“Every age faces its challenges,” Biden said. “I saw it as a young man. I see it today. But we are stronger than we think. We’re stronger together than alone. And what the people call ‘impossible’ is just an illusion. [As] Nelson Mandela taught us…: ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’”
There were a number of excellent quotes in that speech. High on my list is:
“There will always be forces that pull our countries apart and the world apart: aggression, extremism, chaos, and cynicism, a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone,” Biden said. “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those that are pulling us apart, that the principles of partnership that we came here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges, that the center holds once again.”
It was a fitting final speech for a successful, long serving, public servant. I echo Michael Corthell, thank you Joe!
No need to imagine. Walk down Memory Lane. Start with fighting over inaugural crowd size, embarrassment at the CIA, embarrassment at the UN, stark raving mad at NATO… daily tweets which the msm followed like dogs on the trail instead of reporting the news. How can any thinking American want that again? Chaos,confusion sheer nastiness. 💩😥🤮😱
Yesterday afternoon Nancy Pelosi was on Jake Tapper on CNN. Tapper played a clip of Trump calling Harris "cognitively impaired" - Nancy went after Tapper asking him why he played such nonsensical dribble and then went all out about Trump - I hope she appears more and more - she brought the fire and the truth. I like Tapper - and he then (rather sheepishly) told her he'd played the clip because he wanted to see her reaction. Well he got that big time!
His reaction says it all. The media does not ( or do they?) think thro the implications of every word they say. Good for her to challenge Tapper and, as a result, the rest of them.
I used to like Tapper - he has surrendered his journalistic license for sound bites, his morality for popularity. The fact he even played that sound bite only reminds me of my disappoinment in his debate non performance.
Dr. Bandy Lee's forensic psychiatrist group & other mental health experts present an all-day Conference 9/27/24 at the National Press Club, titled "The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump". Questions & Answers in the afternoon. Dinner served.
I don't understand Gigi. He said he would surround himself with "the best people." You know, like Paul Mannafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn. But he saved them by pardoning them as well as 143 other convicts on his last day in office.
One thing that has gone virtually unreported is Convicted Felon Donald Trump pardoned or commuted sentences of 10 convicted felons who STOLE a combined $2 billion plus from Medicare and Medicaid.
Any thinking person! No one who loves this country would support someone who has denigrated those who have served and died to protect this democracy. TFG is so despicable it is hard not to feel sorry and anger toward those who support him. But we will forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
I think many of his supporters know what they are doing...and many of them only watch Fox, Newsmax, Breitbart, etc. and have very little knowledge of his crimes, his insane rants and word salads, his bullying and insults.
Harvey, I disagree as Ann W and others also posted. Many know exactly what they are doing.....which is supporting the kind of person they are. I do not forgive them either.
That walk down memory lane (unless one watches Fox and has no clue) is a nightmare of epic proportions. Sadly, it is our recent history, and the propaganda has created deliberate confusion for some. Our MSM has failed to sort and report the facts. Alternative facts should never be a thing. That concept is the most deliberately divisive ploy of republicans. Division over policy is a whole different animal.
A slurring, dripping,stinking,farting, accordian hands flailing..straggling orange hair died Donable Lector would be watching the entire UN council racing for the exit doors.........
He reads from the teleprompter awkwardly, with pauses at the wrong places. You can tell it’s a tangent when it’s not halting. Rubbish scripted, rubbish off the cuff.
Biden has given several speeches in his 4 years as President that are among the G.O.A.T.
HCR has met with him several times as have others like Jon Meachem. They are not only excellent writers, but they are good storytellers and know so many great quotes that illustrate their points.
There have been other Presidents that have consistently delivered great speeches, but Joe is definitely the best of my lifetime.
Picture TFG giving a speech like that. I am hopeful that enough people will come to their senses and reject the most unfit, unqualified, undeserving, uninformed, uninspiring, unlikable, uneducable, wannabe dictator.
Trump's deterioration is unreported. MSM is transfixed by polling, which is usually wrong. Treat polling as big news when it's actually mostly op ed material. Oblivious to motivation, and especially, new voters, wh do not meet the definition as "likely" voters.
RCP Average today Harris 51.4 Trump 46.9
Even the bookies have no handle on "new" registrations. In Florida, numbers will be disclosed by the state 29 days prior to election day, but a sense of them can be obtained through the DNC Voter Analysis Tool (VAT), an online resource that offers data re changes in voter registration, moves and more, offers email delivery of lists to volunteers, has colorful graphic voter registration and VBM progress charts, and generates slate cards for texting or emailing.
We still have time to make it a blue tsunami via new registrations. FT 6 has texted millions in Florida alone. At least 13 million in swing states. Especially need follow up via phone banking.
Voters, tRump said; you tell them and they will believe you. If you are someone who is so ignorant to believe any of the tsunami of lies and pure BS that you would support the likes of a tRump we feel sorry for you and when the time comes we will forgive you for you do not know what you are doing.
Little t is not only senile but also as you all know criminally insane. I’m noticing fewer t signs and more & more Harris-Walz plus our dem candidates here as I mosey around, which gives me hope & relief.
With thanks to HCR for her detailed coverage of one of our greatest presidents ever addressing the UN.
Gary, the cynicism that Biden refers to often leads to greed and cruelty. As Bernie Moreno has shown us in his not understanding why postmenopausal women would be concerned about abortion, a lack of empathy leads to making selfish choices that are less than optimal for a country and the world.
These men, who suggest death and near death experiences from being denied reproductive health are made up, who say women should stay in abusive relationships, who want to take away women's right to vote can burn in hell.
Mary, I agree with your comment, but it got me thinking about the difference between skepticism and cynicism. To be skeptical is to be curious. They are two sides of the same “wisdom” coin.
To be very skeptical is to be a lot more skeptical and a lot less curious (aka "conservative"). To be cynical is to cross the line from a little bit to not at all curious. And that is why being cynical is being naïve. They are two sides of the same “unconstrained ignorance” coin (aka Mitch McConnell).
So, what is wisdom? No matter how much an individual knows, there is a whole lot more that the individual does not know, and so we are all ignorant to some extent. Wisdom is a curiosity that is informed by the willingness to acknowledge and constrain one's own ignorance.
I'm trying to be really careful how I say this. Last time someone thought my intent was to insult and I got blocked. My intent is to warn that we all need to be careful not to cross that line because when we do, then they have attracted us to join their side.
I thought his quote from Yeats was so to the point. That's exactly where the world was headed in the late 30s, when Yeats wrote that famous poem. Since then, despite huge tensions, the world has not seen another descent into international war. Fortunately the imperial aggressors of Japan and German were thoroughly defeated, mainly due to the arsenal and economy might of the US.
WWII could only be won by the massive international effort. The Allies couldn't have won without the US but the US couldn't have won without the allies. The US alone could not have achieved the Allied landing on the Normandy beaches June 6. 1944 which stopped the impending German invasion of Great Britain. It took sacrifices in many countries, including the USSR to defeat Germany, Italy and Japan.
I'd recommend your watching a series called Factories at War. Without the material aid from the US, neither Britain nor the USSR would likely have withstood the German onslaught, or at least been able to launch a successful counter-invasion. But you're right, this also was a team effort.
We Americans kind of hate to hear about the Soviet contribution to defeating Hitler. Their military deaths estimated 8 to 10 million, ours less than 500,000. Their combined military and civilian deaths 24 million.
As tourists in Ukraine and Moscow nearly twenty years ago, several times we saw brides in wedding gowns with the whole wedding party, laying flowers at war memorials. Everyone has lost a relative in war, so you honor them in this wedding custom.
Putin has been mostly successful at keeping Russians from knowing how many have been killed or wounded attacking Ukraine. Recently when towns inside Russia were taken by Ukrainian soldiers, people felt shocked and betrayed that Russian soldiers had not protected them. Putin had promised it would be a very short “military operation,” with little impact on Russian people.
Correction, Frank. Yeats was rather more far-sighted than that. The Second Coming was first published in 1919. The poet had understood that what began in August 1914 was only Act One.
And I doubt if what we are now seeing worldwide is the epilogue.
President Biden is my age and we have seen human stupidity at its finest. It is hard to believe just how stupid people and countries can be. Willing to go to the brink stupidly. Somehow “ our better angels” save us. To stay sane we have to believe the unbelievable can happen. Two kind, loving men: Nelson Mandela and Joe Biden.
1: Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2: The probability that a person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. Education, wealth or status have nothing to do with it.
3: A stupid person is someone who causes losses to other people while himself deriving no gain.
4: Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid people and keep forgetting that to deal with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
5: A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person, even more dangerous than a bandit.
President Biden delivered a valedictory address to the UN General Assembly that made a compelling case for US leadership in global affairs. It was the speech of a committed internationalist, refuting the transactional Trumpian view of international relations. Let's look forward to President Harris addressing the General Assembly in September 2025. The alternative does not bear thinking about.
It's unsurprising that it was under-reported by commercial media. Just another boring speech at the UN, I suppose. Can't get many clicks out of that. Just bla bla bla about ideals and principles. Who reads that stuff? Can't make a tic tok out of it. What's the point?
MSNBC commentators focused on how unlikely UN attendees will heed Biden's words because he's a lame duck. Maybe someone raised the quality of the analysis, but I turned it off in disgust before such a mythical creature emerged from the dung heap that news analysts have become.
Yes this quote. I know it is meant to inspire but should also be a cautionary tale. At the age of 60, THIS is how I view the overturning of Roe V Wade, THIS is why I am working so hard in the Swing States to get out the vote. Because "It always seems impossible until it's done" goes both ways.
Yes, Thanks you Cool Joe, Rockin' the Ray Bans...I will miss him, a lot and hope he continues to fight for the working class. Fairness! It is a big deal to fix the current raw deal!
Left out of his speech: admission that in their desperation to get campaign donations BOTH parties (including middle-aged Biden) deregulated banking. Bringing on Great Recession, no jail for crooked bankers AND, ultimately, Trump.
Why is election close given huge negatives for Trump? It’s the real, lousy lived economy for the bulk of those who say they’ll vote for Trump. They hear words of “things are bad” and agree. They remember things FINALLY inching up better under Trump until Covid hit.
As president, Biden DID the right things. Harris doing OK. Neither have broken from the banking-fed money machine or admitted the real reason things got so bad.
I wish Dr. Richardson would widen her view. She cites the stock market growth as good indicator. Utterly irrelevant for most, who have no stocks, cannot retire and are struggling to have enough income to marry or raise children
Deregulation, trickled down economics, and Citizens United has caused the decline of the middle class. Not one President alone, but an army of Oligarchs peddling lies to a Republican party who has served as willing soldiers.
We can outbid the oligarchs (AND the not so rich but rich enough to contribute) with a reasonable federal program of campaign finance vouchers (AKA Democracy Dollars). So everyone can be a donor AND a voter.
