After reading the Letter, I sat quietly with an uncertain head. Did I have anything to write? I thought of a headline in yesterday's The New York Times, 'U.S. Hundreds of Police Officers Have Died From Covid. Vaccines Remain a Hard Sell.' Then I took a couple a few photos of the sunrise and texted one of them to a friend. Death is on my mind. I live in NYC. 34,402 of us have died from covid, 1 in 242. Morality, I think of that, too. The letter starts with Biggs and Roy. Abbott, DeSantis, McConnell, Trump rush to mind. Physical responses when writing their names are automatic. Mortality and Morality - tap, tap, tap - like scat singing. The breakdown of civil conduct may be at my door or in the park or anywhere. I looked for a poem.
Thanks Fern, for your beautiful comment in this time of crisis. It conjures images of the calm before the storm.
The battle lines are now clearly drawn. A move must be made well before the midterms or the GOP wins by default if they can keep control of America’s mob mentality with the drumbeat of TFG’s grievance.
We are at an inflection point on which the characterization of the worlds societies for many generations to come now hinges. In the stillness we wait for the butterfly’s wingbeat to direct the tiniest of air currents to give direction to the hurricane to come.
'In the stillness we wait for the butterfly’s wingbeat to direct the tiniest of air currents to give direction to the hurricane to come.' Thank you, Christian.
I have a good memory. I must have been about ten years old when this happened. An elementary school chum invited a bunch of his classmates to come over to his house for ice cream and cake to celebrate his birthday. No presents, just come. Included was the one Black in our class whom I encountered on the street after school as I headed for the party. "Come along," I said. He had been invited too, and I had heard it. We walked the few blocks to the party, and when we got there, the maid quickly shooed the Black boy into the kitchen to eat his ice cream and cake. And afterwards, we all played together and then went home. This was in Newark in about 1942 or thereabouts, seventeen years after Hughes wrote this poem and 25 years before the neighborhood where it happened was torn apart by rioting.
"One summer my aunt was moving to Brookhaven and a huge semi moving van drove up to my grandmother's place. We were putting my aunt's stuff in a little house out back of the main house. Now in the rural South the midday dinner is the important meal of the day and Southern hospitality meant anyone visiting shared this big meal. So the white truck driver sat at our table in the kitchen, while my aunt fixed plates for his two black helpers who ate on the porch. It was the system and everyone seemed satisfied with it - but it did not go unnoticed as strange. "
My heart aches for that young, Black child. The 10 year old boy, culled from the others who laughted and joked while sharing cake and ice cream, lives in his memory to this day.
Fern, thanx for posting that Langston Hughes poem. Having seen the Southern idiocy in segregation days, where black ppl in restaurants prepared the food, but could not eat in the white side was so ludicrous. Why couldn’t they see this?
When I send to her, I open the link and use the Twitter "share" to send it to her via @DeadlineWH. I also send it to the producers @MSNBC, because they seem to share stories with the various anchors.
Fern, another comment: I don't know if Nicole herself subscribes to HCR, but I am almost certain that someone on her staff does. She keeps up with literally everything going on, although she does have a drumbeat going with the voter rights and voter protections bills (thank heavens.) She and Rachel and Reid are all friends as well as anchors, and sometimes I think all three of them are accessing the same sources. From time to time, I could swear they all are paraphrasing bits and pieces of HCR, or maybe just taking advantage of the fact that Heather does such a thorough job researching and footnoting her newsletters!
I thought you had asked for a way to get that important link to Nicole. I could easily have been mistaken. Sorry, if it was confusing! I completely agree with you about Heather.
Fern - what you’re thinking and feeling, I’m thinking and feeling. On one hand, we’re like strangers in a hospital waiting room, anxiously awaiting word on a loved one. On the other hand, borrowing from Gandhi, we’re the America we want it to be.
Thanks for sharing you and the lovely, simple and powerful poem by Langston Hughes. May his - and MLK’s - and our dreams for a better and more noble union come to pass - before they pass.
Dear Fern, you’ve done it again! You have such a poignant gift, putting gut-wrenching emotions we are feeling into cathartic and do-something words. Thank you.💙
The 206 Republicans who voted to default violated their oaths of office to protect and defend the provisions of the Constitution, including the Fourteenth Amendment, so why are they not being held accountable? People who are willing to sacrifice the common welfare of their nation for the sake of a duplicitous, disgraced former president are not fit to hold public office in a democracy and should be removed, all 206 of them. The despicable actions of the Republicans are morally bankrupt and downright criminal. But since the American justice system no longer honors the rule of law, the "seemingly inexorable slide into likely violent conflict" noted by David Herrick seems imminent. I grieve for my country and the failure of its dysfunctional political system that has enabled a faction of sociopaths, scalawags and miscreants to hold the Constitution hostage.
Exactly Stuart. Where is the enforcement of our constitutional rights and obligations? Do our laws have any meaning if there are no consequences for breaking them? Are white Republicans exempt from the laws of our land? Has Democratic leadership become frozen in the headlights?
I’m not sure Joe believes they are on our team. But by pulling them in, instead of pushing them away, Democrats retain the majority in the Senate. It doesn’t seem to mean much because we are not progressing forward at a pace that is needed. But looking at if from another view you can consider what would happen again if Republicans still had the majority and McConnell held the power. It would be Obama all over again. Plus, they would spend all their time doing everything they could to make Democrats look bad. The committees would be focused on scam investigations. Afghanistan would be 100 times worse than Benghazi. I try to take heart in this.
We can do stuff with reconciliation. We can appoint real judges instead of Trump sycophants. We can hope the DOJ will do enough to turn the tide on the traitors who have violated their oath of office. If these guys don’t believe in government they shouldn’t even be in office.
The Fourteenth Amendment either means what it says or we should rip up the whole document to which it is appended ... and start over. Our 1789 Constitution was filled with compromises which were necessary at the time, were proven insufficient in 1860 ... and today allow an unrepresentative minority to wield power through the way we elect our president, the overrepresentation of States in the Senate and the leaving the composition of the judiciary to that body. The English didn't think our experiment would succeed. They were correct but got the timing wrong. Look at the form of government used by most nations in the world! It ain't like ours.
Get this straight. I am not personally for throwing out the Constitution. A parliamentary system wouldn't help. There's nothing that a few Amendments wouldn't fix, as they have in the past. But if we ignore what it says, including its Amendments, we are headed in the wrong direction. When unconstitutional things are done, those who do them are accountable and must face the consequences. Otherwise we end up with libertarian anarchy which is where we are presently headed.
I understand. I can't find it for the moment, but I tooled around with the idea of nation re-building for the USA on January 15, 2015. Too long to post here. Cynicism mixed with hope. How to re-allign our constitution with what are our goals as a nation or reframe it?
And here is the problem: who will hold them accountable? The President cannot, by design. The courts cannot, by design. The only entity to which they are accountable is "the people," and they have gone mad.
Thanks, Heather, for yet another usefully alarming Letter. I would love it if you could also write some commentary for the NYT or the WaPo or even the WSG. In addition to your many other activities... Easy for me to say.
I wonder if it might not be a good moment to step back and look at the big picture (pretty grim) and consider how to save our country from it's seemingly inexorable slide into likely violent conflict. First, what are the (no doubt, disputable) facts?
-- Nationally, Democrats (+ independents) outnumber Republicans (+ other independents), assuming major polling is not way, way off.
-- Joe Biden did win the last election fair and square with a sizeable majority of the popular vote and zero evidence of any significant election fraud.
-- Republicans in the House and Senate know Trump lost, but see political and personal advantage in sustaining Trump's totally and deliberately false narrative about how the election was stolen from him. They are both corrupt and gutless.
-- The events of Jan. 6th were the result of a conspiracy at the highest levels of the Trump administration, and both he and his flunkies are involved up to their ears in a variety of illegal activity, some of it punishable by long prison sentences, or worse.
-- The Democratic Party is divided along a progressive-centrist line, with two senators behaving as GOP imposters, rendering the passage of Joe Biden's proposed legislation -- all of it -- unlikely, barring unforeseen events.
-- Americans, by a sizeable majority (again, if the polls are accurate) favor passage of all or most of the Biden agenda.
-- These same Americans (polls again) appear to be losing faith that Biden and Congress can get it done.
-- The SCOTUS is now firmly controlled by Federalist Society judges and is likely to interpret our Constitution in ways that will bring us to the brink of civil war.
-- Our amazing Constitution, well over 2 centuries since it was written, is no longer adequate as a roadmap for good government or the attainment of the ideals it embodies, and is in desperate need of clarifying amendment if we wish to continue to improve -- or even have -- our democracy and the benefits that derive from it.
-- Our democracy has been under attack from the right ever since the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s made it legal for Blacks and other minorities to fully participate in it, and the GOP has now -- through a reassertion of states' rights -- (nearly) reached it's objective of re-establishing firm control of government and society by White, propertied men.
-- Nearly half of adult American citizens sit out most elections.
-- The Citizens United SCOTUS decision essentially legalized large-scale political corruption by corporations and the ultra rich. Of course corruption takes two to tango, so we can assume many (if not all) of our elected representatives in Congress are also corrupt or corruptible, and that their real money is not to be found in promoting the common good, despite pretty generous salaries and benefits. Presumably, without this corruption, they might be able to do a better job.
No doubt, there are other important facts to be added to my list, but as time is running short for America, we need to decide SOON what to do about our situation, and then just do it. So, yes, we need to:
-- get out the vote;
-- call out every GOP lie and repudiate it loudly and repeatedly;
-- learn the art of the catchy sound-bite, even if it offends our sensibilities;
-- contribute time and MONEY to Democratic candidates;
-- NOT GIVE UP because this is all so depressing and because we haven't lived 60 or 70 or 80+ years just to see our beloved America taken over by a bunch of ignorant, malevolent racist yahoos, and because we all know the GOP doesn't really want to fuck with the stock market, and we'll all be dead before the worst of it.
-- put on our old no-nukes and peace buttons and hit the streets ready to resist if all else fails, as millions of warm Democratic bodies will outweigh the maga-morons in the final analysis, but sitting at home watching TV or glued to a smart phone weighs little or nothing.
IMHO, the best place to start would be for Merrick Garland to order the FBI to carry out mass arrests of the real planners (no, not the guy with the horns) and leaders of the Jan. 6th insurrection, and do it before Congressional hearings, not as a response to them. In fact, it irritates me no end that this has not already happened. If the Trumpies riot, Biden should call in the military to suppress and arrest.
Then arrest McConnell on general principle.
Then if Texas and Florida decide to secede, let them go. (I know there are some great Texans and Floridians who read the Letter and would hate this. Don't worry, we'll get both states back later.)
"Our amazing Constitution, well over 2 centuries since it was written, is no longer adequate as a roadmap for good government or the attainment of the ideals it embodies, and is in desperate need of clarifying amendment if we wish to continue to improve "
I was not able to see what the amendment would be in your writing?
I am not sure that we need any amendments. In fact, I think not.
The Constitution, and its current amendments, if followed and respected, are enough.
The challenge today is that overweening white men, raised with no boundaries and later in life learning no respect for anything but their own gain, are IGNORING the Constitution because it places limits on what they want.
IF we just make it illegal to ignore the Constitution, like Trump did, and I think we already did by defining Treason and Sedition as crimes in the Constituion, AND we prosecute that effectively and rapidly, we would be OK.
However, Biden and his team appear either hesitant or completely unable to initiate Trump's prosecution for Treason.
So, Trump, who has already learned there are no limits on what he can do within American society, learns again, that there are no limits for rich, white men.
Mike, I like your argument and mostly agree with it. However, somehow, perhaps without enough Americans seeing it this way, our elected leaders have managed to drive our nation into a ditch despite our most admirable Constitution with its supposed checks and balances. Now we are at a tipping point (possible GOP victory in 2022) that would, I believe, be the end of our democracy and, as a practical matter, the end of constitutional government.
The GOP's clever and patient project to pack the SCOTUS with rightwing, ideologically motivated judges has succeeded, almost beyond their wildest dreams. Nothing in the Constitution has stood in their way. They do not even need Chief Judge Roberts' vote to have a majority.
You and I agree that the Constitution -- at least potentially -- provides remedies for all of Trump's and the GOP's abuses, but who gets to interpret and establish the modern meaning of our Constitution? The SCOTUS. And every remedy the Democrats might try to change this, such as by adding judges or adding states will be challenged in court by the GOP and ultimately decided by... guess who?
The only long-term remedy I see is amending certain parts of the Constitution, starting with everything pertaining to voting and elections that is now left to individual states. Further, it should be clear that the right to freedom of expression is an individual right, not a corporate right determined by access to enormous wealth (Citizen's United), and the means of financing political campaigns should also be set out (at least in general terms) in the Constitution so as to avoid giving the advantage to rich folks. I mean, I figure wealth is its own reward, perfectly legitimate if achieved legally, but should not a means to political power. Just amending the Constitution to address these problems would help a lot. Then I would eliminate the Electoral College and have the overall popular vote determine who becomes President, and I would either eliminate the Senate altogether or expand it by making the number of Senators from each state proportional to population. That way the majority rules. The Bill of Rights could also stand a little updating to better protect individuals from the majority and government abuse. The second amendment needs to be clarified in such a way as to permit both federal and state control of guns. A right to universal healthcare should be established (It's in the Italian Constitution). I could go on, but I'm sure you understand my position on this.
