreme Court majority, which is important because the last thing America needs is another court run by people who think the Constitution came with a gun rack.
Georgia Democrats flipped two statewide seats, Mississippi broke a Republican supermajority, and Maine told everyone that democracy is better when you can vote without a permission slip. Colorado decided that feeding schoolchildren is more important than another yacht for the wealthy. California approved Proposition 50 by a landslide, making it difficult for Trump to cry “rigged” with a straight face.
And New York City? Voters chose Zohran Mamdani for mayor, proving once again that the future belongs to people who actually believe in one.
Everywhere, from school boards to state courts, the nation’s political furniture was rearranged by voters who have clearly had enough of the circus. Legal scholar John Pfaff summed it up: “Every race. It’s basically been every race. Governors. Mayors. Dog catchers. Dungeon masters. Uber drivers. Everything.” It was less an election and more an exorcism.
Then, right on cue, Trump posted in all caps that Republicans lost because “TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT.” That is a bit like saying the Titanic sank because the captain was on break. America is moving on, and he is still explaining why it’s everyone else’s fault.
Yesterday, voters didn’t just reject Trumpism. They buried it under a landslide of reason, compassion, and common sense. The MAGA movement tried to claim the country. The country just claimed itself back.
The people have spoken. The tantrum is over. The adults are home again, and they brought ballots. https://essayx.substack.com/p/yesterdays-message-this-is-our-country
And Michael, perhaps most importantly, yesterday’s outcomes have provided all of us voters a HUGE boost in morale, reminding us that even with MAGATS in charge of all sectors of government, WE STILL MATTER!
It's a very good start, now they (we) have to stay focused. It's a long road ahead and you can be sure the GOP will try every trick to cause failures. We have to recognize that and stay united in our purpose. Hopeful.
And point out dark money from the oligarchs to our neighbors.
I went to bed giddy with the results that had come in. NYC! VA! NJ! CA! CO! ME! Retaining the judges in my state to PA! How refreshing it is, KEM! You're right American voters do care, they do oppose cruelty and I think we are going to continue to fight like hell to prove that again and again! Cheers to a bright day ahead.
They worked hard to vote! Finding a new polling spot under bomb threats! Awesome people! Turning out to fight back!
America is waking up!
Well said. Thankfully.
The tide is turning. We need to keep up the resistance pressure. This is not the time to relax. But I am smiling today. Big time.
A much needed breath of fresh air Kem, I was hesitating to turn everything on and find out.
Iam pleased for new york as well, If word is kept then desperatly needed changes will come.
Yes, not only cruelty they are alert on what are troubling the country.
Yes, blue wave. Good.
But let’s keep in mind all Heather’s most recent columns and how they’ve kept returning to how truly mad and pernicious all Donald’s cronies are. With this larger context still bearing on us, let’s go to the one remedy to fascism’s tide.
Our schools – all with English-learning youth in their mid- and upper teens – need essay writing for seeing others as people – individuals inhabiting complications.
All start with classroom introductory essays, each identifying oneself by one’s food, clothing, and shelter styles. (Shelter includes building interiors, outside landscapes, and travel modes.)
Styles. All come first from families and communities. Later, when we notice, we chafe at some of these givens. We change them. Become different.
With intros written, everyone reads everyone’s. Discuss. Rewrite to cite best points in others. Most of our to-be-gotten skills deal in aptness of transition from our voices to others’. Eventually (more revising, discussion), all the essays go as a group to another school – in a neighboring culture, even to one stereotypically adversarial.
All get personal. Good at seeing others as individuals dealing with complications.
Program name: Essaying Differences.
I'd very much like to see that tried. Essayed...
Yes, Anne-Louise.
Authoritarian states like Russia depend on layers of fear and sleaze coating all -- so individuals disappear in the primordial ooze.
If schools could equip themselves with the arts and decencies to see others as individuals, dictatorships could never take hold with all their prefabricated hatreds and group think.
This is an interesting idea, Phil. and could be a useful attempt to have our kids develop technical skills, self-knowledge, and knowledge of how other people live. But if I remember correctly, essaying is also a fundamental part of Party rectification processes in Communist countries. Victims of criticism are forced to write and endlessly rewrite exercises in self-criticism until they are accepted in their abnegation or otherwise purged from the Party or punished. Our POWs in Vietnam were similarly forced to do so. These essays were instruments of control/punishment or attempts, in the case of the Vietnam POWs, to glean elements of useful information that could be used in the interrogation of other POWs.
I wonder how such a program of discovery and potential socialization could be instituted in our schools without it being seen by MAGAts as an exercise in control or punishment. "Woke" groupthink, if you will.
