The scandal involving Herschel Walker, the staunchly anti-abortion Georgia candidate for the Senate who appears to have paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, got worse today.
Professor Brittney Cooper had the following to say on Twitter about Herschel Walker:
When I see the walking stereotype of Black male mediocrity that is Herschel Walker, I am reminded that a significant swath of white folks need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are. Violent, idiotic, brute, immoral, deadbeats.
The GOP’s support for Herschel Walker’s candidacy is designed as a continual insult and assault on all who strive to be Black and excellent, or hell, just Black and decent.
The GOP had spent decades locking up dudes like Herschel, and propagating a narrative that this is who brothers are. (It is who Herschel is. But he isn’t who all Black men are.) Now they want to give him a senate seat.
This dude is a walking talking Sambo on one hand, and Bigger Thomas on the other. Herschel Walker is the walking embodiment of their white supremacist projections of Black masculinity and I think voters in GA should do everything legal to make sure he doesn’t win.
And I’m pointing this out 1.) because as a Black person I am enraged at their elevation of that abusing MF. And 2.) because for the brothers in Georgia falling for the GOP okey-dokey, it’s not enough to only vote Warnock. You gotta vote Abrams too. The whole GOP hates you.
Thank you, TC. Dr. Cooper nailed it regarding Herschel.
“When I see the walking stereotype of Black male mediocrity that is Herschel Walker, I am reminded that a significant swath of white folks need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are. Violent, idiotic, brute, immoral, deadbeats.”
This 100% explains the white, MAGA support for Walker. The insanity of thought that he is a candidate for the Senate is beyond. The insanity of thought that the Repub power brokers manipulate a man with serious mental health issues and possible brain trauma from years of blows to the head is despicable.
The Republican party’s desire to box us into categories increases their chances to enslave us.
I vote “no” to be becoming another Russia or Hungary.
The Republican leadership is not insane. They know exactly what they are doing. Same goes for their base. They sane, but they are not decent human beings.
Sanity is only about self annihilation on the planet if you are severely depressed. So, if you say Republican leadership is severely depressed and therefore it makes sense for them to want to support policies that are destroying the quality of life, and the ability of our species to live on this planet then they are sane. If they actually want to live and have their offspring live and thrive, then they are insane! Any of them who believe Trump and embrace QAnon are insane too.
I don't think they are depressed, and I don't think they care much about the future of the planet or the survival of future generations. Nor do I think they believe Trump. What they want is to preserve white advantages, especially their ability to call the shots. They embrace Trump and QAnon because both Trump and QAnon place those "values" at the forefront.
I agree--they are sane, greedy, short-sighted, and certain that money & power will keep them safe no matter how it bad things get for us ordinary people (even ordinary "rich" professionals and such). I'll bet some of them even secretly fear that their grandchildren will suffer for their current fucked-up priorities and that their great-grandchildren may be the last generation living in a recognizable "society" before climate change turns humans back into nomadic hunter-gatherers. They are myopic and reactionary, and some of them can't imagine a life without wealth & power...but they know exactly what they're doing.
The people you describe (quite accurately in my estimation) are the wealthy. They comprise a tiny fraction of the 74 million Republican voters, nearly all of whom want nothing more than to avoid losing advantages that accrue to them for no reason other than being white.
Yes, absolutely fair. I think I meant to be describing the de facto leaders (the grotesquely wealthy and major corporations) along with their congressional puppets and attack dogs... But you are on point regarding the average GOP voters who exemplify LBJ's warning about what happens when you convince every white man he's superior to any black man.
Christine - if you ask yourself what strategy can one employ to maximize his/her odds of winning and taking power in our system of government, with no regard whatsoever to decency, morals, precedent, or norms or even laws, then that explains alot of what you see. To even consider such a strategy, the persons who employ it are pretty evil to start with. But even more - they hate what progressives stand for. They absolutely hate us. They believe the ends justify the means, no matter what. Now, for such a strategy to work, a strategy that in no way is going to be universally popular among decent people, you must try to restrict voting. Because an important part of the progressive voting block are the underprivileged (usually people of color), who want to see changes. Sprinkle in some serious gerrymandering where you can, and you have something to work with. You can go low, partly because low is the only place you can go. This Walker strategy is especially egregious - it quite literally takes racism (ubiquitous among the right wing), and uses it to their advantage (at least that is their hope). How cynical is that? It is plain for all to see if only there are eyes to see it. They are betting there are enough blind people in Georgia to swing a tight election. Our biggest enemy is apathy and disappointment especially in mid-term elections. If somehow that 2020 magic can show up for 2022, we'll win. But history says otherwise.
I think you are right on all points but one: White voters for Walker are not blind. They know what they’re doing, and they do it on purpose with malice.
Republicans have been doing this since Eisenhower campaigned with McCarthy (end justifies the means). Barry Goldwater welcomed the John Birch Society........heck, half of Phoenix probably are still members.
John Birch Society thinking has been woven into our culture and many higher ed institutions by way of the Koch Brothers and their pals... I'd say half of Phoenix and plenty of other red states, although still not the majority of US voters....
Sadly, the back-and-forth thread that follows TCinLA’s comment above is a pretty clear example of the old “forest-trees” scenario, or perhaps in the case of our current very dire situation, an argument about what tune Nero was fiddling. Come on, people—this is about the essence of who we are, truly a “fight for the soul of our nation.”
However, her comment referred to Black men! Indeed the characteristics she stated are part of the personality of all too many men of any color….proud boys, KKK, oath keepers, Jim Jordan to name a few!
She was speaking as a Black woman, and her statement was more effective for that, IMO. One important point that overgeneralizing leaves out is that white people, these days especially white Republicans, are using Black men like Walker (and even, I would argue, like Clarence Thomas) to "prove" they aren't racist while affirming all their racist stereotypes..
As a Georgian, I will be surprised, but not shocked, if Walker wins the election with only 10% of the black vote. It will be a squeaker, but I predict that Warnock will win, Walker will not concede and claim election fraud. The carousel never stops.
Thank you for sharing this tweet thread. The GOP in its current iteration, is no friend to the BIPOC community and is only elevating its stereotypes to claim a false diversity and false support. They just want characters they can control and manipulate. This is a very old and very sad strategy.
In one of the TV ads the local hypocrite running in our newly formed fifth congressional district here in Oregon has an ad where he is shaking hands with one Hispanic, one Black, and one Asian. Talk about tokenism. His opponent is actually Hispanic.
The irony is that, in the long run, they are friends to no one. The greed for power never stops, and in the end, it would be white man vs. white man. There would always be a victim, there would always be a less than. The cruelty is the point.
To the GOP, Walker is a Senate seat, nothing more. And, as Ms. Cooper suggests, Walker is a seat that will bow to the wishes of his masters, and happily vote against his own interests, and the interests of every other Black person, to get the pat on the head he craves from his owners.
To the GOP, Walker is mostly a Senate seat but, as Professor Cooper pointed out, Walker provides the GOP with additional benefits, namely a prominently displayed example of the hateful stereotype that most white Americans associate with black men.
I would prefer to say "too many" rather than "most" white Americans associate with black men. I don't believe that most white Americans have that perspective though, of course, I have no data to support that belief, just personal experience of white people.
I believe words matter and sometime the word that matters most is the one that rubs against our developed position which one of my non-liberal friends pointed out to me is the tendency to speak in euphemisms when we are in polite company. I once quoted James Baldwin at a cocktail party in 1967. The silence that followed did not erase the importance of his describing being Black and gay in America, though his words came from the mouth of a 21 year old White boy from Chicago. I offended our academic hosts. We moved on. I never forgot that impact of the right words to expose and validate. Mr Walker is a pawn, much like the Sambo character was in my childhood readers and films, performing for his betters while thinking he is one of them, as Professor Cooper describes his Better's comfort and place of the status they assign with such terms. I agree, Rob. We need to hear the frank words, loaded though they may be for some of us, from those for whom those words evoke more than a simple descriptor for which someone might find a term less offensive. Frank is good.
Fred, I deleted my reply to, you because it was imbued with some annoyance. The exchanges and reflection about how an excerpt of Professor Coopers's tweet was posted and my lack of understanding of her point of view have been thoughtfully reviewed. Evidence of that can be found up and down the forum. Views of Herschel Walker, how he is being used and by whom raised some questions. It felt as though after a good deal of work on my part discomfort was being stirred anew without reason. I see that you have posted another comment and will read it before continuing. Oh, Fred your care is appreciated. You have been able to sense that my concern and need for respectful exchanges are awake and intended for everyone on the forum. See you soon, Fred from Chicago.
Hum. Fern, it was where the thoughts came to me about Heather's posting today and the responses to Professor Cooper's remarks quoted by Heather and TC and the concerns some (of us) had with all the above. It was also part of my point of view going back to Mr Walker's candidacy and the Republicans who are using him. Yes, a little lecture intended. Context too. PC is good. Frankness is good. Tough is sometime needed, though I much prefer kindness, objectivity, and puppy kisses. Now, having a cat, I certainly prefer puppy kisses. At 80, I know when to do PC, until I hit my thumb with a hammer. And like the language I learned as a child in Chicago that seeps out, the attitudes, some of which I am not proud of, also leak out, reminding me of the reality of what Professor Cooper has to contend with and the part I (and certainly you and TC and Bob and most others on this thread) are willing to play to change it all. Words matter, almost as much as the intents that precede our voices and actions. I heard a lot of us chewing on Professor Cooper's message in different ways. Maybe I had my mouth open at the time I was chewing. Have a good evening, Fern from the Bronx.
Herschel Walker is not a thing. He struggled to make himself something. How does such a Black Man one like him find himself in America. He made his body. That seeming unseemly, he changed that. I know nothing about Herschel's brain, his family, who he admired or those closest to him. With what he had and worked hard at Hershel ascended and descended through sports’ arenas money chambers and fame circuses. This particular Black man with high functioning physicality attempted to find his place in the WHITE black and other society of America. I don’t know Hershel; I’m not a poet but have a sense of the White manipulating shit-cons that got a hold on him and an inkling of the women and children who were his victims. Now, look at Herschel Walker. He seems, at this moment, from what I can see the Black Man that everyone is, except, perhaps, for Raphael Warnock shitting on. Who is Herschel Walker in America now?
I for one will never doubt your compassion, Fern, nor your willingness to clarify what you believe and mean. Thank you. Herschel Walker's journey is the story for many Americans and his successes in his athletic career are all tributes to him and his struggle. I suspect Raphael Warnock's story, as a Black man in America, might be similar in many respects to Mr Walker's. Character, along with life skills and abilities and experiences make one fit for high offices, including the US Senate. One candidate has shown better credential against those criteria. Thank you for showing compassion and offering a caution to those of us who may dump without enough thought or sensitivity before we post. Be well, Fern from the Bronx..