I mean, history moves along, people change, other things change, and now we live in a world the founders would find nearly unrecognizable. They wrote an amazing document, but in my opinion it is not a perfect document, nor is it adequate for today's world.
Of course, I am aware that changing the Constitution is extremely difficult and requires 2 super-majorities before any amendment can take effect. This, itself, may be yet another inadequacy of our Constitution.
How about do it like the Italians? Require all citizens and permanent residents to have a picture ID issued by the government at no cost and with minimal bureaucracy. Yes, a legal obligation with possible fines for people who fail to get one. Then, when they get their ID card about a week or 10 days after applying for it, citizens are issued a voting card with their name and address, and the address of the nearest polling place on it, as well as squares to be rubber-stamped each time they vote.
Yep, they're all registered to vote whether they want to or not. Simple, easy, cheap and relatively fool proof. Though deciding which among ten or more parties to vote for is a bit less simple. Seems to work for the Italians in any case.
I looked up the process of amending the Constitution. In addition to having to have 2 super majorities, it's required that 3/4 of the states' legislatures must ratify an amendment. Currently the R's have 22 trifectas and Dems have 15 and divided legislatures in 13 states. Percentages of parties break down: R's 54.22%; Dems 44.68%. I fear that if the tRump Republican party take control of any more states in 2022, they could pull off a Constitutional Convention and chose to not allow any Democrats to participate, since there's no rules about who/how it's carried out. We KNOW they cheat whenever possible.
Hi Barbara. Yes, you're right, the two super majorities make amending the Constitution difficult unless there is really broad popular agreement on an issue so that both parties are inclined to vote in favor, and it's the 3/4 of the States needed to ratify that makes it practically impossible to do it, especially with our nation politically divided, urban versus rural. For what it's worth, I think that making it so difficult to amend the Constitution is a serious oversight on the part of the founders who did not imagine either today's world or a that a Donald Trump might ever be elected President. In fact, it is so difficult that I seem to be the only person - at least among readers of the HCR's Letter - trying to give it some serious thought.
I guess I will keep plugging away, however, because of the risk that the U.S Constitution may soon find itself on the dustbin of history if things keep going the way they are. And if the GOP does manage to hold a Democrat-free constitutional convention, it will only be window dressing for what would be their already successful coup d'etat, now well advanced but not quite a done deal. By then, freedom of speech and assembly will be rapidly receding in our collective rear-view mirror. It's a sad enough scenario that I am dedicating most of my waking hours to worrying about it, not because I feel personally threatened by it here in Italy (where I live) but because I have lots of family and friends in the USA, all good Democrats like me, who are still in denial. Very sad indeed.
Careful on this! Remember that the US Constitution is a general guideline. An example of very unwieldy is the state Constitution of TX that is constantly having amendments added for very specific items for things only for 1 localized area in the state, etc.
I agree, Pat. Changing the Constitution shouldn't be too easy, but not impossible either. Perhaps reducing the number of ratifying states to two thirds but keeping the time limit. Actually, the real problem is political and ideological, and it may be that no constitution
Cheri, I do remember the ERA and that it seemed like a foregone conclusion. Well, so much for slam dunks. And doing anything like that now would be impossible, but time passes, things change, people change and the impossible becomes possible. Of course, living long enough to see it is the hard part.
Well, the wheels of justice have a good reason to turn slowly, as this limits the possibility of injustice, at least in individual cases. But if the DEMs could just get out a big vote and win a couple of landslide elections, then find a bit of courage somewhere, they could pretty much have their way with the Constitution. Not easy, but hardly unthinkable.
Also, in part because we have the technological tools to do things rapidly, and in part because a couple of key changes regarding voting and campaign finance would greatly change our currently stagnant political system, I think there could be major improvements to the Constitution within.... our lifetimes?
I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for another 20 years or so before I check out. Who knows? Maybe our scienze wizards will develop a vaccine against aging. Of course, that might be a real can of worms. In the end, it looks like we may all get roasted.
I fear that you are right, and Democrats have no bull horn to counter Rupert’s 24/7 blasting of hate, lies, slander, and righteous inane nonsense. Buying the WSJ was the best move he ever made. He can keep pretending to be a “journalist” and who will say NO. Not our MSM. Nor do we have Frank Luntz’ pithy sound bites to make Schitt smell like roses. Propaganda has buried us all.
The problem isn't with the Constitution. The problem is with Americans. We've been professionally propagandized, to the point that the Trump Republicans are calling for fire to rain down from heaven on their own heads.
It's a conceptual problem: what do you do in a democracy when half (or more) of the population doesn't want a democracy, but wants slave-owning Puritanism? And is so completely messed-up in their heads that they think slave-owning Puritanism IS democracy?
Joseph, I think yours is an excellent comment, though it leaves little room for hope that our democracy is salvageable. It's as if, as a society, we are afflicted with Dissociative Identity Disorder (commonly known as a split personality) and cannot find a cure.
In the past, we as a nation have been able to somehow pull ourselves together and move on even from the most divisive of domestic crises and international emergencies, usually with our Constitution as our guide and a number of human and social characteristics -- and a common language -- to unite us, even as we have disagreed profoundly over specific issues.
It used to be that in our spacious national terrain, we could always move around (literally, psychologically, metaphysically, whatever, you name it) until we found a comfortable spot and could console ourselves with our national myths and other distractions, no matter what sort of weird behavior our compatriots were indulging in. We were almost proud of how badly people could behave without it seeming to endanger the whole enterprise. I mean, we knew we were not all potential Charles Mansons. It was live-and-let-live, just as long as you don't break my balls (as even Italian women sometimes say in their musical language).
But it seems this has changed. What once seemed to be a kind of widespread superior aloofness with respect to those we disdained has changed into unending righteous outrage at every manifestation of "their" stupidity, ignorance, greed, selfishness, immorality, lack of self-awareness, culpable gullibility, pervasive perfidiousness and general hatefulness, resulting in a near universal reciprocal intolerance that renders futile every attempt to find common ground so as to save our nation and our democracy from ourselves. In fact, many of us do not believe there can be any common ground, not now, not any more, not with "them".
And, of course, a few blessed Americans are still trying figure what all this fuss is about.
How in hell did we get to this place? I would say it has a lot to do with unresolved racial inequality exacerbated by extreme economic inequality and uncertainty made intolerable by inadequate opportunity and substandard public education for all but the privileged, most of whom continue to be white, finally leading to... profound disappointment and sense of failure.
Then we are expected to endure all these uns and ins and subs causing dis, while addicting ourselves to simultaneous access to everything instantaneously via our handheld devices, the most insidious drug ever made available to the masses
Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock could get us to the end of this film in such a way that when it ends and the lights come up, and we stand up and stretch our legs and gather our belongings before we walk calmly out of the theatre into the fresh air, we'll be able to nod and offer a friendly wink to perfect strangers without wanting to strangle them instead.
I am hoping Joe Biden has a hidden talent as great or greater than the late director. If I believed in God, I suppose I would be praying to him/her/it daily, even hourly. I guess I will find out if just trusting in people's reason and hoping against all odds will do the trick.
No coup is the same as any other coup, but again, they are all the same. I think we've already passed the "normal" point of no return. It happened when the entire Republican party capitulated to Trump.
On the other hand, I'm not sure it will actually succeed. The Trumpites are very much in the minority, and their only hope of success is the inaction of the majority. Which is -- under normal circumstances -- a sure thing. But these are not normal circumstances, and as cleverly evil as the Steve Bannons and as lickspittle as the Kevin McCarthys may be, I don't think they can predict the outcome, either.
You didn’t mention the 40 years of non stop propaganda, painting people like me, old retired counselor as evil. The cult is, like most cults, bordering on the insane. Look around. BTW, Hitch made a film re the Holocaust that didn’t have a happy ending. He knew first hand how cults could take over many sane minds.
"However, Biden and his team appear either hesitant or completely unable to initiate Trump's prosecution for Treason.
I tend to believe the 'hesitant' hypothesis in terms of Biden's team prosecuting Trump for Treason. The question is, why are they hesitant in doing so? Are there backroom deals being deliberated by dealmakers on what can be exposed or not exposed to the public? A higher level of quid pro quo which the public will never be made aware of?
I'll vote for the democratic candidates, but there is a deep level of corruption in our infrastructure which bothers me the most. We have to find honorable, qualified candidates for office who will take an oath before God and country as to their incorruptibility--an oath in which they agree to accepting serious penalties if they neglect to honor their oath. And we have to follow through on giving them true punishment and not give them a short stretch at Club Fed where the most stress they face is finding a doubles' partner for tennis.
Please clarify what the 'two outliers' are andll what you meant by 'HCR's money is on Pelosi power'. While I can guess what you meant by the latter, it would be best for you spell out you thoughts a bit more. The first link is only the comments of a few subscribers on the hubbell's substack. Is that would you intended? Thanks
Well, then, how about targeted arrests? And you're right, we shouldn't be too hasty about ditching Texas and Florida. I was kind of kidding. Not too funny, I guess.
Most of the red states screaming to secede couldn’t possibly survive without the current federal infusion from mostly blue donor states. That’s what’s so stupid about the argument. I’d love to cut them loose and have some real border control - especially no entrance without a vaccination. Seems the reality of it would end the experiment.
Of course the red state rabble has no clue of their dependency on federal tax dollars from blue states. I know I'm unfairly painting with too broad of a brush. But I can't help but picture the mouth-breather rage of the Jan. 6.
Hi Grace. Of course, if people are dumb enough to refuse the vaccine, they might also be dumb enough to forego their federal "infusions". Stay tuned...
I buy it all except the “arresting McConnell on general principle.”
Everything we do has to be by the book and not driven by the same, but “our side” reptilian-brain reactions we see from the DJT base, or we do leave ourselves wide open to losing the strength gained by the sane, ordered, and lawful actions you brilliantly outlined.
So you have a great plan except for making a martyr out of Moscow Mitch.
With DJT folks growing more and more disgusted with him, he’ll eventually be caught in the crossfire of losing quarter on both sides. Don’t know what will happen but maybe he’ll finally be voted out in 4 years. We can dream, yes?
SCOTUS is another thing. You are so right about Citizens United.
Start your voter registration and GOTV campaigns now, folks. 2022 elections are on us and we’ll be tested like never before. The fifty+year Karl Rove takeover plan of the Reagan era has been actualized more quickly thanks to DJT. State houses are crucial battlegrounds. Find good candidates to oppose the right-wing state house folks and to run for those other pivotal offices. All politics is local — and it all adds up to a horrific 2022 if we don’t get on it with voter registration, education.
It comes down to the trauma of our losing our voices, the exact trauma old white men have perpetrated against women and people of color, using power and corruption to steal Native American land, kidnap and enslave, exploit, and exhaust buy using fear, terror and division since long before but the of our miraculous nation.
We must use our voices now or lose them for years to come. Check out the Poor People’s Campaign and the Rev. Dr. William Barber. We need to join with and help his campaign, run good people for local offices, secure as many state houses as is possible, win 2022 and add more justices to SCOTUS, overturn Citizens United.
To TRULY bring about real and lasting change that will prevent this oppression and historical abuse?
It will take a generation to effect real and lasting behavioral change that leads to people not traumatizing already traumatized people. It will take a generation or more, but lasting change takes time. If you REALLY want to effect change start now by joining or starting local initiatives supported by PACEsConnection.com to learn how trauma-informed and healing-centered schools, business, communities of faith, courts, law enforcement, health care — all sectors — in each and every community can and will restore us to sanity. At the end of they day we must come together on what we love — our children — or be crushed.
Yeah, sorry about my suggestion for what to do with Mitch McConnell. I'll try to control my excesses of partisan zeal from now on. Happily, there's a toasty place in Hell awaiting him. No need to be too impatient. Better to save the best for last.
I totally agree with this David:"IMHO, the best place to start would be for Merrick Garland to order the FBI to carry out mass arrests of the real planners (no, not the guy with the horns) and leaders of the Jan. 6th insurrection, and do it before Congressional hearings, not as a response to them. In fact, it irritates me no end that this has not already happened. If the Trumpies riot, Biden should call in the military to suppress and arrest."
This should be a matter for law enforcement, not a debate.
Don't want to, David Herrick, but I LOVE THIS! Gotta say it: Especially, "Then arrest McConnell on general principle." Gave me a chuckle and a reason to live to fight -- and enjoy -- another day. Peace. Out.
Floridian here: that's ok, David, Most of us will be underwater or, in my case, in Ireland. Just have to figure out how to get the grandboys out with us!!!! Seriously, thank you for your thoughtful post--even the secession part, which I would amend to say that Abbot and DeSantis are the ones who need to "get out"!!!
Agree with most of this except for arresting McConnell. There must still be rule of law. Watergate took 2 yrs ro prosecute the criminals. Yes we all want to see justice but it must be done by the law. Arresting Mitch would be like the GOP / trump arresting Hillary. Not the road you want to go down as a nation unless you want fascism.
