“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.
Laurie, it is sad so many of our "broadcasters" feel they have to show Trump's crap to see what their' "victim's" reaction will be. That is insulting! Pumping out Trump nonsense to see what a true leader and patriot like Nancy Pelosi thinks of it is ridiculous. It is like asking Harris about Trump's stupid lie about Harris not always being Black. Her response that it was the same old playbook was a good one, but she should never have been asked. There were so many other topics that could have been discussed, such a question is an insult and a waste of time, but they get "likes" or something, so they will continue. Someone will blurt out that people should respond to Trump. I think they should just say something like, Trump has no idea what he is talking about and needs no response beyond this!"
The less Trump rants are repeated the better. That kind of free advertising is what helps him. It carried 2016. Watch now for the "Communist" counterattacks. Stay on these new people. Keep them on the right track.
Jake Tapper didn’t need to play a clip of Trump’s drivel to bait Nancy Pelosi. This is CNN’s formula—try to get a rise out of the guest. I’m glad to hear that she called him out for it. Nancy can cut through a “journalist’s” BS very quickly and correct
them with the truth. She is concerned for our democracy and knows that there is little time until the election.
Good. I hope he gets more of it from more people. Trump is a mental midget with the emotional skills of a seventh-grader. He never got past that stage and he needs to go and take his minions with him.
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.
First, America, then the world have been deeply alienated over the past 35 years by the tide of Virtual Reality.
Like Russia and China... Africa, too, the sheer size of America is so great that, even without this, there's a grave danger of taking one's land for the whole world, the only one that matters...
When I first came to the US in 1994, I couldn't for the life of me understand why it felt like I'd landed on another planet... something never felt in Asia or on the high plains under Kilimanjaro.
Only in Time Square did I get the clue.
Virtual Reality has upset our world more than any invasion of extraterrestrial aliens.
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.
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.
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.
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.
James, very good points. To me, cynicism is the opposite of Mr. Rogers’ belief that there will always be helpers; it assumes that everyone is only out for themselves and that every interaction has a zero sum result (if I help them, there is less for me). That is why Moreno assumes that anyone who believes that they (not their partner or relative) might need an abortion will care and everyone else won’t.
A phase that became somewhat popular in the 1980s was "I'm a realist, not an idealist". It seemed to me to be a cynical false duality, rationalizing rejecting responsibility. Idealism in concert with realism got us out of the caves, and is the creative engine of progress.
The Constitution is an example. It lays out a "blueprint" for a just government, along with a specific plan of means by which to accomplish this. It foresaw the need for vigilance and action against unacceptable human behavior, and also included a means for it's own update and correction.
MLK's "dream" is not impossible, just very difficult. We have made some steps in that direction, but not without fierce resistance. The insistence on discounting everything that is good is every bit as naive, and at least as dangerous, as ignoring everything in life that is harmful.
. To be skeptical is to be curious. They are two sides of the same “wisdom” coin.
Exactly, and wisdom is different from clever. Cleverness can help, but isn't essential. "Wisdom" seems to be a difficult concept to nail down. After all, what do we know? I think it "sees" the forest AND the trees, bit since there so much more to process that is remotely possible, it involves the ability to pick out what is fruitful to attend to. What most matters? In some ways that's highly, personally subjective and in other way not. It is my belief that we as a society don't think and talk nearly enough about wisdom, and that it would be wise to do so. Wisdom invites us to examine our own values as well as our own understanding.
You’re preaching to the choir. To that I will add that wisdom is hard to define because it’s so many things, but it seems to me that wisdom and maturity are just different words expressing the same meaning. And I think a mature individual is someone who cares about the people who are influenced by the individual’s behavior. If you tell an individual their behavior is having a unnecessarily negative impact on others, and the individual doesn’t appear to care, then the individual is insufficiently mature, aka lacks wisdom. But the individual would then have improved their odds of winning a Republican primary.
Yes. Emotional maturity. The teen-aged Greta Thunberg vs then President Trump. We have to learn to care for others as well as to take care of ourselves.
Exactly. Excessively selfish choices, bereft of enlightened self-interest and genuine empathy, can bring about the downfall of the narcissist as well as the human race; but that's what the former "Party of Lincoln" is now all about. It is no longer a party but an irrational cult, the like of which we have seen before in history, created with by those with accumulated wealth on a scale of some nations, such as Leo and Musk. Follow the money.
I thought his quote from Yeats was so to the point. That's exactly where the world was headed in the late 30s, though years before Yeats wrote that famous poem. Eastern Europe and Russia was beset with revolutionary and ethnic strife. 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.
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.
The Soviet Union indeed was the main objective of the Germans. Leibenstraum or living space. Huge swaths of people, among them Ukrainians, were to be literally exterminated, esp by starvation, so Germans could colonize. Slavs in general were considered "subhuman"... Jews too of course.
LEBENSRAUM, Frank... LEIB=body and TRAUM= dream...
And yes, it would maybe be as well if Americans could realize that the Soviets were both the main victors and the main victims of WW2.
My naval officer dad served escorting convoys round North Cape to supply the Soviets. And later, on the planning of the Normandy invasion. Detailed to take part in the final assault on Japan. As a Brit, deeply aware of islanders' mentality, he expected to die in that invasion...
But even here, Americans are mistaken in believing the final defeat of Japan was entirely due to the A-bomb.
Even before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese Emperor was concerned to surrender to America, anything to avoid a Soviet invasion.
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.
The allies knew from the beginning that it had to be a team effort. They just wondered why it took Pearl Harbour to convince the US. Trump wants to take America back to the good old days of American splendid isolation. Would it take another direct attack on the United States to change that again? One more reason to vote blue.
There were huge isolationist forces in the USA then, and Britain was seen more as the world's largest imperial power than a democracy as such. It was Germany ie Hitler himself which declared war on the US following Japan's surprise attack. Even the Japanese knew that once the US mobilized itself economically for war, it would just be a matter of time before the military might of the US would overwhelm them. The Germans had a similar problem, and when the war against Russia bogged down, and with Americans now shipping war material into Russia, by 43 the Germans found themself outnumbered and outgunned. Within another year, the Russians were overrunning the Germans. It was oversized production of tanks et al from the US which allowed the British reverse the tide in north Africa. Sorry, i'm not trying up brag US military might, but that was the main factor behind Allied victory in WW2. Mind you, once the Russians got going, initially with American help, they also could outproduce the Germans. I think something like that happened in Great Britain as well.
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.
No need, Frank. You're right here, as in another item where I've just made a correction. You've seen what many are blind to, you've identified something correctly but... a little out of focus.
And it helped a great deal to help these former enemies regain prosperity and dignity, Had we just left them to struggle or attempted to subjugate them, I think that tensions would have grown. That mistake in WWI helped empower Hitler.
Yes, you're so right, Yeats put his finger on just what had been and was happening. He had some exotic beliefs about The Second Coming which provided some of the motif for the poem, "And what rough beast, its hour come around at least, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born". This is one of the few poems I've memorized in my life at one time or another.
