Today the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked, 11 to 11, on whether to send Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court to the full Senate for a vote. The Democrats can still move the nomination forward through procedural measures, and three Republicans—Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mitt Romney (R-UT)—have said they will vote for her, so her confirmation is assured (even if Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who has not yet said how she will vote, votes no).
That is what is so wrong about DC's not being a state. I have no voting representatives to write to. I am sure that if DC were majority republican district, we would have become a state a long time ago. But we do pay our taxes!!!
Well, I will do the same, although writing to Thom Tillis and Richard Burr is an exercise in futility. They have long since checked any decency they might have had at the door. Their political careers are all about themselves.
Unfortunately for those of us who are on the other side and cannot understand the hatefulness and the unwillingness to work together for actual, helpful legislation.
According to Hungarian friends, while the opposition to Orban tried to organize into a unified coalition so they didn't split the opposition vote, the center-left opposition was allied with the major right wing/populist opposition. Members of that party either voted for Orban's Fidesz Party, or for splinter further-right parties, which ended up locking out the opposition and giving Orban his biggest victory yet. My Hungarian friends are now planning to move to Denmark and become Danish citizens. The EU open borders are alowing a "brain drain" from Hungary as those who can't stand what is happening leave.
It's really no surprise Hungary is in this position. Prior to 1918 as part of the Austro-Hungarian empire/Holy Roman empire for 900 years, Hungary was the center of the reactionary conservatism of the empire. Then in 1921 they got the fascist Horthy "regency" that allied with Hitler for WW2, then in 1946 they got one of the tightest Stalinist dictatorships. 1992 saw democracy, but it wasn't able to deliver as promised, with the result that Orban became PM 10 years later. With a "democratic tradition" like this, the whole thing is unsurprising.
One of my grandmothers was from Hungary. Considering the family came to the United States, I think she would be disappointed with all this. I wish I knew more about this side of my family.
Thank you Heather for another fine newsletter. Judge Jackson does not deserve the treatment Republicans are giving her. There are at least a couple republicans under investigation in Florida for those actual charges. Meanwhile, Florida governor Desantis is doing all that he can to cover up and withhold information related to the inquiries there. And this is where the truth really lies. There are those that do the dirty deeds while being covered up by their party, and the continuation of lies and misinformation attacking the foes of the so called righteous party of false lies to their constituents. It should be an easy choice, but then again this is why they are so involved in the dumbing down of American citizens and the teachings allowed in the schools.
Sick, sick, sick and perverted ... from the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Ron de Santis to the GOP glee at Orbán's victory! Their own minds are so skewed and distorted that they project their abusive images upon others!
I think that is what helped fill me with such dread. When the vote came out a tie, it really makes me understand that this false narrative and manipulation is working little by little.
it's all about the next election. focusing on child porn, etc., will enable the party to resurrect pizzagate and the party's bugaboo, the clintons, something trump would love to do in 2024 as well. they want to keep this story going.
But we are to ignore many of the GOP's and Trump's past and current inappropriate to criminal behaviors. I often chuckle that the ones who cannot think abhor and scream about child sexual aggression yet love a man who adores young women and even his own daughter and other "sins."
Charles, you observe, "There are at least a couple republicans under investigation in Florida for those actual charges." That's a classic example of projection: accusing "the other" of what you are yourself doing.
Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were posturing for their QAnon base. Why did they so visibly hate Ketanji Brown Jackson? Because Judge Jackson was the Federal judge who sentenced QAnon follower Edgar Maddison Welch to 4 years in jail for charging into Comet Ping Pong (a pizza parlor in Georgetown DC) on December 4, 2016, carrying a fully loaded AR-15 military-style rifle and revolver seeking to investigate a viral QAnon Internet rumor known as “Pizzagate.”
Edgar Welch believed a false conspiracy theory that linked Hillary Clinton to an alleged child-sex-trafficking ring run from the family restaurant, where Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta, occasionally dined.
In imposing the sentence, in 2017, Judge Jackson said she was handing down a penalty she said was needed to uphold the rule of law against vigilante justice.