Check out my Substack on the topic (michaelfoxworth.substack.com). Citizens United could, arguably, be considered valid, IF we had vouchers. The 2022 House had a vouchers version in a bill (HR1) that passed but got filibustered in the Senate. Almost no one noticed because the democrats did not shout about it. All elected politicians are too embarrassed to admit out loud their CURRENT and ONGOING role in this game. "All" is a strong word, but I know of no exceptions. Even those who do talk and have big donor bases (such as Sanders and Warren) tend to point to the other party instead of acknowledging the hell their own party members find themselves in.
I wish you wouldn't generalize with the "most" in the utterly irrelevant.
I would also mention that in my own circle of family and close friends, and with more minor neighbors, I have personally witnessed persons complain about costs do the most foolish wasting of funds. Everyone "deserves" to have the occasional treat, but I have seen a segment of the population which seems to have absolutely no common consumer sense. I have stood in back of a customer in a grocery store line, listened to the haranguing of the cashier over the prices of whatever--and then watched the same person stop at the lottery machine, hit the button on the $30 or even $50 scratch ticket, quickly scan the bar code to see if it is a winner--and then walk away, or worse, dump in another bill or two and repeat. I am not joking about this, I have seen this multiple times.
Well, you could be touching on part of the problem. Nevertheless, while I have not seen any study on the personal financial behavior of Trump supporters, I'm deeply suspicious of your thesis.
Much of the public is feeling financial pressure. Inflation is a real issue even though it is not currently that high. They see little on the horizon that makes them feel good. The basic truth is that it will be difficult (read: expensive!) to deal with climate change and if we don't, we doom our children. Given that, there is plenty of room for not-utterly-foolish. financially-pressured people to combine the devastating effect of 2008, their 2017-2019 financial experience with skepticism about party promises and come up with "try Trump again." Hence betting shows too-close-to-call in several big states.
Dumb behavior is widely encouraged by commercial practices. I was not low income, but we carried modest levels of credit card debt for many years until we took Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace" course (image of me hitting my head with the palm of my head). I'm told many high schools now require all students to take personal finance.
Missing from the Harris campaign (so far) that keeps it close? Truth about the role of campaign finance in 2008 or now nor any PRACTICAL way to change this continuing danger.
Many people I know spend money they don’t have and whine, whine, whine. I expect many to lose the homes that were way overpriced and beyond their means. One little blip and crisis. Serious economic trouble and another 2008. What are people thinking with chump on the agenda.
True to some extent. But there are limits to both. Most people and most countries can safely afford to have some debt. Less than 70% of GDP seems to be a reasonable limit for nations. Mortgage debt (and no other debt) that results in housing cost (including interest) less than 20% of income is a common recommendation.
Japan has been crushed by debt over 300%. China is heading that same way. US is at 100% and increasing rapidly. Much of Eurozone is reeling from the increasing cost of fossil fuel tied to war in Ukraine.
A detailed, reasonable (if a bit conservative) plan to deal with growing US debt is the following. But I have not found anything comparable in depth and detail from several liberal sites (some of which cite aspects that should be included). Unfortunately, both parties have refused to seriously engage on the topic. Both are giving in to more tax-cutting promises.
Remember in the following that I voted for Biden and supported his reelection.
He is a hypocrite to speak of peace in the middle east when the US provides Israel with offensive weapons and fails to effectively curtail Zionist expansionism.
He is weak in his curtailment of support for Ukraine, pursuing a policy that costs both Ukrainian and Russian lives by extending the war and inhibiting a Ukrainian victory. Is this an act of spite? (How dare the Ukrainians succeed when our esteemed national security establishment said they would fall in days! How dare they demonstrate over and over again the fallacy of Putin's so-called red lines!)
While you certainly have the right to criticize Biden's foreign policy, it’s important to acknowledge the complexity of these global conflicts. Supporting Israel while advocating for peace reflects the difficult balancing act required in U.S. diplomacy. The U.S. provides Israel with defense funding due to deep historical ties and regional stability concerns, yet Biden has pushed for a two-state solution and condemned expansionism in the West Bank. He has called for de-escalation, highlighting the need for a peaceful and just solution for Palestinians as well.
As for Ukraine, Biden has shown strong, unwavering support. The military aid provided by the U.S. has been instrumental in Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and make significant gains, challenging Putin's aggression and helping preserve global democratic order. A sudden withdrawal or reduction of support would give Russia the upper hand, potentially resulting in a catastrophic Ukrainian defeat and emboldening authoritarian regimes worldwide. Biden’s approach is focused on a careful, strategic balance—providing enough support to help Ukraine win while avoiding the war’s escalation into a broader conflict involving NATO, which could spiral into a global catastrophe.
Far from being an act of spite, Biden's decisions are aimed at maintaining long-term global security while defending Ukrainian sovereignty, which also counters Putin’s dangerous imperial ambitions. Both situations—Israel and Ukraine—are delicate and far from simple, requiring nuanced strategies rather than blunt force approaches that could worsen the suffering of millions.
I trust Biden. I don't have all the facts and information. Even if I did, I probably wouldn't know what to do. I HATE what is happening with Israel. I have never liked or trusted Netanyahu. I believe Biden is making the best decisions he can for VERY complicated situations.
Unfortunately your narrative on Ukraine reflects a failure to recognize the influence of Russian disinformation on US policy and public opinion. Were the US policy as stated, why have we not provided sufficient numbers of air defense systems and fighter aircraft to achieve air superiority to prevent Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities, schools, hospitals, energy infrastructure and military defensive positions?
US military aid to Israel has enabled them to bomb hospitals, schools, UN facilities, and aid organizations. No significant measures have been taken to stop expansion of Israeli settlements or the murder of Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza.
In his final speech to the United Nations, Joe Biden passed the torch of leadership not just to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, not just to other world leaders, but to all of us. It is up to us to move our world closer to the vision he enunciated today, the vision of a more perfect union, of a more peaceful planet.
And also his founding of volunteer fire departments and other civic functions like the post office.
Were he born 25 years later, he may have been our first President. But his contributions to society may not have been so robust if he had become President.
Thank you, Heather. Once more President Biden is showing his statesmanship, his leadership, for us in the world to view with pride. What a great man he is.
Biden's greatness lies in how he has persevered after great losses and remains hopeful. He has had his failings, being human, but always managed to succeed. Not appreciating his devotion to being a public servant for the people is ignoring all he has accomplished. His speech at the UN should have a title that should be HOPE. Hope in the face of so much human suffering. Hope that things will improve tomorrow.
Heather Cox Richardson look at our President, behaving like an elder statesman encompassing his experience and knowledge; behaving like a leader. Right now his actions are stabilizing the world.
Biden will go down as one of the most consequential presidents in our history. His values and, I surmise, his Catholic faith, shape his actions, his policies, his commitments. I am grateful every day for his leadership and vision. It is a deep sadness to me that he/his administration has continued to supply arms to Israel sustaining the slaughter of thousands and thousands of innocent Palestinian human beings. What a contradiction.
I wonder exactly how America could influence Israel's actions. Which I agree are extreme and counterproductive. And awful. And brutal. And foolish. For every Gazan killed in an attempt to eliminate Hamas terrorists...a new generation of Hamas is being created. It isn't going to work.
But is there a universe in which we would stop supplying weapons to the only democracy in the region? A flawed democracy that is surrounded by those who wish it not to exist? Threatened daily by Iran's puppets?
Let me make an analogy. Pretend we are the United Kingdom. Imagine if the leaders of both Canada and Mexico declared over and over again that they were committed to the return of US territory that was once theirs. Imagine if some of those leaders have repeatedly in speech and in writing declared that the United States of America should not exist.
And then imagine that Canada and Mexico sent hundreds of rockets (thousands over the years) into the United States. Imagine that the people of Dallas and Detroit had built safe rooms in almost every home to avoid the bombardment.
I have set the scene. How should America react? And since we are the United Kingdom, pledged by a treaty to stand with the US, what will our position be?
I think we are blaming ourselves for a situation that should really be in the hands of a United Nations with troops and teeth. What if Israel had blue helmets on the ground - troops from all over the world who would take over Gaza? Feed the people and punish the terrorists.
We need a stronger UN. America has been the policeman of the world for too long. And too many countries have been our George Floyds.
Bill, No one I’m aware of has suggested we not continue to arm Israel with defensive weapons to protect herself. The call is to stop providing Netanyahu with offensive weapons that are being deployed in violation of U.S. and international law.
As for the U.N., prior to our most recent abstention, we, as a permanent member of the Security Council, have blocked every U.N. resolution, since the start of the war, from moving to the floor for a vote by the full body.
This analogy breaks down in several places - first and most important, the US is not occupying Canada and/or Mexico, in violation of international law for more than 50 years.
Palestinians have a right under international law to resist occupation, even through armed struggle. Israel has systematically and repeatedly jailed any non-violent resisters, and promoted Hamas in order to 1) divide Palestinians and 2) promote armed resistance so that it can play the victim.
As for the UN, Israel has refused to allow international peacekeepers into Gaza, and has tried to destroy the only relief agency supplying food there - UNRWA - falsely accusing it of supporting the October 7 massacre but never supplying any evidence that it did so.
Down the memory hole, though - I suspect most readers here think there must have been something to that accusation. There was not.
Lucia, I particularly appreciate your last point given that U.S. arms transfers to Israel are neither consistent with U.S. nor internationally recognized human rights. Moreover, I fear that our failure to leverage aid to Israel is viewed as there being no stop signs in Gaza nor in the West Bank, exacerbating escalation that’s going to make ceasefire talks harder, furthering the risks of broadening the conflict.
I respectfully disagree. What is happening in Gaza (and now Lebanon) is horrible. But it is an agonizingly complicated situation. The connections of Hamas and Hezbollah to Iran and Russia indicate that there is a long game here, and the US is a target of that game. Hamas was persuaded to sacrifice their own people to change the situation on the ground to their potential advantage while eliciting divisions between nations and especially the US, and increase political divisions both in the US and within the Democratic party. Yes, the killing of innocent civilians is terrible and despicable. Military and civilian leaders in Israel will have to be held accountable for their decisions. But reducing the situation to simple binary choices will come back to hurt us in the long run. The Biden administration is attempting a difficult balancing task in the face of intense emotional reactions that are being manipulated by the supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah. One of my many fears of a Trump win is that he will make a rash and simplistic decision about the conflict and we will pay a price for generations to come.
Nancy, I would note there were several resignations because Biden, Blinken, Sullivan, and McGurk rejected input from anyone questioning their refusal to curb, much less end, weapons shipments it was argued were being deployed in violation of U.S. and international law.
Joe Biden may have made a nice Speech, but the Reality is that he is still shipping Weapons to Israel to Kill Palestinians, and now Lebanese... Allegedly the Jordanians, and Egyptians are facing Internal Pressures that could Destabilize their Governments.... Deeds Matter...
