When President Joe Biden called out “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans” last Thursday as representative of “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” he drew a clear line between those supporting the former president and those from all parties who support democracy.
This evening, as I was picking up a take-out order from one of my favourite restaurants in New Mexico, the manager said "Get out of here", to two MAGA customers, who may have been making comments about the waitress, a Hispanic woman, who was born and raised in the town where the restaurant was located. The two left in a hurry, jumped in their truck, and hightailed it out of the lot. This is a town that went for Trump, twice. The veneer is wearing thin.
While I don't get out much, I find that sometimes the best talks are with people waiting in line.
Yesterday, the lines at Costco were long, so I struck up a conversation with a lady probably 10 years older than me.
I usually start by complimenting on a piece of jewelry (since I make jewelry) or maybe a shirt. I find that since I start out with a compliment, they are more willing to talk.
Anyway, she brought how she couldn't find her favorite can peaches and how she was a little upset and couldn't figure out why there was a problem with getting her peaches.
I remembered a story I had just read and so I told her that farmers are asking to change immigration rules so immigrants can come and pick her peaches. I said we need them.
She looked at me and after a moment, she smiled and said yes we do.
These are the short conversations I have with people I will probably never meet again.
This how I'm trying to do my part to help inform people.
This story yesterday on Here and Now about the Stanford study of 31000 people testing what works best to mend division in our country speaks to this method by Beth. Thank you Beth!
Guess what!!! I called Professor Willer, thinking I would get a voice mail, and he answered!!! He didn't know about Heather and so far no contact with the Biden administration. But they are trying to make this happen. So I'm going email him and Heather to introduce them and see what she can do as she already is connect with the President. Thank you so much for this!!!!
Thank you Ashley! I love your "keeping the hope and faith," I'm very excited about this connection- at the very least they will know of one another. Here's the email I sent. I'm also creating a tweet to introduce the study. <3
Dear Heather,
I'm writing to introduce you to Professor Robb Willer of Stanford University, co-author of a study that was mentioned by Sandra in the comments to your newsletter 9/6. It is a mega study of interventions "designed to reduce anti-democratic attitudes and reduce partisan animosity." The study found that the interventions work!! (see links below to article and study )
So I called Professor Willer to ask if President Biden knew of this study and he answered the phone! He said, no, but they wanted him to, and asked if there's anything I can do to help with that. So I immediately thought of you!
I told Professor Willer about your newsletter and why it is so important to all of your readers, as well as about your interview with President Biden, and he was very interested in both. (see links below)
I know you are both so busy, but this study inspired a vision of a national program of community gatherings, bringing us together to recognize that the goodness of heart that we have in common is stronger than the factors that divide us. I believe that this is our best way to defeat the current wave of violent fascism invading our country, primarily stirred by the cynical money/power grabbers who know how to feed on fear.
This will require people of your stature to make it happen. I'll do whatever I can to help.
Thank you Sandra! I want to know more about this statement in the article: " he finds that many aspects of social life that are often seen as antisocial or malicious - such as gossip, moral judgments, and status hierarchies - are fundamental to social order." That certainly is an eye opener for me - and a nudge to re think my automatic judgements.
"Gossip," aka the grapevine, is an essential news source and probably always has been, especially for those marginalized by the supposedly legitimate media -- which is most of us. It puts the burden on each of us to be a reliable source, to recognize the reliability of sources, and to corroborate information before passing it on. Needless to say, plenty of people don't do this, or don't do it all the time, but in general those who consistently spread info that's malicious or just plain wrong eventually lose credibility. (I wish that would happen to Fox News and the GOP, among others. Maybe it is happening. We'll see.)
"...moral judgments...are fundamental to social order..."
An unpopular thought to ponder:
Is not such fundamentalism supported by Americans' exposure to the copiousness of our contemporary wisdoms of convention?
Can you imagine our social order, instead, being inspired by the wisdom of our FATHER in Heaven as taught throughout the many stories our Holy Bible, e. g. Matthew 7:1 & Luke 6:37, Etc., Etc., Etc.
Such love would surely better homogenize Americans into a safer more peaceful United States of America, Eh!?
I can barely wrap my mind around what you seem to be saying here. Willl keep trying, but I'm curious about why you think a homogenized populace is a desirarable outcome. The MAGA Republicans are homogenized behind their leader. The Evangelicals are supposedly homogenized behind their FATHER in heaven, though I suspect the real unifying factor is whiteness . USians from the late 1940s onward were homogenized by the anti-communistm of Joe McCarthy and others. And of course we have the examples of Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia . . .
Perhaps the concept of homogenously should have been defined as, “Love thy neighbor as thyself, which is the desirable outcome needed to reunite the United States of America.
Remember now the comment you are referencing cautioned that it would be unpopular. This response is given for a better understanding hopefully.
(1). The Maggot republicans and all those complicit in their silent support of white supremacy’s bigotry not only hate color but also those who support love of neighbor of all colors.
(2). The clan of evangelicals are NOT Christians and do not know about our FATHER in Heaven. Christians are about love not the hate that spews from the frothing quivering lips of evangelicals against their neighbors of every color.
(3). USians, (quaint elocution!) of the 1940’s rallied around the pride of patriotism spurred on by the shared commonality due to anxiety of, “The Wars” and the “Fox-Hole-Effect” affecting American’s during daily preoccupation of the haltered of distant neighbors…
(4). Mao’s China, for just one example, authorization of executing female babies supported by the parents of those female babies certainly was not love of neighbor nor was hitler’s minions of extermination of over eight million jews an expression of neighborly love nor was the Stalinist labor camp referred to as Cannibal Island due to the depravity of cannibalism’s most extreme example hating neighbors.
Hopefully your mind will become calmed by understanding the ONLY WAY America can survive the republican’s slavery to their deceitfulness’ destruction of American Democracy is love of neighbor as oneself… one’s self.
"Yes we do." I have chills that you created/allowed that moment, Beth. I believe that if every one of us with the truth (as best we know it) about the basic challenges (immigration, right to choose, privacy, gay/trans rights, fair taxes has more of these gentle, low-key, human moments, we can change this country for good.
I prefer "MAGGOTS" myself. Since that word is universally accepted as being something most-lowly...., almost lower than whaleshit. It really conveys that point when in print. Besides, I don't want there to be any mistake!
Here's another one, I have ordered my spices from Penzeys for years [they have brick and mortar locations too].
After reading the "ABOUT REPUBLICANS" letter they posted on their website, I'll be giving spices for birthday gifts, and going through all of my stock and placing an order to update my mine as well. Hopefully this will offset some of the business they loose from this letter.
I have spices I am giving to my sister for her bday tomorrow!
This great company has so many offers, frequently they have 1/4 cup sizes for $1 or such. When I see that, I purchase whatever the limit is and hand them out. I have had numerous people comment on what a difference these spices are compared to what they can get in the grocery store.
IMHO the ones new customers should try: Chinese Tung Hing Cinnamon (cinnamon is said to help stabilize blood sugar. Sprinkle it on your oatmeal, morning toast, on the pb in your sandwich, and of course, bake with it!) Frozen Pizza spices (really perks up a frozen pizza)
Turkish Oregano (just YUM, use it in so many ways!) "JUSTICE" a spice blend--I love to shake it on Chicken before grilling it, California Pepper Blend (use it anywhere you use pepper, but my favorite is to sprinkle it on scrambled eggs) Chicago Steak Seasoning--excellent for seasoning your steaks, I love it on burgers as well! Fajita mix--I coat chicken strips in it for my fajitas.
Any other reader here who uses Penzeys, what is your favorite?
Justice is great on salmon too. Use Justice and Parmesan cheese (not theirs, just P.Ch.)! I like their many curries, Fox Point is good, and Tzar Dust, but Northwoods is fabulous and goes on Everything.
I love that Penzey has such a variety of each spice. See cinnamon for instance, I always use Ceylon Cinnamon. It’s great for cakes, pastries, rice dishes. I just like the basics - Ceylon Cloves for studding hams, sea salt, peppers. I used to grow and make my own Paprika, and Penzey’s Hungarian style is as good as what I made. Vanilla beans for homemade vanilla. I could go on and on, but you get the idea
Yes, Miselle and runragged, I’m a Penzey’s person, too💙! Bill and family are good people. My fave is probably Frozen Pizza blend — makes pasta dishes and salads all the tastier. Pasta Sprinkle is a close second. They have great gift card sales too ($35 for $50 cards).
LOVE PENZEY'S, so many great spices and blends and specials! I have hooked several family members on Sandwich Sprinkle. You can use it to make a more complex garlic bread, my niece uses it for her weekly meal prep, and my son's favorite is with butter on hot bowtie pasta. We also use Sunny Paris with olive oil and lemon juice for a grilled chicken marinade. Northwoods is awesome on chicken.
If you have a local store but can't get there before a special ends, you can order online for in-store pickup ($10 minium) and collect it later. My store is out of the way, but worth the trip, so I do this.
Oops, runragged; didn't mean to neglect you who started it "all" about Penzey's. How could we not support this worthy business? You getta spice and you getta a spice...spices for us all!
I’ve been a loyal customer of Penzey’s for at least 25+ years. Some items I really can’t do without and stock up with all their sales. I’ve worn their pins at women’s marches and used their voting stickers on posters. I’m a big fan. I’m laughing because watching discussion here about this company and everyone talking about their favorite spices and their uses is not something I ever suspected I’d be reading here. Interested in any recipes?
I think of the good will of putting out a sign which says "Hate has no home here." And the courage of making it happen. MAGAs would call this man a "hater" but that would be an example of their specious rhetoric.
Wow. Yes, we need to stand up and call out. There is a difference between attacking a person and attacking what a person does. I was reminded of this in a Washington Post comment thread. It's important to remember this. Trump of course takes the low road and we certainly don't want to go there - in that way - too.
Good for the manager! Here in New Mexico we are proud of our multicultural heritage and celebrate our diversity. The MAGA insanity is not widely accepted or supported except in a few areas in the southern part of the state.
This story made me feel good. I'm starting to see that too, with some members of my family. They are tired of the hateful rhetoric and starting to realize that actions and words have power. I've seen them push back against other people repeating the standard conservative talking points, whether it is country club racism or the downplaying of Trump's continuous breaking of the law. I'm hoping people keep getting sick of the violent, and toxic rhetoric from the GOP and get fed up with the flagrant rule breaking enough that they start to lose elections at the local and state level. We all have way more in common than we have differences.
PhillyT, thank you especially for your term, "country club racism." I rarely see anyone refer to this version or racism and Anti-Semitism and I often think it is the most insidious and the most damaging because it is acceptable and difficult to call out. And the people who have mastered it are some of movers and shakers of our culture.
I'm not entirely convinced that we are having a change of heart about the MAGA values as much as we are getting sick to death of having to hear about these people every minute of the day and, because I am a good daughter of the South, I have to add that I think a lot of folks are just fed up with someone who is fundamentally TACKY
Great courage on the part of that restaurant manager. It sounds like he reached that one moment when his desperation and fear for his restaurant and our world came to the boiling point and bubbled right over into that brave act. That might be what we need, that combination of desperation and a belief in the sanctity of what we are losing. Think what would happen if every restaurant and store, every public entity just said "No" We'd be in lawsuits for eternity but better lawsuits than Trump's
That's a great sign that people are coming to their senses and recognize the threat that the MAGA Cult Movement is to our Democracy. Yay! We need to vote them OUT!
"Well Senate Intelligence is the oxy in any case..."
Stephen from SS, your comment is part of the problem. A knee jerk reflex, erasing the many people - Senators and their staff - who fight the good fight every day. Having to listen to and push back against Republicans while taking flack from folks like you. Try listening to CSpan.
I am a fierce fight. I marched for women's rights and civil rights in the sixties and seventies. I reveled in the glory of seeing change. I knew my voice mattered. I have remained politically active and will never give up. I do this for the love of country and my grandchildren.
Thank you for your compassionate reach, Bill. I think of my tears as a cleanser and know that tomorrow I will have a sharper view of the task ahead. I will continue to get folks registered, do my texting and postcards. I will educate the younger generation and continue to find a better understanding of what we must do. I am most thankful for our amazing Heather who provides us with the facts as well as her passionate insights. I am stronger thanks to Heather and each of you!