Note: Federal prosecutors asked for a 4 ½ year sentence, Judge Jackson imposed 4 years. Neither Hawley nor Cruz accused Judge Jackson of being lenient in that case.
I predict that Hawley's and Cruz's fascination with child pornography is designed to line up with QAnon's continuing assertion that a cabal of Democratic politicians, liberal Hollywood actors, and high-ranking government officials, who worship Satan, are running a child-sex-trafficking ring and simultaneously plotting against Trump-a conspiracy that Trump refuses to renounce.
"Because Judge Jackson was the Federal judge who sentenced QAnon follower Edgar Maddison Welch to 4 years in jail for charging into Comet Ping Pong (a pizza parlor in Georgetown DC) on December 4, 2016, carrying a fully loaded AR-15 military-style rifle and revolver seeking to investigate a viral QAnon Internet rumor known as “Pizzagate.”"
You wrote: "I predict that Hawley's and Cruz's fascination with child pornography is designed to line up with QAnon's continuing assertion that a cabal of Democratic politicians, liberal Hollywood actors, and high-ranking government officials, who worship Satan, are running a child-sex-trafficking ring and simultaneously plotting against Trump-a conspiracy that Trump refuses to renounce."
Given the predilection of the Putrid Putin Party with all things sex-related and the preponderance of members of that same party being actually charged with crimes of a sexual nature, it seems to me that QAnon and its followers are merely projecting their own perverted fantasies onto Democrats. I would substitute the following in that statement above: "Republican" for "Democratic" - "conservative" for "liberal" - "authoritarianism" for "Satan" -and "democracy" for both uses of the pornographic word "Trump."
And..She also stated that Trump was not a King! Wouldn't it be nice if MSM reported the background story, instead of just aiding and abetting Republican Senators' QAnon agenda.
When Heather's daily email failed to show up in my inbox, I realized how very essential her column Letters from an American is to me. It is the first thing I read every morning and without it, the day doesn't seem to start right. Thank you so very much, Heather, for providing context and insights into the hot mess that is our country at this time. Please know that you are deeply appreciated.
Thank you. I can read and Like your letter on Facebook but I like to see the notes etc on Substack. and also love having your letter as a first piece of mail in my morning.
I feel so despondent, seeing our democracy unravel, and the republicans have become the problem, instead of a fair second party. Are we doomed? the dems eat their own, allowing reublican ideology to take hold. we have extremes within our own party and they are unfettered, not like the Republican party with closing the ranks over every issue. We see this with Q anon actually holding seats in our Senate. as if we were enabling a fascist state by default. It is such a sorry state of the Union.
Dems cannot be lazy anymore. We have the majority and at least half of sentient Independents. It is all-hands-on-deck this fall, it will be our last chance.
I have to say something gained from painful personal experience yet see as profoundly relevant to understanding the deflection tactics that authoritarians, DeSantis, tfg, tGOP, QAnon, Fox & far-right media, sacrilegious (oops, I mean, religious) folks, and the like employ and that is this: those that push white hot lies and make scathing accusations about others particularly regarding the topic of sexual abuse and predation of children, hold dark and secret culpability of such harm themselves. The reason so many 'seemingly average' people/voters buy into and lap up the dirt and agree with this subversive manuevering is because they are from homes and situations where they received neglect and abuse in the form of trauma, and have been conditioned to distrust anyone who speaks the truth (that there are people who actually aren't malicious). The really unfortunate part is most go on to perpetuate and project that buried trauma onto their children and everyone else who they see as a threat to their unconscious 'identity,' and they will fight anyone who challenges that false belief, as it is hidden even from themselves. Attack and defend until all are destroyed.
It would be impossible to share how I got here in the span of a comment, so just suffice it to say I have no more questions for myself after 57 years of research, development and testing given me by my Source. All that fear and horror heaved on my person never touched the perfect soul who's writing here now and showing up to serve a greater cause.
Thank you so dearly, Dr. HCR, and this strong and capable community for showing up, too! You are all appreciated way more than you know.