Does trying to be conscious of usage equal "PC" in your view? Fwiw, in this case it's not "PC" that prevents my honest expression; it's respect for this particular forum, where most participants are willing to think things through, fill gaps in their knowledge, and re-examine long-held beliefs and perspectives.
JaneDough, I didn't and don't now see quotation marks around that statement. If it was meant as a quote, it wasn't qualified as a disparaging characterization.
It’s pretty clear everything TC wrote after the colon is a direct quote from the Twitter post he referenced, which is likely why he did not use quotation marks.
Fern, we're in a dark forest. Focusing on one aspect of a single tree may illuminate a small patch, but it does not get us out of the woods. There are many, many, ways to be lost. Only one way to stay found, one way to find the light we all need to thrive.
I don't think the use of language is a trivial matter. Disinformation, stereotyping, lying, misleading, disparaging, disrespecting... It is, perhaps, too easy to fall into a sense of 'knowing the big picture' and unwittingly dismiss important aspects of what constitutes that forest.
I would usually agree and I did pause over the use of that word. However, since both the author and the quoter are black, I think it is OK in this instance because they are both describing how many white people think about black people and especially black males.
Sorry I misread, just up and hadn't had much coffee. I still feel the same way. The original quote is from a black person. I see nothing wrong with reporting what words a certain group would say. I did pause however until I realized what exactly it was saying. I grow up at a time when a restaurant was named a certain way and needed to be old enough to realize how bad this was. It now stands out in a sentence like it's in neon. This am there was an article in the Oregonian about a D state senator who was a Harvard student, 20 years old, and he had gone to the South to help black people in 1971. He wrote an account of this and used the n word not as a pejorative, but part of a report on how people talked at the time. Now the Rs are having a hissy fit and wants all sorts of things to happen including the D candidate for governor rejecting his endorsement of her in 2022. He didn't appear in black face or a KKK costume, but somehow they can't understand the difference. And he wasn't using the n word as a racial slur himself.
The Rs dont want to understand the use of the word in context of a report. They just want to say he used the word so lib'ruls will get upset. And maybe not vote for him.
Then it is wasted effort on their part. He is from state senator from Ashland which is probably a liberal haven in the midst of truly red outlaw country. I think this has to do with people digging up accounts of pols in black face or in a KKK outfit. They don't understand that difference either.
Hi Kathy, I thought about remarking on 'Sambo' before doing it. The quote by the professor was posted cold -- without context. I hadn't read the Notes, which a subscriber indicated clarified the writer's point of view. There was a fair amount of understanding about why I brought it up, but most subscribers that replied were either familiar the professor's work and or understood what she had written better than I did. I often check the notes before going on the forum and if I had, this time, perhaps, I would have been satisfied. The lesson for me is to check the notes first or at least before I make a negative comment. The importance of providing a context for a comment and not rushing to judgement are my takeaways.. A few that responded to me were, perhaps, a bit patronizing and or emphatic. Although uncomfortable, it wasn't a waste of time.
Steve, It has been three hours since you posted your reply to me. In all this time whenever I passed by 'patronizing' popped up in my mind. Finally, I thought to share my response with you.
I interpret Dr. Cooper's use of Sambo to indicate that this is the role Repugs are assigning him. She is frustrated that neither he nor any others, especially people of color, understand how demeaned he is by their manipulative support.
I read the quote from Dr. Cooper in the news earlier. Frankly, the nitpicking over a derogative or derogatory remark takes away from what she was saying. - and what she said was important!
Of course these Repubs want ALL of us to believe Herschel is typical - but the Repugs also want us to believe their "base" is this exact kind of typical, too!!! Thats why they shout out to that base in the manner they do.
Carmen, We are not eyewitnesses. Interviews and articles concerning Black people in neighborhood he grew up in are not Walker supporters. Generally, Blacks in Georgia do not plan to vote him and based on material I have read they have a pretty good idea about what's going on.
I was reminded by a friend last night that Walker's first professional football contract was with the now defunct New Jersey Generals, owned by trump. Another failed venture.
And the connection that is older than I realized! That goes back a few years, though it seems TFG backed out of ownership for this franchise hoping to score an even bigger deal. Never happened.
Hi Fern, I wish I could post photos I took at an auction last year of blackface toys, you would be horrified at the depiction of blacks from the late 1890’s through 1940’s or so. They’re made to look like apes, the absolute worst, worst is a black man and woman hanging from a gallows and was a “toy”. Explaining how to treat unruly slaves. A a pop gun shooting gallery with a black man’s face as the target. So many more. This was a collection meant to shock and upset people with all the accepted racism of our country, that slaves were not human beings but somewhere between white people and animals.
I’m a abolitionist, an old term I know, but I’m going to use it to describe my political views. I’ve been well aware of racism most of my life and it is abhorrent that Hershel Walker is being paraded around in a dog and pony show that by design influences opinions of white people that black men are inferior both mentally and morally, therefore making all white’s (but targeting poor whites) feel superior. Shining a bad light even when they’re using him as a “place holder”.
Another black man doing white man’s dirty work, here for their use and abuse. We see you. We have plenty of racism here in PA. But I rarely cross the Mason-Dixon Line into the red states, and I’m 30 minutes from WV. They’re so poor because their underlying racism keeps them poor by voting for the people who have every intention of keeping them poor. Manipulation is their platform and it is evil. Thanks, Karen
When I was teaching (college level), I showed my students a documentary called "Ethnic Notions" that traced the imagery whites use(d) for Blacks, including Aunt Jemima. The next day, one of the students told the class that she had an Aunt Jemima collection, that the image of Aunt Jemima had always comforted her, but after seeing its origin, she went home and threw her entire collection in the trash. And some of her classmates criticized her for doing that. Others, fortunately, were supportive and understanding.
Karen, You knew how I would feel reading your comment. The physical response that took over. I was going to ask you some questions, but it is better not to prolong the terrible experience you witnessed. Thank you for communicating. I have been active in civil rights since adolescence and this …we must keep going together, must.
It sickens me the way the GQP is using Walker who clearly has issues. If the GQP cared about him at all they would help him get the therapy he truly needs. He is unable to keep his stories straight. How is he going to be able to understand and vote on issues in the Senate that affect his constituents?
He's being used as their tool. I don't know if it is accurate but indications have been that Trump was his 'influencer' in terms of his running for the Senate seat.
Understood. It’s another terrible reflection on the GQP. If they had any concern for him as a human being, which they don’t, they would encourage him to get the help he needs.
On a practical level, Warnock—a moral leader of the whole community, not just the Black community for decades—to call out Walker for hypocrisy and lying. It will be harder—more indelicate—to call him out as a sad tool of white authoritarians, it that needs to be done, too. And all GOTV efforts should emphasize that democracy itself is on the ballot, and that while inflation and crime will wane, if the authoritarians take power democracy will be on life support, or worse.
“. . .while inflation and crime will wane, if the authoritarians take power democracy will be on life support, or worse.” We must demand to know what Republicans plan to do about inflation and “the economy.” It is so far a secret, but it is probably what Liz Truss proposed for the UK. Regarding crime, the GOP will build more jails and fill them with people who run afoul of their abortion laws, and those accused of voting illegally.
The climate crisis is on the ballot, too, though it is not spoken of with the same concern as gasoline prices.
"The GOP’s support for Herschel Walker’s candidacy is designed as a continual insult and assault on all who strive to be Black and excellent, or hell, just Black and decent." I'll say first, I am white. Now - My take on Walker's candidacy and its GOP support is this: They believe he is the candidate with the best chance to win against Warnock. Period. They know that the outcome of elections in Georgia are increasingly dependent on black vote. Black voters are mostly going to vote for a black candidate if one exists, especially if he/she is a Democrat. So how do you decrease black vote for Warnock? First, unleash as many voter suppression laws as you can - check. Second, put up another black candidate so that black voters might just feel they have another choice they can live with - check. A white candidate won't do. And as a bonus - an important bonus - play to the popularity of the game of football in the south. And boy is it popular (witness the dimwit Tuberville in Alabama). That is going to get you not only black votes, but maybe even some white votes that you wouldn't ordinarily get. And another bonus - Walker is ignorant enough (and probably dim enough) to be well controlled by the more clever and devious (white) GOP leaders. They feel this combination is so powerful that it can overcome other deficiencies that Walker has, and he has alot of them including having no idea how to be a Senator. This strategy may very well work. But it is an insult to every black Georgia voter. It shows clearly to all who understand even a little bit about politics that the GOP is as racist as its always been, and is trying to use it to their advantage. If black voters see this, then the strategy should backfire. That is my hope.
It made me ill last night when on CBS evening news they showed this middle aged white woman defend him by saying that Herschel has been saved by the grace of "God". How is it right to use this statement as a "get out of jail free card". Playing to the brain washed innocent Christians.
When white people in Georgia are his voting base, one must not remain suspicious of the Republican party supporting his candidacy icon for the US Senate. It is a direct confirmation that the platform of the Republican Party is nostalgia. And, in that view, Blacks must be brutes, ignorant, controlled and never considered equals to the lowliest White man. Capetbaggers was the term applied to the party that sent the least equipped ex-slave to their new position as slave-in-office. History repeats itself, changing only in the manner in which power plays out from the hands of owner of the plantation. It appears that the GOP has found their boy.
You need to reread the quoted passage. It’s point is precisely that Walker does not represent Black men, only the racist white fantasy of Black men so dear to the heart of the Southern GOP in my lifetime.
The actual quote is "...a significant swath of white folks who need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are." in a paragraph that started with discussion of stereotypes of Black men.
Without a context for Brittney's intention... no introductory guidance, the quote was out there in the cold for me as well, Louis. Others, perhaps familiar with her work came with a sense of the writer that we did not have.
The Twitter text was introduced as such, followed by a colon, a normal way to introduce an extended quotation. Just pointing out that TC did do his/her job.
There is a difference between a white person making a racist argument using vile racist memes and a self-proclaimed Black person using those memes ironically in an anti-racist argument.
Fern: I understand your concerns & share some of them. In the Inquirer article re Walker, linked to by Heather in her always awesome Notes, the following part of Cooper’s Twitter thread was used (& included a link to the entire thread):
“When I see the walking stereotype of Black male mediocrity that is Herschel Walker, I am reminded that a significant swath of white folks need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are,” Rutgers women and gender studies professor Brittney Cooper, who is Black, wrote on Twitter. “Violent, idiotic, brute, immoral, deadbeats.”
Some impt further context: Cooper is a big Abrams (& Warnock) supporter who is VERY upset that Abrams is only polling at 60% w black men. Cooper imbeds part of her Twitter thread--the one we’re all talking about--into a newer thread on how patriarchy in the black community & white supremacy are killing Abrams’ chances AND usurping democracy. BOTH threads, when read in their entirety, have lots to say about black patriarchy (imo).
