I cannot sing, or dance, or celebrate. Obviously I’m not doing well with sleeping either.
I worry. That’s me - a worrier. I’ve been worried since 2016. Every time something happens, something that should be out of the realm of a normal person’s thought process (destroying the post office? Who saw that coming?) I am just bolstered in my feeling that we are all doomed. I feel like Eeyore.
Don’t get me wrong. I AM relieved. I just don’t feel safe yet. January 5 will help - or not. January 20 with nothing major happening (Defined as nothing Biden can’t undo the first day) is the goal right now.
All the kumbaya for peace and love for the other side has me on edge. I’ve seen this movie. I’ve seen Lucy and the football. I am screaming “don’t go down into the basement!” And “don’t go into the water!” While the Jaws music just increases in volume.
I’m not ready to let my guard down. I’m not ready to forgive and forget (and why is that Dems are always the ones offering the olive branch?)
In 2016, there was always the possibility that 60M people were fooled, that they took it as a joke, that they thought he was an outsider, and would be good to shake things up. That he was a good businessman.
It is painful and horrifying that in 2020 71M people did it deliberately. They knew what he was and did it deliberately. And now, with their objections, I see that they can’t stand to live in a world that does not encourage their racism, their violence, their willingness to pull babies from the breast and put them in a cage. That they are fine with a world run by and for the wealthy, as long as they can hope for a crumb. And they always have the Dems, the libtards, and the black and brown and “other people” to blame for their failings. That we will have this fight every four years, and the years in between.
Sorry, no kumbaya here. No forgive and forget. The damage is too great. The PTSD is too strong. We don’t have to compromise with the other half of the population, but it helps to know they are really out there.
I’ve read your post twice, and the passage I’ve include below, several times.
You and I are the flip sides of the same coin. I’m an optimist and hold out hope that people can change, that with broader dissemination of accurate information, we have a chance to expose the fundamental emptiness and greed of the movement conservatives that own the Republican Party. Armed with that information, I believe people of good faith will do the right thing.
The racist core of the Party of Trump, on the other hand, needs to be vanquished to the dust pile of history and those who support it, indelibly marked with the badges of dishonor they have earned. They are dangerous and it is likely that many of them are associated loosely or intimately with right wing militias, aka domestic terrorists.
To one extent or another, we all wear blinders.
When I was a kid growing up in the 1950s and 60s, we got our national news from Walter Cronkite, with a sprinkling of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. Cronkite looked just like my grandfather – I trusted both of them completely. Our local newspapers had a point of view, but there was a fairly clear consensus and the primary sources of public information reflected that consensus. That is obviously not the case today and nasty little lies, and big fat conspiracy theories spawn on the web and are repeated on social media until they become “news” – the actual fake news – that is swallowed whole by some and used by craven politicians to seed doubt and fear into the minds of others.
I have said here before, and stand by the belief, that lowering the temperature and seeking reconciliation with our neighbors is vital. It is a slow process, painful at times, but someone needs to go first, and we have just won the most important election in recent history – so (IMO) it is our move.
My personal experience, which is not unique, has brought me into contact with people who supported Trump. Our conversations have been difficult, and with some folks I just haven’t been able to talk about political issues at all. But so often I’ve found that people have been holding beliefs based on bad information or lack of information entirely. And I must confess that I have learned things from these conversations - perspectives, fears, resentments and doubts - that my media sources haven’t fully elucidated. I genuinely believe that dialogue can help ameliorate the divisive situation in which we find ourselves today – and that the Biden/Harris election offers us a unique opportunity to do so.
Your statement here is powerful – and convincing – but I would observe that many of those who cast their vote for him did so out of fear. It may be hard for us to accept, but many people actually believed the lie that electing a Democrat would bring about a “Socialist” government, and in their minds, Socialism was just another word for Communism. They heard it repeated over and over again and they began to believe it, or at least fear it might be so.
“In 2016, there was always the possibility that 60M people were fooled, that they took it as a joke, that they thought he was an outsider, and would be good to shake things up. That he was a good businessman.
It is painful and horrifying that in 2020 71M people did it deliberately. They knew what he was and did it deliberately.”
As someone here observed, “today is a good day”. I intend to relish it, to get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow, work to realize the prospect of a united country – one person at a time, if need be.
I live in ruby red Idaho where the cult & militia are alive & well. Where Covid is running ramped thru our smalll community & staff @ our small, iculess hospital are anti maskers & many anti vacers live here.We have one super market that has not supported masks, has not put in special hours nor installed plexi glass shields. It is one thing to discuss & share different points of view but when the nuts & bolts of everyday life r impacted by the lack of concern for the common good, it is very much in your face no escape. If I were a young person, I might have a more resilient outlook but the 1 ½ hr drive over a mountain pass & now it is winter to shop where masks are mostly worn is difficult. I really doubt that these people will listens to reason & facts that those of us here have spoken, stood for, written about, will change in my life time.
I too am an Idahoan and I feel your pain and frustration. I am appalled at our state and local election result which seems to seek to keep us all in the dark - 50th in the nation in student spending, etc. I find it confusing that the people I know and deal with are overwhelming not bad people by all measures. I think it has to be the media (faux and social media) which for many people inIdaho is all they have. It is the big lonely out there and our “right to work state ($7.25/hr min wage) which is really our “Right to be Poor” keeps us all down. How do you get people to support that? - its like convincing them to eat their own arm. It must change we have an opportunity to put a crack in the wall to let the light in. I was slightly encouraged that Crapo appears to be supporting the democratic transition of power. The Idaho human rights task force and a vibrant active resistance movement working with local law enforcement are doing some good work. We need all the critical thinkers on board now. I hate to lose this fight at this point. We are the answer.
Next door in Montana we see similar anti maskers. Big money and lies made a republican sweep of the election up and down the ballot. Hospitals and schools will see funding cuts and resource extraction will be given free reign. We were so hopeful with Bullock and had good candidates for state leadership positions. We fought hard and still lost. Pain and frustration indeed. The only consolation is Biden and Harris in the Whitehouse.
I think that odd logic of the Trumpers is a repudiation of white liberals. If we say something is up, they say it’s down. If we say black, they say white. They are animated by fear of losing a way of seeing the world from its imagined, privileged center, but their animus is directed at us, so it adopts a mirror reverse logic to ours. And they have closed ranks and locked arms. I hope the Biden people have some insight into how to penetrate that psychology beyond bromides about coming together.
And there are seventy million of them. We must be very careful about what we do about those who poison their minds, recognizing that there are limits to First Amendment rights beyond not permitting screaming "Fire" in a theatre. To what exent should blatant, unproven, lies be given protection under the First Amendment without weakening that Amendment's vital role in preserving democracy.
Put the Fairness Doctrine back to use and the Right Wing Noise Machine will go silent in 90 days. You want to re-educate the 70 million morons? Turn off the noise machine.
It is imperative that “hate speech” is not protected under the First Amendment be codified. But how? Can we use Germany’s solution to Nazism as a model?
Yes ... but that would weaken the First Amendment. To my knowledge, the reprehensible statements of people like Alex Jones are protected by the First Amendment. Making them illegal opens the door to making other opinions, some of with which you and I might agree, potentially illegal as well. Congresses and administrations change. Amendments to the Constitution should endure. That's why, occasionally, even the ACLU supports the rights of bigots and terrorists.
Then hopefully the virus will only get more prevalent and more of the morons will flunk evolution's IQ test. (Are you intelligent enough to take in the available information and change your behavior in such a way as to increase your chances of survival?). the more of the white trash Trumpscum die, the better for the rest of us.
R Dooley - well said. I’m finding that when I hear comments from Dumpster Fire supporters/voters, I take a deep breath and pick one small thing to correct them on. Sometimes I’m staring with the words OUCH or GULP and then I issue a correction on what they said. I was so offended when someone labelled their governor as a Nazi. My response "OUCH - The Nazi’s killed over 6M people so she isn’t a Nazi . . . . But I see how you are frustrated with her as your governor” Also, a priority for me is to stop this Socialism or communism rhetoric. Too many people are conflating OR confusing them - our government is neither.
Calling Biden a Socialist or Commie makes me laugh. He is practically a John McCain Republican. But clearly we need vocabulary lessons for 70 million people.
I agree that we need some sort of truth and reconciliation, like in S. Africa. The inequalities (perceived or real) of our society are what trump has exploited so well.
I heard someone yesterday talk about how we need to heal the divisions because if we don't "they have won"....they being those who wish for continued division and unrest. I have a family member who is a tRumpster with whom I've had little to no contact for many years. Recently he reached out and said "Let's forget where we have been and start again, but not include talk of religion or politics." That's a place to start and I will try to now see if we can come to an understanding where we both stand.
Growing up in 50’s and 60’s I always heard from my parents, that ‘you don’t discuss politics or religion’ and ‘you can choose your friends but not your relatives’
Forget truth and reconciliation. Try the Trump traitors on whatever charges are available and imprison them. Conspiracy to commit treason works, since they all went along with Putin's Punk, so his treason is theirs.
It doesn't matter what they call it. Fear of Socialism is simply fear that hard working Americans (read white Americans) will be forced to pay for someone else's benefits that doesn't deserve it (read BIPOC, LGBTQ, etc)
Not all seventy million Republican voters believe that crap, but enough do to dominate the GOP's choice of candidates, especially in local and State political races. Nationally, it has to be a dog whisper. Locally, however, it is the margin of difference which keeps so many State legislatures Republican.
Deb, R Dooley, both good points of view. I am a worrier, too. At 67 years, that has not served me well. Some of the worst things that I ever lived through, never happened. At least not to me. Yesterday, I quietly celebrated...just to give myself a much needed break. Now, back to work, one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Together, all of us, with NO complacency, we can do this.
In response to Deb and R Dooley: Thank you both for succinctly stating both sides of the coin I find myself living with. I feel optimism and fear in equal measures. My fear stems from the knowledge that trumpism is a cult in every sense of the word, and you can’t lead someone away from a cult with just presenting factual information. They must be deprogrammed, and it is a long and difficult process. I have a cousin who has “bathed in the kool-aid”, and I don’t see any path to change her thinking. Some examples of recent Facebook posts to her hundreds (possible thousands) of followers: “ turn off ALL NEWS except what comes from the white house, that is the only source of truth there is”, “I challenge all of you to turn off fake news, only listen to white house news”, “do not fear that Biden has won, God has ordained 8 years for Trump in the white house, and God is never wrong”.