Thank you for this insight, Diana. I’m sorry for your child-self, the cracked vessel, but am relieved and supportive of your adult-self, who knows that your perfection always was and is. The vessel holds and overflows, even still, with way more energy than we know. So thanks for that vulnerable share, because you are right—it’s an important piece of all of this incredible mess. ♥️
It is lovely to be acknowledged and heard especially in an audience of mostly like minds, so thank you. I am literally compelled at this point to speak up because I could not for the overwhelming majority of my life AND I know beyond any doubt the compounded human toll that unresolved, generational trauma takes, especially when the weak/helpless/repressed are denied a chance to thrive and the haters of themselves and others take up the oxygen. Practicaly every single account that I read and hear on LFAA only further proves to me that FEAR is ruling those unconscious egos, and that is only going to lead to destruction. People like me, who by the grace of God survived, are few and now I have an obligation to somehow test these wings that are uniquely mine, but also are connected to all life. I promise I have looked every which way but Love, and there is nothing left for me to lose and everything to BE!
Thanks, kindly, Ashley! After being trapped in dissociation and disconnection for so long, it is mighty surreal to realize my worth for the first time, for real. I likewise see with clarity that there was nothing ever wrong with me at all. This is the area where we must do better to change the narrative. I was forged by the pain I suffered and am on life #9; my eldest brother who was a brilliant person was not able to escape his mental prison and died prematurely. Don't know how to fashion a life out of thin air, so I'm trusting God to lead the way and I'm not turning back!
Got your letter, thank goodness. Reminds me of Pavlov…if I don’t get your letters, I don’t get the treat of being front and center behind the details of the day. With that said, I hate polls. Who exactly participates in them? Just readers? They aren’t accurate, in my opinion but nonetheless, here we are in the land of Armageddon. Judge Jackson has been raked through the coals as if she was a slave woman and they fear her because she is so much smarter than they are. The R’s are a disgusting abhorrent group of racists, fascists, originalists, and Federalists. (I may have been redundant here.)
Bucha was devastatingly horrifying and Biden was right to repeat his words about Putin being a war criminal. Imagine putting yourself in that war. You are fleeing your beloved home, possibly without your family as they’ve been killed or left behind. You come across these atrocities, bodies scattered…the babies. You want to scream but you can’t for fear a Russian gun-happy soldier will shoot you down. Your heart is racing as you seek refuge, something “normal”. This is what it was like for both of my parents fleeing Hitler in their countries of Germany and Poland. And don’t think it can’t happen here because it is just the beginning. This is why we must ask the hard questions of all of our reps. We must demand that they not be meek but very vocal about their disgust with their so-called colleagues. Hard not to be afraid for the future.
overturn Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 Supreme Court decision that says states must provide defendants with legal counsel.
“meritless to the point of demagoguery.”
“child porn,” “pornography,” and “pornographer” 165 times. “sex” (“sexual assault,” “sex crimes,” and so on) 142 times.
“pedophile” 15 times and “predators” 13 times, one time more than the Bill of Rights
overwhelming majority of the comments came from Republicans attacking Jackson
Republican opinions, though, have changed dramatically. Now just 31% say she’s qualified, and 47% say she’s unqualified.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis delayed the release of public records involving a Florida state official, Halsey Beshears, who is linked to the underage sex crimes investigation in that state. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is also under investigation in that case.
calling for a strong government to enforce right-wing social policies.
Ron DeSantis on March 28 signed a bill banning kindergarten through third-grade public school teachers from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity, a measure its opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
DeSantis called Disney’s opposition “radical” and tore into “woke” corporations.
Black rights, LGBTQ rights, and so on.
Pushing Orbán’s voters yesterday was a referendum on the ballot that included questions like: “Do you support the unrestricted exposure of underage children to sexually explicit media content that may affect their development?”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also applauded Orbán’s approach to “sex ed” and tweeted:
it was a done deal thanks to his manipulation of the mechanics of elections—Orbán reaffirmed his friendship with Russian president Vladimir Putin
Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv,
Russian soldiers raped and executed civilians. “You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,”
MTG(reen).. an epitome of the "C" word. Dedined as: Active behavior (verb) of the most annoying and despicable kind, displayed by a person appearing to be a member of the kinder and gentler part of the human race, who has traded dignity for absolute-vulgarity. A discovery found on a tablet in an outhouse/privy on Mars by MarsRoverTeam1.