Thank you, Linda. I did not read Notes before commenting. A point that I made in another post was that the quote was put out there cold, without any context. For those of us not acquainted with Professor Cooper the word 'Sambo' was understood for what it represents.
And I agree. The same idea was conveyed in the excerpt I provided, without using the language in question. But things are easily misconstrued, plus context IS important!
Okay, first things first. Herschel Walker is No.1 in today's letter.
“This here, the abortion thing, is false. It’s a lie,” Walker told reporters following a campaign event in Wadley, Georgia.'
“I am not deterred. I am not backing down,” Walker said in a statement later Thursday afternoon. “The stakes are too high. We are going to win this race – and put Georgia first again.”
'During an interview on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show earlier Thursday, Walker was asked about the Daily Beast reporting and said that “if that had happened, I would have said it, ‘cause there’s nothing to be ashamed of there.” (CNN)
Walker has said he is an absolutist about abortions - NO!
Why is this story not going away? Why, because it is a perfect example of how mad America is. For how long have we heard and seen how many lies in plain sight? We live in the hall of mirrors where two opposing versions of a story are on different sides of the mirror - the truth on one side and the fiction on the other. When one of our two political parties and many millions of people 'believe' the fiction, which the Republicans perpetuate- the LIES - and the people believe them -- What is that? It is Fascism. It is putting the country on a death march as it terrorizes many of us. Combine this with so many Americans not even knowing what's happening.
I find our current political situation dispiriting. That so many Republican candidates are spouting such hateful lies, and their fellow citizens are lapping them up and swallowing them whole indicates to me that we have turned a dangerous corner.
Add to that the existential threat that Russia presents, our failure worldwide to avert the imminent crisis of our injured planet and the turn in other nations toward neo-fascist demagogues and one is left with the feeling that a global political maelstrom, which has been building in recent years, has reached a critical mass.
A darkness is descending; it is undeniable even as we struggle to maintain our focus and work to avert it most dreadful perils.
And they are doing it in plain sight, but MSM has blinders on. Is it because the most visible “money bags for fascism” Rupert Murdoch, is a “journalist.” Hahaha 😝
It is fine that the media and this post and comments focus on Walker’s words and hypocrisy. But I fear we are wading in the weeds, and risk becoming distracted. Walker is an addle brain former football player, who quite likely has a long history of abusive relationships, and is way over his head in political waters. Whose bright idea was it that he should run for any office, much less the Senate. If he gets even close to winning this seat, it tells me only one of two possibilities- that the republicans rigged the election, or that GA is not as purple as many pundits would have us believe. That a credible candidate, Warnock, would not handily beat Walker just wouldn’t pass the smell test for me.
You give rank-and-file republicans too much credit, Jeri. They are neither hoodwinked nor deliberately blind. They are malicious people bent on continuing the brutal, white dominance that white Americans have benefited from for 400 years.
Agree, Fern. However, another reason this story remains in the press might be that more people are beginning to realize that Walker is being used by racist Republicans, as suggested by Professor Cooper and respected journalists of color like Charles Blow in his recent NYT opinion piece. The fascism, hypocrisy, and racism are all maddening.
Yes, I agree, Bonnie, that some people may be seeing the light that is my hope as well. Walker's supporters are primarily White people. The reports I have read and seen indicate that they seem to be sticking with him. 'Reality' now is a two sided story, for the most part
And, so many Russians do not know what is happening. The entire world watched the extreme pomp & circumstance of Putin's elaborate ceremony heralding the faux "annexation" of four (4) districts on the eastern side of Ukraine while Putin's attack collapses. Russia is imploding internally over what is real. Two (2) Russians left Putin's glittering nightmare by rowing in a small boat across the Bering Sea to a tiny Alaskan island. See WAPO article, "Russians Flee to Alaska ..." by Alex Horton on 10/6. The US is processing them as valid Asylum Seekers; we should have a new Federal immigration category for "Reality Seekers."
For the daily "Herschel Walkers:" in the USA, see Jessica Valentis' Substack daily email: "All In Her Head": https://jessica.substack.com.
Bryan, did you coin "Reality Seekers"? It is a perfect riff on our Reality, really? as well the country's immigration policy -- really? I will check out Jessica's, 'All in her head' after getting some sleep. Thank you, wordsmith advocate.
Yup, I am the author. That is what you do at trial, name something what it is. Jurys, Judges & colleagues sometimes nod. But, I was more interested in the verdict.
Not “two (2) Russians”—several hundred thousand. Or am I misreading your comment?—you seem to be saying that all but 2 Russians are divorced from reality but the news stories of the last week or so point in a very different direction.
I was specfically referencing two (2) Russian Nationals who used a boat to cross 40 miles of open water to make Landfall at the tiny village of Gampell to seek asylum. Per Alex Horton's WAPO article, DHS is his source for the transfer of the Aylum Seekers to Anchorage, Alaska. But, you are correct Mary, per Horton, the approximate TOTAL number of Russians fleeing is 200,000 to wherever they can make it out, Finland, Sweeden, etc.
Two Russians, of the hundreds of thousands leaving, got out by rowing a boat from Russia, across the Bering Straight, to an Alaskan island. At its narrowest point, island to island, it’s still several miles of open ocean.
“cause there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” WHAT? All the GOP and it’s rabid adherents have said for decades is how despicable abortion is, no exceptions. Walker’s statement is a tell. Along with all his fundamentalist rhetoric…
The Republicans know they are losing in Georgia, That is what their antics are about. Like it or not, their election data/analysis is excellent (superior to all the news outlets and the DNC). I believe the numbers they see in GA are scaring them.
Jeri, you bring back Danny Kaye's wonderful schtick in "The Court Jester" (1955): "The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true." ..."The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon." We know who the dragon is.
As I sit back watching the Herschel Walker debacle unfold.....more everyday, it paints an ugly picture of this Country. Do we no longer have any standards or do we bypass them just to get what we/they want?
Liz Cheney was here in Syracuse earlier this week at Syracuse University. I wasn't aware she was going to talk at SU or I would have been there. I did watch the live feed and was very impressed in her message. She is going to do everything in her power to be sure Trump and his election deniers lose. There is no confusion in her message. She did not mince her words.
It looks like we need alot of Liz Cheneys right now before everything we have worked for goes away.
Ms. Cheney makes me long for the Republican party of the Nixon era - when there were some of them in the Congress strong enough to face Nixon. The current pack is a disgrace.
Her views are hard right and always have been. She voted with Trump about 95% of the time and voted for him *twice*. I admire her defense of the rule of law, but can’t admire the laws she votes for.
Mary Baine Campbell: Rep. Cheney's strong conservative views are still her strong conservative political views, which you and I do not endorse. She is, however, an honest and ethical politician, a very very very rare breed these days, who has obviously stuck to her ethics/morals. Last night she was at another venue, and advised that her audience vote Democrat in the upcoming elections where the Republicans are election deniers and hold other radical right and untruthful views. She defines sanity.
Judith one thought I keep in mind is that when Cheney was voting with Trump so heavily, was prior to January 6th. I keep seeing the "she voted with Trump ×%". Honestly, that is meaningless to me now. What she is doing now is what matters. People change. She has completely changed her stance on gay marriage. Who would have thought.
I don't agree with some of her political stances just as I don't agree with everything Biden has done. Not by a long shot.
Thanks for making this point about Cheney. When you're in a fight for your life, you look for allies who will help you win regardless of whether all your beliefs align.
Liz changed her public stance on gay marriage only after a very public Facebook post made by her sister-in-law. It was a interesting kerfuffle.
But I’m glad this scion of a well-known republican dynasty has stayed true to her oath. (Bonus points for being a v effective J6 co-chair.) But it’s unbelievable that keeping one’s constitutional oath is the low bar now set for heroism, yet still too many republicans stumble and fall and fail.
I don't disagree at all, though she's a politician and her motives are mixed. I'm just anxious about increasing numbers of grateful Democrats who see her as a hero and want to vote for her if she leaves the Republican Party. I admire her support for Democracy, as I said. I just don't want to live in a society where her views (signaled recently by votes against national legislation legalizing abortion and against stricter gun control to to protect us and the children from mass murderers) are dominant!
People do change, when they hit the wall. Cheney may have hit it when she saw the plans for the coup. She voted along party lines before that, but that doesn't mean she would adhere to their agenda now.
I keep saying I admire her. I do admire her! But she votes for what I consider bad laws and against good ones: we disagree on the most fundamental issues, which for me are moral as well as political. So I don't want us to help her with the political career most analysts say is far from dead--it was dead if she stayed a loyal Republican in the new gargoyle version of a party which was trying to kick her out. No self-respecting politician would do so. She is a self-respecting politician.
Jerri, Well, maybe partially. But she is still herself. I doubt her father would ever display what Rep. Cheney has displayed the past year and whatever.
P. S. Mary Baine Campbell: I just thought that maybe the clip of Rep. Cheney I watched actually WAS from her visit to Syracuse. Seems likely. Saw it a few times on MSNBC.
Irenie since the J6 hearings I'm trying to look at her commitment to people over Party. She clearly is walking away from the "new Republicans ". She doesn't hesitate to call them out. She has the receipts.
When the election deniers aka Trumpers eventually take control, she won't be any part of that.
I don't see her jumping into the Democratic pool, but I do see her becoming an Independent.
It looks to me like there is no home for Cheney's politics. Even if she won as an independent, who would she caucus with? Her politics are extinct in Congress.
Cheney chose the political high road. Unfortunately, that road leads to nowhere in this day and age.
The pro-life movement was never about the babies. Oh sure, there was all that talk about the innocents that suffer so painfully in the hands of hateful mothers and their cruel doctors, but it was always about the votes. What I don’t get is how they expect to get more votes by abandoning that stance to say it is about adopting a religious, I mean Christian identity as the face of its party. Even that Christian identity is flawed - God forgives the men who force women to have abortions but jails the women who get them and the doctors who perform them?!? This philosophy is about control - of women, of non-Christians, and of those who don’t conform to their Christian puritanical beliefs. All the while, they have stepped up their advertising to bring parishioners back to the fold with commercials and billboards about the wonder and mercy of Jesus.
Personally, I’m finished with organized religion. I’m a Catholic from Pennsylvania, and when AG Josh Shapiro released his report of 300+ clergy members who abused children in 2019, I knew at least two of the priests. There were more who have crossed my family’s path, and there was hardly a Catholic family in the entire state of PA who didn’t know at least one of them. And no amount of money is going fix this with many parishioners, including myself; the church has yet to bear the weight of their shame of the thousands of years of abuse for “a vision.” That is a process that is only imposed on its parishioners.
I’m editing my response. Once again, the church stands on the idea that somebody’s injury is not worth a “good man’s reputation or career.” But that is true of most rape cases - that the burden of proof is on the victim, and that the metric is the willingness to “ruin the perpetrator’s life.”