Like just about any tool, words can be used as weapons as well as for self-expression and understanding. Perhaps the most worthy mission of education is to provide methods and encouragement to empower our capacity to observe, reason and empathize with others, by improving our abilities to communicate, to express our thoughts or vision in ways that are clear and accessible to others. To see and listen in ways that a fruitful sense of others thoughts and experience comes though to us. That frustrates the agenda of would-be bullies, who try to manufacture and force a sense of reality in which their bullying is legitimatized.
Newt Gingrich used words as weapons in his House takeover and deriding Democrats. We need to define ourselves, not let someone else do it for us.
J L - For as long as I can remember (I’m 64), “words are important” has been my touchstone in life in relationships whether personal (spouse, mom, aunt) or professional (school bus driver, instructor, volunteer, et al).
Yours is the best description I’ve ever seen that crystallizes why I wholeheartedly believe Words Are Important. Thank you.
I think word purity can go overboard by we need to be aware how (as advertisers and other propagandists are aware) the word choice and focus frame communication. I had a professor once who had advised presidents, and he sometimes asked questions of the class to which there was no correct answer (not on tests though) in order to illustrate flawed assumptions hidden often hidden in a question. Errors and lies can easily be buried in misnomers, doubtful premises, and omissions, even though most modern"Republican" lies seem to be hidden in the plainest of sight. I am troubled by the degree to which nearly all media, including sometimes here, repeats cliches that I regard is missrepresentative. I believe the words 'Small Government", "Free Trade", and for that matter, "freedom", "Pro Business", and "Christian" often refers to a reality the is pretty much an Orwellian antipode of what the label would seem to imply, It part of the "Republican" AKA, "dedicated to dismantling the republic", modus operandi.
I know what you mean, James.
Trouble is, in all these authoritarian regimes, communication of all sorts just reduced to slogans, party boilerplate, and cliché.
The great thing about quoting, citing others as individuals, for their personal and personally specific experience, is that the personal and specific perspectives nullify, override, displace all the canned and packaged.
That's a good point, Phil. There's an old joke about Vietnamese Communism: Being a Communist in Vietnam is like being a Catholic in France. Everybody knows the words, but nobody believes it. (Speaking here as a retired VN specialist and practicing Catholic. :-) )
Same here. I would like to participate in Essaying Differences. I would begin with this topic: discuss the tension between working full time for the minimum wage, and paying the rent, and paying for food, and paying for a list of necessary expenses, such as health insurance, and school supplies, and getting the car repaired, and paying for after-school child care, etc. And maybe she has a post-secondary degree, but every job offer within driving distance has eight or ten applicants and she never gets chosen. And the situation gets worse when people who have vastly more money than they need to live -- get a tax break, increasing their coffers -- thereby worsening the economic plight of millions of fellow citizens who already need to be subsidized, just to stay afloat. This policy promulgated by our current federal government seems like a peculiar form of insanity. Or a class war. Try to offer a rational explanation, Girls and Boys!
Anyone can use this, David. It's free.
I see you'd give it a tilt toward economic and social justice concerns, which could be great. But it'd be something other just to stick with basic skills for awhile first, I think -- basics on seeing themes in others, teasing the fit of their specific examples to their themes, and then applying further examples and themes from others in the room. To see how closely individuals may match, how further, widening perspectives may apply.
Get these skills set, and then next chapter may be application of examples from the lit of various cultures, other arts in those cultures.
Hello again, Phil
When I began my university education I wanted to become an electronics engineer. In high school, in 1962, physics, chemistry, and math seemed easy to me. After my first semester in college, with a 5-credit calculus class, and a 5-credit chemistry class, I decided I didn't really want to strain my brain quite so much. In the second semester I enrolled in an Anthropology class, among other subjects, and I found that I enjoyed "Anthro" very much. Fast forward to 1975, at age 27, with the Army and the war behind me, I re-enrolled in the U. of Wisconsin system. At first I thought I wanted to major in English, but I quickly jumped into philosophy. I received a BA in Philosophy in 1978 at age 30. I can easily recall my younger years, up until around 1975, when my friends and I could argue about politics all day, and half the night, but we always remained friends. That is the model of American life that I hope to experience again in my lifetime.
If you have not yet read the late David Graeber's "Democracy Project" I recommend it highly. The final chapter, in particular, is very poignant. To achieve consensus, all parties to the conversation must agree to keep talking, and arguing, until consensus is achieved. If there are holdouts, the body of folks who have come to consensus must then work together to persuade the holdouts of the wisdom of the consensus. Kinda like jury duty.
Sounds great, David.
I'll begin by trying to find a copy of the David Graeber here in Japan.
From what you say of yourself, I can see I'm one year older than you, but otherwise with very similar experience.
I left the U of Michigan in spring of 1969 with my undergrad degree, proficient in several languages, to which I added Vietnamese next fall, when I began a year at South Post Ft. Myer (between the Pentagon and Arlington Memorial Bridge).
