"Second, there has been much public discussion today of the idea that Democrats are in disarray after yesterday’s letter from the Progressive Democratic Caucus asking President Joe Biden to consider negotiations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. "
Functioning democracy not only handles controversy, it ultimately requires it. The scientific method, which has much to do with modern Enlightenment Era philosophies woven into the Constitution, progresses on constant cross-examination in good faith. Good Faith implies acceptance of certain ground rules of responsible behavior withing which diverse ideas and innovations vie for favor and confirmation. Disarray is more likely where good faith is lacking.
"Disarray is more likely where good faith is lacking." Yes indeed. And you've just hit the nail on the head, J L. ... Promotion of disarray has become the management style of the Republican Party (and in my view to a somewhat lesser extent the Democratic) where the "managed" are the vast majority of voters of all stripes who are simply incapable of parsing "complex" sentences like the one HCR brought up regarding women's reproductive rights; the one that started with women and ended with local politicians. It's nonsense doublespeak that will only reinforce the already baked in position of these people as HCR pointed out.
When you listed the conditions under which a functioning democracy can exist, the implication was that there is an electorate capable of the least level of critical thought. Too many voters today are motivated by their most recent experience at the gas pump or check stand along with the catchiest sound bite that stuck in their head as they listened to AM radio on the way to vote. I'm afraid that our biggest problem is quality public education, or rather, the lack thereof. When school boards can ban the teaching of "critical thinking" courses on the basis of statements like "we already got enough gott damn critics around here", you know what the root of the problem really is: it's a severely dumbed down population, not opportunistic politicians.
Well spoken. You can’t fix stupidity but you can fix ignorance. And in the future that is where we need to target the resources. An educated Public is our best defense.
Seems that deliberate ignorance is the republican platform. I guess Ben Franklin couldn’t imagine back when he said “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” And they do…
Their basic instinct to protect their “stuff” renders pale by comparison their interest in educating themselves. Instinct to protect their riding lawnmower, the TV sets, and their multiple cars is coupled with their instinct to maintain their tribal sense of superiority over people of color to produce the toxic stew of authoritarianism. It will take one heart and mind at a time. and when a critical mass of changed hearts and minds is achieved, the followers will follow. That the arc of the universe actually bends toward justice remains an article of faith.
That tribal sense gives a feeling of belonging, too. We’ve loosened a lot of the other ties that bind— family, place, church. But that need to belong is still there. MAGA does that for some people.
We need our communities...that is one thing that FB or anything else on the internet cannot replace. Human contact and interaction are vital to the development and exercise of compassion and empathy.
Yes, I think that sense of community is powerfully in there. We are unique individuals and also social creatures. The places I have lived with the strongest widely shared sense of community have been relatively low population density. The subcultures I have been a part of seemed to tend toward becoming ingrown.
I like a fair amount of stuff as well, but yearn for a sane and compassionate society. Liberty and Justice, specifically including for the underdogs. Every step away from that is a step toward tyranny.
Hearts and minds will change when all the genes are integrated and no one is "pure" white or black, brown or yellow. The antiquated racist theory of Franz Boas in the 1890s, which was created on bogus research to justify colonialism and slavery, has been replaced by hard science of Montagu in 1964, 75 years ago.
Don’t remember which writer pointed out the Democrats try to make the future better than the present, while the Republicans want to replace the present with the past, giving little thought to the future.
A friend revealed, I think, why she leans Republican, and no longer worries about global warming. Nature will deal with it. If humans die out, so be it. She thinks no one will remember her when she is gone, nor appreciate her sacrifices. (There was a recent serious falling out with her daughter, her son is distant, and her husband has dementia, newly diagnosed.) I wonder if such feelings motivate most Republican voters and the non-voters.
Propaganda is so much less trouble, no critical thinking skills needed. Dr. Oz is no moron, just another rich dude with “delusions” of grandeur. He signed on to power at any price. The price being his reputation and his tattered soul.
I beg to differ about Oz. A moron is one either notably stupid or bereft of good judgement. Oz is not ignorant, but I feel he’s definitely stupid. As for judgement; judge for yourself on that one.
Unaccountable power in exchange for the loss of one's soul. The old stories are not not so far off. An obsession for aggregating power seems to become truly addictive, and dangerous.
I wonder how Oprah feels about launching Oz's public stardom. I read his book. He surely seems like a turncoat to me. But then, statistically, specialist MDs (he's a cardiologist) are much more likely to be conservatives and generalist MDs are more likely to be humanists and progressive thinkers.
Yes. Astonishing lack of ability to think beyond gas prices. As if that would change one iota if a Republican were in office. Just maddening. Inmates taking over the asylum
For all the talent we have in the Democratic party, it astonishes & saddens me that we never reframed inflation & gas prices as honorable sacrifices made(world wide) to protect each other from death by covid & to support the Ukrainians who are on the front lines, defending our democratic way of life. Inflation is a fallout I am willing to accept to protect my fellow persons & democracy. If we win in November, I hope our political leaders can do something about reining in self-serving, unchecked, amoral corporate greed that could do more to help than harm us (unconscionable price jacking in times of great need). Pipe dream tho....?
And yet nobody mentions the threat to SS and Medicare. I watched Joy Reid with Beto in Ft Worth last night, and not a word that I heard. It’s the elephant in the room that democrats need to harness for a win.
While www.votefwd.org is non-partisan, you can use your letter writing to say something like "As a senior, what happens to issues of my age group matters a great deal to me, which is why I vote."
I'm waiting to mail my 170 Vote Forward letters in 2 days. Discussed health care, schools, election participation for democracy, environment, and encouraging voting.
I haven’t seen much in the above comments about the problem of 70% of Americans watching fake news on Fox, either. Intelligent media must also be one of the very top requirements for democracy to work. It is an absolute requirement for having an educated populace. Heather Cox is doing her best, but too few people know about her work, let alone read it.
Media is a key component of of the character of any society, and totalitarians have always fought to dominate it. Twentieth Century rules meant to keep it diversified where done away with little public reaction. It was a fiat accompli before I was even aware of it. Free speech, including unpopular speech requires robust protection, but weaponized lies kill. That's tough to negotiate even with the best of motives, but some lines need to be drawn. Alex Jones is has rightly faced legal consequences of weaponized, irresponsible lying. I think significant, provable lies by those who are entrusted with official public duties are also a serious matter, as was widely agreed upon in the days of Nixon. We can be jailed for lying to the state about a number of official matters; and I think that those who accept official duties of the state should be expected not to lie to us. COVID, wars and racism are among the ways official lies literally kill.
Exactly, SusanT. I am sick of Biden getting blamed for things that happened in tRumps term. Why doesn't the media cover the extreme corporate greed strangling us all? Oil prices are high due to greedy oil companies and Putin's war. I am thankful every day that President Biden is at the helm guiding us through the turbulence stirred up by the former administration.
Fortune published a recent article by a Yale expert who clearly stated the obscene, unconscionably bloated profits being sucked up by OIL REFINERIES, complete with charts. It should be widely reported but I haven't heard about it on my "big city" local news. We need a similar report about the gross profits bringing our food prices into the stratosphere. Journalism needs to step up for democracy before it's too late. https://fortune.com/2022/10/21/biden-energy-policy-oil-prices-misinformation/
Katie is terrific and a great example of what a congressional representative should be in America. I posted this same video of Katie Porter just a day or two ago either in this comment section or the one in Robert Hubbell's newsletter. But just as I didn't hear or see any widespread reporting on the ultra-bloated profits of oil companies, I also did not see Ms. Porter's clear expose of excess corporate profits widely reported in the media. Ignoring credible testimony or stories about astronomical corporate profits in this day and age is bad reporting and a form of partisanship--neither of which says anything flattering about the desire of our media to support democracy when it desperately needs support by those who still recognize the truth. Time for newspapers to stop compromising the whole truth by printing some good or even great reporting while ignoring some critical stories, and while also printing trash columns by pro-fascist groveling toadies to pander to potential far right subscribers.
Corporations keep putting on the squeeze, many currently making record profits while doing so. Our country voted for exactly this and the flimsy promise that it would make us all better off. After 40 years, has Reaganomics delivered on that promise? It's way past time to be asking that question. Our whole country should be asking that question.
It keeps being asked, and the answer is always the same: No. But the right wings propagandists count on people forgetting and so they trot out the same old beat up canards, and a whole new group of uninformed people fall for it all over again. I don't think it's taking as well this time. Because just about everybody saw what happened when Trump did it.
It should be glaringly obvious that Putin does not act in the best interests of the US. Or anyone but Putin and his cronies, really. Strange how often such people wind up as popular leaders.
We Americans collectively don't have an ear for honorable sacrifice until our backs are against the wall. And then we're still susceptible to a foolish and lazy notion like backing off of following through on the rights of the formerly enslaved post-Ciivil War, or the blind passion of the Second Iraq War.
I recall someone interviewed on NPR spoke of the joy of the end of WWII laced with disappointment with the rapid return of of the class-based social games in London's populace. According to her, the petty backbiting that plagues societies had been dropped during the Blitz, but came rushing back with peace. Somehow our species manages to be our own worst enemy. Can we possibly become wiser before the next horror-scape?
Yes. There is so much that could be said. I am always astonished by the Dems inability to control the narrative. Anyone have any suggestions that could help that?
The corporate greed is what gets to me the most. And when I mention it to people, they just shrug their shoulders because they want to blame everything on Biden.
Corporate greed has been the elephant in the room for a long time. In my 1950s elementary school history books, the Roosevelts and citizens' movements were credited with taming some of the worst excesses. Then in the '80s, we somehow bought the notion that the 1800s "Robber Barons" got it right all along.
Certainly education is capable of improving competence and wisdom, and while there are some horror stories in my public school experience, I am fortunate to have experienced as much useful education as I got. The real problem is whether we are prepared for the consequences of encouraging kids to "question everything" and we find our own niche in the status quo? Worse is our very human proclivity to cult dynamics, and narcissism, and I suspect everyone has so degree of vulnerability to that, I know I do. But hard-core cult thinking usurps critical thinking and often, conscience, creating a whirlpool of self-confirming thinking, coupled with demonization of reflective criticism. I have seen a number of fairly bright, educated, even normally pleasant people absorbed into the MAGA cult. And it serves the interests of some powerful people that they do so, so they encourage it, even lay the trap. That's a harder thing to fight. I can become like a road rage mentality. The question for me as we drift toward civil and environmental chaos is what really matters? What in the end do we care the most about? The score? Our quality of life? The robust continuation of our own and many other species?
For every horror story I have from my days in public school (I have scores of them), I have 19 or 20 uplifting, wonderful ones. Me, being me (a human), I focused on the horror stories and let that define me as a person and student for many years. It was not until I actively began recalling the other 95% of my experience that the actual reality of me as a student and person came into focus. The richness of my impoverished life was embarrassing.
The real, hard core MAGAs make up about 15% of the electorate, with another 15% in tow. They want the rest of to believe they are in the majority. They are not (thanks to my public education, I can do math :)). Are we going to let a minority of intellectually self-truncated people define us as a nation/people? NO.
With an education, we at least have a chance to do the messy, imperfect, glorious work of thinking for ourselves. Without an education, we have very little chance to do this work. Instead, we will end up being the tools of others (good or bad) who will never have our, or the nation's, best interest at heart.
And one of my favorite talking points. America's past is steeped in the adoration of the Daniel Boone types. The strong uneducated types who didn't need no school learnings to get ahead. Just common sense, physical strength, and rifle skills. Or the "cowboy/Indian" mentality - same thing. There was a time when America was mostly a big frontier where turning back the native Americans and claiming the land for ourselves, where that kind of brute strength worked well. In modern times however, that "rugged individualism" mentality has become obsolete to say the least. We have found (through good education and scientific research) that the planet is finite with a somewhat fragile atmosphere and limited resources, that the various human races are genetically just about identical and therefore worthy of equality, that the ecosystems on the lands and in the seas are key to continued life as we know it including human life, and that the universe and solar system and our planet are many orders of magnitude older than the few thousands of years we once believed to be the case. The rest of the civilized world has for the most part come to this realization, and have governments that are trying to address modern issues. Sadly, much of the American people have not, and we have a political party that is trying to take maximum advantage of this. Great education systems are at odds with this strategy.