Mass graves at indigenous schools in America and Canada, a mass grave found at a convent/orphanage in Ireland. Believe me, we are uncovering the tip of the iceberg.
Perhaps visit an Episcopalian church in your area. I did, 4+ years ago. It has been a refreshing experience.
I realize, not all Episcopalian churches are identical, it depends on the community and clergy of the parish to some extent. However, I've found a wonderful, loving, inclusive community at my nearby Episcopal church.
I'm an American who has been living outside of America for over 30 years, so my comments have to be taken in that context. It seems to me that the "new" Republican Party, -that is the party that stands for legitimising lies, restricting freedom of choice and encouraging violence as a legitimate political tool, now has developed a formula for turning those who we previously thought were heroes, such as Herschel Walker and Rudi Giuliani, into fools, and turning those we previously thought were fools into heroes, such as Trump, DeSantis, Roger Stone and his gang. Is the "Republican paradox" so strong and pervasive, is the lie so overwhelming, that it can reduce heroes to fools and turn fools into heroes? "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit" (Twelfth Night Act 1)
Christopher, I think you are overthinking this. Shakespeare has no place in today's GOP. Think Orwell. "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth."
Orwell is the perfect literary muse for our distorted politics. I think of him every time I read anything promoted or developed by the Radical White Christian Nationalists/MAGATS.
"...299 Republican candidates for the House, Senate, and important state offices are election deniers, and... 174 of them are running in districts that are safely Republican."
That, is the crux, the core, the gist of the problem. After all that has happened, after all that has been revealed, how can any district be "safely" Republican? Millions and MILLIONS! of our fellow citizens seem to have lost, or thrown away, any sense of public decency, morality, honesty.
Herschel Walker is no worse, indeed not as morally bankrupt, as TFG, and TFG could get re-elected if he ran today. Walker still has a good chance of becoming a US senator.
Hypocricy? The Republican Party passed that polite stage a while ago. I don't know a word for where they, all of them, are today.
Ralph, I think that “where they, all of them are” does not have a single explanation. I look at people I know who are in that “camp”. Some of them are reasonable, otherwise ethical people who simply cannot support (and I cannot explain why) the things that President Biden is doing to right our listing ship of state. Others are QAnnon disciples who really believe that all Democrats are pedophiles. Others are racists. Some are evangelical Christians. What it looks like to me is that in almost all cases, they buy into the belief that they, as white Christians are in danger of losing their power and position as white, cisgendered, heterosexual Christians. It looks like a cult to me.
The rationale for millions of people supporting the Republican cause is a form of tribalism. Us against them. Righting wrongs. Restoring original American values. Their actions are the acts of true patriots.
The times have changed. Demographics have changed. These people have seen their tribe under assault and marginalized. They believe they have been overrun by people who are inferior to them and who don't believe in white nationalism/supremacy. The flames of grievances are fanned into a raging fire.
Millions of people are living in an alternate reality, devoid of rational thoughts or verifiable facts and evidence!
The impetus behind the rise of fascism and authoritarianism here and all over the world is the modern-day version of the robber barons, i.e., the wealthy oligarchs who are seeking a worldwide reset of the economic order wherein the 99% serve and survive by the good grace of the wealthiest 1%. Today there is nothing in the entire world that isn't in some way under the control of the wealthy oligarchs. Unless they are stopped, the world will become an amalgamation of defacto plutocracies.
I've always found it interesting that Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden are probably the most observant Christians we've elected the last century. And the most despised by the current crop of "Christians" in the GOP. Also, Barack Obama was a regular church-goer and Bill Clinton could quote the Bible better and faster than most, yet they are also despised by the same "Christians." Hmmmm. I wonder why...
In the comments today (so far) I have not seen any discussion of these points:
The Conservative Radio host Dana Loesch is widely quoted as saying she doesn't care if Walker paid for endangered baby eagles to be aborted --"I want control of the Senate."
This shows me what I have long suspected, that being that the entire abortion issue was just a hot topic that the GOP grabbed to grab the Religious Right. I feel like there should be airplanes dragging banners above every Baptist church saying "YOU GOT PLAYED BY THE GOP"
There is more to Loesch's quote that IMHO should be looked at even more closely: she is quoted as saying "If the Daily Beast story is true, you’re telling me Walker used his money to reportedly pay some skank for an abortion. And [Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)] wants to use all of our monies to pay a whole bunch of skanks for abortions.”
Reread that quote and think about it for a moment. Bear with me if I seem to impersonate Tucker Carlson as "I have questions!!"
Does saying "a whole bunch of skanks for abortions" mean she thinks many? most? all? who have abortions are "skanks"...any woman who had an abortion might wish to think THAT over!
What about Walker himself? He reportedly has children by 4 women. Why is HE not called the equivalent of a "skank" then? Is this not a double standard between men and women?
The start of this remarkable passage quotes her as saying: “What I am about to say is in no means a contradiction or a compromise of a principle." in regards to her comments about Walker. "IN NO MEANS A CONTRADICTION OR A COMPROMISE OF A PRINCIPLE" Pardon the caps, it is for emphasis, and also pardon this but seriously: WTF?!?! I must have a different definition of contradiction or compromise of a principle.
And shame on me and shame on all the media, but here we go again--a virtually unknown Conservative Radio Host is making her name known and garnering her 15 minutes of fame by "owning the libs" with this inflammatory story.
I get torn between ignoring this junk and discussing it, but I fear that by just ignoring this type of foolishness it somehow conveys a sense of condoning it.
If anyone was listening to Morning Edition yesterday, they would have heard the appalling Ralph Reed--yes the former head of the KKK who now claims to be a Christian leader with an ultra-right theocratic political organization, who is called a "conservative strategist" by NPR rather than the racist nazi he really is--"defend" Walker by basically lying his head off. And they let him. I had to turn off the radio because my screaming at 5:45 AM was upsetting my dog. https://www.npr.org/2022/10/06/1127158931/republicans-continue-to-support-herschel-walker-even-after-abortion-report
When even the most reasonable and dedicated news outlets buy the lie that these [expletives deleted] are legitimate political activists, it becomes obvious that this national experiment is doomed. If I could leave I would.
Wonder how many dogs have PTSD from their owners' screaming at the radio and TV? Seriously, though, I do wonder if these news outlets really buy the lie or they just need their jobs. Either way, it's not a "public" service any more.
The idiocy of Trump clinging to these papers, purloining them in the first place, all the subsequent intrigues, speak to the sheer self-destructiveness of this Orange Clown. He is like the William H. Macy character in the movie 'The Cooler', except he was born into ownership of the casino instead of working there. The self-destructiveness is breathtaking!
It may take decades to understand Trump’s true intentions for becoming POTUS and for his desperation to stay POTUS. What bugs me the most is that we may all be gone before the actual truth comes out.
He told us the best perk, getting a bunch of rich, new friends. Bet that can’t compare with the “passes” he got for being an incompetent arse in every aspect of the presidency. Rupert made him look like the fictional hero that was a joke from start to finish. Sort of like Goebbels
Re Hershel Walker……remember folks. TFG got away with this kind of crap against women his entire life. He never saw any consequences. In fact he was rewarded.
I’m almost speechless watching our two party system devolve into a repub’s shameless race for a big win, their own Big Lie, even to their own diehard repub voters who are only paying attention to the R on their ballot and not the totally unqualified and embarrassing candidates showing up. I can’t imagine there will be any debates. Their latest candidate, Herschel Walker, is even less qualified than Dr.Oz or maybe TFG. Is it possible the only qualification for repub candidates is age, citizenship and a heartbeat? To prevent big repub wins, Dems must vote in November’s election, up and down the ballot.
I agree, but I'm not feeling optimistic. I'm afraid that many Americans will vote based on their belief that Biden is to blame for high food and gas prices.
Professor Brittney Cooper had the following to say on Twitter about Herschel Walker:
When I see the walking stereotype of Black male mediocrity that is Herschel Walker, I am reminded that a significant swath of white folks need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are. Violent, idiotic, brute, immoral, deadbeats.
The GOP’s support for Herschel Walker’s candidacy is designed as a continual insult and assault on all who strive to be Black and excellent, or hell, just Black and decent.
The GOP had spent decades locking up dudes like Herschel, and propagating a narrative that this is who brothers are. (It is who Herschel is. But he isn’t who all Black men are.) Now they want to give him a senate seat.
This dude is a walking talking Sambo on one hand, and Bigger Thomas on the other. Herschel Walker is the walking embodiment of their white supremacist projections of Black masculinity and I think voters in GA should do everything legal to make sure he doesn’t win.
And I’m pointing this out 1.) because as a Black person I am enraged at their elevation of that abusing MF. And 2.) because for the brothers in Georgia falling for the GOP okey-dokey, it’s not enough to only vote Warnock. You gotta vote Abrams too. The whole GOP hates you.
Thank you, TC. Dr. Cooper nailed it regarding Herschel.
“When I see the walking stereotype of Black male mediocrity that is Herschel Walker, I am reminded that a significant swath of white folks need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are. Violent, idiotic, brute, immoral, deadbeats.”
This 100% explains the white, MAGA support for Walker. The insanity of thought that he is a candidate for the Senate is beyond. The insanity of thought that the Repub power brokers manipulate a man with serious mental health issues and possible brain trauma from years of blows to the head is despicable.
The Republican party’s desire to box us into categories increases their chances to enslave us.
I vote “no” to be becoming another Russia or Hungary.
In fact…Republican warship….go f*ck yourself.
Unita. 🗽
The Republican leadership is not insane. They know exactly what they are doing. Same goes for their base. They sane, but they are not decent human beings.
Sanity is only about self annihilation on the planet if you are severely depressed. So, if you say Republican leadership is severely depressed and therefore it makes sense for them to want to support policies that are destroying the quality of life, and the ability of our species to live on this planet then they are sane. If they actually want to live and have their offspring live and thrive, then they are insane! Any of them who believe Trump and embrace QAnon are insane too.
I don't think they are depressed, and I don't think they care much about the future of the planet or the survival of future generations. Nor do I think they believe Trump. What they want is to preserve white advantages, especially their ability to call the shots. They embrace Trump and QAnon because both Trump and QAnon place those "values" at the forefront.
I also don't think they are depressed, therefore I don't believe they are sane!
I agree--they are sane, greedy, short-sighted, and certain that money & power will keep them safe no matter how it bad things get for us ordinary people (even ordinary "rich" professionals and such). I'll bet some of them even secretly fear that their grandchildren will suffer for their current fucked-up priorities and that their great-grandchildren may be the last generation living in a recognizable "society" before climate change turns humans back into nomadic hunter-gatherers. They are myopic and reactionary, and some of them can't imagine a life without wealth & power...but they know exactly what they're doing.
The people you describe (quite accurately in my estimation) are the wealthy. They comprise a tiny fraction of the 74 million Republican voters, nearly all of whom want nothing more than to avoid losing advantages that accrue to them for no reason other than being white.