Upon leaving the army, I was a bit out-of-it, dismayed at the stupidities I'd seen (especially with bureaucratic authority, which always spoke and wrote in passive voice, and in parallel to that the consumerism status quo). Spent a long time reading -- especially American classics -- then entered the American Studies program, again in Ann Arbor.
Phil, we have much in common.
After my tour in the war I was assigned to an ASA field station near Hakata, Japan. My friends said I was lucky, it was like a resort. During my 30 days leave I flew back home. I visited my Congressman's local office and begged the staff to try to get me reassigned to the States. They were successful, so I reported to the Headquarters Company at Ft. Meade, which was located a block or two from The Building, the HQ of No Such Agency. At that point I had about a year and a half remaining on my enlistment.
After a few months I applied for discharge as a conscientious objector. I declined the interview with a "knowledgeable officer" and I let my application rest entirely on my own written statement. I was successful, and was discharged "Under Honorable Conditions" seven months before the end of my 4 year enlistment.
On the day of my discharge, in late May 1971, it was like a party atmosphere among my fellow enlisted men in the personnel office, smiles all around. The only person who was not happy was a staff sergeant who did not like me at all, and who had tried to get me transferred to an armored division at Fort Riley, if I recall. He thought I would suffer because of that. I think he never knew that I had just spent a year with the First Cavalry Division in the war. Fort Riley would not have bothered me. If that last day could be depicted as a cartoon, that E6 would have had smoke coming out of his ears. He was so disappointed that he could not punish me.
Another thing that came out of the war was that I decided, while I was still in the war, that I would eventually become a vegetarian. It took five years, until January 1975 to become exclusively vegetarian -- and have been ever since. My wife is also vegetarian, and she is an excellent cook.
One more thought: I tried to learn as much as I could in that bad situation in the war. I did learn a lot, and I did change in various ways, inevitably. But I would not recommend it for anyone.
I have long thought that, in a diverse multicultural society such as ours, an Anthropology class should be a required course at some time during every student's K-12 education.
Jane, I agree completely. I view much of the uncivil discourse as a lack of empathy -- which would surely occur more seldom, and would be less severe, if they had been schooled in how similar we are in so many ways. And it would also help to acquire a healthy dose of humility along the way. I imagine they view humility as a sign of weakness, instead of respect, and patience.
Correct and well stated! My great luck was to go to a junior high/high school where my teachers valued independent thinking, research on issues, commitment to truth, and follow through. This open dialog exercise made all the difference - how I evaluate issues, what's being stated and what is really at stake behind the fog of "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain". I am grateful. Decernment is a good thing.
I took a week-long summer course with a volcanologist in an environment (BC, Canada) of volcanic features. On reaching destinations of field trips, he would ask us to take a few minutes to see what we noticed. He asked us to wonder how the circumstances of the site might have evolved. He was encouraging close observation. I think observation (with all the senses we have available) is a distinct and fundamental skill, and that one can be clever and/or educated without being particularly observant. Or be not so clever and/or clever and still be fairly keenly observant. For sure, it is an asset for discovery, or for that matter, survival.
Thanks Phil... Essay Writing is an Excellent Practice... Let just make sure that the Kids cannot use their little Handheld Cheat Sheets, AI enabled of course... Maybe get up, and Debate their Works Afterwards... This will build Public Spirit, and Comity....
A.I. impossible, Apache, when basics require respectful quoting of others in the room.
Funny story told by John Fugelsang the Progressive podcaster and host on Progress Radio.
He just released a bestseller a couple of months ago - "Separation of Church and Hate". He said he used AI to help him find corroborating quotes to use in his book. When he turned in his first draft, his editor called and said many of your quotes are not real or made by the people you credit them to.
It seems thet AI just made up quotes that fit what he was looking for. It took him weeks to rewrite using real quotes.
The few times I have used Perplexity, I go to the original source it notes.
Hello Phil... If they don't Cheat... ;-)
The Democrats need to call their cheating out because the corporate media is owned and controlled by the oligarchs. 60 minutes allowed DonOld to lie and ramble on. They edited 73 minutes of his lies and BS down to 28 minutes and it still was full of lies and hate.
YES GJ! This was a recent HCR column I believe and quite shocking. He was truly off his rocker. The Lincoln Project could run with that one. WHAT’S HE HIDING??
A good ability to communicate is the most essential element not only in maintaining a solid democracy but in bridging our differences. I vote into our Constitution that it be mandatory to include essay writing for seeing others as people in all junior and high school curricula — in ANY language!
To your point David - just look at what Mandami just pulled off.
Amending the Constitution is a mixed bag. Just what Charles Koch wants. He has an agenda all worked out and it would have to be open to all.
No, let’s NOT keep fixating on how mad and pernicious they are, shall we?
Everybody on this comment board (well, almost everybody) knows that already, and doesn’t need to be reminded of it for the 147th time. Tonight is a moment for realizing that whatever motivates it, tyranny eventually fails and tyrants almost never see it coming. It’s a moment not to obsess on the obvious, but to celebrate right action taken for the right reasons, quietly realizing that it might just as well have gone the other way.