America is at a perilous moment...civil war 2.0 I foresee, I fear something similar to Robespierre during French Revolution and then after months of conflict a new beginning. Praying for cooler heads for my American friends and that democracy wins.
Yeah, you're right Doreen, better to follow the law scrupulously and not make martyrs for the GOP to exploit. Let's just wait for Mitch to screw himself. Better sooner than later.
Will SCOTUS be expanded? Will Kavanaugh be investigated and possibly impeached? Clarence Thomas' wife involvement in Jan. 6th - would that be cause enough for him to be investigated? We must have Voting Rights secured and end gerrymandering. And the Highest Court should not be a Federalist Court. But without the ability to vote and be heard and represented we can't do anything.
Merrick Garland seems in fact not to be doing the job, and we were told early on that Biden doesn’t want to further divide the country by calling the Former Guy to account.
We lived in Austin from 2010 to 2012. I loved the culture there but hated being land locked and the heat would be so bad I couldn’t go from the car to the grocery without getting a migraine. It was a nightmare for me. Also, the traffic was a serious problem and only getting worse. Thankfully being retired you wouldn’t have to face it. I read there was a 40% increase in home prices and their homes are starting to be on par with California now. But, their construction is crap in comparison. California protects it’s consumers and home buyers and you can see the difference. We have building codes that are enforced. We were hit by the lack of them in New Hampshire and Texas leaving us with costly repairs.
There is also the power grid and fire dangers in Texas. When we were there firefighters were cut by 70%. The Governor, Perry I think, said if there was a fire other states would send resources. The. There was a big one that burned way more than it should have because you have to wait for resources to arrive. They’re not just sitting in your state ready to go.
We returned to San Diego and couldn’t think of a better place to live. I’ve lived in 11 states and I promise to never move again.
Hi Sharon. My clearest memory of Texas -- well, apart from JFK's assassination -- was getting off a motorcycle on a cold winter day (in 1970? 71?) halfway across the Panhandle and and realizing that -- apart from a straight line of weather-beaten telephone poles all the way to both horizons, I was the tallest thing in sight for 360°. It blew my mind, so I had to sit down on the frozen dirt and take a couple of deep breaths before continuing on to California. California Dreaming. The folly of youth.
Could it be that all that flatness has led over time to, um, a kind of mental flatness? Or perhaps to arrogance, you know, the feeling that you tower over everything? Like J.R Ewing? He was a tall man. Or Greg Abott?
Naw, Greg Abott's not a real person! What am I thinking?
Lot of wind in Texas, they must be famous for their wind.... the dust, too.
Anyway, there's a lot of really great, long-suffering Democrats in Texas. (Just not quite enough. Not yet.)
Lol! I lived in Texas twice. The fist time was for basic training in San Antonio and tech school in Wichita Falls in 1977. It was incredibly flat but made for great horseback riding. Things were different then. But there are so many things you never learn about a state until you become a resident and consumer.
Hi Sharon. Yeah, it's such a big state, there must be a lot of hidden treasure. I've always wanted to take a hike in Big Bend NP, but I haven't done it yet. Maybe in March if the Covid situation is under control.
Canada is having problems also. My Canadian born son in law works for Microsoft on a green card and has for maybe 30 years, thus granddaughter has duel citizenship. They will head for Canada I am sure.We are looking at both north and south areas.
At the dawn of our peril, we awaken, seeing the carnage potential, and VOTE, as if our very lives depend upon suffrage. We awaken, called to the cause of democracy. Rising up, we VOTE.
Tim Synder's great little book "On Tyranny" says Vote as if it is the last time you'll be allowed to vote! We have one year to turn this around or November 2022 will be that last time.
First we support/demand passage of S.4 - John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, S.2615 - Right to Vote Act, and H.R.4959 - Right to Vote Act. These laws need to be passed to mitigate gerrymandering and to ensure untampered counting of the vote (no state overrides).
Then register new voters and register more new voters.
Then we Get Out The Vote, including support with transporting folks to the polls, whatever it takes to keep it fair and safe!
"Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) voter mobilization organization launched a new voter registration tool on Thursday, days after the Texas legislature approved a controversial elections overhaul bill that many say will restrict access to the ballot box.
The group, Powered by People, launched the “Drive-to-You” program, an on-demand voter registration service that will allow eligible Texas voters to register to vote from their homes."
I’m with you Ellie, but unless the voting rights acts are passed, and they seem to be in trouble because they haven’t been to date, it won’t matter how many people are voting because the state legislatures will throw out the votes they don’t like, just like they are planning to do here in GA. Voting rights has to come first everything else is dressing on the cake including both infrastructure bills one of which should be called the for the children act.
100%. But I fear that even if the Voting rights acts are passed, the Supreme Court will overturn them. The "Republican party" won't let laws like that live.
I’m really worried about VA, because the Vote Forward letter writing campaign has many names available. This indicates absence of enthusiasm? Or, not understanding the urgency of the race? You can pick up 5 names at a time with a this Saturday 10/16 mail date. ❤️🤍💙
Hey, gildedtwig. If you think that during the 2020 election there were 80+ million people who did NOT vote, it's maybe not surprising that there are so many names available. I agree, there probably are a sizeable number who do not understand the urgency of this race.
Thanks, Nancy! As dark as it may appear right now, I am invoking my "inner John Lewis." Never could I imagine being literally beaten for wanting my freedom to vote. I can do no less than to carry his message forward.
If I recall, Steve Bannon has been saying for years that the goal is to burn everything to the ground. They’re not playing to the base, they’re executing the plan.
Back in the day, Jerry Rubin was asked, "And what then, when it all has been reduced to rubble?" He is reported to have replied, "Groove on the rubble." Ex nihilism nihil fit.
I am a citizen of Iowa, a voter and a constituent of Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Joni Ernst.
I wish to raise an ethics complaint against them for failing to abide by their duty under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment’s prohibition of questioning the “public debt of the United States.”
Congress created the ‘debt ceiling’ years ago and we seem to be caught in its clutches repeatedly, more frequently of late. However, since the Constitution forbids questioning the debt [it does not forbid deciding how to create it, just deciding not to pay on it], it is unethical for members of Congress to vote to question the public debt and prevent the government from meeting its debts.
I am not certain of the exact form to use for this complaint, but as a constituent of two Senators who voted to question the public debt, I am certain this will suffice.
Government spending funds "tyranny"? Well... inasmuch as government spending pays the salaries of the Republicans who encouraged the January 6th coup attempt and are trying to ensure safe and equal voting rights, he's right.
It is hard to swallow these were words coming out of my representative's mouth. Rep. Chip Roy. Do they really start to believe what they are saying? It just boggles my mind. Democrats need to take the high ground of morals and family values.
True colors coming out. Adam Schiff told a story of sitting next to Kevin McCarthy on a flight, chatting, and then learning that McCarthy told the press the opposite of what Schiff actually said. And this was in 2010, long before trump and his crew were accusing facts of being "fake news" as they themselves perpetrated fake news and ultimately the Big Lie.
McCarthy is a viper of another McCarthy era. I’m old, I remember Rupert’s dismantling of our media network, i remember Lee Atwater, Newt, Roger Ailes, and other power-hungry vipers, and I feared for what we see today. The pit is full of vipers.
I hope American corporations recognize the health, economic and political risks for their businesses and act against these authoritarian and anarchist Republicans by withholding ALL donations from those who participate in creating the chaos and tyranny.
Living, working and prospering in civil society carries responsibilities. We must all take responsibility and demand it of others.
This is right on. Considering the dominant (excessively so) role of business in our lives, companies have a civic responsibility to address this madness, not to mention their own fiscal health or even survival. In the case of publicly traded companies, they have a legal obligation to protect shareholders.
If they think it's challenging now to hire and retain people or sell goods and services, imagine if there's the violence the right so craves. Add into this tragic mix the rampage of diseases that the Jim Jordans apparently want to unleash in the name of a demented freedom.
For someone living in Texas, this was a difficult letter to read. Rep. Chip Roy is my representative and I really thought he hadn't drunk that much of the Kool Aid. This makes me realize how fast this insanity is spreading and how deeply this is affecting Texas politics. Are they really so scared of the extreme right-wingers that they have to become one? I wrote a letter to Rep. Roy and my Senators Cornyn and Cruz on stopping the dangerous political shenanigans of the debt ceiling and to get rid of it all together. How do I get back to the Rational World? What can I do to make a difference in Texas? Does the general public understand how close we are to the end of democracy? Yesterday I was encouraged by two things - 1) the NY Times and Washington Post articles by moderate Republicans saying vote democrat 2) that Taiwan is doing great things with civic tech which may the harbinger on how digital democracy will give us a true democracy rather than a representative one with tools that can help people develop consensus etc.
Today's good news from Texas is that American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, among other major corporations, are defying Gov. Abbidiott's latest ban on Covid vaccine/testing requirements for employees.
Yes. They(the airlines) want to keep the business from crashing. Who in the world would geton an airplane where these concerns were not taken into account. Gov Abbot is no business man. He gets paid whether his constituents live or die. If he ran a business this way consumers would chose different “ airline”. Don’t really understand the TX voters.
Glad to see the FAA called out the lies of Cruz et al blaming flight cancellations on the vaccine mandate. But alas, I had to learn that from Jimmy Kimmel.
The first thoughts that comes to mind on Taiwan's "digital democracy" and similar "AI" applications elsewhere are of course questions:
1/ who controls, writes and can rewrite the software and how safe is it from outside interference?
2/ who audits the vercity of the results?
3/ down to what level in terms of nickles and dimes do you require a citizens vote on decisions to be taken?
4/do you oblige people to vote?
5/what are the exceptions for "emergencies" however they are defined and whoever defines them and who controls their declaration?
6/what happens when the power is "out" as recently in Texas or Lebanon?
5/who do you go to if you have a gripe or a problem if there are no representatives?
In the end I come back to Chrurchill's famous quote from an unknown source ......
“democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” Much better to have someone up there who both listens to you and fights for you. The problem with the current system is that once elected our representatives often permit themselves to do neither. It is time we voted in people who understand their obligations to us.
Stuart, I believe there are technical answers to many/all of your questions. Here's the article on Taiwan and their consensus social media algorithms for example that I find so intriguing. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/taiwan-democracy-social-media If Facebook switched to this algorithms would the hate go away. Perhaps.
If true consensus is built through any method, then there is no room for division. That is what has diminished, in my opinion , in the last decade.
I find when talking to others that the concept of consensus is murky even to its simple definition.
I know a few kindergarten teachers that I would nominate as leaders. The first thing a good teacher does with students fresh to school and a class community is to develop consensus. Which is based on needs and participation of all involved.
Simple yet astounding in its ability to build civic discourse.
Hello Stuart. A similar quote Churchill is attributed to have said about Americans: that we can always be counted on to do the right thing - once we have tried everything else. Now is the time to stop trying "everything else". Unfortunately, this seems to be the way we build consensus in this country: we try a series of easy, novel, stupid, or even counterproductive ideas until we're focused by a crisis. "AI democracy" is a novel idea who's time has not yet come, even without all the concerns you've laid out. Kagan's article on the constitutional crisis spells out some simple (not easy) actions that need to be taken. Here is the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/23/robert-kagan-constitutional-crisis/ . I wonder if an effective tactic may be to write to "lukewarm Trumpers", along with other moderate Republican leaders pointing out the fact that, in Trump's America, they will have no place in government, only "uber-loyalists" will have any real power.
I agree. People are too easily stirred up. This is one reason the founding fathers give more weight to the more stable (at the time) countryside and less to volatile cities, where it was easy to influence many people quickly. They created a gov’t which does not function quickly in normal circumstances. Of course, nowadays you can stir up the countryside as easily as you can the cities.
Good questions. Two things strike me from what I have read about the civic platform. 1) there is a non-comment based ( no trolls) process through which the interaction and feedback of people builds the consensus: 2) there is deliberate & structured interface with the governing body. A cyber step up from our polling and focus groups?? Not sure. Anything can be hacked, I guess. But it is definitely intriguing and probably appeals to a younger crowd. Worth watching.
My goodness! Your letter reminds me of a lobster thrown in the pot who just realizes she is being boiled alive! Your so called representatives have been banging this drum for ages. If you can watch documentary about Molly Ivins who saw this writing on the wall in TX so many years ago
There are more like you and me here in Texas... We must not despair and just keep fighting. Though its hard. I'm finding myself looking at everyone these days thinking did you vote for this bs... I'm just not hearing the outrage over this behavior
Beto is certainly well known throughout Texas and almost beat Senator Cruz. His position on guns may be a problem in Texas and some Dems are mad at him for doing the presidential run. I do have a selfie with him and know he's a good guy.
I seem to recall from the movie “Cold Mountain”? Which is about the Civil War a line “we got our war” said with a lot of excitement. That is not how the movie or war ended. We seem, or some never see the consequences of their actions. Some of it is willful blindness. Which is why studying history is so important. Not to predict the future but to helps us to see better.
Thank you for tying today's events in Texas to the past by teaching that the Fourteenth Amendment abridges the power of states. I am ashamed to say that I did not know anything about the Fourteenth amendment before you began writing about it and its relevance to the Southern secession.