Yes, isn't that a great phrase!? I can see myself using that in a debate. "Stop being so self-truncated!" I assume that the truncated portion of these folks is the top half of the head.
The more common term is "willful ignorance." Also "anti-intellectualism". It isn't new; maybe as old as the human species. It's just stronger, and people like Trump encouraged it. That is the tragedy of Trumpism. It has turned our country in the direction of the "idiocracy". The attacks on Dr Fauci during the heights of covid is exhibit "A". Hard to tamp down, because of all the "inconvenient truths" that come out of a scientific educated way of looking at things. People who have things (like V-8 vehicles and big houses) do not want to hear that they may have to rethink that kind of life. They are not comfortable with ceasing or treating their learned (if not instinctual) disdain for the other that has different skin color. It's what they know. No wonder we have "self-truncated" folks out there.
I earnestly hope your math is right. This coming election will tell us right? "Are we going to let a minority of intellectually self-truncated people define us as a nation/people?" You need to add to that the hyper-religious Christians among us who have allowed themselves to be highjacked by un-Christian causes cloaked as religious causes. That is a tragedy, and not helpful for truly Christian causes. You need to factor in apathy and hopelessness - an affliction that I believe affects progressives more than conservatives. The tendency for MAGA types and the hyper-religious to vote in droves. As opposed to the early to mid twenties crowd who worry about the future of the planet they are inheriting and are still frothing at the mouth about the perceived injustice towards Bernie Sanders etc, and therefore have chosen to bow out of what they feel is a corrupt process. And then add to that the attempts by Republicans to suppress the vote of those most likely to vote progressive, and the outrageous gerrymanding of swing states. Add it all up, and the minority becomes very competitive.
Thanks, Steve. That was very well done. I am so tired of people wringing their hands instead of taking a straight-forward look at what is actually going on. How refreshing to read a letter like yours.
I think that there are a lot of folks out there right now working to both get out the vote AND keep eyes and minds focused on reality. I agree with you: we are allowing ourselves to be distracted by a minority of people making a lot of noise that, when you think about it, doesn't make sense. It's wonderful to talk to people about that and see them begin to see it for themselves. We don't have to rely on schools to teach others. We can do it simply by explaining what we see and why- and letting them find their way without judgement.
good piece in The Atlantic on the steps to turning MAGA. Two Key ingredients: deep seeded ( anger not apparent in daily interactions as colleagues and friends) and a core belief that lying and deception is normal for getting anything one wants. Truth creates untenable emotions. children whose homes are filled with lies, secrets-and silences are susceptible to becoming adults who find that behavior natural.
And, Heather said in yesterday’s chat that the RW repubs have their own dedicated TV channel. I’m convinced that needs to be jerked out root and branch but it won’t be. Maybe Dominion can drain their bank account.
Ha! My hand is up waving around, as if in a classroom. "Too many voters today are motivated by their most recent experience at the gas pump or check stand..." If any LFAA folks recognize my schtick at all, it is my beef with American voters. I will never ever forget my couple of years at Clarksville High School in Tennessee way back when (the early '70's), where I as a mere teenager saw on display the willful ignorance, the proud rejection of academic excellence, the adoration of the bully, the hatred of the other (especially the black), among way too many students. It was not the fault of teachers or the school administration at least not directly. It was the fault of the families. That was a long time ago, however remnants of that still exist and that became apparent to all when that same attitude put Trump in the white house. It tests my commitment to democracy, when the "will of the people" can be so heartless and cruel. This is why there has always been the opinion that only certain of us should have the privilege of voting. It's about ensuring more quality in the vote. I agree though - ultimately the way to do it is to maximize good education for all. Then, cross your fingers and let the chips fall where they may.
The opportunistic politicians combined with the opportunistic corporate infrastructure and mass media all combine to ensure the population is dumbed down good and hard, its the only way their shell game can sucker enough rubes
I suggest that voters today are not less intelligent or sophisticated than those who elected Lincoln and FDR (four times), JFK and Barack Obama. And, yes, Joe Biden and a Democratic Congress.
You are positing the logical for far too many who function illogically. "IF they think it, then it must be right" is a common flaw among those who live on sound bites and abundant amounts of misinformation and disinformation.
If anyone is worried about Fetterman's cognition, as a physician I'm not. His pattern of speaking is so dishearteningly affected by the stroke, but is layered on intact intellect. I have multiple patients who speak like this, and here is my letter of clearance as a doc if John wants it:
And to Pat Toomey, whose gleeful tweet pronounced Fetterman unfit for office... I completely disagree. It’s not “sad” to see John Fetterman struggling so much. To me, and most other people who have seen a loved one struggle after a stroke, it’s instead INSPIRING to see him up there on a national stage debating a former surgeon only 5 months into his recovery.
Totally agree -- Fetterman is so INSPIRATIONAL, from the entirety of his life story of helping the less privileged to debating a media personality five months into stroke recovery, he is truly a Pennsylvania treasure!
Lawrence O'Donnell started his program with a piece on FDR and Churchill - how their illnesses did not keep them from being two of the greatest men of the 20th century. And he then shot down those who used the phrase 'painful to watch' in describing Fetterman's debate performance (I thought it was commendable - he certainly took Oz apart on the women's rights issue). Fetterman is definitely fit for office, especially morally fit.
As a retired doc, I wonder what medical advice about the risk of a second stroke, given the intense stress of campaigning and governance. We don't know what caused his first stroke, nor do we know the regimen he must follow to continue to struggle without further deterioration. Having said that, I feel Oz should have remained in cardiac surgery rather than wasting all of our time for years trying to prove how smart he is in all things.
Good points - and ultimately what to do with his life is up to Fetterman. He seemed cool and collected despite the terrible challenge. I don't think resting up in Braddock would be any better than fulfilling a sense of duty and passion in terms of additional stroke risk, but your point is well taken.
Agree absolutely! Thank you for putting in your professional perspective. I wrote similar posts on Robert Hubbel's substack, with examples from my own experience and observation. Won't repeat here (it's getting late for me), but it's good to see someone else speak out about how people like Fetterman are actually demonstrating how it works. He's doing exactly the right thing for recovery: making his brain work so that it rewires those connections. In a year (or less), my bet is that people will not be able to tell he had a stroke. And there is nothing wrong with his mind: he is all there, 100%, showing the kind of gumption we need in our leaders.
I'm a big Fetterman supporter. I only know about the impact of his stroke based on what was said in the papers. I also hear all the time that debates don't matter. But, I have to say, watching Fetterman last night was painful. If there were on-the-fence voters watching last night, who are just starting to tune in and really don't know anything about a stroke's impact and recovery, I think they would be hard pressed to believe that Fetterman is in shape to be in the senate. I kinda wished he had chosen NOT to debate. I'm really bummed......
Excellent post on the role of diversity of thought, freely expressed, in the scientific method. That aspect of my education is what ultimately freed me to begin to roam the landscape with my mind.
However, PRIOR to that matriculation through education in engineering science, I was firmly rooted in "belief space", where diversity of thought is not just discouraged, it will send you to hell.
In a Democracy where dogma (a derivative of fundamentalist religion) dominates a large segment of the population, diversity of thought is soundly punished by the living culture with threats of all manner of dire consequences from being shunned to going to hell.
So, in those parts of the US where religious dogma is prominent, there is simply zero diversity of thought.
Meaning, it might be easy to push those folks, in that area, into an autocracy with the right message that lines up with their dogma. They might enthusiastically embrace properly worded autocracy or dictatorship because the words used line up with their dogma.
I watched a doc called The Game Is Up: Disillusioned Trump Voters Tell Their Story (free on YouTube) the other night. Most interesting to me was the Evangelicals’ stories.
Thanks so much for posting this link….was 3 a.m. & I chose to watch it….now at 6:30 & am going to try to get some sleep! Will be sharing this, it needs to be widely seen.
That's a start, but in a way the Evangelicals created Trumpism. Long before him, their beliefs lay in authoritarianism and white male supremacy. Back in the "W" administration they pressed for government support of private Christian schools, thus putting an end of division between church and state. In the Reagan era they were anti-gay and the "moral majority." Anti-abortion was high on their list and a manifestation that women are subordinate to men. I doubt that they would use such phrases but "a rose by any other name," etc. Even if Trump is diminished, as it looks like he might be, their beliefs still lead them to fascism, not just here but elsewhere.
"They" and "their" just happens to include prominent Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who promoted parochial school vouchers in D.C on the taxpayers' dime as a "pilot" program, and was on the record, late in the game, against marriage equALLity. Oh, she got letters from me alright, but clearly written with her middle finger. If only she would go out to pasture - the sooner the better. We in California should be able to get a real Democrat in that seat without the PA struggle. But oh, right, she has more money than Yahweh.
I agree with you on 'too much of the orange idjit'...but I gritted my teeth, kept swallowing my gorge and forced myself to watch. Ugh. But yes, the end was a great relief.
Jeri, dogma is very, very, very real to millions of people, and formerly for me.
I cannot possibly explain the rigid boundaries of my mind that I left East Texas with and went to college with. Now, some of those, like "drinking alcohol is a sin" were good. I stayed sober and did my work.
But, many of those dogmatic principals are rigid boundaries to mental exploration of life itself.
So, my surprisingly good performance in college (my counselor told me I would flunk out in three weeks) led to a fellowship at UT Austin where, over time, I came to understand that, if there is a God, and, he is as powerful as the preacher says on Sunday, well, he oughta not shake with fear if I have some questions for him.
So, I now, have a long list of them. :-) And, some challenges too.
JL, thank you for the observation that the 'Enlightenment Era' philosophies are woven into the Constitution which goes back to the development of the common law & the Magna Carta. Yes, the scientific method requires questions & testing. Scientific development is not always built brick-by-brick but, by major paradigm shifts that excellerate scientific progress dramatically at times. Fast forward to the 21st Century & the law implies a "covenant of good faith & fair dealing" in every contract. Where one party has enormous leverage on a much smaller party, the breach of that covenant can be a civil wrong commonly called a tort. It is also the foundation of US Federal Law: A person must have an "actual controversy" with real damages within the rules fleshed out in the the Federal statutory codes. Relief, criminal and civil, is often available at law. Keep the good faith.
…and although there other fine advocates among us, you, Bryan, bring the rule of law to us as it needs to be executed throughout the land. I am grateful.
The economy must go bad. Jobs must evaporate. People must be taught they are not empowered. They must be convinced their enemies are elitists, an upper class of thinkers of great wisdom if you will. They will believe they have been abandoned to a state of ignorance by the sagacious ones. A guidance will be given them by the rising star of fascism. They will respond and be grateful and extremely angry that the educated elite consider them callously ignorant. They will accept aspects of society to to attack and blame. They are ready finally to be galvanized in their defiance of the government which has failed them. Educated citizens will feel their hatred. The rift is your clue. These people are of the mud of this nation. Who isn’t.
A good summary, Pat. With racism and white supremacy in this country alive and never far from the surface; robbing the people of their wealth and sense of worth by Big Business, the Republican agenda and Dark Money, an economic system and Rule of Law favoring the ultra-rich, along with the condescension by many in the Democratic Party as well as having been corrupted by the lure of Corporate and Fossil Fuel sectors. All seeding the mud's responsiveness to the fascists' propaganda. Forces conspire with social media the perfect means for the message.
My great grandfather said he raised grass not cattle and horses. Grass roots. Mud. They are co-conspirators upon which civilization has risen. To condemn the children of lesser gods is to paint a mark on your door. We may become a cohesive sea of grass as long as we tend our roots in the mud. There are no words to thank you Fern McBride none good enough to make you feel how much I appreciate the meager fact that you get it. Your overview makes me appear. How I wish there were more of you.
You are alive and enrich our soil. It is good to be a friend. And may we become a cohesive sea of grass as long as we tend our roots in the mud together.
Heather, you’re a great historian, and perhaps as a result, you spend less time on the daily news. If you saw more of it, you’d know that DID (Democrats in Disarray) is a constant theme, but RID is nowhere o be found.