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.
Commonplace stupidity is relatively innocuous as far as individuals are concerned. Most stupid people can't do much harm to anyone but themselves, precisely because their stupidity is such a limiting factor. Only collectively do suchlike become problematic. But there are superior levels of stupidity and the highest and most hubristic is open only to the highly intelligent.
These are often moral idiots, like Stalin or Karl Rove, but gifted in so many other respects; in whom intelligence is accompanied by a cast-iron belief in their own superiority.
Perhaps it has above all to do with separation, the illusion of apartness, the excessive sense of separate identity which intelligence can exacerbate. I see myself as an exception, and thus I come to separate myself more and more from ‘the common herd’. Only, in so doing, I become less human. Or simply, I am diminished. Add to that, macho behaviour patterns induced by one’s family conditioning and the hyper-development of defense mechanisms, and you get a rather nasty kind of narcissism. When all goes wrong in my life, I can always lord it over my own farmyard, crow and peck twice as much at all the hens and get into more fights with other roosters... Whatever may be wrong has nothing to do with me - Co-Co-Ri-CO!!!!!
This kind of handicap comes with wealth, but when Jesus speaks of how hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom, we understand his words only in terms of material wealth. Intellectual wealth can also separate one from humanity and above all from one’s own humanity.
* * *
I guess one of the major differences between the sexes is that fewer women attain ultra-stupidity. But that pattern, too, is changing.
Umberto Eco (Italian writer), has a take on this. "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
Basically social media has elevated bullschittery to all our lives, no matter where it originates. Definite down side
Art, I once beat my husband at chess. He was a very good chess player; I was the village idiot at chess (couldn’t figure out each pieces moves). I won by shear stupidity and a long time. He was so frustrated that my idiocy was driving him into mistakes. I had just a few pieces left but check mated him. He was so upset that he said he would never play a game with me again! I hate games so I was delighted. So sometimes being stupid succeeds. Isn’t that terrifying?
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.
I agree on the quality of the analysis. The other UN Members recognize that Biden's speech will provide the framework for the foreign policy of the Harris Administration.
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.
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.
That man has false hope, imagining what he will do with all his winnings...that is why I have only had one lottery ticket; I actually started imagining.......also why I only was in a casino one time (Trump Casino, Atlantic City, a comp. from Ivana) I played the $20 I was gifted when I came in and realized I didn't want to leave the machine because the next person might get "my" winnings.
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.
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.
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.
As has been the case for so many, humility is an acquired taste. President Biden has shown that. The death of his belovèd Beau and the slide into the HELL of addiction of his belovèd Hunter have made him a sadder but far wiser man. The agency of humility acquired by facing and suffering through very human, very personal tragedy -- like the traffic accident that killed his belovèd wife and baby over half a century ago -- has made him a great and effective President. G-D bless this great man.
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!
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.
We sure do have. This "talk" about a Two State Solution.....what? There are two States: Gaza (an open air concentration camp) and the West Bank, having been settled by armed Brown Shirts and as we speak, Palestinian farms being bulldozed for more. Since Oct 7 there have been 6? 8? 12? new settlements built.
There is no solution except complete extermination of every last Palestinian.
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.
Everyday Joe is a wise man and again, “there is no shortcut to experience”. We have been fortunate to have been lead by the leader we all needed and yet we really had no idea till we have the perspective of recall. We must celebrate with gratitude
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.
And yet through all these discussions of how Israel should restrain itself and be restrained (as if that were possible) no-one, nobody provides a solution for the fact that Iran's proxies continuously attack Israel. Endlessly attacking.
I would also add that the Palestinians have embraced a terrorist organization since 2006. While I agree that Netanyahu is a monster and his approach to this is brutally stupid...where is the Gazan accountability for sheltering and supporting rapists, kidnappers and murderers?
Hamas is their government and their freedom fighters. Do you think they were all just happy happy living under Israeli domination? The Gaza concentration camp and the West Bank which were supposed to be the Two State Solution...it sure didn't work out too well for them, did it? The only reason the suicide mission ended up with more than just military personnel killed was there was no protection by the IDF. One reason they were able to take hostages was the IDF wasn't able to kill all the hostages via the Hannibal Directive. What would you do if you and your family was living under Apartheid? (far worse than in S. Africas)
What would I do if I lived under apartheid? I might fight the military. But I wouldn't rape, kidnap or murder civilians - people at a "peace concert"...or hurt anybody other than my imprisoners.
No doubt that the IDF failed to protect 1200 plus people. But that doesn't excuse the act by Hamas, does it?
I am a peacenik. If I witnessed my wife and daughter raped and murdered by Hamas I would probably pick up a weapon and ask where are those people - so I could exact justice.
And yet, if I were a Palestinian kid staring at the rubble that used to be my home - with my family buried underneath it - I'd sign up with Hamas in a heartbeat.
Looking at this from a safe distance, it's easy to pick a side. But I can't. The ultra religious nutcase West Bank settlers are no different than the Hamas murderers or the Taliban or our Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
The people - on both sides - must reject the violence or die by it. Maybe this will end the way it did in Ireland. Women finally said "enough".
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.
US is not the target. We are the chumps. Iran does not want war. Hamas was not looking for their OWN advantage, they were trying to change and/or bring attention to the despair their people were, and sure are now, living in. The excursion into Israel Oct 7th was a suicide mission. How could they expect not to be mowed down by IDF who have a history of mowing down Palestinians. Of course there is division in the Democratic party: there are voters, esp. those college kids, then there are those who want to keep their seats or get a seat, in Government. You can't keep your seat, no matter how you think or feel, if you go against AIPAC. Biden can do nothing but wish and keep giving.
Israel is asking for trouble which they know will come because there is a limit even though Iran and Hezbollah have held off while Israel does dirty tricks with pagers. more bombing, more bulldozing the West Bank. Israel knows we and other countries will cover them with more weapons and whatever else they need.
It's like "Watch this! And, this! And, now this" All the US government can do is sit and wring its very generous hands.
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.
I don't see it as a war between. I see it as a war on. Oct 7 happened because of the loss of hope of 2 million living in the most crowded place on earth, under the rule of a sadistic colonial power. Peaceful demonstrations , inside the wall, led to many hundreds being shot by those skilled IDF sharpshooters and hundreds of homes destroyed. Israeli name for occasional showing them a lesson is: "Mowing the Lawn".... An Israeli sport.
All I knew before Oct 7 was kids throwing stones at soldiers. I know a LOT more now. It's endless.
Sickening. I imagine that earlier on, the influence of AIPAC seemed relatively harmless. after all, there was money for campaigns and it supported a cause for those victims who we thought were an ally and (Ha Ha) a Democracy. Trying to convince them to stop building illegal settlements went no where.
It's the same in the Hasidic areas in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...they do not respect zoning or any rules.