I’ll take that over utopian musings about essay-writing any old day. Fortuna fortes favet and all that.
Thank you. There is still much work before us to do. Si! se pueda
Revamping our entire educational system is a good idea….
Much more effective than abolishing the Department…
Rebuilding is certainly better than total destruction. Repubs only know the latter...
Phil, we (well, most of us) appreciate your championship of good testing and literacy. Although you occasionally mention the humanities, as a graphic artist and once-upon-a-time musician, I think we don't give enough attention or credit to the arts.
The visual arts teach the student to actually •see• things and people, their form, their structure. The visual arts teach attention to detail. The student cannot truthfully represent what s/he sees as art without first focusing on the details.
This transfers to how we manage our relationships with other people. One of the biggest problems we face in our modern society is self-absorption and failure to fully pay attention to the people around us so we can truly understand them. Understanding leads to empathy.
Music teaches the student discipline and cooperation, two principles sorely lacking in our modern society. Music also teaches the student to listen with purpose. We need more of that.
These are just the highlights of better arts education. I don't disagree that literacy is our primary need, and better testing follows. But let's not forget the arts!
Love this idea, and the thread it started. I learned to write essays in jr high school in the 60s. Ten years later I saw my 8th grade US History teacher and asked him if he was still terrorizing kids with essays. He looked sad, and said, "No. You guys bitched and moaned, but you could do it. My kids now can't." It hasn't gotten better. Now I volunteer in a local middle school US History class, and even the best students struggle with essays. Most just can't do it. But the teacher persists. You only make progress a tiny step at a time. Giving up is not an option.
And I would love to see the 50% of Americans that read at a 6th grade level or below improve their reading skills. We have to do better. But, I suspect the literacy and numeracy skills in the 18th century were far worse than they are now.
Yes! Bring back teaching phonics.
Would love to know factual truth here, GJ.
Except I have seen, heard, many times how literacy, newspaper subscription, and attendance at public debates in colonial times far exceeded ours today.
Or, please, did I see and hear correctly?
Heather would probably know about literacy through the ages in the US. My grandmother went to school in the late 1890's through around 1905 in a one room school house in rural Nebraska. She only graduated from the 8th grade where all of the students learned Swedish as well as English. But, she wasn't scholarly as far as I know, but she did write several letters a month to her sisters and cousins. So, I have no idea what her or anyone else in her communities education level was. And back in the 1700's I imagine the same was true.
I wouldn’t bet my house on that statement.
Nice, choice, piquant, Albert.
IRAC could work well with many -- especially with teachers tuned to it. And many teachers could be tuned to such standards as you know. I think most American teachers are very well disposed to new and eye-opening next possibilities.
Tonight, legal scholar John Pfaff wrote: “Every race. It’s basically been every race. Governors. Mayors. Long-held [Republican] dog-catchers. School boards. Water boards. Flipped a dungeon master in a rural Iowa D&D club. State senators. State reps. A janitor in Duluth. State justices. Three [Republican] Uber drivers. Just everything.”'
It felt good to laugh out loud again! Thanks, Professor.
Newsom: "The Rule of Law...Not the rule of Don". Mamdani: "Hope over Despair." We should celebrate these big wins tonight... And for everyone who contributed in any way (including all protests) to any of the 52,000 elections and ballot measures, all actions matter... These election wins are our referendum on our Democracy and the Regime cannot take that away from us. And though we keep fighting, we can be inspired... And breathe....
Yesterday, Newsom correctly said that Diaper Don didn’t expect people to fight back, he assumed “we’d all hold hands or maybe write an op-ed in the LA Times.” Newsom correctly gambled that California (and the nation) was not in an op-ed writing moment last night.
Sometimes history just happens. And other times it gets deliberately made. Yesterday was an example of the latter, not the former. I hope this is not lost on us.
Newsom: "The Rule of Law...Not the rule of Two-weeks Tiny-fingered Donny Boy.”
There, fixed it.
Totally R.
LOL
I’m a psychologist. This is going to sound very harsh, and of course, I would never suggest this for an ordinary patient, but the stakes are global at this point. Trump won’t change course — he never has not eventually gotten what he wants with these narcissistic tactics, and at 80, he has absolutely no reason or incentive (nor does he have the capacity) to consider other behaviors.
But, unwavering reality can and eventually will drive him into a psychotic state. If the Dems refuse to back down, if his poll numbers continue to plummet, if the government remains closed, if the media keeps these election results on center stage, if the courts continue to forbid him from doing what he wants to do, if the massive protests continue, he’ll have a breakdown. I believe he’s close, and Americans need to keep pushing.
Break down, or lash out and cause massive damage? That is a concern, as well. He does seem to go into modes of extreme obsessiveness and spiral and spiral in repetition over an issue.