No shame necessary, Mike. Be proud that you are knowledgeable about something you did not know before and even prouder that you can bring that knowledge to others that you converse with. The more we understand our Constitution, the more we understand our civil rights and freedoms. And feel more respect for the democracy we choose through our vote.
I heard an interesting remark during a radio interview recently, that there are two u.s. constitutions. one was written before the civil war, and the other was written after it. One is restrictive and the other expansive. My observation is that at any moment people can appeal to one or the other, as they see fit. It is a bit like the old and new testaments. Meanwhile, I am waiting for someone to say, I want the state government out of my life! When you think about it, why do states still control federal elections?
It is here folks! NOW is the time. Early voting has started and the gears of elections are in motion. It is imperative to GOTV and help others do the same. Today I am grateful we have democrats in the house and senate because as last nights legislative agenda has demonstrated, our country desperately needs democrats to stay alive. And this applies to the state and local level elections. The margins are small and walls of defeat will spell disaster. I am taking action today and action everyday to get anyone I know to cast their ballot for democracy not authoritarianism. You can too. The time to take up arms is now … VOTE LIKE YOUR COUNTRY DEPENDS ON IT. God Bless my America too.
This! For the first time, I educated myself about who was running for my local school board. It’s amazingly simple to talk about that with neighbors, I’ve learned, especially parents. I’m working to get out the vote for those actually interested in educating children, rather than inculcating them with lies and making certain their version of history is taught. Time to be an active citizen. It is what a flourishing democracy requires! Thanks for the call to action!
Schools Boards wield tremendous power. So good good for you!
Here are the stats on my local school board. Look at the span of control these people have!
"JCPS operates 150 schools with more than 101,000 students, making it the 27th largest school district in the United States. In 2014–15 the system had a $1.1 billion budget and more than 18,000 employees. With a fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles, it operates one of the 10 largest transportation systems in the nation."
Holy cats! 18,000 employees and a 1.1 billion dollar budget 6 years ago! That’s a lot of power and muscle. Our system is about 40% that size but the critical part for me is how effective they are at educating, particularly with kids of color. We have a lot of new Americans living here from Africa and South Asia. We also have a large number of Mexican Americans and others of Central American ancestry, particularly El Salvador. So far, we have had people focused on education on the board but this year, there are 15 candidates for 4 spots and they include lots of right-wing radicals. My late husband was a teacher; so was my mom. Just trying to keep the focus on real education here.
Sorry for the dated numbers. I thought they were still pertinent. While we focused on National races and the State races the Republicans were seeding Local offices, election boards, school boards and judgeships. We need to catch up at the local level.
There are dedicated Educators in my family as well. A noble profession!
Sheila, I applaud your efforts in choosing school board members. Did you see this clip on Morning Joe today? Jennifer Jenkins, a board member in Brevard County, Florida, talked about the egregious threatening behavior towards her, including a false report to DCF (Dept. of Children and Families) where she had to take an investigator to her school's playground so that she could verify there were no "marks" on her child's body. Until we stop this intimidation, the only people who will want to serve on a school board are the right wing crazies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGl37e0iVg4
For our last local government elections I found that the LWV did not have even Q&A, and the city's newspaper (7th largest city in TX) no longer interviewed local candidates, and very few had a presence online or on Facebook with much more than a picture! How are voters even supposed to know anything about these people????
Sad to hear this, Pat. I would try calling the LWV to ask for their advice. Candidates will have to register some way and maybe the LWV would have some advice about how to access information on candidates’ views and opinions. I had no such struggle here so I have little to offer.
After decades of Worldwide scientific effort. Yacine Djibo reports in the October 10, 2021 NY Times that a successful malaria vaccine has finally been developed. As Yacine reports, malaria is a "preventable disease ... and yet around 400,000 people a year, mostly children" in sub-Saharan countries die from malaria. There is no cognitive dissonance nor any doubt about the use of this new vaccine in Senegal today.
Rachel discussed this last night; she did say that it's 50% effective. IMHO, given how many kids contract malaria, that's still better than nothing, which is what we had before.
Your comment is harsh and unkind Obviously, you have never seen anyone in the throes of malaria. In my years of humanitarian work, I've treated countless people with this. The life you save may be a future scientist, politician, teacher, nurse or physician who will do great things to improve the world. I'm very grateful for interventions that support health.
Thank you Nancy. paraphrasing Professor Marcella Nunez-Smith: "Fixes are not quick". We must deal with the "lived realities" with patience, fairness & scientific intelligence.
I find your statement to be filled with old-fashioned, well, there is no better word than ignorance. Are you among those who think the 715,000 American deaths by Covid a means of population control? God's will? Eradicating a disease is not the opposite of population control.
Under the Articles of Confederation, there were 13 independent states associated in a confederation that severely malfunctioned. Ultimately, as a desperate resort, delegates came to Philadelphia to restructure this failing states amalgam. Technically the federal system that resulted was illegal because it lacked the unions approval required under the Articles of Confederation, but this was smoothed over by George Washington’s submission letter to Congress.
Subsequently the issue of ‘states rights’ has waxed and waned, with the Civil War being one dramatic result. Now it is a ‘pick and choose’ issue for a number of Republican states. Some of the same states that bleat about ‘states rights’ are first in line to demand federal assistance during floods, hurricanes, and other national disasters. These funds come in good part from the disbalance between taxes collected in some states, including New York and New Jersey, and federal funds provided to tax-deficit states, especially in the South. Also, ‘states rights,’ as opposed to federal laws and traditions, are being touted by Republican governors and legislators, as they assiduously act to make voting a Republican privilege rather than a constitutional right. The hypocrisy of this ‘states right’ assault on the right to vote is undisguised, as revealed in Republican strategy papers: to curb non-white voting in a desperate effort to maintain an electoral advantage in a country where the white majority of citizens is diminishing every year.
The ‘states rights’ issue over slavery resulted in a devastating Civil War. What will be the ultimate result of the current specious ‘states rights’ assault on the constitutional right of all Americans to vote?
Thanks, Keith. I have not seen much discussion about the failed Articles of Confederation up to now, even though it seems obvious that the Republican radicals intend to go back to that model.
As I read HCR's column today, I concluded the Republican Party has set out upon a scorched earth agenda. It may be a challenge to call an entire group of people "consummate evil", but Republicans in my eyes fit that depiction perfectly. The dark soul of Republican hubris is killing our Republic with intention.
After learning of the sudden, unexpected death of my sister this last Sunday, I am forced to contemplate how much longer I want to keep aware. She was a centerpiece of my now 77 years, with me from the beginning of my entry into this world. Nine years my senior, she never stopped seeing me as her "little brother", no matter my age. We shared so much in common politically, along with a lifelong love of Charles Schultz' "Snoopy". She, Bobbie, married her high school sweetheart in 1954. Her sweetheart is heartbroken; devastated.
So, I must ask myself: Is my civic interest worth it? I have followed politics since my days as a young Airman with the U.S. Air Force. This country has not, like a fine wine, improved over time. It has soured into a toxic vinegar, despite the technological advances and all the protests to the contrary. "Keep up the good fight", they say. To what end, I ask? I am simply one small grain of sand in a sea of humans. All my protests, my boasts of dismay, my hundreds if not thousands of letters written have been to no avail. I love our Republic. Yet, she too, is facing certain death.
Vince, Your comment is full of feeling for Bobbie, even 'Snoopy' took a bow as did your civic attention and days as an Airman. With disappointments about America and evil acts, am I right that you won't give up on us, your fellowmen and women? Perhaps, withal, you cannot give up. With deepest condolences for Bobbie death. Please stay among us and find peace.
Fern, thank and Bless you! I will not give up. My mantra through the years has been, "Never give up, never give in." My anger and frustration is how those who SHOULD be listening to us are listening only to themselves. Yes, there is peace that surrounds me. Yet, I also am gripped by the reality of our current moment. Now is NOT the time to sit back and relax.
Ah, Kinsman, I am so sorry to hear of your sister’s unexpected passing. I am that sister to my sister; we were together last weekend for the first time in many months; we talked about death (as you must in these times) and she expressed a similar view as to what you shared.
I hope you find solace and comfort somewhere, and keep on with your warrior traditions.
Ah, yes, Celtic Woman! Thank you. As a neighbor said to me the other day, "Reflect on the good times." I responded, "There are so many, that will command lots of reflecting!"
Vince, I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved sister...words from strangers provide little comfort. Take time to mourn and remember your sister...she will continue to provide light in your life
As for the rest of your comment, I ask many of the same questions daily. I have no answers.
Daria, from my heart: Thank you so much! Bobbie was my Guardian Angel. I no longer can simply dial the phone and know that her chirpy Spirit will answer. That will take considerable getting used to. We went through so much together, including our dad's divorce and remarriage when I was 4 (to an absolutely WONDERFUL woman!) and our moving five times in as many years.
Solace in your time of grief. When ready please join the rest of us grains of sand as we may feel like giving up but realize we're all a part of our nation and the world.
Vince, my heart goes out to you. Such profound losses wound us deeply. You need time and small joys to heal. Step away if you need to-come back when you’re ready. We will hold a place for you in our hearts.
Considering that the more radicalized Republican governors, legislators and judges are locking down their states, what are their residents in opposition to do - in particular with voter suppression, judicial decisions and executive edicts? Can the federal government be of much if any help to them?
After reading the Letter, I sat quietly with an uncertain head. Did I have anything to write? I thought of a headline in yesterday's The New York Times, 'U.S. Hundreds of Police Officers Have Died From Covid. Vaccines Remain a Hard Sell.' Then I took a couple a few photos of the sunrise and texted one of them to a friend. Death is on my mind. I live in NYC. 34,402 of us have died from covid, 1 in 242. Morality, I think of that, too. The letter starts with Biggs and Roy. Abbott, DeSantis, McConnell, Trump rush to mind. Physical responses when writing their names are automatic. Mortality and Morality - tap, tap, tap - like scat singing. The breakdown of civil conduct may be at my door or in the park or anywhere. I looked for a poem.
I, Too
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes, "I, Too" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.
Thanks Fern, for your beautiful comment in this time of crisis. It conjures images of the calm before the storm.
The battle lines are now clearly drawn. A move must be made well before the midterms or the GOP wins by default if they can keep control of America’s mob mentality with the drumbeat of TFG’s grievance.
We are at an inflection point on which the characterization of the worlds societies for many generations to come now hinges. In the stillness we wait for the butterfly’s wingbeat to direct the tiniest of air currents to give direction to the hurricane to come.
I weep.
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Barbara, for me this poem gave me a moment’s respite from our political morass. Thank you!
Wendell Berry is one of my favorite poets. Thank you.
Thank you, Barbara, for this flight into the wild with every day life and freedom mingled in the space.
This has always been one of my favorite poems. Thank you.
Mine too.
Mine as well.
'In the stillness we wait for the butterfly’s wingbeat to direct the tiniest of air currents to give direction to the hurricane to come.' Thank you, Christian.
I, too, am weeping.
I have a good memory. I must have been about ten years old when this happened. An elementary school chum invited a bunch of his classmates to come over to his house for ice cream and cake to celebrate his birthday. No presents, just come. Included was the one Black in our class whom I encountered on the street after school as I headed for the party. "Come along," I said. He had been invited too, and I had heard it. We walked the few blocks to the party, and when we got there, the maid quickly shooed the Black boy into the kitchen to eat his ice cream and cake. And afterwards, we all played together and then went home. This was in Newark in about 1942 or thereabouts, seventeen years after Hughes wrote this poem and 25 years before the neighborhood where it happened was torn apart by rioting.
From my own experience in Segregated Mississippi
The White Side of Racism - June 19, 2010
"One summer my aunt was moving to Brookhaven and a huge semi moving van drove up to my grandmother's place. We were putting my aunt's stuff in a little house out back of the main house. Now in the rural South the midday dinner is the important meal of the day and Southern hospitality meant anyone visiting shared this big meal. So the white truck driver sat at our table in the kitchen, while my aunt fixed plates for his two black helpers who ate on the porch. It was the system and everyone seemed satisfied with it - but it did not go unnoticed as strange. "
My heart aches for that young, Black child. The 10 year old boy, culled from the others who laughted and joked while sharing cake and ice cream, lives in his memory to this day.
Jack, ...what a match for Langston Hughes....a trigger for the 'Brotherhood' of our youth... the ongoing sin of racism... And the 'maid'...
Fern, thanx for posting that Langston Hughes poem. Having seen the Southern idiocy in segregation days, where black ppl in restaurants prepared the food, but could not eat in the white side was so ludicrous. Why couldn’t they see this?
Hi Bob. It's good to see you. Sometimes, somethings hurt the same when remembered.
Does anyone know how to send a story to Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC? Yesterday she covered the horrendous Jon Gruden situation. There are two additional stories I wish she would cover but I can't find any way to send them to her. (can't "message" her on Twitter. The first one https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2021/texas-teens-whitfield-critical-race-theory/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F34ea64b%2F616065ce9d2fda9d4103d11d%2F5a04cd24ade4e230f7c7b06f%2F9%2F72%2F616065ce9d2fda9d4103d11dstill has some time for final resolution, so any "help" her exposure can give would be great. The second https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/10/us/politics/maryland-superintendent-racism-black-lives-matter.html is also noteworthy. It shows how "adults" along with their racism, continue to infect school systems and hurt their students.
