At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Republican senators accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of “siccing” the FBI on parents who are simply concerned about their child’s education.
Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight just donated $1.34 Million to erase medical debt for 108,000 people in 5 states that haven't done Medicare expansion. This is impressive and is both a superb political tactic and one of caring for the People. Every time I hear her talk she sounds more and more Presidential to me.
Superwoman Stacey Abrams and her Fair Fight crew are helping Virginia. Here is their email from today (10/27/2021):
Election Day in Virginia is right around the corner! Organizers and volunteers have been working tirelessly to make sure every eligible voter can cast their ballot and make their voice heard. Now they’re in the final stretch and need YOUR help.
Here’s what YOU can do:
-> Reach out to everyone you know in Virginia to make sure they’ve checked out iWillVote.com and made their plan to vote! Then, share this link on social media.
-> Volunteer at a Get-Out-The-Vote event near you! Knocking on doors is still the #1 way you can help in Virginia, but if you can’t make it in person, sign up to phonebank instead! Check out your volunteer options here.
There’s just one week left; we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for all the work you’ve done so far and for doubling down during this final stretch to support Terry McAuliffe and Democrats up and down the ballot.
A strong economy, a steady recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and our freedom to vote are all on the ballot. We know the stakes. Let’s get it done.
Working, working, working on it! Here’s a great song by Johnny Adam’s called “Salt of the Earth”. Reminds me of who Fair Fight efforts are fighting for.
Absolutely, Stacey Abrams is a real leader in the ilk of John Adams and George Washington. Committed, educated, thoughtful, caring and clear about what is a path to inclusion. Folks like her are rare today.
Thank you Cathy for alerting me to another smart move by Stacey Abrams-my Queen of the Universe. She was my pick for VP in 2020. So, I’ll be voting for her when I can! ❤️🤍💙
Oddly, as Biden/Harris voters we may be footing the bill to keep Tucker Carlson’s employed, and the doors open at Fox ‘News’ as a whole. Here’s two important bits of info:
$2,889,500,000 ($3 billion) FoxN total revenue in 2020
$1,621,400,000 ($1.6 billion) FoxN cable/satellite fees revenue in 2020
and two more:
$1,189,900,000 ($1.2 billion) FoxN advertising revenue in 2020
$1,795,500,000 (1.8 billion) FoxN profit in 2020
Cable fees make up ~56% of FoxN revenue. Let’s assume that subscribers to cable and satellite services are proportionally divided across Americans w/o political bias. The math says B/H voting households probably paid more $811 billion (half of cable fees) to support FoxN last year as we engaged in the campaigns and 2020 election. That also represents at or near half of their $1.8 billion 2020 profit. I contend that viewers and viewer choices have some power given these numbers.
Now as Dr Richardson wrote tonight: “Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson is advertising an upcoming special that appears to suggest that the Democratic-controlled government is launching a war on right-wing Americans.”
UNBUNDLE your media package. ——— “Only You Can Prevent Fox Fires!”
Complain to your cable ourlet that their services are too expensive and that you are cutting the cord with an antenna. They ‘ll do anything to keep you. Ask for a basic package that allows you to pick 10 channels on top of network and PBS. Don’t include Fox News
Yep, When we moved to the mountains, Brasstown, NC, with retirement we never got a TV. I no longer am a sports fan and internet and DVDs from Netflix are all we need. My spouse has never watched much TV but we do miss PBS.
You can stream PBS via their Passport channel if you are a member. We dumped cable years ago and I continued enjoying PBS programming that way. Their web site has details if you're interested in finding out more.
I am a Passporter because I love dramas and Masterpiece. But I think it behooves us to keep an eye on the sponsors of PBS. They are some of the organizations with questionable affiliations: Koch, Zuckerberg, Johnson and Johnson, et al. The News Hour has become folksy and tepid a la Center-Right.
You know, I watch PBS Newshour every night but recently have been a bit disenchanted. he other night, for the second time in a couple of weeks, they talked about a program that IBM has to hire "apprentices" without college degrees for more pay and benefits. There was no mention of how many apprentices they are hiring/how big a program it is. At one point there was weird footage of a small group of the apprentices gathering outside and getting the news (while the cameras were there--wow what a coincidence!) that their work qualified them for a semester of college credits. The whole thing felt bit staged and stinky, but we'll see. Have to go look and see if IBM is a PBS supporter.
Thank you for pointing this out . The News Hour often seems to focus in why nothing the Biden Harris administration is trying will ever get done , or be effective if it does
Thank you, currently we have a somewhat limited internet speed. Better than DSL but not broadband. It is a line of sight microwave from a transmitter way across the valley. Still it would be worth a try and even if it doesn't work a donation to PBS is worthwhile. Again thanks, because I was unaware of PBS's streaming.
We haven’t had cable service for over 10 years. We have straight internet and use streaming services for everything. We never lack things to watch and aren’t paying for channels we would never watch. It is also less expensive than a cable TV package.
This all started when we moved to Hawaii and could only get a DSL line. Before streaming we had to hunt and download shows or pick up DVD’s at the library. Things have changed since 2007.
My Dad used to type this all the time when I was young......testing out the typewrite. "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their fellows." I think it was to see if the typing was getting thru all 3 carbon layers. I kept wondering what it meant, for years.
The test I learned was "Now is the4 time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." And yes, it was to see if you were banging the keys hard enough to get through.
A few years ago, I found an old IBM Selectric, the "tank" on which I wrote many things. Being used now for 35 years to typing on a computer keyboard, I couldn't even hit the keys hard enough to make them register.
There is so much more going on behind the school board issue than a lot of people realize. Apparently death threats and violence are the only forms of dissent that GQP can muster to voice their disagreements. Here locally some of the people showing up to disrupt school board meetings do not have any children in the school system that they are protesting and some do not even live in the school district in which they are disrupting meetings. That the FBI should "back up" local law enforcement may be more appropriate than people realize. (Lord, I hate sounding like a conspiracy nut).
According to my (sane, reliable) neighbors, there’s a woman who has been disrupting school board meetings locally and in adjacent cities - even here in deep blue Massachusetts. When I run out of progressive candidates next week, I’ll use my remaining ballots for incumbents to keep her off the school board. Our kids deserve better.
I remember when I was a member of our township committee that a woman would diligently attend all of our meetings and speak rather incoherently on a wide range of topics. This became increasingly disruptive. It turned out that her television was broken and she wished to distance herself from her husband. In retrospect, we should have sent a TV repairman to her home, since we could only offer sympathy to her husband.
I suspect that some of these school board disrupters have personal and/or cable TV problems and get solace from spewing forth in public.
When I was an elementary school principal, a woman behaved this way repeatedly. I learned that her behavior was not just directed toward me and the school, but to her church and her neighbors. Her husband eventually had her declared insane and the courts took away her rights to have any sort of custody over her two sons. I've never forgotten her or her name, because on one of those visits to my office, she showed me the gun in her purse. Things like that stick with you over time.
This week people, many of whom, did not live in the district, or even the state, disrupted the Portland School Board meeting. They would not wear masks even when asked by security to do so. After 15 minutes, the chair shut the meeting down and made it virtual instead. Many students were there to support a vaccine mandate. One was a black student at the one of the very crowded high school got into it with a white woman who tried to tell him, she was defending him. He let her know she was out of order. This is disturbing enough, but the threats to schools officials and their families is even more concerning to me. This is a brown shirt movement.
Many of the anti-vaxers at the meeting don't live in Portland. My son attends the high school you mentioned. Earlier that day before the school board meeting, he joined 400-plus students in a walkout to express support for a proposal that the board require Covid vaccinations. Vote is now scheduled Nov. 16. Very much doubt a mandate will happen.
I read the article about the board's feelings in the Oregonian this am. Schools require other vaccines, but I think you are right, they won't require them. I am tired of people coming from other places and even out of state to stir up problems.
I don't think you sound like a conspiracy nut. It has been mentioned in various sources that outside agitators are being sent to cause disruptions and violence at school board meetings.
All part of the civil war/slow moving coup playbook; sow distrust, chaos and violence.