Yes, absolutely fair. I think I meant to be describing the de facto leaders (the grotesquely wealthy and major corporations) along with their congressional puppets and attack dogs... But you are on point regarding the average GOP voters who exemplify LBJ's warning about what happens when you convince every white man he's superior to any black man.
Christine - if you ask yourself what strategy can one employ to maximize his/her odds of winning and taking power in our system of government, with no regard whatsoever to decency, morals, precedent, or norms or even laws, then that explains alot of what you see. To even consider such a strategy, the persons who employ it are pretty evil to start with. But even more - they hate what progressives stand for. They absolutely hate us. They believe the ends justify the means, no matter what. Now, for such a strategy to work, a strategy that in no way is going to be universally popular among decent people, you must try to restrict voting. Because an important part of the progressive voting block are the underprivileged (usually people of color), who want to see changes. Sprinkle in some serious gerrymandering where you can, and you have something to work with. You can go low, partly because low is the only place you can go. This Walker strategy is especially egregious - it quite literally takes racism (ubiquitous among the right wing), and uses it to their advantage (at least that is their hope). How cynical is that? It is plain for all to see if only there are eyes to see it. They are betting there are enough blind people in Georgia to swing a tight election. Our biggest enemy is apathy and disappointment especially in mid-term elections. If somehow that 2020 magic can show up for 2022, we'll win. But history says otherwise.
I think you are right on all points but one: White voters for Walker are not blind. They know what they’re doing, and they do it on purpose with malice.
Republicans have been doing this since Eisenhower campaigned with McCarthy (end justifies the means). Barry Goldwater welcomed the John Birch Society........heck, half of Phoenix probably are still members.
John Birch Society thinking has been woven into our culture and many higher ed institutions by way of the Koch Brothers and their pals... I'd say half of Phoenix and plenty of other red states, although still not the majority of US voters....
LMAO: Republican warship....Also, I daresay,
" idiotic, brute, immoral, deadbeats", describes a significant number of white Republicans and their ilk.
Sadly, the back-and-forth thread that follows TCinLA’s comment above is a pretty clear example of the old “forest-trees” scenario, or perhaps in the case of our current very dire situation, an argument about what tune Nero was fiddling. Come on, people—this is about the essence of who we are, truly a “fight for the soul of our nation.”
Thank you for bringing Professor Cooper to my attention - I have some reading to do.
Dr. Cooper is an associate professor at Rutgers. Women and gender studies. Author of several books.
She nailed it regarding Herschel.
Salud, RDooley! 🗽
However, her comment referred to Black men! Indeed the characteristics she stated are part of the personality of all too many men of any color….proud boys, KKK, oath keepers, Jim Jordan to name a few!
She was speaking as a Black woman, and her statement was more effective for that, IMO. One important point that overgeneralizing leaves out is that white people, these days especially white Republicans, are using Black men like Walker (and even, I would argue, like Clarence Thomas) to "prove" they aren't racist while affirming all their racist stereotypes..
As a Georgian, I will be surprised, but not shocked, if Walker wins the election with only 10% of the black vote. It will be a squeaker, but I predict that Warnock will win, Walker will not concede and claim election fraud. The carousel never stops.
We both have the same expectations. I'm glad to have my California opinion supported by someone seeing it all first-hand.
Fwiw, her ELOQUENT RAGE is one of the most invigorating books I've read in the last few years.
I do also.
Thank you for sharing this tweet thread. The GOP in its current iteration, is no friend to the BIPOC community and is only elevating its stereotypes to claim a false diversity and false support. They just want characters they can control and manipulate. This is a very old and very sad strategy.
In one of the TV ads the local hypocrite running in our newly formed fifth congressional district here in Oregon has an ad where he is shaking hands with one Hispanic, one Black, and one Asian. Talk about tokenism. His opponent is actually Hispanic.
The irony is that, in the long run, they are friends to no one. The greed for power never stops, and in the end, it would be white man vs. white man. There would always be a victim, there would always be a less than. The cruelty is the point.
Control and manipulate are the key words to slavery.
To the GOP, Walker is a Senate seat, nothing more. And, as Ms. Cooper suggests, Walker is a seat that will bow to the wishes of his masters, and happily vote against his own interests, and the interests of every other Black person, to get the pat on the head he craves from his owners.
To the GOP, Walker is mostly a Senate seat but, as Professor Cooper pointed out, Walker provides the GOP with additional benefits, namely a prominently displayed example of the hateful stereotype that most white Americans associate with black men.
I would prefer to say "too many" rather than "most" white Americans associate with black men. I don't believe that most white Americans have that perspective though, of course, I have no data to support that belief, just personal experience of white people.
I’m short on objective data, too, but your experience with white people is very different from mine.
sambo
noun, plural sam·bos.Older Use: Now Disparaging and Offensive.
a term used to refer to a Black person, especially a male. (Dictionary.com)
Is it racist to call Herschel Walker 'Sambo'? I think it is. Herschel Walker is Donald J. Trump's tool. Remember him, Donald J. Trump?
Given that the Professor is black, she can use whatever term she wants to use and you are out of line on this, Fern.
Having an opinion that differs from yours and the Professor's does not put me 'out of line'.
Maybe not, but being mindful of the history and usage of certain words is a plus.
I have at times refused to call a spade a shovel.
(Ppl my age know the reference)
Some of us refuse to let PC prevent our honest expression.
I believe words matter and sometime the word that matters most is the one that rubs against our developed position which one of my non-liberal friends pointed out to me is the tendency to speak in euphemisms when we are in polite company. I once quoted James Baldwin at a cocktail party in 1967. The silence that followed did not erase the importance of his describing being Black and gay in America, though his words came from the mouth of a 21 year old White boy from Chicago. I offended our academic hosts. We moved on. I never forgot that impact of the right words to expose and validate. Mr Walker is a pawn, much like the Sambo character was in my childhood readers and films, performing for his betters while thinking he is one of them, as Professor Cooper describes his Better's comfort and place of the status they assign with such terms. I agree, Rob. We need to hear the frank words, loaded though they may be for some of us, from those for whom those words evoke more than a simple descriptor for which someone might find a term less offensive. Frank is good.
Point taken, but it's also worth keeping in mind the old saw "Better keep silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and leave no doubt."
Seems I verified something for you. Mea coupla.
Fred, I deleted my reply to, you because it was imbued with some annoyance. The exchanges and reflection about how an excerpt of Professor Coopers's tweet was posted and my lack of understanding of her point of view have been thoughtfully reviewed. Evidence of that can be found up and down the forum. Views of Herschel Walker, how he is being used and by whom raised some questions. It felt as though after a good deal of work on my part discomfort was being stirred anew without reason. I see that you have posted another comment and will read it before continuing. Oh, Fred your care is appreciated. You have been able to sense that my concern and need for respectful exchanges are awake and intended for everyone on the forum. See you soon, Fred from Chicago.
Hum. Fern, it was where the thoughts came to me about Heather's posting today and the responses to Professor Cooper's remarks quoted by Heather and TC and the concerns some (of us) had with all the above. It was also part of my point of view going back to Mr Walker's candidacy and the Republicans who are using him. Yes, a little lecture intended. Context too. PC is good. Frankness is good. Tough is sometime needed, though I much prefer kindness, objectivity, and puppy kisses. Now, having a cat, I certainly prefer puppy kisses. At 80, I know when to do PC, until I hit my thumb with a hammer. And like the language I learned as a child in Chicago that seeps out, the attitudes, some of which I am not proud of, also leak out, reminding me of the reality of what Professor Cooper has to contend with and the part I (and certainly you and TC and Bob and most others on this thread) are willing to play to change it all. Words matter, almost as much as the intents that precede our voices and actions. I heard a lot of us chewing on Professor Cooper's message in different ways. Maybe I had my mouth open at the time I was chewing. Have a good evening, Fern from the Bronx.
Herschel Walker is not a thing. He struggled to make himself something. How does such a Black Man one like him find himself in America. He made his body. That seeming unseemly, he changed that. I know nothing about Herschel's brain, his family, who he admired or those closest to him. With what he had and worked hard at Hershel ascended and descended through sports’ arenas money chambers and fame circuses. This particular Black man with high functioning physicality attempted to find his place in the WHITE black and other society of America. I don’t know Hershel; I’m not a poet but have a sense of the White manipulating shit-cons that got a hold on him and an inkling of the women and children who were his victims. Now, look at Herschel Walker. He seems, at this moment, from what I can see the Black Man that everyone is, except, perhaps, for Raphael Warnock shitting on. Who is Herschel Walker in America now?
America
I for one will never doubt your compassion, Fern, nor your willingness to clarify what you believe and mean. Thank you. Herschel Walker's journey is the story for many Americans and his successes in his athletic career are all tributes to him and his struggle. I suspect Raphael Warnock's story, as a Black man in America, might be similar in many respects to Mr Walker's. Character, along with life skills and abilities and experiences make one fit for high offices, including the US Senate. One candidate has shown better credential against those criteria. Thank you for showing compassion and offering a caution to those of us who may dump without enough thought or sensitivity before we post. Be well, Fern from the Bronx..
Does trying to be conscious of usage equal "PC" in your view? Fwiw, in this case it's not "PC" that prevents my honest expression; it's respect for this particular forum, where most participants are willing to think things through, fill gaps in their knowledge, and re-examine long-held beliefs and perspectives.
And you, Mr. Boyte, have a way with words.
Agreed, Fern, but TC was quoting Ms Cooper. He wasn’t personally making that remark.
JaneDough, I didn't and don't now see quotation marks around that statement. If it was meant as a quote, it wasn't qualified as a disparaging characterization.
It’s pretty clear everything TC wrote after the colon is a direct quote from the Twitter post he referenced, which is likely why he did not use quotation marks.
Fern, we're in a dark forest. Focusing on one aspect of a single tree may illuminate a small patch, but it does not get us out of the woods. There are many, many, ways to be lost. Only one way to stay found, one way to find the light we all need to thrive.
I don't think the use of language is a trivial matter. Disinformation, stereotyping, lying, misleading, disparaging, disrespecting... It is, perhaps, too easy to fall into a sense of 'knowing the big picture' and unwittingly dismiss important aspects of what constitutes that forest.
I would usually agree and I did pause over the use of that word. However, since both the author and the quoter are black, I think it is OK in this instance because they are both describing how many white people think about black people and especially black males.
Actually, the quoter is white.
Sorry I misread, just up and hadn't had much coffee. I still feel the same way. The original quote is from a black person. I see nothing wrong with reporting what words a certain group would say. I did pause however until I realized what exactly it was saying. I grow up at a time when a restaurant was named a certain way and needed to be old enough to realize how bad this was. It now stands out in a sentence like it's in neon. This am there was an article in the Oregonian about a D state senator who was a Harvard student, 20 years old, and he had gone to the South to help black people in 1971. He wrote an account of this and used the n word not as a pejorative, but part of a report on how people talked at the time. Now the Rs are having a hissy fit and wants all sorts of things to happen including the D candidate for governor rejecting his endorsement of her in 2022. He didn't appear in black face or a KKK costume, but somehow they can't understand the difference. And he wasn't using the n word as a racial slur himself.