“The hearings for Jackson had Republicans questioning abortion rights, of course, but also the right to birth control, interracial marriage, and gay marriage.” So, exactly what is Justice Thomas’ position on interracial marriage rights? Or will he recuse himself on that issue? Such hypocrites!
The R's in the Senate haven't said a word as far as I know against Gaetz, and the very real possibility of his sex exploitation of a minor. It is beyond hypocritical that they are all in favor of Kavanaugh, credibly accused of attempted rape, and opposed to KJ based on their false accusations that she is "soft" on sex crime defendants.
Republicans are emulating Russian propagandists to great effect. Their idol, Putin, must be proud. Media lapdogs are complicit in creating yet another false reality.
Are they emulating, or just sharing the same agenda? I have been arguing with a friend about this. He feels that the USA imported these conservative ideas to Russia through Evangelists. I believe we both have our conservatives. That the Republicans are so in sync with the values of the Russians, Chinese and North Korean leadership is terribly disturbing, but I think the values are home grown. There are stupid, evil people everywhere. Our supreme court is compromised by them as is our Congress. Most of us are sitting and watching as they take over our whole country. Let us not be Hungary, or Serbia, and let us hope that Marie le Pen does not win in France.
Imagine what they would accomplish, through emulation or agenda sharing, if a Republican authoritarian government controlled and directed the media as in Russia. There would be no Letters from an American and much, much more. All of us might find ourselves on a government enemies-of-the-state list.
My friend, who is a professor of Slavic studies, is pretty convinced that with what I have been writing on lists, I would be on a list of Russia's already.
Resent email has yet to arrive. Read from substack.
I wrote to my US Senators yesterday asking them to confirm Judge KBJ.
This is despite the fact I live in Kentucky. represented by MM (Senate majority leader) and RP (tea party self licensed eye doctor.)
Ever since reading your daily letters, I find it important to write my elected officials. They need to hear a different point of view.
That is what is so wrong about DC's not being a state. I have no voting representatives to write to. I am sure that if DC were majority republican district, we would have become a state a long time ago. But we do pay our taxes!!!
No taxation without representation used to work
Here's another way to say that!
https://youtu.be/HZCiBjnxhOM
Imagine what would happen if everyone moved out of the district so that they would have full representation in surrounding states...
In my case, the privilege of living in a recognized state comes with a healthy state income tax.
We pay DC taxes.
Well, I will do the same, although writing to Thom Tillis and Richard Burr is an exercise in futility. They have long since checked any decency they might have had at the door. Their political careers are all about themselves.
Same in Texas, the state has been “cultified”
Unfortunately for those of us who are on the other side and cannot understand the hatefulness and the unwillingness to work together for actual, helpful legislation.
Same in Florida. :(
According to Hungarian friends, while the opposition to Orban tried to organize into a unified coalition so they didn't split the opposition vote, the center-left opposition was allied with the major right wing/populist opposition. Members of that party either voted for Orban's Fidesz Party, or for splinter further-right parties, which ended up locking out the opposition and giving Orban his biggest victory yet. My Hungarian friends are now planning to move to Denmark and become Danish citizens. The EU open borders are alowing a "brain drain" from Hungary as those who can't stand what is happening leave.
It's really no surprise Hungary is in this position. Prior to 1918 as part of the Austro-Hungarian empire/Holy Roman empire for 900 years, Hungary was the center of the reactionary conservatism of the empire. Then in 1921 they got the fascist Horthy "regency" that allied with Hitler for WW2, then in 1946 they got one of the tightest Stalinist dictatorships. 1992 saw democracy, but it wasn't able to deliver as promised, with the result that Orban became PM 10 years later. With a "democratic tradition" like this, the whole thing is unsurprising.