I sometimes wonder if these disruptors are even aligned with the Republicans. And I also wonder if this whole power grab has gotten away from them and is in the hands of some really bad people they did not expect to take over their movement.
No, you don’t sound like a conspiracy nut! Our elected Repub sheriff, with Trump ties, has tentacles all throughout our county….
But there is hope…Here in Fl some of the laws introduced by Repubs are biting them back. Our local school board member filed a criminal complaint against local Fl House Rep for cyberintimidation under the new“ anti-riot” bill. She’s a strong, brave women ! Write to your school members and voice your support..
Yeah, that “Anti-Riot” law targeting the BLM protests that blocked the streets is sort of unenforceable now, since the Cuban protests that blocked the streets went by with no arrests. I think that is called a “precedent” to have any similar arrests thrown out of court, or a counter suit for clear racial discrimination in law enforcement.
You are not (a conspiracy nut.) Dark money is flooding into this effort and one name behind it no doubt is Koch. This is as orchestrated and well funded as their Tea Party foray. And you are also correct in noting that these are "outsiders" - many of whom are PAID to "protest." Our locally elected officials are our friends and neighbors. They are volunteers who serve all of us and whose #1 priority is to protect our children and their teachers. They do not deserve to be threatened.
You are correct. This is true - Disruptors are being sent via q-anon [and other] message boards to disrupt. Most of them aren't from the area and don't have kids in the school. I know certain relatives of mine do this - their little "thing" that they do now that they are retired.
Here in NV, the boogaloi(sp?) boys are trying to take over the sane (if there is such a thing) republican party.
I haven't heard a lot about disruption in Clark county (Vegas) at school board meetings.
But we have a couple of conspiracy theorists running for governor and mayor.
Sad to say that sounding like a conspiracy believing person is what we may sound like to people in other countries because of all the crazy stuff happening.
Only thing we can truly do to protect ourselves is to vote and make sure everyone you know does the same.
"Boogaloo Bois (boi is a subverted spelling of "boy") are the Hawaiian shirt wearing supporters of an American civil war (called the boogaloo). Here's a Guardian article I found:
More and more I wonder is this is a movement that is slipping out of control. What is the final goal of the politicians and their backers? I can't believe they want to burn it all down but things like this are very scary
Yes, scary. And interesting how Charlie Kirk turned it around with this reversal-projection in telling "no" to the guy who wanted to use his gun to kill people:
"They are trying to provoke you and everyone here. They are trying to make you do something that will be violent that will justify a takeover of your freedoms and liberties, the likes of which we have never seen."
Charlie has spent the last four years stoking the fire under the boiler. Now he's got some steam escaping and he's trying to tie down the relief valve?
Herschel Walker is well known to suffer from bipolar disorder, probably made worse from years playing football. It is so wrong to convince him to run for political office when he is not qualified, not all well, and probably can’t totally compared how he is being used. Who knows what stresses could trigger something bad for him and his family. Those convincing him, conning him really, should be ashamed.
He can be manipulated to do what the GOP wants. This is why they support the most unqualified people and put everything into getting them elected. Not just Walker and Tuberville, there’s Greene and Boebert. For too many years we’ve has Gosar and Rand Paul.
And now they’ve managed to get to Sinema. They bought her out. I think ASU should be lobbied to quit allowing her to teach. This semester she’s teaching fundraising and writing grant proposals. Her student has valid criticisms of her. She makes the assignments extremely difficult and sends emails that are pages long. She has no focus and wanders off the subject. And she has no grading policy, just telling students the class will be hard to get a good grade in. She has joined the Republicans without changing parties.
Manchin and his phony statements that he doesn’t want his grandchildren to bear the burden of paying for these policies is a real joke. They will hide their money and take money earned off the uneducated, starving, poorly cared for people of their state and never blink an eye. Just like all the adult Manchins currently do.
...and one has to wonder if his Bipolar status isn't being increased by CTE (Concussion Trauma Encephalopathy) which affects football players, boxers and kids who play contact sports.
Those conning Walker should be ashamed? Good luck with that. Those backing such a candidacy either believe they are defending democracy from attack by "socialists," or they are acting from purely selfish motives -- i.e., seizing as much power as possible, with the goal of rigging the system even more in their favor. In the first case, they believe they are doing nothing to be ashamed of, and in the second, they don't give a shit what you or I or anyone else may think.
"Walker has a history of domestic violence and questionable business dealings as well as a history of mental illness. Walker's ex-wife said he pointed a gun at her and said I'm going to blow your f---ing head off".
Sounds like a steller GOP candidate to me. He certainly fits the bill.
He's being used as a pawn. I suspect that his candidacy will backfire at some point. That McConnell and other. GOP senators would endorse him is our daily dose of evidence that they are never, ever do the right thing.
Remember Roy Moore? Republican candidate for Senate from Alabama? Rode to the polls dressed like a cowboy on a horse? There were plenty of reasons why voters ought to have rejected him, but what finally did him in was when three women accused him of sexual assault. Two were minors when the assaults happened, and Moore was 30-something.
Maybe the two women (wife and girlfriend) of Herschel Walker will produce the same distaste in voters -- even Republicans and Independents.
We here in GA can only hope that the repugnicans run Herschel against Rev. Senator Warnock, it will all but guarantee that our senator will keep his seat for another 6 years. When he first spoke in the senate he got a standing ovation, I love this matchup, 👍😎
A pawn, certainly, like the unqualified judges pushed onto the federal bench. What the trumpers want, is people who know only to do what they are told.
Voltaire: "Those you can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
As always, thank you for your invaluable newsletter. I also thank you for sounding a clarion call against the profoundly radicalized and undemocratic Republican Party, as you mention others are now doing, both progressive and conservative.
I'm also glad the DOJ is seeking to protect schoolboard members from threats of violence against the increasing reign of terror being unleashed by the GOP and their well-financed network of domestic terrorists.
I use the term "terrorists" because how else do you describe book-banning, like the parent who recently requested Toni Morrison's book Beloved be banned because her child had a nightmare after reading it?
And you're right that the GOP is desperate. How else to explain the candidacy of (among others) unbalanced and violent Hershel Walker?
Thanks for keeping me well informed and stay well.
"But once they take hold of the school board, who will protect the teachers."
Who will protect the students?
You are writing from Texas, where Republican right wing religious extremists took hold of school boards decades ago. They have held all America's students hostage because publishers kow tow to extremist demands for a faith based undermining of science and a white supremacist distortion of history.
The Trump base did not suddenly come out of nowhere - they come out of a system of private American madrassas and public schools compromised by the GOP agenda for miseducation.
The worst teachers are part of the problem or the best are caught in the cross hairs.
Teachers are already under threat of losing their jobs by the ridiculous laws that state legislators are demanding what they can or cannot say, i.e. passing laws that demand CRT cannot be taught, even though it never has been in non college level schools.
Republicans should be Barred from attacking one-time Supreme Court candidate and now Attorney General Merrick Garland, who brings garlands to a Justice Department that had a Trumpian stench. I am thankful that we now have a man of integrity who seeks to provide justice to the American people after an interregnum of judicial debauchery.
"If Trump has lost control of his team, it’s a whole new ball game. Anyone who can get out from under the wreckage will do so, and fast."
Talk about making my day. Thank you. The J6 committee and Garland, I'm convinced, are building a crushing case. But I hope the first criminal charges come from the NY tax investigation. It would prepare the country, especially those still supporting TFG, for more charges to follow.
My first reaction on reading this is disbelief that this is America, and a continued sense of surrealism about what's happening in Washington as well as what's happening locally in our schools and to election officials. As a first generation American from a culture that prizes education above all, it is disheartening to see how teachers are treated, and to see in the news that 35% of Americans (and 60% of Repugs) think 45 is actually the POTUS just defies comprehension.
I'll continue to donate what I can in other states, and continue to write Postcards to Voters as time allows.
I keep meaning to reach out to "Heather's Herd" as well...
Trump Republicans are waging a war on truth, justice and democracy. It will not be a surprise if the likes of Cotton, Cruz and many other Republican members of Congress are found to be implicated in the January 6 insurrection. Time will tell.
Cruz should have been thrown out of his college dorm window freshman year for being an asshole, which it is known several of his fellow residents in the dorm were thinking of doing.