The prevailing view in the US doesn't look like it's going to include climate change or anything else environmental. Its very absence is quite frightening.
On that note, I highly recommend "The Last Winter" by Porter Fox.
"In this deeply researched, beautifully written, and adventure-filled book, journalist Porter Fox travels along the edge of the Northern Hemisphere's snow line to track the scope of this drastic change, and how it will literally change everything—from rapid sea level rise, to fresh water scarcity for two billion people, to massive greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost, and a half dozen climate tipping points that could very well spell the end of our world." - Goodreads
It is an elegy to ice and snow, with much about histories of the various groups who lived along the snow line through the centuries.
Yes, let's face it - without voting rights there's no democratic election. Education, education, education, with critical thinking skills from the get go.
There is a bright spot in the Tale of The 30 Nitwit Progs: the insufferable Pramilla Jayapal is no longer "in consideration" as a potential successor to Nancy Pelosi, who has forgotten more about politics than the condescending legend-in-her-own-mind Jayapal will ever know; that she tossed her staff under the bus as she did is a nice character "tell" that lets you know everything you need to know about a moron so stupid she has herself convinced she's a genius. We may also experience "less is more" from AOC, Cory Bush and Ilhan Omar. I had a bit more to say about the fakakte at TAFM.
As to the coverage of the Fetterman-Oz campaign by the over-educated, under-intelligent, otherwise-unemployable trust fund babies at the Nation's Finest Fishwrap, with friends like these, we need no enemies. The NYT of the Pentagon Papers and the NYT of the past 20 years are two different organizations that wouldn't recognize each other. The mini-me's working there now couldn't rise to Neil Sheehan's ankle.
Stephanie Ruhle had an interesting commenter on tonight who asked a question worth pondering: how come when Kanye West was making attacks over the past 10 years not appreciably different than those made this past week against other minority groups, Adidas and the rest of the corporate scum had no problem making him richer? But it was this line he crosses and all of a sudden he's poison?
While I think of myself as way, way left by USA standards, I believe there are times when in order to get what you want, you have to first accept getting less than you want.
I'm sure if Joe Biden thought there was some foundation on which to build a peace deal with Putin, then he would go for it, as would any sane person, including your average Ukrainian.
The progressive wing of the Democrats needs to grow up a bit. Their day will come.
Been accepting less than what I want for, oh so many years. Then I watched bat-Schitt crazy take over an elite, money-grubbing group who only had power and greed on their pathetic little minds. So tired of seeing “less than what I want” becoming my worst nightmare. Thanks for provoking that rant. Our day will come.
Well, 98% of us might be equally unhappy. I thought that was an elected official’s job: to bring about transformation for as many as possible. So we have real hope of “the pursuit of happiness” and its outcomes.
Well, that was not because what the politician said was untrue, but because they said out loud that part of the statement which is supposed to remain unsaid but understood.
As long as you are thinking of yourself as way , way left...what would you think of looking at another paradigm: a view that reflects the shape of our world - round, and made up of pieces that are all different from each other and which are all necessary to make it whole, like the wooden ball puzzle that fits in the palm of your hand....
As I see the destruction in Ukraine, as I said the other day, I keep hoping there's a way to end this diplomatically b4 the whole country is decimated.
With due respect, reporters at the Times and Wapo have done an admirable job of dissecting TFG. Political coverage generally, however, is still stuck in horse race mode. For what that portends (not good) , see Margaret Sullivan's final column "2024 and the Dangers Ahead., August 21, 2021.
Hugh, thanks for the link. scrowel2, thanks for the heads up. Excellent farewell piece by Sullivan.
I think generalizing about the media is unfortunate. As Margaret points out, there are high points and low ones. Hopefully, the truth about the "lie" will become even more mainstreamed as the 2024 contest is launched.
I find an occasional reason to be irritated by a writer from the Times or WaPo. If an opinion piece by Friedman pisses me off, so what? It's an opinion. Sullivan's point about framing the news is the big deal. The DeathSantis example was perfect. Another would be the huge attention given to vigilantes around a few ballot boxes when there are something like 176,933 voting precincts in the US. EVERYONE I know or who I have spoken with simply voted easily with no threats or intimidation.
Yes, the vigilantes should be pursued. But if that one event dominates the news of the day, we have taken our eyes off so many other issues. Sure, it was sensational and newsy. But how about some perspective, please.
Mostly, if you look around the world, we are very lucky to have the independent journalism that we have. Far from perfect, but name a place that is.
When I dropped my ballot off at the Town Hall's secured, metal dropbox, I was wondering where the knucklehead, gun toting, f-Biden dork would be watching. Happy to say that it was just a normal day, a quiet drop in the secure box, and a deep appreciation for having the right to vote with no interference, like the good old days. I did feel nostalgia as I turned away from the metal box and glanced at the mail slot in the old, wooden door. A few years ago, that mail slot was where we dropped off our absentee ballots which fell into an open basket on the other side of the unlocked door (unlocked during business hours). Those were the Days of Trust. Before homegrown terrorists and traitorous leaders were allowed free reign to trample OUR freedoms at the root of a democracy and Our rule of law. Hardly patriots, more like anti-Americans who should be deported to dictatorial countries where masses of refugees are fleeing from. Refugees who would love to live and participate in our democracy that these traitors, literally, shat upon and continue to try to shatter. Remember, voters are turning out in record numbers and there are millions more of us than them. Use your power. Vote early. Help others vote as well.
It is advertising-driven journalism. And we would do well to always remember that. If we want to fold this information into our world-view, understand the profit-driven origins of it.
"Jayapal contended the letter was released by staff without proper vetting and said it improperly conflated her caucus’ position with GOP divisions over providing more aid to Ukraine aid, which Democrats back. She withdrew the letter after the embarrassing intra-party feud."
I will avoid comment on Jayapal. However, the culture she is from I am familiar with having spent nine years in HCL, Hindustan Corporation Limited, the world's largest Indian outsourcing firm.
She probably is very bright, but, misdirection fundamentally underpins the culture. The most common word used is: "Sure".
That word means: "I have absolutely no intention of even thinking about the input you just provided".
The tragedy isn't Tommy Tuberville's ignorance of the basic architecture of the US federal government, it's that likely most of his supporters don't know either. Knowledge is the enemy of autocracy; ignorance feeds it.
so wish folks would read Tim Synder’s The Road to Unfreedom. I don’t know if you would agree but one if the most important reads besides your book, How the South Won the Civil War. Helps to understand the political context and motivations and role of social media. Thank you for the work that you do. Tom Denbow
PS. Diwali, the Hindu holiday celebrating good over evil, knowledge over ignore, occurred here in India two days ago. Wish our leaders would take that to heart!!
Actually, there was an acknowledgement of Diwali and a mini celebration at the White House. Think it was party to honor traditions celebrated by Kamala Harris.
When I heard that quote from Mehmet Oz about wanting abortion decisions to be made by "women, doctors, and local political leaders…", My first thought was, "wonderful! Let's put the Governor, state Senators, and state Representatives all tricked out in their hospital gowns, laying on the examination tables, with their feet in the stirrups, so that they can get a feel for what it's like, and thus be able to make truly informed decisions about abortion, knowing how painful and humiliating these procedures can be.
Better than that, it begs the question why John Fetterman did not offer a swift rejoinder about requiring an evangelical Christian pastor, or even a bishop, to be in attendance too. Regrettably, Lieutenant Governor Fetterman is still recovering from the stroke he experienced earlier this year, and with the cognitive dissonance that he is working to overcome. That kind of hard work might be a limiting factor in his ability to respond to Oz's absurdities with a lineal projection of his own about where those absurdities ultimately end up. The idea that patients, physicians, and ambitious politicians need to triangulate where the abortion issue ends up posits its own answer: nowhere where anyone with a heart and soul would ever want to be. It's hard to imagine a more cruel and abusive solution to a self-made problem than that which Dr. Oz and his sleazy cohort have made for themselves.
The list of possibilities goes on. How about a coterie of self-appointed 'influencers' to also be in attendance. Maybe some of the talking heads from the local Fox News Channel might like to make an appearance, because for them, there is no such thing as bad publicity. How about a justice or two from the state Supreme Court, or a state attorney general looking for some campaign fodder to feed on between now and that point in the future when a senatorial seat becomes vacant. This story would go well with any of the crime and the streets hollering that Trump Republicans have become so adept at doing.
I am fully confident that our elected representatives would have no trouble at all laying there on the table, with beatific smiles on their faces, waving to the crowd, while at the same time begging for campaign donations. Yes, siree! I'm sure some car dealership would be more than pleased to be able to sponsor this type of event, because the prurient interest in this sort of thing cannot be overestimated or oversold. Eyewitness News from whatever local TV channel it happens to be would be more than happy to send a full team of reporters and cameramen to give a minute by minute account of the sweating and grimacing those public officials will be more than happy to experience, because this kind of free publicity could not be bought at any price.
I truly hope that the people of Pennsylvania get a good hard look at this Mehmet Oz character, and finally realize just how shameless, craven, and cynical he and his cohort of radical MAGAhat would-be dictators can be. Regrettably, if there is one thing that these two past and current political cycles have shown is that the former president and his willing accomplices and enablers have no shame whatsoever. Satire and ridicule require a sense of shame and absurdity to make their point; and these people have no shame, none whatsoever. The shock for the rest of us is that of all of what has been going on in real time were presented as a work of fiction, no one in his right mind could believe it to be true.
"it begs the question why John Fetterman did not offer a swift rejoinder about requiring an evangelical Christian pastor, or even a bishop, to be in attendance too".
It might also be that Fetterman is not used to being in a fight bullpen with an artist in Bulshshite handing out Bulshite. I mean, Oz has decades of BS generation live and real time.
Fetterman? He is just a guy who wants to make a difference and worked for a living instead of talking BS for a living.
And then of course the good doctor doesn't have that tan...remember when the ineffable Berlusconi supposed (live to camera) to Dimitri Medvedev that he'd doubtless get on well with the new US president, also young, fit and tanned, ha ha.
The image of these politicians lying back, in gynecological stirrups with Republican onlookers putting in their 2 “cents” is brilliant. A scene in a movie yet to be made.
In North Carolina, we had a famous basketball strategy called "The Four Corners."
Before I offer my analogy, just let me say on our basketball court, this play took skilled players, unlike the placeholders the GOP is offering up. (See Robert Hubbell's October 25 newsletter "Democratic Quality Candidates").
The point being, Coach Dean Smith had his players keep possession of the ball during the game, denying the opponent the opportunity to score.
It dawned on me, particularly with the challenges in court filings and appeals to the Supreme Court that Clarence Thomas somehow happens to be a key player ruling on, that the GOP is also trying to run down the clock.
If the voters allow them to take the majority in Congress, they will kill investigations still underway.
They will install their most radical personalities on critical committees.
They will create retaliatory (and essentially baseless) so-called investigations of their own against already targeted members of the Democratic Party.
They scream about impeachments, not for cause, but for performance, and to throw meat to their cult-ish followers howling for blood.
It's gladiator sport in the ancient Roman Colosseum in modern form.
However, Coach Dean Smith LOVED and excelled at the game of basketball. Even though he created the Four Corners from his knowledge of the rules, he ALSO helped create the shot clock that would move the college game forward into a new era of new styles, a fast pace, and exciting entertainment for fans. Coach Smith wasn't trying to "cheat" nor was he for breaking rules.
The "MAGA Republicans," however, ARE CHEATING
with fake elector slates and "The Big Lie" election deniers,
gerrymandered districts and dark money attack ads,
voter suppression and "poll watchers" that are intimidating and sometimes armed.
Mitch McConnell kept Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland from receiving a hearing nearly a year before an election. But ignoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death bed request, he rushed a pre-selected anti-Roe nominee through the confirmation process even though VOTES HAD ALREADY BEEN CAST IN THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
I really like your analogy of running down the clock while holding the ball outside the shot line.
In the case where that happens, the opposing team MUST take the ball back through aggression and skill, and, they often do.
One would think that Biden's playing would be enough for that since, to be honest, he has played an outstanding game to this point.