She and her followers are anti-vaxers, are staunchly AGAINST wearing masks, and she steadfastly refuses to wear a mask. She has had cards printed (there is a website that offers a selection of cards) that encourage, and “give people permission” not to wear a mask; she passes these cards out whenever she is in public to people she sees wearing a mask. She proudly posted that she was asked 5 times to wear a mask while voting, and she refused all 5 times. Her followers all praised her, and vowed to order cards to pass out as well. This behavior is LITERALLY responsible for the sickness and death of THOUSANDS of people. They have been “told”, and yet they continue.
These are just a few examples of what “we” are up against in the coming months (and years I fear). And there are literally millions of people who think and believe the same way. How do you de-program millions of people??
So while I am most assuredly doing a happy dance today, and am both hopeful and cautiously optimistic about the future of America, I am also feeling fear for dark days ahead.
That’s good for your cousin’s group to be excluding Fox and QAnon media and instead limiting themselves to news from the White House, because the trump administration’s denial and manipulation of facts is going to end on January 20, 2021.
“De-programming” people is a matter of education at many levels in many forms—one-on-one interactions with a seed planted of alternative, but to most people, rational fact, to absence of the toxic inflammatory propaganda, to lived experience that calms fears.
Ellie, you are very insightful and perceptive. I think you are right. I've seen many people come around not only in their perspective, but in the very assumptions with which they view the world in the context of your 2nd paragraph, which is a beautifully succinct synopis of how WE can gently de-program the people with whom we come into contact. Indeed, we can start with ourselves, by addressing the negativity that so many of us have fallen into.
I can claim some authority in this, as it was an intrinsic part of my job as a professional facilitator and advisor working with disparate groups on a number of high visibility issues. The very first time this happened, I had been given a group that everyone else had given up on. (I was the newbie, and they figured it couldn't get worse. To my bosses' surprise, I fixed it.)
The real key in your paragraph is where I started: "the absence of...toxic inflammatory [language]", and working with the group to establish an accepting atmosphere. This is why I repeatedly ask people to leave that kind of thinking and talking behind. It is a self-fulfulling prophesy that gets in the way.
Hopefully your cousin's behavior will lead to her getting the virus and making America great again. I personally would have no problem at all with all the anti-maskers catching it and dying. We're overpopulated with morons now that Survival of the Fittest doesn't work in modern society, so evolution needs all the help it can get.
Sadly, this is exactly the kind of negative and demeaning attitude that will make the task of creating a functional dialogue in America more difficult. It's ugly and disrespectful, and contributes nothing of value to this discussion and certainly nothing to the greater need our society needs of learning to speak together.
Yours is a beautiful attitude and state of mind, which I commend. Having felt disallusioned by the inner feelings of my (supposed) friends/acquaintances, I will need to search for my inner gods to try to reach out. It will be a challenge that I hope I can achieve. Meanwhile, for the moment, we celebrate.
RDooley thank you so much. I feel exactly the same. One person at a time if need be. The mountian to be scaled here is fear. Thank you for seeing it. All of us who do, supporting a narrative of moving forward, can help catalyze healing.
Thank you, R Dooley, Kathy Warren, Jacob Lippman, Patricia Andrews, and Laurie for articulating an empathic but optimistic response. I would take it a step further, that it is incumbent upon us to not endorse feeling “doomed.” Fear among the masses is the objective of those fostering tyranny and fascism. All feelings have legitimacy, but how we respond to our feelings is a choice.
With 71 million trump voters among us, we ARE in a both/and reality. Yes, we must keep eyes wide open and be wary, but reason, decency, and fairness have now regained the upper hand of power in our government. Moreover, with issues of gun violence, climate change, sexism, and racism, we are now more woke in our consciousness. Don’t give away your power. Hope is a survival skill.
Take 2: Ideas for dealing with feelings of anxiety, depression, and/or despair:
1. Feelings are valid. Do channel feelings of hear into healthy fear that keeps us alert to real and present dangers.
2. Mitigate feelings of anxiety by taking a few moments to close your eyes and focus on your breath.
3. Mitigate your feelings of depression by moving around, get your circulation moving, walk out where you can be with life affirming plants and trees in open air. Breathe.
4. Put yourself in the world of others who survived serious danger--read, watch movies, TV series...
5. Act on your power of one. Plan how to respond to trumpists in your world by planting a seed of reality. Support the US Senate runoff in Georgia with postcards, donations, registering voters.
It was so hard to get started this Monday morning, so much news happening.. I was getting overwhelmed, but went immediately to your posts, read them all and reset my 'headspace'. Thanks again for the life line. br
Well said! wise! a great plan for moving forward with 'Intention' in the only moment we have....the Now! Thank you. Much appreciated. A lot of deep, complicated ideas and emotions swirling around in the posts. I needed someplace simple to start. Thanks for the guidance/for spelling things out!
71 million people do not care how much they lose as long as the people they hate lose more. These people have been voting like this since reconstruction according to HCR.
I am sorry that what you say sounds true, probably is true. They are sadly hollow, sorry excuses for people, much like their esteemed leader in some ways. Maybe they never felt loved or cared for, maybe they feel they never got a break, certainly they carry much anger - and it begs to be expended in some outward direction (certainly not toward themselves or family, but on strangers, people unlike themselves). Their anger festers, their sorrow deepens - although they'd never call it sorrow. I hope I can inspire myself to reach out in sympathy and care. I wish we could understand each other better, find our common humanity. Looking forward ...
Deb: I feel your anxiety. I learned today that some Trump supporters have abandoned Faux News and are now following the right wing conspiracy sites on Youtube because they feel Fox has failed Trump. As for grinding teeth, I've suffered two broken teeth and my dentist informs me that his profession is seeing a lot of tooth problems due to clenching and grinding as a result of stress caused by this administration and its handling of the pandemic!
My husband is with you. I had to call, text and email family and friends and neighbors to celebrate. He is too worried about the people who voted for 45, the continuation of the GOP led Senate, the destruction as 45 takes his leave, too worried about all of these things to enjoy the good news. I will leave it to you and my husband and others like you to keep watch while the rest of us celebrate a little. I hope you don't mind. Because Tuesday and Wednesday I thought I would lose my mind.
Sending hugs. It is still a mess, but hope goes a long way. Eat well, walk in the woods or on the beach, turn off the news for a day or two and clear your head. You don't deserve to suffer. Here's a gift for sleeping: https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/mpeg/Body-Scan-for-Sleep.mp3
I agree. We need to be diplomatic, but be smart and wary. At least a solid third of Americans were willing to destroy America rather than give up racism, hate, and selfishness. They’re essentially bunch of date-rapists who just maneuver a potential victim into a position of trust and vulnerability and then take full advantage.
So very well expressed. You hit all the points that I personally worry about as well but as one of your respondents (R Dooley) has with equal eloquence stated, in so many words-let this moment of celebration be mine!
We are only human when we get an occasion to spring with joy we must take it.
I was hopeful that there would have been more people who voted for him in 2016, who wouldn't vote for him again also. My husband was one of those who refused to vote for him again. There must have been a lot more like minded people out there...so, does that mean that Trump actually converted even more people to his evil? I was very surprised that Trump got so many people to vote for him this time!
I've often half-joked that I decided long ago to be a pessimist because I'm o'er fond of being right. The optimists are happier, true, but I'd rather be right. And you are very acute, that the electoral horror that the Republicans have worked for since the 70's has come to full, slavering, maturity. These past four years will not heal very easily; this past election, while our last best chance of starting something good, didn't fix anything, it just made fixing things possible. Any "turn around" will have to be very wise, deliberate, and proof against sabotage, if that's possible in this new world of ours.
It's very true that for this time of our country, the fact of Trump is far more important than the actual person of Trump.
About 40 years ago an advice columnist told a teenager arguing with his mother that he could choose to be right or he could choose to be happy. Something I've hung on to all these years.
For me it’s now the morning after, and it’s slowly sinking in that “we really did it.” Months ago, someone posted online that during WW2, it took the might of the Allied forces to overthrow fascism in Europe....but who would come to save the US from descending into hell? Could we save ourselves? Would enough people see the actual danger? We finally got our answer yesterday. “Yes, we can.”
Through it all, you, Dr Richardson helped us immensely, by reminding us of other times when we nearly failed. You took up your (electronic) pen and inspired us to collectively do the two things we all have in our power—talk to each other, and vote.
I hope you take a well-deserved break now, though I look forward to reading and learning more from you as the US struggles to “build back better.”
Yes, thank you Heather for all the nights you labored to bring us useful information.
Your new book “How the South Won the Civil War” has been on my bed table. I will start reading it soon and if I’m right, I think your book may show interesting historical parallels between then and now.
Dear Heather, Your email each morning for the past year has been my companion during this awful year of virus and unbridled trumpism. Thank you for your efforts , the long nights, and your deep understanding of American history. Simon Rich
I will never forget that moment. Here in Delaware I had just finished filling a new garden patch with topsoil and begun to plant bulbs. It was the most beautiful fall day one could dream up, and I was sitting in the slanting yellow sunlight and transcendent calm, my hands full of black earth and pearly white nuggets of life, when my partner called from the back door, "they're calling it!". I planted over 200 bulbs today - my America flowers.
All of these little things - each time we reassert facts with kindness or write our congresspeople or *vote* - all of these pearly little things will bloom one day and we will have spring.
“One bulb at a time. There was no other way to do it. No shortcuts--simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded. Loving an achievement that grew slowly and bloomed for only three weeks each year.”
― Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, The Daffodill Principle (1932-2008), Canadian American writer
When they bloom in the spring, the joy of that moment will come back to you. I love this. I was at the dog park with my puppy, when everyone’s phones started pinging at the same time. Smiles all around over the masks. It was a great moment for me, too.
I loved your post Helga. I too garden, and my wife is passionate with her bulbs. I will tend to the autumn colors today, and be reminded of the renewal I sow in the garden, and in my community
“One bulb at a time. There was no other way to do it. No shortcuts--simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded. Loving an achievement that grew slowly and bloomed for only three weeks each year.”
― Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, The Daffodill Principle (1932-2008), Canadian American writer
This is long overdue, but THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart. I have CLUNG to every word you’ve written over the past year. You’ve literally kept me sane—and well informed. I don’t know how you do it, but please know that you have buoyed a vast number of weary travelers on this journey we call democracy. I know we have so much work to do going forward, but your words have girded us for the fight. I am so grateful.
Congratulations from England, decent America! The tawdry politics of recent years have stained conceptions of your country very badly but this win offers the chance for recovery. The world needs the best of you. But watch out for the lout on the golf course..
Chances are we might all elsewhere in the world benefit as others learn by watching America's example. Perhaps our benighted European brood will shape up and start listening to the people more too.