Thanks Craig... If Israel latest Wars Blow-Up into a Major Regional War, then one of Biden's Legacies Year's from now will be not resolving these conflicts... The lack of resolution will be continuing to Arm Israel, and Restricting Aid to Ukraine... I have Family that are in Harms Way... So I am Deeply Concerned... In Addition, Us Apache are taught a Deep Sense of Right-And-Wrong....
Lucia, the continued arming of Israel is actually Biden's response to his faith, and a reflection of the faith of nearly all Christians across the U.S. This originates in the biblical declaration that God will favor any nation who favors Israel. I note that this so-called divine declaration was written by a member of the ancient culture that would benefit from such an edict. I would also note that the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. "Old Testament") are myths and legends written by Jews for Jews to help them understand and preserve their heritage. It is Christians who appropriated this compendium as a "how-to" book. Because of undue influence by Christians over U.S. Government, including foreign policy, the U.S. carries Israel in its side pocket, like a lucky rabbit's foot, expecting God to protect us from adversaries.
Could it be that about 1/3 of the Members of Congress are Jewish? The Israel Lobby in the USA is very Powerfully Placed in the USA... Read the Book, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt... They are two Top-Tier Academics... Very Enlightening.... OBW: There is a Reason for the 'New Testament'...
Joe Biden was who and what we needed in 2020. This is a good man who cares about people. He personally knows adversity and getting through it..moving on. I like his "the future will be…won by those who unleash the full potential of their people to breathe free, to think freely, to innovate, to educate, to live and love openly without fear. " That's why we MUST elect Kamala Harris. Thank you HCR
I just talked to my Republican "Always Trumper" neighbor to try to understand what drivers her. It's greed. Pure and simple. She rails against all the "cheats" living here on welfare (Reagan did away with welfare), she blames immigrants and primarily illegal immigrants, on all the crime in the city (like elsewhere in the country crime is down here too - and what crimes are being committed are NOT being committed by immiigrants, legal or not - and insists that helping our poor countries is just "welfare for the world" that we can't afford. She has even quit going to church because, as a devoted Catholic, is disgusted by the catholic charities giving aid and comfort to immigrants at our southern border. And she also believes that billionaires and big corporations are still paying too much in taxes even though I pointed out that Trumps tax cuts comprised approximately 40% of our national debt and some major corporations pay zero taxes. The only thing we agreed on was the debt is too high, but we didn't agree on how to solve that dilemma. I told her the solution is simple - raise taxes. We were actually having a civil conversation until I mentioned Project 2025 as Trumps "plan." She got testy when I laughed when she said "That isn't Trumps plan." "Well, so you think he lied? Biden doesn't lie but Trump does?" Our conversation ended then. For the record, we live in a state where theres in no state income tax and our property tax is very low. Apparently any tax is too much. Like I said. Republicans aren't just weird, they are greedy.
I have been reading stories on Alternet which is a counter media aggregator to FOX. And then I post their headlines and a few paragraphs on the far right website "Poll King."
Yes, I am a "small" person, but I used to be a Republican in the previous millennium.
The MAGAs go nuts, calling me names and laughing at the bomb threats in Springfield, OH etc.
I have been able to engage with a few of them on a personal level, but they are so hate filled at anyone that isn't MAGA.
Like you, I cannot understand why so many MAGAs believe that Bezos, Buffett, Trump, Musk, gates and the Waltons should be given huge tax cuts when they couldn't spend their fortunes in 10 lifetimes.
I am a computer consultant and traveled 25-40% of the time between 1985 - 2020.
The rest of the time I was able to work remote.
When I traveled, I spent many nights channel surfing in a hotel room. I would watch Fox News when the evening lineup was Greta, Bill O'Reilly and Hannity. I coudln't stand Hannity ever so I watched Greta and Bill on many nights.
Back then Greta was fairly centrist especially compared to say Hannity and Bill was somewhat further to the right but they were both what I would call "conservatives."
When I came home I would sometimes share a story I had seen on FOX all excited to share what the liberals were doing, with my wife. She has always been a liberal or should I say, progressive. Many times, I got eye rolls but she started making me fact check the more outrageous stories. Time and again, Fox had only told one side of the story and had omitted facts. After a few times, I agreed to stop watching FOX and start looking at other news outlets. It was then that I renounced my Republicanism early in this century.
I have (way too) many friends that watch FOX News exclusively and they are far from enlightened. All of the Murdoch stations poison the viewer/reader with hate filled BS and lies. So, if you can get your neighbor to watch MSNBC or read the Guardian, Rolling Stone, AlterNet, Newsweek. etc. there is a chance they could eventually renounce their MAGA roots. If not, there is no hope.
Rupert Murdock is the evil genius that turned the Republican Party into the 'Party of Putin." When he obtained the rights to show the NFL on FOX I feared he would capture a majority of TV viewers. He did. Then he turned the 1st Amendment upside down by claiming he could have his goons spew lie and lie as protected "free speech." And the rest, as we say, "is history."
I left when the Newt Gingrich/Frank Luntz GoPac memo, "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control" started gaining too much traction (instead of being rejected by people such as the Fund Raiser that assumed a few of us would be willing to "fight dirtier than Democrats"). That was 1996 when Elizabeth Warren also left the Republican Party (that actually left us).
Since then, I've been able to recognize some other Democratic candidates that would finally admit to me that they had been Republicans (but were too embarrassed, or reluctant to have to explain how they knew so much about the opposition).
I have learned that former addicts often make the best cases against casual starts to addictions or avoiding trying to find help ending the worst of them.
It is discouraging how unwilling so many people are to engage in a courageous conversation that centers on understanding, empathy, and building a path forward.
Timothy Snyder, in his book "On Freedom" (I have only read excerpts, sadly) delineates 4 types of freedom. the most basic, and the one your neighbor seems stuck on, is "Freedom From" - taxes, government meddling, etc. Check out the book. It may help in you discussions with her.
I fear she won't listen to anything I would say anymore. I intended to focus on party policies, not specific politicians. It went well until she blamed Biden for Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Yep, you heard that right. She blames the withdrawal from Afganistan as the link to Putin's invasion because, as the MAGA's believe, it made Biden look weak. After all, Putin didn't invade Ukraine on Trumps watch. See? It was Biden's fault. I "took the bait" and the conversation turned to a confrontation.
Yep, and Trump closed all but one of the air bases after he lost the election, but before Biden took office. I wonder why? But "facts" have no effect on people who have made up their minds.
Yes. Trump started the withdrawal and Biden cleaned it up just like so many other of Trumpian fiasco. Yes, it was extremely difficult and some lives were lost which were so horrific to US and families. But, we finally got out of that unending war.
The goal might have been wise but the implementation was probably complex beyond Trump's likely actions (I remember the abandonment of Kurds and Syrians), and only made much harder after he lost the vote and sabotaged the resources that could have done it with less losses.
I try to remember that most Trump supporters are people who have been brainwashed by right-wing media for decades. For them, thinking about things more divergently is like trying to drive a car on a deeply rutted dirt road that is as dried up and hard as concrete.
I think we desperately need a new version of the Fairness Doctrine, which made it, not impossible maybe, but harder, for media to engage in systematic lying over long periods of time. I had hoped that the $787M Dominion settlement would change things, but apparently there’s still too much money to be made gaslighting the vulnerable.
It would be wonderful if corporate media executives would start taking more responsibility for their own slanted journalism. But that doesn’t appear likely either. I have cancelled a number of subscriptions. That’s the least I can do.
I had a similar discussion and result with my mother about social security. In person, she agreed that rich people should pay more into SS by increasing the cap on income subject to the SS tax. I then sent her a written article explaining just that: how it's working now and how lifting the cap would make SS solvent. Her only response was "more taxes? That's stupid." It is a reflexive response, and those making it do not recognize that debt is on the other side of that coin. They continue to believe the lie that cutting spending and waste is enough. I suggest everyone see the USA Facts video on our budget.
We were lucky to have Joe Biden as president. His true stature has yet to be recognized. It will only grow with time. He rescued America from the worst demagogue in its history. He chose the right vice president to complete his work.
Biden showed in this speech HRC provided us with. With much gratitude let is embrace President Biden's words: "Never forget, we are here to serve the people, not the other way around. Because the future will be…won by those who unleash the full potential of their people to breathe free, to think freely, to innovate, to educate, to live and love openly without fear. That’s the soul of democracy. It does not belong to any one country.”
But one dynamic all his four years has underlain all the world’s otherwise disparate dictators.
All depend on followers stuck in group-ism. Nationalism. Usually a hyphenate: Modi’s Hindi-nationalism; Netanyahu’s far-right settler-nationalism; Orban’s Magyar-nationalism; Putin’s Eastern Orthodox-nationalism.
That’s just the four adjoining m-n-o-p of our alphabet.
There are more. But in none of those countries do schools have any role for humanities. Real arts see individuals, the personal. Yes, in relation to other individuals and to groups. But collective madness grows wherever the schools instead rely on the conceits of standardized testing. Above all they stress categories, their main questions keeping life reduced to categories.
I agree with your assessment of teaching to standardized tests. The difficulty I see is finding enough hours in the school day to teach all the things that really should be taught. One should have reading and writing, history and civics, science and math, and music and art, and health and phys. ed. That at least in the elementary school.
To explore these subjects beyond elementary level at needed depth would lengthen the school day to such an extent that absolutely no school activities could take place — no sports, band, 4H, no clubs of any kind. A knotty problem. But, as you note, the current age of standardized tests has created a LOT of problems.
All things human are designed: from Bauhaus to Nazi, Lascaux to AI, the metaphors of Olympus to the metaphors of God, it’s who we are, it’s what we do. It’s all about Art.
STEAM is the inclusive of STEM. The Arts are there no matter what. We must have an inquisitive, probing brain to move into the future. Just ask Da Vinci, The arts are at the creative center of our lives.
We really are tribal...and I'm most engaged listening to, dancing to or playing live music. It connects us...we laugh, cry, love...it's the best....and it uses math and science to take us there...
STEM, all of it, springs from art. We are not used to thinking of engineers and other scientists as artists, but they are. We are not used to thinking of artists as the real vanguards of scientific and philosophical thought, but they are.
I know that in my work there are times I feel more technical, where I have to lean into the math and science of a problem to solve and other times it's more about the art of it...that I'm creating and not really thinking...it's more reactive and intuitive. But you need all of it to create anything. You have to learn and master your "instrument" whatever that is...For a musician playing at a very high level...especially in a jam situation you have to have the technical training and also the exposure to others art...to then collaborate with others at the highest level...you literally get lost in the moment and are playing at a level you've never reached before. That's magic.
There are some STEAM grants, the first I heard about friom NSF was in 2013. What I've been told is that the more disciplines are crossed, the smaller is the share for each department and that disincentivizes collaborative and transdisciplinary studies.
Joan, that's such counter-productive thinking isn't it ? It becomes all about me. Grab what you can. Without real history and art we are not creating healthy people are we ? Look at MAGA. They have no sense of history...and don't care. Trump has no art in him...except deal making. He is soulless...the only President to stay away from the Kennedy Center Honors...because he's clueless. My kids grew up in an intensive culture of history and art at home...and it shows.