Cotton should have been prophylactically fragged when he was an asshole butter-bar in Iraq.
That both of these fuckwits are "Ivy Leaguers" says all you need to know about the Ivy League - the most overrated thing in acadamania.
Guys like Cruz, who know that Trump is full of BS and who have suffered at Trump's nastiness (right, Trump called Cruz wife ugly), are in full cognizant recognition of Trump and who he is.
Cruz, and those like him, are just using Trump's lovers to make their own way through politics and make money.
In Cruz case, he needs a LOT of money to sustain his massive eating habit. Hard to find a fatter, more out of shape man in America.
In our area we have to keep our heads down. I was born a Jew. My husband is of African American and Indigenous Peoples decent. At this point we just need to survive. Old Activist here unable to Act
Keeping your head down is a survival strategy. However, you can still act. Get involved in the postcard-writing and calling campaigns to get the Democratic voters registered and to the polls. We need all the help we can get, and we need to give all the help we can. You can work from the cover of long-distance, and still be an active Activist.
I can't remember when a more toxic cabal of supposedly human beings has held sway in our government, even when 'out of power'. The nearest I get is the McCarthy era of my childhood. Ted Cruz, Barroso, Thune, etc. are all traitors, in fact, if not in name. And McConnell!! There simply are no words for the layers of evil that man inhabits.
Still, yesterday I was feeling pretty bummed, and I feel a bit less so now. Have they overplayed their hand? Something just feels to have shifted.
But during the 2016 campaign, there were multiple times when I felt Trump had finally done it, and this (whatever it was) was going to be the end of his candidacy: when he mocked Serge Kovaleski; when he mocked the family of a Muslim U.S. soldier who was KIA; when he attacked Sen. McCain for having been captured in the Vietnam War; when the "Access Hollywood" tape came out; and so on, etc., ad infinitum and ad extremely nauseam.
And nothing happened.
Unfortunately, at this point saying "it feels as if something has shifted" feels a bit like "Gee, Rocky, this time for sure!"
I felt this way daily during all of Trump's candidacy & presidency. Still can't believe none of those events brought him down.
At this point we can see that our democracy is fragile, but the Republicans are being told/shown that it is us/Biden/Fauci who is trying to destroy democracy (and Christmas). We all think it's the other guy, while their side is being prepped for "war".
"The letter was a wake-up call. '[W]e urge all responsible citizens who care about democracy—public officials, journalists, educators, activists, ordinary citizens—to make the defense of democracy an urgent priority now.'
'Now is the time for leaders in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic.'"
I wish we could all be allowed to sign said letter! I would do so in the blink of an eye!
While I agree with the content of this joint letter, will it make any difference? Numerous letters have been written decrying tfg and the R’s. Their behavior has not changed. Their base has not penalized them no matter how outrageous and/or criminal their actions are. The R’s have no interest in governance; they only want to protect their ill gotten gains and to continue to accumulate them.
Jenn, the hope I got from the letter ( read it in entirety on TCinLA 's blog) is that it was signed by Rs, Ds, Is.....a citizen effort transcending political boundaries. This is just one "cell". If the impetus catches there could be many "citizen cells" building up into something substantial. People are so bone-tired of the divisions that only produce more divisions and existentially threaten our democracy. We are on such shaky ground we need some oases of stability.
I am very disappointed that the evil bad guys of the Repugnant Party always win and the supposed good guys in the Democrat Party always lose.
When the Repugnants were in control of Congress & the White House, they did unprecedented obstruction by blocking Obama’s Supreme Court nomination for some specious lie about “wait til the next election,” then with the same circumstances dumped 3 of their own biased justices onto the court for life.
Now that the Repugnants are supposedly in the minority (except for the reality of 2 DINO Senators) the Dems still can’t get things done. Nor do they seem concerned at all that the Repugnants in many states have made it near impossible for Dems to win next year. When conservative & liberal academics and writers start putting out an urgent joint plea for the preservation of Democracy, I hope the Dems in their tenuous majority take note and push the Voting Rights legislation thru by whatever means they can.
PLAY DIRTY IF NEED BE. PUSH AS HARD FOR IT as evil Mitch McConnell and the Repugnant Party does to win.
It is precisely the dire effect of those two "DINO" Senators that makes passage of needed legislation nigh impossible. This isn't the fault of Democrats generally, and it would be nice if the media could let go of the "Democrats in disarray" theme long enough to level the playing field.
Sorry Barbara, but no apology here. If you refer to my use of the Repugnant Party, well, if the name fits wear it. That is a more accurate and descriptive name for what hasn't been a Republican Party since the time of Dwight Eisenhower. And, since "The Don" took it over in 2016, Repugnant is actually too mild a word, but it fits with the "R."
I respectfully disagree. Then it appears that the core issue is what we consider civil discourse. Coarse language could also begat course behavior. I am speaking in generalities here; not in reference to Rob or anyone.
Yes. The GOP fights like a Roman legion, disciplined with marching orders, in sync. Democrats fight like Roman senators (I suppose that is good because they are politicians, only…….the guys with the pointy things are going to win every time)
The Democrats need to a rhetorical counter offensive to these bizarre school board meetings, which are becoming increasingly violent. We Democrats often spend too much time being shell shocked, and then we are thrown off-kilter and unable to figure out a way to defuse the craziness coming from the other side. I'm thinking this needs national attention, even though these are local issues. Jamie Harrison and his crew ought to be devising a strategy that any local party can implement. This should include a social media strategy, a boots on the ground strategy, etc. We all know that the GOP coordinate this kind of think nationally. The Democrats need to be more aggressive. Organize, people!
"opposition to teaching Critical Race Theory in K–12 schools (where it is not taught)".
Correct and thank you.
Critical Race Theory is a theory postulated by a few law schools in the late 70's around structural racism which postulates the existence of such a term as structural racism.
However, teaching history accurately is totally unrelated to the legal theories postulated in Critical Race Theory.
Fox News has done a great job of linking the two issues though. Fox, as far as I can tell, first began linking what is taught in schools (which is called "Teaching History") and what the legal Theories of the late 70's are.
In fact, "Critical Race Theory" and "Teaching History in School" are two entirely orthogonal topics bearing no relationship to each other whatsoever and it only takes about 3 seconds to sort that out after reading what "Critical Race Theory" is at wikipedia.
But, viewers of Fox News apparently are used to believing what the white man says at the front of the church, hence, they also believe the white folks on Fox and Friends when they spin out lies about Critical Race Theory being taught in schools.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious and the truth Dr. Richardson. Critical Race Theory never has been, and will not be, taught in schools.
Some version of history is, and will continue to be, taught.
Getting a version of history accurate enough to be called a history of all people in America is, of course, a challenge. Again, that challenge is unrelated to Critical Race Theory.
I have had this circular argument several times when I (stupidly, in my mind, because you really cannot negotiate with terrorists, or reason with unreasonable people, but I forget these lessons from time to time) have broached the topic that teaching History that includes such things as the Tulsa Massacre or the genocide of the Indigenous Americans is in no way, shape or form Critical Race Theory. I have been hit with a barrage of some of the most unsubstantiated garbage ever to come out of someone who (I thought) was a reasonable person.
The longer this goes on, the more hatred that is stoked, the worse off we are going to be when this comes to a head.
Ms. House, don't get angry at folks who are in belief space. Many were trained from birth to believe in a lot of things for which there is no evidence whatsoever.
Transferring that capability to a Fox News anchor is easy.
Folks who do that belief transfer from church to people also are presenting some concept without evidence is easy and happens to a lot of people.
Once upon a time, I voted for Reagan because of that very process. I was not a bad person or stupid. Just well trained.
I got past, mostly, believing in stuff without any evidence through a highly analytical training pathway. But, once in a while, I can still sense the process happening.
Something I agree with is said by someone I respect. I almost accept it then realize I have been tricked by my own mind. What they said was false. No matter that I agree or respect the person.
False information is false even if I agree with it and respect and like the delivery person.
The sad thing, for me, is that most of these folks I have known for 20+ years, and worked with. At one time, I respected them. Any more, I find their complete abandonment of any sort of critical thinking and consideration of alternative perspectives to be a deal breaker.