Keep in mind, "there is no crying in baseball." In the sixties we were strong then, heh? I went my way into the Corps and many went other ways. We achieved no matter where we were. Gotta do the same now.
Barbara, now, as then, your country is worth your tears. And we must do it again for the children. This country was worth 3 years of my life and my blood in Vietnam while you were an activist, but I joined your side after my discharge. And when Kent State happened I couldn't stop the tears for days.
This nation of people needs leaders who lead by example and word about integrity, the worth of every human, and the sheer beauty of Democracy "by the people."
We have such leaders again but the damage has been done. We must save it so our children and grandchildren can fix it.
First, allow me to thank you for your service. In all of my time of activism, never did I hold anything but respect and high esteem for the job you chose and the risk you took in the name of democracy.
In the here and the now, I totally agree that we must continue to stay on course with our current leadership and impress upon the children and the more naive adults, that democracy is a unique experiment and it must be preserved at all costs. A few tears sprinkled in are not a sign of weakness, but rather a reminder of how much at risk this great gift is.
Yes, Barbara. We are all warriors for democracy now. As soldiers, we must learn to take breaks and mourn which is helpful in freeing us of our grief so we can continue the process towards restoration for ourselves, our country and our planet. Learning to dance with our feelings rather than feel weakened by them is a good task to drop our inherited "stiff upper lip." And the more flexible we become with our feelings and know they will pass, the more clarity our refreshed eyes and hearts can be to make the improvements needed in the restoration process. All genders need to have permission to just let go once in awhile, it is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of caring and loving something you want to keep or protect. Do it as often as your particular system needs, with pride that you can feel and you are making room for new things by that release. We are hardwired to to care for our systems and survive.
But we need these moments of release so that our actions and activism remain clear and focused. Be like the lead goose in formation, drop back to rest for awhile until you are ready to join the front again. Know that others in your formation will carry you on their wings. Take turns. That is what momma would tell all of us.
and sadly, we didn't teach our boys that crying is okay. Husbands, brothers are stuck with unexpressed feelings that erupt in unexpected and not very welcome ways. We can do better for our guys. Meanwhile...postcard writing began this week. Ours came with the full slate of democratic candidates on a backdrop of mountain-like shades of blue. My feelings crescendoed as I wrote, vote to protect your right to clean air, water and energy, to read without censorship, to insure access to voting for all, to support -not sue- our teachers, to enact gun laws that protect our children in schools.... The cards are too small! Next week- begins weekly voter reg at the library. Also creating a compare and contrast flier, ie Democrats protect women's reproductive rights; Republicans legalize forced birth, and so on. Action alleviates anxiety, even after reading today's troubling news.
The patriarchy has done a huge disservice to our men and boys in this country. Huge. Just imagine if they had been allowed to express themselves and be heard and learn to handle whatever comes their way without resorting to anything destructive or suppressive. The anger we see in the MAGA men and their cult leader is the epitome of this dark shadow.
Meanwhile, lots of things to do and make that blue tidal wave, hopefully at the same time justice moves over the land like a wave as well.
Thanks, Pensa. How true your words! "Dance with our feelings" knowing they will change and "the lead goose drop[s] back for a while until ready to join the front again." Words of wisdom.
I had written quite a lot on menfolk and tears that got erased somehow. I whittled it way down the second time, hoping someone would pick up the gauntlet and they did. In my therapy, I see men and boys who really have been abused by that notion of "Don't cry. Be a big man." Especially in small children whose father may have died and they are now considered The Man of the House. In the field of grief, I have seen some atrocious things said to boys about being tougher and being a man now. Then there is what happens to them on the battlefield as I deal with veterans from Vietnam to desert "theaters" of war. It is so hard to witness what we do to our young men, and women now, and then expect them to be normal veteran civilians after teaching them how to kill and move on quickly. Makes me speechless sometimes. (And that is rare... ;-).
It was really hard to make that transition, and some things never go away. This was complicated by the total contrast of seeing how poor the people were, and returning to a rich, soft America. The Vietnamese didn't seem to mind their poverty. Americans bitched about everything, and were jealous of everyone else!
And realizing how badly the French had exploited Vietnam. And the PTSD that I was totally unaware of, but suffering from. I hated God, America, and France. And I couldn't cry. Several years later I was on track for what would become 34 years of United Methodist ministry! As I look back it haunts me: was I trying to compensate, heal myself, or be forgiven? Or was I really called by God to be a wounded healer? I honestly don't know sometimes. But at least I can finally cry--that's progress. I have an appointment with my VA therapist in 30 minutes by phone. We're getting down to these issues gradually. I trust him, but I don't trust the VA with my darkness.
You must be very good at your vocation. That special combo of competence and compassion is so vital, so healing , and I know compassion when I see it.
I had respect for your efforts as well. They moved a whole government, at great sacrifice. I joined like many other ex-service people because it was right in more ways than you could imagine.
Gus Koch, back in those sorry days, I was in my 20s. One of those years (don’t remember exactly which one) I remember as the year of death. We lost two Kennedy, one MLK, and what I then saw as the corker, Walt Disney died. That was when I cried. One too many. Now I realize that my tears were really for the end of childhood, the end of my previous vision of America, etc. I’m stronger by leaps and bounds now, but . . . I still occasionally cry.
Crying is emotional relief. Many journalistic responses to all that is happening today generate a lot of emotion. A pressure cooker of sorts. Crying is one way to jiggle that regulator on top to release some steam.
But allow me to offer that when Professor Richardson starts a final paragraph with something like “And finally….” I know it’s going to be a sizzler. So my antenna went up as I started her last paragraph in today’s Letter. It was a few tears of relief and gratitude that I shed at Heather messaging us that our current administration is working hard for us, We the People, all of us. Providing, in this case, a safety net for our Bigs feeding our Littles. Getting formula here to support the supply chain. Such a huge single effort. Worthy of mention even if it’s fallen off the news cycle. It reminds me what I’m fighting for, Barbara.
Yes, this, Christine! It was the paragraph that I gravitated to in today's Letter. She reminds us to focus on the quiet part that is the true democracy we are all here to defend.
That final paragraph reminded me to share with my sphere of friends how we all come crying to our government to bail us out of this emergency or that emergency, yet, that is not socialism, they seem to think it is entitlement. Exhausting.
Yes, Christine. Well said and thanks for the link to TC's also well-stated blog to which I would suggest he add this is also the "life form" that called our military "suckers and losers". I will Never get over that nor should any real American.
That said, your comment about "A scene from a movie,...came to mind" brings an idea I've had that now might be the time to suggest. For the sake of argument, pretend for a moment that the maggots find the way to overwhelm and steal the government from "the People". The maggots honestly have no idea what that would look like and their handlers don't want them to. So, what if the DNC or another funded group came together and enlisted our very best American Storytellers like, Steven Spielberg, Ken Burns and others to put together a series on what that would actually do to the country / world and what it would look like. I'm not talking about 30-sec Lincoln Project shorts but, beautifully written and filmed documentary-style episodes showing everyone what the world would be like should that hate-filled vision come to pass. I submit that it would frighten the @#$% out of everyone but their core group of true crazies. Think about it. Scenes of:
1. Women abandoned in pregnancy left to perish as hospitals turn them away
2. Impoverished communities left to corrode as Social Security & Medicare are cut off
3. AR15s everywhere firing on anyone that disagrees and with no consequences
4. The Klan revived, marching and terrorizing the streets again
5. Bonfires of school books being burned
6. Censorship like Hungary with "free speech" media shut down
7. Any number of scenes and scenarios of the orange lunatic in charge of the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons? A Dr Strangelove nightmare scene but, it's him riding the bomb instead of Slim Pickens,...and it's Not satire. It's real as evidenced by the beta test of having stolen our real-world nuclear docs and holding them hostage as we speak.
I apologize for the list of doomsday items that sound too crazy to imagine, except they aren't. If one extrapolates the hate-filled ideologies the maggots are using to create their fear and hate-based world this is it. If the hate-filled country and world they envision was actually put into a screen format by our best storytellers it might just transcend the scores of books currently attempting to show us the same thing but, struggle to create the scenes of profound violence, horror, fear and control that would result.
I loathe even having to write and suggest it and perhaps it's some other version of this, less scary but, I fear it isn't. Film, video and the digital world is the medium most seem to relate to now as sadly much of the masses no longer read. And Spielberg, Burns and their community would be one of the first to lose as the so-called government would quickly shut down "free speech" like in Hungary so, it is in their own interest to come together and develop this approach. They would know best how to bring it to the audience.
Sorry for the length of post and the sense of dread it brings but, I'm not so good at concise descriptions. And if any have a better version or how to do it please bring it. It's time and I haven't heard of many new tools but, a digital one might work.
BK: I feel your vision is on the news every night! Just saw a tweet that pregnant women in one county in Alabama are being arrested to “protect the embryo”! Holy guacamole!
It is the politically active that will save our democracy. Those also serve who for some reason cannot be politically active but whose hearts and souls are straining to be in the fight.
Yes an incredible place! Fwiw I am a native New Yorker as well. I was born in NYC but my family moved out of state when I was a toddler. However we returned often to visit family.
Not sure I understand what The Land Of “No” means. Then again my time was spent in Northern India. Perhaps it carries a reference/ meaning specific to Western India?
Often these days, the title of a book which I've never read comes to mind - Cry the Beloved Country. According to Wikipedia, it is: a social protest against the structures of the society that would later give rise to apartheid.
It's a powerful and not lengthy read. I encourage you to read it soon! You've inspired me to reread it (it was required reading in a college course decades ago!)
You are allowed one day for tears. Then. We need you. This is the most dangerous battle since the Civil War. All of us need to be willing no matter the cost.
Grief is not capitulation. It can be a very powerful motivator, and an inevitable part of accepting reality. And we so need to make better friends with reality.
Money is a form of power. It can pay for food, support education, or spread lies. Apparently, if you know where to look, it can even buy murder for hire, or even treason. Like any form of power, it critical to set some rules about how it is obtained, and how it is used. Some ways of obtaining money should never be practiced, and some things should never be for sale. Reaganomics has tried to erase those boundaries; and here we are.
Oh! Lynell! Did you see this verb Jeri introduced (thank you, Jeri!) ? Tromp! Tromped on! Another replacement word we can use to wipe out the last name of the installed man known as "45." A couple of interesting definitions of a synonym that are apropos:
2. a person or thing so closely associated with a particular quality or idea that the mention of their name calls it to mind. "the Victorian age is a synonym for sexual puritanism"
3. BIOLOGY
a taxonomic name which has the same application as another, especially one which has been superseded and is no longer valid.
May 45's name always be remembered as "superseded and no longer valid in any reality."
Barbara I just copied this from European Leadership on LinkedIn for you. This is you.... on man. We can't post photos here. Arrggjjh It is a fabulous photo of a lion with caption A STRONG PERSON and these words ¨A strong person isn't one who doesn't cry. A strong person is one who cries and sheds tears for a moment, then gets up and fights again.¨ This is you. You are a treasure.
💞 You ARE a fierce fighter. And all fierce fighters need to take a rest, let it out, cry, and renew. Yesterday I was feeling discouraged. There is only so much I can do within the limits of my chronic fatigue syndrome which is so frustrating. A friend dropped by with some cherry brats (a northern Michigan delight, not sweet but nasty kids) that I had ordered to support her charity. As I wrote her a check, she updated me on the great progress their Haitian students are making at the school she helped to build there and now supervises. My thought, after "Wow!", was "What do I ever do to help the world besides whine on Substack sites." As she was about to walk out the door, she turned and said, "I am looking forward to your facebook post on who to vote for in the school board elections. There's no other way I'd know who is best." Oh, I DO that! (BTW - Ours is the school board where the Chairman brandished his gun at a parent who was speaking to the Board--- via Zoom thankfully.)
The ❤️ Means 👍🏻 Or 💔 or me too, Barbara. I’m not “liking” that the smarmies are making us cry. They are disrespectful of the law because most are selfish and greedy like their Covid-spreading idjt. People are still dying every day because of the mass murderer president who killed his own people. Years of tears.
"New Mexico judge Francis J. Mathew ruled that Couy Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, must be removed from his office as Otero County commissioner for participating in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol."
At least there is one promising development in today's news, Heather. May it be a precursor of many, many more similar rulings against all who participated in the insurrection, including those who are still members of Congress.