Alec Ferguson, I'm very taken with what you have just written here and how you have written it.
Yet, my mind's first, instinctive move is to probe your words, to question "It's who we are, it's what we do... it's all about Art."
" It's what we do" is not the be-all-and-end-all of who we are; homo faber is an aspect of what we are.
I'm going to print out this post of yours, stick it on the wall and reflect on it.
This I'll do in the light of the kind of questions I, in my mid-eighties, began asking myself when I was eight:
What am I?
Why am I here?
And those I began asking myself at age 18 about form, metaphor, words, images, context, how we frame our view(s)... or don't frame them...
We're so much the prisoners of our ideas, so conditioned by our beliefs and mostly so unaware of this, both in ourselves and even more so in others. Here, you've provided a fine means of freeing up the mind, unfreezing ideas that have become solidified, letting flow...
the story of being human is really about the stories we live in. The story of stories, if you will. First, our environment shapes the stories we hear, then our stories shape our thinking and environment. The story, the art, comes first, followed by all other thoughts/creative impulses. Love is the first human story. Followed fairly closely by running - but that's another story... :)
Steve, there's so much to what you have written here, and it resonates with me as Alec Ferguson's words did.
At the same time, when you speak of "the stories we live in" you're giving a clue to the changing limitations of those stories and how we live in and outgrow them... like hermit crabs or creatures with exoskeletons. So, the stories we tell ourselves armor and protect us... until, in the end, they constrict and imprison us.
Thus, we may win all battles yet lose our war.
There's a difference, then, between accepting the reality of defeat and giving up the struggle. Resist and seek to make a fresh start.
When all's said and done, is not our deepest longing to transcend all stories?
I'd like to repost your comment, Steve, and am assuming that you will not mind. It illustrates so much about the centrality of story making and controlling the narrative that has shaped all of humanity through the ages.
We are living in a country where standardized testing has produced a population willing to re-elect the insipid orange turd, a certifiable lunatic, and give him the nuclear codes. At 78 I was schooled before they taught to tests, I was taught how to think not necessarily what to think. We need to rethink how we are educating our youth and make some major changes 🤷♂️
The love of knowledge can't be taught in a book. Knowledge is curiosity. Standardized tests measure goals and skill sets. Depth requires self indulgence and desire. Someone can't make you do that.
very much so...it's such a wonderful love story wrapped in revolution. Lindsey Graham is like Komarosky...a political survivor with no morals or ethics.
Would that the journals and other media outlets, who shined a bright light on every misstep, real or otherwise, when Joe Biden was a candidate, would shine the same light on his profound legacy, the legacy of a real national leader, the product of American democracy, of which we can all be proud.
I imagine DJT speaking before the same assembly and I’m at a loss as to how there could be any undecided voters.
How I wish that Uncle Joe was four years younger and running for a second term. I supported Joe in 2008, when a young whippersnapper named Barack Obama took America by storm. I supported him in 2020. I supported him this year. But age takes its toll, and so now America faces a choice between a wannabe reincarnation of Benito Mussolini, and Joe’s second in command. Pray that America makes the right choice. Thank you Joe, for your service, and for your integrity.
It's a great speech, but it would land better if he'd stop funding wars everywhere and not have pushed US fossil fuel extraction and exports to the highest levels ever. These rather counter his claims of wanting peace and climate action. I know he works against a huge force driving the war and petrol economies, but it's rather time we took these things more seriously.
It would be great to hear a bit more balance on the blog. Biden has done much better than I thought he would but he still puts the economy over everything else, and people are suffering terribly in Ukraine, Gaza, and Lebanon and all over the globe due to US policies on war and climate.
Don I'd love to see us at the point of no war and no fossil fuels...it's the goal. We could be far ahead on the fossil fuel front if Reagan had not taken down the solar panels Carter put on the WH. We could be much farther ahead if Al Gore had won. Biden inherited a pandemic and Trumps chaos. There was a LOT to manage. He got us out of any direct conflicts with our boots on the ground. Let's face it a lot of people vote the economy...I see and hear it all the time from folks still supporting Trump. Politics is the art of the possible...you have to get elected first...then you have a shot. We MUST elect Harris, because Trump just takes us backwards on all of your main concerns. THAT's what matters in the next 50 days.
I agree, and there are many folks, including the youth vote that won’t vote Democrat this year because of the wars.
Dan Perry’s substack ‘Shah’s son says regime change possible, offers vision of Iran as West’s ally’ today which Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi supports regime change. In a speech to Israeli American activists in Washington on Friday Sept 20th, he urged them to act in support of his campaign to oust Iran’s Islamist rulers.
It seems like reading Dan Perry’s article today, before seeing Dr Richardson’s excellent summary of our statesman, President Biden, gave me the sense of how the global countries depend on the stability of the US to help our allies and our enemies to try and use diplomacy as a strategy for resistance movements to work towards a democratic regime change.
If the republicans win the election, none of us could imagine Trump handling the negotiations needed for peace in the Middle East or in Ukraine. The chaos of making women move backwards, deporting our immigrants, ignoring the science of our climate crisis, and spending so much money on military weapons…the US would be a hot mess.
We need the republicans defeated in November. The news says Harris/Walz are doing good, but we really need to spread the word to voters about the success our country could move progress in the next four years.
BTW, where is Coach Walz? I’m missing his laughter.
I don't think he'll be using that laughter much in the upcoming debate with Vance. So glad he's working through it with Pete Buttigieg, one of the best-informed and quickest thinkers in the business.
Thank you for mentioning Dan Perry's subtrack, "Shah's son says regime change possible, offers vision of Iran as West's ally...."
Many years ago, I had a dear Iranian friend. As in all nations, there are regular human beings who care about education, jobs, family, building friendships with one another, accepting a person's faith .. or that they honestly choose no faith, etc. The leaders do not speak for all the people of a country.
We should work persistently for peace. THANK YOU BLINKIN AND TO YOUR FAMILY AND TO OTHER SERIOUS DIPLOMATS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES AND DEEP BELIEF IN PEACE AND WORLD COMMUNITY. Selfishness does not protect children and women ....it does not build homes. It does not provide an education and a hope for a better future. It does not provide fields where crops can be grown without being bombed or burned. We are contributing to the destruction of human lives...destroying opportunities for education.
where can clean water be found??? We are even destroying hospitals where wounded babies, pregnant women, wounded elderly citizens who have done nothing to deserve their lives to be torn apart, to be cared for.
Wars are not for the people usually but are started and continued for a few to gain power ....or for others....to keep them from being tried for crimes they have committed but protected by the office they hold.
We have blood on our hands for every child that is killed for the destruction of homes and schools...etc.
Where are the hostages???? They are the reason we are there. We have allowed ourselves to be pulled into this terrible, violent situation. We have blood on our hands!!! Netanyahu is the only one smiling. Unfortunately, there are those who love "this bloody HELL!!!".
Does Biden mention drawing down his massive investments in fossil fuels, or withdrawing his support for the Gaza genocide in the last third of the article? I must've missed it.
After the incredible disappointment Biden went through in deciding to step off the ticket, he is proving unbelievably graceful as he departs the scene. He is providing profound analysis we would be well to heed. No, he has not solved everything and many problems did not end under his administration. But the utter nonsense of an under-informed narcissist solving these complex challenges is simply absurd. Vote, people, as the dangers ahead are real.
- Pulled Quote -
“Every age faces its challenges,” Biden said. “I saw it as a young man. I see it today. But we are stronger than we think. We’re stronger together than alone. And what the people call ‘impossible’ is just an illusion. [As] Nelson Mandela taught us…: ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’”
Thank you Joe. 💗
There were a number of excellent quotes in that speech. High on my list is:
“There will always be forces that pull our countries apart and the world apart: aggression, extremism, chaos, and cynicism, a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone,” Biden said. “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those that are pulling us apart, that the principles of partnership that we came here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges, that the center holds once again.”
It was a fitting final speech for a successful, long serving, public servant. I echo Michael Corthell, thank you Joe!
This was the guy whose supposed to be senile, right?
Can you imagine what would have spewed out if trump had made a speech?
No, sorry, don't. . .
No need to imagine. Walk down Memory Lane. Start with fighting over inaugural crowd size, embarrassment at the CIA, embarrassment at the UN, stark raving mad at NATO… daily tweets which the msm followed like dogs on the trail instead of reporting the news. How can any thinking American want that again? Chaos,confusion sheer nastiness. 💩😥🤮😱
Yesterday afternoon Nancy Pelosi was on Jake Tapper on CNN. Tapper played a clip of Trump calling Harris "cognitively impaired" - Nancy went after Tapper asking him why he played such nonsensical dribble and then went all out about Trump - I hope she appears more and more - she brought the fire and the truth. I like Tapper - and he then (rather sheepishly) told her he'd played the clip because he wanted to see her reaction. Well he got that big time!
And THAT stupid comment by Tapper nutshells what’s wrong in MSM. Reporting on reactions and clickbait.
His reaction says it all. The media does not ( or do they?) think thro the implications of every word they say. Good for her to challenge Tapper and, as a result, the rest of them.
Unbelievable! no wonder Nancy called him out.
IHIPNEWS and Meidastouch are all you need at this point in history.
The rest of the trash heap is not worth changing an orange depends diaper for.
I used to like Tapper - he has surrendered his journalistic license for sound bites, his morality for popularity. The fact he even played that sound bite only reminds me of my disappoinment in his debate non performance.
Dr. Bandy Lee's forensic psychiatrist group & other mental health experts present an all-day Conference 9/27/24 at the National Press Club, titled "The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump". Questions & Answers in the afternoon. Dinner served.
I don't understand Gigi. He said he would surround himself with "the best people." You know, like Paul Mannafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn. But he saved them by pardoning them as well as 143 other convicts on his last day in office.
One thing that has gone virtually unreported is Convicted Felon Donald Trump pardoned or commuted sentences of 10 convicted felons who STOLE a combined $2 billion plus from Medicare and Medicaid.
Did HCR ever report on those that CFDT pardoned?
I really wish every voting senior knew about that.
Any thinking person! No one who loves this country would support someone who has denigrated those who have served and died to protect this democracy. TFG is so despicable it is hard not to feel sorry and anger toward those who support him. But we will forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
"they do not know what they are doing"
They know what they are doing. Many are the cultural descendants of people who thought lynchings were public entertainment.
I think many of his supporters know what they are doing...and many of them only watch Fox, Newsmax, Breitbart, etc. and have very little knowledge of his crimes, his insane rants and word salads, his bullying and insults.
Harvey, I disagree as Ann W and others also posted. Many know exactly what they are doing.....which is supporting the kind of person they are. I do not forgive them either.
