The degree of ignorance is mind-blowing! I doubt if it's much better here in Norway, unfortunately. For democracy to flourish, it really depends on an informed public, that's for sure.
We cannot sustain democracy with pervasive ignorance. Education has to start early and not only in the schools. A quasi campaign to inform needs to start in the media, full force. The Democrats can do this.. be a shadow to the "MAGA establishment "( to be soon). Definitely!! Ignorance is the major lesson of this election. Blame whoever or whatever else you want.
And by the way we are still in a MAGA insurrection, now acceding to office/government position that can be seen from HCR's perspective in this letter, as a continuation of the Civil War, in modern clothes.
I agree about the masses of poorly educated people, but as the saying goes "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". The US education system is broken, but as others are saying the parents are not encouraging and assisting the teachers. That said, many educated people voted for Trump as well. I think their problem is once they are raised in a closed, similarly minded society (Texas, for example) they do not question what they are told on their similarly minded "news" channels, social media, etc. They are easily duped and do not research fact versus fiction or listen to other arguments of a subject. It's mind blowing to have someone tell you something they deeply believe that is not true and easily disproven with a simple online search, or by simple getting your news from a broader variety of sources. ("She's going to tax our capital gains before we get them.... totally misunderstood). Sadly, you can't even convince them when you give them the facts with a source to prove it. The disinformation campaign works perfectly on these people. Basically they have a herd mentality and no independent desire to research and make their own choices. I did not change a single Republican mind in regard to an issue, much less a candidate. How do you teach/change that?
The single most destructive force threatening even average education is the very frequent invasions of parents who are amped up by religious zeal. Florida is rampant in this regard, spurred on by Gov DeSantis. In one northern county in Florida, the school board ordered the removal of all dictionaries in the school libraries. Stated reason? The dictionaries contain bad words. This isn't just bad education, it is fascist mind control. It is not going to happen, it is happening, it is well past already happened.
Wow. I had not heard about the Florida school district’s removal of the Dictionary and had to fact check this of course. The Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus was on a 2023 list of books “removed” from the district’s school libraries pending a review of whether the books contained information in violation of the Florida law prohibiting material with “sexual conduct.” Snopes published a more detailed investigative report into this and concludes that the January 2024 list of removed books did not include the dictionary but Snopes has not confirmed that it is back on the shelves. I cannot imagine being a teacher, especially an English teacher, there. https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/01/11/florida-dictionary-removal/
Sometimes I wonder about cell phones and education, even self-education. Look something up, answer/answers immediately provided. Move on, time after time. How much retention? How much absorption? How much available for memory recall? How much was internalized? Incentive to memorize is arcane because memory too is available on search. Take away the search engines, and you have . . . ? Real learning necessary if you have a smart phone in your pocket?
That's a good question. Where are our online answers coming from? Who might control more of them over time? Might book learning be the only way to get good information? I appreciate people like HCR who quote sources and give us a historical perspective and I think she is more reliable and knowledgable than any media source. That's why I prefer to study math and science.
I listened to Heather's conversation with Jon Stewart of the Daily Show. It was heartening to hear her support for the coalition that was created by Harris this time around. She said that this time would be more challenging because there are not the guard rails. What if we become the guard rails? We don't have to give up our power. What would that look like? What would we do?
These are some thoughts right after the election:
In Service to the American Experiment: A New Political Party and Way Forward
In the light of the current election results, we must begin to think about where we go from here. We cannot give up. We must continue to fight for a democracy that meets the needs of the people. Change must occur because what has become clear is that the old ways of addressing the needs of the people are not working.