What about seditionist Ginni Thomas and her close ties to her husband, [In]Justice Clarence Thomas? Is there any hope he can removed from SCOTUS under perhaps a stretch of the 14th Amendment?
I agree, Mim. This is a hopeful sign. But don’t forget how many of those terrible judges were appointed by 45 and under Moscow Mitch McConnell’s guidance. 45 did this all with the backing of the right-wing Republicans, who are now reaping what they have been sowing for many years. I am waiting for news on Ginni the Traitor and her disgusting husband. I am hoping the Dems will expand the SCOTUS to thirteen justices to represent all the Federal Districts properly. Not a “radical” or even new idea......we’ve got to push for that in the coming months. The midterms are crucial to turn this tide of murder and vengeance in the US.
Cannon did not accept the amicus brief by a group of distinguished lawyers and legal scholars--she blatantly refused to see another opinion! When has this happened before and why? She has middle-fingered the government before and is doing it again on the national stage to make a point. I am actively restraining myself from using a misogynistic term....
Based on the judges who currently sit on New Mexico’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, it’s a very good possibility that the ruling will not be overturned- Griffin has already been in trouble with the appellate courts over his election nonsense, including refusing to allow the county to certify this summer’s primary election results. His brand of crazy is not popular here in New Mexico.
Lorraine, Thank you for writing and amplifying Griffin’s misdeeds and self-serving impulses. If the decision holds, I hope it repeatedly is invoked. Meantime, I find your well-informed comment assuring.
If Republican-dominated courts end up compromising or even stopping the investigation of Trump's blatant theft of classified documents, we might as well hold a funeral for the rule of law.
Judge Cannon has essentially fired what appears to be the first shot in a budding judicial coup to protect the wannabe dictator from prosecution. Or perhaps it's a new offensive to the failed coup on Jan. 6. Am I being paranoid of hyperbolic? Possibly. But we painfully know that Republicans will try anything, even it means sanctioning severe damage to the nation's security and potentially that of our allies.
Cannon is, literally and figuratively, a useful idiot in a scheme to use the courts to save Trump.
Robert Hubbell is so prolific, and generous. Many times on weekend will open comment section to free subscribers as well. He is dedicated to getting people to voice opinion.
Hubbell is speaking tonight. “And as a reminder, I will be joining Focus For Democracy as a guest this Wednesday, September 7, at 8:00 PM Eastern, 5:00 PM Pacific. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/F4DSept7 , and a Zoom link will be sent to you. Details of the event are in a prior newsletter, here: Trump admits guilt. - by Robert B. Hubbell”
The preparations for that coup go back a long way. This woman's appointment shows all the signs of being part of contingency planning by the then President for the overthrow of the Republic.
However much they may hedge (or, like McConnell etc., always have hedged)
politicians and public servants are coming out now and making their choice clear, opting to honor their oath of office or, however indirectly, to show fealty to the would-be dictator.
One instance: given his position on The Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Rubio has clearly put fealty to Trump before his oath of office.
*
Even if the arsonists fail and political wildfire is avoided... or swiftly extinguished... the country will be left with a smoldering peat fire just under the surface, a source of lasting danger.
It is hard to see how the institutions of State can be preserved without a thoroughgoing purge of office-holders who have put partisan loyalty before their commitment to the Republic.
To understand the implications of a skewed judiciary at the service of forces other than justice, observe the workings of courts of law in the Russian Federation, where judges serve to transmit the orders of the Executive.
A Congress of highly paid button pushers would be another feature of the MAGA one-party State... That and Fuehrerprinzip.
A “smoldering peat fire” deliberately set by striking miners near Hibbing, Minnesota in the 1970’s led our Montana fire crew to one of the most miserable fire assignments we experienced. Your metaphor is succinct. We battled into October snows to unearth and extinguish the fires burrowing deep in the peat bogs. At best we got a type of containment held in check by the northern winter. In my mind that fire is still burning nearly fifty years later. Our job will never be over with this GOP onslaught burning so deeply under the surface, constantly rising from the depths.
I was deliberately using metaphor to speak of both present and long-term dangers, but you have just enlarged and sharpened my awareness -- and, I hope that of other readers -- of how an image can provide surprising insights into historical processes that are not easy for us to get our minds around.
Reading your note about a real fire in a peat bog, my wife saw in it a means for delivering an important lesson to politicians, by showing their duty to be mindful of the long-term consequences of their actions.
It does seem that most just don't want to know. They're chained to the short-term, and incapable of looking beyond the prison wall of the next election.
More metaphor, excuse me, but thank you for reminding me how useful images can be for putting across truths we can't see or don't want to see.
Fire and politics have adjacent consequences. To stay in the fight you must pay attention or pay the consequences. Both can be beneficial or disastrous. Men like you must keep the flame. Thank you.
That phrase got my attention too. Exactly what it is. Best description for what has been happening for most of my adult life, especially since Rupert Murdoch honored us with his presence. He stokes the fire just enough…. Thank you for this most apt visualization, it hits home, as does Peter’s assessment of current events
Last night the fire burned over the mountains here and descended into the valley, threatening homes and our municipal watershed. Watching the flames torching the tree line in the night we have a visual metaphor which for me goes back 40 years as a smokejumper.- firefighter. Our fire is over 110,000 acres and will be a scourge until winter comes. This scourge dovetails with the larger battle the nation faces, but one which won’t be helped by winter snows. Vote like hell to stop it. We can put an end to this endless battle if we become truly “ unita.”
The only thing that underpins the craven Aileen (Loose) Cannons and Marco Rubios in the Republican Party is the large number if ill informed, brainwashed or wantonly ignorant voters in the Trump base. And in turn, this voting bloc is kept alive with a steady diet of raw, red meat supplied by the likes of Rupert Murdoch. In these dangerous times, is it not possible to initiate legal action against these bad actors for seditious behavior? First Amendment be damned - If there was ever a case to be made against shouting “FIRE!” in a crowded theater, surely Fox News’ continuing propagation of the big lie meets this bar.
The US has some of the best medical tech and facilities in the world, and yet led the world in per capita COVID deaths. This means some significant percentage of the million+ untimely deaths and grieving families could be reasonably judged preventable. And it wasn't just the fringe creating the problem, we literally had Republican officials taking actions that all but seemed calculated to increase the death toll; almost as though there was a COVID virus lobby, dispensing anti-prevention bribe money somewhere.
Why do I rarely hear Rupert called out. Did his purchase of the WSJ give him cover for such treasonous bull Schitt. Thank you for saying the truth about what Fox does every hour of every day
The first salvo in the battle for the government of the USA. Mitch the bitch may get what he asked for and then live to see the Republican Party spontaneously combust. My dream…
Appointed for their vowed loyalty attribute, not their wisdom or depth of experience required to apply laws in the interest of equal justice. She got her dream job and the prestige only achieved by pledging fealty to the cause of her party. University of Michigan Law School must be proud (Not!).
It is too typical that we only start to prevent something when it has already happened.
Fortunately for America, these people haven't yet reached the stage at which Mussolini became Duce or Hitler, Fuehrer. But we are at a crucial juncture.
On his MSNBC show tonight, Lawrence O'Donnell said that Cannon favoring Trump with so much judicial vigor propelled herself to the top of the list for the next Supreme Court vacancy in a Republican administration.
Kristol was forthright in the Greg Sargent interview. He didn’t duck questions, admitted that he, personally, contributed to rise of Trumpism, and said he has not voted for a Republican since Trump was elected. All of this surprised me. He had hinted at these things before but never so clearly, as far as I know.
Strange bedfellows we have these days. Have hated Kristol since Iraq…. Wonder where Wolfowitz is these days? They were twin evil, and he is so right, he helped the evil take over the party. But Newt is ahead of him.
Wolfowitz is still the creep he was and is. Kristol is interesting - who knew he'd be the one to turn out to be the kind of Republican I remember sparring with and respecting 45 years ago in Sacramento? He even had the intellectual integrity to talk about conservatism's failures in how it developed and how he'd been part of that.
I too am old enough to recall that (at least some of the time) a Republican said something that I had to admit "had a point". Now it's all lies all the time.
Yes. He was a bad apple for sure, but his sense of decency somehow managed to kick in. He even admitted that some aspects of conservatism as a politcal philosophy are morally reprehensible. No honorable person sides with Republicans these days, so Kristol has only cleared a low hurdle, but it’s good to hear that he’s at least done that.
Considering the number who haven't, give him praise for it. It takes courage to go against everything you've believed and everyone you were friends with over principles.
Kristol puts the number of convertible, R-leaning voters at about 3% to 5% of th R and R-leaning ekectorate. If I understood correctly, he thinks that nearly none of the convertibles are registered Republicans. Most are registered Independent. My take is that most of the convertibles are self-converting, like Kristol. Doesn’t do any good to talk to them. They have to figure it out on their own. But if Kristol is right about the percentage, it will be enough for Dems to win big.
One of my favorite memories was receiving a call in my New York home from the Georgia Democrats asking me to contribute a penny a day ($36) to oppose Newt in his re-election bid for Congress, great strategy, of course I gave!
Numerous events have taken the US into uncharted constitutional waters. Trump’s being impeached twice. Trump’s never ending claims that the election was fraudulent. The fake electors scheme. The attack on the Capital and Congress as the election was being certified. The refusal by Trump to peacefully had over power. Trump’s death grip on the Republican cult. Trump’s theft of highly classified documents regarding national security. The Republicans defending Trump’s egregious, traitorous actions. The rule of law has been subject to numerous beatings since 2015 when Trump announced his bid for office. The Republicans keep shrugging their shoulders and saying, “So what?” Enough!
I often wonder, as Liz Chaney fights the evil in the Republican Party, if Dickie even has an inkling as to his part in creating this catastrophe, or if she does. I certainly remember. Betcha that neither Dickie nor Mr. “we’re too good for the rabble” Buckley, would have dreamed where their shenanigans would lead.
Dickie laughed all the way to the bank from his Iraq financial rape of a war he lied about and started, essentially. Liz voted 97% of the time with douchebag and she is still very conservative about women’s rights. She got the message when her sister came out. OMG.
You went there. Now I have to deliver the lecture about the Second-Dumbest Idea In Politics After The Balanced Budget Amendment.
It takes 2-3 terms for a lawmaker - if they're going to be any good - to learn how things work so they can be effective. Term limits means you have people who don't know where the restroom is in the building running the show. And since they are prime ignoramuses, they have to turn to that part of government which never had and never will have term limits, to talk to those "experts" to learn something about the issue. That part of government is the Lobbyists!
So yes indeed, go for term limits. Turn all the government over to the lobbyists while you're at it, then you won't have to do anything to make the government work.
Term limits are best enacted by voting them in or out (correction). You really want to be rid of Nancy Pelosi three terms before she first became Speaker?
I have heard/read major news organizations report (as unremarkable) that vary popular public objectives are "blocked by the powerful (fill in here) lobby" or that lobbies hand legislation to lawmakers to dutifully pass. To my mind what they are talking about is alarmingly anti-democratic and corrupt, but there are barely whispers about changing it. I suppose a lot of people felt that way about slavery or subjugation of women; but it is ultimately a matter of choice.
Jack Abramoff, one of the few lobbyists found to have broken the law gave some insight into how easy it is to buy your way in, in a system the ignores conflicts of interest:
+++
He ( Abramoff) also describes wooing congressional staffers -- particularly chiefs of staff -- with the lure of future employment. "After a number of meetings with them, possibly including meals or rounds of golf, I would say a few magic words: 'When you are done working for the Congressman, you should come work for me at my firm.'
"With that, assuming the staffer had any interest in leaving Capitol Hill for K Street -- and almost 90 percent of them do, I would own him and, consequently, that entire office. No rules had been broken, at least not yet. No one even knew what was happening, but suddenly, every move that staffer made, he made with his future at my firm in mind."
Abramoff points out that he was "not alone in this method" and that "it continues today, unabated by reform campaigns or public ire at the Congress."
Good point, TC. In my line of work, it did/does take a good bit of time to master the subtleties of the human body to interpret blood tests for physicians. I think in many jobs, it takes time to see the big picture.
The only benefit I could see to term limits is that you get the baddies out--but who is to say that the gerrymandering wouldn't just quickly sub in the baddie-in-waiting?