When I send to her, I open the link and use the Twitter "share" to send it to her via @DeadlineWH. I also send it to the producers @MSNBC, because they seem to share stories with the various anchors.
OK...thanks. Just tried that.
Fern, another comment: I don't know if Nicole herself subscribes to HCR, but I am almost certain that someone on her staff does. She keeps up with literally everything going on, although she does have a drumbeat going with the voter rights and voter protections bills (thank heavens.) She and Rachel and Reid are all friends as well as anchors, and sometimes I think all three of them are accessing the same sources. From time to time, I could swear they all are paraphrasing bits and pieces of HCR, or maybe just taking advantage of the fact that Heather does such a thorough job researching and footnoting her newsletters!
You know what they say about great minds...
I thought you had asked for a way to get that important link to Nicole. I could easily have been mistaken. Sorry, if it was confusing! I completely agree with you about Heather.
Annette D. asked and you delivered. She thanked you as well. Cheers!
Excellent, but frustrating articles, Annette. Thanks for sharing.
Fern - what you’re thinking and feeling, I’m thinking and feeling. On one hand, we’re like strangers in a hospital waiting room, anxiously awaiting word on a loved one. On the other hand, borrowing from Gandhi, we’re the America we want it to be.
Thanks for sharing you and the lovely, simple and powerful poem by Langston Hughes. May his - and MLK’s - and our dreams for a better and more noble union come to pass - before they pass.
👍🏿👍🏾👍🏼👍🏻👍🏽👍🏼
Dear Fern, you’ve done it again! You have such a poignant gift, putting gut-wrenching emotions we are feeling into cathartic and do-something words. Thank you.💙
Thank you, Fern, for me giving pause.
This is beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
The 206 Republicans who voted to default violated their oaths of office to protect and defend the provisions of the Constitution, including the Fourteenth Amendment, so why are they not being held accountable? People who are willing to sacrifice the common welfare of their nation for the sake of a duplicitous, disgraced former president are not fit to hold public office in a democracy and should be removed, all 206 of them. The despicable actions of the Republicans are morally bankrupt and downright criminal. But since the American justice system no longer honors the rule of law, the "seemingly inexorable slide into likely violent conflict" noted by David Herrick seems imminent. I grieve for my country and the failure of its dysfunctional political system that has enabled a faction of sociopaths, scalawags and miscreants to hold the Constitution hostage.
Exactly Stuart. Where is the enforcement of our constitutional rights and obligations? Do our laws have any meaning if there are no consequences for breaking them? Are white Republicans exempt from the laws of our land? Has Democratic leadership become frozen in the headlights?
Two Trojan horses have infiltrated and Joe still thinks they are on his team
I’m not sure Joe believes they are on our team. But by pulling them in, instead of pushing them away, Democrats retain the majority in the Senate. It doesn’t seem to mean much because we are not progressing forward at a pace that is needed. But looking at if from another view you can consider what would happen again if Republicans still had the majority and McConnell held the power. It would be Obama all over again. Plus, they would spend all their time doing everything they could to make Democrats look bad. The committees would be focused on scam investigations. Afghanistan would be 100 times worse than Benghazi. I try to take heart in this.
We can do stuff with reconciliation. We can appoint real judges instead of Trump sycophants. We can hope the DOJ will do enough to turn the tide on the traitors who have violated their oath of office. If these guys don’t believe in government they shouldn’t even be in office.
Include in your grief the "unsuspecting generation" that allowed this to happen.
The Fourteenth Amendment either means what it says or we should rip up the whole document to which it is appended ... and start over. Our 1789 Constitution was filled with compromises which were necessary at the time, were proven insufficient in 1860 ... and today allow an unrepresentative minority to wield power through the way we elect our president, the overrepresentation of States in the Senate and the leaving the composition of the judiciary to that body. The English didn't think our experiment would succeed. They were correct but got the timing wrong. Look at the form of government used by most nations in the world! It ain't like ours.
Get this straight. I am not personally for throwing out the Constitution. A parliamentary system wouldn't help. There's nothing that a few Amendments wouldn't fix, as they have in the past. But if we ignore what it says, including its Amendments, we are headed in the wrong direction. When unconstitutional things are done, those who do them are accountable and must face the consequences. Otherwise we end up with libertarian anarchy which is where we are presently headed.
I understand. I can't find it for the moment, but I tooled around with the idea of nation re-building for the USA on January 15, 2015. Too long to post here. Cynicism mixed with hope. How to re-allign our constitution with what are our goals as a nation or reframe it?
And here is the problem: who will hold them accountable? The President cannot, by design. The courts cannot, by design. The only entity to which they are accountable is "the people," and they have gone mad.
Thanks, Heather, for yet another usefully alarming Letter. I would love it if you could also write some commentary for the NYT or the WaPo or even the WSG. In addition to your many other activities... Easy for me to say.
I wonder if it might not be a good moment to step back and look at the big picture (pretty grim) and consider how to save our country from it's seemingly inexorable slide into likely violent conflict. First, what are the (no doubt, disputable) facts?
-- Nationally, Democrats (+ independents) outnumber Republicans (+ other independents), assuming major polling is not way, way off.
-- Joe Biden did win the last election fair and square with a sizeable majority of the popular vote and zero evidence of any significant election fraud.
-- Republicans in the House and Senate know Trump lost, but see political and personal advantage in sustaining Trump's totally and deliberately false narrative about how the election was stolen from him. They are both corrupt and gutless.
-- The events of Jan. 6th were the result of a conspiracy at the highest levels of the Trump administration, and both he and his flunkies are involved up to their ears in a variety of illegal activity, some of it punishable by long prison sentences, or worse.
-- The Democratic Party is divided along a progressive-centrist line, with two senators behaving as GOP imposters, rendering the passage of Joe Biden's proposed legislation -- all of it -- unlikely, barring unforeseen events.
-- Americans, by a sizeable majority (again, if the polls are accurate) favor passage of all or most of the Biden agenda.
-- These same Americans (polls again) appear to be losing faith that Biden and Congress can get it done.
-- The SCOTUS is now firmly controlled by Federalist Society judges and is likely to interpret our Constitution in ways that will bring us to the brink of civil war.
-- Our amazing Constitution, well over 2 centuries since it was written, is no longer adequate as a roadmap for good government or the attainment of the ideals it embodies, and is in desperate need of clarifying amendment if we wish to continue to improve -- or even have -- our democracy and the benefits that derive from it.
-- Our democracy has been under attack from the right ever since the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s made it legal for Blacks and other minorities to fully participate in it, and the GOP has now -- through a reassertion of states' rights -- (nearly) reached it's objective of re-establishing firm control of government and society by White, propertied men.
-- Nearly half of adult American citizens sit out most elections.
-- The Citizens United SCOTUS decision essentially legalized large-scale political corruption by corporations and the ultra rich. Of course corruption takes two to tango, so we can assume many (if not all) of our elected representatives in Congress are also corrupt or corruptible, and that their real money is not to be found in promoting the common good, despite pretty generous salaries and benefits. Presumably, without this corruption, they might be able to do a better job.
No doubt, there are other important facts to be added to my list, but as time is running short for America, we need to decide SOON what to do about our situation, and then just do it. So, yes, we need to:
-- get out the vote;
-- call out every GOP lie and repudiate it loudly and repeatedly;
-- learn the art of the catchy sound-bite, even if it offends our sensibilities;
-- contribute time and MONEY to Democratic candidates;
-- NOT GIVE UP because this is all so depressing and because we haven't lived 60 or 70 or 80+ years just to see our beloved America taken over by a bunch of ignorant, malevolent racist yahoos, and because we all know the GOP doesn't really want to fuck with the stock market, and we'll all be dead before the worst of it.
-- put on our old no-nukes and peace buttons and hit the streets ready to resist if all else fails, as millions of warm Democratic bodies will outweigh the maga-morons in the final analysis, but sitting at home watching TV or glued to a smart phone weighs little or nothing.
IMHO, the best place to start would be for Merrick Garland to order the FBI to carry out mass arrests of the real planners (no, not the guy with the horns) and leaders of the Jan. 6th insurrection, and do it before Congressional hearings, not as a response to them. In fact, it irritates me no end that this has not already happened. If the Trumpies riot, Biden should call in the military to suppress and arrest.
Then arrest McConnell on general principle.
Then if Texas and Florida decide to secede, let them go. (I know there are some great Texans and Floridians who read the Letter and would hate this. Don't worry, we'll get both states back later.)
"Our amazing Constitution, well over 2 centuries since it was written, is no longer adequate as a roadmap for good government or the attainment of the ideals it embodies, and is in desperate need of clarifying amendment if we wish to continue to improve "
I was not able to see what the amendment would be in your writing?
I am not sure that we need any amendments. In fact, I think not.
The Constitution, and its current amendments, if followed and respected, are enough.
The challenge today is that overweening white men, raised with no boundaries and later in life learning no respect for anything but their own gain, are IGNORING the Constitution because it places limits on what they want.
IF we just make it illegal to ignore the Constitution, like Trump did, and I think we already did by defining Treason and Sedition as crimes in the Constituion, AND we prosecute that effectively and rapidly, we would be OK.
However, Biden and his team appear either hesitant or completely unable to initiate Trump's prosecution for Treason.
So, Trump, who has already learned there are no limits on what he can do within American society, learns again, that there are no limits for rich, white men.
Mike, I like your argument and mostly agree with it. However, somehow, perhaps without enough Americans seeing it this way, our elected leaders have managed to drive our nation into a ditch despite our most admirable Constitution with its supposed checks and balances. Now we are at a tipping point (possible GOP victory in 2022) that would, I believe, be the end of our democracy and, as a practical matter, the end of constitutional government.
The GOP's clever and patient project to pack the SCOTUS with rightwing, ideologically motivated judges has succeeded, almost beyond their wildest dreams. Nothing in the Constitution has stood in their way. They do not even need Chief Judge Roberts' vote to have a majority.
You and I agree that the Constitution -- at least potentially -- provides remedies for all of Trump's and the GOP's abuses, but who gets to interpret and establish the modern meaning of our Constitution? The SCOTUS. And every remedy the Democrats might try to change this, such as by adding judges or adding states will be challenged in court by the GOP and ultimately decided by... guess who?
The only long-term remedy I see is amending certain parts of the Constitution, starting with everything pertaining to voting and elections that is now left to individual states. Further, it should be clear that the right to freedom of expression is an individual right, not a corporate right determined by access to enormous wealth (Citizen's United), and the means of financing political campaigns should also be set out (at least in general terms) in the Constitution so as to avoid giving the advantage to rich folks. I mean, I figure wealth is its own reward, perfectly legitimate if achieved legally, but should not a means to political power. Just amending the Constitution to address these problems would help a lot. Then I would eliminate the Electoral College and have the overall popular vote determine who becomes President, and I would either eliminate the Senate altogether or expand it by making the number of Senators from each state proportional to population. That way the majority rules. The Bill of Rights could also stand a little updating to better protect individuals from the majority and government abuse. The second amendment needs to be clarified in such a way as to permit both federal and state control of guns. A right to universal healthcare should be established (It's in the Italian Constitution). I could go on, but I'm sure you understand my position on this.
I mean, history moves along, people change, other things change, and now we live in a world the founders would find nearly unrecognizable. They wrote an amazing document, but in my opinion it is not a perfect document, nor is it adequate for today's world.
Of course, I am aware that changing the Constitution is extremely difficult and requires 2 super-majorities before any amendment can take effect. This, itself, may be yet another inadequacy of our Constitution.
I think we should mandate voting. We know how much those guys hate mandates.
How about do it like the Italians? Require all citizens and permanent residents to have a picture ID issued by the government at no cost and with minimal bureaucracy. Yes, a legal obligation with possible fines for people who fail to get one. Then, when they get their ID card about a week or 10 days after applying for it, citizens are issued a voting card with their name and address, and the address of the nearest polling place on it, as well as squares to be rubber-stamped each time they vote.
Yep, they're all registered to vote whether they want to or not. Simple, easy, cheap and relatively fool proof. Though deciding which among ten or more parties to vote for is a bit less simple. Seems to work for the Italians in any case.
We had better or die
I looked up the process of amending the Constitution. In addition to having to have 2 super majorities, it's required that 3/4 of the states' legislatures must ratify an amendment. Currently the R's have 22 trifectas and Dems have 15 and divided legislatures in 13 states. Percentages of parties break down: R's 54.22%; Dems 44.68%. I fear that if the tRump Republican party take control of any more states in 2022, they could pull off a Constitutional Convention and chose to not allow any Democrats to participate, since there's no rules about who/how it's carried out. We KNOW they cheat whenever possible.
Hi Barbara. Yes, you're right, the two super majorities make amending the Constitution difficult unless there is really broad popular agreement on an issue so that both parties are inclined to vote in favor, and it's the 3/4 of the States needed to ratify that makes it practically impossible to do it, especially with our nation politically divided, urban versus rural. For what it's worth, I think that making it so difficult to amend the Constitution is a serious oversight on the part of the founders who did not imagine either today's world or a that a Donald Trump might ever be elected President. In fact, it is so difficult that I seem to be the only person - at least among readers of the HCR's Letter - trying to give it some serious thought.
