The seasons of our lives also change it seems so quickly just as the seasons of Nature do. How did I reach 70 in the blink of an eye? Thank you for your goodness and illumination in this time of Chaos.
How many times have we heard federal elections are all about the Supreme Court? A lot.
Conservatives have fixated on SCOTUS for decades and have realized their goal, a stacked court brazenly making decisions in darkness. So, is this a cause for celebration or concern for conservative voters?
The Texas abortion controversy has buried all the terrible news of the past four weeks about Afghanistan, Climate Change and Covid. At the same time it has awakened the sleeping beast on the left. The million woman march is organizing in 50 states. Members of Congress mailboxes electronic and snail mail are filling up. Republican women are finding out individual rights may not apply to Americans in women's bodies.
Defenders of Trump's appointees who pledged stare decisis regarding Roe have shown their contempt for pre-appointment promises. Has Fox News even yet reported on the abomination of abortion and vigilante enforcement in Texas?
Everything we feared last month about the 2022 elections has been tossed out the window. Biden and the Democrats have a fresh start that could not have come at a better time.
When I got back from a few days away, the basil in the garden had transformed from gorgeous, full-leafed plants to end of season . . . I spent the day salvaging the best of a dying crop and making pesto! And, every summer I say I'm going to start the pesto process earlier and I did do a few batches but not enough!
Yes, the seasons and years of our lives turn too quickly. It is a natural process to slow down a bit as one ages, but education, experience, and compassion that is gained throughout those years provides wisdom to more effectively fight the tough battles that are on the horizon.
The confluence of what we are witnessing within our country . . . inexplicable insanity regarding anti-vaccination, anti-masking, Texas, Florida (et.al.) and republican politics, the weather disasters created by climate change combined with mass migration/refugees fleeing war/unlivable conditions topped off with a pandemic, etc. . . . is overwhelming and unsettling beyond what most of us have ever experienced in our lifetime.
Heather's daily letters, videos, podcasts provide order to chaos and inadvertently brought together a "community" in a (good) way that (undoubtedly) was not anticipated. There is power in words and knowledge and there is a lot of work to be done!
Heather, I am deeply grateful for your daily posts; thank you for your wisdom, brilliance, and the historical perspective that you provide that helps us to connect the dots. Your writing is always sobering and hopeful at the same time. xo
Although much of the news is awful—and you never sugarcoat in your postings—I always feel calmer and more knowledgeable after reading your daily letter. And, the weekly photo provides a meditative moment. For a New Englander transplanted in Florida (the defiant Alachua County is home) the images from Maine are a treat!
We were at war in Afghanistan for twenty years. The fight was against the Taliban. Originally, the justification was the failure of the Afghanis to control terrorist groups that threatened the safety and well-being of the United States citizenry. But even after first we beat the Taliban, and a U.S. supported government was installed, and even after we killed Usama Bin Laden, we continued to support the war against the Taliban insurgency. The cost was horrendous: 2,500 American servicemen and women, thousands of US contractors, all at the expense of billions of dollars.
Why did we continue to fight this war? Because the Taliban represented everything that we thought was evil, contrary to our laws, culture, and Constitutional values. They were religious fundamentalists, they had no notion of equality, no integrity, no judicial system that followed the rule of law. Most prominently they subjected women to the role of enslaved people. In the pre-civil war United States, not only was there no school for slaves, it was against the law to create one. Under Taliban rule, a school dedicated to teaching girls how to read was burned to the ground. Even twenty years after the US at first defeated the Taliban, only 37% of Afghani girls know how to read.
The recent anti-abortion law In Texas is right out of the Taliban handbook. Women have no control over their reproductive systems. They are slaves to male domination. What's more, Texas has eviscerated it's rule of law. Physicians face felony charges for performing abortions later than 6 weeks of pregnancy. Everyone, in or out of the state, has the right to sue any person who ”aids or abets" a woman who gets an abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy. The concept of “standing to sue," which is explicit in the Federal Constitution, no longer exists in the State of Texas. In Texas, it's now neighbor against neighbor.
The new tribal Republican right is an absolute threat to our democracy. The Big Lie, the party's vigorous effort to block any inquiry into the January 6th Capitol insurrection, the rash of anti-voting new legislation, all are consistent with Taliban rule.
And perhaps most shocking, the Federal judiciary, now controlled by the Taliban wing of our judiciary, has turned its back on Texas women and on the rule or law.