My initial gut thought for 2020 was Buttigieg, but the more I thought about it, I came to believe Joe was the best of the Dems.
Although I personally don't like Hilary, I made this argument to a former friend (sadly tfg brought out the hidden in her) consider the resume: an attorney, wife of a governor AND a Senator (so well acquainted with state regulation) wife of a POTUS (so well aware of the demands of the job) a Secretary of State (again, well aware of presidential job description, so to speak) and don't discount the work she did for healthcare years ago, something pretty darn crucial now with a pandemic and aging population.
On the other hand, a minor celebrity, known best for reality tv and/or bankrupting a number of businesses.
Take just the resume, leaving out age, sex, political party, and would you choose door #1 or door #2?
True. But after watching first hand what happened when term limits were implemented in Michigan (some really, really evil legislators finally got the boot), I am no longer against the limits. I do think they should be allowed more terms, however. And True, as a lobbyist I was at an advantage with the newbies, but remember, not all of us worked for oil companies.
You make a good case TC—exactly the one I used to make, in the Before Times (before the pernicious apparition was booted-up by a dying party). I’m not here to argue with you, merely to offer my thoughts. I submit we are in the uncharted New Politics now, a sort of “Vuja de” (I’ve never been here before).
Would we really need a Speaker Pelosi if politicians like McConnell, Cruz, Rubio, Gosar etc. timed-out as well? I would trade three Pelosi’s for one McCarthy and one McConnell right now. Throw in Cruz and Rand Paul, I’ll make it four Pelosi’s. She’s worth more than twenty of ‘em….
It would tear me out of the frame to lose someone like Rep. Adam Schiff or Sen. Raphael Warnock—or fill in your own hero—to term limits; Yet, in a time when our very vote itself is but a few wrong cycles away from losing it’s effective power (followed shortly by Democracy), term limits would protect both parties AND We The People. Yes, it takes a new politician a few years to learn the job! We used to expect extensive experience and good mentoring. The best ones will learn quickly; the bad ones will learn quicker.
It’s all moot anyway. The wishful thinking of an incorrigible idealist. Few lawmakers would vote for a law limiting their own terms.
You have to put up with the crap to find the gold. One Pelosi does outweigh the others. Having had the privilege of working for Jess Unruh, the inventor of the modern state legislature, and Willie Brown, the best operator of a modern state legislature, I wouldn't have traded either for 100 of the morons. But I would like more of them - unfortunately, the Volvo-driving chardonnay-swillers in the modern Democratic Party would get a bad case of the vapors if they ever ran into either of them. You're absolutely not going to get rid of the idiots even with term limits, and it's amazing what damage an idiot can do in 2-3 terms when there are no adults present.
Great point there, TC. Without Pelosi during the reign of the Apparition we would be lost already. But I have to believe that term limits would not extinguish the greats. They would find other ways and means to rise and serve. Sadly, it’s all moot. What about scotus limits?
As I remember 32 years of caring for my wife, I think of you frequently. I would give everything I have to be able to do it again, and I encourage you to pause, once in a while, to savor the deeper meaning of caring for your beloved.
The 2-year term for a Congressman is equally dumb in my view. Campaigning starts at the end of their first orientation to Congress. This movement play to ignorance/exuberance over competence/experience of those peddling the simple solutions over the real work of figuring out lasting practices and policies.
Agree about 2 yr terms--but 4 yr terms (alternating w/Senate & Presidential elections) could still provide the balance of Mid-terms, and repealing Citizens United...politics can never be cleaned up as long as that stands. And term limits like only 2 SUCCESSIVE terms.
Yesterday, I held signs for candidates I support at the local polling place - for the primary here in MA. I had a short discussion with a brother of the Republican candidate who is running in opposition to mine. That candidate's Web site had the usual hot-button-for-Republicans-but-nobody-sane-really-gives-a-damn issues (his first point was about CRT), and he supported term limits for everyone in government. I had to remind him it cuts both ways and he'd be wise to drop the issue because, as a rep in the MA House, he could never sell it. TCinLA is right: especially when the terms for reps are only two years. It takes that long for them to learn the layout of the MA State House.
I'd rather go for age limits. In Oregon, Circuit Court Judges "age out" at 75. In my county, I have seen judges who stayed WAY beyond their effective time (3 in particular come to mind) along with others who were still at the top of their judicial game (3 again) who also were forced from the bench due to age, not ability. Same thing for congress critters. 75 is plenty.
Yes, that would work better. Corporations do it: the CEO of the company I worked for was aged out at 65, as I recall. It keeps the position from being 'frozen in time'. 75 would work for any political office.
Evil is never decisively conquered because so much can be gained by jettisoning conscience. But then, so much more is lost, such as a world worth living in. Lost in so many ways; perhaps even, if we are not careful, lost forever.
Biden gave us the clear descriptors to split the Republican Party: "Mainstream Republicans" and "MAGA Republicans." We ALL need to echo these terms, and clearly define the first as Loyal Americans but the second as American Traitors. Our democracy depends on this distinction. Kindly give your Republican friends and relatives this out, and help them come to the conclusion that they must vote Democratic on November 8, 2022.
Doug, First send money to Val Demmings. Second, please tell me how the hell did Rubio become head of the Senate Intelligence Committee???? An oxymoron if I ever heard one....omg.
I’ve sent money to Val Demings 3 or 4 times. $25 each time. I also have done this to some 6 or 7 Democrats. How the Senate puts an asshole like Rubio in that position is bizarre.
Me too, I keep sending small amounts to several candidates who have a chance of winning. I think the Republican Right has maneuvered all these posts to serve their long term goals of ruling the roost. Just my guess. He is SUCH an idiot and backward thinker, as are they all....you know who I mean.
Oxymoron or proxy-moron? Republicans use their powers of appointment to pour sand in the gears of democracy and rule of law; so that despotic plutocrats can fill the vacuum. You see it everywhere you look.
This is a continuing slow motion coup attempt and it won’t end till the leaders are found guilty and sent to prison.
The most dangerous part is the control over the courts.
What are the chances that many of these Trump appointees are dirty, all the way to the SCOTUS? What effort is being made to investigate these judges and justices with an eye to removal if warranted?
First: It's scary when I find myself agreeing with Kristol. Wow. Though I admit to not having any clue where that party is going to be by the end of the year, or in 2024. Will they survive? Be stronger? Have disintegrated? I find myself knocking on the wooden table next to me. And the wall. And the coffee table...
Second: Marco Rubio- fight over document storage? He can't possibly believe what he is saying, can he? Idiotic.
It is the Francis J. Mathew judges of the country against the Aileen Cannon judges of the country who will play a big role in deciding the future of our democracy. Luckily everyone is paying close attention despite the significant distractions (pandemic, recession, Trump's diarrhea of the mouth, media that has been neutered, etc.). If the basic functioning of our courts can not withstand this scrutiny, then we lost our democracy a long time ago. The judicial system withstood the Trumpanze blizzard of ca ca directed at it by Eastman-Giuliani-et al. It has always been the case that the court system is riddled with partisan judges, just ask any Black defendant or plaintiff's lawyer trying to hold Big Tobacco or any big corporation to account. I worry more about the determination of the prosecutors. If they are determined, adequately skilled and provided sufficient resources, MAGAs lose. Look at the prosecutions of the Insurrectionists. Yeah a few judges bent over backwards for the Insurrections but as a group they are getting adequately punished. Personally I'd like to see longer sentences as mentioned by Chief Judge of D.C. courts, but lots of defendants and some getting decent jail time.
Speaking of justice..."Stephen K. Bannon is expected to surrender to state prosecutors on Thursday to face a new criminal indictment, people familiar with the matter said, weeks after he was convicted of contempt of Congress and nearly two years after he received a federal pardon from President Donald Trump in a federal fraud case.
The precise details of the state case could not be confirmed Tuesday evening. But people familiar with the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sealed indictment, suggested the prosecution will likely mirror aspects of the federal case in which Bannon was pardoned." https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/bannon-border-wall-indictment/
We have really gone down the rabbit hole and the mad tea party has begun and things keep getting curiouser by the day. Thom Hartman has some YouTube videos from two psychiatrists who both assert that a violent meltdown by TFG, is ahead. If he is to be arrested and indicted, they had better bring a net to throw over him. Color me worried.
There’s an article today (where?) that Biden deliberately baited Trump in his speech, and Trump’s rhetoric at “his” rally was the result. Not sure if that actually was Biden’s intention, but Trump sure reacted.
Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted former president Trump’s request for a special master to review a tourist's digital video alleged to depict the former president shooting and killing 73 year old Rebecca Braunschweiger on Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan.
Said the Judge:
“As a function of Plaintiff’s former position as President of the United States, the stigma associated being shoved in a patrol car and taken to an undisclosed location is in a league of its own. "
Mr. Trump claims the copyright to his image in any form. It's mine. It's mine. All of it is MINE. he said in his brief. MINE!
I'm wondering if there's a $ trail to Cannon - or a property trail, a la Charles Rettig?
I'm also wondering if the friendly (or hostile!) nation whose nuclear data was found would be irritated enough to skip due process. Could be horrifying for FL if so.
Doubt there is any money to trail. She is now on the 'short list' to be a judge in a higher court if another MAGA or MAGAesque person makes it to the White House. Mission Accomplished! Bet ya she gets an honorary dinner at Federalist Society.
We probably can't but we should be doing something about the vast sums of money now legally used to purchase politcal outcomes. Time was that was called "corrupt".
A reminder to Democrats and liberal independents who accept only perfection in a presidential candidate; who stay home or vote third party rather than suffer any flaw in the party’s candidate, looking into future campaigns.
How different would the world be today if we were in the middle of the second term of a Hillary Clinton Administration? How utterly, obscenely, trivial those emails are now.
Running through the list of items in today’s HCR letter, I began to imagine how different the world would be if only…
Exactly. One of the things that I was certain of was that the 2016 election was about SCOTUS. My left wing friends "took the ball and went home" when Bernie did not get the nomination, or they voted for Stein. I had a conversation with one of them about 6 months ago, and I asked him (almost always "him"s) what he thought about the current SCROTUS. He hemmed and hawed, but eventually told me that I had been right.
Seven years and counting. For someone who never watched a minute of "The Apprentice" or "Celebrity Apprentice" and when he was aware of Trump at all (beyond that scowling presence at the White House Correspondents Dinner, some time during the Obama administration when President Obama ripped him a new one), thought he was nothing but a sideshow clown and a joke, that is how long now this cretin has been a part of my consciousness and all of our lives. (Longer for many who were paying closer attention.) We are being held hostage by a morally bankrupt bully and liar . . . a worthless and unworthy human being. It seems all of the country is in court - or, perhaps, arming themselves - thanks to or because of him, while people I used to respect for our differences in opinion have tossed in with this narcissistic, cowardly, violence-inciting, bloviating horror show. His complete lack of principle and civility has unleashed the toxic bile lurking under the surface of our lives, poisoning a country of which I used to a proud citizen. Every night I affirm safety for Merrick Garland and others who are bold enough to stand up for what is right . . . to honor their oaths to protect and serve the Constitution. And I fall asleep hoping they will be there again in the morning. How much longer? I thought I would survive him. Now I am not so sure.
In the questioning of Judge Aileen Cannon before confirmation, she was asked about recusal when there was the appearance of partisanship and she said that she would do so. She lied and today she showed so.
But this is not the only lie circulating. The lie that I’ve heard, over and over, from Fox News and some Republicans is that President Biden criticized all those who voted for Trump in 2020 (“half of America”). They’re obviously trying to: 1) deflect from the classified documents kept in Trump’s desk and 2) create an impression that President Biden feels contempt toward anyone who voted for Trump in 2020 (cue Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables”).
It would seem that the far right candidates are just now remembering the Women’s March on January 21, 2017 and are trying to cover up their true feelings about outlawing abortion and contraception.
Ah yes, wiping certain statements off their social media as if people already didn't have screen shots of their dreck. And for me if I see a R after a name, no vote for that person.
Yup! I can proudly say the last R I voted for was Clifford Case, senator from NJ, in 1974, because he said he would vote to convict Nixon. Turns out Dickie resigned first, but I still voted for Case
Second one plays. Nothing happens for a while. At 37min mark Cannon comes on.
First one is a PDF. Problem was subtack joined the link with my text. If link continues not to work, Google Senator Feinstein questions for Judge Aileen Cannon. Really not much to see, but Big Hug for your rigorous search for facts!