Not until they do get it. Most are cult nuts, unrepentant
That walk down memory lane (unless one watches Fox and has no clue) is a nightmare of epic proportions. Sadly, it is our recent history, and the propaganda has created deliberate confusion for some. Our MSM has failed to sort and report the facts. Alternative facts should never be a thing. That concept is the most deliberately divisive ploy of republicans. Division over policy is a whole different animal.
DJT is the only issue in this election. Everything else is a distraction.
A speech? He is incapable of any such thing.
True, the Orange Menace is only able to utter word salad and to go off on irrelevant tangents.
A slurring, dripping,stinking,farting, accordian hands flailing..straggling orange hair died Donable Lector would be watching the entire UN council racing for the exit doors.........
He reads from the teleprompter awkwardly, with pauses at the wrong places. You can tell it’s a tangent when it’s not halting. Rubbish scripted, rubbish off the cuff.
Don't even want to think about it, and that i'm sure was the largest elephant in the room.
Lady, gag emoji.
Biden has given several speeches in his 4 years as President that are among the G.O.A.T.
HCR has met with him several times as have others like Jon Meachem. They are not only excellent writers, but they are good storytellers and know so many great quotes that illustrate their points.
There have been other Presidents that have consistently delivered great speeches, but Joe is definitely the best of my lifetime.
Picture TFG giving a speech like that. I am hopeful that enough people will come to their senses and reject the most unfit, unqualified, undeserving, uninformed, uninspiring, unlikable, uneducable, wannabe dictator.
Thanks to the MSM, and republican toads, yes.
Trump's deterioration is unreported. MSM is transfixed by polling, which is usually wrong. Treat polling as big news when it's actually mostly op ed material. Oblivious to motivation, and especially, new voters, wh do not meet the definition as "likely" voters.
RCP Average today Harris 51.4 Trump 46.9
Even the bookies have no handle on "new" registrations. In Florida, numbers will be disclosed by the state 29 days prior to election day, but a sense of them can be obtained through the DNC Voter Analysis Tool (VAT), an online resource that offers data re changes in voter registration, moves and more, offers email delivery of lists to volunteers, has colorful graphic voter registration and VBM progress charts, and generates slate cards for texting or emailing.
We still have time to make it a blue tsunami via new registrations. FT 6 has texted millions in Florida alone. At least 13 million in swing states. Especially need follow up via phone banking.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
What is RCP, please?
https://www.realclearpolling.com/betting-odds/2024/president
RCP = Real Clear Politics, a right-leaning outfit that averages polls w/o attention to sample size or methodology.
Voters, tRump said; you tell them and they will believe you. If you are someone who is so ignorant to believe any of the tsunami of lies and pure BS that you would support the likes of a tRump we feel sorry for you and when the time comes we will forgive you for you do not know what you are doing.
We are mere mortals who do not have the power to grant total absolution.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wQa5u-1ih1c
Yes. Yes JL Graham.
Little t is not only senile but also as you all know criminally insane. I’m noticing fewer t signs and more & more Harris-Walz plus our dem candidates here as I mosey around, which gives me hope & relief.
With thanks to HCR for her detailed coverage of one of our greatest presidents ever addressing the UN.
P
Exactly. He is incredible. A prime example of In Service For the People NOT in service to self!
From the beginning of the speech, I thought well this man has it all together mind, spirit And love of country and family.
Gary, the cynicism that Biden refers to often leads to greed and cruelty. As Bernie Moreno has shown us in his not understanding why postmenopausal women would be concerned about abortion, a lack of empathy leads to making selfish choices that are less than optimal for a country and the world.
These men, who suggest death and near death experiences from being denied reproductive health are made up, who say women should stay in abusive relationships, who want to take away women's right to vote can burn in hell.
And if there was a hell, they would
The only heaven or hell anyone will know is the one(s) you make for yourself.
Mary, I agree with your comment, but it got me thinking about the difference between skepticism and cynicism. To be skeptical is to be curious. They are two sides of the same “wisdom” coin.
To be very skeptical is to be a lot more skeptical and a lot less curious (aka "conservative"). To be cynical is to cross the line from a little bit to not at all curious. And that is why being cynical is being naïve. They are two sides of the same “unconstrained ignorance” coin (aka Mitch McConnell).
So, what is wisdom? No matter how much an individual knows, there is a whole lot more that the individual does not know, and so we are all ignorant to some extent. Wisdom is a curiosity that is informed by the willingness to acknowledge and constrain one's own ignorance.
I'm trying to be really careful how I say this. Last time someone thought my intent was to insult and I got blocked. My intent is to warn that we all need to be careful not to cross that line because when we do, then they have attracted us to join their side.
Good points
I thought his quote from Yeats was so to the point. That's exactly where the world was headed in the late 30s, when Yeats wrote that famous poem. Since then, despite huge tensions, the world has not seen another descent into international war. Fortunately the imperial aggressors of Japan and German were thoroughly defeated, mainly due to the arsenal and economy might of the US.
It was an excellent tie in to Yeats! May the center always hold.
And we all know who the rough beasts slouching towards us are.
I love that poem. It’s one of my favorites.
WWII could only be won by the massive international effort. The Allies couldn't have won without the US but the US couldn't have won without the allies. The US alone could not have achieved the Allied landing on the Normandy beaches June 6. 1944 which stopped the impending German invasion of Great Britain. It took sacrifices in many countries, including the USSR to defeat Germany, Italy and Japan.
I'd recommend your watching a series called Factories at War. Without the material aid from the US, neither Britain nor the USSR would likely have withstood the German onslaught, or at least been able to launch a successful counter-invasion. But you're right, this also was a team effort.
We Americans kind of hate to hear about the Soviet contribution to defeating Hitler. Their military deaths estimated 8 to 10 million, ours less than 500,000. Their combined military and civilian deaths 24 million.
As tourists in Ukraine and Moscow nearly twenty years ago, several times we saw brides in wedding gowns with the whole wedding party, laying flowers at war memorials. Everyone has lost a relative in war, so you honor them in this wedding custom.
Putin has been mostly successful at keeping Russians from knowing how many have been killed or wounded attacking Ukraine. Recently when towns inside Russia were taken by Ukrainian soldiers, people felt shocked and betrayed that Russian soldiers had not protected them. Putin had promised it would be a very short “military operation,” with little impact on Russian people.
Correction, Frank. Yeats was rather more far-sighted than that. The Second Coming was first published in 1919. The poet had understood that what began in August 1914 was only Act One.
And I doubt if what we are now seeing worldwide is the epilogue.
Thanks Peter, sorry abt the dating.
President Biden is my age and we have seen human stupidity at its finest. It is hard to believe just how stupid people and countries can be. Willing to go to the brink stupidly. Somehow “ our better angels” save us. To stay sane we have to believe the unbelievable can happen. Two kind, loving men: Nelson Mandela and Joe Biden.
Some time ago, I came across the 5 laws of stupidity, originally a tongue in cheek piece written for friends by Prof. Carlo Cipolla in 1976.
He defined 4 categories of people and that there are 5 laws of stupidity (below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=3O9FFrLpinQ
1: Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2: The probability that a person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. Education, wealth or status have nothing to do with it.
3: A stupid person is someone who causes losses to other people while himself deriving no gain.
4: Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid people and keep forgetting that to deal with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
5: A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person, even more dangerous than a bandit.
Ignorance can be educated, stupidity cannot. Love that you shared this with us…
Apropos! Great men are visionary.
President Biden delivered a valedictory address to the UN General Assembly that made a compelling case for US leadership in global affairs. It was the speech of a committed internationalist, refuting the transactional Trumpian view of international relations. Let's look forward to President Harris addressing the General Assembly in September 2025. The alternative does not bear thinking about.
It's unsurprising that it was under-reported by commercial media. Just another boring speech at the UN, I suppose. Can't get many clicks out of that. Just bla bla bla about ideals and principles. Who reads that stuff? Can't make a tic tok out of it. What's the point?
MSNBC commentators focused on how unlikely UN attendees will heed Biden's words because he's a lame duck. Maybe someone raised the quality of the analysis, but I turned it off in disgust before such a mythical creature emerged from the dung heap that news analysts have become.
Yes this quote. I know it is meant to inspire but should also be a cautionary tale. At the age of 60, THIS is how I view the overturning of Roe V Wade, THIS is why I am working so hard in the Swing States to get out the vote. Because "It always seems impossible until it's done" goes both ways.
Yes, Thanks you Cool Joe, Rockin' the Ray Bans...I will miss him, a lot and hope he continues to fight for the working class. Fairness! It is a big deal to fix the current raw deal!
Left out of his speech: admission that in their desperation to get campaign donations BOTH parties (including middle-aged Biden) deregulated banking. Bringing on Great Recession, no jail for crooked bankers AND, ultimately, Trump.
Why is election close given huge negatives for Trump? It’s the real, lousy lived economy for the bulk of those who say they’ll vote for Trump. They hear words of “things are bad” and agree. They remember things FINALLY inching up better under Trump until Covid hit.
As president, Biden DID the right things. Harris doing OK. Neither have broken from the banking-fed money machine or admitted the real reason things got so bad.
I wish Dr. Richardson would widen her view. She cites the stock market growth as good indicator. Utterly irrelevant for most, who have no stocks, cannot retire and are struggling to have enough income to marry or raise children
Deregulation, trickled down economics, and Citizens United has caused the decline of the middle class. Not one President alone, but an army of Oligarchs peddling lies to a Republican party who has served as willing soldiers.
We can outbid the oligarchs (AND the not so rich but rich enough to contribute) with a reasonable federal program of campaign finance vouchers (AKA Democracy Dollars). So everyone can be a donor AND a voter.
Check out my Substack on the topic (michaelfoxworth.substack.com). Citizens United could, arguably, be considered valid, IF we had vouchers. The 2022 House had a vouchers version in a bill (HR1) that passed but got filibustered in the Senate. Almost no one noticed because the democrats did not shout about it. All elected politicians are too embarrassed to admit out loud their CURRENT and ONGOING role in this game. "All" is a strong word, but I know of no exceptions. Even those who do talk and have big donor bases (such as Sanders and Warren) tend to point to the other party instead of acknowledging the hell their own party members find themselves in.
Great idea
I wish you wouldn't generalize with the "most" in the utterly irrelevant.
I would also mention that in my own circle of family and close friends, and with more minor neighbors, I have personally witnessed persons complain about costs do the most foolish wasting of funds. Everyone "deserves" to have the occasional treat, but I have seen a segment of the population which seems to have absolutely no common consumer sense. I have stood in back of a customer in a grocery store line, listened to the haranguing of the cashier over the prices of whatever--and then watched the same person stop at the lottery machine, hit the button on the $30 or even $50 scratch ticket, quickly scan the bar code to see if it is a winner--and then walk away, or worse, dump in another bill or two and repeat. I am not joking about this, I have seen this multiple times.
Well, you could be touching on part of the problem. Nevertheless, while I have not seen any study on the personal financial behavior of Trump supporters, I'm deeply suspicious of your thesis.