One of my grandmothers was from Hungary. Considering the family came to the United States, I think she would be disappointed with all this. I wish I knew more about this side of my family.
Thanks for the history TC
As HCR points out with her letters, with a bit of historical perspective and background, all kinds of "inexplicable things" become clear.
Thank you Heather for another fine newsletter. Judge Jackson does not deserve the treatment Republicans are giving her. There are at least a couple republicans under investigation in Florida for those actual charges. Meanwhile, Florida governor Desantis is doing all that he can to cover up and withhold information related to the inquiries there. And this is where the truth really lies. There are those that do the dirty deeds while being covered up by their party, and the continuation of lies and misinformation attacking the foes of the so called righteous party of false lies to their constituents. It should be an easy choice, but then again this is why they are so involved in the dumbing down of American citizens and the teachings allowed in the schools.
As I said previously...
Sick, sick, sick and perverted ... from the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Ron de Santis to the GOP glee at Orbán's victory! Their own minds are so skewed and distorted that they project their abusive images upon others!
I think that is what helped fill me with such dread. When the vote came out a tie, it really makes me understand that this false narrative and manipulation is working little by little.
It is, most of Texas is brain-washed to a fare thee well
it's all about the next election. focusing on child porn, etc., will enable the party to resurrect pizzagate and the party's bugaboo, the clintons, something trump would love to do in 2024 as well. they want to keep this story going.
But we are to ignore many of the GOP's and Trump's past and current inappropriate to criminal behaviors. I often chuckle that the ones who cannot think abhor and scream about child sexual aggression yet love a man who adores young women and even his own daughter and other "sins."
Either that or their being paid off or perhaps bkackmailed.
Goebbels proved brainwashing worked decades ago.
Rowshan, DeSantis has Mickey&Minnie Mouse pissed off at him. How much worse can it get ?
😂😂😂😂😂
Charles, you observe, "There are at least a couple republicans under investigation in Florida for those actual charges." That's a classic example of projection: accusing "the other" of what you are yourself doing.
Well, I did have their names, but just wanted to keep things more friendly. Matt Gaetz is one, and I would have to look up the other fellow.
It's important to name names.
Yes, but I am older with many medications and failing memory ( mostly short term, as I recall a lot from many years ago.).
Wonder how many Floridians know this. My nephew lives there and is a cultist, sad to say…
Ask the circus folks who winter there.
Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were posturing for their QAnon base. Why did they so visibly hate Ketanji Brown Jackson? Because Judge Jackson was the Federal judge who sentenced QAnon follower Edgar Maddison Welch to 4 years in jail for charging into Comet Ping Pong (a pizza parlor in Georgetown DC) on December 4, 2016, carrying a fully loaded AR-15 military-style rifle and revolver seeking to investigate a viral QAnon Internet rumor known as “Pizzagate.”
Edgar Welch believed a false conspiracy theory that linked Hillary Clinton to an alleged child-sex-trafficking ring run from the family restaurant, where Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta, occasionally dined.
In imposing the sentence, in 2017, Judge Jackson said she was handing down a penalty she said was needed to uphold the rule of law against vigilante justice.
Note: Federal prosecutors asked for a 4 ½ year sentence, Judge Jackson imposed 4 years. Neither Hawley nor Cruz accused Judge Jackson of being lenient in that case.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/pizzagate-gunman-sentenced-to-four-years-in-prison-as-prosecutors-urged-judge-to-deter-vigilante-justice/2017/06/22/a10db598-550b-11e7-ba90-f5875b7d1876_story.html
I predict that Hawley's and Cruz's fascination with child pornography is designed to line up with QAnon's continuing assertion that a cabal of Democratic politicians, liberal Hollywood actors, and high-ranking government officials, who worship Satan, are running a child-sex-trafficking ring and simultaneously plotting against Trump-a conspiracy that Trump refuses to renounce.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/donald-trump-qanon-town-hall
"Because Judge Jackson was the Federal judge who sentenced QAnon follower Edgar Maddison Welch to 4 years in jail for charging into Comet Ping Pong (a pizza parlor in Georgetown DC) on December 4, 2016, carrying a fully loaded AR-15 military-style rifle and revolver seeking to investigate a viral QAnon Internet rumor known as “Pizzagate.”"