Liz Cheney and others noted that at one time they thought the once powerful republican party could be wrestled back from Trump. With their victory, maga seems in place. Cheney and others said that if this were the case creating a new party would be necessary. Clearly the democratic party has problems with great swaths of Americans, including but not limited to men. Indeed, James Carvelle made this very point in the run up to the election. He noted that the present democratic party did not and could not address the issues and problems associated with men. Sadly, we know that maga embraced the worst of masculinity, but they did talk to men. JD talked about what it should be like to be a man (in his cavemen ideology), but at least he talked to men. Much has been written about the emasculation of men--men in fewer numbers attending college, poor fathers, etc. the populists give these men a false narrative about what it really means to be a man, that is, and we are being somewhat tongue and cheek here, buy and drive a gas guzzling truck, have a shitty-looking beard, always wear some kind of ball cap, and grunt a lot. Don't forget your tobacco chew! But at least maga talked to men, included them, made them feel like they had power.
In addition, it is time to look for where there is resistance to the Trump agenda and support their efforts. Create our own resistance pods. We are in a fight for democracy. There have been other times in our history where the darkness of evil threatened to overwhelm us. Now is not the time to give up. Now is the time to take a stand for our values and what we believe in. Mr. Rogers said that in dark times look for “the helpers”. We can be those helpers. We need to be those helpers. It is critical that we stand for democracy and fight for the country we believe in. Let us turn our anger into action! Let us take back our power and stand with our brothers and sisters to create a democracy and country that we can be proud of.
A coalition was created in this last election. What might be a positive approach moving forward is for what remains viable of the democratic party to join forces to create a new party with what remains of the former republican party. This new party can represent most Americans, not far left and right, not conservative and progressive, and more. These are labels that fail to comprehensively address most problems, most opportunities, and the needs and issues of most Americans. Instead, Americans have been given silos to consider problems and viewpoints. Silos are silos. They create incomplete solutions to problems and therefore create new problems--that is--the solution creates its own problems. The new party, named to be word smithed, can represent the obvious and dominant sides of any coin, any problem, and most people. Our present political parties say that they offer the "best" solutions but in fact they can only offer limited ones, and never really get to the heart of any matter. It is the essence of us and them, which now completely overwhelms the air in any room and sucks the life out of problem solutions.
Leaders and average folks from the two former rivals should combine to create and introduce the new party, one that is, of, for, and about the people, not money and corporations, and more. Do this soon and introduce the new party in time for the midterms, get the slate of nominees prepared and introduced in time for every position possible. Ensure the funding is available for every candidate, and not funded by tech billionaires with an agenda that is contrary to what is best for the people. The contrast between this new party and maga, for maga it is not the republican party-and this must be hammered home always--could not be greater.
I hope this is being considered. Make a big deal of this, get leaders in and from both parties to begin the process now, and in so doing suck the air right out of the room of political discourse, and expose the fraud that is Trump and maga.
Unfortunately I have a much bleaker outlook on what will be possible under the next administration. I believe that the future president's team will be much stronger than before and much more limiting. They will control the Senate, the House (possibly) and the Supreme Court, and very soon the military (by firing the top brass), and that only matters if they even try to follow the rule of law. My fear is that, even with control of the government, they will not use normal channels, but will "change the rules" ad nauseam and no one can stop them. Coalitions, new parties, fairly presented news, protests will be stomped out, and fair elections are a thing of the past. This is a worst case scenario running through my mind and I can't convince myself it's not a real possibility.
This is brilliant Kathleen and the way to go! I practically totally agree. The issue is what and who this new party will encompass and embrace, stand for ( or against) and call itself. Perhaps it should be a welcome to a conversation formed by elements of both sides. It should not be "siloed" (channeled) into usagainstthem-ism nor mass funded by billionaires though it will need mass funding (ASAP) to get its message through, what message? Not *controlled* by money nor corporations. It has to be anti what has been taking us over and usurping democracy, mis and disinformation, media ( social) mega (money), MAGA (hate lies, emotionalism). We have hit a wall ( for years now) where the Constitution cannot evolve to meet our needs, and the 3 branches of government have now been captured in a power grab and we are stuck. Our government has not been able to change/evolve for the people from its basic and good (amazing) beginnings and history ( as per HCR's telling above). We need our government to evolve to meet our present needs. Instead it has been stolen. MAGA is going to try to do to suit THEM (authoritarian, Christian nationalist, fascistic) whatever you/we call it.