The Judiciary's reaction to this Texas anti-abortion scheme, is a step too far. Despite the unambiguous unconstitutionality of the Texas statute, both the Fifth Circuit, and more importantly, the Supreme Court, refused to interfere. And the Supremes’ did the dirty deed in the dark of night, on the stroke of midnight, on something called “the shadow docket.”– a place lacking the regular opportunities to file written or oral arguments. And all of this happened because tribal chief McConnell stole a Supreme Court seat from Obama, and put Amy Coney Barrett on the Court. Earlier, Justice Kavanagh had made a pre-confirmation promise not to disturb a woman’s freedom of choice as protected in Roe v Wade--a promise he has now broken-- an offense for which we have no remedy. When Barrett and Kavanagh joined Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch on the Court, Roe was doomed.
For sure, the judicial Talibans will argue that this decision is not permanent, and the Court will take the matter up in regular order next year, but this is legal mumbo-jumbo. They cannot walk away from the truth. They have allowed Texas to control a woman’s reproductive freedom, and in doing so have disgraced the Court.
Let me be clear. I believe in a woman’s right to choose. I believe that it is morally and legally reprehensible to make laws that imprison physicians who would accommodate women who wish to terminate their pregnancies in accordance with the 50-year old Supreme Court decision in Wade. And I do understand that a minority of our population disagrees with me.
But the evil here goes well beyond the abortion issue. It is about judicial fundamentalism and tribalism shredding the rule of law. The Sixth Circuit and the Supreme Court have brazenly dismissed the rule of law without legal due process. Once that virus spreads, we will become more like China than a western democracy.
I do believe the Texas/Supreme Court abortion outrage is so horrendous that the Democrats can be fired up to recognize what is at risk here. 2024 is the key. The Democrats must maintain the House and they must pick up three seats in the Senate (two Democrats will vote against abolishing the ancient filibuster rule by which the tribal Republican caucus can veto any Democrat-sponsored legislation. Only by abolishing the filibuster rule and adding four Justices to the Supreme Court can our democracy prevail. And I believe the American Taliban has now so completely shat upon our Constitutional democracy that enough people -- Democrats, Independents, and perhaps some sensible Republicans-- will gag at the stink, pay attention, and vote to fix this. The stakes are very high.
There is no fixed schedule for these posts. If you would like to receive a notice of each new posting, please fill out the form at <"http://eepurl.com/gf7fS9">.
Thank you for keeping us centered knowing that as bad as the moment is as Americans we have been there before and prayerfully we will get through this terrible moment again.
Why was looking at Buddy's photograph, just now, the most beautiful to see? My head had a bad picture in it, soon after waking, of the Texas state legislature - yes, it did. Then I communicated with two dear subscriber friends, kim and Heydon, whom I've know on the Forum for quite some time. That felt good - to be with them and then with Buddy's picture... Thank you, Buddy. And, Heather, you brought together this past week the dreadful present and past with immense clarity and grace. We cannot live through it without agony, effort and each other.
My parents gave me my love for history. They grew up in Kingston, NY, the first capitol of NY State. The Hudson Valley was the first major artery into the continent for the Dutch and then the English. It rivaled Jamestown, VA and Plymouth, MA for its early history. Jamestown was my parents favorite historic site. My parents introduced me to my grandparents as a newborn in Yorktown, VA. This, Williamsburg's and Jamestown were my first historic site trips with my parents and younger sister as an early grade schooler, before the US interstate highway system was completed along the East coast.
Every village church and grave yard along the Hudson, every Dutch land patent, every stone and hand hewn house had a story of colonists, Revolutionary War soldiers and prisoners, and Indian settlements with archaeological finds of pottery and arrow heads. Historical societies had carefully accumulated and documented houses and families. It was a history rich environment to grow up in, read and write grade school and highschool reports on. And yet, it seems that those who followed in my family and community soon left that early history behind as shopping malls overwhelmed historical sites, turning them into out of place and out of mind tourist attractions for out of towners.
My father's interest in family genealogy took over an earlier family member's interest and records. He went to town and county offices mining their records before ancestry.com. My wife took my father's work, and joined my uncle in his genealogical work, to trace our multiple family branches back to Europe and out into the midwest. We discovered a trail to the US with towns named in New York that were brought with them from Massachusetts and earlier places.