And, IF there was not full time propaganda on TV and AM radio all day long with BS about Biden, and, instead, there was real news like it used to be when I was a kid, then, Biden would be a slam dunk.
But, Reagan killed real news and Rupert moved here forthwith to offer some BS news.
So now? Simply playing the game well no longer matters.
Because, everyone THINKS Biden is playing poorly. From BS propaganda on Fox
Beverly, I’m not exhausted, but I am so embarrassed when I speak to friends from around the world and hear THEIR view of our country. The candidates are shameful that the Repugnants have put up. It is egregious....ah, I’ve been waiting to use that great word. Completely so. I think Michael Moore is correct: the BLUE TSUNAMI is going to crest on November 8. I feel it....
Heather: Thanks for a great post. In recent months, it appears that you are chronicling not "The Indianapolis 500," but "The U.S. 500,000!" There are not many historians or journalists who could do that, but you are doing a pretty damn good job! Thanks!
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was in MN yesterday to rally the troops for US Rep Angie Craig. Emhoff is smart, funny, and was amazingly well versed as to what’s happening here in MN. Near the end of his remarks, after charming the crowd for nearly 20 minutes, he got a serious look on his face and said that, for just a moment, he wanted to talk to the men in the room. He then spoke about the need for men to understand that decisions like Dobbs affected them as deeply as it affected the women in their lives and he called on his fellow males to step up their efforts because; “lives are on the line.” The crowd erupted.
Contrast that with candidate Mehmet Oz’s terrifying BS that state officials belong in the healthcare choices of women. Can’t imagine how any rational, thinking person could ignore that, or worse yet agree with it and vote for him. Yet, some will. Just as some folks here in CD 2 will vote for Tyler Kistner, the Republican anti abortion, anti democracy candidate running against Craig.
The county I live in had the second highest voter turnout in the country in 2020 at around 93%. Early voting numbers indicate we may well exceed that this year. After the rally, a large number did door knocking, calling and texting to help turn out the vote. I even took sample ballots to the dog park last night!
At the end of his remarks, Emhoff asked for a moment of silence in memory of US Senator Paul Wellstone. Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Wellstone’s death in a plane crash in Northern MN.
One of Wellstone’s best legacies for me is one of my favorite quotes: “We all do better when we all do better.” We the people. All of us this time!
"Which vision will prevail in the U.S. will play out over the next two years."
I guess that depends on who can vote, or, who feels like they are safe voting in today's environment of voter intimidation.
From the 1619 book: Self Defense chapter: p 262 at the bottom.
"The next year another inccident demonstrated the cost to Black people of exercising their rights to participate in the political process and protect themselves. When Black residents in Ocoee, Florida, attempted to vote in the 1920 Presidential election, white residents there tried to stop them. Poll workers challenged Black voter registration and payment of the poll tax and required that they get their voting status certified by the town's notary, whom white leaders had deliberately sent out of town on a fishing trip. When one black man nevertheless tried to cast a ballot and was twice turned away, he began to document the disenfranchisement of African American voters, which enraged a white mob that had been hanging around the polling station intimidating black voters. The mob threatened to kill him. He fled for refuge to the home of one of the most prominent African Americans in Ocoee, July Perry. The armed mob followed. A mob of around 100 white men broke down the door of Perry's home. The residents inside the home, acting in self defense, leveled their rifles and fired. The battle had just begun as white reinforcements poured in from the surrounding counties. White people murdered or ran out of town over 500 Back residents. Ocoee remained an all-white town for the next five decades."
Written by: Carole Anderson.
So, with a bunch of white guys standing around poll stations with AK-47's? Who plans to vote?
Thanks for sharing this story which has been duplicated so many times throughout our history. Racism is a key feature of America's divided country. Check out a long list of violence perpetrated against African Americans simply because of skin color
When we started giving gold stars to every student just for showing up, we started eroding the need for critical analysis to ask, "what makes this or that better or worse?" When we started banning Halloween and Christmas so as not to offend instead of to tolerate and embrace, we started eliminating examination of differing opinions as well as the idea that there is room at the table for everyone. The only places left to excel were in sports, where the emphasis was on physical might to achieve one's goal. Competition and brute force immediate victory replaced cooperation and compromise towards longer term goals. All of these changes in our educational effort took place as we dropped courses that support the makings of democracy like civics, debate, history, and comparative literature. What was left is a vainglorious shell that magnifies self and eliminates both the need for self examination and the tools to do so. It denies the existence and importance of community by eliminating consideration of anything other than self and the immediate moment. Yes, the choices we made in "educating" our young started long ago when we turned our back on the most important education of all--to teach ourselves how to think, how to feel, and how to live in peace with our world.
Always felt that you could not teach one how to feel, but seems that propaganda does just that. When competition replaced cooperation on most fronts, the dye was cast. So it seems.
Agreed. When we teach someone to accept defeat and get up and try again, we are teaching them how to feel courage. When we teach someone to share instead of hoarding, we teach them how to feel generosity. It is how we teach response to life, particularly to adversity, that engenders feeling. We can choose to nurture anger or worry, which leads to blaming others for anything we don't like, or we can choose to encourage resilience, which promotes accepting reality and the presence of others.
Wry well said. My athletic experience predates “participation trophies” but it was the older members of my generation that created that concept. My participation in “contest” as a musician (play a solo/small ensemble piece for adjudication) was one of the best things I did to improve myself as a musician. I never scored a coveted “1”, but I became a much better musician (gods help me as a trombone player before discovering the tuba) because of the feedback I received critiquing my weaker areas of playing. I suspect that is still true today.
Many schools have banned Halloween for "cultural sensitivity." As for Christmas--it's now "Happy Holidays." While meant to be more inclusive, that phrase omits the richness of Kwanzaa, Hannukah, Christmas, and, yes, Diwali. It also misses the expansion of our ideas about other cultures. We are not threatened by the reality of the existence of other viewpoints; we are only threatened (and diminished) by ignoring them.
I'm happy to report that here in Australia we've just finished sending wishes for Rosh Hashana, we're currently giving much joyful attention to Diwali, and spiders, cobwebs and skeletons are starting to appear for Hallowe'en. No Thanksgiving, sigh (the local inhabitants never got the chance to help the white settlers - we're working on that).. We're saving our family fights for Christmas, when it's usually so hot that nobody has much energy, after a huge meal including roast turkey.
“Oz said he wanted abortion decisions to be made by “women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so that states can decide for themselves.” What invasive bodily decision will men accept the State interfering with? When they go to the doctor for erectile dysfunction, will they make room for “Local political leaders?” Before that Rx for Viagra can be written, our female Mayor must weigh in on your worthiness? You’re impotent? Let’s consult our female city commissioners and State Representative to decide for you.
As per Roe and also VP Harris, I am discouraged (disgusted?) by women friends who parrot the media criticism that Kamala Harris isn't doing anything. Yesterday, as almost everyday, she led a discussion in New Mexico about the impact of the Supreme Court decision on abortion that should be front page headlines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-8Bwu4ox1A. She has a command of the facts, the legal chops to identify the threats to society this ruling imposes, and is plain speaking and relates warmly to her audience. Watch it, share it, and stand up to the press who regularly malign our President and Vice President by ignoring their significant achievements.
This! The media behave as it they want the Demos to lose. Why? More fun and money for them. If we want this election, we the People will have to speak to the public from dawn till dawn all over this country. No media will help us. It is to their advantage to have the GOP win. Do they care about the state of this country or its People? No. We care. Many of us are already acting and talking. We need to get bigger about this. We can do it!
I share your concern and fear the worst. My hopeful hypothesis is that these writers also fear the outcome and are trying to project that fear to motivate people to get out and vote.
I have voted. I live in Oregon and can vote from the privacy of my home where I can think about what I do. Now, I have to write about and talk about what is at stake. We all do. It won't be easy. Oh, well.
Given that between the two Republican "leaders" (this term might be an alternative fact - a Republican fantasy) there is NO platform, NO program and NO policy except to say NO, how are the constituents to vote with NOthing to vote for? If I was a republican voter (a possibility so remote it cant be measured even with quantum mechanics), I would be confused and might not vote at all. Between the babblings of the wizard, the gizzard and the Blonde bombshell (doesn't it just figure that MTG is a blonde?), how could a serious Republican voter come to a decision?
One serious republican voter, that prospect astounds me. The female republican voters in my family have switched, the males signed on to the cult. Who’s going to take my pie, say the guys…
You got that right William, they are the party of NO, it’s been a long time since they actually participated in a constructive way, in our democracy, they have functionally become useless to our democratic conversations.
"Second, there has been much public discussion today of the idea that Democrats are in disarray after yesterday’s letter from the Progressive Democratic Caucus asking President Joe Biden to consider negotiations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. "
Functioning democracy not only handles controversy, it ultimately requires it. The scientific method, which has much to do with modern Enlightenment Era philosophies woven into the Constitution, progresses on constant cross-examination in good faith. Good Faith implies acceptance of certain ground rules of responsible behavior withing which diverse ideas and innovations vie for favor and confirmation. Disarray is more likely where good faith is lacking.
"Disarray is more likely where good faith is lacking." Yes indeed. And you've just hit the nail on the head, J L. ... Promotion of disarray has become the management style of the Republican Party (and in my view to a somewhat lesser extent the Democratic) where the "managed" are the vast majority of voters of all stripes who are simply incapable of parsing "complex" sentences like the one HCR brought up regarding women's reproductive rights; the one that started with women and ended with local politicians. It's nonsense doublespeak that will only reinforce the already baked in position of these people as HCR pointed out.
When you listed the conditions under which a functioning democracy can exist, the implication was that there is an electorate capable of the least level of critical thought. Too many voters today are motivated by their most recent experience at the gas pump or check stand along with the catchiest sound bite that stuck in their head as they listened to AM radio on the way to vote. I'm afraid that our biggest problem is quality public education, or rather, the lack thereof. When school boards can ban the teaching of "critical thinking" courses on the basis of statements like "we already got enough gott damn critics around here", you know what the root of the problem really is: it's a severely dumbed down population, not opportunistic politicians.
Well spoken. You can’t fix stupidity but you can fix ignorance. And in the future that is where we need to target the resources. An educated Public is our best defense.
Seems that deliberate ignorance is the republican platform. I guess Ben Franklin couldn’t imagine back when he said “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” And they do…
Their basic instinct to protect their “stuff” renders pale by comparison their interest in educating themselves. Instinct to protect their riding lawnmower, the TV sets, and their multiple cars is coupled with their instinct to maintain their tribal sense of superiority over people of color to produce the toxic stew of authoritarianism. It will take one heart and mind at a time. and when a critical mass of changed hearts and minds is achieved, the followers will follow. That the arc of the universe actually bends toward justice remains an article of faith.
That tribal sense gives a feeling of belonging, too. We’ve loosened a lot of the other ties that bind— family, place, church. But that need to belong is still there. MAGA does that for some people.
We need our communities...that is one thing that FB or anything else on the internet cannot replace. Human contact and interaction are vital to the development and exercise of compassion and empathy.
Yes, I think that sense of community is powerfully in there. We are unique individuals and also social creatures. The places I have lived with the strongest widely shared sense of community have been relatively low population density. The subcultures I have been a part of seemed to tend toward becoming ingrown.
Sad that venom can bind as much as love. But the writers of the Bible have been as enduring as the Philistines.
I’ve had stuff, stuff I’ve liked. But that affinity for the underdog never left. Still strong, go Dems
I like a fair amount of stuff as well, but yearn for a sane and compassionate society. Liberty and Justice, specifically including for the underdogs. Every step away from that is a step toward tyranny.
Hearts and minds will change when all the genes are integrated and no one is "pure" white or black, brown or yellow. The antiquated racist theory of Franz Boas in the 1890s, which was created on bogus research to justify colonialism and slavery, has been replaced by hard science of Montagu in 1964, 75 years ago.
Don’t remember which writer pointed out the Democrats try to make the future better than the present, while the Republicans want to replace the present with the past, giving little thought to the future.
A friend revealed, I think, why she leans Republican, and no longer worries about global warming. Nature will deal with it. If humans die out, so be it. She thinks no one will remember her when she is gone, nor appreciate her sacrifices. (There was a recent serious falling out with her daughter, her son is distant, and her husband has dementia, newly diagnosed.) I wonder if such feelings motivate most Republican voters and the non-voters.