Great post. Did not know that. Thanks.
You wrote: "I predict that Hawley's and Cruz's fascination with child pornography is designed to line up with QAnon's continuing assertion that a cabal of Democratic politicians, liberal Hollywood actors, and high-ranking government officials, who worship Satan, are running a child-sex-trafficking ring and simultaneously plotting against Trump-a conspiracy that Trump refuses to renounce."
Given the predilection of the Putrid Putin Party with all things sex-related and the preponderance of members of that same party being actually charged with crimes of a sexual nature, it seems to me that QAnon and its followers are merely projecting their own perverted fantasies onto Democrats. I would substitute the following in that statement above: "Republican" for "Democratic" - "conservative" for "liberal" - "authoritarianism" for "Satan" -and "democracy" for both uses of the pornographic word "Trump."
And like Weekend Update SNL showed a photo of Lindsey Graham "thinking about all the pornographic discussion....."
Long time reader, first time poster....
Welcome
My thoughts exactly! Like the way their lord and savior, djt, projects his own crimes and ideas as accusations made against dems.
Their lord and savior, DJT, is Satan. Is there even one of the 10 Commandments that he hasn't broken?
And..She also stated that Trump was not a King! Wouldn't it be nice if MSM reported the background story, instead of just aiding and abetting Republican Senators' QAnon agenda.
Also they were stating what their relatives and friends who work for dark money sources told them to say......directly from the Kochs.
Smack on.
Proof to me that cults are flat-out crazy. Leaders, not so much, just power to the max
Thank you, Robert E. McaGaw, for elegantly connecting the dots.
When Heather's daily email failed to show up in my inbox, I realized how very essential her column Letters from an American is to me. It is the first thing I read every morning and without it, the day doesn't seem to start right. Thank you so very much, Heather, for providing context and insights into the hot mess that is our country at this time. Please know that you are deeply appreciated.
Me too. What you said.
Thank you. I can read and Like your letter on Facebook but I like to see the notes etc on Substack. and also love having your letter as a first piece of mail in my morning.
Me too.
I feel so despondent, seeing our democracy unravel, and the republicans have become the problem, instead of a fair second party. Are we doomed? the dems eat their own, allowing reublican ideology to take hold. we have extremes within our own party and they are unfettered, not like the Republican party with closing the ranks over every issue. We see this with Q anon actually holding seats in our Senate. as if we were enabling a fascist state by default. It is such a sorry state of the Union.
Dems cannot be lazy anymore. We have the majority and at least half of sentient Independents. It is all-hands-on-deck this fall, it will be our last chance.
I was sure that they had jumped the shark with the Q crap. Silly me
My Millennial son calls it “the crumbling of a once great nation.”
I recommend,: Chop Wood, Carry Water
The resent letter finally arrived.
I have to say something gained from painful personal experience yet see as profoundly relevant to understanding the deflection tactics that authoritarians, DeSantis, tfg, tGOP, QAnon, Fox & far-right media, sacrilegious (oops, I mean, religious) folks, and the like employ and that is this: those that push white hot lies and make scathing accusations about others particularly regarding the topic of sexual abuse and predation of children, hold dark and secret culpability of such harm themselves. The reason so many 'seemingly average' people/voters buy into and lap up the dirt and agree with this subversive manuevering is because they are from homes and situations where they received neglect and abuse in the form of trauma, and have been conditioned to distrust anyone who speaks the truth (that there are people who actually aren't malicious). The really unfortunate part is most go on to perpetuate and project that buried trauma onto their children and everyone else who they see as a threat to their unconscious 'identity,' and they will fight anyone who challenges that false belief, as it is hidden even from themselves. Attack and defend until all are destroyed.
It would be impossible to share how I got here in the span of a comment, so just suffice it to say I have no more questions for myself after 57 years of research, development and testing given me by my Source. All that fear and horror heaved on my person never touched the perfect soul who's writing here now and showing up to serve a greater cause.