History is both illuminating and connecting. Real history shows us both the best and worst of mankind, so that we can learn to be both good and courageous in the face of many challenges. The stone walls of New York and New England tell me a story of families and communities working together sun up to sun down, clearing woods and fields to become open farmland, and then more often returning to woods. This is a story of man's and nature's persistent efforts. Hard work, settlements and progress that return quickly to nature when left unattended and no longer useful8 for human use and survival. Returning to Nature's natural state will always overtake the artifacts of our time. The study of History keeps us informed of our greatest, less worthy and destructive endeavors for future generations to learn, amaze or curse us by. We cannot learn history through rose colored glasses as entertainment.
HCR's letters and reciting our memories are important windows and reminders of our past, present and future. Breadcrumbs for future generations.
For much of my life, the only season I liked more than the one we were in was the one we were going to next. Where I grew up / now live in Oregon, we are fortunate to have had pretty mild yet distinct seasons, although back in the day, Medford summers could get pretty darn hot. Now in Eugene, our summers are hotter and drier than ever, the winters alternate between quite mild and dryer, and much colder and dryer, except for the major snow dump or ice storm that we now get thanks to the phenomenon known as a "polar vortex" that sends really cold air down to us.
Now? I like summer. I like the daylight. I like being barefoot. Spring is promise, Fall is a sense of loss. Winter is to be endured as we get our 8 1/2 hours of daylight. August (especially the last half) does seem to be the transition month as we lose 3 minutes of daylight a day.
Musing about the seasons and how I still appreciate them all (even as I have a favorite) has given me respite from all the horrible political news that we've suffered through, and this horrible, combatable pandemic that we as a country seem too divided to fight.
Think I'll grab a cup of coffee and go catch a late summer/early fall sunrise out on the deck before the smoke from various forest fires blows in to chase me inside.
The seasons of our lives also change it seems so quickly just as the seasons of Nature do. How did I reach 70 in the blink of an eye? Thank you for your goodness and illumination in this time of Chaos.
I cannot tell you how much your letters, videos and podcasts mean to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Seasons change and so do I, you need not wonder why. Have a wonderful holiday professor. Thank you for making the world good again.
How many times have we heard federal elections are all about the Supreme Court? A lot.
Conservatives have fixated on SCOTUS for decades and have realized their goal, a stacked court brazenly making decisions in darkness. So, is this a cause for celebration or concern for conservative voters?
The Texas abortion controversy has buried all the terrible news of the past four weeks about Afghanistan, Climate Change and Covid. At the same time it has awakened the sleeping beast on the left. The million woman march is organizing in 50 states. Members of Congress mailboxes electronic and snail mail are filling up. Republican women are finding out individual rights may not apply to Americans in women's bodies.
Defenders of Trump's appointees who pledged stare decisis regarding Roe have shown their contempt for pre-appointment promises. Has Fox News even yet reported on the abomination of abortion and vigilante enforcement in Texas?
Everything we feared last month about the 2022 elections has been tossed out the window. Biden and the Democrats have a fresh start that could not have come at a better time.
Conservatives, be careful who you vote for.
When I got back from a few days away, the basil in the garden had transformed from gorgeous, full-leafed plants to end of season . . . I spent the day salvaging the best of a dying crop and making pesto! And, every summer I say I'm going to start the pesto process earlier and I did do a few batches but not enough!
Yes, the seasons and years of our lives turn too quickly. It is a natural process to slow down a bit as one ages, but education, experience, and compassion that is gained throughout those years provides wisdom to more effectively fight the tough battles that are on the horizon.
The confluence of what we are witnessing within our country . . . inexplicable insanity regarding anti-vaccination, anti-masking, Texas, Florida (et.al.) and republican politics, the weather disasters created by climate change combined with mass migration/refugees fleeing war/unlivable conditions topped off with a pandemic, etc. . . . is overwhelming and unsettling beyond what most of us have ever experienced in our lifetime.
Heather's daily letters, videos, podcasts provide order to chaos and inadvertently brought together a "community" in a (good) way that (undoubtedly) was not anticipated. There is power in words and knowledge and there is a lot of work to be done!