Here in my area of NH, we're posting signs about "Democrats working for the common good".
Not so much the past I think, though Republicans cherry-pick and fantasize about it. The young people I encounter know they are inheriting a raw deal.
"Ignorance is Strength"
"Ignorance is bliss."
"Fools walk in where Angels fear to tred".
(PS - Has anyone else noticed that autocorrect changes messages? "This" just became "thus".
"tred" became "tried", so it's worth waiting a moment before you click on the "post" button, to be sure autocorrect didn't change your message).
Auto-correct should NEVER change what has been typed in without confirmation from the Human Ape!
(Shouldn't it be "tread"?)
Great quote by Ben and you !
Yes and Amen to that sentiment. In spades.
Then shut down Faux Snooze!
Then we become faux news?
Propaganda is so much less trouble, no critical thinking skills needed. Dr. Oz is no moron, just another rich dude with “delusions” of grandeur. He signed on to power at any price. The price being his reputation and his tattered soul.
I beg to differ about Oz. A moron is one either notably stupid or bereft of good judgement. Oz is not ignorant, but I feel he’s definitely stupid. As for judgement; judge for yourself on that one.
Hubby says educated idiots is a good label.
I’ll buy that.
Unaccountable power in exchange for the loss of one's soul. The old stories are not not so far off. An obsession for aggregating power seems to become truly addictive, and dangerous.
I wonder how Oprah feels about launching Oz's public stardom. I read his book. He surely seems like a turncoat to me. But then, statistically, specialist MDs (he's a cardiologist) are much more likely to be conservatives and generalist MDs are more likely to be humanists and progressive thinkers.
Y’all are giving these thugs too much credit. It’s not stupidity nor ignorance, it’s depravity.
A Fausto
Yes. Astonishing lack of ability to think beyond gas prices. As if that would change one iota if a Republican were in office. Just maddening. Inmates taking over the asylum
For all the talent we have in the Democratic party, it astonishes & saddens me that we never reframed inflation & gas prices as honorable sacrifices made(world wide) to protect each other from death by covid & to support the Ukrainians who are on the front lines, defending our democratic way of life. Inflation is a fallout I am willing to accept to protect my fellow persons & democracy. If we win in November, I hope our political leaders can do something about reining in self-serving, unchecked, amoral corporate greed that could do more to help than harm us (unconscionable price jacking in times of great need). Pipe dream tho....?
And yet nobody mentions the threat to SS and Medicare. I watched Joy Reid with Beto in Ft Worth last night, and not a word that I heard. It’s the elephant in the room that democrats need to harness for a win.
While www.votefwd.org is non-partisan, you can use your letter writing to say something like "As a senior, what happens to issues of my age group matters a great deal to me, which is why I vote."
I'm waiting to mail my 170 Vote Forward letters in 2 days. Discussed health care, schools, election participation for democracy, environment, and encouraging voting.
I haven’t seen much in the above comments about the problem of 70% of Americans watching fake news on Fox, either. Intelligent media must also be one of the very top requirements for democracy to work. It is an absolute requirement for having an educated populace. Heather Cox is doing her best, but too few people know about her work, let alone read it.
Media is a key component of of the character of any society, and totalitarians have always fought to dominate it. Twentieth Century rules meant to keep it diversified where done away with little public reaction. It was a fiat accompli before I was even aware of it. Free speech, including unpopular speech requires robust protection, but weaponized lies kill. That's tough to negotiate even with the best of motives, but some lines need to be drawn. Alex Jones is has rightly faced legal consequences of weaponized, irresponsible lying. I think significant, provable lies by those who are entrusted with official public duties are also a serious matter, as was widely agreed upon in the days of Nixon. We can be jailed for lying to the state about a number of official matters; and I think that those who accept official duties of the state should be expected not to lie to us. COVID, wars and racism are among the ways official lies literally kill.
Republicans are saying out loud that they want to get rid of SS, the ACA,and Medicare. This should scare everyone.
Exactly, SusanT. I am sick of Biden getting blamed for things that happened in tRumps term. Why doesn't the media cover the extreme corporate greed strangling us all? Oil prices are high due to greedy oil companies and Putin's war. I am thankful every day that President Biden is at the helm guiding us through the turbulence stirred up by the former administration.
Fortune published a recent article by a Yale expert who clearly stated the obscene, unconscionably bloated profits being sucked up by OIL REFINERIES, complete with charts. It should be widely reported but I haven't heard about it on my "big city" local news. We need a similar report about the gross profits bringing our food prices into the stratosphere. Journalism needs to step up for democracy before it's too late. https://fortune.com/2022/10/21/biden-energy-policy-oil-prices-misinformation/
Here is Congresswoman Katie Porter's take on Corporate Greed. I also sent money to her campaign. She's what we need.
https://youtu.be/30_H33mS76Y
Katie is terrific and a great example of what a congressional representative should be in America. I posted this same video of Katie Porter just a day or two ago either in this comment section or the one in Robert Hubbell's newsletter. But just as I didn't hear or see any widespread reporting on the ultra-bloated profits of oil companies, I also did not see Ms. Porter's clear expose of excess corporate profits widely reported in the media. Ignoring credible testimony or stories about astronomical corporate profits in this day and age is bad reporting and a form of partisanship--neither of which says anything flattering about the desire of our media to support democracy when it desperately needs support by those who still recognize the truth. Time for newspapers to stop compromising the whole truth by printing some good or even great reporting while ignoring some critical stories, and while also printing trash columns by pro-fascist groveling toadies to pander to potential far right subscribers.
Corporations keep putting on the squeeze, many currently making record profits while doing so. Our country voted for exactly this and the flimsy promise that it would make us all better off. After 40 years, has Reaganomics delivered on that promise? It's way past time to be asking that question. Our whole country should be asking that question.
It keeps being asked, and the answer is always the same: No. But the right wings propagandists count on people forgetting and so they trot out the same old beat up canards, and a whole new group of uninformed people fall for it all over again. I don't think it's taking as well this time. Because just about everybody saw what happened when Trump did it.
We’re too divided to do shared sacrifice
A house divided against itself cannot stand. Not for nothing Putin pumps the "GOP".
Putin and his mob boss are our common enemy.
It should be glaringly obvious that Putin does not act in the best interests of the US. Or anyone but Putin and his cronies, really. Strange how often such people wind up as popular leaders.
We Americans collectively don't have an ear for honorable sacrifice until our backs are against the wall. And then we're still susceptible to a foolish and lazy notion like backing off of following through on the rights of the formerly enslaved post-Ciivil War, or the blind passion of the Second Iraq War.
I recall someone interviewed on NPR spoke of the joy of the end of WWII laced with disappointment with the rapid return of of the class-based social games in London's populace. According to her, the petty backbiting that plagues societies had been dropped during the Blitz, but came rushing back with peace. Somehow our species manages to be our own worst enemy. Can we possibly become wiser before the next horror-scape?
Never underestimate the Democrats’ ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Usually with incredibly bad messaging
Yes. There is so much that could be said. I am always astonished by the Dems inability to control the narrative. Anyone have any suggestions that could help that?
Maybe by actually paying attention to them and hearing what they are saying?
Keener focus.
The corporate greed is what gets to me the most. And when I mention it to people, they just shrug their shoulders because they want to blame everything on Biden.
Corporate greed has been the elephant in the room for a long time. In my 1950s elementary school history books, the Roosevelts and citizens' movements were credited with taming some of the worst excesses. Then in the '80s, we somehow bought the notion that the 1800s "Robber Barons" got it right all along.
The folks around me using gas prices for an excuse use it more as a tribal war cry than because it causes them actual discomfort
No politician should have ANYTHING to say about a woman's healthcare decisions.
Certainly education is capable of improving competence and wisdom, and while there are some horror stories in my public school experience, I am fortunate to have experienced as much useful education as I got. The real problem is whether we are prepared for the consequences of encouraging kids to "question everything" and we find our own niche in the status quo? Worse is our very human proclivity to cult dynamics, and narcissism, and I suspect everyone has so degree of vulnerability to that, I know I do. But hard-core cult thinking usurps critical thinking and often, conscience, creating a whirlpool of self-confirming thinking, coupled with demonization of reflective criticism. I have seen a number of fairly bright, educated, even normally pleasant people absorbed into the MAGA cult. And it serves the interests of some powerful people that they do so, so they encourage it, even lay the trap. That's a harder thing to fight. I can become like a road rage mentality. The question for me as we drift toward civil and environmental chaos is what really matters? What in the end do we care the most about? The score? Our quality of life? The robust continuation of our own and many other species?
For every horror story I have from my days in public school (I have scores of them), I have 19 or 20 uplifting, wonderful ones. Me, being me (a human), I focused on the horror stories and let that define me as a person and student for many years. It was not until I actively began recalling the other 95% of my experience that the actual reality of me as a student and person came into focus. The richness of my impoverished life was embarrassing.
The real, hard core MAGAs make up about 15% of the electorate, with another 15% in tow. They want the rest of to believe they are in the majority. They are not (thanks to my public education, I can do math :)). Are we going to let a minority of intellectually self-truncated people define us as a nation/people? NO.
With an education, we at least have a chance to do the messy, imperfect, glorious work of thinking for ourselves. Without an education, we have very little chance to do this work. Instead, we will end up being the tools of others (good or bad) who will never have our, or the nation's, best interest at heart.
“Intellectually self-truncated” That’s a good one! ☺️
And one of my favorite talking points. America's past is steeped in the adoration of the Daniel Boone types. The strong uneducated types who didn't need no school learnings to get ahead. Just common sense, physical strength, and rifle skills. Or the "cowboy/Indian" mentality - same thing. There was a time when America was mostly a big frontier where turning back the native Americans and claiming the land for ourselves, where that kind of brute strength worked well. In modern times however, that "rugged individualism" mentality has become obsolete to say the least. We have found (through good education and scientific research) that the planet is finite with a somewhat fragile atmosphere and limited resources, that the various human races are genetically just about identical and therefore worthy of equality, that the ecosystems on the lands and in the seas are key to continued life as we know it including human life, and that the universe and solar system and our planet are many orders of magnitude older than the few thousands of years we once believed to be the case. The rest of the civilized world has for the most part come to this realization, and have governments that are trying to address modern issues. Sadly, much of the American people have not, and we have a political party that is trying to take maximum advantage of this. Great education systems are at odds with this strategy.
There was no "love" button, so all you got was a like.
Yes, isn't that a great phrase!? I can see myself using that in a debate. "Stop being so self-truncated!" I assume that the truncated portion of these folks is the top half of the head.
The more common term is "willful ignorance." Also "anti-intellectualism". It isn't new; maybe as old as the human species. It's just stronger, and people like Trump encouraged it. That is the tragedy of Trumpism. It has turned our country in the direction of the "idiocracy". The attacks on Dr Fauci during the heights of covid is exhibit "A". Hard to tamp down, because of all the "inconvenient truths" that come out of a scientific educated way of looking at things. People who have things (like V-8 vehicles and big houses) do not want to hear that they may have to rethink that kind of life. They are not comfortable with ceasing or treating their learned (if not instinctual) disdain for the other that has different skin color. It's what they know. No wonder we have "self-truncated" folks out there.
I earnestly hope your math is right. This coming election will tell us right? "Are we going to let a minority of intellectually self-truncated people define us as a nation/people?" You need to add to that the hyper-religious Christians among us who have allowed themselves to be highjacked by un-Christian causes cloaked as religious causes. That is a tragedy, and not helpful for truly Christian causes. You need to factor in apathy and hopelessness - an affliction that I believe affects progressives more than conservatives. The tendency for MAGA types and the hyper-religious to vote in droves. As opposed to the early to mid twenties crowd who worry about the future of the planet they are inheriting and are still frothing at the mouth about the perceived injustice towards Bernie Sanders etc, and therefore have chosen to bow out of what they feel is a corrupt process. And then add to that the attempts by Republicans to suppress the vote of those most likely to vote progressive, and the outrageous gerrymanding of swing states. Add it all up, and the minority becomes very competitive.