Thank you so dearly, Dr. HCR, and this strong and capable community for showing up, too! You are all appreciated way more than you know.
Thank you for this insight, Diana. I’m sorry for your child-self, the cracked vessel, but am relieved and supportive of your adult-self, who knows that your perfection always was and is. The vessel holds and overflows, even still, with way more energy than we know. So thanks for that vulnerable share, because you are right—it’s an important piece of all of this incredible mess. ♥️
It is lovely to be acknowledged and heard especially in an audience of mostly like minds, so thank you. I am literally compelled at this point to speak up because I could not for the overwhelming majority of my life AND I know beyond any doubt the compounded human toll that unresolved, generational trauma takes, especially when the weak/helpless/repressed are denied a chance to thrive and the haters of themselves and others take up the oxygen. Practicaly every single account that I read and hear on LFAA only further proves to me that FEAR is ruling those unconscious egos, and that is only going to lead to destruction. People like me, who by the grace of God survived, are few and now I have an obligation to somehow test these wings that are uniquely mine, but also are connected to all life. I promise I have looked every which way but Love, and there is nothing left for me to lose and everything to BE!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Yes!!! ❤️🩹>💔! Supporting your journey!
Me too, Donna! Diana, we hear you and are here with you. ❤️🩹
Thanks, kindly, Ashley! After being trapped in dissociation and disconnection for so long, it is mighty surreal to realize my worth for the first time, for real. I likewise see with clarity that there was nothing ever wrong with me at all. This is the area where we must do better to change the narrative. I was forged by the pain I suffered and am on life #9; my eldest brother who was a brilliant person was not able to escape his mental prison and died prematurely. Don't know how to fashion a life out of thin air, so I'm trusting God to lead the way and I'm not turning back!
Diana, I am drawn to your raw, hard-earned strength and (re)surfacing. YOU are deserving of goodness, survivor.
I too lost a sibling (younger sister) way too early to psychological imprisonment.
With you, I shall follow the way and change the narrative. 💙
Donna,
Thank you. Yours are beautiful words to honor Diana’s vulnerable-yet-strengthened share. 💙
💙💙💙
Got your letter, thank goodness. Reminds me of Pavlov…if I don’t get your letters, I don’t get the treat of being front and center behind the details of the day. With that said, I hate polls. Who exactly participates in them? Just readers? They aren’t accurate, in my opinion but nonetheless, here we are in the land of Armageddon. Judge Jackson has been raked through the coals as if she was a slave woman and they fear her because she is so much smarter than they are. The R’s are a disgusting abhorrent group of racists, fascists, originalists, and Federalists. (I may have been redundant here.)
Bucha was devastatingly horrifying and Biden was right to repeat his words about Putin being a war criminal. Imagine putting yourself in that war. You are fleeing your beloved home, possibly without your family as they’ve been killed or left behind. You come across these atrocities, bodies scattered…the babies. You want to scream but you can’t for fear a Russian gun-happy soldier will shoot you down. Your heart is racing as you seek refuge, something “normal”. This is what it was like for both of my parents fleeing Hitler in their countries of Germany and Poland. And don’t think it can’t happen here because it is just the beginning. This is why we must ask the hard questions of all of our reps. We must demand that they not be meek but very vocal about their disgust with their so-called colleagues. Hard not to be afraid for the future.
This is why I was not bothered by Biden saying, "This man cannot remain in power!"
I'm a part of different beading groups on FB and we have about six people who are a part of the groups who are from Ukraine.
Each are telling their stories and it's heart breaking.
I can't begin to imagine what they are going through. The emotional roller coaster must be overwhelming at times.
And we can ask the tough questions, but other than voting them out, we have little recourse to getting those answers.
Um... "beading"?
Yes, beading. Making things from beads, like jewelry. There are some awesome artists out there and their medium is beads.
(my personal edit of HCR's Letter to us all)
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
“originalist” judges
Fourteenth Amendment
abortion rights, of course,
Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch
overturn Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 Supreme Court decision that says states must provide defendants with legal counsel.