Just plow ahead breaking the rules and threaten using their voting blocks. Families with 10-14 children add to the voting blocks. Sounds antisemitic but I was in NYC real estate as a Real Estate Broker and investor in whole buildings.(NYC was SO cheap before the 1990's)
The Hasidic population lives outside the rules. Children attendi tax paid schools that teach nothing to fit them for a life outside the Hasidic community. Young men, as in Israel , do nothing but study religious texts and knock up their wives. The rules set by any outside agency like the UN are ignored.
We are seeing that now. A few dozen war crimes against humanity, blocking food and medical supplies is their religious duty to the Zionist cause, The people they are killing, maiming, starving and terrorizing are obstacles to the ultimate goal of a pure religious country. There are attacks on Christian communities that have lived and worshipped in Palestine for hundreds of years.
This is True... I've seen this in the Haredi Neighborhoods in L.A. ... The Irony is that Jerusalem was freed from Muslim rule in the Middle Ages by the first Christian Crusade. Jerusalem was liberated from Turkish rule during WW1 by the British, and their Arab Allies... In both Instances, their was only a very small Jewish Population in Palestine who didn't participate in those Actions... Zionism is the product of a late 19th Century Political Theory... It was given impetus by the Balfour Declaration of 1917... The Survivors of the Jewish Holocaust help found Modern Israel... In order to found an Jewish ethno-State, they had to conduct the Nakba... The current Tragedies stem from that... The Irony is that the Haredi deeply resist participation in the Israeli Military, and paying taxes...
US President Barack Obama makes his famous Cairo speech in which he says "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements".
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorizes the construction of 300 new homes in West Bank settlements.
August
US President Barack Obama demands a complete freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Israeli government agrees to a freeze in the West Bank. Peace Now argues that Israel is attempting to fool the United States.
And, on and on and on. Since 1972
WE can do nothing about it. Send money to help those Palestinians who are left. They are actually good people. Hamas was never "the bad guy".
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 was killing me. I assume she wanted to keep the focus on Biden who is being picked on... But, he was speaking at the United Nations where that topic of the genocide, the exploding pagers and the bombing are the main concern. The speaker from Iran was very impressive. Iran does NOT want war. Problem is, they are the Palestinian's main friend...and they have to sneak weapons in. God knows Israel has very wealthy devoted friends who can deliver top notch weapons, no problema.
Thanks Craig... If Israel latest Wars Blow-Up into a Major Regional War, then one of Biden's Legacies Years 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....
Not very grateful or cooperative either. Netanyahu has zero respect for the USA. Then he speaks to Congress and they do 50some standing ovations....Are we sick, or what?
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 2005 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'...
Apache, your comment "smelled wrong" to me, so I checked. Your claim is incorrect.
"Although Jews make up just 2% of the U.S. population, nearly 7% of the new Congress is Jewish, with 37 Jews among the total of 535 lawmakers. In the Senate, the 10 Jewish members comprise 10% of that body; Jews comprise 7% of the House."*
Fact: Although AIPAC is the poster child for Jewish lobbyists, the group is actually a subgroup of Christians United for Israel, the largest at over 7 million members. This supports my assertion that it's Christians – more than Jews – who are pushing the Zionist agenda.
Regarding the book, I haven't read it. But there are credible reviews suggesting that it was written with an agenda critical of Jewish advocates. With that in mind, "enlightening" is not how I'd describe it.
Finally, I want to make it clear that I believe people of Jewish descent should be revered and respected, same as people from Africa, Central and South America. However, to award preferential treatment to any group, regardless of their ethnic and/or religious heritage, with the belief that they have "magical powers" is both ignorant and disrespectful.
No matter who started it, whether it's crazy Christians – more than Jews – who are pushing the Zionist agenda....it's influencing our representatives to support Israel unconditionally and supporting genocide.
There are many really fine Jews in the USA. I feel for them. They may have, probably have, been donating to Israel. Why not; it's the land of the Jews.
Now, how are they doing? Many are demonstrating, NOT IN MY NAME and they mean it. The foremost scholars on this situation are Israeli Jews.
Antisemitism will rise again. With this Holocaust, it can't be stamped out no matter how much people try to make it politically incorrect. Or, not nice. After WW2, anything German was verboten for over 4 decades. Israel is counting on acceptance much sooner since they have these "good friends" in high places.
There won't be a memorials all over for Palestinians.
Hello Dale... Thanks for the Correction... I was Dealing with incorrect Information... AIPAC is widely considered the most Powerful Lobby in Washington D.C. .... Are the Evangelicals backing the Zionist Agenda hoping for the 'Apocalyptic End Of Days'?... I still don't see how that benefits the Majority in the USA... You should read the Book, and then Cross-Reference it... Study it like a Graduate Paper...
AIPAC is Zionist... These Wars are making Israel a Pariah among Nations... The USA is losing 'Soft Power' by the overt Israeli Aggression against its Neighbors that could eventually Result in over 100,000 Deaths... Because of the Power of the Israel Lobby, Netanyahu can ignore Biden, which makes the USA appear Weak & Feckless... This may damage Kamala with Younger Voters, and depress their Turn-Out... This would help DJT & Netanyahu... I don't think that the majority of People in this Country, or SubStack would like that outcome...
Evangelical beliefs are notoriously non-systematic. That is, they lack logic or a system. This is what allows them to hold beliefs that are incongruous or in diametric opposition, one from another. They claim it's "faith," but it's really just a lack of critical thought, believing random stuff because their preachers and teachers told them to. Note: Unlike mainline denominations, which require their clergy to have seminary training, evangelicals maintain low educational requirements; some, none at all. "If the Lord calls you to preach, you can preach."
Consequently, evangelical Zionism isn't really connected to "The Last Days." ("Apocalyptic" is the word you meant.) It's solely a matter of coddling Israel so God will "bless" America, which is the goal of Christian Nationalists, among other things.
Evangelicals are nothing, if not transactional. Every action results in a reward or a punishment. Give your heart to Jesus —> Go to heaven. Commit a sin —> Go to h*ll. Give church money —> Become prosperous. This is why evangelicals relate to Donald Trump. Evangelicals obsess about going to heaven. This is why they have little interest in making the world a better place. For those who think they're too young to die before "Jesus comes back," the Apocalypse is a means to that end.
Thanks for the info... The AIPAC Members, and Recipients of its Efforts are a Relatively Small Minority in the USA... It however does have Great Power in DC... For instance, look at the Leaders in the House & Senate... Look at how AIPAC is influencing this Election, and US Foreign Policy...
For a couple of thousand years, the Christians were not being nice to the Jews. There's a much bigger picture to this. Does God tell the Christians and the Jews to do what they are doing now? Dozens of war crimes against humanity??
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
President Biden did a very good job...all his life. And, suffered unimaginable tragedies. I don't like blaming him for Gaza...I am convinced that any President would do the same given the forces that control US politics. And, his devotion to what he sees as the Jewish peoples...