We need people to realize what they have voted for with MAGA (out of ignorance and vulnerability but don't accuse of that). That may take time and pain/disappointment. We don't have time because this cannot settle in.
There is another party, but not in all states. I changed my affiliation from Democrat to the Working Families party over 20 years ago. They're on the ballot in NY and 4 or 5 other states, but you'll most often see them endorse a progressive Democrat so as to not split votes like Jill Stein, et al. does. Https://workingfamilies.org. Maybe it's time to make them a viable 3rd party for the entire country.
Thank you for contribution some valid points (but you NEED an Editor to help you cut down your word-count) I especially appreciate your insights on the current Democratic Party's inability to bring men into their tent. And YES, I'm familiar with the current crisis among American males. The solution isn't to encourage brutish machismo, but to help carve out a clear niche for them now that they no longer rule the world. (And I say that in empathy. Transitions are hard for everyone). Perhaps it IS time to forge a new party, and leave the baggage behind. I'm loathe to say that - because the Democrats didn't "do themselves in" - no I truly believe Conservative right wing propaganda brought the party down. But yes, I have to agree, the DNC never addressed this challenge in a meaningful way. Okay wait - when I think of how the DNC forced Hillary on us, okay yes - they did themselves no favors. Would a new party be able to take on the Military-Industrial Complex?
Listening to this post I begin to wonder why I even bother to read anything else. The way HCR can dip into her deep historical knowledge base and come up with a post like this is awe inspiringly amazing. Many people know a lot but few know how to tap into what they already know and make new sense of it with such clarity and source notes for crying out loud.
A late night host sent a crew on the street on 7 Nov, the day after the election, to ask people if they planned to vote. One said he never voted. The others featured said yes they planned to vote. And one asked "who is running?" Not knowing when election day is scheduled is pretty dumb but not knowing who is running is incredible!
I saw that too and was amazed at the answers the people gave. How can our democracy survive when citizens are so disengaged? I worked Election Day and was amazed at the number of people who had no idea what the measures were that they were voting on. I’m so disheartened and disgusted!
I would like to alert you to a lecture given by Clare Asquith at the SAT Conference 2019 about Shakespeare and the Essex Cause, where she brings to our attention one aspect of Shakespeare's authorship, namely the political one, - it was this that made him famous in his time. The lecture is brilliant. The reason it is worth listening to, is that it reminds me (us) so much of what is happening in our time, where a very few people at the top of society are amassing riches at a speed and in amounts that are unprecedented., and had terrible repercussions for most people. What happened under the Tudors mirrors very much today's situation. This lecture makes it easier to understand Shakespeare as well, and here it is:
Thank you, Heather, for reminding us the various ways history repeats itself. This is a good parallel to what trump and his MAGA allies are trying to implement. I hope enough of his supporters accept the wake up call to avert this attempt to destroy our democracy and enough of those who are against this movement participate in whatever is needed to stop it.
The headwinds of right wing media are so strong at this point messaging containing actual truth is just not getting through. Ppl are glued to social media to the detriment of democracy and disinformation is being funneled in by bad actors across the globe. That’s a tremendous problem. I gave up every social media platform.
If the fix is as simple as hammering the message on the economy through every outlet then Dems are going to have to get better at small sound bites. “ We will get prices down” We will get wages up” “ We have a detailed plan” “ we hear you” etc. Hopefully it’s not too late. I’m willing to let this play out as I can’t do much else about what America voted for. But we need to be ready to start hammering effective sound bites at the first sign of discontent.
We have a country full of ignorant people. No bother sugar coating the truth anymore. The stupid and the racist will get the leader they deserve. But our country does not know our history or,and does not want to learn. The latter being much worse.
There will be more of the tossing paper towels to the crowd, for a while, and people will think that is helping. Our ability to speak out will be constantly diminished, and the press will eventually be silenced. The blanket of ignorance which caused so many to vote trump into office, will not protect the low income, the minorities, the old, and infirm, and the angry misogynist men, and spiteful woman who voted the country blood red. “I told you so”, won’t help America now.