Biden gave us the clear descriptors to split the Republican Party: "Mainstream Republicans" and "MAGA Republicans." We ALL need to echo these terms, and clearly define the first as Loyal Americans but the second as American Traitors. Our democracy depends on this distinction. Kindly give your Republican friends and relatives this out, and help them come to the conclusion that they must vote Democratic on November 8, 2022
This evening, as I was picking up a take-out order from one of my favourite restaurants in New Mexico, the manager said "Get out of here", to two MAGA customers, who may have been making comments about the waitress, a Hispanic woman, who was born and raised in the town where the restaurant was located. The two left in a hurry, jumped in their truck, and hightailed it out of the lot. This is a town that went for Trump, twice. The veneer is wearing thin.
While I don't get out much, I find that sometimes the best talks are with people waiting in line.
Yesterday, the lines at Costco were long, so I struck up a conversation with a lady probably 10 years older than me.
I usually start by complimenting on a piece of jewelry (since I make jewelry) or maybe a shirt. I find that since I start out with a compliment, they are more willing to talk.
Anyway, she brought how she couldn't find her favorite can peaches and how she was a little upset and couldn't figure out why there was a problem with getting her peaches.
I remembered a story I had just read and so I told her that farmers are asking to change immigration rules so immigrants can come and pick her peaches. I said we need them.
She looked at me and after a moment, she smiled and said yes we do.
These are the short conversations I have with people I will probably never meet again.
This how I'm trying to do my part to help inform people.
And I think it's working at least a little.
You're my hero. I want to be like you. You planted a seed in that woman's mind.
In most instances once the "Bell" is rung it can never be un-rung, Eh!?
Beth,
Totally agree—I’ve also had some of the best and surprising talks with people while waiting on line.
This story yesterday on Here and Now about the Stanford study of 31000 people testing what works best to mend division in our country speaks to this method by Beth. Thank you Beth!
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/09/06/strengthening-democracy-study
Guess what!!! I called Professor Willer, thinking I would get a voice mail, and he answered!!! He didn't know about Heather and so far no contact with the Biden administration. But they are trying to make this happen. So I'm going email him and Heather to introduce them and see what she can do as she already is connect with the President. Thank you so much for this!!!!
Chaplain!
Thank you for doing and sharing this — how wonderful.
Keeping the hope and faith, -Ashley
Thank you Ashley! I love your "keeping the hope and faith," I'm very excited about this connection- at the very least they will know of one another. Here's the email I sent. I'm also creating a tweet to introduce the study. <3
Dear Heather,
I'm writing to introduce you to Professor Robb Willer of Stanford University, co-author of a study that was mentioned by Sandra in the comments to your newsletter 9/6. It is a mega study of interventions "designed to reduce anti-democratic attitudes and reduce partisan animosity." The study found that the interventions work!! (see links below to article and study )
So I called Professor Willer to ask if President Biden knew of this study and he answered the phone! He said, no, but they wanted him to, and asked if there's anything I can do to help with that. So I immediately thought of you!
I told Professor Willer about your newsletter and why it is so important to all of your readers, as well as about your interview with President Biden, and he was very interested in both. (see links below)
I know you are both so busy, but this study inspired a vision of a national program of community gatherings, bringing us together to recognize that the goodness of heart that we have in common is stronger than the factors that divide us. I believe that this is our best way to defeat the current wave of violent fascism invading our country, primarily stirred by the cynical money/power grabbers who know how to feed on fear.
This will require people of your stature to make it happen. I'll do whatever I can to help.
Blessings,
Terry Nicholetti
Chaplain at Large
https://bit.ly/2XxMECC
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/09/06/strengthening-democracy-study
https://www.strengtheningdemocracychallenge.org/paper
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-6-2022?r=eznl2&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
https://youtu.be/PRyaDw8B9qI
Thank you, once again, Terry, for sharing your energizing efforts. Your email has my head and heart humming in harmony! 💙🤍❤️
PS: You and my mother share a name (same spelling, even!).
Thank you Sandra! I want to know more about this statement in the article: " he finds that many aspects of social life that are often seen as antisocial or malicious - such as gossip, moral judgments, and status hierarchies - are fundamental to social order." That certainly is an eye opener for me - and a nudge to re think my automatic judgements.
"Gossip," aka the grapevine, is an essential news source and probably always has been, especially for those marginalized by the supposedly legitimate media -- which is most of us. It puts the burden on each of us to be a reliable source, to recognize the reliability of sources, and to corroborate information before passing it on. Needless to say, plenty of people don't do this, or don't do it all the time, but in general those who consistently spread info that's malicious or just plain wrong eventually lose credibility. (I wish that would happen to Fox News and the GOP, among others. Maybe it is happening. We'll see.)
Chaplain Terry Nicholetti
"...moral judgments...are fundamental to social order..."
An unpopular thought to ponder:
Is not such fundamentalism supported by Americans' exposure to the copiousness of our contemporary wisdoms of convention?
Can you imagine our social order, instead, being inspired by the wisdom of our FATHER in Heaven as taught throughout the many stories our Holy Bible, e. g. Matthew 7:1 & Luke 6:37, Etc., Etc., Etc.
Such love would surely better homogenize Americans into a safer more peaceful United States of America, Eh!?
I can barely wrap my mind around what you seem to be saying here. Willl keep trying, but I'm curious about why you think a homogenized populace is a desirarable outcome. The MAGA Republicans are homogenized behind their leader. The Evangelicals are supposedly homogenized behind their FATHER in heaven, though I suspect the real unifying factor is whiteness . USians from the late 1940s onward were homogenized by the anti-communistm of Joe McCarthy and others. And of course we have the examples of Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia . . .
Hello Susanna J. Sturgis:
Perhaps the concept of homogenously should have been defined as, “Love thy neighbor as thyself, which is the desirable outcome needed to reunite the United States of America.
Remember now the comment you are referencing cautioned that it would be unpopular. This response is given for a better understanding hopefully.
(1). The Maggot republicans and all those complicit in their silent support of white supremacy’s bigotry not only hate color but also those who support love of neighbor of all colors.
(2). The clan of evangelicals are NOT Christians and do not know about our FATHER in Heaven. Christians are about love not the hate that spews from the frothing quivering lips of evangelicals against their neighbors of every color.
(3). USians, (quaint elocution!) of the 1940’s rallied around the pride of patriotism spurred on by the shared commonality due to anxiety of, “The Wars” and the “Fox-Hole-Effect” affecting American’s during daily preoccupation of the haltered of distant neighbors…
(4). Mao’s China, for just one example, authorization of executing female babies supported by the parents of those female babies certainly was not love of neighbor nor was hitler’s minions of extermination of over eight million jews an expression of neighborly love nor was the Stalinist labor camp referred to as Cannibal Island due to the depravity of cannibalism’s most extreme example hating neighbors.
Hopefully your mind will become calmed by understanding the ONLY WAY America can survive the republican’s slavery to their deceitfulness’ destruction of American Democracy is love of neighbor as oneself… one’s self.
Thank you! I am going to write to the team and ask if the administration has seen this study. What a national project this could be!
thank you, Liz!!
Many thx Liz
POWER-FULL!!! Thank You Beth!
Just such a wonderful lesson for us all Beth
"Yes we do." I have chills that you created/allowed that moment, Beth. I believe that if every one of us with the truth (as best we know it) about the basic challenges (immigration, right to choose, privacy, gay/trans rights, fair taxes has more of these gentle, low-key, human moments, we can change this country for good.
We have to be nice even though sometimes it is really hard!
Exactly Beth, you find and go to wherever they are and start there. It's the only way to discuss politics or religion....
Thank you, Beth. Often, it's the little things that make a difference.
Nancy Fleming
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
Mother Teresa
It is great, Gary that the managers had some real courage. Who knows how many guns those creeps had in their truck.....??
And, of course my mind immediately races to the possibility that those maggots will return to the restaurant with guns and open fire. God help us all.
Maybe Gary Boivin should suggest he get some security, since he knows those people patronize his restaurant……just sayin’.
The owners have a ton of security, and the waitress belongs to an old, large family in the area.
Please, grant maggots some dignity and spell the label for such people correctly MAGATS 😂
Actually, Carol, originally the name suggested by a commenter had great use of lower and upper case letters.
MAGAts.
I see this as quite effective.
I think I had seen it that way but debated with myself whether since the T and S are also first letters of works the all caps usage is best
Yes, maggots can be lifesavers.
I understand they're very useful in removing necrotic tissue
I prefer "MAGGOTS" myself. Since that word is universally accepted as being something most-lowly...., almost lower than whaleshit. It really conveys that point when in print. Besides, I don't want there to be any mistake!
Here's another one, I have ordered my spices from Penzeys for years [they have brick and mortar locations too].
After reading the "ABOUT REPUBLICANS" letter they posted on their website, I'll be giving spices for birthday gifts, and going through all of my stock and placing an order to update my mine as well. Hopefully this will offset some of the business they loose from this letter.
https://www.penzeys.com/shop/about-republicans/
ME TOO!!
I have spices I am giving to my sister for her bday tomorrow!
This great company has so many offers, frequently they have 1/4 cup sizes for $1 or such. When I see that, I purchase whatever the limit is and hand them out. I have had numerous people comment on what a difference these spices are compared to what they can get in the grocery store.
IMHO the ones new customers should try: Chinese Tung Hing Cinnamon (cinnamon is said to help stabilize blood sugar. Sprinkle it on your oatmeal, morning toast, on the pb in your sandwich, and of course, bake with it!) Frozen Pizza spices (really perks up a frozen pizza)
Turkish Oregano (just YUM, use it in so many ways!) "JUSTICE" a spice blend--I love to shake it on Chicken before grilling it, California Pepper Blend (use it anywhere you use pepper, but my favorite is to sprinkle it on scrambled eggs) Chicago Steak Seasoning--excellent for seasoning your steaks, I love it on burgers as well! Fajita mix--I coat chicken strips in it for my fajitas.
Any other reader here who uses Penzeys, what is your favorite?
Justice is great on salmon too. Use Justice and Parmesan cheese (not theirs, just P.Ch.)! I like their many curries, Fox Point is good, and Tzar Dust, but Northwoods is fabulous and goes on Everything.
I love that Penzey has such a variety of each spice. See cinnamon for instance, I always use Ceylon Cinnamon. It’s great for cakes, pastries, rice dishes. I just like the basics - Ceylon Cloves for studding hams, sea salt, peppers. I used to grow and make my own Paprika, and Penzey’s Hungarian style is as good as what I made. Vanilla beans for homemade vanilla. I could go on and on, but you get the idea
Penzeys’s has encouraged me to expand my repertoire!
Thanks for these tips, Miselle, as I prepare to order a slew of spices from Penzey's!
I did order from them some years ago, but now will make it a point to going forward.
Agree, sister Lynell! I’m not even a cook, yet they have my long-standing support💙.
Yay, Sister Ashley!
Yes, Miselle and runragged, I’m a Penzey’s person, too💙! Bill and family are good people. My fave is probably Frozen Pizza blend — makes pasta dishes and salads all the tastier. Pasta Sprinkle is a close second. They have great gift card sales too ($35 for $50 cards).
LOVE PENZEY'S, so many great spices and blends and specials! I have hooked several family members on Sandwich Sprinkle. You can use it to make a more complex garlic bread, my niece uses it for her weekly meal prep, and my son's favorite is with butter on hot bowtie pasta. We also use Sunny Paris with olive oil and lemon juice for a grilled chicken marinade. Northwoods is awesome on chicken.
If you have a local store but can't get there before a special ends, you can order online for in-store pickup ($10 minium) and collect it later. My store is out of the way, but worth the trip, so I do this.
Oh my heart. I posted it on Twitter. A loving way to tell those who are on the wrong path that they are on the wrong path
I thought so as well - thanks for posting on Twitter.
Oops, runragged; didn't mean to neglect you who started it "all" about Penzey's. How could we not support this worthy business? You getta spice and you getta a spice...spices for us all!
I’ve been a loyal customer of Penzey’s for at least 25+ years. Some items I really can’t do without and stock up with all their sales. I’ve worn their pins at women’s marches and used their voting stickers on posters. I’m a big fan. I’m laughing because watching discussion here about this company and everyone talking about their favorite spices and their uses is not something I ever suspected I’d be reading here. Interested in any recipes?