Hey, look at Germany, they are really unhinged. Good intentions for a very wrong cause.
I agree, Joe has been a good public servant. My biggest complaint about him is how he handled Clarence Thomas and his SCOTUS hearing. As to Israel that's been a regional problem from the beginning...and it's never been settled. The Arabs and the Jews are the Hatfields and McCoys...it's Shakespearean and VERY tragic. The people just need to put down the weapons and say enough already. This is stupid fighting over God.
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.
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.
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."
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.
What on earth do you have in common with this awful neighbor?
She is "disgusted by the catholic charities giving aid and comfort to immigrants at our southern border." Isn't that one of the good things that church does?
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.”
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.
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.
History is the whole of things, not just social and political history, but cosmology, evolution, archeology, really all of leaning. Right now, we are observing; but countless observations are stored in our memory. We now how to turn on a water tap because we have a memory. We know that a reproachful look from a cat means it needs feeding. We know the word "Know" because we were taught. Making wise choices without some reasonable understanding of how things got to be the way they are (natural history or social history) is like taking a test on a book you never read; your answers are unlikely to serve you.
The arts? Exploration and expression of lived human experience. The sun radiates electromagnetic radiation (including light) from natural thermonuclear fusion, AND it's "rosy fingered dawn". The experience of a taste of honey can only be fully realized by tasting it. We are not just on individual mind but the interplay of many; and we share, compare and contrast our individual discoveries, experiences, and imaginings. It's the arts that get under the skin.
Too much in our society is cut, dried, and shrink-wrapped. We don't talk enough about the conundrums and the wonder of being human.
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...
Exactly. We are social creatures; why my dog and I want time together. I think music and dance are far more powerful channels of human bonding and communication than we typically acknowledge. We are allowing the arts that in many respects bind and guide our civilization be co-opted by commercial interests. Tribal is human, for the good and the bad of it. Narcissistic exclusivity is toxic when it pushes away our capacities for extended empathy and understanding, on the individual scale or of a community.
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.
As a video production professional, I witness far too many silos across business & govt, inside business and govt...too many people in power who care about their personal survival too much...or the organizations survival. The Wire is a great example of that. David Simon as a reporter saw the silos of Police Dept., Education Dept., Mayor...and drug dealers...and illustrated it brilliantly in his books and TV. It hit too close to home and our Mayor, then Governor made sure the tax breaks went away...and the show folded. So they went to NOLA and did the same thing with Treme.
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.
To my way of thinking, cross-disciplinary studies are key to deep understanding, but it takes a lot more time and a lot more work, and is less compatible to reducing instruction to algorithms. We seem to let commercial momentum set a lot of our agendas, and take little time to ask what we are aiming for, or might be wise to examine, in our prescribed routines of education. Could it be that we are losing STEAM?
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?
To be honest, I think that's what Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, and many others before and after, have been trying to tell us. Pay attention to those mind-blowing, heart expanding moments. They will help you grow beyond your current limitations into a more perfect story.
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.
Curious that I wrote about battles won and war lost without knowing that you were a Vietnam veteran.
Strangely, when I think of that metaphor, I associate it with the Vietnamese. Perhaps what that really means is that winning wars is one thing. Winning the peace is a longer haul... both for victor and for loser.
Peter, thanks for the critique. A gifted friend suggested the people I killed in Vietnam are grateful. They’re free. I’m hoping for enough time to make sense of the realities of this life. My gratitude for your crit reminds me that even not knowing, I still wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
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..."
And how rich, accurate, and adaptable are the "answers" for which we are willing to settle; or not settle; at least not completely. We "stand on the shoulders of giants" (as well as so, so many whose presence is now forgotten) and, with luck and fortitude, we will all leave a part of a foothold (both our insights and errors) with which others may climb.
Phil, I would like to trust teachers too, but the quality of my teachers varied enormously. I had a few, very few, just awful ones, who never should have been teaching, a handful of truly great ones, and a large number of so-so to pretty-good ones. But all those who taught about the history of this country based their courses on total and profound acceptance of manifest destiny and superiority of the white race. This acceptance was so complete that nothing about it was ever said.
New topic: It’s very difficult to attract the very finest to the teaching profession given the state of all too many of the schools nowadays.
When the immigrants came into NYC as nobodies, they had teachers who couldn't get jobs anywhere else.......Smart Jews and smart women. If they were so inclined, they got tremendous schooling and became somebodies. Now, anyone can get better paying jobs and don't have to put up with brats. Dedicated teachers are an endangered species. What kind of education are low class or even middle class kids getting now?
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 🤷♂️
As a public school kid in San Antonio in the 1970s, we had all of that. I received a great public high school education with band & sports (I skipped visual arts in favor of music). Went on to public university and public law school.
We can support our teachers and solid curriculum, if we can get the fear-mongering politicians and Moms of Liberty off of our school boards and out of the discord. As HCR says, we must pay attention to every local race.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Laurie, it is sad so many of our "broadcasters" feel they have to show Trump's crap to see what their' "victim's" reaction will be. That is insulting! Pumping out Trump nonsense to see what a true leader and patriot like Nancy Pelosi thinks of it is ridiculous. It is like asking Harris about Trump's stupid lie about Harris not always being Black. Her response that it was the same old playbook was a good one, but she should never have been asked. There were so many other topics that could have been discussed, such a question is an insult and a waste of time, but they get "likes" or something, so they will continue. Someone will blurt out that people should respond to Trump. I think they should just say something like, Trump has no idea what he is talking about and needs no response beyond this!"
The less Trump rants are repeated the better. That kind of free advertising is what helps him. It carried 2016. Watch now for the "Communist" counterattacks. Stay on these new people. Keep them on the right track.
Jake Tapper didn’t need to play a clip of Trump’s drivel to bait Nancy Pelosi. This is CNN’s formula—try to get a rise out of the guest. I’m glad to hear that she called him out for it. Nancy can cut through a “journalist’s” BS very quickly and correct
them with the truth. She is concerned for our democracy and knows that there is little time until the election.
Good. I hope he gets more of it from more people. Trump is a mental midget with the emotional skills of a seventh-grader. He never got past that stage and he needs to go and take his minions with him.
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.
Not just MAGA Republicans.
First, America, then the world have been deeply alienated over the past 35 years by the tide of Virtual Reality.
Like Russia and China... Africa, too, the sheer size of America is so great that, even without this, there's a grave danger of taking one's land for the whole world, the only one that matters...
When I first came to the US in 1994, I couldn't for the life of me understand why it felt like I'd landed on another planet... something never felt in Asia or on the high plains under Kilimanjaro.
Only in Time Square did I get the clue.
Virtual Reality has upset our world more than any invasion of extraterrestrial aliens.
Chaos spiked with venom and hubris. His unchanging recipe (just more of each).
DJT is the only issue in this election. Everything else is a distraction.
Don't even want to think about it, and that i'm sure was the largest elephant in the room.
It would be crude, indignant, self-congratulatory, and all about him. Just fill in the blanks.