I get what you're saying, in that their conditioning from birth is to believe in things of which there is no concrete evidence. Their descent into the abyss of the Big Lie, election conspiracy, and the current packaging of what they are calling Critical Race Theory that is really history from a non-white bias perspective is a direct threat to me.
I maintain that anyone who had their right to vote added via Constitutional amendment, or to marry due to a SCOTUS decision are the ones we should be listening to when it comes to what voter restriction is.
"I maintain that anyone who had their right to vote added via Constitutional amendment, or to marry due to a SCOTUS decision are the ones we should be listening to when it comes to what voter restriction is."
Hatred and Lies, I am sad to tell you, have been here with us since, very likely, the first language capable hominids found themselves together. It is highly unlikely to go away.
Right now, we allow it to be amplified through the gigantic amplifiers of Twitter and Facebook.
Old Chinese proverb: "One cannot reason with mad dogs." As I recall, an old fashioned way to stave off a mad dog was to aim a water hose at it - the cold water in its face usually did the trick. But when we are truly faced with foaming at the mouth mad PEOPLE, I do not know what suffices as cold water in the face. Especially when so many of them are armed and dangerous, not just with their deadly beliefs, but with actual weapons.
Mad dogs, or dogs with rabies, are different than folks who have come to "believe" that something terrible is going on and they alone can stop it (by going to a school board meeting or taking an AK47 to Kenosha WI.
Mad dogs brains are shot from a disease. Humans like Kyle Rittenhouse are just sad cases of people without any way to convince themselves they matter. So, they see something on Facebook and somebody ticks their "I matter" button and off they go.
Maybe its worse to suddenly feel you matter after not feeling that way compared to a dog whose brain is being eaten and is unaware of it?
In America today, with inventions like "suburbs" where, in those burbs there is a breakdown of community (right?). Who knows much or cares at all about their neighbor three doors down?
When I grew up in East Texas the entire area was one big community of folks, mostly helping each other. Everyone got together on Sunday, many folks sponsored Sunday dinners and no matter what folks thought inside their head, they treated folks reasonably well.
Of course, two separate communities existed except at school. Black and White.
But, at school, us kids all mostly got along and the language used was respectful because the school supported fist fighting as a resolution mechanism.
Now? Everyone is a orphan in their apartment or suburb or dorm room ... alone and without community.
So, when somebody posts on facebook that they need a 17 year old with an AK47? Well, instead of everyone realizing this is nutty and ignoring it, Kyle Rittenhouse suddenly feels relevant after a lifetime of being nobody to everybody.
I spent most of my youth in small towns with experiences similar to yours and I resonate with your comment. I live now in yet another small town and I think the isolation forced upon us due to the Pandemic has created a similar sense of being "alone and without community."
My tendency is the "not at all" approach, much like the one I use with trolls. Since I have no real way to protect myself and I do not know to what degree they are crazy, I find is easier to walk away and ignore them. If that feels like "cold water in their face" - GREAT!
Per an expert on violence, Dr. Bandy Lee, this type of shared psychosis is best treated by removing the leader. But GOP is working hard to produce another one.
“What attracts people to Trump? What is their animus or driving force?”
“The reasons are multiple and varied, but in my recent public-service book, Profile of a Nation, I have outlined two major emotional drives: narcissistic symbiosis and shared psychosis. Narcissistic symbiosis refers to the developmental wounds that make the leader-follower relationship magnetically attractive. The leader, hungry for adulation to compensate for an inner lack of self-worth, projects grandiose omnipotence—while the followers, rendered needy by societal stress or developmental injury, yearn for a parental figure. When such wounded individuals are given positions of power, they arouse similar pathology in the population that creates a “lock and key” relationship.
“Shared psychosis”—which is also called “folie à millions” [“madness for millions”] when occurring at the national level or “induced delusions”—refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms that goes beyond ordinary group psychology. When a highly symptomatic individual is placed in an influential position, the person’s symptoms can spread through the population through emotional bonds, heightening existing pathologies and inducing delusions, paranoia and propensity for violence—even in previously healthy individuals. The treatment is removal of exposure.”
I think folks are just isolated in today's America and, via Facebook, somebody like Trump gives them a way to feel relevant. I don't think most of them are mentally ill in the classic sense.
It was Christopher Rufo, a right winger, who came up with the "brilliant" idea to push this CRT thing. They know full well what they're talking about but they also don't care, as long as they can spin it so that it enrages their kool aid drinkers. Enrage the kool aid drinkers, that's all it takes.
Confront thse Repugs with a simple task -- identify at least five school districts that are teaching Critical Race Theory in elementary, middle, or high schools.
Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight just donated $1.34 Million to erase medical debt for 108,000 people in 5 states that haven't done Medicare expansion. This is impressive and is both a superb political tactic and one of caring for the People. Every time I hear her talk she sounds more and more Presidential to me.
Superwoman Stacey Abrams and her Fair Fight crew are helping Virginia. Here is their email from today (10/27/2021):
Election Day in Virginia is right around the corner! Organizers and volunteers have been working tirelessly to make sure every eligible voter can cast their ballot and make their voice heard. Now they’re in the final stretch and need YOUR help.
Here’s what YOU can do:
-> Reach out to everyone you know in Virginia to make sure they’ve checked out iWillVote.com and made their plan to vote! Then, share this link on social media.
https://iwillvote.com/?emci=3e7021f4-6237-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&emdi=0c36f8bb-6637-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&ceid=6424283
-> Volunteer at a Get-Out-The-Vote event near you! Knocking on doors is still the #1 way you can help in Virginia, but if you can’t make it in person, sign up to phonebank instead! Check out your volunteer options here.
https://www.mobilize.us/newvirginiamajority/?emci=3e7021f4-6237-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&emdi=0c36f8bb-6637-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&ceid=6424283
-> Sign up here to become a Voter Protection Super Volunteer! There are many roles available, and most can be done from home.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXY5rcqWa6jTEpLE4UN9c_9s0sOSwThVreh90bUyxMh88mNA/viewform?emci=3e7021f4-6237-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&emdi=0c36f8bb-6637-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&ceid=6424283
There’s just one week left; we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for all the work you’ve done so far and for doubling down during this final stretch to support Terry McAuliffe and Democrats up and down the ballot.
A strong economy, a steady recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and our freedom to vote are all on the ballot. We know the stakes. Let’s get it done.
— Team Fair Fight
Working, working, working on it! Here’s a great song by Johnny Adam’s called “Salt of the Earth”. Reminds me of who Fair Fight efforts are fighting for.
Love you all! Cheers to our efforts! 🙋🏻🙋🏼🙋🏽🙋🏾🙋🏿
https://youtu.be/8tdkXNnQ3Pc
Came here to repost this email and saw this. Grateful that someone beat me to it! Stacey Abrams is a force of nature and so are you. Thank you!
Fair Fight has an excellent texting operation that is easy to use and full of information people need to get out and vote.
There are even slots for back end help, if calling strangers isn’t your joy.
Thank you, Joan! This comment sent me to sign up to help💙!
Thank you Ellie. Forwarding this info to many this morning.
Signed up.
Thank you Ellie. Will do. ❤️🤍💙
Me too. God bless Stacy Abrams.
Absolutely, Stacey Abrams is a real leader in the ilk of John Adams and George Washington. Committed, educated, thoughtful, caring and clear about what is a path to inclusion. Folks like her are rare today.
Thank you Cathy for alerting me to another smart move by Stacey Abrams-my Queen of the Universe. She was my pick for VP in 2020. So, I’ll be voting for her when I can! ❤️🤍💙
She is effective where she is now. Maybe future VP?
Yes we need her where she is!
Thanks for reminding me to donate :)
I did, wish I had more
I'd vote for her in a heartbeat!
What wonderful news!