I’ve spent a few days thinking about how we got here. But now it’s time to take action in our communities, starting locally.Two things stand out to me, how people don’t care to learn about what’s at stake and choose to believe lies.
I also watched Jon Stewart with Heather Cox, very enlightening and interesting.
1, They easily changed these election numbers to win.
2, We had one chance to find it and that was the Vice President calls for an immediate recount and the President backs her up.
3, and your answer to why that can’t happen is why we will never get ahead of this evil. You have to meet evil where it is in that moment. THEN you turn and look at their board from their side long before the game starts. That way you play offense by taking away his possibilities.
The big winner in this election was Misinformation. Orwell's 1984 was off by exactly 40 years. The question now is, "What are we going to do about it?"
Like many subscribers to Heather's LFAA, I like to read the letter, and then also listen to Heather's reading of it later. In so doing, I pray that the solution to the election of the bulldozing Repugnicans to control of the levers of power will not require another civil war. Given the violence of their rhetoric and, it would appear, their thinking it seems an all too real possibility. Heaven help us.
Democrats have largely removed the words 'fascist' and 'fascism' from their daily addled discourse, after the election of a proven fascist. Key words--head, sand.
The people that voted for him, by and large, don't know the meaning of fascist, nor does The Donald himself. These people are okay with the idea of an autocracy because they believe thier ideals will be enforced, but they have no idea what "fascist" means. We will be a country of autocracy and oligarchs. As long as their dictator shares their same ideals they are fine.
The degree of ignorance is mind-blowing! I doubt if it's much better here in Norway, unfortunately. For democracy to flourish, it really depends on an informed public, that's for sure.
We cannot sustain democracy with pervasive ignorance. Education has to start early and not only in the schools. A quasi campaign to inform needs to start in the media, full force. The Democrats can do this.. be a shadow to the "MAGA establishment "( to be soon). Definitely!! Ignorance is the major lesson of this election. Blame whoever or whatever else you want.
And by the way we are still in a MAGA insurrection, now acceding to office/government position that can be seen from HCR's perspective in this letter, as a continuation of the Civil War, in modern clothes.
I agree about the masses of poorly educated people, but as the saying goes "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". The US education system is broken, but as others are saying the parents are not encouraging and assisting the teachers. That said, many educated people voted for Trump as well. I think their problem is once they are raised in a closed, similarly minded society (Texas, for example) they do not question what they are told on their similarly minded "news" channels, social media, etc. They are easily duped and do not research fact versus fiction or listen to other arguments of a subject. It's mind blowing to have someone tell you something they deeply believe that is not true and easily disproven with a simple online search, or by simple getting your news from a broader variety of sources. ("She's going to tax our capital gains before we get them.... totally misunderstood). Sadly, you can't even convince them when you give them the facts with a source to prove it. The disinformation campaign works perfectly on these people. Basically they have a herd mentality and no independent desire to research and make their own choices. I did not change a single Republican mind in regard to an issue, much less a candidate. How do you teach/change that?
The single most destructive force threatening even average education is the very frequent invasions of parents who are amped up by religious zeal. Florida is rampant in this regard, spurred on by Gov DeSantis. In one northern county in Florida, the school board ordered the removal of all dictionaries in the school libraries. Stated reason? The dictionaries contain bad words. This isn't just bad education, it is fascist mind control. It is not going to happen, it is happening, it is well past already happened.
Wow. I had not heard about the Florida school district’s removal of the Dictionary and had to fact check this of course. The Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus was on a 2023 list of books “removed” from the district’s school libraries pending a review of whether the books contained information in violation of the Florida law prohibiting material with “sexual conduct.” Snopes published a more detailed investigative report into this and concludes that the January 2024 list of removed books did not include the dictionary but Snopes has not confirmed that it is back on the shelves. I cannot imagine being a teacher, especially an English teacher, there. https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/01/11/florida-dictionary-removal/
Good to know. Will keep my eyes open for more information/ resolution of this issue.