My father is one of them. He grew up in Nazi Germany and never really change from his early childhood social conditioning. Most of the warehouse workers and truck drivers I meet on the job are also in the Trumpster Republican conservative camp. It’s an illness of lack of vision, an illness of inability to see beneath the surface.
Our job is learn how we can show them how to regain that vision, help them understand that supporting programs that help EVERYONE is the best way to help themselves, and to recognize that a world without daily threats and insults is a better world for all of us.
Finding a way to overcome the hatred, lies, and fear without insulting people like your father is the only way we can reunite America again.
Not everyone wants to "see". It's like the posts from yesterday about abused spouses & kids will choose to return to their abuser because it's what they know. What wasn't addressed is how to break that cycle.
We need to remember that after the civil war racism didn't disappear. It went underground & spread like a weed.
So we do need government programs that address the fears of trump voters as well as a truth and reconciliation program like de-Nazification and what continues in Rwanda. As others point out, education.
There is a whole body of academic research and on the ground organizations that work to break the cycle of domestic violence, including separate groups for victims and perpetrators (though sometimes both members of a couple are instigating, reacting, and escalating). The groups combine dydactic instruction with experience sharing among peers. Food for thought.
Hi Marcy, I just posted an article about the distinction between Red and Blue America. Spent the last several hours in it. It might answer your question. If not, get back to me here, if you can even find this location again. otherwise email RolandRLJ at Google Mail.
Hmm... I was thinking about this when I woke up today—even though the vote was pretty much split down the middle as far as Biden vs Trump, all those votes are about 145 million or so. But there are 331 million people in the states. Yes, the division is real, but that 70 million for trump is less than a quarter of the population. What would happen if more people voted, if it was easier to vote, etc.?
I won’t go into all the many issues around voting, but maybe it’s not true that half the country supports Trump. Unless we just assume the percentage reflected in the vote accurately reflects the population at large... Should we make that assumption?
I feel you on your dad. Mine has vowed to never ever EVER step foot in Chicago. You know what? Because Obama is from there!
Ha. Talk about cutting off your misinformed nose to spite your face. That fabulous city is one of the first trips in my list post-pandemic!
Take solace in the fact that 74 million of the 331 million are between the ages of 0 - 17 and ineligible to vote. And those 74 million kids? We need to make sure they have the best educations and information possible so they can make informed decisions as they grow and age. They will be a test of our ability to change course for every US American as well as those who have come to our shores for a better life.
Now, the rest of those folks, that last 25%? That's who we need to focus on now. Why don't they vote and what will change their minds about voting?
Oh my: I completely forgot about young people when I was talking about population. I’m just drinking my first cup of coffee over here, so that’s my excuse! :) thank you for moving to adult population!
Yes, why didn’t they vote, etc? Excellent questions.
? I'm not sure what you mean. I looked at stats for the approx number of children 0-17 years if age in 2020 and several sources said 74 million. What am I missing in re 112 million?
Daria, I was trying to calculate what part of the population was left that didn't vote. If we have a population of 331 million, and approx. 145 million voted, and 74 million are 0-17 yrs, that leaves 112 million, doesn't it? Spoiler alert: I'm not great with math.
Great point about the proportion of T voters to the population, Lori Anne. As 331 million is the total population, not all of them are old enough to vote. :) US population over 18 is 209 million. Alas, that means the proportion of t voters to the voting population is 33%. Ugh!!!
Having been around for a while, I've noticed something that recurs after elections. Just as some of us are reacting to our disappointment that there wasn't the hoped for sweep, the expected blue wave, and that reaction is sometimes a little extreme because we expected something stronger, so the people who voted for Trump are experiencing a similar reaction. We are already calming down and exploring ways to move forward in a positive way. They will too. Remember before the elections when all these militias were saying they were going to occupy the streets? And when the time came, the streets were mostly empty? There were going to be armed resistors at every polling station and yet most polling stations counted their ballots in peace? Yes there were a few, but I think the events in Kenosha made it real and things stopped being pretend for a lot of the people thinking in terms of violence. And the arrests of several groups by the FBI also made the consequences real for those people. I think that kind of reality testing will sink in to more Trump supporters as they get back to living their ordinary lives. Some of them will persist, but they will tend to draw back from the more extremes of it. And some, as we have seen, will withdraw from it because the reality of what Trump has done to our country will become more apparent to them, in the absence of media hysteria. We are all exhausted emotionally. We have an opportunity to create a calm in which we can begin to work in our small ways to rebuild a world in which normal human interaction can take place. The beginning of a hard road back, but I do believe that we can do it. IF we don't allow ourselves to be caught up again in the negativity that has been nurtured by those who have not yet been able to step away from it (or, in some cases, are addicted to it). We can help each other recover our equanimity, and move on.
Yes, that is definitely something that is both abhorrent and must be addressed. I implore HCR to give us some guidance here. I personally will be doing what I can to influence GA voters to elect Ossoff and Warnock. We must get the stranglehold away from McTurtleneck. He’s right...he has been the Grim Reaper and a thorn in our sides for way too long. We have to turn the Senate. In the meantime, something else we haven’t discussed is how 12 GOP women were elected to Congress! Were we asleep?
Thank you for your good wishes, they’re greatly appreciated!
Sadly though, the lout on the golf course is slowly becoming the least of our troubles. America must fight Elitists with an unpopular & dangerous agenda, media which support it, and our own fear, hate, biases, and ignorance.
What a day full of joyous relief! It was wonderful to read and share in this group during the day.
And still there is work to do in the US Senate runoff in Georgia. Stacey Abrams has worked for over 12 years to get the state turning blue. If these 2 Senate seats go blue, then the Senate will be 50-50, with tiebreaker Vice President Kamala Harris. Ways to help include donations, postcards, and registering new voters.
Young people who turn 18 by Jan. 5, 2021 can register by Dec. 7, 2020.
I particularly loved the aerial shots of people dancing for joy all around the White House and forcing the idiot to get into his temporary shelter by the side door.
Money is important, but my guess is that it will hinge on the anti-abortionist voters who will ALWAYS show up. I am sure the people of GA are so tired of poisonous ads and hate the idea of having them inundate the holiday season—especially THIS one!! Our young new State Senator Chloe Maxmin should give their campaigns some suggestions. She defeated an established incumbent with positive ads only. When we locked down with the virus, she and the campaign volunteers called EVERY person over 62 in the district to see if they had needs, and arranged help for meds and groceries to be delivered and just talked....
I danced with my wife and sons in Times Square today. Thank you Heather Cox Richardson for helping us through this time. You are a buoy of sane in an ocean of cuckoo.
Saw a video from Times SQ. You are so lucky to live in NYC. It makes me so happy to see the celebrations there, especially after the heroics of this year. ❤️🤍💙
Inspiring! All of it! HCR’s letter, the speeches by Harris and Biden, people dancing in the street like VJ Day, the way I feel this morning. Biden’s speech was the most honest, from the heart, most inspired, statement by a politician in my almost 70 yrs. He had no notes and I didn’t see a teleprompter.
I think we’d almost forgotten life without despair, without fear.
There is still much to do, but, by God! it feels good to be alive this morning, this new morning in America.
Dr. Richardson, yesterday in celebration of the Biden victory, you posted on Facebook the video of the late Pete Seeger, Seeger's grandson Tao Rodríguez-Seeger, and Bruce Springsteen singing "This Land Is Your Land" in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the Obama inauguation ceremonies in January 2009. I would like to relate the story of that performance because I think it's cool. The story is told by historian Will Kaufman on the fascinating YouTube video "This Land Is Your Land: The Story of an American Anthem."
Kaufman tells the history of the song--that it wasn't really popular until it was published in an elementary school music book in the 1950s. And they only published four of the seven verses that Woody Guthrie wrote. The other three were probably considered too "radical" to include.
Fast forward to the Obama inauguration. The inauguration committee approached Bruce Springsteen and asked him if he would be willing to sing "This Land Is Your Land" at a Lincoln Memorial celebration during the inauguration ceremonies. Springsteen said he would do it, but only if Pete Seeger would be willing to sing it with him. So they asked Seeger and his reply was he would do it, but only if he could sing all the verses.
So they did. Well, they sang all three of the more controversial verses, slightly modified (by Springsteen, I believe); they did leave out one of the four better known and more innocuous verses, the one that begins, "When the sun came shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling..."
The video from the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite live performance of the song. The multicultural choir doing the background singing helps make it for me. THIS is America! Thanks for sharing it.
By the way, another tidbit from Will Kaufman's discussion of the video: Woody Guthrie wrote "This Land Is Your Land" in response to the popularity of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" (as sung and popularized by Kate Smith), a song that Guthrie loathed. Researching Guthrie's autograph sketches of the song, it was discovered that the tag line was originally "God blessed America for me," but Guthrie crossed out that line and replaced it with the familiar "This land was made for you and me."
And while we're into poetry, which "This Land is Your Land" is, don't ignore the much stronger words from Langston Hughes' great 1935 poem "Let America Be America Again" :
"From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America!"
Just 'google' those words to get the entire poem which is actually is a mission statement on which we're still working.
That moment with Pete, his grandson, and Bruce singing was my most treasured memory of that inauguration eve. And tears well up at the thought. I appreciated your gesture, HCR (also Rebecca Solnit passed it on to her FB fans): so much hope that day. Of course, reality set in about 48 hours later . . .
I felt like I took my first deep breath today. Watching and listening to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, with my daughters, was like Christmas morning came early.
I watched Van Jones on CNN shortly after the call and his tearful emotional release did the same for me. Four years of trying to pretend life is normal wears on a person. The weight of that burdened lifted and has given me strength to move forward. Last night seeing Joe and Kamala gave me comfort. Funny, that calling them by their 1st names seems normal because they are so real. ❤️
I, too, was very touched by Van Jones' emotional response to the emergence of Biden/Harris as our next leaders. I found it more effective and touching than the winners' speeches themselves. He has had a very interesting and productive life, doing so much for others to raise everyone up. I commend him.
Regarding the Criminal Justice Act: “In a country that is a democracy, we have the right to disagree….And where we disagree—on immigration, on climate change, on foreign policy—we should fight hard. But we have a responsibility—where we do agree—to work together hard…And when you’re trying to help people on the bottom, I will work with or against any Democrat, with or against any Republican, because there is nothing more important than freedom." - Van Jones
Thank you for your inspiring words. You help people see. On CNN today Anderson apologized for recently using words to negatively describe Donald Trump. “That’s not the type of person I want to be.” Van Jones cried as he expressed his joy and relief that Joe Biden is now president-elect. Such strong emotions. In my opinion Donald Trump has done this to us. Filling us with fear, disgust, and even hatred. Even though I Know I will worry until January 20, 2021, today I feel relief and joy. Dancing in the streets and church bells ringing all over Europe. Today is a good day.