Lady, gag emoji.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
And the other guy is the one "saved by angels." Some people will believe anything.
What kind of "angels"? Working for whom?
P
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.
James, very good points. To me, cynicism is the opposite of Mr. Rogers’ belief that there will always be helpers; it assumes that everyone is only out for themselves and that every interaction has a zero sum result (if I help them, there is less for me). That is why Moreno assumes that anyone who believes that they (not their partner or relative) might need an abortion will care and everyone else won’t.
A phase that became somewhat popular in the 1980s was "I'm a realist, not an idealist". It seemed to me to be a cynical false duality, rationalizing rejecting responsibility. Idealism in concert with realism got us out of the caves, and is the creative engine of progress.
The Constitution is an example. It lays out a "blueprint" for a just government, along with a specific plan of means by which to accomplish this. It foresaw the need for vigilance and action against unacceptable human behavior, and also included a means for it's own update and correction.
MLK's "dream" is not impossible, just very difficult. We have made some steps in that direction, but not without fierce resistance. The insistence on discounting everything that is good is every bit as naive, and at least as dangerous, as ignoring everything in life that is harmful.
. To be skeptical is to be curious. They are two sides of the same “wisdom” coin.
Exactly, and wisdom is different from clever. Cleverness can help, but isn't essential. "Wisdom" seems to be a difficult concept to nail down. After all, what do we know? I think it "sees" the forest AND the trees, bit since there so much more to process that is remotely possible, it involves the ability to pick out what is fruitful to attend to. What most matters? In some ways that's highly, personally subjective and in other way not. It is my belief that we as a society don't think and talk nearly enough about wisdom, and that it would be wise to do so. Wisdom invites us to examine our own values as well as our own understanding.
You’re preaching to the choir. To that I will add that wisdom is hard to define because it’s so many things, but it seems to me that wisdom and maturity are just different words expressing the same meaning. And I think a mature individual is someone who cares about the people who are influenced by the individual’s behavior. If you tell an individual their behavior is having a unnecessarily negative impact on others, and the individual doesn’t appear to care, then the individual is insufficiently mature, aka lacks wisdom. But the individual would then have improved their odds of winning a Republican primary.
Yes. Emotional maturity. The teen-aged Greta Thunberg vs then President Trump. We have to learn to care for others as well as to take care of ourselves.
Good points
Exactly. Excessively selfish choices, bereft of enlightened self-interest and genuine empathy, can bring about the downfall of the narcissist as well as the human race; but that's what the former "Party of Lincoln" is now all about. It is no longer a party but an irrational cult, the like of which we have seen before in history, created with by those with accumulated wealth on a scale of some nations, such as Leo and Musk. Follow the money.
I thought his quote from Yeats was so to the point. That's exactly where the world was headed in the late 30s, though years before Yeats wrote that famous poem. Eastern Europe and Russia was beset with revolutionary and ethnic strife. 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.
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.
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.
The Soviet Union indeed was the main objective of the Germans. Leibenstraum or living space. Huge swaths of people, among them Ukrainians, were to be literally exterminated, esp by starvation, so Germans could colonize. Slavs in general were considered "subhuman"... Jews too of course.
LEBENSRAUM, Frank... LEIB=body and TRAUM= dream...
And yes, it would maybe be as well if Americans could realize that the Soviets were both the main victors and the main victims of WW2.
My naval officer dad served escorting convoys round North Cape to supply the Soviets. And later, on the planning of the Normandy invasion. Detailed to take part in the final assault on Japan. As a Brit, deeply aware of islanders' mentality, he expected to die in that invasion...
But even here, Americans are mistaken in believing the final defeat of Japan was entirely due to the A-bomb.
Even before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese Emperor was concerned to surrender to America, anything to avoid a Soviet invasion.
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.
The allies knew from the beginning that it had to be a team effort. They just wondered why it took Pearl Harbour to convince the US. Trump wants to take America back to the good old days of American splendid isolation. Would it take another direct attack on the United States to change that again? One more reason to vote blue.
There were huge isolationist forces in the USA then, and Britain was seen more as the world's largest imperial power than a democracy as such. It was Germany ie Hitler himself which declared war on the US following Japan's surprise attack. Even the Japanese knew that once the US mobilized itself economically for war, it would just be a matter of time before the military might of the US would overwhelm them. The Germans had a similar problem, and when the war against Russia bogged down, and with Americans now shipping war material into Russia, by 43 the Germans found themself outnumbered and outgunned. Within another year, the Russians were overrunning the Germans. It was oversized production of tanks et al from the US which allowed the British reverse the tide in north Africa. Sorry, i'm not trying up brag US military might, but that was the main factor behind Allied victory in WW2. Mind you, once the Russians got going, initially with American help, they also could outproduce the Germans. I think something like that happened in Great Britain as well.
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.
No need, Frank. You're right here, as in another item where I've just made a correction. You've seen what many are blind to, you've identified something correctly but... a little out of focus.
And we all know who the rough beasts slouching towards us are.
I love that poem. It’s one of my favorites.
And it helped a great deal to help these former enemies regain prosperity and dignity, Had we just left them to struggle or attempted to subjugate them, I think that tensions would have grown. That mistake in WWI helped empower Hitler.
In the current circumstances, the words that stand out to me in The Second Coming are the following:
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
In the face of the clear and present danger posed by Trump and his enablers to democracy, there must be no lack of conviction.
Yes, you're so right, Yeats put his finger on just what had been and was happening. He had some exotic beliefs about The Second Coming which provided some of the motif for the poem, "And what rough beast, its hour come around at least, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born". This is one of the few poems I've memorized in my life at one time or another.
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…
Very succinct way of saying it!
But love your elaboration
I found this 2005 piece among my notes:
TRANSCENDENTAL STUPIDITY
I have a pet theory about this.
Commonplace stupidity is relatively innocuous as far as individuals are concerned. Most stupid people can't do much harm to anyone but themselves, precisely because their stupidity is such a limiting factor. Only collectively do suchlike become problematic. But there are superior levels of stupidity and the highest and most hubristic is open only to the highly intelligent.
These are often moral idiots, like Stalin or Karl Rove, but gifted in so many other respects; in whom intelligence is accompanied by a cast-iron belief in their own superiority.
Perhaps it has above all to do with separation, the illusion of apartness, the excessive sense of separate identity which intelligence can exacerbate. I see myself as an exception, and thus I come to separate myself more and more from ‘the common herd’. Only, in so doing, I become less human. Or simply, I am diminished. Add to that, macho behaviour patterns induced by one’s family conditioning and the hyper-development of defense mechanisms, and you get a rather nasty kind of narcissism. When all goes wrong in my life, I can always lord it over my own farmyard, crow and peck twice as much at all the hens and get into more fights with other roosters... Whatever may be wrong has nothing to do with me - Co-Co-Ri-CO!!!!!