At the same time they refuse to take away their cell phones during the school day.
Sometimes I wonder about cell phones and education, even self-education. Look something up, answer/answers immediately provided. Move on, time after time. How much retention? How much absorption? How much available for memory recall? How much was internalized? Incentive to memorize is arcane because memory too is available on search. Take away the search engines, and you have . . . ? Real learning necessary if you have a smart phone in your pocket?
That's a good question. Where are our online answers coming from? Who might control more of them over time? Might book learning be the only way to get good information? I appreciate people like HCR who quote sources and give us a historical perspective and I think she is more reliable and knowledgable than any media source. That's why I prefer to study math and science.
You are undoubtedly right. The degree of ignorance here in the UK is similar. We no longer can rely upon an informed public.
I listened to Heather's conversation with Jon Stewart of the Daily Show. It was heartening to hear her support for the coalition that was created by Harris this time around. She said that this time would be more challenging because there are not the guard rails. What if we become the guard rails? We don't have to give up our power. What would that look like? What would we do?
These are some thoughts right after the election:
In Service to the American Experiment: A New Political Party and Way Forward
In the light of the current election results, we must begin to think about where we go from here. We cannot give up. We must continue to fight for a democracy that meets the needs of the people. Change must occur because what has become clear is that the old ways of addressing the needs of the people are not working.
Liz Cheney and others noted that at one time they thought the once powerful republican party could be wrestled back from Trump. With their victory, maga seems in place. Cheney and others said that if this were the case creating a new party would be necessary. Clearly the democratic party has problems with great swaths of Americans, including but not limited to men. Indeed, James Carvelle made this very point in the run up to the election. He noted that the present democratic party did not and could not address the issues and problems associated with men. Sadly, we know that maga embraced the worst of masculinity, but they did talk to men. JD talked about what it should be like to be a man (in his cavemen ideology), but at least he talked to men. Much has been written about the emasculation of men--men in fewer numbers attending college, poor fathers, etc. the populists give these men a false narrative about what it really means to be a man, that is, and we are being somewhat tongue and cheek here, buy and drive a gas guzzling truck, have a shitty-looking beard, always wear some kind of ball cap, and grunt a lot. Don't forget your tobacco chew! But at least maga talked to men, included them, made them feel like they had power.
In addition, it is time to look for where there is resistance to the Trump agenda and support their efforts. Create our own resistance pods. We are in a fight for democracy. There have been other times in our history where the darkness of evil threatened to overwhelm us. Now is not the time to give up. Now is the time to take a stand for our values and what we believe in. Mr. Rogers said that in dark times look for “the helpers”. We can be those helpers. We need to be those helpers. It is critical that we stand for democracy and fight for the country we believe in. Let us turn our anger into action! Let us take back our power and stand with our brothers and sisters to create a democracy and country that we can be proud of.
A coalition was created in this last election. What might be a positive approach moving forward is for what remains viable of the democratic party to join forces to create a new party with what remains of the former republican party. This new party can represent most Americans, not far left and right, not conservative and progressive, and more. These are labels that fail to comprehensively address most problems, most opportunities, and the needs and issues of most Americans. Instead, Americans have been given silos to consider problems and viewpoints. Silos are silos. They create incomplete solutions to problems and therefore create new problems--that is--the solution creates its own problems. The new party, named to be word smithed, can represent the obvious and dominant sides of any coin, any problem, and most people. Our present political parties say that they offer the "best" solutions but in fact they can only offer limited ones, and never really get to the heart of any matter. It is the essence of us and them, which now completely overwhelms the air in any room and sucks the life out of problem solutions.
Leaders and average folks from the two former rivals should combine to create and introduce the new party, one that is, of, for, and about the people, not money and corporations, and more. Do this soon and introduce the new party in time for the midterms, get the slate of nominees prepared and introduced in time for every position possible. Ensure the funding is available for every candidate, and not funded by tech billionaires with an agenda that is contrary to what is best for the people. The contrast between this new party and maga, for maga it is not the republican party-and this must be hammered home always--could not be greater.