Oddly, as Biden/Harris voters we may be footing the bill to keep Tucker Carlson’s employed, and the doors open at Fox ‘News’ as a whole. Here’s two important bits of info:
$2,889,500,000 ($3 billion) FoxN total revenue in 2020
$1,621,400,000 ($1.6 billion) FoxN cable/satellite fees revenue in 2020
and two more:
$1,189,900,000 ($1.2 billion) FoxN advertising revenue in 2020
$1,795,500,000 (1.8 billion) FoxN profit in 2020
Cable fees make up ~56% of FoxN revenue. Let’s assume that subscribers to cable and satellite services are proportionally divided across Americans w/o political bias. The math says B/H voting households probably paid more $811 billion (half of cable fees) to support FoxN last year as we engaged in the campaigns and 2020 election. That also represents at or near half of their $1.8 billion 2020 profit. I contend that viewers and viewer choices have some power given these numbers.
Now as Dr Richardson wrote tonight: “Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson is advertising an upcoming special that appears to suggest that the Democratic-controlled government is launching a war on right-wing Americans.”
UNBUNDLE your media package. ——— “Only You Can Prevent Fox Fires!”
Complain to your cable ourlet that their services are too expensive and that you are cutting the cord with an antenna. They ‘ll do anything to keep you. Ask for a basic package that allows you to pick 10 channels on top of network and PBS. Don’t include Fox News
You’ll save some money
Glad I cut the cord with cable a decade ago!
Yep, When we moved to the mountains, Brasstown, NC, with retirement we never got a TV. I no longer am a sports fan and internet and DVDs from Netflix are all we need. My spouse has never watched much TV but we do miss PBS.
You can stream PBS via their Passport channel if you are a member. We dumped cable years ago and I continued enjoying PBS programming that way. Their web site has details if you're interested in finding out more.
https://help.pbs.org/support/solutions/articles/12000043556-what-is-pbs-passport-
I am a Passporter because I love dramas and Masterpiece. But I think it behooves us to keep an eye on the sponsors of PBS. They are some of the organizations with questionable affiliations: Koch, Zuckerberg, Johnson and Johnson, et al. The News Hour has become folksy and tepid a la Center-Right.
You know, I watch PBS Newshour every night but recently have been a bit disenchanted. he other night, for the second time in a couple of weeks, they talked about a program that IBM has to hire "apprentices" without college degrees for more pay and benefits. There was no mention of how many apprentices they are hiring/how big a program it is. At one point there was weird footage of a small group of the apprentices gathering outside and getting the news (while the cameras were there--wow what a coincidence!) that their work qualified them for a semester of college credits. The whole thing felt bit staged and stinky, but we'll see. Have to go look and see if IBM is a PBS supporter.
Thank you for pointing this out . The News Hour often seems to focus in why nothing the Biden Harris administration is trying will ever get done , or be effective if it does
Thank you, currently we have a somewhat limited internet speed. Better than DSL but not broadband. It is a line of sight microwave from a transmitter way across the valley. Still it would be worth a try and even if it doesn't work a donation to PBS is worthwhile. Again thanks, because I was unaware of PBS's streaming.
You can also watch many current PBS shows, especially news, Amanpour & Co., on YouTube. I haven't had cable in many years and don't miss it a bit.
So did I. Never sorry
We haven’t had cable service for over 10 years. We have straight internet and use streaming services for everything. We never lack things to watch and aren’t paying for channels we would never watch. It is also less expensive than a cable TV package.
This all started when we moved to Hawaii and could only get a DSL line. Before streaming we had to hunt and download shows or pick up DVD’s at the library. Things have changed since 2007.
"Now is the time for leaders in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic.”
I am quire happy to say that this historian joined my old comrade Todd Gitlin on this list.
We can all argue about the policy differences once we no longer have to worry if the system that allows the arguments will survive.
Although, past time really. Better now than never.
My Dad used to type this all the time when I was young......testing out the typewrite. "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their fellows." I think it was to see if the typing was getting thru all 3 carbon layers. I kept wondering what it meant, for years.
The test I learned was "Now is the4 time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." And yes, it was to see if you were banging the keys hard enough to get through.
A few years ago, I found an old IBM Selectric, the "tank" on which I wrote many things. Being used now for 35 years to typing on a computer keyboard, I couldn't even hit the keys hard enough to make them register.
That sentence was a staple in my junior high class where I learned to type. The teacher used it to see how many words we could type in a minute.
Typing - the one actually useful class in 12 years of public misedumacation. It's paid my bills ever since.
There is so much more going on behind the school board issue than a lot of people realize. Apparently death threats and violence are the only forms of dissent that GQP can muster to voice their disagreements. Here locally some of the people showing up to disrupt school board meetings do not have any children in the school system that they are protesting and some do not even live in the school district in which they are disrupting meetings. That the FBI should "back up" local law enforcement may be more appropriate than people realize. (Lord, I hate sounding like a conspiracy nut).
According to my (sane, reliable) neighbors, there’s a woman who has been disrupting school board meetings locally and in adjacent cities - even here in deep blue Massachusetts. When I run out of progressive candidates next week, I’ll use my remaining ballots for incumbents to keep her off the school board. Our kids deserve better.
I remember when I was a member of our township committee that a woman would diligently attend all of our meetings and speak rather incoherently on a wide range of topics. This became increasingly disruptive. It turned out that her television was broken and she wished to distance herself from her husband. In retrospect, we should have sent a TV repairman to her home, since we could only offer sympathy to her husband.
I suspect that some of these school board disrupters have personal and/or cable TV problems and get solace from spewing forth in public.
When I was an elementary school principal, a woman behaved this way repeatedly. I learned that her behavior was not just directed toward me and the school, but to her church and her neighbors. Her husband eventually had her declared insane and the courts took away her rights to have any sort of custody over her two sons. I've never forgotten her or her name, because on one of those visits to my office, she showed me the gun in her purse. Things like that stick with you over time.
Oh my word!
This week people, many of whom, did not live in the district, or even the state, disrupted the Portland School Board meeting. They would not wear masks even when asked by security to do so. After 15 minutes, the chair shut the meeting down and made it virtual instead. Many students were there to support a vaccine mandate. One was a black student at the one of the very crowded high school got into it with a white woman who tried to tell him, she was defending him. He let her know she was out of order. This is disturbing enough, but the threats to schools officials and their families is even more concerning to me. This is a brown shirt movement.
Many of the anti-vaxers at the meeting don't live in Portland. My son attends the high school you mentioned. Earlier that day before the school board meeting, he joined 400-plus students in a walkout to express support for a proposal that the board require Covid vaccinations. Vote is now scheduled Nov. 16. Very much doubt a mandate will happen.
Good dad, good son, good job! Wishing safety for you.
Thank you.
I read the article about the board's feelings in the Oregonian this am. Schools require other vaccines, but I think you are right, they won't require them. I am tired of people coming from other places and even out of state to stir up problems.
I don't think you sound like a conspiracy nut. It has been mentioned in various sources that outside agitators are being sent to cause disruptions and violence at school board meetings.
All part of the civil war/slow moving coup playbook; sow distrust, chaos and violence.
I sometimes wonder if these disruptors are even aligned with the Republicans. And I also wonder if this whole power grab has gotten away from them and is in the hands of some really bad people they did not expect to take over their movement.
Outside and or paid agitators is now standard practice. Was done during Obama care townhalls, during BLM protests, so not surprising in this context
I've read that they hire actors.
No, you don’t sound like a conspiracy nut! Our elected Repub sheriff, with Trump ties, has tentacles all throughout our county….
But there is hope…Here in Fl some of the laws introduced by Repubs are biting them back. Our local school board member filed a criminal complaint against local Fl House Rep for cyberintimidation under the new“ anti-riot” bill. She’s a strong, brave women ! Write to your school members and voice your support..
Yeah, that “Anti-Riot” law targeting the BLM protests that blocked the streets is sort of unenforceable now, since the Cuban protests that blocked the streets went by with no arrests. I think that is called a “precedent” to have any similar arrests thrown out of court, or a counter suit for clear racial discrimination in law enforcement.
You are not (a conspiracy nut.) Dark money is flooding into this effort and one name behind it no doubt is Koch. This is as orchestrated and well funded as their Tea Party foray. And you are also correct in noting that these are "outsiders" - many of whom are PAID to "protest." Our locally elected officials are our friends and neighbors. They are volunteers who serve all of us and whose #1 priority is to protect our children and their teachers. They do not deserve to be threatened.