I remember that restaurant chain also.
The Rs dont want to understand the use of the word in context of a report. They just want to say he used the word so lib'ruls will get upset. And maybe not vote for him.
Then it is wasted effort on their part. He is from state senator from Ashland which is probably a liberal haven in the midst of truly red outlaw country. I think this has to do with people digging up accounts of pols in black face or in a KKK outfit. They don't understand that difference either.
I not only paused over the word but have to admit I was waiting for someone here to address it.
Hi Kathy, I thought about remarking on 'Sambo' before doing it. The quote by the professor was posted cold -- without context. I hadn't read the Notes, which a subscriber indicated clarified the writer's point of view. There was a fair amount of understanding about why I brought it up, but most subscribers that replied were either familiar the professor's work and or understood what she had written better than I did. I often check the notes before going on the forum and if I had, this time, perhaps, I would have been satisfied. The lesson for me is to check the notes first or at least before I make a negative comment. The importance of providing a context for a comment and not rushing to judgement are my takeaways.. A few that responded to me were, perhaps, a bit patronizing and or emphatic. Although uncomfortable, it wasn't a waste of time.
Steve, It has been three hours since you posted your reply to me. In all this time whenever I passed by 'patronizing' popped up in my mind. Finally, I thought to share my response with you.
I interpret Dr. Cooper's use of Sambo to indicate that this is the role Repugs are assigning him. She is frustrated that neither he nor any others, especially people of color, understand how demeaned he is by their manipulative support.
I read the quote from Dr. Cooper in the news earlier. Frankly, the nitpicking over a derogative or derogatory remark takes away from what she was saying. - and what she said was important!
Of course these Repubs want ALL of us to believe Herschel is typical - but the Repugs also want us to believe their "base" is this exact kind of typical, too!!! Thats why they shout out to that base in the manner they do.
Carmen, We are not eyewitnesses. Interviews and articles concerning Black people in neighborhood he grew up in are not Walker supporters. Generally, Blacks in Georgia do not plan to vote him and based on material I have read they have a pretty good idea about what's going on.
The problem seems to be that Mr. Walker himself relishes the political attention he receives and seems to be clueless as to why he's getting it.
He’s like a three-year-old child cursing to the laughter of adults—he thinks that he’s doing something great, while the adults are laughing at him.
He may love Trump. Might the former president be his Kim Il-sung? Cannot wait to see their love letters.
I was reminded by a friend last night that Walker's first professional football contract was with the now defunct New Jersey Generals, owned by trump. Another failed venture.
MaryB, Is this not a Comedy of Catastrophes?
Yes. Comedy can expose many lies and tell many truths
And the connection that is older than I realized! That goes back a few years, though it seems TFG backed out of ownership for this franchise hoping to score an even bigger deal. Never happened.
Attempted like
Hi Fern, I wish I could post photos I took at an auction last year of blackface toys, you would be horrified at the depiction of blacks from the late 1890’s through 1940’s or so. They’re made to look like apes, the absolute worst, worst is a black man and woman hanging from a gallows and was a “toy”. Explaining how to treat unruly slaves. A a pop gun shooting gallery with a black man’s face as the target. So many more. This was a collection meant to shock and upset people with all the accepted racism of our country, that slaves were not human beings but somewhere between white people and animals.
I’m a abolitionist, an old term I know, but I’m going to use it to describe my political views. I’ve been well aware of racism most of my life and it is abhorrent that Hershel Walker is being paraded around in a dog and pony show that by design influences opinions of white people that black men are inferior both mentally and morally, therefore making all white’s (but targeting poor whites) feel superior. Shining a bad light even when they’re using him as a “place holder”.
Another black man doing white man’s dirty work, here for their use and abuse. We see you. We have plenty of racism here in PA. But I rarely cross the Mason-Dixon Line into the red states, and I’m 30 minutes from WV. They’re so poor because their underlying racism keeps them poor by voting for the people who have every intention of keeping them poor. Manipulation is their platform and it is evil. Thanks, Karen
When I was teaching (college level), I showed my students a documentary called "Ethnic Notions" that traced the imagery whites use(d) for Blacks, including Aunt Jemima. The next day, one of the students told the class that she had an Aunt Jemima collection, that the image of Aunt Jemima had always comforted her, but after seeing its origin, she went home and threw her entire collection in the trash. And some of her classmates criticized her for doing that. Others, fortunately, were supportive and understanding.
Karen, You knew how I would feel reading your comment. The physical response that took over. I was going to ask you some questions, but it is better not to prolong the terrible experience you witnessed. Thank you for communicating. I have been active in civil rights since adolescence and this …we must keep going together, must.
How can one forget, I hope I live so long…
Jeri, You brought out a smile with this pointed and funny reply of yours.
It sickens me the way the GQP is using Walker who clearly has issues. If the GQP cared about him at all they would help him get the therapy he truly needs. He is unable to keep his stories straight. How is he going to be able to understand and vote on issues in the Senate that affect his constituents?
He won’t have to understand anything. He will simply do the GOP bidding—that’s why he’s their perfect candidate….
He's being used as their tool. I don't know if it is accurate but indications have been that Trump was his 'influencer' in terms of his running for the Senate seat.
Understood. It’s another terrible reflection on the GQP. If they had any concern for him as a human being, which they don’t, they would encourage him to get the help he needs.
On a practical level, Warnock—a moral leader of the whole community, not just the Black community for decades—to call out Walker for hypocrisy and lying. It will be harder—more indelicate—to call him out as a sad tool of white authoritarians, it that needs to be done, too. And all GOTV efforts should emphasize that democracy itself is on the ballot, and that while inflation and crime will wane, if the authoritarians take power democracy will be on life support, or worse.
“. . .while inflation and crime will wane, if the authoritarians take power democracy will be on life support, or worse.” We must demand to know what Republicans plan to do about inflation and “the economy.” It is so far a secret, but it is probably what Liz Truss proposed for the UK. Regarding crime, the GOP will build more jails and fill them with people who run afoul of their abortion laws, and those accused of voting illegally.
The climate crisis is on the ballot, too, though it is not spoken of with the same concern as gasoline prices.
"The GOP’s support for Herschel Walker’s candidacy is designed as a continual insult and assault on all who strive to be Black and excellent, or hell, just Black and decent." I'll say first, I am white. Now - My take on Walker's candidacy and its GOP support is this: They believe he is the candidate with the best chance to win against Warnock. Period. They know that the outcome of elections in Georgia are increasingly dependent on black vote. Black voters are mostly going to vote for a black candidate if one exists, especially if he/she is a Democrat. So how do you decrease black vote for Warnock? First, unleash as many voter suppression laws as you can - check. Second, put up another black candidate so that black voters might just feel they have another choice they can live with - check. A white candidate won't do. And as a bonus - an important bonus - play to the popularity of the game of football in the south. And boy is it popular (witness the dimwit Tuberville in Alabama). That is going to get you not only black votes, but maybe even some white votes that you wouldn't ordinarily get. And another bonus - Walker is ignorant enough (and probably dim enough) to be well controlled by the more clever and devious (white) GOP leaders. They feel this combination is so powerful that it can overcome other deficiencies that Walker has, and he has alot of them including having no idea how to be a Senator. This strategy may very well work. But it is an insult to every black Georgia voter. It shows clearly to all who understand even a little bit about politics that the GOP is as racist as its always been, and is trying to use it to their advantage. If black voters see this, then the strategy should backfire. That is my hope.
It made me ill last night when on CBS evening news they showed this middle aged white woman defend him by saying that Herschel has been saved by the grace of "God". How is it right to use this statement as a "get out of jail free card". Playing to the brain washed innocent Christians.
When white people in Georgia are his voting base, one must not remain suspicious of the Republican party supporting his candidacy icon for the US Senate. It is a direct confirmation that the platform of the Republican Party is nostalgia. And, in that view, Blacks must be brutes, ignorant, controlled and never considered equals to the lowliest White man. Capetbaggers was the term applied to the party that sent the least equipped ex-slave to their new position as slave-in-office. History repeats itself, changing only in the manner in which power plays out from the hands of owner of the plantation. It appears that the GOP has found their boy.
‘…Black men are…’ shocking indictment of all black men! Not sure what Brittney professes but her statement is outrageously insulting!
You need to reread the quoted passage. It’s point is precisely that Walker does not represent Black men, only the racist white fantasy of Black men so dear to the heart of the Southern GOP in my lifetime.
The actual quote is "...a significant swath of white folks who need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are." in a paragraph that started with discussion of stereotypes of Black men.
Without a context for Brittney's intention... no introductory guidance, the quote was out there in the cold for me as well, Louis. Others, perhaps familiar with her work came with a sense of the writer that we did not have.
The Twitter text was introduced as such, followed by a colon, a normal way to introduce an extended quotation. Just pointing out that TC did do his/her job.
There is a difference between a white person making a racist argument using vile racist memes and a self-proclaimed Black person using those memes ironically in an anti-racist argument.
Might it be clarifying for you to reread the post of mine that you responded to?
I did read (or I guess misread) it twice. I thought by “introductory guidance” you meant indication of whose the following passage was. Sorry!
Fern: I understand your concerns & share some of them. In the Inquirer article re Walker, linked to by Heather in her always awesome Notes, the following part of Cooper’s Twitter thread was used (& included a link to the entire thread):
“When I see the walking stereotype of Black male mediocrity that is Herschel Walker, I am reminded that a significant swath of white folks need this to be who Black people are, who Black men are,” Rutgers women and gender studies professor Brittney Cooper, who is Black, wrote on Twitter. “Violent, idiotic, brute, immoral, deadbeats.”
Some impt further context: Cooper is a big Abrams (& Warnock) supporter who is VERY upset that Abrams is only polling at 60% w black men. Cooper imbeds part of her Twitter thread--the one we’re all talking about--into a newer thread on how patriarchy in the black community & white supremacy are killing Abrams’ chances AND usurping democracy. BOTH threads, when read in their entirety, have lots to say about black patriarchy (imo).
Thank you, Linda. I did not read Notes before commenting. A point that I made in another post was that the quote was put out there cold, without any context. For those of us not acquainted with Professor Cooper the word 'Sambo' was understood for what it represents.
And I agree. The same idea was conveyed in the excerpt I provided, without using the language in question. But things are easily misconstrued, plus context IS important!
I do think you're misreading her statement...
Nah, not when they are being used and abused
Thank You, TC.
I find it interesting that the responses to this post mirror those the good professor got to her tweets. Yes indeed, interesting.