Thanks, Steve. That was very well done. I am so tired of people wringing their hands instead of taking a straight-forward look at what is actually going on. How refreshing to read a letter like yours.
I think that there are a lot of folks out there right now working to both get out the vote AND keep eyes and minds focused on reality. I agree with you: we are allowing ourselves to be distracted by a minority of people making a lot of noise that, when you think about it, doesn't make sense. It's wonderful to talk to people about that and see them begin to see it for themselves. We don't have to rely on schools to teach others. We can do it simply by explaining what we see and why- and letting them find their way without judgement.
Education is built in to life:
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience
comes from bad judgement.”
(I don’t know who said this the first time, I just know it wasn’t me)
Education is continuous.
Great quote--thank you!
'Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment'.
This aphorism was attributed to Dr Kerr L White. (with the correct spelling of "judgment," a very common error!) 😀
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23971071/
good piece in The Atlantic on the steps to turning MAGA. Two Key ingredients: deep seeded ( anger not apparent in daily interactions as colleagues and friends) and a core belief that lying and deception is normal for getting anything one wants. Truth creates untenable emotions. children whose homes are filled with lies, secrets-and silences are susceptible to becoming adults who find that behavior natural.
I also think authoritarian upbringing stunts mental error checking. Coerced loyalty over proven validity.
And, Heather said in yesterday’s chat that the RW repubs have their own dedicated TV channel. I’m convinced that needs to be jerked out root and branch but it won’t be. Maybe Dominion can drain their bank account.
A lightbulb went off for me when I heard her say that. So obviously true!
I missed that chat because of another commitment. Will make note to watch video tomorrow. Thanks for reminder!
Heather was her usual "factual" self, and uplifting IMO!
Ha! My hand is up waving around, as if in a classroom. "Too many voters today are motivated by their most recent experience at the gas pump or check stand..." If any LFAA folks recognize my schtick at all, it is my beef with American voters. I will never ever forget my couple of years at Clarksville High School in Tennessee way back when (the early '70's), where I as a mere teenager saw on display the willful ignorance, the proud rejection of academic excellence, the adoration of the bully, the hatred of the other (especially the black), among way too many students. It was not the fault of teachers or the school administration at least not directly. It was the fault of the families. That was a long time ago, however remnants of that still exist and that became apparent to all when that same attitude put Trump in the white house. It tests my commitment to democracy, when the "will of the people" can be so heartless and cruel. This is why there has always been the opinion that only certain of us should have the privilege of voting. It's about ensuring more quality in the vote. I agree though - ultimately the way to do it is to maximize good education for all. Then, cross your fingers and let the chips fall where they may.
The opportunistic politicians combined with the opportunistic corporate infrastructure and mass media all combine to ensure the population is dumbed down good and hard, its the only way their shell game can sucker enough rubes
I suggest that voters today are not less intelligent or sophisticated than those who elected Lincoln and FDR (four times), JFK and Barack Obama. And, yes, Joe Biden and a Democratic Congress.
We shall see Jon. In about two weeks.
You are positing the logical for far too many who function illogically. "IF they think it, then it must be right" is a common flaw among those who live on sound bites and abundant amounts of misinformation and disinformation.
If Big Q says it, how can it be wrong?
So said one (at least recorded, although all believed in principle) one of the Founding Fathers.
Hear! Hear! LS !
If anyone is worried about Fetterman's cognition, as a physician I'm not. His pattern of speaking is so dishearteningly affected by the stroke, but is layered on intact intellect. I have multiple patients who speak like this, and here is my letter of clearance as a doc if John wants it:
https://mccormickmd.substack.com/p/fetterman-vs-oz-senate-debate
And to Pat Toomey, whose gleeful tweet pronounced Fetterman unfit for office... I completely disagree. It’s not “sad” to see John Fetterman struggling so much. To me, and most other people who have seen a loved one struggle after a stroke, it’s instead INSPIRING to see him up there on a national stage debating a former surgeon only 5 months into his recovery.
Totally agree -- Fetterman is so INSPIRATIONAL, from the entirety of his life story of helping the less privileged to debating a media personality five months into stroke recovery, he is truly a Pennsylvania treasure!
Lawrence O'Donnell started his program with a piece on FDR and Churchill - how their illnesses did not keep them from being two of the greatest men of the 20th century. And he then shot down those who used the phrase 'painful to watch' in describing Fetterman's debate performance (I thought it was commendable - he certainly took Oz apart on the women's rights issue). Fetterman is definitely fit for office, especially morally fit.
Yes, I really appreciate Lawrence doing that tonight. Oz is a jerk who hits below the belt. The typical Repub.
As a retired doc, I wonder what medical advice about the risk of a second stroke, given the intense stress of campaigning and governance. We don't know what caused his first stroke, nor do we know the regimen he must follow to continue to struggle without further deterioration. Having said that, I feel Oz should have remained in cardiac surgery rather than wasting all of our time for years trying to prove how smart he is in all things.
This is why I admire Fetterman all the more.
Of my 3 kids, one had ADD and his GPA was a hair under his siblings--but I saw how he worked all the harder for it.
Good points - and ultimately what to do with his life is up to Fetterman. He seemed cool and collected despite the terrible challenge. I don't think resting up in Braddock would be any better than fulfilling a sense of duty and passion in terms of additional stroke risk, but your point is well taken.
Agree absolutely! Thank you for putting in your professional perspective. I wrote similar posts on Robert Hubbel's substack, with examples from my own experience and observation. Won't repeat here (it's getting late for me), but it's good to see someone else speak out about how people like Fetterman are actually demonstrating how it works. He's doing exactly the right thing for recovery: making his brain work so that it rewires those connections. In a year (or less), my bet is that people will not be able to tell he had a stroke. And there is nothing wrong with his mind: he is all there, 100%, showing the kind of gumption we need in our leaders.
I'm a big Fetterman supporter. I only know about the impact of his stroke based on what was said in the papers. I also hear all the time that debates don't matter. But, I have to say, watching Fetterman last night was painful. If there were on-the-fence voters watching last night, who are just starting to tune in and really don't know anything about a stroke's impact and recovery, I think they would be hard pressed to believe that Fetterman is in shape to be in the senate. I kinda wished he had chosen NOT to debate. I'm really bummed......
Thank you for this response Dr. McCormick. I feel the same way.
JL,
Excellent post on the role of diversity of thought, freely expressed, in the scientific method. That aspect of my education is what ultimately freed me to begin to roam the landscape with my mind.
However, PRIOR to that matriculation through education in engineering science, I was firmly rooted in "belief space", where diversity of thought is not just discouraged, it will send you to hell.
In a Democracy where dogma (a derivative of fundamentalist religion) dominates a large segment of the population, diversity of thought is soundly punished by the living culture with threats of all manner of dire consequences from being shunned to going to hell.
So, in those parts of the US where religious dogma is prominent, there is simply zero diversity of thought.
Meaning, it might be easy to push those folks, in that area, into an autocracy with the right message that lines up with their dogma. They might enthusiastically embrace properly worded autocracy or dictatorship because the words used line up with their dogma.
I watched a doc called The Game Is Up: Disillusioned Trump Voters Tell Their Story (free on YouTube) the other night. Most interesting to me was the Evangelicals’ stories.
https://youtu.be/2mgLbdGIepc for those that would like an easy link. You're welcome. -saw-
OK,
The Texas A&M professor who outlines the language is brilliant and worth watching then......
If you skip until about 3/4 of the way through, then, it is very good, more than worth watching to hear the perspective of the Christians.
Thank you.
Wow! thank you for that link. VERY intense and somewhat illuminating documentary.
Thanks so much for posting this link….was 3 a.m. & I chose to watch it….now at 6:30 & am going to try to get some sleep! Will be sharing this, it needs to be widely seen.
That's a start, but in a way the Evangelicals created Trumpism. Long before him, their beliefs lay in authoritarianism and white male supremacy. Back in the "W" administration they pressed for government support of private Christian schools, thus putting an end of division between church and state. In the Reagan era they were anti-gay and the "moral majority." Anti-abortion was high on their list and a manifestation that women are subordinate to men. I doubt that they would use such phrases but "a rose by any other name," etc. Even if Trump is diminished, as it looks like he might be, their beliefs still lead them to fascism, not just here but elsewhere.
"They" and "their" just happens to include prominent Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who promoted parochial school vouchers in D.C on the taxpayers' dime as a "pilot" program, and was on the record, late in the game, against marriage equALLity. Oh, she got letters from me alright, but clearly written with her middle finger. If only she would go out to pasture - the sooner the better. We in California should be able to get a real Democrat in that seat without the PA struggle. But oh, right, she has more money than Yahweh.
Thanks. I couldn't watch it all because I already saw too much of the idjt, but skipped to the end.
I agree with you on 'too much of the orange idjit'...but I gritted my teeth, kept swallowing my gorge and forced myself to watch. Ugh. But yes, the end was a great relief.
I love the trope that science is the first word on everything and the last word on nothing. Couldn’t be more opposite to dogma.
Jeri, dogma is very, very, very real to millions of people, and formerly for me.
I cannot possibly explain the rigid boundaries of my mind that I left East Texas with and went to college with. Now, some of those, like "drinking alcohol is a sin" were good. I stayed sober and did my work.
But, many of those dogmatic principals are rigid boundaries to mental exploration of life itself.
So, my surprisingly good performance in college (my counselor told me I would flunk out in three weeks) led to a fellowship at UT Austin where, over time, I came to understand that, if there is a God, and, he is as powerful as the preacher says on Sunday, well, he oughta not shake with fear if I have some questions for him.
So, I now, have a long list of them. :-) And, some challenges too.
:-)
JL, thank you for the observation that the 'Enlightenment Era' philosophies are woven into the Constitution which goes back to the development of the common law & the Magna Carta. Yes, the scientific method requires questions & testing. Scientific development is not always built brick-by-brick but, by major paradigm shifts that excellerate scientific progress dramatically at times. Fast forward to the 21st Century & the law implies a "covenant of good faith & fair dealing" in every contract. Where one party has enormous leverage on a much smaller party, the breach of that covenant can be a civil wrong commonly called a tort. It is also the foundation of US Federal Law: A person must have an "actual controversy" with real damages within the rules fleshed out in the the Federal statutory codes. Relief, criminal and civil, is often available at law. Keep the good faith.
…and although there other fine advocates among us, you, Bryan, bring the rule of law to us as it needs to be executed throughout the land. I am grateful.
That just came out triggered by JL then I realized that comment was pretty much my legal career, pro bono & for hire in Court.
I feel like just sitting with you J L. Reason and sanity are a many splendid thing. Thank you.
The economy must go bad. Jobs must evaporate. People must be taught they are not empowered. They must be convinced their enemies are elitists, an upper class of thinkers of great wisdom if you will. They will believe they have been abandoned to a state of ignorance by the sagacious ones. A guidance will be given them by the rising star of fascism. They will respond and be grateful and extremely angry that the educated elite consider them callously ignorant. They will accept aspects of society to to attack and blame. They are ready finally to be galvanized in their defiance of the government which has failed them. Educated citizens will feel their hatred. The rift is your clue. These people are of the mud of this nation. Who isn’t.
A good summary, Pat. With racism and white supremacy in this country alive and never far from the surface; robbing the people of their wealth and sense of worth by Big Business, the Republican agenda and Dark Money, an economic system and Rule of Law favoring the ultra-rich, along with the condescension by many in the Democratic Party as well as having been corrupted by the lure of Corporate and Fossil Fuel sectors. All seeding the mud's responsiveness to the fascists' propaganda. Forces conspire with social media the perfect means for the message.
My great grandfather said he raised grass not cattle and horses. Grass roots. Mud. They are co-conspirators upon which civilization has risen. To condemn the children of lesser gods is to paint a mark on your door. We may become a cohesive sea of grass as long as we tend our roots in the mud. There are no words to thank you Fern McBride none good enough to make you feel how much I appreciate the meager fact that you get it. Your overview makes me appear. How I wish there were more of you.
You are alive and enrich our soil. It is good to be a friend. And may we become a cohesive sea of grass as long as we tend our roots in the mud together.