You are correct. This is true - Disruptors are being sent via q-anon [and other] message boards to disrupt. Most of them aren't from the area and don't have kids in the school. I know certain relatives of mine do this - their little "thing" that they do now that they are retired.
How absolutely disgusting.
Here in NV, the boogaloi(sp?) boys are trying to take over the sane (if there is such a thing) republican party.
I haven't heard a lot about disruption in Clark county (Vegas) at school board meetings.
But we have a couple of conspiracy theorists running for governor and mayor.
Sad to say that sounding like a conspiracy believing person is what we may sound like to people in other countries because of all the crazy stuff happening.
Only thing we can truly do to protect ourselves is to vote and make sure everyone you know does the same.
"Boogaloo Bois (boi is a subverted spelling of "boy") are the Hawaiian shirt wearing supporters of an American civil war (called the boogaloo). Here's a Guardian article I found:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/15/boogaloo-killing-facebook-dave-patrick-underwood-police
More and more I wonder is this is a movement that is slipping out of control. What is the final goal of the politicians and their backers? I can't believe they want to burn it all down but things like this are very scary
https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/pushing-election-lies-tpusa-audience-member-asks-charlie-kirk-when-they-can-use-guns
Yes, scary. And interesting how Charlie Kirk turned it around with this reversal-projection in telling "no" to the guy who wanted to use his gun to kill people:
"They are trying to provoke you and everyone here. They are trying to make you do something that will be violent that will justify a takeover of your freedoms and liberties, the likes of which we have never seen."
I also would like someone to ask one of these people what "freedoms and liberties" are they losing. Every time I hear that phrase I want to scream.
Charlie has spent the last four years stoking the fire under the boiler. Now he's got some steam escaping and he's trying to tie down the relief valve?
Insane!
We have seen Federal agencies, including federalized state National Guard forces used to control politically misguided states before.
Herschel Walker is well known to suffer from bipolar disorder, probably made worse from years playing football. It is so wrong to convince him to run for political office when he is not qualified, not all well, and probably can’t totally compared how he is being used. Who knows what stresses could trigger something bad for him and his family. Those convincing him, conning him really, should be ashamed.
Tommy Tuberville and Herschel Walker... the "Dumb and Dumber" of the US Senate. Scary!
Yes, Tommy Tuberville who couldn’t name the 3 branches of govt !!
The Gridiron Caucus...
He can be manipulated to do what the GOP wants. This is why they support the most unqualified people and put everything into getting them elected. Not just Walker and Tuberville, there’s Greene and Boebert. For too many years we’ve has Gosar and Rand Paul.
And now they’ve managed to get to Sinema. They bought her out. I think ASU should be lobbied to quit allowing her to teach. This semester she’s teaching fundraising and writing grant proposals. Her student has valid criticisms of her. She makes the assignments extremely difficult and sends emails that are pages long. She has no focus and wanders off the subject. And she has no grading policy, just telling students the class will be hard to get a good grade in. She has joined the Republicans without changing parties.
Manchin and his phony statements that he doesn’t want his grandchildren to bear the burden of paying for these policies is a real joke. They will hide their money and take money earned off the uneducated, starving, poorly cared for people of their state and never blink an eye. Just like all the adult Manchins currently do.
...and one has to wonder if his Bipolar status isn't being increased by CTE (Concussion Trauma Encephalopathy) which affects football players, boxers and kids who play contact sports.
Those conning Walker should be ashamed? Good luck with that. Those backing such a candidacy either believe they are defending democracy from attack by "socialists," or they are acting from purely selfish motives -- i.e., seizing as much power as possible, with the goal of rigging the system even more in their favor. In the first case, they believe they are doing nothing to be ashamed of, and in the second, they don't give a shit what you or I or anyone else may think.
"Walker has a history of domestic violence and questionable business dealings as well as a history of mental illness. Walker's ex-wife said he pointed a gun at her and said I'm going to blow your f---ing head off".
Sounds like a steller GOP candidate to me. He certainly fits the bill.
Haha, that's what I thought! Plus his denouncement of the 2020 election of course.
“Comprehend how” -oops
He's being used as a pawn. I suspect that his candidacy will backfire at some point. That McConnell and other. GOP senators would endorse him is our daily dose of evidence that they are never, ever do the right thing.
Remember Roy Moore? Republican candidate for Senate from Alabama? Rode to the polls dressed like a cowboy on a horse? There were plenty of reasons why voters ought to have rejected him, but what finally did him in was when three women accused him of sexual assault. Two were minors when the assaults happened, and Moore was 30-something.
Maybe the two women (wife and girlfriend) of Herschel Walker will produce the same distaste in voters -- even Republicans and Independents.
trump himself no doubt loves Walker's history of abusing women. Will enough Georgia voters dislike it? Maybe, especially if enough women vote.
We here in GA can only hope that the repugnicans run Herschel against Rev. Senator Warnock, it will all but guarantee that our senator will keep his seat for another 6 years. When he first spoke in the senate he got a standing ovation, I love this matchup, 👍😎
A pawn, certainly, like the unqualified judges pushed onto the federal bench. What the trumpers want, is people who know only to do what they are told.
100%. Same way Herschel went to TFG’s USFL instead of the NFL. ESPN did a great story on HW a while back. 30 for 30 films I think.
Daily dose of evidence, yup
Voltaire: "Those you can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
As always, thank you for your invaluable newsletter. I also thank you for sounding a clarion call against the profoundly radicalized and undemocratic Republican Party, as you mention others are now doing, both progressive and conservative.
I'm also glad the DOJ is seeking to protect schoolboard members from threats of violence against the increasing reign of terror being unleashed by the GOP and their well-financed network of domestic terrorists.
I use the term "terrorists" because how else do you describe book-banning, like the parent who recently requested Toni Morrison's book Beloved be banned because her child had a nightmare after reading it?
And you're right that the GOP is desperate. How else to explain the candidacy of (among others) unbalanced and violent Hershel Walker?
Thanks for keeping me well informed and stay well.
The candidacy of Herschel Walker brings to mind Kanye West.
I think of the Voltaire quote often, nothing quite fits today’s republicans as well as that one…
But once they take hold of the school board, who will protect the teachers.
"But once they take hold of the school board, who will protect the teachers."
Who will protect the students?
You are writing from Texas, where Republican right wing religious extremists took hold of school boards decades ago. They have held all America's students hostage because publishers kow tow to extremist demands for a faith based undermining of science and a white supremacist distortion of history.
The Trump base did not suddenly come out of nowhere - they come out of a system of private American madrassas and public schools compromised by the GOP agenda for miseducation.
The worst teachers are part of the problem or the best are caught in the cross hairs.
Denise is definitely one of the best. Let’s show support for those💙!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Teachers are already under threat of losing their jobs by the ridiculous laws that state legislators are demanding what they can or cannot say, i.e. passing laws that demand CRT cannot be taught, even though it never has been in non college level schools.
Rupert and his evil “news” spread that lie far and fast, it’s what he does
Republicans should be Barred from attacking one-time Supreme Court candidate and now Attorney General Merrick Garland, who brings garlands to a Justice Department that had a Trumpian stench. I am thankful that we now have a man of integrity who seeks to provide justice to the American people after an interregnum of judicial debauchery.
Judicial debauchery is a very descriptive term for what tfg did to justice. What a field of cow patties Garland inherited.
Professor, “judicial debauchery” is too mild…judicial dereliction perhaps.
"If Trump has lost control of his team, it’s a whole new ball game. Anyone who can get out from under the wreckage will do so, and fast."
Talk about making my day. Thank you. The J6 committee and Garland, I'm convinced, are building a crushing case. But I hope the first criminal charges come from the NY tax investigation. It would prepare the country, especially those still supporting TFG, for more charges to follow.
“Prepare” I think that’s important right now.
The most important word here is "If".
My first reaction on reading this is disbelief that this is America, and a continued sense of surrealism about what's happening in Washington as well as what's happening locally in our schools and to election officials. As a first generation American from a culture that prizes education above all, it is disheartening to see how teachers are treated, and to see in the news that 35% of Americans (and 60% of Repugs) think 45 is actually the POTUS just defies comprehension.
I'll continue to donate what I can in other states, and continue to write Postcards to Voters as time allows.