Much of the public is feeling financial pressure. Inflation is a real issue even though it is not currently that high. They see little on the horizon that makes them feel good. The basic truth is that it will be difficult (read: expensive!) to deal with climate change and if we don't, we doom our children. Given that, there is plenty of room for not-utterly-foolish. financially-pressured people to combine the devastating effect of 2008, their 2017-2019 financial experience with skepticism about party promises and come up with "try Trump again." Hence betting shows too-close-to-call in several big states.
Dumb behavior is widely encouraged by commercial practices. I was not low income, but we carried modest levels of credit card debt for many years until we took Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace" course (image of me hitting my head with the palm of my head). I'm told many high schools now require all students to take personal finance.
Missing from the Harris campaign (so far) that keeps it close? Truth about the role of campaign finance in 2008 or now nor any PRACTICAL way to change this continuing danger.
Many people I know spend money they don’t have and whine, whine, whine. I expect many to lose the homes that were way overpriced and beyond their means. One little blip and crisis. Serious economic trouble and another 2008. What are people thinking with chump on the agenda.
The ignorance on economics is a big part of the orange turds appeal.
Economists are from the most privileged of the privileged classes( higher proportion have parents with advanced degrees than any other PhD ).
They will tend "conservative" in general, and cheerlead for the wealth inequality we see today.
Let's start with the national debt is not the same as household debt, shall we?
"National debt is not the same as household debt"
True to some extent. But there are limits to both. Most people and most countries can safely afford to have some debt. Less than 70% of GDP seems to be a reasonable limit for nations. Mortgage debt (and no other debt) that results in housing cost (including interest) less than 20% of income is a common recommendation.
Japan has been crushed by debt over 300%. China is heading that same way. US is at 100% and increasing rapidly. Much of Eurozone is reeling from the increasing cost of fossil fuel tied to war in Ukraine.
A detailed, reasonable (if a bit conservative) plan to deal with growing US debt is the following. But I have not found anything comparable in depth and detail from several liberal sites (some of which cite aspects that should be included). Unfortunately, both parties have refused to seriously engage on the topic. Both are giving in to more tax-cutting promises.
https://manhattan.institute/article/a-comprehensive-federal-budget-plan-to-avert-a-debt-crisis-2024
Brought tears to my eyes.
Yes🌎
Remember in the following that I voted for Biden and supported his reelection.
He is a hypocrite to speak of peace in the middle east when the US provides Israel with offensive weapons and fails to effectively curtail Zionist expansionism.
He is weak in his curtailment of support for Ukraine, pursuing a policy that costs both Ukrainian and Russian lives by extending the war and inhibiting a Ukrainian victory. Is this an act of spite? (How dare the Ukrainians succeed when our esteemed national security establishment said they would fall in days! How dare they demonstrate over and over again the fallacy of Putin's so-called red lines!)
While you certainly have the right to criticize Biden's foreign policy, it’s important to acknowledge the complexity of these global conflicts. Supporting Israel while advocating for peace reflects the difficult balancing act required in U.S. diplomacy. The U.S. provides Israel with defense funding due to deep historical ties and regional stability concerns, yet Biden has pushed for a two-state solution and condemned expansionism in the West Bank. He has called for de-escalation, highlighting the need for a peaceful and just solution for Palestinians as well.
As for Ukraine, Biden has shown strong, unwavering support. The military aid provided by the U.S. has been instrumental in Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and make significant gains, challenging Putin's aggression and helping preserve global democratic order. A sudden withdrawal or reduction of support would give Russia the upper hand, potentially resulting in a catastrophic Ukrainian defeat and emboldening authoritarian regimes worldwide. Biden’s approach is focused on a careful, strategic balance—providing enough support to help Ukraine win while avoiding the war’s escalation into a broader conflict involving NATO, which could spiral into a global catastrophe.
Far from being an act of spite, Biden's decisions are aimed at maintaining long-term global security while defending Ukrainian sovereignty, which also counters Putin’s dangerous imperial ambitions. Both situations—Israel and Ukraine—are delicate and far from simple, requiring nuanced strategies rather than blunt force approaches that could worsen the suffering of millions.
One of the first things I discovered as President of the United States was that no decision that landed on my desk had an easy, tidy answer. Obama
I trust Biden. I don't have all the facts and information. Even if I did, I probably wouldn't know what to do. I HATE what is happening with Israel. I have never liked or trusted Netanyahu. I believe Biden is making the best decisions he can for VERY complicated situations.
Unfortunately your narrative on Ukraine reflects a failure to recognize the influence of Russian disinformation on US policy and public opinion. Were the US policy as stated, why have we not provided sufficient numbers of air defense systems and fighter aircraft to achieve air superiority to prevent Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities, schools, hospitals, energy infrastructure and military defensive positions?
US military aid to Israel has enabled them to bomb hospitals, schools, UN facilities, and aid organizations. No significant measures have been taken to stop expansion of Israeli settlements or the murder of Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza.
We have a lot of blood on our hands.
You forget the foes he has in our own government
In his final speech to the United Nations, Joe Biden passed the torch of leadership not just to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, not just to other world leaders, but to all of us. It is up to us to move our world closer to the vision he enunciated today, the vision of a more perfect union, of a more peaceful planet.
I hope you don't mind if I steal this!
You can't steal it--I give it as a gift to anyone who finds it useful. : )
Thank you Betsy--very well put.
I often think of Benjamin Franklin's inventions that he put out in the public domain.
https://invention.si.edu/benjamin-franklin-s-inventions
And also his founding of volunteer fire departments and other civic functions like the post office.
Were he born 25 years later, he may have been our first President. But his contributions to society may not have been so robust if he had become President.
thanks!
Thank you, Heather. Once more President Biden is showing his statesmanship, his leadership, for us in the world to view with pride. What a great man he is.
Joe has spent a lifetime focused on honest public service: "High tide raises all boats"
tRump has spent a lifetime focused on self gratification: " me first"
Biden's greatness lies in how he has persevered after great losses and remains hopeful. He has had his failings, being human, but always managed to succeed. Not appreciating his devotion to being a public servant for the people is ignoring all he has accomplished. His speech at the UN should have a title that should be HOPE. Hope in the face of so much human suffering. Hope that things will improve tomorrow.
Harvey, I’d add his empathy to the list of what contributes to his greatness.
Heather Cox Richardson look at our President, behaving like an elder statesman encompassing his experience and knowledge; behaving like a leader. Right now his actions are stabilizing the world.
What an American, Professor ⭐
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” E.B. White
Biden will go down as one of the most consequential presidents in our history. His values and, I surmise, his Catholic faith, shape his actions, his policies, his commitments. I am grateful every day for his leadership and vision. It is a deep sadness to me that he/his administration has continued to supply arms to Israel sustaining the slaughter of thousands and thousands of innocent Palestinian human beings. What a contradiction.
I wonder exactly how America could influence Israel's actions. Which I agree are extreme and counterproductive. And awful. And brutal. And foolish. For every Gazan killed in an attempt to eliminate Hamas terrorists...a new generation of Hamas is being created. It isn't going to work.
But is there a universe in which we would stop supplying weapons to the only democracy in the region? A flawed democracy that is surrounded by those who wish it not to exist? Threatened daily by Iran's puppets?
Let me make an analogy. Pretend we are the United Kingdom. Imagine if the leaders of both Canada and Mexico declared over and over again that they were committed to the return of US territory that was once theirs. Imagine if some of those leaders have repeatedly in speech and in writing declared that the United States of America should not exist.
And then imagine that Canada and Mexico sent hundreds of rockets (thousands over the years) into the United States. Imagine that the people of Dallas and Detroit had built safe rooms in almost every home to avoid the bombardment.
I have set the scene. How should America react? And since we are the United Kingdom, pledged by a treaty to stand with the US, what will our position be?
I think we are blaming ourselves for a situation that should really be in the hands of a United Nations with troops and teeth. What if Israel had blue helmets on the ground - troops from all over the world who would take over Gaza? Feed the people and punish the terrorists.
We need a stronger UN. America has been the policeman of the world for too long. And too many countries have been our George Floyds.
Bill, No one I’m aware of has suggested we not continue to arm Israel with defensive weapons to protect herself. The call is to stop providing Netanyahu with offensive weapons that are being deployed in violation of U.S. and international law.
As for the U.N., prior to our most recent abstention, we, as a permanent member of the Security Council, have blocked every U.N. resolution, since the start of the war, from moving to the floor for a vote by the full body.
This analogy breaks down in several places - first and most important, the US is not occupying Canada and/or Mexico, in violation of international law for more than 50 years.
Palestinians have a right under international law to resist occupation, even through armed struggle. Israel has systematically and repeatedly jailed any non-violent resisters, and promoted Hamas in order to 1) divide Palestinians and 2) promote armed resistance so that it can play the victim.
As for the UN, Israel has refused to allow international peacekeepers into Gaza, and has tried to destroy the only relief agency supplying food there - UNRWA - falsely accusing it of supporting the October 7 massacre but never supplying any evidence that it did so.
Down the memory hole, though - I suspect most readers here think there must have been something to that accusation. There was not.
Lucia, I particularly appreciate your last point given that U.S. arms transfers to Israel are neither consistent with U.S. nor internationally recognized human rights. Moreover, I fear that our failure to leverage aid to Israel is viewed as there being no stop signs in Gaza nor in the West Bank, exacerbating escalation that’s going to make ceasefire talks harder, furthering the risks of broadening the conflict.
I respectfully disagree. What is happening in Gaza (and now Lebanon) is horrible. But it is an agonizingly complicated situation. The connections of Hamas and Hezbollah to Iran and Russia indicate that there is a long game here, and the US is a target of that game. Hamas was persuaded to sacrifice their own people to change the situation on the ground to their potential advantage while eliciting divisions between nations and especially the US, and increase political divisions both in the US and within the Democratic party. Yes, the killing of innocent civilians is terrible and despicable. Military and civilian leaders in Israel will have to be held accountable for their decisions. But reducing the situation to simple binary choices will come back to hurt us in the long run. The Biden administration is attempting a difficult balancing task in the face of intense emotional reactions that are being manipulated by the supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah. One of my many fears of a Trump win is that he will make a rash and simplistic decision about the conflict and we will pay a price for generations to come.
It truly is Bidens big contradiction, his blind spot. He just does not see it is us the US perpetuating this war.
Nancy, I would note there were several resignations because Biden, Blinken, Sullivan, and McGurk rejected input from anyone questioning their refusal to curb, much less end, weapons shipments it was argued were being deployed in violation of U.S. and international law.
People underestimate the Power Of The Israel Lobby in the USA? Ever heard of AIPAC? Currently, it favors DJT, much to the USA’s detriment…
Joe Biden may have made a nice Speech, but the Reality is that he is still shipping Weapons to Israel to Kill Palestinians, and now Lebanese... Allegedly the Jordanians, and Egyptians are facing Internal Pressures that could Destabilize their Governments.... Deeds Matter...