Fern, I think you'll find this video of Katie Porter explaining Corporate Greed interesting. I wish everyone could see this.
https://youtu.be/30_H33mS76Y
Thank you, Jane. I will watch it. How could I not be a fan of Katie Porter's!
Heather, you’re a great historian, and perhaps as a result, you spend less time on the daily news. If you saw more of it, you’d know that DID (Democrats in Disarray) is a constant theme, but RID is nowhere o be found.
Discord abounds. It is the nature of the beast we have become.
Would this be the John Graham from Haverhill High School in MA ? In any case, glad you follow HCR!
The prevailing view in the US doesn't look like it's going to include climate change or anything else environmental. Its very absence is quite frightening.
Boy, howdy, Talia. Spot on.
Yes. With the ice caps melting and the Russian tundra and forests burning, what will be left of Russia ? They have to move. Where? To the Ukraine?
On that note, I highly recommend "The Last Winter" by Porter Fox.
"In this deeply researched, beautifully written, and adventure-filled book, journalist Porter Fox travels along the edge of the Northern Hemisphere's snow line to track the scope of this drastic change, and how it will literally change everything—from rapid sea level rise, to fresh water scarcity for two billion people, to massive greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost, and a half dozen climate tipping points that could very well spell the end of our world." - Goodreads
It is an elegy to ice and snow, with much about histories of the various groups who lived along the snow line through the centuries.
Bingo.
You found the reason Putin invaded!
Never thought of that, was invasion the only way. In Putin’s evil mind
And Times headline today is that countries falling way short of pledges to cut emissions…ensuring much more planetary chaos in future
A Christian-Nationalist manufactured Rapture. Destruction of the planet by “The Book”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/climate/un-climate-pledges-warming.html
Plus quite a few other things.
True but voting rights is in the same category as I look at it, SO important!
Yes, let's face it - without voting rights there's no democratic election. Education, education, education, with critical thinking skills from the get go.
You are right, too, Sandra. It is important that we are able to get representatives in who will continue to do something about the climate.
But I do feel we've been sidelined on that front, or maybe in limbo as it were.
You piqued my interest, Liz. Going to give IBT a try!
Okay, Liz. Thanks for the tip!
There is a bright spot in the Tale of The 30 Nitwit Progs: the insufferable Pramilla Jayapal is no longer "in consideration" as a potential successor to Nancy Pelosi, who has forgotten more about politics than the condescending legend-in-her-own-mind Jayapal will ever know; that she tossed her staff under the bus as she did is a nice character "tell" that lets you know everything you need to know about a moron so stupid she has herself convinced she's a genius. We may also experience "less is more" from AOC, Cory Bush and Ilhan Omar. I had a bit more to say about the fakakte at TAFM.
As to the coverage of the Fetterman-Oz campaign by the over-educated, under-intelligent, otherwise-unemployable trust fund babies at the Nation's Finest Fishwrap, with friends like these, we need no enemies. The NYT of the Pentagon Papers and the NYT of the past 20 years are two different organizations that wouldn't recognize each other. The mini-me's working there now couldn't rise to Neil Sheehan's ankle.
Stephanie Ruhle had an interesting commenter on tonight who asked a question worth pondering: how come when Kanye West was making attacks over the past 10 years not appreciably different than those made this past week against other minority groups, Adidas and the rest of the corporate scum had no problem making him richer? But it was this line he crosses and all of a sudden he's poison?
While I think of myself as way, way left by USA standards, I believe there are times when in order to get what you want, you have to first accept getting less than you want.
I'm sure if Joe Biden thought there was some foundation on which to build a peace deal with Putin, then he would go for it, as would any sane person, including your average Ukrainian.
The progressive wing of the Democrats needs to grow up a bit. Their day will come.
Been accepting less than what I want for, oh so many years. Then I watched bat-Schitt crazy take over an elite, money-grubbing group who only had power and greed on their pathetic little minds. So tired of seeing “less than what I want” becoming my worst nightmare. Thanks for provoking that rant. Our day will come.
I heard a politician say once that the goal is to answer yes to the question, "Is everyone equally unhappy?"
Well, 98% of us might be equally unhappy. I thought that was an elected official’s job: to bring about transformation for as many as possible. So we have real hope of “the pursuit of happiness” and its outcomes.
Should've added, that politician lost that election.
Well, that was not because what the politician said was untrue, but because they said out loud that part of the statement which is supposed to remain unsaid but understood.
Agree, TL!
As long as you are thinking of yourself as way , way left...what would you think of looking at another paradigm: a view that reflects the shape of our world - round, and made up of pieces that are all different from each other and which are all necessary to make it whole, like the wooden ball puzzle that fits in the palm of your hand....
As I see the destruction in Ukraine, as I said the other day, I keep hoping there's a way to end this diplomatically b4 the whole country is decimated.
With due respect, reporters at the Times and Wapo have done an admirable job of dissecting TFG. Political coverage generally, however, is still stuck in horse race mode. For what that portends (not good) , see Margaret Sullivan's final column "2024 and the Dangers Ahead., August 21, 2021.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/08/21/margaret-sullivan-last-column-trump-2024-media/
Hugh, thanks for the link. scrowel2, thanks for the heads up. Excellent farewell piece by Sullivan.
I think generalizing about the media is unfortunate. As Margaret points out, there are high points and low ones. Hopefully, the truth about the "lie" will become even more mainstreamed as the 2024 contest is launched.
I find an occasional reason to be irritated by a writer from the Times or WaPo. If an opinion piece by Friedman pisses me off, so what? It's an opinion. Sullivan's point about framing the news is the big deal. The DeathSantis example was perfect. Another would be the huge attention given to vigilantes around a few ballot boxes when there are something like 176,933 voting precincts in the US. EVERYONE I know or who I have spoken with simply voted easily with no threats or intimidation.
Yes, the vigilantes should be pursued. But if that one event dominates the news of the day, we have taken our eyes off so many other issues. Sure, it was sensational and newsy. But how about some perspective, please.
Mostly, if you look around the world, we are very lucky to have the independent journalism that we have. Far from perfect, but name a place that is.
When I dropped my ballot off at the Town Hall's secured, metal dropbox, I was wondering where the knucklehead, gun toting, f-Biden dork would be watching. Happy to say that it was just a normal day, a quiet drop in the secure box, and a deep appreciation for having the right to vote with no interference, like the good old days. I did feel nostalgia as I turned away from the metal box and glanced at the mail slot in the old, wooden door. A few years ago, that mail slot was where we dropped off our absentee ballots which fell into an open basket on the other side of the unlocked door (unlocked during business hours). Those were the Days of Trust. Before homegrown terrorists and traitorous leaders were allowed free reign to trample OUR freedoms at the root of a democracy and Our rule of law. Hardly patriots, more like anti-Americans who should be deported to dictatorial countries where masses of refugees are fleeing from. Refugees who would love to live and participate in our democracy that these traitors, literally, shat upon and continue to try to shatter. Remember, voters are turning out in record numbers and there are millions more of us than them. Use your power. Vote early. Help others vote as well.
Very well said.
It is advertising-driven journalism. And we would do well to always remember that. If we want to fold this information into our world-view, understand the profit-driven origins of it.
So true, Bill.
Thanks
Thank YOU for the heads up. and thank-you to Mr. Spencer for the easy link clink.
That was excellent, scrowel2.
"Jayapal contended the letter was released by staff without proper vetting and said it improperly conflated her caucus’ position with GOP divisions over providing more aid to Ukraine aid, which Democrats back. She withdrew the letter after the embarrassing intra-party feud."
I will avoid comment on Jayapal. However, the culture she is from I am familiar with having spent nine years in HCL, Hindustan Corporation Limited, the world's largest Indian outsourcing firm.
She probably is very bright, but, misdirection fundamentally underpins the culture. The most common word used is: "Sure".
That word means: "I have absolutely no intention of even thinking about the input you just provided".
Just as an example.
😀. “Bless her heart”, huh?
Thanks for the laugh Dave!
Well, I guess forgiveness is in order.
❗️
The tragedy isn't Tommy Tuberville's ignorance of the basic architecture of the US federal government, it's that likely most of his supporters don't know either. Knowledge is the enemy of autocracy; ignorance feeds it.
so wish folks would read Tim Synder’s The Road to Unfreedom. I don’t know if you would agree but one if the most important reads besides your book, How the South Won the Civil War. Helps to understand the political context and motivations and role of social media. Thank you for the work that you do. Tom Denbow
PS. Diwali, the Hindu holiday celebrating good over evil, knowledge over ignore, occurred here in India two days ago. Wish our leaders would take that to heart!!
They can’t. They like to pretend we’re a Christian nation.
Actually, there was an acknowledgement of Diwali and a mini celebration at the White House. Think it was party to honor traditions celebrated by Kamala Harris.
Our public schools were closed in recognition of Diwali.
I probably should have said “world leaders”. Thank you for the comment
Agree on "The Road to Unfreedom."
When I heard that quote from Mehmet Oz about wanting abortion decisions to be made by "women, doctors, and local political leaders…", My first thought was, "wonderful! Let's put the Governor, state Senators, and state Representatives all tricked out in their hospital gowns, laying on the examination tables, with their feet in the stirrups, so that they can get a feel for what it's like, and thus be able to make truly informed decisions about abortion, knowing how painful and humiliating these procedures can be.
Better than that, it begs the question why John Fetterman did not offer a swift rejoinder about requiring an evangelical Christian pastor, or even a bishop, to be in attendance too. Regrettably, Lieutenant Governor Fetterman is still recovering from the stroke he experienced earlier this year, and with the cognitive dissonance that he is working to overcome. That kind of hard work might be a limiting factor in his ability to respond to Oz's absurdities with a lineal projection of his own about where those absurdities ultimately end up. The idea that patients, physicians, and ambitious politicians need to triangulate where the abortion issue ends up posits its own answer: nowhere where anyone with a heart and soul would ever want to be. It's hard to imagine a more cruel and abusive solution to a self-made problem than that which Dr. Oz and his sleazy cohort have made for themselves.
The list of possibilities goes on. How about a coterie of self-appointed 'influencers' to also be in attendance. Maybe some of the talking heads from the local Fox News Channel might like to make an appearance, because for them, there is no such thing as bad publicity. How about a justice or two from the state Supreme Court, or a state attorney general looking for some campaign fodder to feed on between now and that point in the future when a senatorial seat becomes vacant. This story would go well with any of the crime and the streets hollering that Trump Republicans have become so adept at doing.
I am fully confident that our elected representatives would have no trouble at all laying there on the table, with beatific smiles on their faces, waving to the crowd, while at the same time begging for campaign donations. Yes, siree! I'm sure some car dealership would be more than pleased to be able to sponsor this type of event, because the prurient interest in this sort of thing cannot be overestimated or oversold. Eyewitness News from whatever local TV channel it happens to be would be more than happy to send a full team of reporters and cameramen to give a minute by minute account of the sweating and grimacing those public officials will be more than happy to experience, because this kind of free publicity could not be bought at any price.
I truly hope that the people of Pennsylvania get a good hard look at this Mehmet Oz character, and finally realize just how shameless, craven, and cynical he and his cohort of radical MAGAhat would-be dictators can be. Regrettably, if there is one thing that these two past and current political cycles have shown is that the former president and his willing accomplices and enablers have no shame whatsoever. Satire and ridicule require a sense of shame and absurdity to make their point; and these people have no shame, none whatsoever. The shock for the rest of us is that of all of what has been going on in real time were presented as a work of fiction, no one in his right mind could believe it to be true.
"it begs the question why John Fetterman did not offer a swift rejoinder about requiring an evangelical Christian pastor, or even a bishop, to be in attendance too".
It might also be that Fetterman is not used to being in a fight bullpen with an artist in Bulshshite handing out Bulshite. I mean, Oz has decades of BS generation live and real time.
Fetterman? He is just a guy who wants to make a difference and worked for a living instead of talking BS for a living.
Idle question: why is the name "Mehmet Oz" OK, but "Barack Hussein Obama" isn't?
Propaganda
And then of course the good doctor doesn't have that tan...remember when the ineffable Berlusconi supposed (live to camera) to Dimitri Medvedev that he'd doubtless get on well with the new US president, also young, fit and tanned, ha ha.