I guess I will keep plugging away, however, because of the risk that the U.S Constitution may soon find itself on the dustbin of history if things keep going the way they are. And if the GOP does manage to hold a Democrat-free constitutional convention, it will only be window dressing for what would be their already successful coup d'etat, now well advanced but not quite a done deal. By then, freedom of speech and assembly will be rapidly receding in our collective rear-view mirror. It's a sad enough scenario that I am dedicating most of my waking hours to worrying about it, not because I feel personally threatened by it here in Italy (where I live) but because I have lots of family and friends in the USA, all good Democrats like me, who are still in denial. Very sad indeed.
Careful on this! Remember that the US Constitution is a general guideline. An example of very unwieldy is the state Constitution of TX that is constantly having amendments added for very specific items for things only for 1 localized area in the state, etc.
I agree, Pat. Changing the Constitution shouldn't be too easy, but not impossible either. Perhaps reducing the number of ratifying states to two thirds but keeping the time limit. Actually, the real problem is political and ideological, and it may be that no constitution
David, love your ideas, but remember the ERA? Never ratified.
Cheri, I do remember the ERA and that it seemed like a foregone conclusion. Well, so much for slam dunks. And doing anything like that now would be impossible, but time passes, things change, people change and the impossible becomes possible. Of course, living long enough to see it is the hard part.
What you propose will probably take 100 years since "wheels of justice turn slowly". Our planet will probably look very different too, eh?
Hi, Lynn.
Well, the wheels of justice have a good reason to turn slowly, as this limits the possibility of injustice, at least in individual cases. But if the DEMs could just get out a big vote and win a couple of landslide elections, then find a bit of courage somewhere, they could pretty much have their way with the Constitution. Not easy, but hardly unthinkable.
Also, in part because we have the technological tools to do things rapidly, and in part because a couple of key changes regarding voting and campaign finance would greatly change our currently stagnant political system, I think there could be major improvements to the Constitution within.... our lifetimes?
I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for another 20 years or so before I check out. Who knows? Maybe our scienze wizards will develop a vaccine against aging. Of course, that might be a real can of worms. In the end, it looks like we may all get roasted.
Can of worms for sure!
I fear that you are right, and Democrats have no bull horn to counter Rupert’s 24/7 blasting of hate, lies, slander, and righteous inane nonsense. Buying the WSJ was the best move he ever made. He can keep pretending to be a “journalist” and who will say NO. Not our MSM. Nor do we have Frank Luntz’ pithy sound bites to make Schitt smell like roses. Propaganda has buried us all.
The problem isn't with the Constitution. The problem is with Americans. We've been professionally propagandized, to the point that the Trump Republicans are calling for fire to rain down from heaven on their own heads.
It's a conceptual problem: what do you do in a democracy when half (or more) of the population doesn't want a democracy, but wants slave-owning Puritanism? And is so completely messed-up in their heads that they think slave-owning Puritanism IS democracy?
Joseph, I think yours is an excellent comment, though it leaves little room for hope that our democracy is salvageable. It's as if, as a society, we are afflicted with Dissociative Identity Disorder (commonly known as a split personality) and cannot find a cure.
In the past, we as a nation have been able to somehow pull ourselves together and move on even from the most divisive of domestic crises and international emergencies, usually with our Constitution as our guide and a number of human and social characteristics -- and a common language -- to unite us, even as we have disagreed profoundly over specific issues.
It used to be that in our spacious national terrain, we could always move around (literally, psychologically, metaphysically, whatever, you name it) until we found a comfortable spot and could console ourselves with our national myths and other distractions, no matter what sort of weird behavior our compatriots were indulging in. We were almost proud of how badly people could behave without it seeming to endanger the whole enterprise. I mean, we knew we were not all potential Charles Mansons. It was live-and-let-live, just as long as you don't break my balls (as even Italian women sometimes say in their musical language).
But it seems this has changed. What once seemed to be a kind of widespread superior aloofness with respect to those we disdained has changed into unending righteous outrage at every manifestation of "their" stupidity, ignorance, greed, selfishness, immorality, lack of self-awareness, culpable gullibility, pervasive perfidiousness and general hatefulness, resulting in a near universal reciprocal intolerance that renders futile every attempt to find common ground so as to save our nation and our democracy from ourselves. In fact, many of us do not believe there can be any common ground, not now, not any more, not with "them".
And, of course, a few blessed Americans are still trying figure what all this fuss is about.
How in hell did we get to this place? I would say it has a lot to do with unresolved racial inequality exacerbated by extreme economic inequality and uncertainty made intolerable by inadequate opportunity and substandard public education for all but the privileged, most of whom continue to be white, finally leading to... profound disappointment and sense of failure.
Then we are expected to endure all these uns and ins and subs causing dis, while addicting ourselves to simultaneous access to everything instantaneously via our handheld devices, the most insidious drug ever made available to the masses
Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock could get us to the end of this film in such a way that when it ends and the lights come up, and we stand up and stretch our legs and gather our belongings before we walk calmly out of the theatre into the fresh air, we'll be able to nod and offer a friendly wink to perfect strangers without wanting to strangle them instead.
I am hoping Joe Biden has a hidden talent as great or greater than the late director. If I believed in God, I suppose I would be praying to him/her/it daily, even hourly. I guess I will find out if just trusting in people's reason and hoping against all odds will do the trick.
Wish I felt more hopeful. I don't.
I see this balanced on a knife edge of unknowns.
No coup is the same as any other coup, but again, they are all the same. I think we've already passed the "normal" point of no return. It happened when the entire Republican party capitulated to Trump.
On the other hand, I'm not sure it will actually succeed. The Trumpites are very much in the minority, and their only hope of success is the inaction of the majority. Which is -- under normal circumstances -- a sure thing. But these are not normal circumstances, and as cleverly evil as the Steve Bannons and as lickspittle as the Kevin McCarthys may be, I don't think they can predict the outcome, either.
You didn’t mention the 40 years of non stop propaganda, painting people like me, old retired counselor as evil. The cult is, like most cults, bordering on the insane. Look around. BTW, Hitch made a film re the Holocaust that didn’t have a happy ending. He knew first hand how cults could take over many sane minds.
Nailed it, exactly. Dems don’t seem to get it either
"However, Biden and his team appear either hesitant or completely unable to initiate Trump's prosecution for Treason.
I tend to believe the 'hesitant' hypothesis in terms of Biden's team prosecuting Trump for Treason. The question is, why are they hesitant in doing so? Are there backroom deals being deliberated by dealmakers on what can be exposed or not exposed to the public? A higher level of quid pro quo which the public will never be made aware of?
I'll vote for the democratic candidates, but there is a deep level of corruption in our infrastructure which bothers me the most. We have to find honorable, qualified candidates for office who will take an oath before God and country as to their incorruptibility--an oath in which they agree to accepting serious penalties if they neglect to honor their oath. And we have to follow through on giving them true punishment and not give them a short stretch at Club Fed where the most stress they face is finding a doubles' partner for tennis.
As to mass arrests, the wheels of justice turn slowly, and we do not want these cases messed up for the sake of political expediency.
Texas and Florida have a lot more sanity and progressiveness than indicated by their reactionary power tripping governors and Republican legislators.
The Democrats are actually quite united, with two outliers. HCR’s money is on Pelosi power.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-a-bias-toward-action/comments
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/now-then/id1567665859?i=1000538338905
Please clarify what the 'two outliers' are andll what you meant by 'HCR's money is on Pelosi power'. While I can guess what you meant by the latter, it would be best for you spell out you thoughts a bit more. The first link is only the comments of a few subscribers on the hubbell's substack. Is that would you intended? Thanks
Fern, I think the outliers are Manchin and Sinema, who really are gumming up the works and making a salvageable situation hopeless. Democrats my ass.
Thank you, David, but I would like to know what Ellie meant by it.
Well, Fern, that's what I thought she was referring to. Maybe she'll see your comment and give you the answer.
Hi Fern. Outliers are addressed in Robert Hubbell’s Sustack:
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-a-bias-toward-action
HCR’s comments are from listening to her podcast in the link provided.
Well, then, how about targeted arrests? And you're right, we shouldn't be too hasty about ditching Texas and Florida. I was kind of kidding. Not too funny, I guess.
Most of the red states screaming to secede couldn’t possibly survive without the current federal infusion from mostly blue donor states. That’s what’s so stupid about the argument. I’d love to cut them loose and have some real border control - especially no entrance without a vaccination. Seems the reality of it would end the experiment.
I just realized why Empty Green asked if the states should divorce - she wants alimony.
"Empty Green," bwahaha! Brilliant.
This is classic.
😂
Of course the red state rabble has no clue of their dependency on federal tax dollars from blue states. I know I'm unfairly painting with too broad of a brush. But I can't help but picture the mouth-breather rage of the Jan. 6.
Sure. It’s the “Get your federal hands off my Medicare” coalition.
Hi Grace. Of course, if people are dumb enough to refuse the vaccine, they might also be dumb enough to forego their federal "infusions". Stay tuned...
Until there’s a natural disaster perhaps.
I buy it all except the “arresting McConnell on general principle.”
Everything we do has to be by the book and not driven by the same, but “our side” reptilian-brain reactions we see from the DJT base, or we do leave ourselves wide open to losing the strength gained by the sane, ordered, and lawful actions you brilliantly outlined.
So you have a great plan except for making a martyr out of Moscow Mitch.
With DJT folks growing more and more disgusted with him, he’ll eventually be caught in the crossfire of losing quarter on both sides. Don’t know what will happen but maybe he’ll finally be voted out in 4 years. We can dream, yes?
SCOTUS is another thing. You are so right about Citizens United.
Start your voter registration and GOTV campaigns now, folks. 2022 elections are on us and we’ll be tested like never before. The fifty+year Karl Rove takeover plan of the Reagan era has been actualized more quickly thanks to DJT. State houses are crucial battlegrounds. Find good candidates to oppose the right-wing state house folks and to run for those other pivotal offices. All politics is local — and it all adds up to a horrific 2022 if we don’t get on it with voter registration, education.
It comes down to the trauma of our losing our voices, the exact trauma old white men have perpetrated against women and people of color, using power and corruption to steal Native American land, kidnap and enslave, exploit, and exhaust buy using fear, terror and division since long before but the of our miraculous nation.
We must use our voices now or lose them for years to come. Check out the Poor People’s Campaign and the Rev. Dr. William Barber. We need to join with and help his campaign, run good people for local offices, secure as many state houses as is possible, win 2022 and add more justices to SCOTUS, overturn Citizens United.
To TRULY bring about real and lasting change that will prevent this oppression and historical abuse?
It will take a generation to effect real and lasting behavioral change that leads to people not traumatizing already traumatized people. It will take a generation or more, but lasting change takes time. If you REALLY want to effect change start now by joining or starting local initiatives supported by PACEsConnection.com to learn how trauma-informed and healing-centered schools, business, communities of faith, courts, law enforcement, health care — all sectors — in each and every community can and will restore us to sanity. At the end of they day we must come together on what we love — our children — or be crushed.
See and share this visual to understand and help.
https://www.pacesconnection.com/g/edgecombe-county-NC-aces-connection/blog/path-to-a-just-society-our-new-infographic-shares-common-language-and-an-aspirational-path
And join us for this series on “Historical trauma in America.” We would love to have HRC for our 11.18 webinar!
https://www.pacesconnection.com/blog/518115588559189877
Thank you.
csipp@pacesconnection.com
Yeah, sorry about my suggestion for what to do with Mitch McConnell. I'll try to control my excesses of partisan zeal from now on. Happily, there's a toasty place in Hell awaiting him. No need to be too impatient. Better to save the best for last.
I totally agree with this David:"IMHO, the best place to start would be for Merrick Garland to order the FBI to carry out mass arrests of the real planners (no, not the guy with the horns) and leaders of the Jan. 6th insurrection, and do it before Congressional hearings, not as a response to them. In fact, it irritates me no end that this has not already happened. If the Trumpies riot, Biden should call in the military to suppress and arrest."
This should be a matter for law enforcement, not a debate.
Totally.
Don't want to, David Herrick, but I LOVE THIS! Gotta say it: Especially, "Then arrest McConnell on general principle." Gave me a chuckle and a reason to live to fight -- and enjoy -- another day. Peace. Out.
Floridian here: that's ok, David, Most of us will be underwater or, in my case, in Ireland. Just have to figure out how to get the grandboys out with us!!!! Seriously, thank you for your thoughtful post--even the secession part, which I would amend to say that Abbot and DeSantis are the ones who need to "get out"!!!
Yes, I intended that to by the light part of my otherwise gloomy commenting today.
Agree with most of this except for arresting McConnell. There must still be rule of law. Watergate took 2 yrs ro prosecute the criminals. Yes we all want to see justice but it must be done by the law. Arresting Mitch would be like the GOP / trump arresting Hillary. Not the road you want to go down as a nation unless you want fascism.
America is at a perilous moment...civil war 2.0 I foresee, I fear something similar to Robespierre during French Revolution and then after months of conflict a new beginning. Praying for cooler heads for my American friends and that democracy wins.