I keep meaning to reach out to "Heather's Herd" as well...
💜 Thanks to Dr. Heather for LFAA.
Also, check out Americsns of Conscience!
https://americansofconscience.com/
Trump Republicans are waging a war on truth, justice and democracy. It will not be a surprise if the likes of Cotton, Cruz and many other Republican members of Congress are found to be implicated in the January 6 insurrection. Time will tell.
Cruz should have been thrown out of his college dorm window freshman year for being an asshole, which it is known several of his fellow residents in the dorm were thinking of doing.
Cotton should have been prophylactically fragged when he was an asshole butter-bar in Iraq.
That both of these fuckwits are "Ivy Leaguers" says all you need to know about the Ivy League - the most overrated thing in acadamania.
Ted Cruz apparently is disliked by everyone in the Senate. Everyone. He never disappoints.
Al Franken said “ I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz."
Wow, “acadamania”, ha!
You know you've been there. :-)
Oh yeahhh!
or academentia
Stealing!! :-)
cool, comes out of Teachers college graduate nursing program; bunch of wild wits, those
“Acadamania” — new to me. Love. It.
Guys like Cruz, who know that Trump is full of BS and who have suffered at Trump's nastiness (right, Trump called Cruz wife ugly), are in full cognizant recognition of Trump and who he is.
Cruz, and those like him, are just using Trump's lovers to make their own way through politics and make money.
In Cruz case, he needs a LOT of money to sustain his massive eating habit. Hard to find a fatter, more out of shape man in America.
And at least Liz is now calling out Fox. Progress!!
https://mobile.twitter.com/Liz_Cheney/status/1453687671180734469
Don’t leave Cawthorn out(there are too many)
https://mobile.twitter.com/BandyXLee1/status/1453720905540984836
In our area we have to keep our heads down. I was born a Jew. My husband is of African American and Indigenous Peoples decent. At this point we just need to survive. Old Activist here unable to Act
Keeping your head down is a survival strategy. However, you can still act. Get involved in the postcard-writing and calling campaigns to get the Democratic voters registered and to the polls. We need all the help we can get, and we need to give all the help we can. You can work from the cover of long-distance, and still be an active Activist.
Feel a need to respond.
You’re part of this active, Good Trouble community, thankfully. Keep on keepin on💙!
I can't remember when a more toxic cabal of supposedly human beings has held sway in our government, even when 'out of power'. The nearest I get is the McCarthy era of my childhood. Ted Cruz, Barroso, Thune, etc. are all traitors, in fact, if not in name. And McConnell!! There simply are no words for the layers of evil that man inhabits.
Still, yesterday I was feeling pretty bummed, and I feel a bit less so now. Have they overplayed their hand? Something just feels to have shifted.
Don't touch that dial, folks!
Something just feels to have shifted? Maybe.
But during the 2016 campaign, there were multiple times when I felt Trump had finally done it, and this (whatever it was) was going to be the end of his candidacy: when he mocked Serge Kovaleski; when he mocked the family of a Muslim U.S. soldier who was KIA; when he attacked Sen. McCain for having been captured in the Vietnam War; when the "Access Hollywood" tape came out; and so on, etc., ad infinitum and ad extremely nauseam.
And nothing happened.
Unfortunately, at this point saying "it feels as if something has shifted" feels a bit like "Gee, Rocky, this time for sure!"
I felt this way daily during all of Trump's candidacy & presidency. Still can't believe none of those events brought him down.
At this point we can see that our democracy is fragile, but the Republicans are being told/shown that it is us/Biden/Fauci who is trying to destroy democracy (and Christmas). We all think it's the other guy, while their side is being prepped for "war".
How many times? lost count more than I can count...
Toxic cabal of supposedly human beings, well said.
"The letter was a wake-up call. '[W]e urge all responsible citizens who care about democracy—public officials, journalists, educators, activists, ordinary citizens—to make the defense of democracy an urgent priority now.'
'Now is the time for leaders in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic.'"
I wish we could all be allowed to sign said letter! I would do so in the blink of an eye!
We will "sign" it on November 2nd, and every November thereafter.
While I agree with the content of this joint letter, will it make any difference? Numerous letters have been written decrying tfg and the R’s. Their behavior has not changed. Their base has not penalized them no matter how outrageous and/or criminal their actions are. The R’s have no interest in governance; they only want to protect their ill gotten gains and to continue to accumulate them.
Jenn, the hope I got from the letter ( read it in entirety on TCinLA 's blog) is that it was signed by Rs, Ds, Is.....a citizen effort transcending political boundaries. This is just one "cell". If the impetus catches there could be many "citizen cells" building up into something substantial. People are so bone-tired of the divisions that only produce more divisions and existentially threaten our democracy. We are on such shaky ground we need some oases of stability.
Here’s to the ripple effect of positive waves💙!
A WAKE-UP CALL
I am very disappointed that the evil bad guys of the Repugnant Party always win and the supposed good guys in the Democrat Party always lose.
When the Repugnants were in control of Congress & the White House, they did unprecedented obstruction by blocking Obama’s Supreme Court nomination for some specious lie about “wait til the next election,” then with the same circumstances dumped 3 of their own biased justices onto the court for life.
Now that the Repugnants are supposedly in the minority (except for the reality of 2 DINO Senators) the Dems still can’t get things done. Nor do they seem concerned at all that the Repugnants in many states have made it near impossible for Dems to win next year. When conservative & liberal academics and writers start putting out an urgent joint plea for the preservation of Democracy, I hope the Dems in their tenuous majority take note and push the Voting Rights legislation thru by whatever means they can.
PLAY DIRTY IF NEED BE. PUSH AS HARD FOR IT as evil Mitch McConnell and the Repugnant Party does to win.
It is precisely the dire effect of those two "DINO" Senators that makes passage of needed legislation nigh impossible. This isn't the fault of Democrats generally, and it would be nice if the media could let go of the "Democrats in disarray" theme long enough to level the playing field.
Yes, I am tired of that headline and if i see it headlining an article, I won't read the article.
A level playing field does not generate interest the way "Democrats in disarray" does.
Can we begin by not name calling? It really does put us on their level we do that.
Sorry Barbara, but no apology here. If you refer to my use of the Repugnant Party, well, if the name fits wear it. That is a more accurate and descriptive name for what hasn't been a Republican Party since the time of Dwight Eisenhower. And, since "The Don" took it over in 2016, Repugnant is actually too mild a word, but it fits with the "R."
Well said, Rob! Appropriate labeling is definitely not the same as sticks and stones.
I respectfully disagree. Then it appears that the core issue is what we consider civil discourse. Coarse language could also begat course behavior. I am speaking in generalities here; not in reference to Rob or anyone.
Food for thought.
I highly recommend The Daily Poster, a progressive news outlet founded by David Sirota. https://www.dailyposter.com/
Sirota talks about this issue (of the Dems always losing) quite often. He is a quick example of his views: https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/comments/q4tm73/why_the_democrats_lose_over_and_over_again/
Hint: the problem is not just two senators. The problem is that corporate Democrats always defer to their big money donors.
Yes. The GOP fights like a Roman legion, disciplined with marching orders, in sync. Democrats fight like Roman senators (I suppose that is good because they are politicians, only…….the guys with the pointy things are going to win every time)
Occupy Democrats, "Do not go meekly into the midterm elections.......Rage, Rage, "
The Democrats need to a rhetorical counter offensive to these bizarre school board meetings, which are becoming increasingly violent. We Democrats often spend too much time being shell shocked, and then we are thrown off-kilter and unable to figure out a way to defuse the craziness coming from the other side. I'm thinking this needs national attention, even though these are local issues. Jamie Harrison and his crew ought to be devising a strategy that any local party can implement. This should include a social media strategy, a boots on the ground strategy, etc. We all know that the GOP coordinate this kind of think nationally. The Democrats need to be more aggressive. Organize, people!
Thank you! I’ve long been wondering, where in the world is Jamie Harrison?
"opposition to teaching Critical Race Theory in K–12 schools (where it is not taught)".
Correct and thank you.
Critical Race Theory is a theory postulated by a few law schools in the late 70's around structural racism which postulates the existence of such a term as structural racism.