Dawn, I was especially moved by Van Jones' speech. It was evident that he has felt real fear for himself and his family because of 45's racist signals to his base. Watching Van confirmed for me there was no better reason to vote this man out of office.
To the familiar American refrain of "Where were you in 1963 when you heard JFK had been assassinated," may now be added to "Where were you in 2020 when you first heard Trump had been defeated?"
The reign of Trump has been a national nightmare. I often found myself these last two years especially asking whether this was what it was like living in Nazi Germany during WWII, cringing at the thought of what another four years would bring to the last shreds of democracy in American.
Yes, we just dodged a huge bullet, but there will be so much work to repair the damage done. America's experiment in democracy is still alive, though badly bruised. It is time to once again to come together and reassert the ideal. And that my dear friends and fellow citizens is now "the only game in town . . ."
On Friday morning, I was in a casino-hotel called the Peppermill in Wendover, Nevada-Utah border. I turned on the TV just in time to discover that Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania. That's when I realized that he was going to win. That's when I realized the nightmare is almost over. I saved the envelope that the hotel room key comes in.
The USA-is not merely “badly bruised” but its immune system - to contain and prohibit what would destroy it - has been and is being systematically and incrementally dismantled and/or crippled by corporations and the super rich intent on controlling us through amassing unlimited power and wealth. This is the non-sexy, un dramatic but meat and potatoes source of conditions still fertile for another coup. This rant and insistence on free instead of regulated fair trade by corporations represents a killing point. A murderous break with laws of Nature. Hardwired into Nature is implicit regulation. Frankl (Mans Search for Meaning) once said in a lecture at Berkeley that Americans fool themselves in thinking that freedom can prosper without its twin “responsibility.” Isn’t acting responsibly an expression of an acceptance of limitation? Can anyone in touch with the fundamental realities of interdependence and plain decency consider the -shifting of corporate offices overseas to avoid taxes, buying legislators, lying about researched and known destructiveness of their processes and products (Exxon, Shell, tobacco industry), monopolistic practices and union busting - as “responsible “? Okay. So Capt Chaos is out. Now is not the time to bury your duff in the sofa or go do Brunch. Now is the time to make fundamental change happen. To keep on being loud, strategic, insistent, persistent and with a clear eye on wishy washy politicians pushing no-change no-benefit centrist policies and giving them hell until they shape up or ship out.
I think an important part of what is causing the oligarchical "shadow government" is a failure to enact strict campaign finance reform. It would be central to "fixing" the issues the country is facing. We were asked dozens of times a day to donate to the national election that conservatively cost a $4 billion! This is a non-partisan issue. Both parties are mired in the collection of money, the more the better. Without stopping this destructive means of financing elections, the government will continue to be controlled by deep pockets with global, ruinous agendas.
Yes but those that owe their place to that money will not dare face the people without it. They have been bought, emasculated and robotized. It's doubtless a measure that either awaits the reults of the Georgian senatorial run-offs or the successful completion of the mid-terms...and then the SCOTUS stupidities must be sorted out to ensure it sticks.
My concern is that to ascend at all in politics, one needs to seek money, a lot of it. If there is one thing Pelosi is known and valued for, it is her effectiveness in raising money, as an example. Even those who value "grassroots", small donations, understand that it is the money that is needed and they need to constantly churn for it. It's a system running in the dark, in the background, that seems to be the lesser of all of the issues. But I think it is the prime issue.
I was just remembering that I have given a good deal of money to the elections of candidates and causes, time and again, in this cycle. I am just as "robotized" as the politicians! Instead of "how much justice can you afford", is it becoming "how much democracy can you afford"!
If the corporations and the rich can spend no more than you and nobody or nothing gets tax credits for "think tank educative" or direct political expenditures then things should settle down.
Daughter of Holocaust victims here. I can tell you that I am grateful my parents did not have to endure these last 4 years with a moron at the helm. I think the actions of Stephen Miller and his boss would have killed them.
Two things. First, my heartfelt thanks to you, Heather, for helping us weather the last 4 years with your insightful and thoughtful posts.
Second, with such a terrible last 4 years, why did the Presidential election end up so close? Also, why did the Democrats lose House seats and the Senate not come out much better?
I think the Democratic Party shares a lot of the blame for this. It is in bad need of reform. It abandoned the working class decades ago, to the point that many now vote Republican out of a sense of rebellion and alienation (and against their personal interests). And might in fact vote for just about anyone whose only qualification would be to shake up the system.
You can read elsewhere about the current internal feud in the Democratic Party over the use of the word socialism, and how much damage that did. 'Defund the police' was another huge mistake that apparently cost the Democrats many votes. A great idea that I wholeheartedly support, but badly mismanaged and with a terrible, easily demagogued name. Calling out separate LBGTQ groups for special attention can seem good to libs like me, but it again alienates the left-out white working class. Far better would be to work for equal rights for everyone, inclusively. And do something about extreme wealth and income inequality.
We were extremely lucky that Trump wasn't very smart. Imagine where we'd be now if he'd been a lot smarter. Some worry that this may be in our future.
Isn't it imperative to fix these problems now, before the next go-around??
I commented about the same time you did and posted a little after you about not having fixed the root causes that led to Trump. I also agree with all of your comments about "socialism" and "defunding." Democrats have to do a much better job of branding. Let's talk about change, not revolution. Here is a 1-page reply I developed when the Republicans started branding Democrats as socialists. Feel free to use.
Socialism in the USA essentially boils down to programs supplying goods and/or services to the public that the citizens demand from government and the elected leaders deliver. Under “pure” socialism, everyone contributes to the pool based on ability, and distribution is based on need. In the USA, we have a Democratic Socialism, where the demands for government programs are met by contribution through taxation (including import tariffs) and distribution based on democratic (political) determination of need. Equating socialism to communism, in which the state owns or controls the means of production and delivery, is a misconception. For more, see: https://www.thoughtco.com/difference-between-communism-and-socialism-195448; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/24/a-high-school-teacher-helps-clarify-socialism-for-donald-trump-and-you/
The following existing federal and state programs are all “socialistic,” enacted under our democratic/republic form of government:
• Executive branch of government, Legislative branch and Judicial branch/ State govenment
• The US military/Space programs and subsidized private space programs
• Medicare/Medicaid
• Social Security, both old-age and disability income programs
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• The TANF, CHIP, Headstart, and SNAP programs for low-income families
• Section 8 Housing subsidies
• Unemployment insurance
• The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
• Federal and state employee pension and insurance benefits
• The Veterans Affairs Administration
• The National Weather Service
• The Postal Service
• AMTRAK/Public local transportation
• Tariffs
• All taxes, including tax exemptions and tax credits
• Public education/subsidized private education
• Public streets, roads & highways
• Public libraries
• Public universities
• Public parks
• Public toilets and drinking fountains
• Public prisons & jails
• Public anything and everything
Clearly, we already live in a hybrid socialistic-capitalistic economy and culture. How many of these programs have benefitted you, your family and friends?
Thank you for all of these right-on-target points and info. IMO it further illustrates why the approach Elizabeth Warren took is the way to go. She clearly and unapologetically said during the campaign, "I am a capitalist’ – but markets need to work for more than just the rich."
I agree. Thank you for taking the time to post. Like you, I think the Democrat "messaging' was terrible on issues like socialism and defunding. Defunding is not what is needed; reforming/retraining is needed; socialism of the american variety is already here---see Jay Stewart reply in this thread. There was a book several (maybe more) years ago about the brilliance (yes) of the GOP in messaging (quick quotes; great congressional bill titles; etc) and the abject failure of the Dems in this area. IMHO all you need to do to see/hear this is to listen to Schumer and (sometimes) to Pelosi. No great quotes; no succinct statements. Too much 'overthink".
Kurt, I’ve repeatedly posted essentially the same observations. Voters rejected Trump and Democratic Party dogma at the same time. There is no other way to spin it.
I cannot sing, or dance, or celebrate. Obviously I’m not doing well with sleeping either.
I worry. That’s me - a worrier. I’ve been worried since 2016. Every time something happens, something that should be out of the realm of a normal person’s thought process (destroying the post office? Who saw that coming?) I am just bolstered in my feeling that we are all doomed. I feel like Eeyore.
Don’t get me wrong. I AM relieved. I just don’t feel safe yet. January 5 will help - or not. January 20 with nothing major happening (Defined as nothing Biden can’t undo the first day) is the goal right now.
All the kumbaya for peace and love for the other side has me on edge. I’ve seen this movie. I’ve seen Lucy and the football. I am screaming “don’t go down into the basement!” And “don’t go into the water!” While the Jaws music just increases in volume.
I’m not ready to let my guard down. I’m not ready to forgive and forget (and why is that Dems are always the ones offering the olive branch?)
In 2016, there was always the possibility that 60M people were fooled, that they took it as a joke, that they thought he was an outsider, and would be good to shake things up. That he was a good businessman.
It is painful and horrifying that in 2020 71M people did it deliberately. They knew what he was and did it deliberately. And now, with their objections, I see that they can’t stand to live in a world that does not encourage their racism, their violence, their willingness to pull babies from the breast and put them in a cage. That they are fine with a world run by and for the wealthy, as long as they can hope for a crumb. And they always have the Dems, the libtards, and the black and brown and “other people” to blame for their failings. That we will have this fight every four years, and the years in between.
Sorry, no kumbaya here. No forgive and forget. The damage is too great. The PTSD is too strong. We don’t have to compromise with the other half of the population, but it helps to know they are really out there.
I just wish I could stop grinding my teeth.
Good morning, Deb:
I’ve read your post twice, and the passage I’ve include below, several times.
You and I are the flip sides of the same coin. I’m an optimist and hold out hope that people can change, that with broader dissemination of accurate information, we have a chance to expose the fundamental emptiness and greed of the movement conservatives that own the Republican Party. Armed with that information, I believe people of good faith will do the right thing.
The racist core of the Party of Trump, on the other hand, needs to be vanquished to the dust pile of history and those who support it, indelibly marked with the badges of dishonor they have earned. They are dangerous and it is likely that many of them are associated loosely or intimately with right wing militias, aka domestic terrorists.
To one extent or another, we all wear blinders.
When I was a kid growing up in the 1950s and 60s, we got our national news from Walter Cronkite, with a sprinkling of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. Cronkite looked just like my grandfather – I trusted both of them completely. Our local newspapers had a point of view, but there was a fairly clear consensus and the primary sources of public information reflected that consensus. That is obviously not the case today and nasty little lies, and big fat conspiracy theories spawn on the web and are repeated on social media until they become “news” – the actual fake news – that is swallowed whole by some and used by craven politicians to seed doubt and fear into the minds of others.