This kind of handicap comes with wealth, but when Jesus speaks of how hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom, we understand his words only in terms of material wealth. Intellectual wealth can also separate one from humanity and above all from one’s own humanity.
* * *
I guess one of the major differences between the sexes is that fewer women attain ultra-stupidity. But that pattern, too, is changing.
27/12/2005
Umberto Eco (Italian writer), has a take on this. "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
Basically social media has elevated bullschittery to all our lives, no matter where it originates. Definite down side
What a great observation!
Thanks for offering it.
It was offered to me somewhere along the way and it sure hit home. Proof that social media seeps into all our lives
Not for lack of trying
Till now, I didn't get your meaning!
Sure, MTG etc. can keep trying, but to be ultra-stupid you need a high IQ...
Observing the MAGAMedusas, you could write a playbook: 1001 Ways of Making a Fool of Yourself...
A variation on the old song:
Anything dumb you do
I can do better...
Stupidity can be a way of life.
Love your playbook. Every day I think they will run out of ways…or be called on the weaponized imbecility
So many great insights Peter, Especially regarding rich men and the eye of the needle and less stupidity manifesting in women
Greatly appreciated!
Moral idiots, and so proud of it.
Art, I once beat my husband at chess. He was a very good chess player; I was the village idiot at chess (couldn’t figure out each pieces moves). I won by shear stupidity and a long time. He was so frustrated that my idiocy was driving him into mistakes. I had just a few pieces left but check mated him. He was so upset that he said he would never play a game with me again! I hate games so I was delighted. So sometimes being stupid succeeds. Isn’t that terrifying?
What a great story Molly! It is terrifying, especially when so much can be gained by flaunting it these days.
Best laugh yet. My husband tried to teach me, but I hate games and he gave up.
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.
I agree on the quality of the analysis. The other UN Members recognize that Biden's speech will provide the framework for the foreign policy of the Harris Administration.
😂😝😜🤪😉
Ignorance
Apropos! Great men are visionary.
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.
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.
That man has false hope, imagining what he will do with all his winnings...that is why I have only had one lottery ticket; I actually started imagining.......also why I only was in a casino one time (Trump Casino, Atlantic City, a comp. from Ivana) I played the $20 I was gifted when I came in and realized I didn't want to leave the machine because the next person might get "my" winnings.
False hope is for losers.
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.
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
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.
President Biden's speech is about twenty-five minutes long. G-D bless this good man.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5134083/user-clip-president-bidens-final-address-united-nations
As has been the case for so many, humility is an acquired taste. President Biden has shown that. The death of his belovèd Beau and the slide into the HELL of addiction of his belovèd Hunter have made him a sadder but far wiser man. The agency of humility acquired by facing and suffering through very human, very personal tragedy -- like the traffic accident that killed his belovèd wife and baby over half a century ago -- has made him a great and effective President. G-D bless this great man.
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!
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.
We sure do have. This "talk" about a Two State Solution.....what? There are two States: Gaza (an open air concentration camp) and the West Bank, having been settled by armed Brown Shirts and as we speak, Palestinian farms being bulldozed for more. Since Oct 7 there have been 6? 8? 12? new settlements built.
There is no solution except complete extermination of every last Palestinian.
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!
My pleasure. : )
Beautifully written. You’ve made excellent points and I’m going to share it as well. Thank you!
Everyday Joe is a wise man and again, “there is no shortcut to experience”. We have been fortunate to have been lead by the leader we all needed and yet we really had no idea till we have the perspective of recall. We must celebrate with gratitude
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 ⭐
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.
And yet through all these discussions of how Israel should restrain itself and be restrained (as if that were possible) no-one, nobody provides a solution for the fact that Iran's proxies continuously attack Israel. Endlessly attacking.
I would also add that the Palestinians have embraced a terrorist organization since 2006. While I agree that Netanyahu is a monster and his approach to this is brutally stupid...where is the Gazan accountability for sheltering and supporting rapists, kidnappers and murderers?
Hamas is their government and their freedom fighters. Do you think they were all just happy happy living under Israeli domination? The Gaza concentration camp and the West Bank which were supposed to be the Two State Solution...it sure didn't work out too well for them, did it? The only reason the suicide mission ended up with more than just military personnel killed was there was no protection by the IDF. One reason they were able to take hostages was the IDF wasn't able to kill all the hostages via the Hannibal Directive. What would you do if you and your family was living under Apartheid? (far worse than in S. Africas)
What would I do if I lived under apartheid? I might fight the military. But I wouldn't rape, kidnap or murder civilians - people at a "peace concert"...or hurt anybody other than my imprisoners.
No doubt that the IDF failed to protect 1200 plus people. But that doesn't excuse the act by Hamas, does it?
I am a peacenik. If I witnessed my wife and daughter raped and murdered by Hamas I would probably pick up a weapon and ask where are those people - so I could exact justice.
And yet, if I were a Palestinian kid staring at the rubble that used to be my home - with my family buried underneath it - I'd sign up with Hamas in a heartbeat.
Looking at this from a safe distance, it's easy to pick a side. But I can't. The ultra religious nutcase West Bank settlers are no different than the Hamas murderers or the Taliban or our Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
The people - on both sides - must reject the violence or die by it. Maybe this will end the way it did in Ireland. Women finally said "enough".
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.
US is not the target. We are the chumps. Iran does not want war. Hamas was not looking for their OWN advantage, they were trying to change and/or bring attention to the despair their people were, and sure are now, living in. The excursion into Israel Oct 7th was a suicide mission. How could they expect not to be mowed down by IDF who have a history of mowing down Palestinians. Of course there is division in the Democratic party: there are voters, esp. those college kids, then there are those who want to keep their seats or get a seat, in Government. You can't keep your seat, no matter how you think or feel, if you go against AIPAC. Biden can do nothing but wish and keep giving.
Israel is asking for trouble which they know will come because there is a limit even though Iran and Hezbollah have held off while Israel does dirty tricks with pagers. more bombing, more bulldozing the West Bank. Israel knows we and other countries will cover them with more weapons and whatever else they need.
It's like "Watch this! And, this! And, now this" All the US government can do is sit and wring its very generous hands.
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.
I don't see it as a war between. I see it as a war on. Oct 7 happened because of the loss of hope of 2 million living in the most crowded place on earth, under the rule of a sadistic colonial power. Peaceful demonstrations , inside the wall, led to many hundreds being shot by those skilled IDF sharpshooters and hundreds of homes destroyed. Israeli name for occasional showing them a lesson is: "Mowing the Lawn".... An Israeli sport.
All I knew before Oct 7 was kids throwing stones at soldiers. I know a LOT more now. It's endless.
It has been written that Biden has been the biggest recipient of AIPAC $$$...
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…
Sickening. I imagine that earlier on, the influence of AIPAC seemed relatively harmless. after all, there was money for campaigns and it supported a cause for those victims who we thought were an ally and (Ha Ha) a Democracy. Trying to convince them to stop building illegal settlements went no where.