Good point; I should have explained this more clearly from a psychological perspective. He’s currently lashing out and causing massive damage because his ego is still functioning. A psychotic break is when a person’s ego collapses and they begin spewing jibberish and clearly need to be hospitalized….they’re completely non-functioning, absolutely untethered to reality. He can and will cause more damage between now and the breakdown. But there’s no way out but through, unfortunately.
Agree that jibberish is already happening. And again, I’m glad you’re commenting and forcing me to choose my words more carefully. In a psychotic state, a person is just very disconnected from concrete reality, for example….
OK, now I’m laughing 🤣 Because every single example I can think of that I’ve heard from someone in a psychotic state is something Trump has already said. “I think my uncle is laundering Russian mob money”, “there are remote-controlled sharks in the ocean near where I live”, “I don’t eat vegetables because someone’s trying to kill me by genetically modifying them”, “Who knows…I might live forever”. So, PipandJoe, you’re really putting me in a whole new mindset here. We might be a lot closer to the breakdown than I’d imagined!
Jibberish is already happening, but then I think his dad Fred had dementia, as well. Trump has never seemed as if he is fully sane to me from the get go.
Can’t go around, can’t go over, can’t go under, we must plow through
Agree that jibberish is already happening. And again, I’m glad you’re commenting and forcing me to choose my words more carefully. In a psychotic state, a person is just very disconnected from concrete reality, for example….
OK, now I’m laughing 🤣 Because every single example I can think of that I’ve heard from someone in a psychotic state is something Trump has already said. “I think my uncle is laundering Russian mob money”, “there are remote-controlled sharks in ocean near where I live”, “I don’t eat vegetables because someone’s trying to kill me by genetically modifying them”, “Who knows…I might live forever”. So, PipandJoe, you’re really putting me in a whole new mindset here. We might be a lot closer to the breakdown than I’d imagined!
Margaret, the one time I broke into a psychotic state, I began saying that I thought that someone was putting something in my food. You would think that that would be the end of it and I really was nuts, except that a couple of weeks after I was released from the hospital, I walked in on one of my roommates cooking crack in my cookware, which I surmise he had been doing with some regularity. So never not consider that a break is not a break, just that it's remotely possible that it isn't.
Super interesting comment, and you’re absolutely correct. One of my colleagues was seeing an African man who was insisting that someone back in Africa had put some sort of hex on him that was causing him to bleed abdominally, and he was complaining of very acute pain due to this “injury”. Well, some weeks later, my colleague read up on the man’s tribal religion and discovered that this belief in hexes was a profound psychic force in his culture. As a result, he referred him for a scan and the poor guy had a huge bleeding ulcer. He wasn’t psychotic at all — he’d taken his experience (pain) and put it into a context that he understood. Mental phenomenon happen along a spectrum in every human individual and it can be really hard to discern what makes “sense” and what doesn’t.
Please explain from a professional perspective. I have not heard the word ego used in a long time in a professional conversation, since even 40 years ago, psychology textbooks already referred to Freud as simply a turning point in the discussion and that nothing he did or said was still taken seriously. It is not a term typically used in scientific based studies.
I see you just deleted the the reply below that went to my inbox admitting that you were not actually a psychologist.
So I’m actually a Jungian analyst; I just say “psychologist” because it’s generally easier for people to understand. As you are likely aware, Jung was a student of Freud’s but split off from him in the early 1900s. One of the major disagreements between the two men had to do with the structure of the psyche, and that impacts the use of the word ‘ego’. Freud seems to have initially used it to mean: my sense of ‘me’, who I think I am, how I experience myself, etc…. He later developed his theory of the id, the ego and the superego, and then my best understanding is that he used ‘ego’ to mean: the part of my psyche that mitigates/negotiates/compromises between my id (what I really want) and the superego (societal norms/how I think I have to behave). All very general, but this is about the best I can do on the fly, and I’m definitely not an expert on Freud. Jung, meanwhile, considers the ego to be the center and coordinator of consciousness, but not the center/coordinator of ‘me’/my entire existence (Jung would call this the ‘Self’). So when I speak of ‘ego’, I’m speaking of it in Jungian terms — the idea that the ego is the ‘command center’ of my consciousness. But not the center of my entire existence. From a Jungian perspective, a person can be quite psychotic but still ‘themselves’….it’s just that their ego would have ceded control to a higher order of organization, the ‘Self’. This is quite complex; I’m impressed with anyone still reading this comment!
Freud based his ideas on only a very few case studies of a few women who came to see him and simply "speculated."
He is no longer taken seriously and has not been for at least half a century or more because none of it had any scientific bases at all - nor did he even have a large enough sample size even for any relevant observational speculation or assumptions - it was all just him simply wondering aloud. It might as well have been him making things up (well in reality it was).