Heather, I am deeply grateful for your daily posts; thank you for your wisdom, brilliance, and the historical perspective that you provide that helps us to connect the dots. Your writing is always sobering and hopeful at the same time. xo
Although much of the news is awful—and you never sugarcoat in your postings—I always feel calmer and more knowledgeable after reading your daily letter. And, the weekly photo provides a meditative moment. For a New Englander transplanted in Florida (the defiant Alachua County is home) the images from Maine are a treat!
What bliss! Buddy's photo and your "the seasons had turned, just like that" took me instantly to a favorite, mystical poem. Thank you for the journey!
"To Autumn"
John Keats
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
We were at war in Afghanistan for twenty years. The fight was against the Taliban. Originally, the justification was the failure of the Afghanis to control terrorist groups that threatened the safety and well-being of the United States citizenry. But even after first we beat the Taliban, and a U.S. supported government was installed, and even after we killed Usama Bin Laden, we continued to support the war against the Taliban insurgency. The cost was horrendous: 2,500 American servicemen and women, thousands of US contractors, all at the expense of billions of dollars.
Why did we continue to fight this war? Because the Taliban represented everything that we thought was evil, contrary to our laws, culture, and Constitutional values. They were religious fundamentalists, they had no notion of equality, no integrity, no judicial system that followed the rule of law. Most prominently they subjected women to the role of enslaved people. In the pre-civil war United States, not only was there no school for slaves, it was against the law to create one. Under Taliban rule, a school dedicated to teaching girls how to read was burned to the ground. Even twenty years after the US at first defeated the Taliban, only 37% of Afghani girls know how to read.
The recent anti-abortion law In Texas is right out of the Taliban handbook. Women have no control over their reproductive systems. They are slaves to male domination. What's more, Texas has eviscerated it's rule of law. Physicians face felony charges for performing abortions later than 6 weeks of pregnancy. Everyone, in or out of the state, has the right to sue any person who ”aids or abets" a woman who gets an abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy. The concept of “standing to sue," which is explicit in the Federal Constitution, no longer exists in the State of Texas. In Texas, it's now neighbor against neighbor.
The new tribal Republican right is an absolute threat to our democracy. The Big Lie, the party's vigorous effort to block any inquiry into the January 6th Capitol insurrection, the rash of anti-voting new legislation, all are consistent with Taliban rule.
And perhaps most shocking, the Federal judiciary, now controlled by the Taliban wing of our judiciary, has turned its back on Texas women and on the rule or law.
The Judiciary's reaction to this Texas anti-abortion scheme, is a step too far. Despite the unambiguous unconstitutionality of the Texas statute, both the Fifth Circuit, and more importantly, the Supreme Court, refused to interfere. And the Supremes’ did the dirty deed in the dark of night, on the stroke of midnight, on something called “the shadow docket.”– a place lacking the regular opportunities to file written or oral arguments. And all of this happened because tribal chief McConnell stole a Supreme Court seat from Obama, and put Amy Coney Barrett on the Court. Earlier, Justice Kavanagh had made a pre-confirmation promise not to disturb a woman’s freedom of choice as protected in Roe v Wade--a promise he has now broken-- an offense for which we have no remedy. When Barrett and Kavanagh joined Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch on the Court, Roe was doomed.
For sure, the judicial Talibans will argue that this decision is not permanent, and the Court will take the matter up in regular order next year, but this is legal mumbo-jumbo. They cannot walk away from the truth. They have allowed Texas to control a woman’s reproductive freedom, and in doing so have disgraced the Court.
Let me be clear. I believe in a woman’s right to choose. I believe that it is morally and legally reprehensible to make laws that imprison physicians who would accommodate women who wish to terminate their pregnancies in accordance with the 50-year old Supreme Court decision in Wade. And I do understand that a minority of our population disagrees with me.
But the evil here goes well beyond the abortion issue. It is about judicial fundamentalism and tribalism shredding the rule of law. The Sixth Circuit and the Supreme Court have brazenly dismissed the rule of law without legal due process. Once that virus spreads, we will become more like China than a western democracy.
I do believe the Texas/Supreme Court abortion outrage is so horrendous that the Democrats can be fired up to recognize what is at risk here. 2024 is the key. The Democrats must maintain the House and they must pick up three seats in the Senate (two Democrats will vote against abolishing the ancient filibuster rule by which the tribal Republican caucus can veto any Democrat-sponsored legislation. Only by abolishing the filibuster rule and adding four Justices to the Supreme Court can our democracy prevail. And I believe the American Taliban has now so completely shat upon our Constitutional democracy that enough people -- Democrats, Independents, and perhaps some sensible Republicans-- will gag at the stink, pay attention, and vote to fix this. The stakes are very high.