We are all in this together- I don’t feel neglected at all, though your consideration is kind.
I’d just like to see his letter to go viral!
I'm on it! Thanks for the stocking stuffer idea....with the letter!!!
Thank you for posting this link.
Wow, what a well written piece. He brings up some really good and intelligent points IMO.
I think of the good will of putting out a sign which says "Hate has no home here." And the courage of making it happen. MAGAs would call this man a "hater" but that would be an example of their specious rhetoric.
WONDERFUL! Love that restaurant!
Gary, in your 'on the ground there best judgement', after plenty of 'likes' tonight please show these comments to restaurant owner!
Of all the "news" that's fit to print, this may be the best yet, Gary. Thanks for posting!
This eased my anxiety after reading this newsletter. Thank you.💕
I’ll celebrate with you.
Wow. Yes, we need to stand up and call out. There is a difference between attacking a person and attacking what a person does. I was reminded of this in a Washington Post comment thread. It's important to remember this. Trump of course takes the low road and we certainly don't want to go there - in that way - too.
❤️❤️ thank you for sharing. We need a growing collective mass of people willing to stand up to the Bullies.
Good for the manager! Here in New Mexico we are proud of our multicultural heritage and celebrate our diversity. The MAGA insanity is not widely accepted or supported except in a few areas in the southern part of the state.
This story made me feel good. I'm starting to see that too, with some members of my family. They are tired of the hateful rhetoric and starting to realize that actions and words have power. I've seen them push back against other people repeating the standard conservative talking points, whether it is country club racism or the downplaying of Trump's continuous breaking of the law. I'm hoping people keep getting sick of the violent, and toxic rhetoric from the GOP and get fed up with the flagrant rule breaking enough that they start to lose elections at the local and state level. We all have way more in common than we have differences.
PhillyT, thank you especially for your term, "country club racism." I rarely see anyone refer to this version or racism and Anti-Semitism and I often think it is the most insidious and the most damaging because it is acceptable and difficult to call out. And the people who have mastered it are some of movers and shakers of our culture.
I'm not entirely convinced that we are having a change of heart about the MAGA values as much as we are getting sick to death of having to hear about these people every minute of the day and, because I am a good daughter of the South, I have to add that I think a lot of folks are just fed up with someone who is fundamentally TACKY
Your story really makes me feel good, Philly. Another crack in the impregnable force that once was!
Great courage on the part of that restaurant manager. It sounds like he reached that one moment when his desperation and fear for his restaurant and our world came to the boiling point and bubbled right over into that brave act. That might be what we need, that combination of desperation and a belief in the sanctity of what we are losing. Think what would happen if every restaurant and store, every public entity just said "No" We'd be in lawsuits for eternity but better lawsuits than Trump's
We are visiting friends in your lovely state and I have been following this news; your comment brings more hope that things are turning around!
That's a great sign that people are coming to their senses and recognize the threat that the MAGA Cult Movement is to our Democracy. Yay! We need to vote them OUT!
Good news.
Rubio and Senate Intelligence is an oxymoron.
What a danger to us! Need Val Demings for the win.
Rubio = moron. Oxy = "containing oxygen" (according to Merriam-Webster) So does this mean Rubio is full of hot air?
I do believe that is exactly what Stephen from Sunny Seattle meant.
Support Val Demings. Marco “storage issue” Rubio must go.
Unita. 🗽
Both ends - sorry, couldn't resist. 😈 (And it's only 6:25am here.)
Rubio is full of hot air as well as solid matter.
Ann, see my comment below to Doug. I sent it five minutes after yours....great minds think alike!
Well Senate Intelligence is the oxy in any case...
"Well Senate Intelligence is the oxy in any case..."
Stephen from SS, your comment is part of the problem. A knee jerk reflex, erasing the many people - Senators and their staff - who fight the good fight every day. Having to listen to and push back against Republicans while taking flack from folks like you. Try listening to CSpan.
Russian invasion of Ukraine comes to mind where U.S. Intelligence predicted the event that came to pass:
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-business-europe-8acc2106b95554429e93dfee5e253743
lin•, with all respect, I believe you missed my humour.
Well, coming from the "GOP Ministry of Truth".
Rubio and intelligence is an oxymoron.
I was beginning to think that "Senate Intelligence" was an oxymoron. Maybe that was back a couple of years.
I am a fierce fight. I marched for women's rights and civil rights in the sixties and seventies. I reveled in the glory of seeing change. I knew my voice mattered. I have remained politically active and will never give up. I do this for the love of country and my grandchildren.
Today, I cried.
Barbara
No tears allowed. They blur your vision of the future. You still count and have meaning. Stand strong.
Thank you for your compassionate reach, Bill. I think of my tears as a cleanser and know that tomorrow I will have a sharper view of the task ahead. I will continue to get folks registered, do my texting and postcards. I will educate the younger generation and continue to find a better understanding of what we must do. I am most thankful for our amazing Heather who provides us with the facts as well as her passionate insights. I am stronger thanks to Heather and each of you!
Barbara
Keep in mind, "there is no crying in baseball." In the sixties we were strong then, heh? I went my way into the Corps and many went other ways. We achieved no matter where we were. Gotta do the same now.
Huge Hugs. You are an inspiration Barbara Blumberg. ❤️🤍💜❤️🤍💜❤️🤍💜
Don’t let anyone tell you (and us) there is no crying allowed. When men become ‘allowed’ to cry we will have a much more compassionate society.
Very much agrer
Barbara, now, as then, your country is worth your tears. And we must do it again for the children. This country was worth 3 years of my life and my blood in Vietnam while you were an activist, but I joined your side after my discharge. And when Kent State happened I couldn't stop the tears for days.
This nation of people needs leaders who lead by example and word about integrity, the worth of every human, and the sheer beauty of Democracy "by the people."
We have such leaders again but the damage has been done. We must save it so our children and grandchildren can fix it.
We Must, through our tears.
First, allow me to thank you for your service. In all of my time of activism, never did I hold anything but respect and high esteem for the job you chose and the risk you took in the name of democracy.
In the here and the now, I totally agree that we must continue to stay on course with our current leadership and impress upon the children and the more naive adults, that democracy is a unique experiment and it must be preserved at all costs. A few tears sprinkled in are not a sign of weakness, but rather a reminder of how much at risk this great gift is.
Yes, Barbara. We are all warriors for democracy now. As soldiers, we must learn to take breaks and mourn which is helpful in freeing us of our grief so we can continue the process towards restoration for ourselves, our country and our planet. Learning to dance with our feelings rather than feel weakened by them is a good task to drop our inherited "stiff upper lip." And the more flexible we become with our feelings and know they will pass, the more clarity our refreshed eyes and hearts can be to make the improvements needed in the restoration process. All genders need to have permission to just let go once in awhile, it is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of caring and loving something you want to keep or protect. Do it as often as your particular system needs, with pride that you can feel and you are making room for new things by that release. We are hardwired to to care for our systems and survive.
But we need these moments of release so that our actions and activism remain clear and focused. Be like the lead goose in formation, drop back to rest for awhile until you are ready to join the front again. Know that others in your formation will carry you on their wings. Take turns. That is what momma would tell all of us.
Stagger breathing. I was schooled that it also applies to singers. Let us sing for freedom, dropping out to breathe when necessary to carry on again.
Juliette N. Kayyem coined the term 'pace the rage'.
And the choir's song remains strong.
and sadly, we didn't teach our boys that crying is okay. Husbands, brothers are stuck with unexpressed feelings that erupt in unexpected and not very welcome ways. We can do better for our guys. Meanwhile...postcard writing began this week. Ours came with the full slate of democratic candidates on a backdrop of mountain-like shades of blue. My feelings crescendoed as I wrote, vote to protect your right to clean air, water and energy, to read without censorship, to insure access to voting for all, to support -not sue- our teachers, to enact gun laws that protect our children in schools.... The cards are too small! Next week- begins weekly voter reg at the library. Also creating a compare and contrast flier, ie Democrats protect women's reproductive rights; Republicans legalize forced birth, and so on. Action alleviates anxiety, even after reading today's troubling news.
The patriarchy has done a huge disservice to our men and boys in this country. Huge. Just imagine if they had been allowed to express themselves and be heard and learn to handle whatever comes their way without resorting to anything destructive or suppressive. The anger we see in the MAGA men and their cult leader is the epitome of this dark shadow.
Meanwhile, lots of things to do and make that blue tidal wave, hopefully at the same time justice moves over the land like a wave as well.
Pensa,
A "blue tidal wave," and "justice rolling."
You put a powerful image in my head. What more can we ask for right now, when a little while ago we had no hope?
Thank you!
Thanks, Pensa. How true your words! "Dance with our feelings" knowing they will change and "the lead goose drop[s] back for a while until ready to join the front again." Words of wisdom.
Thank you Pensa, for your compassionate words. Good advice for us menfolk too....
I had written quite a lot on menfolk and tears that got erased somehow. I whittled it way down the second time, hoping someone would pick up the gauntlet and they did. In my therapy, I see men and boys who really have been abused by that notion of "Don't cry. Be a big man." Especially in small children whose father may have died and they are now considered The Man of the House. In the field of grief, I have seen some atrocious things said to boys about being tougher and being a man now. Then there is what happens to them on the battlefield as I deal with veterans from Vietnam to desert "theaters" of war. It is so hard to witness what we do to our young men, and women now, and then expect them to be normal veteran civilians after teaching them how to kill and move on quickly. Makes me speechless sometimes. (And that is rare... ;-).
Pensa. Thank you.
It was really hard to make that transition, and some things never go away. This was complicated by the total contrast of seeing how poor the people were, and returning to a rich, soft America. The Vietnamese didn't seem to mind their poverty. Americans bitched about everything, and were jealous of everyone else!
And realizing how badly the French had exploited Vietnam. And the PTSD that I was totally unaware of, but suffering from. I hated God, America, and France. And I couldn't cry. Several years later I was on track for what would become 34 years of United Methodist ministry! As I look back it haunts me: was I trying to compensate, heal myself, or be forgiven? Or was I really called by God to be a wounded healer? I honestly don't know sometimes. But at least I can finally cry--that's progress. I have an appointment with my VA therapist in 30 minutes by phone. We're getting down to these issues gradually. I trust him, but I don't trust the VA with my darkness.
You must be very good at your vocation. That special combo of competence and compassion is so vital, so healing , and I know compassion when I see it.
Well said! Thank you, Barbara. You're an inspiration. Keep posting.
I had respect for your efforts as well. They moved a whole government, at great sacrifice. I joined like many other ex-service people because it was right in more ways than you could imagine.
Your kind words tell me the tears worked for you!
Kent State…I was a freshman at IU, next door to Ohio. I’ll NEVER forget.
MLMinET,
NEVER.
It must never happen again.
Not in our America!
Terrifying and Horrid. I was a senior in high school, preparing to go Michigan State...
Gus Koch, back in those sorry days, I was in my 20s. One of those years (don’t remember exactly which one) I remember as the year of death. We lost two Kennedy, one MLK, and what I then saw as the corker, Walt Disney died. That was when I cried. One too many. Now I realize that my tears were really for the end of childhood, the end of my previous vision of America, etc. I’m stronger by leaps and bounds now, but . . . I still occasionally cry.
Me too, Barbara. It was in response to something that TC suggested in his essay “The Fight Continues” from his Substack That's Another Fine Mess. https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/the-fight-continues?r=l2aa7&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct
A scene from a movie that I revere came to mind.
Crying is emotional relief. Many journalistic responses to all that is happening today generate a lot of emotion. A pressure cooker of sorts. Crying is one way to jiggle that regulator on top to release some steam.
But allow me to offer that when Professor Richardson starts a final paragraph with something like “And finally….” I know it’s going to be a sizzler. So my antenna went up as I started her last paragraph in today’s Letter. It was a few tears of relief and gratitude that I shed at Heather messaging us that our current administration is working hard for us, We the People, all of us. Providing, in this case, a safety net for our Bigs feeding our Littles. Getting formula here to support the supply chain. Such a huge single effort. Worthy of mention even if it’s fallen off the news cycle. It reminds me what I’m fighting for, Barbara.