I hope this is being considered. Make a big deal of this, get leaders in and from both parties to begin the process now, and in so doing suck the air right out of the room of political discourse, and expose the fraud that is Trump and maga.
Unfortunately I have a much bleaker outlook on what will be possible under the next administration. I believe that the future president's team will be much stronger than before and much more limiting. They will control the Senate, the House (possibly) and the Supreme Court, and very soon the military (by firing the top brass), and that only matters if they even try to follow the rule of law. My fear is that, even with control of the government, they will not use normal channels, but will "change the rules" ad nauseam and no one can stop them. Coalitions, new parties, fairly presented news, protests will be stomped out, and fair elections are a thing of the past. This is a worst case scenario running through my mind and I can't convince myself it's not a real possibility.
Unfortunately, I agree with you Brenda.
Not so fast...check this out Brenda...https://jabberwocking.com/what-a-depressing-night/
This is brilliant Kathleen and the way to go! I practically totally agree. The issue is what and who this new party will encompass and embrace, stand for ( or against) and call itself. Perhaps it should be a welcome to a conversation formed by elements of both sides. It should not be "siloed" (channeled) into usagainstthem-ism nor mass funded by billionaires though it will need mass funding (ASAP) to get its message through, what message? Not *controlled* by money nor corporations. It has to be anti what has been taking us over and usurping democracy, mis and disinformation, media ( social) mega (money), MAGA (hate lies, emotionalism). We have hit a wall ( for years now) where the Constitution cannot evolve to meet our needs, and the 3 branches of government have now been captured in a power grab and we are stuck. Our government has not been able to change/evolve for the people from its basic and good (amazing) beginnings and history ( as per HCR's telling above). We need our government to evolve to meet our present needs. Instead it has been stolen. MAGA is going to try to do to suit THEM (authoritarian, Christian nationalist, fascistic) whatever you/we call it.
We need people to realize what they have voted for with MAGA (out of ignorance and vulnerability but don't accuse of that). That may take time and pain/disappointment. We don't have time because this cannot settle in.
There is another party, but not in all states. I changed my affiliation from Democrat to the Working Families party over 20 years ago. They're on the ballot in NY and 4 or 5 other states, but you'll most often see them endorse a progressive Democrat so as to not split votes like Jill Stein, et al. does. Https://workingfamilies.org. Maybe it's time to make them a viable 3rd party for the entire country.
Thank you for contribution some valid points (but you NEED an Editor to help you cut down your word-count) I especially appreciate your insights on the current Democratic Party's inability to bring men into their tent. And YES, I'm familiar with the current crisis among American males. The solution isn't to encourage brutish machismo, but to help carve out a clear niche for them now that they no longer rule the world. (And I say that in empathy. Transitions are hard for everyone). Perhaps it IS time to forge a new party, and leave the baggage behind. I'm loathe to say that - because the Democrats didn't "do themselves in" - no I truly believe Conservative right wing propaganda brought the party down. But yes, I have to agree, the DNC never addressed this challenge in a meaningful way. Okay wait - when I think of how the DNC forced Hillary on us, okay yes - they did themselves no favors. Would a new party be able to take on the Military-Industrial Complex?
Listening to this post I begin to wonder why I even bother to read anything else. The way HCR can dip into her deep historical knowledge base and come up with a post like this is awe inspiringly amazing. Many people know a lot but few know how to tap into what they already know and make new sense of it with such clarity and source notes for crying out loud.
A late night host sent a crew on the street on 7 Nov, the day after the election, to ask people if they planned to vote. One said he never voted. The others featured said yes they planned to vote. And one asked "who is running?" Not knowing when election day is scheduled is pretty dumb but not knowing who is running is incredible!
I saw that too and was amazed at the answers the people gave. How can our democracy survive when citizens are so disengaged? I worked Election Day and was amazed at the number of people who had no idea what the measures were that they were voting on. I’m so disheartened and disgusted!