He is considered relevant only because he mainstreamed the topic of conversation about the mind, experiences, and the influences of live experiences on behavior. Like I said even in textbooks 40 years ago he was a footnote as the "father of psychology" and it was pointed out that no one took him seriously anymore and for good reason. College textbooks actually say this.
Sadly, movie making causes many to think there was ever a "there-there" with his ideas when there never was a real basis for anything he said. He simply speculated ideas off of the top of his head. It has lead to a lot of other non-proven and unscientific nonsense like the idea of repressed memories, which also have zero basis in reality. Sorry to be nit-picking but a lot of damage has been done to people with some of this stuff. It just was a red flag when I read someone calling themselves a professional psychologist using a word like "ego." Neither men have any science behind their ideas, and whether one likes their ideas or not is a personal preference. I enjoy the idea of "collective unconscious" just like I like the idea of a soul. It is interesting that so many cultures have some similar themes, as well, but then all modern humans came from Africa at one point and may have simply passed similar ideas down through countless generations or some concepts may arise as fairly similar as social beings but the I too am just "seculating."
I strongly disagree. While it’s true that many of Freud’s actual theories are no longer in use, without Freud, there would be no John Bowlby, no Erik Erickson, and no Donald Winnicott, all of whom were Freudians before they branched off into developing their own theories which are very much in use in modern day psychology. Your comment is a bit like saying that the first surgeon that ever tried a heart transplant is no longer taken seriously and anyway, may have just been digging around in someone’s chest cavity pointlessly. Knowledge evolves, but it needs to begin somewhere, with some brave soul willing to hypothesize. Freud was that brave soul. Anyone who’s ever benefitted from mental health treatment has him to thank in some measure.
I sure understand that. I got "I see you're a Deputy; are you a cop?" more than once.
It will be interesting to see what the last straw will be before his palace court decides their political heads are also at stake and they challenge the king.
He’s already causing massive damage. I don’t know why that should be a show-stopper, however. I’m all in favor of getting the psychotic breakdown over with — it’s coming anyway and we might as well be the instigators. We already got a whiff when he started waving his little hands at Norah O’Donnell, claiming he didn’t know the scumbag he’d just officially pardoned. So brace yourselves for the inevitable moment of ultimate dribble.
And prepare ourselves for the Vance dictatorship to follow.
We shall see. Little JD Wanker has all the charisma of used blotting paper and the charm of a small, cold eel. I don’t see him spearheading much of anything.
You are too kind, I mean.
🤣🤣🤣
🤭
You are so kind.
Yes, to a narcissist, all perceived threats are existential. Yes, reality is catching up to our narcissist-in-chief. However, he is wrapped in a thick blanket of sycophancy that shields him from reality and feeds his narcissism for it's own purposes. The oligarchy of ass-kissers will will continue to function for the time being, but as you say, when they fail, dark, dangerous times will follow. I do believe that most of the darkness and danger will fall on Trump and his sycophants, however.
P2025 must be factored in.
What form do you think the break down will take? He is pretty clearly under treatment for a number of ailments. For someone as vain as he is, that alone, thst daily sign of failing, has to be adding to his desperation.
A massive myofark? A leap off the roof (we can hope, it would be the easiest).
And P2025 is putting the squeeze on. I’m all in.
Furthermore, Donnie is calling for the Republicans under his control to end the shutdown that HE caused thinking he could bully the Dems once again. But he should be careful what he does now. Ending the shutdown means that the House will reconvene. That means that Grejalva will have to be sworn in. And what follows her swearing in is that the discharge petition will pass and the Epstein files will be released. He has managed to get himself in a no win corner. This is going to be fun to watch. Hang on, it may get rough.
Republicans didn't "neglect" to extend the ACA tax credits, they CHOSE not to extend them. Big difference.
I believe Heather was using a little bit of tongue-in-cheek on that one.
Exactly. And they have shown that their promises are worthless.
Unless they promise to do something rotten.
It's all in Proyect 2025 or in between the lines Jeff, they don't neglect anything, everything is calculated ahead of time.
Not easy to counteract but doable..
Deliberate and with malice
It was a good day. But Trump and his minions are going to do everything they can to crush dissent. How's long will Johnson keep the House recessed? Voting is not going to be enough. It is going to take continued, loud, peaceful resistance. And a constant insistence on the truth in the face of the dictator's lies.
Take the wins. And voting is enough.
People need to surface for air now and then. It is what keeps people going.
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
Mikey will keep the House recessed indefinitely, if he can, unless the Orange Monster lets him call them back to work.
(202) 224-3121 is the Capitol Hill switchboard or look at official website—johnson.house.gov
I think I read something to the effect that they need to reconvene in mid-November or else really break the government, but I can't find the source.
Double down, Dems need to learn what repubs know well
Want to end shutdowns? Pass a law stating that neither senators nor representatives may be considered essential employees. As too many Americans already know, missing paychecks has a marvelous ability to focus the mind.