Cuz he’s part of their tribe, jess like a judge we won’t identify
Oo-oo-ooh! What if they found out that "Mehmet" is just another spelling of "Mahomet"? and "Mohammed"? and of course "Muhammad"?
“Selectavision”
(Laughter).
Oz is white.
Obama is black.
Thanks!
The image of these politicians lying back, in gynecological stirrups with Republican onlookers putting in their 2 “cents” is brilliant. A scene in a movie yet to be made.
How very true, as anybody who has endured that position will agree.
Wow, go get ‘em. Post this everywhere.
Anybody else exhausted?
In North Carolina, we had a famous basketball strategy called "The Four Corners."
Before I offer my analogy, just let me say on our basketball court, this play took skilled players, unlike the placeholders the GOP is offering up. (See Robert Hubbell's October 25 newsletter "Democratic Quality Candidates").
The point being, Coach Dean Smith had his players keep possession of the ball during the game, denying the opponent the opportunity to score.
It dawned on me, particularly with the challenges in court filings and appeals to the Supreme Court that Clarence Thomas somehow happens to be a key player ruling on, that the GOP is also trying to run down the clock.
If the voters allow them to take the majority in Congress, they will kill investigations still underway.
They will install their most radical personalities on critical committees.
They will create retaliatory (and essentially baseless) so-called investigations of their own against already targeted members of the Democratic Party.
They scream about impeachments, not for cause, but for performance, and to throw meat to their cult-ish followers howling for blood.
It's gladiator sport in the ancient Roman Colosseum in modern form.
However, Coach Dean Smith LOVED and excelled at the game of basketball. Even though he created the Four Corners from his knowledge of the rules, he ALSO helped create the shot clock that would move the college game forward into a new era of new styles, a fast pace, and exciting entertainment for fans. Coach Smith wasn't trying to "cheat" nor was he for breaking rules.
The "MAGA Republicans," however, ARE CHEATING
with fake elector slates and "The Big Lie" election deniers,
gerrymandered districts and dark money attack ads,
voter suppression and "poll watchers" that are intimidating and sometimes armed.
Mitch McConnell kept Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland from receiving a hearing nearly a year before an election. But ignoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death bed request, he rushed a pre-selected anti-Roe nominee through the confirmation process even though VOTES HAD ALREADY BEEN CAST IN THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
That's cheating.
That's spitting on the Constitution.
That's ending democracy.
I really like your analogy of running down the clock while holding the ball outside the shot line.
In the case where that happens, the opposing team MUST take the ball back through aggression and skill, and, they often do.
One would think that Biden's playing would be enough for that since, to be honest, he has played an outstanding game to this point.
And, IF there was not full time propaganda on TV and AM radio all day long with BS about Biden, and, instead, there was real news like it used to be when I was a kid, then, Biden would be a slam dunk.
But, Reagan killed real news and Rupert moved here forthwith to offer some BS news.
So now? Simply playing the game well no longer matters.
Because, everyone THINKS Biden is playing poorly. From BS propaganda on Fox
Beverly, I’m not exhausted, but I am so embarrassed when I speak to friends from around the world and hear THEIR view of our country. The candidates are shameful that the Repugnants have put up. It is egregious....ah, I’ve been waiting to use that great word. Completely so. I think Michael Moore is correct: the BLUE TSUNAMI is going to crest on November 8. I feel it....
I believe in the blue tsunami and I pray every pollster and pundit predicting the repub "lean" will wake up November 9th with egg facials.
Talk to more Brits -- sitting in their kettle, they are less inclined to call our pots black!
My dream
Heather: Thanks for a great post. In recent months, it appears that you are chronicling not "The Indianapolis 500," but "The U.S. 500,000!" There are not many historians or journalists who could do that, but you are doing a pretty damn good job! Thanks!
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was in MN yesterday to rally the troops for US Rep Angie Craig. Emhoff is smart, funny, and was amazingly well versed as to what’s happening here in MN. Near the end of his remarks, after charming the crowd for nearly 20 minutes, he got a serious look on his face and said that, for just a moment, he wanted to talk to the men in the room. He then spoke about the need for men to understand that decisions like Dobbs affected them as deeply as it affected the women in their lives and he called on his fellow males to step up their efforts because; “lives are on the line.” The crowd erupted.
Contrast that with candidate Mehmet Oz’s terrifying BS that state officials belong in the healthcare choices of women. Can’t imagine how any rational, thinking person could ignore that, or worse yet agree with it and vote for him. Yet, some will. Just as some folks here in CD 2 will vote for Tyler Kistner, the Republican anti abortion, anti democracy candidate running against Craig.
The county I live in had the second highest voter turnout in the country in 2020 at around 93%. Early voting numbers indicate we may well exceed that this year. After the rally, a large number did door knocking, calling and texting to help turn out the vote. I even took sample ballots to the dog park last night!
At the end of his remarks, Emhoff asked for a moment of silence in memory of US Senator Paul Wellstone. Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Wellstone’s death in a plane crash in Northern MN.
One of Wellstone’s best legacies for me is one of my favorite quotes: “We all do better when we all do better.” We the people. All of us this time!
Thanks for that story. Thanks very much.
"Which vision will prevail in the U.S. will play out over the next two years."
I guess that depends on who can vote, or, who feels like they are safe voting in today's environment of voter intimidation.
From the 1619 book: Self Defense chapter: p 262 at the bottom.
"The next year another inccident demonstrated the cost to Black people of exercising their rights to participate in the political process and protect themselves. When Black residents in Ocoee, Florida, attempted to vote in the 1920 Presidential election, white residents there tried to stop them. Poll workers challenged Black voter registration and payment of the poll tax and required that they get their voting status certified by the town's notary, whom white leaders had deliberately sent out of town on a fishing trip. When one black man nevertheless tried to cast a ballot and was twice turned away, he began to document the disenfranchisement of African American voters, which enraged a white mob that had been hanging around the polling station intimidating black voters. The mob threatened to kill him. He fled for refuge to the home of one of the most prominent African Americans in Ocoee, July Perry. The armed mob followed. A mob of around 100 white men broke down the door of Perry's home. The residents inside the home, acting in self defense, leveled their rifles and fired. The battle had just begun as white reinforcements poured in from the surrounding counties. White people murdered or ran out of town over 500 Back residents. Ocoee remained an all-white town for the next five decades."
Written by: Carole Anderson.
So, with a bunch of white guys standing around poll stations with AK-47's? Who plans to vote?
“Our other history”; you know, the one that doesn’t get taught in “patriotic” school districts
Our history inspired Hitler, my gast was flabbered. And yet, here we are. I dare any arse to bother me tomorrow, but then I am washed-out white…
Love “my gast was clabbered.” Mine is most of the time.
Jeri, they better not touch a hair on your head.....!
Thanks for sharing this story which has been duplicated so many times throughout our history. Racism is a key feature of America's divided country. Check out a long list of violence perpetrated against African Americans simply because of skin color
https://www.zinnedproject.org/collection/massacres-us/
Gina,
Thank you.
When we started giving gold stars to every student just for showing up, we started eroding the need for critical analysis to ask, "what makes this or that better or worse?" When we started banning Halloween and Christmas so as not to offend instead of to tolerate and embrace, we started eliminating examination of differing opinions as well as the idea that there is room at the table for everyone. The only places left to excel were in sports, where the emphasis was on physical might to achieve one's goal. Competition and brute force immediate victory replaced cooperation and compromise towards longer term goals. All of these changes in our educational effort took place as we dropped courses that support the makings of democracy like civics, debate, history, and comparative literature. What was left is a vainglorious shell that magnifies self and eliminates both the need for self examination and the tools to do so. It denies the existence and importance of community by eliminating consideration of anything other than self and the immediate moment. Yes, the choices we made in "educating" our young started long ago when we turned our back on the most important education of all--to teach ourselves how to think, how to feel, and how to live in peace with our world.
Always felt that you could not teach one how to feel, but seems that propaganda does just that. When competition replaced cooperation on most fronts, the dye was cast. So it seems.
Agreed. When we teach someone to accept defeat and get up and try again, we are teaching them how to feel courage. When we teach someone to share instead of hoarding, we teach them how to feel generosity. It is how we teach response to life, particularly to adversity, that engenders feeling. We can choose to nurture anger or worry, which leads to blaming others for anything we don't like, or we can choose to encourage resilience, which promotes accepting reality and the presence of others.
Wry well said. My athletic experience predates “participation trophies” but it was the older members of my generation that created that concept. My participation in “contest” as a musician (play a solo/small ensemble piece for adjudication) was one of the best things I did to improve myself as a musician. I never scored a coveted “1”, but I became a much better musician (gods help me as a trombone player before discovering the tuba) because of the feedback I received critiquing my weaker areas of playing. I suspect that is still true today.
Did somebody ban Halloween and Christmas? I hadn't noticed. So sad, too. I'd love to be invited to a Diwali celebration...
Many schools have banned Halloween for "cultural sensitivity." As for Christmas--it's now "Happy Holidays." While meant to be more inclusive, that phrase omits the richness of Kwanzaa, Hannukah, Christmas, and, yes, Diwali. It also misses the expansion of our ideas about other cultures. We are not threatened by the reality of the existence of other viewpoints; we are only threatened (and diminished) by ignoring them.
I'm happy to report that here in Australia we've just finished sending wishes for Rosh Hashana, we're currently giving much joyful attention to Diwali, and spiders, cobwebs and skeletons are starting to appear for Hallowe'en. No Thanksgiving, sigh (the local inhabitants never got the chance to help the white settlers - we're working on that).. We're saving our family fights for Christmas, when it's usually so hot that nobody has much energy, after a huge meal including roast turkey.
“Oz said he wanted abortion decisions to be made by “women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so that states can decide for themselves.” What invasive bodily decision will men accept the State interfering with? When they go to the doctor for erectile dysfunction, will they make room for “Local political leaders?” Before that Rx for Viagra can be written, our female Mayor must weigh in on your worthiness? You’re impotent? Let’s consult our female city commissioners and State Representative to decide for you.
As per Roe and also VP Harris, I am discouraged (disgusted?) by women friends who parrot the media criticism that Kamala Harris isn't doing anything. Yesterday, as almost everyday, she led a discussion in New Mexico about the impact of the Supreme Court decision on abortion that should be front page headlines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-8Bwu4ox1A. She has a command of the facts, the legal chops to identify the threats to society this ruling imposes, and is plain speaking and relates warmly to her audience. Watch it, share it, and stand up to the press who regularly malign our President and Vice President by ignoring their significant achievements.
This! The media behave as it they want the Demos to lose. Why? More fun and money for them. If we want this election, we the People will have to speak to the public from dawn till dawn all over this country. No media will help us. It is to their advantage to have the GOP win. Do they care about the state of this country or its People? No. We care. Many of us are already acting and talking. We need to get bigger about this. We can do it!
I share your concern and fear the worst. My hopeful hypothesis is that these writers also fear the outcome and are trying to project that fear to motivate people to get out and vote.
I have voted. I live in Oregon and can vote from the privacy of my home where I can think about what I do. Now, I have to write about and talk about what is at stake. We all do. It won't be easy. Oh, well.
Voter here in PA. Even after last night's debate, I will crawl on broken glass to vote for John Fetterman.
Given that between the two Republican "leaders" (this term might be an alternative fact - a Republican fantasy) there is NO platform, NO program and NO policy except to say NO, how are the constituents to vote with NOthing to vote for? If I was a republican voter (a possibility so remote it cant be measured even with quantum mechanics), I would be confused and might not vote at all. Between the babblings of the wizard, the gizzard and the Blonde bombshell (doesn't it just figure that MTG is a blonde?), how could a serious Republican voter come to a decision?
One serious republican voter, that prospect astounds me. The female republican voters in my family have switched, the males signed on to the cult. Who’s going to take my pie, say the guys…
Oh Gast-flubbered One, do you mean "take" or "bake" my pie?
You got that right William, they are the party of NO, it’s been a long time since they actually participated in a constructive way, in our democracy, they have functionally become useless to our democratic conversations.