I have said here before, and stand by the belief, that lowering the temperature and seeking reconciliation with our neighbors is vital. It is a slow process, painful at times, but someone needs to go first, and we have just won the most important election in recent history – so (IMO) it is our move.
My personal experience, which is not unique, has brought me into contact with people who supported Trump. Our conversations have been difficult, and with some folks I just haven’t been able to talk about political issues at all. But so often I’ve found that people have been holding beliefs based on bad information or lack of information entirely. And I must confess that I have learned things from these conversations - perspectives, fears, resentments and doubts - that my media sources haven’t fully elucidated. I genuinely believe that dialogue can help ameliorate the divisive situation in which we find ourselves today – and that the Biden/Harris election offers us a unique opportunity to do so.
Your statement here is powerful – and convincing – but I would observe that many of those who cast their vote for him did so out of fear. It may be hard for us to accept, but many people actually believed the lie that electing a Democrat would bring about a “Socialist” government, and in their minds, Socialism was just another word for Communism. They heard it repeated over and over again and they began to believe it, or at least fear it might be so.
“In 2016, there was always the possibility that 60M people were fooled, that they took it as a joke, that they thought he was an outsider, and would be good to shake things up. That he was a good businessman.
It is painful and horrifying that in 2020 71M people did it deliberately. They knew what he was and did it deliberately.”
As someone here observed, “today is a good day”. I intend to relish it, to get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow, work to realize the prospect of a united country – one person at a time, if need be.
I live in ruby red Idaho where the cult & militia are alive & well. Where Covid is running ramped thru our smalll community & staff @ our small, iculess hospital are anti maskers & many anti vacers live here.We have one super market that has not supported masks, has not put in special hours nor installed plexi glass shields. It is one thing to discuss & share different points of view but when the nuts & bolts of everyday life r impacted by the lack of concern for the common good, it is very much in your face no escape. If I were a young person, I might have a more resilient outlook but the 1 ½ hr drive over a mountain pass & now it is winter to shop where masks are mostly worn is difficult. I really doubt that these people will listens to reason & facts that those of us here have spoken, stood for, written about, will change in my life time.
I too am an Idahoan and I feel your pain and frustration. I am appalled at our state and local election result which seems to seek to keep us all in the dark - 50th in the nation in student spending, etc. I find it confusing that the people I know and deal with are overwhelming not bad people by all measures. I think it has to be the media (faux and social media) which for many people inIdaho is all they have. It is the big lonely out there and our “right to work state ($7.25/hr min wage) which is really our “Right to be Poor” keeps us all down. How do you get people to support that? - its like convincing them to eat their own arm. It must change we have an opportunity to put a crack in the wall to let the light in. I was slightly encouraged that Crapo appears to be supporting the democratic transition of power. The Idaho human rights task force and a vibrant active resistance movement working with local law enforcement are doing some good work. We need all the critical thinkers on board now. I hate to lose this fight at this point. We are the answer.
You have a major religion there in Idaho that is best understood by removing the second "m" from its well-known name.
Next door in Montana we see similar anti maskers. Big money and lies made a republican sweep of the election up and down the ballot. Hospitals and schools will see funding cuts and resource extraction will be given free reign. We were so hopeful with Bullock and had good candidates for state leadership positions. We fought hard and still lost. Pain and frustration indeed. The only consolation is Biden and Harris in the Whitehouse.
I think that odd logic of the Trumpers is a repudiation of white liberals. If we say something is up, they say it’s down. If we say black, they say white. They are animated by fear of losing a way of seeing the world from its imagined, privileged center, but their animus is directed at us, so it adopts a mirror reverse logic to ours. And they have closed ranks and locked arms. I hope the Biden people have some insight into how to penetrate that psychology beyond bromides about coming together.
And there are seventy million of them. We must be very careful about what we do about those who poison their minds, recognizing that there are limits to First Amendment rights beyond not permitting screaming "Fire" in a theatre. To what exent should blatant, unproven, lies be given protection under the First Amendment without weakening that Amendment's vital role in preserving democracy.
Put the Fairness Doctrine back to use and the Right Wing Noise Machine will go silent in 90 days. You want to re-educate the 70 million morons? Turn off the noise machine.
It is imperative that “hate speech” is not protected under the First Amendment be codified. But how? Can we use Germany’s solution to Nazism as a model?
Yes ... but that would weaken the First Amendment. To my knowledge, the reprehensible statements of people like Alex Jones are protected by the First Amendment. Making them illegal opens the door to making other opinions, some of with which you and I might agree, potentially illegal as well. Congresses and administrations change. Amendments to the Constitution should endure. That's why, occasionally, even the ACLU supports the rights of bigots and terrorists.
Then hopefully the virus will only get more prevalent and more of the morons will flunk evolution's IQ test. (Are you intelligent enough to take in the available information and change your behavior in such a way as to increase your chances of survival?). the more of the white trash Trumpscum die, the better for the rest of us.
R Dooley - well said. I’m finding that when I hear comments from Dumpster Fire supporters/voters, I take a deep breath and pick one small thing to correct them on. Sometimes I’m staring with the words OUCH or GULP and then I issue a correction on what they said. I was so offended when someone labelled their governor as a Nazi. My response "OUCH - The Nazi’s killed over 6M people so she isn’t a Nazi . . . . But I see how you are frustrated with her as your governor” Also, a priority for me is to stop this Socialism or communism rhetoric. Too many people are conflating OR confusing them - our government is neither.
Calling Biden a Socialist or Commie makes me laugh. He is practically a John McCain Republican. But clearly we need vocabulary lessons for 70 million people.
I agree that we need some sort of truth and reconciliation, like in S. Africa. The inequalities (perceived or real) of our society are what trump has exploited so well.
I heard someone yesterday talk about how we need to heal the divisions because if we don't "they have won"....they being those who wish for continued division and unrest. I have a family member who is a tRumpster with whom I've had little to no contact for many years. Recently he reached out and said "Let's forget where we have been and start again, but not include talk of religion or politics." That's a place to start and I will try to now see if we can come to an understanding where we both stand.
Growing up in 50’s and 60’s I always heard from my parents, that ‘you don’t discuss politics or religion’ and ‘you can choose your friends but not your relatives’
Family - the gift that keeps on *living*!
When we can't talk politics and religion we are suppressing it until the next time.
Forget truth and reconciliation. Try the Trump traitors on whatever charges are available and imprison them. Conspiracy to commit treason works, since they all went along with Putin's Punk, so his treason is theirs.
It doesn't matter what they call it. Fear of Socialism is simply fear that hard working Americans (read white Americans) will be forced to pay for someone else's benefits that doesn't deserve it (read BIPOC, LGBTQ, etc)
Not all seventy million Republican voters believe that crap, but enough do to dominate the GOP's choice of candidates, especially in local and State political races. Nationally, it has to be a dog whisper. Locally, however, it is the margin of difference which keeps so many State legislatures Republican.
Deb, R Dooley, both good points of view. I am a worrier, too. At 67 years, that has not served me well. Some of the worst things that I ever lived through, never happened. At least not to me. Yesterday, I quietly celebrated...just to give myself a much needed break. Now, back to work, one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Together, all of us, with NO complacency, we can do this.
In response to Deb and R Dooley: Thank you both for succinctly stating both sides of the coin I find myself living with. I feel optimism and fear in equal measures. My fear stems from the knowledge that trumpism is a cult in every sense of the word, and you can’t lead someone away from a cult with just presenting factual information. They must be deprogrammed, and it is a long and difficult process. I have a cousin who has “bathed in the kool-aid”, and I don’t see any path to change her thinking. Some examples of recent Facebook posts to her hundreds (possible thousands) of followers: “ turn off ALL NEWS except what comes from the white house, that is the only source of truth there is”, “I challenge all of you to turn off fake news, only listen to white house news”, “do not fear that Biden has won, God has ordained 8 years for Trump in the white house, and God is never wrong”.
She and her followers are anti-vaxers, are staunchly AGAINST wearing masks, and she steadfastly refuses to wear a mask. She has had cards printed (there is a website that offers a selection of cards) that encourage, and “give people permission” not to wear a mask; she passes these cards out whenever she is in public to people she sees wearing a mask. She proudly posted that she was asked 5 times to wear a mask while voting, and she refused all 5 times. Her followers all praised her, and vowed to order cards to pass out as well. This behavior is LITERALLY responsible for the sickness and death of THOUSANDS of people. They have been “told”, and yet they continue.
These are just a few examples of what “we” are up against in the coming months (and years I fear). And there are literally millions of people who think and believe the same way. How do you de-program millions of people??
So while I am most assuredly doing a happy dance today, and am both hopeful and cautiously optimistic about the future of America, I am also feeling fear for dark days ahead.
That’s good for your cousin’s group to be excluding Fox and QAnon media and instead limiting themselves to news from the White House, because the trump administration’s denial and manipulation of facts is going to end on January 20, 2021.
“De-programming” people is a matter of education at many levels in many forms—one-on-one interactions with a seed planted of alternative, but to most people, rational fact, to absence of the toxic inflammatory propaganda, to lived experience that calms fears.
Ellie, you are very insightful and perceptive. I think you are right. I've seen many people come around not only in their perspective, but in the very assumptions with which they view the world in the context of your 2nd paragraph, which is a beautifully succinct synopis of how WE can gently de-program the people with whom we come into contact. Indeed, we can start with ourselves, by addressing the negativity that so many of us have fallen into.
I can claim some authority in this, as it was an intrinsic part of my job as a professional facilitator and advisor working with disparate groups on a number of high visibility issues. The very first time this happened, I had been given a group that everyone else had given up on. (I was the newbie, and they figured it couldn't get worse. To my bosses' surprise, I fixed it.)
The real key in your paragraph is where I started: "the absence of...toxic inflammatory [language]", and working with the group to establish an accepting atmosphere. This is why I repeatedly ask people to leave that kind of thinking and talking behind. It is a self-fulfulling prophesy that gets in the way.
Hopefully your cousin's behavior will lead to her getting the virus and making America great again. I personally would have no problem at all with all the anti-maskers catching it and dying. We're overpopulated with morons now that Survival of the Fittest doesn't work in modern society, so evolution needs all the help it can get.
Sadly, this is exactly the kind of negative and demeaning attitude that will make the task of creating a functional dialogue in America more difficult. It's ugly and disrespectful, and contributes nothing of value to this discussion and certainly nothing to the greater need our society needs of learning to speak together.
I meant I hoped that it wasn't true. Too bad you flunked reading comprehension.