Saw that also !
His sycophantic minions are in for a rude awakening when they see how bad it is going to be for them when his policies are implemented.
I would like to alert you to a lecture given by Clare Asquith at the SAT Conference 2019 about Shakespeare and the Essex Cause, where she brings to our attention one aspect of Shakespeare's authorship, namely the political one, - it was this that made him famous in his time. The lecture is brilliant. The reason it is worth listening to, is that it reminds me (us) so much of what is happening in our time, where a very few people at the top of society are amassing riches at a speed and in amounts that are unprecedented., and had terrible repercussions for most people. What happened under the Tudors mirrors very much today's situation. This lecture makes it easier to understand Shakespeare as well, and here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvvrQlxx88A&t=319s
Clare Asquith has also written two books on the subject, which may be found on Amazon.
Thank you, Heather, for reminding us the various ways history repeats itself. This is a good parallel to what trump and his MAGA allies are trying to implement. I hope enough of his supporters accept the wake up call to avert this attempt to destroy our democracy and enough of those who are against this movement participate in whatever is needed to stop it.
The headwinds of right wing media are so strong at this point messaging containing actual truth is just not getting through. Ppl are glued to social media to the detriment of democracy and disinformation is being funneled in by bad actors across the globe. That’s a tremendous problem. I gave up every social media platform.
If the fix is as simple as hammering the message on the economy through every outlet then Dems are going to have to get better at small sound bites. “ We will get prices down” We will get wages up” “ We have a detailed plan” “ we hear you” etc. Hopefully it’s not too late. I’m willing to let this play out as I can’t do much else about what America voted for. But we need to be ready to start hammering effective sound bites at the first sign of discontent.
We have a country full of ignorant people. No bother sugar coating the truth anymore. The stupid and the racist will get the leader they deserve. But our country does not know our history or,and does not want to learn. The latter being much worse.
There will be more of the tossing paper towels to the crowd, for a while, and people will think that is helping. Our ability to speak out will be constantly diminished, and the press will eventually be silenced. The blanket of ignorance which caused so many to vote trump into office, will not protect the low income, the minorities, the old, and infirm, and the angry misogynist men, and spiteful woman who voted the country blood red. “I told you so”, won’t help America now.
I’ve spent a few days thinking about how we got here. But now it’s time to take action in our communities, starting locally.Two things stand out to me, how people don’t care to learn about what’s at stake and choose to believe lies.
I also watched Jon Stewart with Heather Cox, very enlightening and interesting.
Two words stupidity and hate. That explains it all
1, They easily changed these election numbers to win.
2, We had one chance to find it and that was the Vice President calls for an immediate recount and the President backs her up.
3, and your answer to why that can’t happen is why we will never get ahead of this evil. You have to meet evil where it is in that moment. THEN you turn and look at their board from their side long before the game starts. That way you play offense by taking away his possibilities.
4, We are at - He would never go that far.
The big winner in this election was Misinformation. Orwell's 1984 was off by exactly 40 years. The question now is, "What are we going to do about it?"
Like many subscribers to Heather's LFAA, I like to read the letter, and then also listen to Heather's reading of it later. In so doing, I pray that the solution to the election of the bulldozing Repugnicans to control of the levers of power will not require another civil war. Given the violence of their rhetoric and, it would appear, their thinking it seems an all too real possibility. Heaven help us.
Democrats have largely removed the words 'fascist' and 'fascism' from their daily addled discourse, after the election of a proven fascist. Key words--head, sand.
The people that voted for him, by and large, don't know the meaning of fascist, nor does The Donald himself. These people are okay with the idea of an autocracy because they believe thier ideals will be enforced, but they have no idea what "fascist" means. We will be a country of autocracy and oligarchs. As long as their dictator shares their same ideals they are fine.
I would like to know how much Rupert Murdoch made after Trump won?
The Trump voters hate Democrats and think we kill babies and all of the other things they have made up and repeated ad nauseum.