Unita all! 🗽
Yes, this, Christine! It was the paragraph that I gravitated to in today's Letter. She reminds us to focus on the quiet part that is the true democracy we are all here to defend.
Yes, fab Lynell. You always get me.
For Frodo!
🗽
That final paragraph reminded me to share with my sphere of friends how we all come crying to our government to bail us out of this emergency or that emergency, yet, that is not socialism, they seem to think it is entitlement. Exhausting.
I read once that tears are cleansing. They are sometimes necessary as we gather the strength for what lies ahead.
🌞❤️❤️
Yes, Christine. Well said and thanks for the link to TC's also well-stated blog to which I would suggest he add this is also the "life form" that called our military "suckers and losers". I will Never get over that nor should any real American.
That said, your comment about "A scene from a movie,...came to mind" brings an idea I've had that now might be the time to suggest. For the sake of argument, pretend for a moment that the maggots find the way to overwhelm and steal the government from "the People". The maggots honestly have no idea what that would look like and their handlers don't want them to. So, what if the DNC or another funded group came together and enlisted our very best American Storytellers like, Steven Spielberg, Ken Burns and others to put together a series on what that would actually do to the country / world and what it would look like. I'm not talking about 30-sec Lincoln Project shorts but, beautifully written and filmed documentary-style episodes showing everyone what the world would be like should that hate-filled vision come to pass. I submit that it would frighten the @#$% out of everyone but their core group of true crazies. Think about it. Scenes of:
1. Women abandoned in pregnancy left to perish as hospitals turn them away
2. Impoverished communities left to corrode as Social Security & Medicare are cut off
3. AR15s everywhere firing on anyone that disagrees and with no consequences
4. The Klan revived, marching and terrorizing the streets again
5. Bonfires of school books being burned
6. Censorship like Hungary with "free speech" media shut down
7. Any number of scenes and scenarios of the orange lunatic in charge of the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons? A Dr Strangelove nightmare scene but, it's him riding the bomb instead of Slim Pickens,...and it's Not satire. It's real as evidenced by the beta test of having stolen our real-world nuclear docs and holding them hostage as we speak.
I apologize for the list of doomsday items that sound too crazy to imagine, except they aren't. If one extrapolates the hate-filled ideologies the maggots are using to create their fear and hate-based world this is it. If the hate-filled country and world they envision was actually put into a screen format by our best storytellers it might just transcend the scores of books currently attempting to show us the same thing but, struggle to create the scenes of profound violence, horror, fear and control that would result.
I loathe even having to write and suggest it and perhaps it's some other version of this, less scary but, I fear it isn't. Film, video and the digital world is the medium most seem to relate to now as sadly much of the masses no longer read. And Spielberg, Burns and their community would be one of the first to lose as the so-called government would quickly shut down "free speech" like in Hungary so, it is in their own interest to come together and develop this approach. They would know best how to bring it to the audience.
Sorry for the length of post and the sense of dread it brings but, I'm not so good at concise descriptions. And if any have a better version or how to do it please bring it. It's time and I haven't heard of many new tools but, a digital one might work.
BK: I feel your vision is on the news every night! Just saw a tweet that pregnant women in one county in Alabama are being arrested to “protect the embryo”! Holy guacamole!
This seems the way most likely to reach the largest crowd. Not everyone reads books. Great idea BK.
It is the politically active that will save our democracy. Those also serve who for some reason cannot be politically active but whose hearts and souls are straining to be in the fight.
Oh Barbara! A woman after my own heart and history! I am sending you a big virtual hug across the universe, from western India.
Ah India. When I was there I felt like I had come home. It was hard to leave, but by grace, someday I hope to return. राम राम
It’s an incredible place to live. The Land Of “No”, but I’m a native New Yorker. So I manage quite well….!
Yes an incredible place! Fwiw I am a native New Yorker as well. I was born in NYC but my family moved out of state when I was a toddler. However we returned often to visit family.
Not sure I understand what The Land Of “No” means. Then again my time was spent in Northern India. Perhaps it carries a reference/ meaning specific to Western India?
Ditto.
One of the few things offering a scintilla of hope is the other MAGA - Mothers Against Greg Abbot. They are our spiritual children, Barbara.
Hugs -
Often these days, the title of a book which I've never read comes to mind - Cry the Beloved Country. According to Wikipedia, it is: a social protest against the structures of the society that would later give rise to apartheid.
It's a powerful and not lengthy read. I encourage you to read it soon! You've inspired me to reread it (it was required reading in a college course decades ago!)
Read it in high school. Part of my education about the world (which was quite limited until I left my small town).
Probably would be on someone's banned books list today?
James Earl Jones❤️https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u_h4aG2_6ZQ
I need to watch this. Thank You.
You are allowed one day for tears. Then. We need you. This is the most dangerous battle since the Civil War. All of us need to be willing no matter the cost.
Grief is not capitulation. It can be a very powerful motivator, and an inevitable part of accepting reality. And we so need to make better friends with reality.
Money buys justice denied, delayed and tromped on. But it still rises
Money is a form of power. It can pay for food, support education, or spread lies. Apparently, if you know where to look, it can even buy murder for hire, or even treason. Like any form of power, it critical to set some rules about how it is obtained, and how it is used. Some ways of obtaining money should never be practiced, and some things should never be for sale. Reaganomics has tried to erase those boundaries; and here we are.
YES
Oh! Lynell! Did you see this verb Jeri introduced (thank you, Jeri!) ? Tromp! Tromped on! Another replacement word we can use to wipe out the last name of the installed man known as "45." A couple of interesting definitions of a synonym that are apropos:
2. a person or thing so closely associated with a particular quality or idea that the mention of their name calls it to mind. "the Victorian age is a synonym for sexual puritanism"
3. BIOLOGY
a taxonomic name which has the same application as another, especially one which has been superseded and is no longer valid.
May 45's name always be remembered as "superseded and no longer valid in any reality."
Barbara I just copied this from European Leadership on LinkedIn for you. This is you.... on man. We can't post photos here. Arrggjjh It is a fabulous photo of a lion with caption A STRONG PERSON and these words ¨A strong person isn't one who doesn't cry. A strong person is one who cries and sheds tears for a moment, then gets up and fights again.¨ This is you. You are a treasure.
💞
💞 You ARE a fierce fighter. And all fierce fighters need to take a rest, let it out, cry, and renew. Yesterday I was feeling discouraged. There is only so much I can do within the limits of my chronic fatigue syndrome which is so frustrating. A friend dropped by with some cherry brats (a northern Michigan delight, not sweet but nasty kids) that I had ordered to support her charity. As I wrote her a check, she updated me on the great progress their Haitian students are making at the school she helped to build there and now supervises. My thought, after "Wow!", was "What do I ever do to help the world besides whine on Substack sites." As she was about to walk out the door, she turned and said, "I am looking forward to your facebook post on who to vote for in the school board elections. There's no other way I'd know who is best." Oh, I DO that! (BTW - Ours is the school board where the Chairman brandished his gun at a parent who was speaking to the Board--- via Zoom thankfully.)
The ❤️ Means 👍🏻 Or 💔 or me too, Barbara. I’m not “liking” that the smarmies are making us cry. They are disrespectful of the law because most are selfish and greedy like their Covid-spreading idjt. People are still dying every day because of the mass murderer president who killed his own people. Years of tears.
Keep the faith. It will all be worth it in the end.
Hugs Barbara. ❤️
😪
"New Mexico judge Francis J. Mathew ruled that Couy Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, must be removed from his office as Otero County commissioner for participating in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol."
At least there is one promising development in today's news, Heather. May it be a precursor of many, many more similar rulings against all who participated in the insurrection, including those who are still members of Congress.
What about seditionist Ginni Thomas and her close ties to her husband, [In]Justice Clarence Thomas? Is there any hope he can removed from SCOTUS under perhaps a stretch of the 14th Amendment?
I agree, Mim. This is a hopeful sign. But don’t forget how many of those terrible judges were appointed by 45 and under Moscow Mitch McConnell’s guidance. 45 did this all with the backing of the right-wing Republicans, who are now reaping what they have been sowing for many years. I am waiting for news on Ginni the Traitor and her disgusting husband. I am hoping the Dems will expand the SCOTUS to thirteen justices to represent all the Federal Districts properly. Not a “radical” or even new idea......we’ve got to push for that in the coming months. The midterms are crucial to turn this tide of murder and vengeance in the US.
Donating for two more Dem senators and voting rights legislation. Then piss on M and S
Crucial, indeed, Elizabeth.
Don't use a misogynist slur to describe people. It demeans women.
Can’t “like”, but I agree. I changed it. Thank you, Tinfoil.
Thank you, Elizabeth !
Vote November 8th
Both need to be tarred and feathered. What a vision…
Ginni should not get a pass, that is for sure. And where it goes from there?
I’m beginning to believe if you are “someone” you get a pass. “Judge” Cannon’s fangirl behavior makes me think that.
Cannon did not accept the amicus brief by a group of distinguished lawyers and legal scholars--she blatantly refused to see another opinion! When has this happened before and why? She has middle-fingered the government before and is doing it again on the national stage to make a point. I am actively restraining myself from using a misogynistic term....
She was born in Cali, Colombia.
Need I say more?
Mim, I truly hope I’m wrong, but I fear Griffin’s removal will be challenged and the ruling overturned.
Based on the judges who currently sit on New Mexico’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, it’s a very good possibility that the ruling will not be overturned- Griffin has already been in trouble with the appellate courts over his election nonsense, including refusing to allow the county to certify this summer’s primary election results. His brand of crazy is not popular here in New Mexico.
Lorraine, Thank you for writing and amplifying Griffin’s misdeeds and self-serving impulses. If the decision holds, I hope it repeatedly is invoked. Meantime, I find your well-informed comment assuring.
I hope you're wrong too, Barbara Jo.
Mim, I found Lorraine’s well-informed comment (part of this thread) quite reassuring and a sure indicator that I likely am wrong.
If Republican-dominated courts end up compromising or even stopping the investigation of Trump's blatant theft of classified documents, we might as well hold a funeral for the rule of law.
Judge Cannon has essentially fired what appears to be the first shot in a budding judicial coup to protect the wannabe dictator from prosecution. Or perhaps it's a new offensive to the failed coup on Jan. 6. Am I being paranoid of hyperbolic? Possibly. But we painfully know that Republicans will try anything, even it means sanctioning severe damage to the nation's security and potentially that of our allies.
Cannon is, literally and figuratively, a useful idiot in a scheme to use the courts to save Trump.
Even with Judge Cannon's useful idiot career aspirations, Robert Hubbell helps to temper our paranoia or hyperbole:
(9/05/22) https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-two-speeches
(9/06/22) https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/judge-cannon-did-everyone-a-favor
Noting that Hubbell has received the subscription-worthy seal of approval from our very own, very discerning TCinLA!
Thank you for drawing attention to this cool, tightly argued one-step-at-a-time reasoning.
Hubbell is providing detailed maps and guidance for crossing very dangerous territory.
He is a jurist, but he is proceeding methodically in the same way as the best physicians approach the treatment of serious illness.
This inspires confidence -- and what could be more precious at this time?
Robert Hubbell is so prolific, and generous. Many times on weekend will open comment section to free subscribers as well. He is dedicated to getting people to voice opinion.
Excellent read. Love the insight - and optimism
Hubbell is speaking tonight. “And as a reminder, I will be joining Focus For Democracy as a guest this Wednesday, September 7, at 8:00 PM Eastern, 5:00 PM Pacific. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/F4DSept7 , and a Zoom link will be sent to you. Details of the event are in a prior newsletter, here: Trump admits guilt. - by Robert B. Hubbell”
"The first shot in a budding judicial coup."
The preparations for that coup go back a long way. This woman's appointment shows all the signs of being part of contingency planning by the then President for the overthrow of the Republic.
However much they may hedge (or, like McConnell etc., always have hedged)
politicians and public servants are coming out now and making their choice clear, opting to honor their oath of office or, however indirectly, to show fealty to the would-be dictator.
One instance: given his position on The Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Rubio has clearly put fealty to Trump before his oath of office.
*
Even if the arsonists fail and political wildfire is avoided... or swiftly extinguished... the country will be left with a smoldering peat fire just under the surface, a source of lasting danger.
It is hard to see how the institutions of State can be preserved without a thoroughgoing purge of office-holders who have put partisan loyalty before their commitment to the Republic.