It's the same in the Hasidic areas in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...they do not respect zoning or any rules.
Just plow ahead breaking the rules and threaten using their voting blocks. Families with 10-14 children add to the voting blocks. Sounds antisemitic but I was in NYC real estate as a Real Estate Broker and investor in whole buildings.(NYC was SO cheap before the 1990's)
The Hasidic population lives outside the rules. Children attendi tax paid schools that teach nothing to fit them for a life outside the Hasidic community. Young men, as in Israel , do nothing but study religious texts and knock up their wives. The rules set by any outside agency like the UN are ignored.
We are seeing that now. A few dozen war crimes against humanity, blocking food and medical supplies is their religious duty to the Zionist cause, The people they are killing, maiming, starving and terrorizing are obstacles to the ultimate goal of a pure religious country. There are attacks on Christian communities that have lived and worshipped in Palestine for hundreds of years.
This is True... I've seen this in the Haredi Neighborhoods in L.A. ... The Irony is that Jerusalem was freed from Muslim rule in the Middle Ages by the first Christian Crusade. Jerusalem was liberated from Turkish rule during WW1 by the British, and their Arab Allies... In both Instances, their was only a very small Jewish Population in Palestine who didn't participate in those Actions... Zionism is the product of a late 19th Century Political Theory... It was given impetus by the Balfour Declaration of 1917... The Survivors of the Jewish Holocaust help found Modern Israel... In order to found an Jewish ethno-State, they had to conduct the Nakba... The current Tragedies stem from that... The Irony is that the Haredi deeply resist participation in the Israeli Military, and paying taxes...
Right. ...... These are Americans, going against America's interests.
check wikipedia Israeli settlements..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settlement_timeline
June 2009:
US President Barack Obama makes his famous Cairo speech in which he says "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements".
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorizes the construction of 300 new homes in West Bank settlements.
August
US President Barack Obama demands a complete freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Israeli government agrees to a freeze in the West Bank. Peace Now argues that Israel is attempting to fool the United States.
And, on and on and on. Since 1972
WE can do nothing about it. Send money to help those Palestinians who are left. They are actually good people. Hamas was never "the bad guy".
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.
It was killing me. I assume she wanted to keep the focus on Biden who is being picked on... But, he was speaking at the United Nations where that topic of the genocide, the exploding pagers and the bombing are the main concern. The speaker from Iran was very impressive. Iran does NOT want war. Problem is, they are the Palestinian's main friend...and they have to sneak weapons in. God knows Israel has very wealthy devoted friends who can deliver top notch weapons, no problema.
Thanks Craig... If Israel latest Wars Blow-Up into a Major Regional War, then one of Biden's Legacies Years 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....
Israeli Bulldozers Flatten Mile After Mile in the West Bank.
Videos from Tulkarm and Jenin show bulldozers destroying infrastructure and businesses, as well as soldiers impeding local emergency responders.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/world/middleeast/west-bank-raids.html
That is Zionism in Action... The Nakba in 1947 was larger in Scale, and Faster... The MSM shields a lot of this from popular view...
America has hitched its wagon to a rabid beast.
A very Self-Centered, Ravenous Beast at that...
Not very grateful or cooperative either. Netanyahu has zero respect for the USA. Then he speaks to Congress and they do 50some standing ovations....Are we sick, or what?
Netanyahu plays the USA like 'Suckers & Fools'... While picking our Pockets...
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 2005 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'...
Apache, your comment "smelled wrong" to me, so I checked. Your claim is incorrect.
"Although Jews make up just 2% of the U.S. population, nearly 7% of the new Congress is Jewish, with 37 Jews among the total of 535 lawmakers. In the Senate, the 10 Jewish members comprise 10% of that body; Jews comprise 7% of the House."*
Fact: Although AIPAC is the poster child for Jewish lobbyists, the group is actually a subgroup of Christians United for Israel, the largest at over 7 million members. This supports my assertion that it's Christians – more than Jews – who are pushing the Zionist agenda.
Regarding the book, I haven't read it. But there are credible reviews suggesting that it was written with an agenda critical of Jewish advocates. With that in mind, "enlightening" is not how I'd describe it.
Finally, I want to make it clear that I believe people of Jewish descent should be revered and respected, same as people from Africa, Central and South America. However, to award preferential treatment to any group, regardless of their ethnic and/or religious heritage, with the belief that they have "magical powers" is both ignorant and disrespectful.
*https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-members-of-the-118th-congress
No matter who started it, whether it's crazy Christians – more than Jews – who are pushing the Zionist agenda....it's influencing our representatives to support Israel unconditionally and supporting genocide.
There are many really fine Jews in the USA. I feel for them. They may have, probably have, been donating to Israel. Why not; it's the land of the Jews.
Now, how are they doing? Many are demonstrating, NOT IN MY NAME and they mean it. The foremost scholars on this situation are Israeli Jews.
Antisemitism will rise again. With this Holocaust, it can't be stamped out no matter how much people try to make it politically incorrect. Or, not nice. After WW2, anything German was verboten for over 4 decades. Israel is counting on acceptance much sooner since they have these "good friends" in high places.
There won't be a memorials all over for Palestinians.
Hello Dale... Thanks for the Correction... I was Dealing with incorrect Information... AIPAC is widely considered the most Powerful Lobby in Washington D.C. .... Are the Evangelicals backing the Zionist Agenda hoping for the 'Apocalyptic End Of Days'?... I still don't see how that benefits the Majority in the USA... You should read the Book, and then Cross-Reference it... Study it like a Graduate Paper...
AIPAC does NOT benefit the USA....not, even the Jews, but, they (most, many, some?) haven't figured it out yet. It doesn't even benefit Israel.
AIPAC is Zionist... These Wars are making Israel a Pariah among Nations... The USA is losing 'Soft Power' by the overt Israeli Aggression against its Neighbors that could eventually Result in over 100,000 Deaths... Because of the Power of the Israel Lobby, Netanyahu can ignore Biden, which makes the USA appear Weak & Feckless... This may damage Kamala with Younger Voters, and depress their Turn-Out... This would help DJT & Netanyahu... I don't think that the majority of People in this Country, or SubStack would like that outcome...
Evangelical beliefs are notoriously non-systematic. That is, they lack logic or a system. This is what allows them to hold beliefs that are incongruous or in diametric opposition, one from another. They claim it's "faith," but it's really just a lack of critical thought, believing random stuff because their preachers and teachers told them to. Note: Unlike mainline denominations, which require their clergy to have seminary training, evangelicals maintain low educational requirements; some, none at all. "If the Lord calls you to preach, you can preach."
Consequently, evangelical Zionism isn't really connected to "The Last Days." ("Apocalyptic" is the word you meant.) It's solely a matter of coddling Israel so God will "bless" America, which is the goal of Christian Nationalists, among other things.