“meritless to the point of demagoguery.”
“child porn,” “pornography,” and “pornographer” 165 times. “sex” (“sexual assault,” “sex crimes,” and so on) 142 times.
“pedophile” 15 times and “predators” 13 times, one time more than the Bill of Rights
overwhelming majority of the comments came from Republicans attacking Jackson
Republican opinions, though, have changed dramatically. Now just 31% say she’s qualified, and 47% say she’s unqualified.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis delayed the release of public records involving a Florida state official, Halsey Beshears, who is linked to the underage sex crimes investigation in that state. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is also under investigation in that case.
calling for a strong government to enforce right-wing social policies.
Ron DeSantis on March 28 signed a bill banning kindergarten through third-grade public school teachers from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity, a measure its opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
DeSantis called Disney’s opposition “radical” and tore into “woke” corporations.
Black rights, LGBTQ rights, and so on.
Pushing Orbán’s voters yesterday was a referendum on the ballot that included questions like: “Do you support the unrestricted exposure of underage children to sexually explicit media content that may affect their development?”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also applauded Orbán’s approach to “sex ed” and tweeted:
it was a done deal thanks to his manipulation of the mechanics of elections—Orbán reaffirmed his friendship with Russian president Vladimir Putin
Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv,
Russian soldiers raped and executed civilians. “You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,”
Zelensky
Russia
*****
Rumor has it that Marjorie Taylor Green is taking a private jet to Hungary to kiss Victor Orban and ask him to get here a meeting with Putin.
And fulfill her every passion.
Let’s hope it’s true, and “they” keep her!
MTG(reen).. an epitome of the "C" word. Dedined as: Active behavior (verb) of the most annoying and despicable kind, displayed by a person appearing to be a member of the kinder and gentler part of the human race, who has traded dignity for absolute-vulgarity. A discovery found on a tablet in an outhouse/privy on Mars by MarsRoverTeam1.
“The hearings for Jackson had Republicans questioning abortion rights, of course, but also the right to birth control, interracial marriage, and gay marriage.” So, exactly what is Justice Thomas’ position on interracial marriage rights? Or will he recuse himself on that issue? Such hypocrites!
HA! Good one! Thomas is a white man in the proverbial black sheep’s clothing.
He is a POS..."clearly".
Oreo cookie
The R's in the Senate haven't said a word as far as I know against Gaetz, and the very real possibility of his sex exploitation of a minor. It is beyond hypocritical that they are all in favor of Kavanaugh, credibly accused of attempted rape, and opposed to KJ based on their false accusations that she is "soft" on sex crime defendants.
Look at what the American Bar Association said about Kavanaugh right before he was confirmed. Look at what they say about KJB.
Republicans are emulating Russian propagandists to great effect. Their idol, Putin, must be proud. Media lapdogs are complicit in creating yet another false reality.
Are they emulating, or just sharing the same agenda? I have been arguing with a friend about this. He feels that the USA imported these conservative ideas to Russia through Evangelists. I believe we both have our conservatives. That the Republicans are so in sync with the values of the Russians, Chinese and North Korean leadership is terribly disturbing, but I think the values are home grown. There are stupid, evil people everywhere. Our supreme court is compromised by them as is our Congress. Most of us are sitting and watching as they take over our whole country. Let us not be Hungary, or Serbia, and let us hope that Marie le Pen does not win in France.
Imagine what they would accomplish, through emulation or agenda sharing, if a Republican authoritarian government controlled and directed the media as in Russia. There would be no Letters from an American and much, much more. All of us might find ourselves on a government enemies-of-the-state list.
My friend, who is a professor of Slavic studies, is pretty convinced that with what I have been writing on lists, I would be on a list of Russia's already.
You and me both.
We should wear it as a badge of honor.
We are reduced to being grateful for decency. Outrage at indecency is dead.
"31% (of Americans polled) say they’re not sure what they think." Ironically, it's a "Yahoo News Poll."
I hope we will all work hard on this election cycle to put Democrats in power. We are in scary times.
If you know any US ex-pats, recommend Democrats Abroad