You clean up good.
Excellent, thank you. We have donated to Warnock and I will have to check on Abrams. This weekend is another time for donations.
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Okay, first things first. Herschel Walker is No.1 in today's letter.
“This here, the abortion thing, is false. It’s a lie,” Walker told reporters following a campaign event in Wadley, Georgia.'
“I am not deterred. I am not backing down,” Walker said in a statement later Thursday afternoon. “The stakes are too high. We are going to win this race – and put Georgia first again.”
'During an interview on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show earlier Thursday, Walker was asked about the Daily Beast reporting and said that “if that had happened, I would have said it, ‘cause there’s nothing to be ashamed of there.” (CNN)
Walker has said he is an absolutist about abortions - NO!
Why is this story not going away? Why, because it is a perfect example of how mad America is. For how long have we heard and seen how many lies in plain sight? We live in the hall of mirrors where two opposing versions of a story are on different sides of the mirror - the truth on one side and the fiction on the other. When one of our two political parties and many millions of people 'believe' the fiction, which the Republicans perpetuate- the LIES - and the people believe them -- What is that? It is Fascism. It is putting the country on a death march as it terrorizes many of us. Combine this with so many Americans not even knowing what's happening.
See America as it is right now.
Well said, Fern.
I find our current political situation dispiriting. That so many Republican candidates are spouting such hateful lies, and their fellow citizens are lapping them up and swallowing them whole indicates to me that we have turned a dangerous corner.
Add to that the existential threat that Russia presents, our failure worldwide to avert the imminent crisis of our injured planet and the turn in other nations toward neo-fascist demagogues and one is left with the feeling that a global political maelstrom, which has been building in recent years, has reached a critical mass.
A darkness is descending; it is undeniable even as we struggle to maintain our focus and work to avert it most dreadful perils.
R Dooley, You have described exactly as it is.
And they are doing it in plain sight, but MSM has blinders on. Is it because the most visible “money bags for fascism” Rupert Murdoch, is a “journalist.” Hahaha 😝
You are a riot of chuckles today. Thank you!
It is fine that the media and this post and comments focus on Walker’s words and hypocrisy. But I fear we are wading in the weeds, and risk becoming distracted. Walker is an addle brain former football player, who quite likely has a long history of abusive relationships, and is way over his head in political waters. Whose bright idea was it that he should run for any office, much less the Senate. If he gets even close to winning this seat, it tells me only one of two possibilities- that the republicans rigged the election, or that GA is not as purple as many pundits would have us believe. That a credible candidate, Warnock, would not handily beat Walker just wouldn’t pass the smell test for me.
That so many rank-and-file republicans are so hoodwinked, or deliberately blind, is an ink omen that cannot be ignored.
You give rank-and-file republicans too much credit, Jeri. They are neither hoodwinked nor deliberately blind. They are malicious people bent on continuing the brutal, white dominance that white Americans have benefited from for 400 years.
excellent point
Agree, Fern. However, another reason this story remains in the press might be that more people are beginning to realize that Walker is being used by racist Republicans, as suggested by Professor Cooper and respected journalists of color like Charles Blow in his recent NYT opinion piece. The fascism, hypocrisy, and racism are all maddening.
Yes, I agree, Bonnie, that some people may be seeing the light that is my hope as well. Walker's supporters are primarily White people. The reports I have read and seen indicate that they seem to be sticking with him. 'Reality' now is a two sided story, for the most part
Thank you, Bonnie, Fern, and Jeff. Pulling it all together hasn't been easy.
And, so many Russians do not know what is happening. The entire world watched the extreme pomp & circumstance of Putin's elaborate ceremony heralding the faux "annexation" of four (4) districts on the eastern side of Ukraine while Putin's attack collapses. Russia is imploding internally over what is real. Two (2) Russians left Putin's glittering nightmare by rowing in a small boat across the Bering Sea to a tiny Alaskan island. See WAPO article, "Russians Flee to Alaska ..." by Alex Horton on 10/6. The US is processing them as valid Asylum Seekers; we should have a new Federal immigration category for "Reality Seekers."
For the daily "Herschel Walkers:" in the USA, see Jessica Valentis' Substack daily email: "All In Her Head": https://jessica.substack.com.
Bryan, did you coin "Reality Seekers"? It is a perfect riff on our Reality, really? as well the country's immigration policy -- really? I will check out Jessica's, 'All in her head' after getting some sleep. Thank you, wordsmith advocate.
Yup, I am the author. That is what you do at trial, name something what it is. Jurys, Judges & colleagues sometimes nod. But, I was more interested in the verdict.
Bryan, You're lifting this tired soul into the realm of clarity and wit. What a treat at any time.
:)
And its Brotherhood, The Diogenes Society
Hey Bryan, what about the "Reality Seekers" who are already citizens of the U.S. ...where do we go?!
LFAA a very good start.
Not “two (2) Russians”—several hundred thousand. Or am I misreading your comment?—you seem to be saying that all but 2 Russians are divorced from reality but the news stories of the last week or so point in a very different direction.
I was specfically referencing two (2) Russian Nationals who used a boat to cross 40 miles of open water to make Landfall at the tiny village of Gampell to seek asylum. Per Alex Horton's WAPO article, DHS is his source for the transfer of the Aylum Seekers to Anchorage, Alaska. But, you are correct Mary, per Horton, the approximate TOTAL number of Russians fleeing is 200,000 to wherever they can make it out, Finland, Sweeden, etc.
That's an amazing tale...
Two Russians, of the hundreds of thousands leaving, got out by rowing a boat from Russia, across the Bering Straight, to an Alaskan island. At its narrowest point, island to island, it’s still several miles of open ocean.
“cause there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” WHAT? All the GOP and it’s rabid adherents have said for decades is how despicable abortion is, no exceptions. Walker’s statement is a tell. Along with all his fundamentalist rhetoric…
The Republicans know they are losing in Georgia, That is what their antics are about. Like it or not, their election data/analysis is excellent (superior to all the news outlets and the DNC). I believe the numbers they see in GA are scaring them.
Hugh Hewitt is the vessel by which the poison is administered to the compliant sheep
Jeri, you bring back Danny Kaye's wonderful schtick in "The Court Jester" (1955): "The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true." ..."The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon." We know who the dragon is.
Thank you Heather.
As I sit back watching the Herschel Walker debacle unfold.....more everyday, it paints an ugly picture of this Country. Do we no longer have any standards or do we bypass them just to get what we/they want?
Liz Cheney was here in Syracuse earlier this week at Syracuse University. I wasn't aware she was going to talk at SU or I would have been there. I did watch the live feed and was very impressed in her message. She is going to do everything in her power to be sure Trump and his election deniers lose. There is no confusion in her message. She did not mince her words.
It looks like we need alot of Liz Cheneys right now before everything we have worked for goes away.
Be safe. Be well. Be Liz.
Ms. Cheney makes me long for the Republican party of the Nixon era - when there were some of them in the Congress strong enough to face Nixon. The current pack is a disgrace.
Yes, we need a lot of Liz Cheneys, but she’s still a repub. I wonder if she’ll leave her party as an Independent. The sooner the better.
Her views are hard right and always have been. She voted with Trump about 95% of the time and voted for him *twice*. I admire her defense of the rule of law, but can’t admire the laws she votes for.
Mary Baine Campbell: Rep. Cheney's strong conservative views are still her strong conservative political views, which you and I do not endorse. She is, however, an honest and ethical politician, a very very very rare breed these days, who has obviously stuck to her ethics/morals. Last night she was at another venue, and advised that her audience vote Democrat in the upcoming elections where the Republicans are election deniers and hold other radical right and untruthful views. She defines sanity.
Judith one thought I keep in mind is that when Cheney was voting with Trump so heavily, was prior to January 6th. I keep seeing the "she voted with Trump ×%". Honestly, that is meaningless to me now. What she is doing now is what matters. People change. She has completely changed her stance on gay marriage. Who would have thought.
I don't agree with some of her political stances just as I don't agree with everything Biden has done. Not by a long shot.
You are 100% correct. She does define sanity.
Thanks for making this point about Cheney. When you're in a fight for your life, you look for allies who will help you win regardless of whether all your beliefs align.
Liz changed her public stance on gay marriage only after a very public Facebook post made by her sister-in-law. It was a interesting kerfuffle.
But I’m glad this scion of a well-known republican dynasty has stayed true to her oath. (Bonus points for being a v effective J6 co-chair.) But it’s unbelievable that keeping one’s constitutional oath is the low bar now set for heroism, yet still too many republicans stumble and fall and fail.
I don't disagree at all, though she's a politician and her motives are mixed. I'm just anxious about increasing numbers of grateful Democrats who see her as a hero and want to vote for her if she leaves the Republican Party. I admire her support for Democracy, as I said. I just don't want to live in a society where her views (signaled recently by votes against national legislation legalizing abortion and against stricter gun control to to protect us and the children from mass murderers) are dominant!
People do change, when they hit the wall. Cheney may have hit it when she saw the plans for the coup. She voted along party lines before that, but that doesn't mean she would adhere to their agenda now.
Say what you might, but Chaney sacrificed her political career to do what's right.
I keep saying I admire her. I do admire her! But she votes for what I consider bad laws and against good ones: we disagree on the most fundamental issues, which for me are moral as well as political. So I don't want us to help her with the political career most analysts say is far from dead--it was dead if she stayed a loyal Republican in the new gargoyle version of a party which was trying to kick her out. No self-respecting politician would do so. She is a self-respecting politician.
That is a fact.
She is her daddy’s daughter
Jerri, Well, maybe partially. But she is still herself. I doubt her father would ever display what Rep. Cheney has displayed the past year and whatever.
P. S. Mary Baine Campbell: I just thought that maybe the clip of Rep. Cheney I watched actually WAS from her visit to Syracuse. Seems likely. Saw it a few times on MSNBC.
Irenie since the J6 hearings I'm trying to look at her commitment to people over Party. She clearly is walking away from the "new Republicans ". She doesn't hesitate to call them out. She has the receipts.
When the election deniers aka Trumpers eventually take control, she won't be any part of that.
I don't see her jumping into the Democratic pool, but I do see her becoming an Independent.
It looks to me like there is no home for Cheney's politics. Even if she won as an independent, who would she caucus with? Her politics are extinct in Congress.
Cheney chose the political high road. Unfortunately, that road leads to nowhere in this day and age.
I wish I had known too, that Ms. Cheney was speaking at Syracuse. That would have been worth the drive from Rochester.
The pro-life movement was never about the babies. Oh sure, there was all that talk about the innocents that suffer so painfully in the hands of hateful mothers and their cruel doctors, but it was always about the votes. What I don’t get is how they expect to get more votes by abandoning that stance to say it is about adopting a religious, I mean Christian identity as the face of its party. Even that Christian identity is flawed - God forgives the men who force women to have abortions but jails the women who get them and the doctors who perform them?!? This philosophy is about control - of women, of non-Christians, and of those who don’t conform to their Christian puritanical beliefs. All the while, they have stepped up their advertising to bring parishioners back to the fold with commercials and billboards about the wonder and mercy of Jesus.