A bientot.
..................................................
There is no fixed schedule for these posts. If you would like to receive a notice of each new posting, please fill out the form at <"http://eepurl.com/gf7fS9">.
.
I hope you have a great school year! Stay safe; you are our life line in this messed up world.
Grateful for your historical perspective, your quality writing, and the facts.
Thank you for keeping us centered knowing that as bad as the moment is as Americans we have been there before and prayerfully we will get through this terrible moment again.
Why was looking at Buddy's photograph, just now, the most beautiful to see? My head had a bad picture in it, soon after waking, of the Texas state legislature - yes, it did. Then I communicated with two dear subscriber friends, kim and Heydon, whom I've know on the Forum for quite some time. That felt good - to be with them and then with Buddy's picture... Thank you, Buddy. And, Heather, you brought together this past week the dreadful present and past with immense clarity and grace. We cannot live through it without agony, effort and each other.
My parents gave me my love for history. They grew up in Kingston, NY, the first capitol of NY State. The Hudson Valley was the first major artery into the continent for the Dutch and then the English. It rivaled Jamestown, VA and Plymouth, MA for its early history. Jamestown was my parents favorite historic site. My parents introduced me to my grandparents as a newborn in Yorktown, VA. This, Williamsburg's and Jamestown were my first historic site trips with my parents and younger sister as an early grade schooler, before the US interstate highway system was completed along the East coast.
Every village church and grave yard along the Hudson, every Dutch land patent, every stone and hand hewn house had a story of colonists, Revolutionary War soldiers and prisoners, and Indian settlements with archaeological finds of pottery and arrow heads. Historical societies had carefully accumulated and documented houses and families. It was a history rich environment to grow up in, read and write grade school and highschool reports on. And yet, it seems that those who followed in my family and community soon left that early history behind as shopping malls overwhelmed historical sites, turning them into out of place and out of mind tourist attractions for out of towners.
My father's interest in family genealogy took over an earlier family member's interest and records. He went to town and county offices mining their records before ancestry.com. My wife took my father's work, and joined my uncle in his genealogical work, to trace our multiple family branches back to Europe and out into the midwest. We discovered a trail to the US with towns named in New York that were brought with them from Massachusetts and earlier places.
History is both illuminating and connecting. Real history shows us both the best and worst of mankind, so that we can learn to be both good and courageous in the face of many challenges. The stone walls of New York and New England tell me a story of families and communities working together sun up to sun down, clearing woods and fields to become open farmland, and then more often returning to woods. This is a story of man's and nature's persistent efforts. Hard work, settlements and progress that return quickly to nature when left unattended and no longer useful8 for human use and survival. Returning to Nature's natural state will always overtake the artifacts of our time. The study of History keeps us informed of our greatest, less worthy and destructive endeavors for future generations to learn, amaze or curse us by. We cannot learn history through rose colored glasses as entertainment.
HCR's letters and reciting our memories are important windows and reminders of our past, present and future. Breadcrumbs for future generations.
So grateful for this photo of serenity in the midst of this hate-filled time. Many thanks to you and Buddy for it.
Rest well and awaken refreshed everyone.
For much of my life, the only season I liked more than the one we were in was the one we were going to next. Where I grew up / now live in Oregon, we are fortunate to have had pretty mild yet distinct seasons, although back in the day, Medford summers could get pretty darn hot. Now in Eugene, our summers are hotter and drier than ever, the winters alternate between quite mild and dryer, and much colder and dryer, except for the major snow dump or ice storm that we now get thanks to the phenomenon known as a "polar vortex" that sends really cold air down to us.
Now? I like summer. I like the daylight. I like being barefoot. Spring is promise, Fall is a sense of loss. Winter is to be endured as we get our 8 1/2 hours of daylight. August (especially the last half) does seem to be the transition month as we lose 3 minutes of daylight a day.
Musing about the seasons and how I still appreciate them all (even as I have a favorite) has given me respite from all the horrible political news that we've suffered through, and this horrible, combatable pandemic that we as a country seem too divided to fight.
Think I'll grab a cup of coffee and go catch a late summer/early fall sunrise out on the deck before the smoke from various forest fires blows in to chase me inside.