Yours is a beautiful attitude and state of mind, which I commend. Having felt disallusioned by the inner feelings of my (supposed) friends/acquaintances, I will need to search for my inner gods to try to reach out. It will be a challenge that I hope I can achieve. Meanwhile, for the moment, we celebrate.
RDooley thank you so much. I feel exactly the same. One person at a time if need be. The mountian to be scaled here is fear. Thank you for seeing it. All of us who do, supporting a narrative of moving forward, can help catalyze healing.
Thank you, R Dooley, Kathy Warren, Jacob Lippman, Patricia Andrews, and Laurie for articulating an empathic but optimistic response. I would take it a step further, that it is incumbent upon us to not endorse feeling “doomed.” Fear among the masses is the objective of those fostering tyranny and fascism. All feelings have legitimacy, but how we respond to our feelings is a choice.
With 71 million trump voters among us, we ARE in a both/and reality. Yes, we must keep eyes wide open and be wary, but reason, decency, and fairness have now regained the upper hand of power in our government. Moreover, with issues of gun violence, climate change, sexism, and racism, we are now more woke in our consciousness. Don’t give away your power. Hope is a survival skill.
❤️
Take 2: Ideas for dealing with feelings of anxiety, depression, and/or despair:
1. Feelings are valid. Do channel feelings of hear into healthy fear that keeps us alert to real and present dangers.
2. Mitigate feelings of anxiety by taking a few moments to close your eyes and focus on your breath.
3. Mitigate your feelings of depression by moving around, get your circulation moving, walk out where you can be with life affirming plants and trees in open air. Breathe.
4. Put yourself in the world of others who survived serious danger--read, watch movies, TV series...
5. Act on your power of one. Plan how to respond to trumpists in your world by planting a seed of reality. Support the US Senate runoff in Georgia with postcards, donations, registering voters.
6. Keep hope!
7. Do something you love, something creative and easily doable: gardening, cooking, playing, singing, writing, art...we all have different gifts.
It was so hard to get started this Monday morning, so much news happening.. I was getting overwhelmed, but went immediately to your posts, read them all and reset my 'headspace'. Thanks again for the life line. br
Ellie, you are a jewel.
Well said! wise! a great plan for moving forward with 'Intention' in the only moment we have....the Now! Thank you. Much appreciated. A lot of deep, complicated ideas and emotions swirling around in the posts. I needed someplace simple to start. Thanks for the guidance/for spelling things out!
Well said. Thank you.
Thank you! Yes one person at a time.
71 million people do not care how much they lose as long as the people they hate lose more. These people have been voting like this since reconstruction according to HCR.
I am sorry that what you say sounds true, probably is true. They are sadly hollow, sorry excuses for people, much like their esteemed leader in some ways. Maybe they never felt loved or cared for, maybe they feel they never got a break, certainly they carry much anger - and it begs to be expended in some outward direction (certainly not toward themselves or family, but on strangers, people unlike themselves). Their anger festers, their sorrow deepens - although they'd never call it sorrow. I hope I can inspire myself to reach out in sympathy and care. I wish we could understand each other better, find our common humanity. Looking forward ...
Deb: I feel your anxiety. I learned today that some Trump supporters have abandoned Faux News and are now following the right wing conspiracy sites on Youtube because they feel Fox has failed Trump. As for grinding teeth, I've suffered two broken teeth and my dentist informs me that his profession is seeing a lot of tooth problems due to clenching and grinding as a result of stress caused by this administration and its handling of the pandemic!
And they are moving to the parler app
I'm with you Deb, but last night was also kinda wonderful.
Thank you for voicing this, Deb. You are not alone. Although I did allow myself a few minutes to really hope that everything will be ok.
My husband is with you. I had to call, text and email family and friends and neighbors to celebrate. He is too worried about the people who voted for 45, the continuation of the GOP led Senate, the destruction as 45 takes his leave, too worried about all of these things to enjoy the good news. I will leave it to you and my husband and others like you to keep watch while the rest of us celebrate a little. I hope you don't mind. Because Tuesday and Wednesday I thought I would lose my mind.
Sending hugs. It is still a mess, but hope goes a long way. Eat well, walk in the woods or on the beach, turn off the news for a day or two and clear your head. You don't deserve to suffer. Here's a gift for sleeping: https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/mpeg/Body-Scan-for-Sleep.mp3
I agree. We need to be diplomatic, but be smart and wary. At least a solid third of Americans were willing to destroy America rather than give up racism, hate, and selfishness. They’re essentially bunch of date-rapists who just maneuver a potential victim into a position of trust and vulnerability and then take full advantage.
So very well expressed. You hit all the points that I personally worry about as well but as one of your respondents (R Dooley) has with equal eloquence stated, in so many words-let this moment of celebration be mine!
We are only human when we get an occasion to spring with joy we must take it.
I was hopeful that there would have been more people who voted for him in 2016, who wouldn't vote for him again also. My husband was one of those who refused to vote for him again. There must have been a lot more like minded people out there...so, does that mean that Trump actually converted even more people to his evil? I was very surprised that Trump got so many people to vote for him this time!
I’m afraid that I agree with you.
Last night I didn’t sleep well and this morning my jaws ache from clenching them when I did sleep.
So much hate has been unleashed in this country.
welcome to the black experience
I've often half-joked that I decided long ago to be a pessimist because I'm o'er fond of being right. The optimists are happier, true, but I'd rather be right. And you are very acute, that the electoral horror that the Republicans have worked for since the 70's has come to full, slavering, maturity. These past four years will not heal very easily; this past election, while our last best chance of starting something good, didn't fix anything, it just made fixing things possible. Any "turn around" will have to be very wise, deliberate, and proof against sabotage, if that's possible in this new world of ours.
It's very true that for this time of our country, the fact of Trump is far more important than the actual person of Trump.
About 40 years ago an advice columnist told a teenager arguing with his mother that he could choose to be right or he could choose to be happy. Something I've hung on to all these years.
For me it’s now the morning after, and it’s slowly sinking in that “we really did it.” Months ago, someone posted online that during WW2, it took the might of the Allied forces to overthrow fascism in Europe....but who would come to save the US from descending into hell? Could we save ourselves? Would enough people see the actual danger? We finally got our answer yesterday. “Yes, we can.”
Through it all, you, Dr Richardson helped us immensely, by reminding us of other times when we nearly failed. You took up your (electronic) pen and inspired us to collectively do the two things we all have in our power—talk to each other, and vote.
I hope you take a well-deserved break now, though I look forward to reading and learning more from you as the US struggles to “build back better.”
Yes, to ALL of this, especially the well-deserved break.
Yes, thank you Heather for all the nights you labored to bring us useful information.
Your new book “How the South Won the Civil War” has been on my bed table. I will start reading it soon and if I’m right, I think your book may show interesting historical parallels between then and now.
Dear Heather, Your email each morning for the past year has been my companion during this awful year of virus and unbridled trumpism. Thank you for your efforts , the long nights, and your deep understanding of American history. Simon Rich
I will never forget that moment. Here in Delaware I had just finished filling a new garden patch with topsoil and begun to plant bulbs. It was the most beautiful fall day one could dream up, and I was sitting in the slanting yellow sunlight and transcendent calm, my hands full of black earth and pearly white nuggets of life, when my partner called from the back door, "they're calling it!". I planted over 200 bulbs today - my America flowers.
All of these little things - each time we reassert facts with kindness or write our congresspeople or *vote* - all of these pearly little things will bloom one day and we will have spring.
“One bulb at a time. There was no other way to do it. No shortcuts--simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded. Loving an achievement that grew slowly and bloomed for only three weeks each year.”
― Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, The Daffodill Principle (1932-2008), Canadian American writer
When they bloom in the spring, the joy of that moment will come back to you. I love this. I was at the dog park with my puppy, when everyone’s phones started pinging at the same time. Smiles all around over the masks. It was a great moment for me, too.
I loved your post Helga. I too garden, and my wife is passionate with her bulbs. I will tend to the autumn colors today, and be reminded of the renewal I sow in the garden, and in my community
“One bulb at a time. There was no other way to do it. No shortcuts--simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded. Loving an achievement that grew slowly and bloomed for only three weeks each year.”
― Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, The Daffodill Principle (1932-2008), Canadian American writer
What a delightful and fitting quote! Thank you.
Thank you for sharing the joy of these moments.
This is long overdue, but THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart. I have CLUNG to every word you’ve written over the past year. You’ve literally kept me sane—and well informed. I don’t know how you do it, but please know that you have buoyed a vast number of weary travelers on this journey we call democracy. I know we have so much work to do going forward, but your words have girded us for the fight. I am so grateful.
Congratulations from England, decent America! The tawdry politics of recent years have stained conceptions of your country very badly but this win offers the chance for recovery. The world needs the best of you. But watch out for the lout on the golf course..
Chances are we might all elsewhere in the world benefit as others learn by watching America's example. Perhaps our benighted European brood will shape up and start listening to the people more too.
The lout on the golf course is supported by approximately half of this country. None of that half is likely to appear here in HCR’s Comments.
My father is one of them. He grew up in Nazi Germany and never really change from his early childhood social conditioning. Most of the warehouse workers and truck drivers I meet on the job are also in the Trumpster Republican conservative camp. It’s an illness of lack of vision, an illness of inability to see beneath the surface.
Our job is learn how we can show them how to regain that vision, help them understand that supporting programs that help EVERYONE is the best way to help themselves, and to recognize that a world without daily threats and insults is a better world for all of us.
Finding a way to overcome the hatred, lies, and fear without insulting people like your father is the only way we can reunite America again.
Good luck with your farher.
We can start by getting the politics out of education and massively improve the school system so that everybody can have a chance in life.
Not everyone wants to "see". It's like the posts from yesterday about abused spouses & kids will choose to return to their abuser because it's what they know. What wasn't addressed is how to break that cycle.
We need to remember that after the civil war racism didn't disappear. It went underground & spread like a weed.
So we do need government programs that address the fears of trump voters as well as a truth and reconciliation program like de-Nazification and what continues in Rwanda. As others point out, education.
There is a whole body of academic research and on the ground organizations that work to break the cycle of domestic violence, including separate groups for victims and perpetrators (though sometimes both members of a couple are instigating, reacting, and escalating). The groups combine dydactic instruction with experience sharing among peers. Food for thought.
Perhaps we can start by hiring reprogrammers who work with people who were once in cults. After all, Trumpism is a cult as is white supremacy.
Thanks, I need it. 62 years and counting.
Roland, curious, if you care to elaborate...what do you mean by early childhood social conditioning?