Yeah, you're right Doreen, better to follow the law scrupulously and not make martyrs for the GOP to exploit. Let's just wait for Mitch to screw himself. Better sooner than later.
Will SCOTUS be expanded? Will Kavanaugh be investigated and possibly impeached? Clarence Thomas' wife involvement in Jan. 6th - would that be cause enough for him to be investigated? We must have Voting Rights secured and end gerrymandering. And the Highest Court should not be a Federalist Court. But without the ability to vote and be heard and represented we can't do anything.
90% with you! And Merrick Garland is doing the job. It will get done right.
Hey, Merrick, put it where it hurts!
Merrick Garland seems in fact not to be doing the job, and we were told early on that Biden doesn’t want to further divide the country by calling the Former Guy to account.
Well, Ms. Campbell, Biden is only human. I expect that if his agenda continues to be stymied by Congress, he may change his mind.
My kid and his family live in Austin and that's my destination after my husband dies.
However, my daughter in law was born in Canada and now that school shootings have started again, they are thinking of moving to Canada.
We lived in Austin from 2010 to 2012. I loved the culture there but hated being land locked and the heat would be so bad I couldn’t go from the car to the grocery without getting a migraine. It was a nightmare for me. Also, the traffic was a serious problem and only getting worse. Thankfully being retired you wouldn’t have to face it. I read there was a 40% increase in home prices and their homes are starting to be on par with California now. But, their construction is crap in comparison. California protects it’s consumers and home buyers and you can see the difference. We have building codes that are enforced. We were hit by the lack of them in New Hampshire and Texas leaving us with costly repairs.
There is also the power grid and fire dangers in Texas. When we were there firefighters were cut by 70%. The Governor, Perry I think, said if there was a fire other states would send resources. The. There was a big one that burned way more than it should have because you have to wait for resources to arrive. They’re not just sitting in your state ready to go.
We returned to San Diego and couldn’t think of a better place to live. I’ve lived in 11 states and I promise to never move again.
Hi Sharon. My clearest memory of Texas -- well, apart from JFK's assassination -- was getting off a motorcycle on a cold winter day (in 1970? 71?) halfway across the Panhandle and and realizing that -- apart from a straight line of weather-beaten telephone poles all the way to both horizons, I was the tallest thing in sight for 360°. It blew my mind, so I had to sit down on the frozen dirt and take a couple of deep breaths before continuing on to California. California Dreaming. The folly of youth.
Could it be that all that flatness has led over time to, um, a kind of mental flatness? Or perhaps to arrogance, you know, the feeling that you tower over everything? Like J.R Ewing? He was a tall man. Or Greg Abott?
Naw, Greg Abott's not a real person! What am I thinking?
Lot of wind in Texas, they must be famous for their wind.... the dust, too.
Anyway, there's a lot of really great, long-suffering Democrats in Texas. (Just not quite enough. Not yet.)
Lol! I lived in Texas twice. The fist time was for basic training in San Antonio and tech school in Wichita Falls in 1977. It was incredibly flat but made for great horseback riding. Things were different then. But there are so many things you never learn about a state until you become a resident and consumer.
Hi Sharon. Yeah, it's such a big state, there must be a lot of hidden treasure. I've always wanted to take a hike in Big Bend NP, but I haven't done it yet. Maybe in March if the Covid situation is under control.
Canada is having problems also. My Canadian born son in law works for Microsoft on a green card and has for maybe 30 years, thus granddaughter has duel citizenship. They will head for Canada I am sure.We are looking at both north and south areas.
Well, once Guy Clark died, I kinda lost interest.
(just kidding)
At the dawn of our peril, we awaken, seeing the carnage potential, and VOTE, as if our very lives depend upon suffrage. We awaken, called to the cause of democracy. Rising up, we VOTE.
Tim Synder's great little book "On Tyranny" says Vote as if it is the last time you'll be allowed to vote! We have one year to turn this around or November 2022 will be that last time.
Snyder inspires. Our job is to do!
We sandwich the vote with protections.
First we support/demand passage of S.4 - John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, S.2615 - Right to Vote Act, and H.R.4959 - Right to Vote Act. These laws need to be passed to mitigate gerrymandering and to ensure untampered counting of the vote (no state overrides).
Then register new voters and register more new voters.
Then we Get Out The Vote, including support with transporting folks to the polls, whatever it takes to keep it fair and safe!
"Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) voter mobilization organization launched a new voter registration tool on Thursday, days after the Texas legislature approved a controversial elections overhaul bill that many say will restrict access to the ballot box.
The group, Powered by People, launched the “Drive-to-You” program, an on-demand voter registration service that will allow eligible Texas voters to register to vote from their homes."
September 2021
If you can support Powered by People
I’m with you Ellie, but unless the voting rights acts are passed, and they seem to be in trouble because they haven’t been to date, it won’t matter how many people are voting because the state legislatures will throw out the votes they don’t like, just like they are planning to do here in GA. Voting rights has to come first everything else is dressing on the cake including both infrastructure bills one of which should be called the for the children act.
100%. But I fear that even if the Voting rights acts are passed, the Supreme Court will overturn them. The "Republican party" won't let laws like that live.
Election day in VA for new governor is November 2. I early-voted. Now, postcard writing to 200 prospective Virginia voters to cast their ballots.
Hooray for you, Lynell--you are a heroic postcard writer!
Robert Hubbell links us to a new helper: Jessica Craven
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/chop-wood-carry-water-1012
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-a-bias-toward-action/comments
Morning, Ellie! Have Hubbell's..Will check out chopwood!
I’m really worried about VA, because the Vote Forward letter writing campaign has many names available. This indicates absence of enthusiasm? Or, not understanding the urgency of the race? You can pick up 5 names at a time with a this Saturday 10/16 mail date. ❤️🤍💙
Me, too, worried, gildedtwig. All I know to do is to keep writing til the deadline.
Just signed up for a bunch more, thanks!
Hey, gildedtwig. If you think that during the 2020 election there were 80+ million people who did NOT vote, it's maybe not surprising that there are so many names available. I agree, there probably are a sizeable number who do not understand the urgency of this race.
Me, too, but not 200. I do as many as I can without getting tired. Postcards to Voters is my go to for the latest VA candidates.
Here's mine, and thank you, Pam: https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/
I made up my own message:
Already voted? Great!
If not, there is a ballot reserved just for you! So come on down and claim your right to vote!
For polling locations and hours, visit: elections.virginia.gov
Election Day is November 2
Thank you!
Thanks for this, Lynell !
Me too, Lynell - over 200 postcards to Virginia’s eligible voters and with Vote Forward 80 letters to Virginians, and still writing ✍️
Thanks, Nancy! As dark as it may appear right now, I am invoking my "inner John Lewis." Never could I imagine being literally beaten for wanting my freedom to vote. I can do no less than to carry his message forward.
If I recall, Steve Bannon has been saying for years that the goal is to burn everything to the ground. They’re not playing to the base, they’re executing the plan.
Exactly. My gast has been flabbered to exhaustion
Here’s what I mean. This and the Pandora Papers seem to tell the tale:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gq.com/story/steve-bannon-shadow-president/amp
They have scared me for a very long time
And Bannon is deeply in bed with foreign interests who want to see us devolve into chaos. If there ever was a traitor, he fits the bill.
Back in the day, Jerry Rubin was asked, "And what then, when it all has been reduced to rubble?" He is reported to have replied, "Groove on the rubble." Ex nihilism nihil fit.
Have none of these people seen Jurassic Park? Once unleashed, you can’t control the chaos. Sometimes, not even if you’re rich.
How about this as an ethics complaint:
I am a citizen of Iowa, a voter and a constituent of Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Joni Ernst.
I wish to raise an ethics complaint against them for failing to abide by their duty under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment’s prohibition of questioning the “public debt of the United States.”
Congress created the ‘debt ceiling’ years ago and we seem to be caught in its clutches repeatedly, more frequently of late. However, since the Constitution forbids questioning the debt [it does not forbid deciding how to create it, just deciding not to pay on it], it is unethical for members of Congress to vote to question the public debt and prevent the government from meeting its debts.
I am not certain of the exact form to use for this complaint, but as a constituent of two Senators who voted to question the public debt, I am certain this will suffice.
Government spending funds "tyranny"? Well... inasmuch as government spending pays the salaries of the Republicans who encouraged the January 6th coup attempt and are trying to ensure safe and equal voting rights, he's right.
It is hard to swallow these were words coming out of my representative's mouth. Rep. Chip Roy. Do they really start to believe what they are saying? It just boggles my mind. Democrats need to take the high ground of morals and family values.
True colors coming out. Adam Schiff told a story of sitting next to Kevin McCarthy on a flight, chatting, and then learning that McCarthy told the press the opposite of what Schiff actually said. And this was in 2010, long before trump and his crew were accusing facts of being "fake news" as they themselves perpetrated fake news and ultimately the Big Lie.
McCarthy is a viper of another McCarthy era. I’m old, I remember Rupert’s dismantling of our media network, i remember Lee Atwater, Newt, Roger Ailes, and other power-hungry vipers, and I feared for what we see today. The pit is full of vipers.
Can't a way be found to send Rupert Moloch & Co. back to Australia and keep them there?
Damage limitation. Homegrown lords of the media jungle have been more than sufficient to poison the minds of millions.
He and his have sabotaged your country and mine (Britain) more than enough.
Indeed, he has poisoned the minds of legions, and yet he is untouched.
And McCarthy said to Adam’s face that he knew he lied but “that’s how things are done” in DC politics. !!
Ordered Shiff's book. Pray it helps.
MaryPat, the bad ones won't keep you down. You are democracy's keeper.
I agree....
I hope American corporations recognize the health, economic and political risks for their businesses and act against these authoritarian and anarchist Republicans by withholding ALL donations from those who participate in creating the chaos and tyranny.
Living, working and prospering in civil society carries responsibilities. We must all take responsibility and demand it of others.
This is right on. Considering the dominant (excessively so) role of business in our lives, companies have a civic responsibility to address this madness, not to mention their own fiscal health or even survival. In the case of publicly traded companies, they have a legal obligation to protect shareholders.
If they think it's challenging now to hire and retain people or sell goods and services, imagine if there's the violence the right so craves. Add into this tragic mix the rampage of diseases that the Jim Jordans apparently want to unleash in the name of a demented freedom.
It's all madness.
For someone living in Texas, this was a difficult letter to read. Rep. Chip Roy is my representative and I really thought he hadn't drunk that much of the Kool Aid. This makes me realize how fast this insanity is spreading and how deeply this is affecting Texas politics. Are they really so scared of the extreme right-wingers that they have to become one? I wrote a letter to Rep. Roy and my Senators Cornyn and Cruz on stopping the dangerous political shenanigans of the debt ceiling and to get rid of it all together. How do I get back to the Rational World? What can I do to make a difference in Texas? Does the general public understand how close we are to the end of democracy? Yesterday I was encouraged by two things - 1) the NY Times and Washington Post articles by moderate Republicans saying vote democrat 2) that Taiwan is doing great things with civic tech which may the harbinger on how digital democracy will give us a true democracy rather than a representative one with tools that can help people develop consensus etc.
Today's good news from Texas is that American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, among other major corporations, are defying Gov. Abbidiott's latest ban on Covid vaccine/testing requirements for employees.
Yes. They(the airlines) want to keep the business from crashing. Who in the world would geton an airplane where these concerns were not taken into account. Gov Abbot is no business man. He gets paid whether his constituents live or die. If he ran a business this way consumers would chose different “ airline”. Don’t really understand the TX voters.
Glad to see the FAA called out the lies of Cruz et al blaming flight cancellations on the vaccine mandate. But alas, I had to learn that from Jimmy Kimmel.
Love the name "Abbidiot"!
The first thoughts that comes to mind on Taiwan's "digital democracy" and similar "AI" applications elsewhere are of course questions:
1/ who controls, writes and can rewrite the software and how safe is it from outside interference?
2/ who audits the vercity of the results?
3/ down to what level in terms of nickles and dimes do you require a citizens vote on decisions to be taken?
4/do you oblige people to vote?
5/what are the exceptions for "emergencies" however they are defined and whoever defines them and who controls their declaration?
6/what happens when the power is "out" as recently in Texas or Lebanon?
5/who do you go to if you have a gripe or a problem if there are no representatives?
In the end I come back to Chrurchill's famous quote from an unknown source ......
“democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” Much better to have someone up there who both listens to you and fights for you. The problem with the current system is that once elected our representatives often permit themselves to do neither. It is time we voted in people who understand their obligations to us.
Stuart, I believe there are technical answers to many/all of your questions. Here's the article on Taiwan and their consensus social media algorithms for example that I find so intriguing. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/taiwan-democracy-social-media If Facebook switched to this algorithms would the hate go away. Perhaps.
If true consensus is built through any method, then there is no room for division. That is what has diminished, in my opinion , in the last decade.
I find when talking to others that the concept of consensus is murky even to its simple definition.
I know a few kindergarten teachers that I would nominate as leaders. The first thing a good teacher does with students fresh to school and a class community is to develop consensus. Which is based on needs and participation of all involved.
Simple yet astounding in its ability to build civic discourse.
Taiwan is a society that seeks consensus as was and nolonger is the US.