It's disturbing that Heather failed to mention your concerns in her tribute to Biden. It's a major flaw in her essay.
Thanks Craig... If Israel latest Wars Blow-Up into a Major Regional War, then one of Biden's Legacies Year's from now will be not resolving these conflicts... The lack of resolution will be continuing to Arm Israel, and Restricting Aid to Ukraine... I have Family that are in Harms Way... So I am Deeply Concerned... In Addition, Us Apache are taught a Deep Sense of Right-And-Wrong....
Lucia, the continued arming of Israel is actually Biden's response to his faith, and a reflection of the faith of nearly all Christians across the U.S. This originates in the biblical declaration that God will favor any nation who favors Israel. I note that this so-called divine declaration was written by a member of the ancient culture that would benefit from such an edict. I would also note that the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. "Old Testament") are myths and legends written by Jews for Jews to help them understand and preserve their heritage. It is Christians who appropriated this compendium as a "how-to" book. Because of undue influence by Christians over U.S. Government, including foreign policy, the U.S. carries Israel in its side pocket, like a lucky rabbit's foot, expecting God to protect us from adversaries.
Could it be that about 1/3 of the Members of Congress are Jewish? The Israel Lobby in the USA is very Powerfully Placed in the USA... Read the Book, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt... They are two Top-Tier Academics... Very Enlightening.... OBW: There is a Reason for the 'New Testament'...
Joe Biden was who and what we needed in 2020. This is a good man who cares about people. He personally knows adversity and getting through it..moving on. I like his "the future will be…won by those who unleash the full potential of their people to breathe free, to think freely, to innovate, to educate, to live and love openly without fear. " That's why we MUST elect Kamala Harris. Thank you HCR
I just talked to my Republican "Always Trumper" neighbor to try to understand what drivers her. It's greed. Pure and simple. She rails against all the "cheats" living here on welfare (Reagan did away with welfare), she blames immigrants and primarily illegal immigrants, on all the crime in the city (like elsewhere in the country crime is down here too - and what crimes are being committed are NOT being committed by immiigrants, legal or not - and insists that helping our poor countries is just "welfare for the world" that we can't afford. She has even quit going to church because, as a devoted Catholic, is disgusted by the catholic charities giving aid and comfort to immigrants at our southern border. And she also believes that billionaires and big corporations are still paying too much in taxes even though I pointed out that Trumps tax cuts comprised approximately 40% of our national debt and some major corporations pay zero taxes. The only thing we agreed on was the debt is too high, but we didn't agree on how to solve that dilemma. I told her the solution is simple - raise taxes. We were actually having a civil conversation until I mentioned Project 2025 as Trumps "plan." She got testy when I laughed when she said "That isn't Trumps plan." "Well, so you think he lied? Biden doesn't lie but Trump does?" Our conversation ended then. For the record, we live in a state where theres in no state income tax and our property tax is very low. Apparently any tax is too much. Like I said. Republicans aren't just weird, they are greedy.
I have been reading stories on Alternet which is a counter media aggregator to FOX. And then I post their headlines and a few paragraphs on the far right website "Poll King."
Yes, I am a "small" person, but I used to be a Republican in the previous millennium.
The MAGAs go nuts, calling me names and laughing at the bomb threats in Springfield, OH etc.
I have been able to engage with a few of them on a personal level, but they are so hate filled at anyone that isn't MAGA.
Like you, I cannot understand why so many MAGAs believe that Bezos, Buffett, Trump, Musk, gates and the Waltons should be given huge tax cuts when they couldn't spend their fortunes in 10 lifetimes.
You are, in the words of a friend, a "recovering Republican." Please share what made you see the light. Maybe it could help my neighbor.
I am a computer consultant and traveled 25-40% of the time between 1985 - 2020.
The rest of the time I was able to work remote.
When I traveled, I spent many nights channel surfing in a hotel room. I would watch Fox News when the evening lineup was Greta, Bill O'Reilly and Hannity. I coudln't stand Hannity ever so I watched Greta and Bill on many nights.
Back then Greta was fairly centrist especially compared to say Hannity and Bill was somewhat further to the right but they were both what I would call "conservatives."
When I came home I would sometimes share a story I had seen on FOX all excited to share what the liberals were doing, with my wife. She has always been a liberal or should I say, progressive. Many times, I got eye rolls but she started making me fact check the more outrageous stories. Time and again, Fox had only told one side of the story and had omitted facts. After a few times, I agreed to stop watching FOX and start looking at other news outlets. It was then that I renounced my Republicanism early in this century.
I have (way too) many friends that watch FOX News exclusively and they are far from enlightened. All of the Murdoch stations poison the viewer/reader with hate filled BS and lies. So, if you can get your neighbor to watch MSNBC or read the Guardian, Rolling Stone, AlterNet, Newsweek. etc. there is a chance they could eventually renounce their MAGA roots. If not, there is no hope.
Rupert Murdock is the evil genius that turned the Republican Party into the 'Party of Putin." When he obtained the rights to show the NFL on FOX I feared he would capture a majority of TV viewers. He did. Then he turned the 1st Amendment upside down by claiming he could have his goons spew lie and lie as protected "free speech." And the rest, as we say, "is history."
I left when the Newt Gingrich/Frank Luntz GoPac memo, "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control" started gaining too much traction (instead of being rejected by people such as the Fund Raiser that assumed a few of us would be willing to "fight dirtier than Democrats"). That was 1996 when Elizabeth Warren also left the Republican Party (that actually left us).
Since then, I've been able to recognize some other Democratic candidates that would finally admit to me that they had been Republicans (but were too embarrassed, or reluctant to have to explain how they knew so much about the opposition).
I have learned that former addicts often make the best cases against casual starts to addictions or avoiding trying to find help ending the worst of them.
I honor your attempt to engage with her.
It is discouraging how unwilling so many people are to engage in a courageous conversation that centers on understanding, empathy, and building a path forward.
Also, for the most part, old and fearful. Does she have enough savings to make it thru retirement, I wonder?
Timothy Snyder, in his book "On Freedom" (I have only read excerpts, sadly) delineates 4 types of freedom. the most basic, and the one your neighbor seems stuck on, is "Freedom From" - taxes, government meddling, etc. Check out the book. It may help in you discussions with her.
I fear she won't listen to anything I would say anymore. I intended to focus on party policies, not specific politicians. It went well until she blamed Biden for Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Yep, you heard that right. She blames the withdrawal from Afganistan as the link to Putin's invasion because, as the MAGA's believe, it made Biden look weak. After all, Putin didn't invade Ukraine on Trumps watch. See? It was Biden's fault. I "took the bait" and the conversation turned to a confrontation.
But was not the withdrawal from Afghanistan Trump's decision -- one rare wise one -- and Biden's the dirty job of implementing it?
Yep, and Trump closed all but one of the air bases after he lost the election, but before Biden took office. I wonder why? But "facts" have no effect on people who have made up their minds.
Yes. Trump started the withdrawal and Biden cleaned it up just like so many other of Trumpian fiasco. Yes, it was extremely difficult and some lives were lost which were so horrific to US and families. But, we finally got out of that unending war.
The goal might have been wise but the implementation was probably complex beyond Trump's likely actions (I remember the abandonment of Kurds and Syrians), and only made much harder after he lost the vote and sabotaged the resources that could have done it with less losses.
Oh well, what the hell.
I try to remember that most Trump supporters are people who have been brainwashed by right-wing media for decades. For them, thinking about things more divergently is like trying to drive a car on a deeply rutted dirt road that is as dried up and hard as concrete.
I think we desperately need a new version of the Fairness Doctrine, which made it, not impossible maybe, but harder, for media to engage in systematic lying over long periods of time. I had hoped that the $787M Dominion settlement would change things, but apparently there’s still too much money to be made gaslighting the vulnerable.
It would be wonderful if corporate media executives would start taking more responsibility for their own slanted journalism. But that doesn’t appear likely either. I have cancelled a number of subscriptions. That’s the least I can do.
Hate/greed drive the insanity
I had a similar discussion and result with my mother about social security. In person, she agreed that rich people should pay more into SS by increasing the cap on income subject to the SS tax. I then sent her a written article explaining just that: how it's working now and how lifting the cap would make SS solvent. Her only response was "more taxes? That's stupid." It is a reflexive response, and those making it do not recognize that debt is on the other side of that coin. They continue to believe the lie that cutting spending and waste is enough. I suggest everyone see the USA Facts video on our budget.
https://youtu.be/aQoh9jdRZPM?feature=shared
We were lucky to have Joe Biden as president. His true stature has yet to be recognized. It will only grow with time. He rescued America from the worst demagogue in its history. He chose the right vice president to complete his work.
Biden showed in this speech HRC provided us with. With much gratitude let is embrace President Biden's words: "Never forget, we are here to serve the people, not the other way around. Because the future will be…won by those who unleash the full potential of their people to breathe free, to think freely, to innovate, to educate, to live and love openly without fear. That’s the soul of democracy. It does not belong to any one country.”
Eloquent enough for the history books.
Yes, Biden has faced a nasty, complicated world.
But one dynamic all his four years has underlain all the world’s otherwise disparate dictators.
All depend on followers stuck in group-ism. Nationalism. Usually a hyphenate: Modi’s Hindi-nationalism; Netanyahu’s far-right settler-nationalism; Orban’s Magyar-nationalism; Putin’s Eastern Orthodox-nationalism.
That’s just the four adjoining m-n-o-p of our alphabet.
There are more. But in none of those countries do schools have any role for humanities. Real arts see individuals, the personal. Yes, in relation to other individuals and to groups. But collective madness grows wherever the schools instead rely on the conceits of standardized testing. Above all they stress categories, their main questions keeping life reduced to categories.
I agree with your assessment of teaching to standardized tests. The difficulty I see is finding enough hours in the school day to teach all the things that really should be taught. One should have reading and writing, history and civics, science and math, and music and art, and health and phys. ed. That at least in the elementary school.
To explore these subjects beyond elementary level at needed depth would lengthen the school day to such an extent that absolutely no school activities could take place — no sports, band, 4H, no clubs of any kind. A knotty problem. But, as you note, the current age of standardized tests has created a LOT of problems.
All things human are designed: from Bauhaus to Nazi, Lascaux to AI, the metaphors of Olympus to the metaphors of God, it’s who we are, it’s what we do. It’s all about Art.
We need STEM...but Art & History matter to have context and healthy human beings...not just robots
STEAM is the inclusive of STEM. The Arts are there no matter what. We must have an inquisitive, probing brain to move into the future. Just ask Da Vinci, The arts are at the creative center of our lives.
Yes Craig...but you notice History gets left out. Is that on purpose ? My battle cry for years has been Art & History Matter.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
We are experiential beings. The arts "speak" to that. They speak profoundly to me, and I was a science major.
We really are tribal...and I'm most engaged listening to, dancing to or playing live music. It connects us...we laugh, cry, love...it's the best....and it uses math and science to take us there...