Definitely there should be a law in which members of Congress forfeit their paychecks during any government shutdown. Additionally, the Speaker of the House and/or Senate Majority leader will incur penalties and punitive fines after 2 weeks of government shutdown and inability to compromise or perform basic legislative functions that said leaders were elected to do. Sending a chamber of Congress into recess for more than a month without good cause should be grounds for immediate dismissal as House or Senate leader.
And lose their benefits. They would see what it's like to pay for medical care out of pocket.
I cannot describe how pissed off I am that they get great health care and are paid for the BS they spew on the rest of us. Not to mention all they steal along the way.
Yep. Had that in my initial draft but went for brevity instead.
I sent the following to both of my Senators yesterday (which I quoted from another Substack poster - thank you!): “Constitution, Article 1, Section 5 includes "Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting."
“Please demand that the House have a pro forma meeting every three days. Once that meeting convenes, Immediately call for a vote of no confidence in the Speaker if he does not swear in Adelita Grijalva. And, for good measure, even if he does swear her in, call for a vote of no confidence. Every three days.”
Forfeit in its truest sense, means gone forever, no back pay. It would help focus their minds, if they have one.
The shutdown affects every one of us economically even the oligarchs.
But they are as gutless as Congress when it comes to standing up to Trump. At what point of disapproval will they abandon Trump?
When they perceive him as more hindrance than help to their grand plans for wealth accretion.
They rule chump, when will they dump him for Vance. When magats drop off
The statement by an administration member that Donnie will “make their life hell” makes me wonder if any of these people are adults. He’s going to call them names?!! He will call them at three in the morning?!! Do not answer!! He will cause them trouble in their districts? If their popularity at home is so poor that a liar like Donnie can destroy them, they did not have much to offer anyway. Stand up to this petty bully! It would only take a few Republicans to stand up to Donnie, and his support would crumble.
Pass a law, sounds so passé.
Republicans are cruel, but we had a Blue Wave November 4th. We will persist. Go Dems! History is not on their side.
Trump will claim he is more popular that ever, but it will ring more hollow.
And he will continue allowing Miller, Vought, Noem, Kegsbreath, Putin, etc. to do whatever they want as long as they continue to kiss his ample derriere.
Well let’s see, I think there’s light at the end of the tunnel. People, in particular, voters, are waking up.
The turnout in yesterday's election was certainly encouraging. But Charlie Munger, Jr. financed the opposition to Proposition 50 in CA. Just another oligarch helping fool some of the people all of the time.
We are surrounded by bad guys, by cruel guys, by very rich guys.
Yesterday proved that they don’t always win.
This is good news! we have some folks waking up! That is good! Keep voting, showing up and strengthening our commitment to restoring democracy (and reforming it too..). We cannot rest until the maga st&co/minions, project 2025, and all the other rot that we have been experiencing is swept clear of us, and remain a bad turn and pothole in our road to reformation..... We have much to do , this is a first step...let's keep it up!
And choosing to not vote gives fanatics more traction. We really need to spur participation.
For more participation, I believe that voter suppression needs to be suppressed.
Trying in Texas
Morning, Lynell! There is truth in this statement.
Indeed, there is; morning, Ally!
The GOP will still try to control the mid terms so we need to keep the momentum going. Who's going to jail for defying a court order? My vote is Vought. Regarding the useful idiot Leavitt, is she auditioning for a Fox career in 2029?
I could definitely see her there, rather like Kayleigh McEnany.
I think she is going to remove the tape covering her gills and swim back down to a turbid slow moving river where she will excel at bottom feeding.
That makes sense too.
We The People have spoken and rather loudly. What did this administration think would happen after they have inflicted unspeakable horror on Americans?Did they expect working people to not object to out of control grocery prices?Were we supposed to welcome the capture and disappearment of legal citizens? The unabated murder by our military on the high seas?The occupying of our mainly blue cities by armed National Guard? On and on and on goes the horribleness of it all and in just 10 months into this regime. Do they think citizens welcome this?No one and I reiterate NO ONE voted for any of this.Full stop. Smfh
You don’t ask those kinds of questions once you’re inside the cult, surrounded by all that chintz and fake gold crap, dancing away the night dressed as a flapper at your boss’s Great Gatsby party. The same if you’ve self-lobotomized by keeping Fox TeeVee on 24/7.
Propaganda is very strong. It always has been, right until the moment it isn’t.
May that moment be near
I'm with JD in TX: I hope that moment is near. I don't see it coming anytime soon with my former work cohort who are doubling down on their MAGAt beliefs. Admittedly, I haven't trundled over to Facebook yet to see what they're saying today; thought I'd get some info here before wading into that cesspool.