Hi Marcy, I just posted an article about the distinction between Red and Blue America. Spent the last several hours in it. It might answer your question. If not, get back to me here, if you can even find this location again. otherwise email RolandRLJ at Google Mail.
Post the link here.
Yes please post a link to your article here?
Not sure about a link to an article, but Roland has a long post below about Red and Blue America and similarities between Trump and Hitler.
To believe trump has something to offer them beyond stoking their fear.
Hmm... I was thinking about this when I woke up today—even though the vote was pretty much split down the middle as far as Biden vs Trump, all those votes are about 145 million or so. But there are 331 million people in the states. Yes, the division is real, but that 70 million for trump is less than a quarter of the population. What would happen if more people voted, if it was easier to vote, etc.?
I won’t go into all the many issues around voting, but maybe it’s not true that half the country supports Trump. Unless we just assume the percentage reflected in the vote accurately reflects the population at large... Should we make that assumption?
I feel you on your dad. Mine has vowed to never ever EVER step foot in Chicago. You know what? Because Obama is from there!
Ha. Talk about cutting off your misinformed nose to spite your face. That fabulous city is one of the first trips in my list post-pandemic!
— Lori Anne
Take solace in the fact that 74 million of the 331 million are between the ages of 0 - 17 and ineligible to vote. And those 74 million kids? We need to make sure they have the best educations and information possible so they can make informed decisions as they grow and age. They will be a test of our ability to change course for every US American as well as those who have come to our shores for a better life.
Now, the rest of those folks, that last 25%? That's who we need to focus on now. Why don't they vote and what will change their minds about voting?
Oh my: I completely forgot about young people when I was talking about population. I’m just drinking my first cup of coffee over here, so that’s my excuse! :) thank you for moving to adult population!
Yes, why didn’t they vote, etc? Excellent questions.
Oh, I totally understand.the pre-coffee mind. Believe me! 💙
Apprxo 112 million?
? I'm not sure what you mean. I looked at stats for the approx number of children 0-17 years if age in 2020 and several sources said 74 million. What am I missing in re 112 million?
Daria, I was trying to calculate what part of the population was left that didn't vote. If we have a population of 331 million, and approx. 145 million voted, and 74 million are 0-17 yrs, that leaves 112 million, doesn't it? Spoiler alert: I'm not great with math.
Great point about the proportion of T voters to the population, Lori Anne. As 331 million is the total population, not all of them are old enough to vote. :) US population over 18 is 209 million. Alas, that means the proportion of t voters to the voting population is 33%. Ugh!!!
Having been around for a while, I've noticed something that recurs after elections. Just as some of us are reacting to our disappointment that there wasn't the hoped for sweep, the expected blue wave, and that reaction is sometimes a little extreme because we expected something stronger, so the people who voted for Trump are experiencing a similar reaction. We are already calming down and exploring ways to move forward in a positive way. They will too. Remember before the elections when all these militias were saying they were going to occupy the streets? And when the time came, the streets were mostly empty? There were going to be armed resistors at every polling station and yet most polling stations counted their ballots in peace? Yes there were a few, but I think the events in Kenosha made it real and things stopped being pretend for a lot of the people thinking in terms of violence. And the arrests of several groups by the FBI also made the consequences real for those people. I think that kind of reality testing will sink in to more Trump supporters as they get back to living their ordinary lives. Some of them will persist, but they will tend to draw back from the more extremes of it. And some, as we have seen, will withdraw from it because the reality of what Trump has done to our country will become more apparent to them, in the absence of media hysteria. We are all exhausted emotionally. We have an opportunity to create a calm in which we can begin to work in our small ways to rebuild a world in which normal human interaction can take place. The beginning of a hard road back, but I do believe that we can do it. IF we don't allow ourselves to be caught up again in the negativity that has been nurtured by those who have not yet been able to step away from it (or, in some cases, are addicted to it). We can help each other recover our equanimity, and move on.
Yes, that is definitely something that is both abhorrent and must be addressed. I implore HCR to give us some guidance here. I personally will be doing what I can to influence GA voters to elect Ossoff and Warnock. We must get the stranglehold away from McTurtleneck. He’s right...he has been the Grim Reaper and a thorn in our sides for way too long. We have to turn the Senate. In the meantime, something else we haven’t discussed is how 12 GOP women were elected to Congress! Were we asleep?
Watch out for Brexit, sir! You have your own problems.
Thank you for your good wishes, they’re greatly appreciated!
Sadly though, the lout on the golf course is slowly becoming the least of our troubles. America must fight Elitists with an unpopular & dangerous agenda, media which support it, and our own fear, hate, biases, and ignorance.
What a day full of joyous relief! It was wonderful to read and share in this group during the day.
And still there is work to do in the US Senate runoff in Georgia. Stacey Abrams has worked for over 12 years to get the state turning blue. If these 2 Senate seats go blue, then the Senate will be 50-50, with tiebreaker Vice President Kamala Harris. Ways to help include donations, postcards, and registering new voters.
Young people who turn 18 by Jan. 5, 2021 can register by Dec. 7, 2020.
https://thecivicscenter.org/blog/2020/11/6/young-people-could-decide-the-georgia-runoff-races-for-us-senate
List from HCR reader Mim E yesterday:
Those who want to flip the Senate by getting Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock elected might consider supporting them via these organizations:
https://warnockforgeorgia.com/take-action/
https://electjon.com/
https://fairfight.com/join-our-fight/ [This is the organization founded by Stacey Abrams.]
https://www.gapostcard.org/
https://www.georgiademocrat.org/
https://www.theyseeblue.com/georgia
https://newgeorgiaproject.org/
There is also this new Facebook group that you can join:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ossoffwarnock
Wooooooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
Taking back our democratic process!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I particularly loved the aerial shots of people dancing for joy all around the White House and forcing the idiot to get into his temporary shelter by the side door.
Oh, me TOO! I hate to be vindictive, but I find it impossible to feel any sympathy for DT.
Rejoicing in someone (evil and destructive) confronting the consequences of his actions is different than feeling vindictive.
Yes, justice is not vindictive.
Why shuld you? I think it might be enough to understand who he is, why he does what he does and how he got that way. Then don't forget.
That’s it !
You can add www.postcardstovoters.org to this list. They are already working to get addresses for writing to Ossoff and Warnock Dems.
I've added it to my list. Thanks, Pam.
Also, I don’t know details but I believe Indivisible will be active here. For the Biden election texters, of which I was one, sent 29 million texts.
Thanks for this! I just used your link and donated to fairfight.org. *fingers crossed for the runoffs*
Fairfight.COM. Org could be a fake but it’s easy to find at act blue.
Thank you, Ellie. Thank you, Mim E. This list is most helpful!
LOL the ususus... was the US flag transformed by Substack!
Thank you for this list!
Money is important, but my guess is that it will hinge on the anti-abortionist voters who will ALWAYS show up. I am sure the people of GA are so tired of poisonous ads and hate the idea of having them inundate the holiday season—especially THIS one!! Our young new State Senator Chloe Maxmin should give their campaigns some suggestions. She defeated an established incumbent with positive ads only. When we locked down with the virus, she and the campaign volunteers called EVERY person over 62 in the district to see if they had needs, and arranged help for meds and groceries to be delivered and just talked....
Wow. How pragmatic and inspirational!
amazing. it wouldn't surprise me if that ended up being cheaper than the media spends!
https://www.ecowatch.com/chloe-maxmin-2648658756.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3
Thank you for sharing the list, Ellie.
Thank you for this list! It's most helpful! I phone banked for Amy McGrath, will do so for Ossoff and Warnock. 💪🏼💪🏿💪
Many thanks for this list! Helpful! Important!
I danced with my wife and sons in Times Square today. Thank you Heather Cox Richardson for helping us through this time. You are a buoy of sane in an ocean of cuckoo.
Saw a video from Times SQ. You are so lucky to live in NYC. It makes me so happy to see the celebrations there, especially after the heroics of this year. ❤️🤍💙
Inspiring! All of it! HCR’s letter, the speeches by Harris and Biden, people dancing in the street like VJ Day, the way I feel this morning. Biden’s speech was the most honest, from the heart, most inspired, statement by a politician in my almost 70 yrs. He had no notes and I didn’t see a teleprompter.
I think we’d almost forgotten life without despair, without fear.
There is still much to do, but, by God! it feels good to be alive this morning, this new morning in America.
Dr. Richardson, yesterday in celebration of the Biden victory, you posted on Facebook the video of the late Pete Seeger, Seeger's grandson Tao Rodríguez-Seeger, and Bruce Springsteen singing "This Land Is Your Land" in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the Obama inauguation ceremonies in January 2009. I would like to relate the story of that performance because I think it's cool. The story is told by historian Will Kaufman on the fascinating YouTube video "This Land Is Your Land: The Story of an American Anthem."
Kaufman tells the history of the song--that it wasn't really popular until it was published in an elementary school music book in the 1950s. And they only published four of the seven verses that Woody Guthrie wrote. The other three were probably considered too "radical" to include.
Fast forward to the Obama inauguration. The inauguration committee approached Bruce Springsteen and asked him if he would be willing to sing "This Land Is Your Land" at a Lincoln Memorial celebration during the inauguration ceremonies. Springsteen said he would do it, but only if Pete Seeger would be willing to sing it with him. So they asked Seeger and his reply was he would do it, but only if he could sing all the verses.
So they did. Well, they sang all three of the more controversial verses, slightly modified (by Springsteen, I believe); they did leave out one of the four better known and more innocuous verses, the one that begins, "When the sun came shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling..."
The video from the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite live performance of the song. The multicultural choir doing the background singing helps make it for me. THIS is America! Thanks for sharing it.
By the way, another tidbit from Will Kaufman's discussion of the video: Woody Guthrie wrote "This Land Is Your Land" in response to the popularity of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" (as sung and popularized by Kate Smith), a song that Guthrie loathed. Researching Guthrie's autograph sketches of the song, it was discovered that the tag line was originally "God blessed America for me," but Guthrie crossed out that line and replaced it with the familiar "This land was made for you and me."
Most definitely.
This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters;
This land was made for you and me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway;
I saw below me that golden valley;
This land was made for you and me.
I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding;
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing.
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
And while we're into poetry, which "This Land is Your Land" is, don't ignore the much stronger words from Langston Hughes' great 1935 poem "Let America Be America Again" :
"From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America!"
Just 'google' those words to get the entire poem which is actually is a mission statement on which we're still working.
That moment with Pete, his grandson, and Bruce singing was my most treasured memory of that inauguration eve. And tears well up at the thought. I appreciated your gesture, HCR (also Rebecca Solnit passed it on to her FB fans): so much hope that day. Of course, reality set in about 48 hours later . . .