However, teaching history accurately is totally unrelated to the legal theories postulated in Critical Race Theory.
Fox News has done a great job of linking the two issues though. Fox, as far as I can tell, first began linking what is taught in schools (which is called "Teaching History") and what the legal Theories of the late 70's are.
In fact, "Critical Race Theory" and "Teaching History in School" are two entirely orthogonal topics bearing no relationship to each other whatsoever and it only takes about 3 seconds to sort that out after reading what "Critical Race Theory" is at wikipedia.
But, viewers of Fox News apparently are used to believing what the white man says at the front of the church, hence, they also believe the white folks on Fox and Friends when they spin out lies about Critical Race Theory being taught in schools.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious and the truth Dr. Richardson. Critical Race Theory never has been, and will not be, taught in schools.
Some version of history is, and will continue to be, taught.
Getting a version of history accurate enough to be called a history of all people in America is, of course, a challenge. Again, that challenge is unrelated to Critical Race Theory.
I have had this circular argument several times when I (stupidly, in my mind, because you really cannot negotiate with terrorists, or reason with unreasonable people, but I forget these lessons from time to time) have broached the topic that teaching History that includes such things as the Tulsa Massacre or the genocide of the Indigenous Americans is in no way, shape or form Critical Race Theory. I have been hit with a barrage of some of the most unsubstantiated garbage ever to come out of someone who (I thought) was a reasonable person.
The longer this goes on, the more hatred that is stoked, the worse off we are going to be when this comes to a head.
Ms. House, don't get angry at folks who are in belief space. Many were trained from birth to believe in a lot of things for which there is no evidence whatsoever.
Transferring that capability to a Fox News anchor is easy.
Folks who do that belief transfer from church to people also are presenting some concept without evidence is easy and happens to a lot of people.
Once upon a time, I voted for Reagan because of that very process. I was not a bad person or stupid. Just well trained.
I got past, mostly, believing in stuff without any evidence through a highly analytical training pathway. But, once in a while, I can still sense the process happening.
Something I agree with is said by someone I respect. I almost accept it then realize I have been tricked by my own mind. What they said was false. No matter that I agree or respect the person.
False information is false even if I agree with it and respect and like the delivery person.
But, that is very hard to see sometimes.
The sad thing, for me, is that most of these folks I have known for 20+ years, and worked with. At one time, I respected them. Any more, I find their complete abandonment of any sort of critical thinking and consideration of alternative perspectives to be a deal breaker.
I get what you're saying, in that their conditioning from birth is to believe in things of which there is no concrete evidence. Their descent into the abyss of the Big Lie, election conspiracy, and the current packaging of what they are calling Critical Race Theory that is really history from a non-white bias perspective is a direct threat to me.
I maintain that anyone who had their right to vote added via Constitutional amendment, or to marry due to a SCOTUS decision are the ones we should be listening to when it comes to what voter restriction is.
"I maintain that anyone who had their right to vote added via Constitutional amendment, or to marry due to a SCOTUS decision are the ones we should be listening to when it comes to what voter restriction is."
Well put.
The longer this goes on.....is my concern also. The hatred and lies are growing, becoming intrenched and undermining civil society.
If and when we finally stop this, we will spend years digging ourselves out of the hole.
Ms. Love,
Hatred and Lies, I am sad to tell you, have been here with us since, very likely, the first language capable hominids found themselves together. It is highly unlikely to go away.
Right now, we allow it to be amplified through the gigantic amplifiers of Twitter and Facebook.
Why I don't have accounts to either.
Old Chinese proverb: "One cannot reason with mad dogs." As I recall, an old fashioned way to stave off a mad dog was to aim a water hose at it - the cold water in its face usually did the trick. But when we are truly faced with foaming at the mouth mad PEOPLE, I do not know what suffices as cold water in the face. Especially when so many of them are armed and dangerous, not just with their deadly beliefs, but with actual weapons.
Mad dogs, or dogs with rabies, are different than folks who have come to "believe" that something terrible is going on and they alone can stop it (by going to a school board meeting or taking an AK47 to Kenosha WI.
Mad dogs brains are shot from a disease. Humans like Kyle Rittenhouse are just sad cases of people without any way to convince themselves they matter. So, they see something on Facebook and somebody ticks their "I matter" button and off they go.
Maybe its worse to suddenly feel you matter after not feeling that way compared to a dog whose brain is being eaten and is unaware of it?
In America today, with inventions like "suburbs" where, in those burbs there is a breakdown of community (right?). Who knows much or cares at all about their neighbor three doors down?
When I grew up in East Texas the entire area was one big community of folks, mostly helping each other. Everyone got together on Sunday, many folks sponsored Sunday dinners and no matter what folks thought inside their head, they treated folks reasonably well.
Of course, two separate communities existed except at school. Black and White.
But, at school, us kids all mostly got along and the language used was respectful because the school supported fist fighting as a resolution mechanism.
Now? Everyone is a orphan in their apartment or suburb or dorm room ... alone and without community.
So, when somebody posts on facebook that they need a 17 year old with an AK47? Well, instead of everyone realizing this is nutty and ignoring it, Kyle Rittenhouse suddenly feels relevant after a lifetime of being nobody to everybody.
I spent most of my youth in small towns with experiences similar to yours and I resonate with your comment. I live now in yet another small town and I think the isolation forced upon us due to the Pandemic has created a similar sense of being "alone and without community."
You throw cold water on them when you respond to them by calmly indicating their error or not at all.
My tendency is the "not at all" approach, much like the one I use with trolls. Since I have no real way to protect myself and I do not know to what degree they are crazy, I find is easier to walk away and ignore them. If that feels like "cold water in their face" - GREAT!
I must say ignoring sometimes is much more infuriating! And we all are getting much much better at that where this blog is concerned, right?
Yes!
Per an expert on violence, Dr. Bandy Lee, this type of shared psychosis is best treated by removing the leader. But GOP is working hard to produce another one.
“What attracts people to Trump? What is their animus or driving force?”
“The reasons are multiple and varied, but in my recent public-service book, Profile of a Nation, I have outlined two major emotional drives: narcissistic symbiosis and shared psychosis. Narcissistic symbiosis refers to the developmental wounds that make the leader-follower relationship magnetically attractive. The leader, hungry for adulation to compensate for an inner lack of self-worth, projects grandiose omnipotence—while the followers, rendered needy by societal stress or developmental injury, yearn for a parental figure. When such wounded individuals are given positions of power, they arouse similar pathology in the population that creates a “lock and key” relationship.
“Shared psychosis”—which is also called “folie à millions” [“madness for millions”] when occurring at the national level or “induced delusions”—refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms that goes beyond ordinary group psychology. When a highly symptomatic individual is placed in an influential position, the person’s symptoms can spread through the population through emotional bonds, heightening existing pathologies and inducing delusions, paranoia and propensity for violence—even in previously healthy individuals. The treatment is removal of exposure.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-shared-psychosis-of-donald-trump-and-his-loyalists/
I think folks are just isolated in today's America and, via Facebook, somebody like Trump gives them a way to feel relevant. I don't think most of them are mentally ill in the classic sense.
I have a habit of respecting experts in their fields. I don’t understand the mindset that doesn’t.
I highly recommend her for some sanity:
Bandy X Lee, MD, MDiv
@BandyXLee1
Oct 23
Evil is always pushing boundaries. Hence, it will thrive to the degree to which we tolerate it.
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Bandy X Lee, MD, MDiv
@BandyXLee1
Oct 23
And don’t let it make you confuse tolerance of evil with tolerance of person (this is a way it hoodwinks to push boundaries).
It was Christopher Rufo, a right winger, who came up with the "brilliant" idea to push this CRT thing. They know full well what they're talking about but they also don't care, as long as they can spin it so that it enrages their kool aid drinkers. Enrage the kool aid drinkers, that's all it takes.
Thank you for the origin of the mixing of education and Critical Race Theory.
I wonder if "they" have considered how uncomfortable our history makes children of color & the indigenous people.
Confront thse Repugs with a simple task -- identify at least five school districts that are teaching Critical Race Theory in elementary, middle, or high schools.