Ally, wondering what they'd say about this thought I had: why did the Gatsby party have all the dancing ladies and the martini-bathing beauty? Why weren't there some dancing "Chippendales" or a near naked man in the martini glass?
Interesting question...
I have to say this has been the most hassle of any election I’ve ever experienced. I’ve lived in Japan for several decades and always vote with an absentee ballot. Up until the year 2000, I always received my ballot in plenty of time. The US Post Office was reliable and it took less than a week for my ballot to arrive. But with George Bush’s tricks, I had to start sending my ballots by FedEx, then by DHL at a cost of $40 to $80 each time. But still I voted because I know how important it is. For the last presidential election, my ballot arrived 3 days before the election day and the envelope was ripped with parts missing. So I faxed my ballot. This time my paper ballot still hasn’t arrived, although I’d received an email in September saying that it had been sent. So I requested an online ballot. That was really hard to access and all the pages didn’t print out. I haven’t been able to find a fax machine that will fax internationally. At last I found an online fax service. They said my fax arrived. Fortunately I’m registered in a small town in California and can communicate with the staff at the County Clerk Registrar of Voters. They emailed me the missing pages and yesterday confirmed that my ballot was received and counted.
What obstacles will we encounter next time???
Excellent question. Trump is engaging in unprecedented collusion with Republican dominated states to cement gerrymandering into place and guarantee a Republican “victory” in 2026. I am sorry you have had problems with your ballot, but I can’t help thinking it’s deliberate on the part of the Post Office.
The Japanese Post office discourages sending anything to America by regular mail or airmail because they have no idea when it will arrive. They recommend sending it EMS, like special delivery which costs a minimum of $20.
Even my brother in California sent a letter to our cousins in Iceland but it didn’t arrive and was returned, even though the address and postage were correct.
Next the censors will probably start opening our letters to make sure we aren’t making anti-tRump statements, like the old days in the USSR and Eastern Europe.
Not surprised. When my sister was in Europe on her semester abroad, people advised her not to send anything through the Italian postal service (her campus was in Italy. Now the same cautions apply to the USPS. I am sure we’ll see a host of censorship.
Good for you Kristin for jumping the barriers repubs set. A lesser person would have given up. You should write some editorials to share your experience with other Americans overseas to prepare them for midterms. ✍🏼👍🏻🎉
As a poll worker said when I said the same thing. It will be worse
With the obvious shift against Trumpism given the election results, I would expect a doubling down by MAGA and Trump. But it may be that some of the current Republican lawmakers realize that it is time to come to the table and together with Democrats take back their power of the purse if they want to retain their seats. Too much of MAGA policies are hurting their own constituents, and those constituents may eventually rebell and send them packing in the next election.
Yes, tomorrow, some brave Republican Senator will actually stand up in that little fireside chat planned, facing His Demented Gibberish, and simply say:
“I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a great and terrible resolve...”
Yes, and tomorrow pigs will also fly as well. 🤪
I have the same expectation. And concern that the MAGAt reaction will be to obstruct and otherwise interfere with the election next year.
My dream
Hm... let's see. We just had the biggest protests against a US government ever (7 million people), followed by a blue wave election win for Democrats. Apart from that, Democrats are fighting for what 79% of the American people want, namely NO massive increase of healthcare premiums.
Now, a judge ordered the GOP to do something else that the vast majority of the American people want: continue SNAP as it is legally obliged to do.
And yet... all that Republicans have to say is that DEMOCRATS should "fold"? And do what? Go against what their own constituents want? To become as unpopular as the GOP?
Why would any representative in their right mind do that... ?
Heather, please remind everyone in your next letter:
a) the reason for the shutdown is the House and Senate have not passed the 12? appropriations bills.
b) the House should be in session working and passing all of them so a continuing resolution is not even needed. The deadline as we all know was before October 1.
c) I am sure there is much other work the House could do as well instead of the Republicans being on vacation for umteen weeks.
The American people need to insist that the House return to work. And yes finally seat the new Congresswoman from Arizona so she can do work for her constituents. She should have been sworn in weeks ago during this shutdown.
Wayne, I would add that Heather also address Article 1, Section 5, Clause 4 Sessions of the U.S. Constitution:
"Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting." Mike Johnson needs to hear this!
True, and since MAGA Mike is Trump’s tool, Mike will act unconstitutionally, just as his boss does.
The House is not technically adjourned. That is why they have a "5 minute" session each day.
Ahh, my bad. I did not know that.
He had no ears
Good point!!
(202) 224-3121 is the Capitol Hill switchboard or look at official website—johnson.house.gov
I wish a hacker would change it to little.johnson@house.gov.
This was a great beginning. Congratulations to Zohran Mamdami, to Ghazala Hashmi, to Abigail Spanberger, and to Mikie Sherrill !!! You earned this.
Now lets get to work and two years from now we can say we've corrected a Yuge mistake.
One year. One year from today we can make a big corrective.