Personally, I’m finished with organized religion. I’m a Catholic from Pennsylvania, and when AG Josh Shapiro released his report of 300+ clergy members who abused children in 2019, I knew at least two of the priests. There were more who have crossed my family’s path, and there was hardly a Catholic family in the entire state of PA who didn’t know at least one of them. And no amount of money is going fix this with many parishioners, including myself; the church has yet to bear the weight of their shame of the thousands of years of abuse for “a vision.” That is a process that is only imposed on its parishioners.
And the deception hasn’t stopped. See: bishop of Knoxville.
I’m editing my response. Once again, the church stands on the idea that somebody’s injury is not worth a “good man’s reputation or career.” But that is true of most rape cases - that the burden of proof is on the victim, and that the metric is the willingness to “ruin the perpetrator’s life.”
Mass graves at indigenous schools in America and Canada, a mass grave found at a convent/orphanage in Ireland. Believe me, we are uncovering the tip of the iceberg.
Perhaps visit an Episcopalian church in your area. I did, 4+ years ago. It has been a refreshing experience.
I realize, not all Episcopalian churches are identical, it depends on the community and clergy of the parish to some extent. However, I've found a wonderful, loving, inclusive community at my nearby Episcopal church.
Such hypocrisy, swimming in a cesspool
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“Over time, ‘voter fraud’ became the way Republicans explained away the unpopularity of their ideas.” ~ HCR
It's not just their ideas, its the consequences of what they do.
I'm an American who has been living outside of America for over 30 years, so my comments have to be taken in that context. It seems to me that the "new" Republican Party, -that is the party that stands for legitimising lies, restricting freedom of choice and encouraging violence as a legitimate political tool, now has developed a formula for turning those who we previously thought were heroes, such as Herschel Walker and Rudi Giuliani, into fools, and turning those we previously thought were fools into heroes, such as Trump, DeSantis, Roger Stone and his gang. Is the "Republican paradox" so strong and pervasive, is the lie so overwhelming, that it can reduce heroes to fools and turn fools into heroes? "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit" (Twelfth Night Act 1)
Christopher, I think you are overthinking this. Shakespeare has no place in today's GOP. Think Orwell. "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth."
George Orwell
Orwell is the perfect literary muse for our distorted politics. I think of him every time I read anything promoted or developed by the Radical White Christian Nationalists/MAGATS.
Worse than the Manchurian Candidate, only not a script for a movie
"...299 Republican candidates for the House, Senate, and important state offices are election deniers, and... 174 of them are running in districts that are safely Republican."
That, is the crux, the core, the gist of the problem. After all that has happened, after all that has been revealed, how can any district be "safely" Republican? Millions and MILLIONS! of our fellow citizens seem to have lost, or thrown away, any sense of public decency, morality, honesty.
Herschel Walker is no worse, indeed not as morally bankrupt, as TFG, and TFG could get re-elected if he ran today. Walker still has a good chance of becoming a US senator.
Hypocricy? The Republican Party passed that polite stage a while ago. I don't know a word for where they, all of them, are today.
Ralph, I think that “where they, all of them are” does not have a single explanation. I look at people I know who are in that “camp”. Some of them are reasonable, otherwise ethical people who simply cannot support (and I cannot explain why) the things that President Biden is doing to right our listing ship of state. Others are QAnnon disciples who really believe that all Democrats are pedophiles. Others are racists. Some are evangelical Christians. What it looks like to me is that in almost all cases, they buy into the belief that they, as white Christians are in danger of losing their power and position as white, cisgendered, heterosexual Christians. It looks like a cult to me.
Don’t forget that the duped and crazed millions are a minority, who owe the success of their candidates to gerrymandering and the Electoral College.
A minority for sure, but there's still millions of them. It's appalling to me there's any at all.
Amen to yours. I believe a word that works to answer your parting question is “dangerous.”
The rationale for millions of people supporting the Republican cause is a form of tribalism. Us against them. Righting wrongs. Restoring original American values. Their actions are the acts of true patriots.
The times have changed. Demographics have changed. These people have seen their tribe under assault and marginalized. They believe they have been overrun by people who are inferior to them and who don't believe in white nationalism/supremacy. The flames of grievances are fanned into a raging fire.
Millions of people are living in an alternate reality, devoid of rational thoughts or verifiable facts and evidence!
The impetus behind the rise of fascism and authoritarianism here and all over the world is the modern-day version of the robber barons, i.e., the wealthy oligarchs who are seeking a worldwide reset of the economic order wherein the 99% serve and survive by the good grace of the wealthiest 1%. Today there is nothing in the entire world that isn't in some way under the control of the wealthy oligarchs. Unless they are stopped, the world will become an amalgamation of defacto plutocracies.
I've always found it interesting that Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden are probably the most observant Christians we've elected the last century. And the most despised by the current crop of "Christians" in the GOP. Also, Barack Obama was a regular church-goer and Bill Clinton could quote the Bible better and faster than most, yet they are also despised by the same "Christians." Hmmmm. I wonder why...
They are CINO’s: Christian In Name Only!
What about the current crop of Pharisees, duh
Just like you, Jesus also had a problem with hypocrites….
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Good point!
In the comments today (so far) I have not seen any discussion of these points:
The Conservative Radio host Dana Loesch is widely quoted as saying she doesn't care if Walker paid for endangered baby eagles to be aborted --"I want control of the Senate."
This shows me what I have long suspected, that being that the entire abortion issue was just a hot topic that the GOP grabbed to grab the Religious Right. I feel like there should be airplanes dragging banners above every Baptist church saying "YOU GOT PLAYED BY THE GOP"
There is more to Loesch's quote that IMHO should be looked at even more closely: she is quoted as saying "If the Daily Beast story is true, you’re telling me Walker used his money to reportedly pay some skank for an abortion. And [Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)] wants to use all of our monies to pay a whole bunch of skanks for abortions.”
Reread that quote and think about it for a moment. Bear with me if I seem to impersonate Tucker Carlson as "I have questions!!"
Does saying "a whole bunch of skanks for abortions" mean she thinks many? most? all? who have abortions are "skanks"...any woman who had an abortion might wish to think THAT over!
What about Walker himself? He reportedly has children by 4 women. Why is HE not called the equivalent of a "skank" then? Is this not a double standard between men and women?
The start of this remarkable passage quotes her as saying: “What I am about to say is in no means a contradiction or a compromise of a principle." in regards to her comments about Walker. "IN NO MEANS A CONTRADICTION OR A COMPROMISE OF A PRINCIPLE" Pardon the caps, it is for emphasis, and also pardon this but seriously: WTF?!?! I must have a different definition of contradiction or compromise of a principle.
And shame on me and shame on all the media, but here we go again--a virtually unknown Conservative Radio Host is making her name known and garnering her 15 minutes of fame by "owning the libs" with this inflammatory story.
I get torn between ignoring this junk and discussing it, but I fear that by just ignoring this type of foolishness it somehow conveys a sense of condoning it.
Good Lord I am so tired of all this crap.
I stand with you and your outrage….
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Don’t be confused or naive when you hear people say they believe in a Christian Democracy. It is neither. It’s a euphemism for Nationalist Fascism.
If anyone was listening to Morning Edition yesterday, they would have heard the appalling Ralph Reed--yes the former head of the KKK who now claims to be a Christian leader with an ultra-right theocratic political organization, who is called a "conservative strategist" by NPR rather than the racist nazi he really is--"defend" Walker by basically lying his head off. And they let him. I had to turn off the radio because my screaming at 5:45 AM was upsetting my dog. https://www.npr.org/2022/10/06/1127158931/republicans-continue-to-support-herschel-walker-even-after-abortion-report
When even the most reasonable and dedicated news outlets buy the lie that these [expletives deleted] are legitimate political activists, it becomes obvious that this national experiment is doomed. If I could leave I would.
Wonder how many dogs have PTSD from their owners' screaming at the radio and TV? Seriously, though, I do wonder if these news outlets really buy the lie or they just need their jobs. Either way, it's not a "public" service any more.
They're just selling airtime for their sponsors, public radio as well as private.
Ohio's Mike DeWine and the all GOP legislature. > https://www.clevescene.com/news/hello-ladies-ill-be-in-charge-of-your-uterus-now-39226356
That is a great link!
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brilliant jest!
Thank you for sharing! 🤣but too true.
The idiocy of Trump clinging to these papers, purloining them in the first place, all the subsequent intrigues, speak to the sheer self-destructiveness of this Orange Clown. He is like the William H. Macy character in the movie 'The Cooler', except he was born into ownership of the casino instead of working there. The self-destructiveness is breathtaking!
It may take decades to understand Trump’s true intentions for becoming POTUS and for his desperation to stay POTUS. What bugs me the most is that we may all be gone before the actual truth comes out.
He told us the best perk, getting a bunch of rich, new friends. Bet that can’t compare with the “passes” he got for being an incompetent arse in every aspect of the presidency. Rupert made him look like the fictional hero that was a joke from start to finish. Sort of like Goebbels
Re Hershel Walker……remember folks. TFG got away with this kind of crap against women his entire life. He never saw any consequences. In fact he was rewarded.
Exactly. GOP leaders would nominate Jeffrey Dahmer if it would keep them in power.
I’m almost speechless watching our two party system devolve into a repub’s shameless race for a big win, their own Big Lie, even to their own diehard repub voters who are only paying attention to the R on their ballot and not the totally unqualified and embarrassing candidates showing up. I can’t imagine there will be any debates. Their latest candidate, Herschel Walker, is even less qualified than Dr.Oz or maybe TFG. Is it possible the only qualification for repub candidates is age, citizenship and a heartbeat? To prevent big repub wins, Dems must vote in November’s election, up and down the ballot.
I agree, but I'm not feeling optimistic. I'm afraid that many Americans will vote based on their belief that Biden is to blame for high food and gas prices.
Irenie -- You left out the most important qualification for Republican candidates today: the ability to pass trump’s purity tests.
"After they show you who they are, believe them."(?) - Maya Angelo
Anthony OConnell, 'tweeking' Maya Angelo's quote:
"When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”
(Thanks to Mrs. Dr. Google.)
Judith Smith 1111 - "Anthony OConnell, 'tweeking' Maya Angelo's quote:"
And more Indepth:
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." – Maya Angelou
What does that mean?
https://philosiblog.com/2013/04/04/when-someone-shows-you-who-they-are-believe-them-the-first-time/#:~:text=When%20someone%20shows%20you%20who%20they%20are%2C%20believe,colors%2C%20it%20might%20well%20be%20the%20proper%20look.