I felt like I took my first deep breath today. Watching and listening to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, with my daughters, was like Christmas morning came early.
I watched Van Jones on CNN shortly after the call and his tearful emotional release did the same for me. Four years of trying to pretend life is normal wears on a person. The weight of that burdened lifted and has given me strength to move forward. Last night seeing Joe and Kamala gave me comfort. Funny, that calling them by their 1st names seems normal because they are so real. ❤️
I, too, was very touched by Van Jones' emotional response to the emergence of Biden/Harris as our next leaders. I found it more effective and touching than the winners' speeches themselves. He has had a very interesting and productive life, doing so much for others to raise everyone up. I commend him.
I'd have been more impressed had he not spent so much of the last four years snuggling up to Trump's spawn and normalizing Trump's administration.
Regarding the Criminal Justice Act: “In a country that is a democracy, we have the right to disagree….And where we disagree—on immigration, on climate change, on foreign policy—we should fight hard. But we have a responsibility—where we do agree—to work together hard…And when you’re trying to help people on the bottom, I will work with or against any Democrat, with or against any Republican, because there is nothing more important than freedom." - Van Jones
Thank you for your inspiring words. You help people see. On CNN today Anderson apologized for recently using words to negatively describe Donald Trump. “That’s not the type of person I want to be.” Van Jones cried as he expressed his joy and relief that Joe Biden is now president-elect. Such strong emotions. In my opinion Donald Trump has done this to us. Filling us with fear, disgust, and even hatred. Even though I Know I will worry until January 20, 2021, today I feel relief and joy. Dancing in the streets and church bells ringing all over Europe. Today is a good day.
Dawn, I was especially moved by Van Jones' speech. It was evident that he has felt real fear for himself and his family because of 45's racist signals to his base. Watching Van confirmed for me there was no better reason to vote this man out of office.
"Today is a good day." Yes, it is and how long we have waited for this particular sunrise.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
To the familiar American refrain of "Where were you in 1963 when you heard JFK had been assassinated," may now be added to "Where were you in 2020 when you first heard Trump had been defeated?"
The reign of Trump has been a national nightmare. I often found myself these last two years especially asking whether this was what it was like living in Nazi Germany during WWII, cringing at the thought of what another four years would bring to the last shreds of democracy in American.
Yes, we just dodged a huge bullet, but there will be so much work to repair the damage done. America's experiment in democracy is still alive, though badly bruised. It is time to once again to come together and reassert the ideal. And that my dear friends and fellow citizens is now "the only game in town . . ."
On Friday morning, I was in a casino-hotel called the Peppermill in Wendover, Nevada-Utah border. I turned on the TV just in time to discover that Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania. That's when I realized that he was going to win. That's when I realized the nightmare is almost over. I saved the envelope that the hotel room key comes in.
I will never forget.
Truck driver parking in the hotel parking lot after driving 530 miles from West Sacramento, food delivery, on the job, not gambler.
The USA-is not merely “badly bruised” but its immune system - to contain and prohibit what would destroy it - has been and is being systematically and incrementally dismantled and/or crippled by corporations and the super rich intent on controlling us through amassing unlimited power and wealth. This is the non-sexy, un dramatic but meat and potatoes source of conditions still fertile for another coup. This rant and insistence on free instead of regulated fair trade by corporations represents a killing point. A murderous break with laws of Nature. Hardwired into Nature is implicit regulation. Frankl (Mans Search for Meaning) once said in a lecture at Berkeley that Americans fool themselves in thinking that freedom can prosper without its twin “responsibility.” Isn’t acting responsibly an expression of an acceptance of limitation? Can anyone in touch with the fundamental realities of interdependence and plain decency consider the -shifting of corporate offices overseas to avoid taxes, buying legislators, lying about researched and known destructiveness of their processes and products (Exxon, Shell, tobacco industry), monopolistic practices and union busting - as “responsible “? Okay. So Capt Chaos is out. Now is not the time to bury your duff in the sofa or go do Brunch. Now is the time to make fundamental change happen. To keep on being loud, strategic, insistent, persistent and with a clear eye on wishy washy politicians pushing no-change no-benefit centrist policies and giving them hell until they shape up or ship out.
I think an important part of what is causing the oligarchical "shadow government" is a failure to enact strict campaign finance reform. It would be central to "fixing" the issues the country is facing. We were asked dozens of times a day to donate to the national election that conservatively cost a $4 billion! This is a non-partisan issue. Both parties are mired in the collection of money, the more the better. Without stopping this destructive means of financing elections, the government will continue to be controlled by deep pockets with global, ruinous agendas.
Yes but those that owe their place to that money will not dare face the people without it. They have been bought, emasculated and robotized. It's doubtless a measure that either awaits the reults of the Georgian senatorial run-offs or the successful completion of the mid-terms...and then the SCOTUS stupidities must be sorted out to ensure it sticks.
My concern is that to ascend at all in politics, one needs to seek money, a lot of it. If there is one thing Pelosi is known and valued for, it is her effectiveness in raising money, as an example. Even those who value "grassroots", small donations, understand that it is the money that is needed and they need to constantly churn for it. It's a system running in the dark, in the background, that seems to be the lesser of all of the issues. But I think it is the prime issue.
I was just remembering that I have given a good deal of money to the elections of candidates and causes, time and again, in this cycle. I am just as "robotized" as the politicians! Instead of "how much justice can you afford", is it becoming "how much democracy can you afford"!
If the corporations and the rich can spend no more than you and nobody or nothing gets tax credits for "think tank educative" or direct political expenditures then things should settle down.
Daughter of Holocaust victims here. I can tell you that I am grateful my parents did not have to endure these last 4 years with a moron at the helm. I think the actions of Stephen Miller and his boss would have killed them.
November 7 was my birthday and I couldn't have imagined a better present.
Happy birthday! What joy! You will remember this year‘s birthday present the rest of your life!
Happy Belated Birthday, Barbara!
Wow, Happy Birthday!! You'll never forget this one.
Two things. First, my heartfelt thanks to you, Heather, for helping us weather the last 4 years with your insightful and thoughtful posts.
Second, with such a terrible last 4 years, why did the Presidential election end up so close? Also, why did the Democrats lose House seats and the Senate not come out much better?
I think the Democratic Party shares a lot of the blame for this. It is in bad need of reform. It abandoned the working class decades ago, to the point that many now vote Republican out of a sense of rebellion and alienation (and against their personal interests). And might in fact vote for just about anyone whose only qualification would be to shake up the system.
You can read elsewhere about the current internal feud in the Democratic Party over the use of the word socialism, and how much damage that did. 'Defund the police' was another huge mistake that apparently cost the Democrats many votes. A great idea that I wholeheartedly support, but badly mismanaged and with a terrible, easily demagogued name. Calling out separate LBGTQ groups for special attention can seem good to libs like me, but it again alienates the left-out white working class. Far better would be to work for equal rights for everyone, inclusively. And do something about extreme wealth and income inequality.
We were extremely lucky that Trump wasn't very smart. Imagine where we'd be now if he'd been a lot smarter. Some worry that this may be in our future.
Isn't it imperative to fix these problems now, before the next go-around??
I commented about the same time you did and posted a little after you about not having fixed the root causes that led to Trump. I also agree with all of your comments about "socialism" and "defunding." Democrats have to do a much better job of branding. Let's talk about change, not revolution. Here is a 1-page reply I developed when the Republicans started branding Democrats as socialists. Feel free to use.
Socialism in the USA essentially boils down to programs supplying goods and/or services to the public that the citizens demand from government and the elected leaders deliver. Under “pure” socialism, everyone contributes to the pool based on ability, and distribution is based on need. In the USA, we have a Democratic Socialism, where the demands for government programs are met by contribution through taxation (including import tariffs) and distribution based on democratic (political) determination of need. Equating socialism to communism, in which the state owns or controls the means of production and delivery, is a misconception. For more, see: https://www.thoughtco.com/difference-between-communism-and-socialism-195448; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/24/a-high-school-teacher-helps-clarify-socialism-for-donald-trump-and-you/
The following existing federal and state programs are all “socialistic,” enacted under our democratic/republic form of government:
• All of the programs recently enacted by Congress and the Federal Reserve to offset the economic impact of the COVID-based social distancing and stay-at-home orders. See, https://www.investopedia.com/government-stimulus-efforts-to-fight-the-covid-19-crisis-4799723#united-states.
• Business bail outs in the “Great Recession.”
• FEMA
• CDC/State Public Health Agencies
• Farm subsidies
• Energy subsidies and incentives
• Federally insured loans and mortgages (Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac)
• SBA loans
• FDIC-backing for banks and investment companies
• Federal flood insurance
• Fire departments
• Police departments
• Executive branch of government, Legislative branch and Judicial branch/ State govenment
• The US military/Space programs and subsidized private space programs
• Medicare/Medicaid
• Social Security, both old-age and disability income programs
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• The TANF, CHIP, Headstart, and SNAP programs for low-income families
• Section 8 Housing subsidies
• Unemployment insurance
• The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
• Federal and state employee pension and insurance benefits
• The Veterans Affairs Administration
• The National Weather Service
• The Postal Service
• AMTRAK/Public local transportation
• Tariffs
• All taxes, including tax exemptions and tax credits
• Public education/subsidized private education
• Public streets, roads & highways
• Public libraries
• Public universities
• Public parks
• Public toilets and drinking fountains
• Public prisons & jails
• Public anything and everything
Clearly, we already live in a hybrid socialistic-capitalistic economy and culture. How many of these programs have benefitted you, your family and friends?
Thank you.
Thank you for all of these right-on-target points and info. IMO it further illustrates why the approach Elizabeth Warren took is the way to go. She clearly and unapologetically said during the campaign, "I am a capitalist’ – but markets need to work for more than just the rich."
I completely agree with you Barry. I was really disappointed when Warren had to drop out of the race.
I think we need a history of the Democratic Party. 😉
I agree. Thank you for taking the time to post. Like you, I think the Democrat "messaging' was terrible on issues like socialism and defunding. Defunding is not what is needed; reforming/retraining is needed; socialism of the american variety is already here---see Jay Stewart reply in this thread. There was a book several (maybe more) years ago about the brilliance (yes) of the GOP in messaging (quick quotes; great congressional bill titles; etc) and the abject failure of the Dems in this area. IMHO all you need to do to see/hear this is to listen to Schumer and (sometimes) to Pelosi. No great quotes; no succinct statements. Too much 'overthink".
I’m with you on this. Insights for sure.
Kurt, I’ve repeatedly posted essentially the same observations. Voters rejected Trump and Democratic Party dogma at the same time. There is no other way to spin it.
Very succinctly put, CAG