Evangelicals are nothing, if not transactional. Every action results in a reward or a punishment. Give your heart to Jesus —> Go to heaven. Commit a sin —> Go to h*ll. Give church money —> Become prosperous. This is why evangelicals relate to Donald Trump. Evangelicals obsess about going to heaven. This is why they have little interest in making the world a better place. For those who think they're too young to die before "Jesus comes back," the Apocalypse is a means to that end.
Thanks for the info... The AIPAC Members, and Recipients of its Efforts are a Relatively Small Minority in the USA... It however does have Great Power in DC... For instance, look at the Leaders in the House & Senate... Look at how AIPAC is influencing this Election, and US Foreign Policy...
I have heard Mearsheimer speak on youtube many times.....He's brilliant.
And, ILan Pappe's book: "Lobbying for Zionism on both sides of the Atlantic."
It's highly touted by those I follow on YOUTUBE
It too much truth about AIPAC for the NYTimes...so, no reviews there.
See reviews in Amazon.
For a couple of thousand years, the Christians were not being nice to the Jews. There's a much bigger picture to this. Does God tell the Christians and the Jews to do what they are doing now? Dozens of war crimes against humanity??
“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
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
President Biden did a very good job...all his life. And, suffered unimaginable tragedies. I don't like blaming him for Gaza...I am convinced that any President would do the same given the forces that control US politics. And, his devotion to what he sees as the Jewish peoples...
Hey, look at Germany, they are really unhinged. Good intentions for a very wrong cause.
I agree, Joe has been a good public servant. My biggest complaint about him is how he handled Clarence Thomas and his SCOTUS hearing. As to Israel that's been a regional problem from the beginning...and it's never been settled. The Arabs and the Jews are the Hatfields and McCoys...it's Shakespearean and VERY tragic. The people just need to put down the weapons and say enough already. This is stupid fighting over God.
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.
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.
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 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.
But, there has to be a limit. People are contagious.
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
Mark, Get a cat.
Mark,
What on earth do you have in common with this awful neighbor?
She is "disgusted by the catholic charities giving aid and comfort to immigrants at our southern border." Isn't that one of the good things that church does?
Avoid her; she is a Toxic neighbor.
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.
He has a good speech writer....but, I am sure he feels it.
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.
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.”
History is the whole of things, not just social and political history, but cosmology, evolution, archeology, really all of leaning. Right now, we are observing; but countless observations are stored in our memory. We now how to turn on a water tap because we have a memory. We know that a reproachful look from a cat means it needs feeding. We know the word "Know" because we were taught. Making wise choices without some reasonable understanding of how things got to be the way they are (natural history or social history) is like taking a test on a book you never read; your answers are unlikely to serve you.
The arts? Exploration and expression of lived human experience. The sun radiates electromagnetic radiation (including light) from natural thermonuclear fusion, AND it's "rosy fingered dawn". The experience of a taste of honey can only be fully realized by tasting it. We are not just on individual mind but the interplay of many; and we share, compare and contrast our individual discoveries, experiences, and imaginings. It's the arts that get under the skin.
Too much in our society is cut, dried, and shrink-wrapped. We don't talk enough about the conundrums and the wonder of being human.
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...
Exactly. We are social creatures; why my dog and I want time together. I think music and dance are far more powerful channels of human bonding and communication than we typically acknowledge. We are allowing the arts that in many respects bind and guide our civilization be co-opted by commercial interests. Tribal is human, for the good and the bad of it. Narcissistic exclusivity is toxic when it pushes away our capacities for extended empathy and understanding, on the individual scale or of a community.
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.
Any human activity can be and to some degree, must be, approached creatively. Arts and sciences were not always so siloed.
As a video production professional, I witness far too many silos across business & govt, inside business and govt...too many people in power who care about their personal survival too much...or the organizations survival. The Wire is a great example of that. David Simon as a reporter saw the silos of Police Dept., Education Dept., Mayor...and drug dealers...and illustrated it brilliantly in his books and TV. It hit too close to home and our Mayor, then Governor made sure the tax breaks went away...and the show folded. So they went to NOLA and did the same thing with Treme.
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.
Trump's golden shoes seem to characterize the compass of his aesthetic.
To my way of thinking, cross-disciplinary studies are key to deep understanding, but it takes a lot more time and a lot more work, and is less compatible to reducing instruction to algorithms. We seem to let commercial momentum set a lot of our agendas, and take little time to ask what we are aiming for, or might be wise to examine, in our prescribed routines of education. Could it be that we are losing STEAM?
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?
To be honest, I think that's what Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, and many others before and after, have been trying to tell us. Pay attention to those mind-blowing, heart expanding moments. They will help you grow beyond your current limitations into a more perfect story.
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.
Curious that I wrote about battles won and war lost without knowing that you were a Vietnam veteran.
Strangely, when I think of that metaphor, I associate it with the Vietnamese. Perhaps what that really means is that winning wars is one thing. Winning the peace is a longer haul... both for victor and for loser.
That Spanish proverb:
The vanquished is vanquished. The victor is lost.
Vencido, vencido; y el vencedor, perdido.
No Barbara, I don't mind if you repost my comment. Thank-you for asking.
Peter, thanks for the critique. A gifted friend suggested the people I killed in Vietnam are grateful. They’re free. I’m hoping for enough time to make sense of the realities of this life. My gratitude for your crit reminds me that even not knowing, I still wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
Your gifted friend is nuts. Vietnamese practice various religions..I don't think any of them recommend getting killed.
"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..."
And how rich, accurate, and adaptable are the "answers" for which we are willing to settle; or not settle; at least not completely. We "stand on the shoulders of giants" (as well as so, so many whose presence is now forgotten) and, with luck and fortitude, we will all leave a part of a foothold (both our insights and errors) with which others may climb.
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.
Phil, I would like to trust teachers too, but the quality of my teachers varied enormously. I had a few, very few, just awful ones, who never should have been teaching, a handful of truly great ones, and a large number of so-so to pretty-good ones. But all those who taught about the history of this country based their courses on total and profound acceptance of manifest destiny and superiority of the white race. This acceptance was so complete that nothing about it was ever said.
New topic: It’s very difficult to attract the very finest to the teaching profession given the state of all too many of the schools nowadays.
When the immigrants came into NYC as nobodies, they had teachers who couldn't get jobs anywhere else.......Smart Jews and smart women. If they were so inclined, they got tremendous schooling and became somebodies. Now, anyone can get better paying jobs and don't have to put up with brats. Dedicated teachers are an endangered species. What kind of education are low class or even middle class kids getting now?
True, pilgrimRVW: "difficult to attract the very finest . . .."
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 🤷♂️
As a public school kid in San Antonio in the 1970s, we had all of that. I received a great public high school education with band & sports (I skipped visual arts in favor of music). Went on to public university and public law school.
We can support our teachers and solid curriculum, if we can get the fear-mongering politicians and Moms of Liberty off of our school boards and out of the discord. As HCR says, we must pay attention to every local race.
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!
Thank you Kathy for 'The Manual With Tim Walz' latest ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N-B0_OKkeg
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.