STEM, all of it, springs from art. We are not used to thinking of engineers and other scientists as artists, but they are. We are not used to thinking of artists as the real vanguards of scientific and philosophical thought, but they are.
I know that in my work there are times I feel more technical, where I have to lean into the math and science of a problem to solve and other times it's more about the art of it...that I'm creating and not really thinking...it's more reactive and intuitive. But you need all of it to create anything. You have to learn and master your "instrument" whatever that is...For a musician playing at a very high level...especially in a jam situation you have to have the technical training and also the exposure to others art...to then collaborate with others at the highest level...you literally get lost in the moment and are playing at a level you've never reached before. That's magic.
There are some STEAM grants, the first I heard about friom NSF was in 2013. What I've been told is that the more disciplines are crossed, the smaller is the share for each department and that disincentivizes collaborative and transdisciplinary studies.
Joan, that's such counter-productive thinking isn't it ? It becomes all about me. Grab what you can. Without real history and art we are not creating healthy people are we ? Look at MAGA. They have no sense of history...and don't care. Trump has no art in him...except deal making. He is soulless...the only President to stay away from the Kennedy Center Honors...because he's clueless. My kids grew up in an intensive culture of history and art at home...and it shows.
Alec Ferguson, I'm very taken with what you have just written here and how you have written it.
Yet, my mind's first, instinctive move is to probe your words, to question "It's who we are, it's what we do... it's all about Art."
" It's what we do" is not the be-all-and-end-all of who we are; homo faber is an aspect of what we are.
I'm going to print out this post of yours, stick it on the wall and reflect on it.
This I'll do in the light of the kind of questions I, in my mid-eighties, began asking myself when I was eight:
What am I?
Why am I here?
And those I began asking myself at age 18 about form, metaphor, words, images, context, how we frame our view(s)... or don't frame them...
We're so much the prisoners of our ideas, so conditioned by our beliefs and mostly so unaware of this, both in ourselves and even more so in others. Here, you've provided a fine means of freeing up the mind, unfreezing ideas that have become solidified, letting flow...
Thanks for the inspiration!
the story of being human is really about the stories we live in. The story of stories, if you will. First, our environment shapes the stories we hear, then our stories shape our thinking and environment. The story, the art, comes first, followed by all other thoughts/creative impulses. Love is the first human story. Followed fairly closely by running - but that's another story... :)
Steve, there's so much to what you have written here, and it resonates with me as Alec Ferguson's words did.
At the same time, when you speak of "the stories we live in" you're giving a clue to the changing limitations of those stories and how we live in and outgrow them... like hermit crabs or creatures with exoskeletons. So, the stories we tell ourselves armor and protect us... until, in the end, they constrict and imprison us.
Thus, we may win all battles yet lose our war.
There's a difference, then, between accepting the reality of defeat and giving up the struggle. Resist and seek to make a fresh start.
When all's said and done, is not our deepest longing to transcend all stories?
I'd like to repost your comment, Steve, and am assuming that you will not mind. It illustrates so much about the centrality of story making and controlling the narrative that has shaped all of humanity through the ages.
I trust teachers, pilgrimRVW.
So I'd only be careful to emulate the Finns, who made it a point to hire only the best, and then give them total say in everything.
Pilgrim, we might look at how Sweden and other countries manage to cover it all in the same amount of time per day.
https://libertywingspan.com/77448/opinion/the-fresh-perspective-a-contrast-of-the-united-states-and-swedens-school-systems/#:~:text=A%20typical%20Swedish%20school%20day,minute%20break%20in%20the%20afternoon.
We are living in a country where standardized testing has produced a population willing to re-elect the insipid orange turd, a certifiable lunatic, and give him the nuclear codes. At 78 I was schooled before they taught to tests, I was taught how to think not necessarily what to think. We need to rethink how we are educating our youth and make some major changes 🤷♂️
The love of knowledge can't be taught in a book. Knowledge is curiosity. Standardized tests measure goals and skill sets. Depth requires self indulgence and desire. Someone can't make you do that.
Dr Zhivago is a great example of the value of art and the individual...in the midst of chaos and war. It's my favorite David Lean film.
It’s also a literary classic well worth the read. Leonid Pasternak deserved his Nobel Prize for literature.
Leonid, the painter, was the father to Boris, the poet and writer.
very much so...it's such a wonderful love story wrapped in revolution. Lindsey Graham is like Komarosky...a political survivor with no morals or ethics.
Agreed fully, Mike.
But Pasternak's great musings on language, in "The Forest Brotherhood" chapter, never made it into the film.
A LOT did not make it into the film...but they hinted at the forrest with a lot of the scenes in the forests. Lean was a great artist
Would that the journals and other media outlets, who shined a bright light on every misstep, real or otherwise, when Joe Biden was a candidate, would shine the same light on his profound legacy, the legacy of a real national leader, the product of American democracy, of which we can all be proud.
I imagine DJT speaking before the same assembly and I’m at a loss as to how there could be any undecided voters.
We don’t have to imagine; we can remember how they all laughed at him. It was appalling.
The laughter wasn’t appalling. The speech was.
Appalling, and an embarrassment that the same system that produced a Lincoln and two Roosevelts vomited up a Trump.
Three cheers for Joe Biden
How I wish that Uncle Joe was four years younger and running for a second term. I supported Joe in 2008, when a young whippersnapper named Barack Obama took America by storm. I supported him in 2020. I supported him this year. But age takes its toll, and so now America faces a choice between a wannabe reincarnation of Benito Mussolini, and Joe’s second in command. Pray that America makes the right choice. Thank you Joe, for your service, and for your integrity.
So often we default to the Fascist Hitler when comparing Trump to historical Fascists.
Your choice of Benito Mussolini is actually closer to Trump's many character flaws and actions.
But chump lives by Mein Kampf
It's a great speech, but it would land better if he'd stop funding wars everywhere and not have pushed US fossil fuel extraction and exports to the highest levels ever. These rather counter his claims of wanting peace and climate action. I know he works against a huge force driving the war and petrol economies, but it's rather time we took these things more seriously.
It would be great to hear a bit more balance on the blog. Biden has done much better than I thought he would but he still puts the economy over everything else, and people are suffering terribly in Ukraine, Gaza, and Lebanon and all over the globe due to US policies on war and climate.
Don, I understand your critical concerns. You did not mention the West Bank but, Biden did.
IMO, LFAA is not a "blog"; this digital community has over 1.1 million Readers not to mention the "shares" -- the free sharing of real-time history.
Biden's U.N memorable appearance was a perfect departure site for Heather's latest chapter in full historical context. Brava Professor.
Thank you, BSMcK.
Well said, Counselor.
Don I'd love to see us at the point of no war and no fossil fuels...it's the goal. We could be far ahead on the fossil fuel front if Reagan had not taken down the solar panels Carter put on the WH. We could be much farther ahead if Al Gore had won. Biden inherited a pandemic and Trumps chaos. There was a LOT to manage. He got us out of any direct conflicts with our boots on the ground. Let's face it a lot of people vote the economy...I see and hear it all the time from folks still supporting Trump. Politics is the art of the possible...you have to get elected first...then you have a shot. We MUST elect Harris, because Trump just takes us backwards on all of your main concerns. THAT's what matters in the next 50 days.
I agree, and there are many folks, including the youth vote that won’t vote Democrat this year because of the wars.
Dan Perry’s substack ‘Shah’s son says regime change possible, offers vision of Iran as West’s ally’ today which Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi supports regime change. In a speech to Israeli American activists in Washington on Friday Sept 20th, he urged them to act in support of his campaign to oust Iran’s Islamist rulers.
It seems like reading Dan Perry’s article today, before seeing Dr Richardson’s excellent summary of our statesman, President Biden, gave me the sense of how the global countries depend on the stability of the US to help our allies and our enemies to try and use diplomacy as a strategy for resistance movements to work towards a democratic regime change.
If the republicans win the election, none of us could imagine Trump handling the negotiations needed for peace in the Middle East or in Ukraine. The chaos of making women move backwards, deporting our immigrants, ignoring the science of our climate crisis, and spending so much money on military weapons…the US would be a hot mess.
We need the republicans defeated in November. The news says Harris/Walz are doing good, but we really need to spread the word to voters about the success our country could move progress in the next four years.
BTW, where is Coach Walz? I’m missing his laughter.
I don't think he'll be using that laughter much in the upcoming debate with Vance. So glad he's working through it with Pete Buttigieg, one of the best-informed and quickest thinkers in the business.
The Manual With Tim Walz/latest ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N-B0_OKkeg
🚙🐕🦺💙
Love my Gov. This is a great campaign ad!
Kathaleen B Parker,
Thank you for mentioning Dan Perry's subtrack, "Shah's son says regime change possible, offers vision of Iran as West's ally...."
Many years ago, I had a dear Iranian friend. As in all nations, there are regular human beings who care about education, jobs, family, building friendships with one another, accepting a person's faith .. or that they honestly choose no faith, etc. The leaders do not speak for all the people of a country.
We should work persistently for peace. THANK YOU BLINKIN AND TO YOUR FAMILY AND TO OTHER SERIOUS DIPLOMATS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES AND DEEP BELIEF IN PEACE AND WORLD COMMUNITY. Selfishness does not protect children and women ....it does not build homes. It does not provide an education and a hope for a better future. It does not provide fields where crops can be grown without being bombed or burned. We are contributing to the destruction of human lives...destroying opportunities for education.
where can clean water be found??? We are even destroying hospitals where wounded babies, pregnant women, wounded elderly citizens who have done nothing to deserve their lives to be torn apart, to be cared for.
Wars are not for the people usually but are started and continued for a few to gain power ....or for others....to keep them from being tried for crimes they have committed but protected by the office they hold.
We have blood on our hands for every child that is killed for the destruction of homes and schools...etc.
Where are the hostages???? They are the reason we are there. We have allowed ourselves to be pulled into this terrible, violent situation. We have blood on our hands!!! Netanyahu is the only one smiling. Unfortunately, there are those who love "this bloody HELL!!!".
Bring the hostages home!!! Stop the killing!!!!
Seems like you missed the last third of the article there. Maybe re-read the entire thing and modify your comment?
Does Biden mention drawing down his massive investments in fossil fuels, or withdrawing his support for the Gaza genocide in the last third of the article? I must've missed it.
‘Glad you keep reading.
The US has been the largest supplier of arms since WWII.
What was Biden supposed to do, stop all arms sales except to the "good guys?"
And who are the "good guys?"
If the US doesn't supply weapons to the world, someone else will fill the void like North Korea, Russia, China etc.
After the incredible disappointment Biden went through in deciding to step off the ticket, he is proving unbelievably graceful as he departs the scene. He is providing profound analysis we would be well to heed. No, he has not solved everything and many problems did not end under his administration. But the utter nonsense of an under-informed narcissist solving these complex challenges is simply absurd. Vote, people, as the dangers ahead are real.