The only way the U.S. is exceptional now is exceptionally bad.
Hello Stuart. A similar quote Churchill is attributed to have said about Americans: that we can always be counted on to do the right thing - once we have tried everything else. Now is the time to stop trying "everything else". Unfortunately, this seems to be the way we build consensus in this country: we try a series of easy, novel, stupid, or even counterproductive ideas until we're focused by a crisis. "AI democracy" is a novel idea who's time has not yet come, even without all the concerns you've laid out. Kagan's article on the constitutional crisis spells out some simple (not easy) actions that need to be taken. Here is the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/23/robert-kagan-constitutional-crisis/ . I wonder if an effective tactic may be to write to "lukewarm Trumpers", along with other moderate Republican leaders pointing out the fact that, in Trump's America, they will have no place in government, only "uber-loyalists" will have any real power.
I think well-regulated representative democracy is the way to go. Haven't we already entrusted too much of our political discourse to the internet?
We seem to have lost that, slip, sliding away…
I agree. People are too easily stirred up. This is one reason the founding fathers give more weight to the more stable (at the time) countryside and less to volatile cities, where it was easy to influence many people quickly. They created a gov’t which does not function quickly in normal circumstances. Of course, nowadays you can stir up the countryside as easily as you can the cities.
Good questions. Two things strike me from what I have read about the civic platform. 1) there is a non-comment based ( no trolls) process through which the interaction and feedback of people builds the consensus: 2) there is deliberate & structured interface with the governing body. A cyber step up from our polling and focus groups?? Not sure. Anything can be hacked, I guess. But it is definitely intriguing and probably appeals to a younger crowd. Worth watching.
My goodness! Your letter reminds me of a lobster thrown in the pot who just realizes she is being boiled alive! Your so called representatives have been banging this drum for ages. If you can watch documentary about Molly Ivins who saw this writing on the wall in TX so many years ago
There are more like you and me here in Texas... We must not despair and just keep fighting. Though its hard. I'm finding myself looking at everyone these days thinking did you vote for this bs... I'm just not hearing the outrage over this behavior
The general public that I converse with, dies not. "They don't want to talk about it, STILL!"
DeNile is not just a river in Africa
YIKES!
Oops, does not
Agree on all points. Very interested in learning more about Taiwan. How does it look for Beto in TX Governor race? ❤️🤍💙
Beto is certainly well known throughout Texas and almost beat Senator Cruz. His position on guns may be a problem in Texas and some Dems are mad at him for doing the presidential run. I do have a selfie with him and know he's a good guy.
I seem to recall from the movie “Cold Mountain”? Which is about the Civil War a line “we got our war” said with a lot of excitement. That is not how the movie or war ended. We seem, or some never see the consequences of their actions. Some of it is willful blindness. Which is why studying history is so important. Not to predict the future but to helps us to see better.
Thank you for tying today's events in Texas to the past by teaching that the Fourteenth Amendment abridges the power of states. I am ashamed to say that I did not know anything about the Fourteenth amendment before you began writing about it and its relevance to the Southern secession.
No shame necessary, Mike. Be proud that you are knowledgeable about something you did not know before and even prouder that you can bring that knowledge to others that you converse with. The more we understand our Constitution, the more we understand our civil rights and freedoms. And feel more respect for the democracy we choose through our vote.
I heard an interesting remark during a radio interview recently, that there are two u.s. constitutions. one was written before the civil war, and the other was written after it. One is restrictive and the other expansive. My observation is that at any moment people can appeal to one or the other, as they see fit. It is a bit like the old and new testaments. Meanwhile, I am waiting for someone to say, I want the state government out of my life! When you think about it, why do states still control federal elections?
It is here folks! NOW is the time. Early voting has started and the gears of elections are in motion. It is imperative to GOTV and help others do the same. Today I am grateful we have democrats in the house and senate because as last nights legislative agenda has demonstrated, our country desperately needs democrats to stay alive. And this applies to the state and local level elections. The margins are small and walls of defeat will spell disaster. I am taking action today and action everyday to get anyone I know to cast their ballot for democracy not authoritarianism. You can too. The time to take up arms is now … VOTE LIKE YOUR COUNTRY DEPENDS ON IT. God Bless my America too.
This! For the first time, I educated myself about who was running for my local school board. It’s amazingly simple to talk about that with neighbors, I’ve learned, especially parents. I’m working to get out the vote for those actually interested in educating children, rather than inculcating them with lies and making certain their version of history is taught. Time to be an active citizen. It is what a flourishing democracy requires! Thanks for the call to action!
Schools Boards wield tremendous power. So good good for you!
Here are the stats on my local school board. Look at the span of control these people have!
"JCPS operates 150 schools with more than 101,000 students, making it the 27th largest school district in the United States. In 2014–15 the system had a $1.1 billion budget and more than 18,000 employees. With a fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles, it operates one of the 10 largest transportation systems in the nation."
Holy cats! 18,000 employees and a 1.1 billion dollar budget 6 years ago! That’s a lot of power and muscle. Our system is about 40% that size but the critical part for me is how effective they are at educating, particularly with kids of color. We have a lot of new Americans living here from Africa and South Asia. We also have a large number of Mexican Americans and others of Central American ancestry, particularly El Salvador. So far, we have had people focused on education on the board but this year, there are 15 candidates for 4 spots and they include lots of right-wing radicals. My late husband was a teacher; so was my mom. Just trying to keep the focus on real education here.
Sorry for the dated numbers. I thought they were still pertinent. While we focused on National races and the State races the Republicans were seeding Local offices, election boards, school boards and judgeships. We need to catch up at the local level.
There are dedicated Educators in my family as well. A noble profession!
Sheila, I applaud your efforts in choosing school board members. Did you see this clip on Morning Joe today? Jennifer Jenkins, a board member in Brevard County, Florida, talked about the egregious threatening behavior towards her, including a false report to DCF (Dept. of Children and Families) where she had to take an investigator to her school's playground so that she could verify there were no "marks" on her child's body. Until we stop this intimidation, the only people who will want to serve on a school board are the right wing crazies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGl37e0iVg4
For our last local government elections I found that the LWV did not have even Q&A, and the city's newspaper (7th largest city in TX) no longer interviewed local candidates, and very few had a presence online or on Facebook with much more than a picture! How are voters even supposed to know anything about these people????
Sad to hear this, Pat. I would try calling the LWV to ask for their advice. Candidates will have to register some way and maybe the LWV would have some advice about how to access information on candidates’ views and opinions. I had no such struggle here so I have little to offer.
Thanks. I definitely need more than just a photo and a few lines about family, time in city/school/ college/county district.
Vote blue on the entire ticket
After decades of Worldwide scientific effort. Yacine Djibo reports in the October 10, 2021 NY Times that a successful malaria vaccine has finally been developed. As Yacine reports, malaria is a "preventable disease ... and yet around 400,000 people a year, mostly children" in sub-Saharan countries die from malaria. There is no cognitive dissonance nor any doubt about the use of this new vaccine in Senegal today.
Rachel discussed this last night; she did say that it's 50% effective. IMHO, given how many kids contract malaria, that's still better than nothing, which is what we had before.
Great! Another way to grow the hominid population on an already overpopulated earth!
Great news?
Your comment is harsh and unkind Obviously, you have never seen anyone in the throes of malaria. In my years of humanitarian work, I've treated countless people with this. The life you save may be a future scientist, politician, teacher, nurse or physician who will do great things to improve the world. I'm very grateful for interventions that support health.
Every life counts. Goodness, warmth, enthusiasm, love, caring...the wealth of us all.
Thank you Nancy. paraphrasing Professor Marcella Nunez-Smith: "Fixes are not quick". We must deal with the "lived realities" with patience, fairness & scientific intelligence.
I find your statement to be filled with old-fashioned, well, there is no better word than ignorance. Are you among those who think the 715,000 American deaths by Covid a means of population control? God's will? Eradicating a disease is not the opposite of population control.
Under the Articles of Confederation, there were 13 independent states associated in a confederation that severely malfunctioned. Ultimately, as a desperate resort, delegates came to Philadelphia to restructure this failing states amalgam. Technically the federal system that resulted was illegal because it lacked the unions approval required under the Articles of Confederation, but this was smoothed over by George Washington’s submission letter to Congress.
Subsequently the issue of ‘states rights’ has waxed and waned, with the Civil War being one dramatic result. Now it is a ‘pick and choose’ issue for a number of Republican states. Some of the same states that bleat about ‘states rights’ are first in line to demand federal assistance during floods, hurricanes, and other national disasters. These funds come in good part from the disbalance between taxes collected in some states, including New York and New Jersey, and federal funds provided to tax-deficit states, especially in the South. Also, ‘states rights,’ as opposed to federal laws and traditions, are being touted by Republican governors and legislators, as they assiduously act to make voting a Republican privilege rather than a constitutional right. The hypocrisy of this ‘states right’ assault on the right to vote is undisguised, as revealed in Republican strategy papers: to curb non-white voting in a desperate effort to maintain an electoral advantage in a country where the white majority of citizens is diminishing every year.
The ‘states rights’ issue over slavery resulted in a devastating Civil War. What will be the ultimate result of the current specious ‘states rights’ assault on the constitutional right of all Americans to vote?
Thanks, Keith. I have not seen much discussion about the failed Articles of Confederation up to now, even though it seems obvious that the Republican radicals intend to go back to that model.
Depends on whether there is enough opposition to the evil
As I read HCR's column today, I concluded the Republican Party has set out upon a scorched earth agenda. It may be a challenge to call an entire group of people "consummate evil", but Republicans in my eyes fit that depiction perfectly. The dark soul of Republican hubris is killing our Republic with intention.
After learning of the sudden, unexpected death of my sister this last Sunday, I am forced to contemplate how much longer I want to keep aware. She was a centerpiece of my now 77 years, with me from the beginning of my entry into this world. Nine years my senior, she never stopped seeing me as her "little brother", no matter my age. We shared so much in common politically, along with a lifelong love of Charles Schultz' "Snoopy". She, Bobbie, married her high school sweetheart in 1954. Her sweetheart is heartbroken; devastated.
So, I must ask myself: Is my civic interest worth it? I have followed politics since my days as a young Airman with the U.S. Air Force. This country has not, like a fine wine, improved over time. It has soured into a toxic vinegar, despite the technological advances and all the protests to the contrary. "Keep up the good fight", they say. To what end, I ask? I am simply one small grain of sand in a sea of humans. All my protests, my boasts of dismay, my hundreds if not thousands of letters written have been to no avail. I love our Republic. Yet, she too, is facing certain death.
Vince, Your comment is full of feeling for Bobbie, even 'Snoopy' took a bow as did your civic attention and days as an Airman. With disappointments about America and evil acts, am I right that you won't give up on us, your fellowmen and women? Perhaps, withal, you cannot give up. With deepest condolences for Bobbie death. Please stay among us and find peace.
Fern, thank and Bless you! I will not give up. My mantra through the years has been, "Never give up, never give in." My anger and frustration is how those who SHOULD be listening to us are listening only to themselves. Yes, there is peace that surrounds me. Yet, I also am gripped by the reality of our current moment. Now is NOT the time to sit back and relax.
Vince, Please accept this virtual embrace. Your heart and spirit beat strong. Thank you for coming to us.
Ah, Kinsman, I am so sorry to hear of your sister’s unexpected passing. I am that sister to my sister; we were together last weekend for the first time in many months; we talked about death (as you must in these times) and she expressed a similar view as to what you shared.
I hope you find solace and comfort somewhere, and keep on with your warrior traditions.
Ah, yes, Celtic Woman! Thank you. As a neighbor said to me the other day, "Reflect on the good times." I responded, "There are so many, that will command lots of reflecting!"
Vince, I am so sorry for the loss of your sister. You have my deepest condolences.
🤗💕 Thank you Karen, and God Bless!
Vince, I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved sister...words from strangers provide little comfort. Take time to mourn and remember your sister...she will continue to provide light in your life
As for the rest of your comment, I ask many of the same questions daily. I have no answers.
Daria, from my heart: Thank you so much! Bobbie was my Guardian Angel. I no longer can simply dial the phone and know that her chirpy Spirit will answer. That will take considerable getting used to. We went through so much together, including our dad's divorce and remarriage when I was 4 (to an absolutely WONDERFUL woman!) and our moving five times in as many years.
Solace in your time of grief. When ready please join the rest of us grains of sand as we may feel like giving up but realize we're all a part of our nation and the world.
Pat, thank you from my heart. I will not depart this beach so untranquil, lest the seas of treachery and derivison sweep me away.
Vince, my heart goes out to you. Such profound losses wound us deeply. You need time and small joys to heal. Step away if you need to-come back when you’re ready. We will hold a place for you in our hearts.
So now I know who you secured that last name, "Love". Thank you! ❤
Oops. I meant to write "how"; not "who". Sorry.
Hillary was pilloried for calling them ‘deplorables.’ Does despicables sound more politically correct?
Dear Heather and my LFAA friends -
Considering that the more radicalized Republican governors, legislators and judges are locking down their states, what are their residents in opposition to do - in particular with voter suppression, judicial decisions and executive edicts? Can the federal government be of much if any help to them?