To understand the implications of a skewed judiciary at the service of forces other than justice, observe the workings of courts of law in the Russian Federation, where judges serve to transmit the orders of the Executive.
A Congress of highly paid button pushers would be another feature of the MAGA one-party State... That and Fuehrerprinzip.
A “smoldering peat fire” deliberately set by striking miners near Hibbing, Minnesota in the 1970’s led our Montana fire crew to one of the most miserable fire assignments we experienced. Your metaphor is succinct. We battled into October snows to unearth and extinguish the fires burrowing deep in the peat bogs. At best we got a type of containment held in check by the northern winter. In my mind that fire is still burning nearly fifty years later. Our job will never be over with this GOP onslaught burning so deeply under the surface, constantly rising from the depths.
Many thanks for this note, Pat.
I was deliberately using metaphor to speak of both present and long-term dangers, but you have just enlarged and sharpened my awareness -- and, I hope that of other readers -- of how an image can provide surprising insights into historical processes that are not easy for us to get our minds around.
Reading your note about a real fire in a peat bog, my wife saw in it a means for delivering an important lesson to politicians, by showing their duty to be mindful of the long-term consequences of their actions.
It does seem that most just don't want to know. They're chained to the short-term, and incapable of looking beyond the prison wall of the next election.
More metaphor, excuse me, but thank you for reminding me how useful images can be for putting across truths we can't see or don't want to see.
Fire and politics have adjacent consequences. To stay in the fight you must pay attention or pay the consequences. Both can be beneficial or disastrous. Men like you must keep the flame. Thank you.
That phrase got my attention too. Exactly what it is. Best description for what has been happening for most of my adult life, especially since Rupert Murdoch honored us with his presence. He stokes the fire just enough…. Thank you for this most apt visualization, it hits home, as does Peter’s assessment of current events
Last night the fire burned over the mountains here and descended into the valley, threatening homes and our municipal watershed. Watching the flames torching the tree line in the night we have a visual metaphor which for me goes back 40 years as a smokejumper.- firefighter. Our fire is over 110,000 acres and will be a scourge until winter comes. This scourge dovetails with the larger battle the nation faces, but one which won’t be helped by winter snows. Vote like hell to stop it. We can put an end to this endless battle if we become truly “ unita.”
Thanks, Jeri.
I have just tried, in response to something said by Suz, to begin exploring why and how metaphors can make for the best possible communication.
SO LONG AS THE MESSENGER DOESN'T JUST SAY THE RIGHT THING BUT IS COMPLETELY ONE WITH THE MESSAGE.
Not, I think, a problem for you, for HCR, for many here!
That in itself is encouraging.
The only thing that underpins the craven Aileen (Loose) Cannons and Marco Rubios in the Republican Party is the large number if ill informed, brainwashed or wantonly ignorant voters in the Trump base. And in turn, this voting bloc is kept alive with a steady diet of raw, red meat supplied by the likes of Rupert Murdoch. In these dangerous times, is it not possible to initiate legal action against these bad actors for seditious behavior? First Amendment be damned - If there was ever a case to be made against shouting “FIRE!” in a crowded theater, surely Fox News’ continuing propagation of the big lie meets this bar.
The US has some of the best medical tech and facilities in the world, and yet led the world in per capita COVID deaths. This means some significant percentage of the million+ untimely deaths and grieving families could be reasonably judged preventable. And it wasn't just the fringe creating the problem, we literally had Republican officials taking actions that all but seemed calculated to increase the death toll; almost as though there was a COVID virus lobby, dispensing anti-prevention bribe money somewhere.
How fast we forget, republicans literally are awash in the blood of their supporters as well as legions of innocents
Loose Cannon is her new name. Colbert called 45 “Darth Traitor” on Tuesday’s monologue. What would we do without good “nicknames”?
Fire Cannon.
😂
😂
Send her back to Colombia where they murder judges, kidnap Presidents and the biggest business is drug crime.
Why do I rarely hear Rupert called out. Did his purchase of the WSJ give him cover for such treasonous bull Schitt. Thank you for saying the truth about what Fox does every hour of every day
The first salvo in the battle for the government of the USA. Mitch the bitch may get what he asked for and then live to see the Republican Party spontaneously combust. My dream…
I derive a certain dark satisfaction in seeing an ethical but clever prosecutor snare a perpetrator in their own lies.
Calling Mitch a bitch does a disservice to all breeding dogs. But, I, too, have your dream of a rethugican combustion.
And what a beautiful dream that is Jeri.
Appointed for their vowed loyalty attribute, not their wisdom or depth of experience required to apply laws in the interest of equal justice. She got her dream job and the prestige only achieved by pledging fealty to the cause of her party. University of Michigan Law School must be proud (Not!).
This former U of M instructor is devastated.
Watch for her on the corrupt Supreme Clurt! She just bought herself a seat.
Kakistocracy is for real.
Had to look up kakistocracy...."a state or society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens." Seems we've been here for a while.
Was just headed to Google, thanks. Chump defined the term
Thank you. Sharing.
We can’t let Loose Cannon get to the SCOTUS! Please, God, NO!
The only place she would be welcomed these days
"...we might as well hold a funeral for the rule of law." Well said, and very scary.
A funeral, Ellen, for far more than even that.
It is too typical that we only start to prevent something when it has already happened.
Fortunately for America, these people haven't yet reached the stage at which Mussolini became Duce or Hitler, Fuehrer. But we are at a crucial juncture.
Did I hear somewhere that she wants her name in position as a SCOTUS justice?
On his MSNBC show tonight, Lawrence O'Donnell said that Cannon favoring Trump with so much judicial vigor propelled herself to the top of the list for the next Supreme Court vacancy in a Republican administration.
No more Republican administrations!
No doubt, Lawrence has her number
Talk about shitty.
Michael, I don't doubt this in the least.
Only the worst and most ignorant for the neo-GOP.
Worth staying up for O'Donnell last night. Except then I couldn't sleep.
Oh, no!!!!!
I think it no coincidence that the word "hyperbolic" has come into everyday use since 2017.
Kristol was forthright in the Greg Sargent interview. He didn’t duck questions, admitted that he, personally, contributed to rise of Trumpism, and said he has not voted for a Republican since Trump was elected. All of this surprised me. He had hinted at these things before but never so clearly, as far as I know.
Strange bedfellows we have these days. Have hated Kristol since Iraq…. Wonder where Wolfowitz is these days? They were twin evil, and he is so right, he helped the evil take over the party. But Newt is ahead of him.
Wolfowitz is still the creep he was and is. Kristol is interesting - who knew he'd be the one to turn out to be the kind of Republican I remember sparring with and respecting 45 years ago in Sacramento? He even had the intellectual integrity to talk about conservatism's failures in how it developed and how he'd been part of that.
I too am old enough to recall that (at least some of the time) a Republican said something that I had to admit "had a point". Now it's all lies all the time.
Ditto
I remember those times, and Jenkin Loyd Jones and James Kilpatrick.
Yes. He was a bad apple for sure, but his sense of decency somehow managed to kick in. He even admitted that some aspects of conservatism as a politcal philosophy are morally reprehensible. No honorable person sides with Republicans these days, so Kristol has only cleared a low hurdle, but it’s good to hear that he’s at least done that.
Considering the number who haven't, give him praise for it. It takes courage to go against everything you've believed and everyone you were friends with over principles.
Admitting fault takes courage. Biden may be right that there are more than a few outlying Republicans who never quite let go of their soul.
Kristol puts the number of convertible, R-leaning voters at about 3% to 5% of th R and R-leaning ekectorate. If I understood correctly, he thinks that nearly none of the convertibles are registered Republicans. Most are registered Independent. My take is that most of the convertibles are self-converting, like Kristol. Doesn’t do any good to talk to them. They have to figure it out on their own. But if Kristol is right about the percentage, it will be enough for Dems to win big.
I have, I was shocked when he showed courage. But more than grateful, downright admiring…
👍🏻
Oh yeah. Georgians know Newt. The Newtster....
One of my favorite memories was receiving a call in my New York home from the Georgia Democrats asking me to contribute a penny a day ($36) to oppose Newt in his re-election bid for Congress, great strategy, of course I gave!
Blitz and Kristol: puke.
Numerous events have taken the US into uncharted constitutional waters. Trump’s being impeached twice. Trump’s never ending claims that the election was fraudulent. The fake electors scheme. The attack on the Capital and Congress as the election was being certified. The refusal by Trump to peacefully had over power. Trump’s death grip on the Republican cult. Trump’s theft of highly classified documents regarding national security. The Republicans defending Trump’s egregious, traitorous actions. The rule of law has been subject to numerous beatings since 2015 when Trump announced his bid for office. The Republicans keep shrugging their shoulders and saying, “So what?” Enough!
I often wonder, as Liz Chaney fights the evil in the Republican Party, if Dickie even has an inkling as to his part in creating this catastrophe, or if she does. I certainly remember. Betcha that neither Dickie nor Mr. “we’re too good for the rabble” Buckley, would have dreamed where their shenanigans would lead.
Dickie laughed all the way to the bank from his Iraq financial rape of a war he lied about and started, essentially. Liz voted 97% of the time with douchebag and she is still very conservative about women’s rights. She got the message when her sister came out. OMG.
Great thought.
Let’s vote them all out. Only solution….
Term limits for scotus (I won't capitalize it) and all elected federal officials.
You went there. Now I have to deliver the lecture about the Second-Dumbest Idea In Politics After The Balanced Budget Amendment.
It takes 2-3 terms for a lawmaker - if they're going to be any good - to learn how things work so they can be effective. Term limits means you have people who don't know where the restroom is in the building running the show. And since they are prime ignoramuses, they have to turn to that part of government which never had and never will have term limits, to talk to those "experts" to learn something about the issue. That part of government is the Lobbyists!
So yes indeed, go for term limits. Turn all the government over to the lobbyists while you're at it, then you won't have to do anything to make the government work.
Term limits are best enacted by voting them in or out (correction). You really want to be rid of Nancy Pelosi three terms before she first became Speaker?
I have heard/read major news organizations report (as unremarkable) that vary popular public objectives are "blocked by the powerful (fill in here) lobby" or that lobbies hand legislation to lawmakers to dutifully pass. To my mind what they are talking about is alarmingly anti-democratic and corrupt, but there are barely whispers about changing it. I suppose a lot of people felt that way about slavery or subjugation of women; but it is ultimately a matter of choice.
Jack Abramoff, one of the few lobbyists found to have broken the law gave some insight into how easy it is to buy your way in, in a system the ignores conflicts of interest:
+++
He ( Abramoff) also describes wooing congressional staffers -- particularly chiefs of staff -- with the lure of future employment. "After a number of meetings with them, possibly including meals or rounds of golf, I would say a few magic words: 'When you are done working for the Congressman, you should come work for me at my firm.'
"With that, assuming the staffer had any interest in leaving Capitol Hill for K Street -- and almost 90 percent of them do, I would own him and, consequently, that entire office. No rules had been broken, at least not yet. No one even knew what was happening, but suddenly, every move that staffer made, he made with his future at my firm in mind."
Abramoff points out that he was "not alone in this method" and that "it continues today, unabated by reform campaigns or public ire at the Congress."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jack-abramoff-new-book-corruption-in-washington_n_1064602
Exactly right.
It seems our Mother Country is plagued with similar hostage taking by corporations. This humorous take on the new PM and the road ahead:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/opinion/liz-truss-prime-minister-inflation.html
Good point, TC. In my line of work, it did/does take a good bit of time to master the subtleties of the human body to interpret blood tests for physicians. I think in many jobs, it takes time to see the big picture.
The only benefit I could see to term limits is that you get the baddies out--but who is to say that the gerrymandering wouldn't just quickly sub in the baddie-in-waiting?
My initial gut thought for 2020 was Buttigieg, but the more I thought about it, I came to believe Joe was the best of the Dems.
Although I personally don't like Hilary, I made this argument to a former friend (sadly tfg brought out the hidden in her) consider the resume: an attorney, wife of a governor AND a Senator (so well acquainted with state regulation) wife of a POTUS (so well aware of the demands of the job) a Secretary of State (again, well aware of presidential job description, so to speak) and don't discount the work she did for healthcare years ago, something pretty darn crucial now with a pandemic and aging population.
On the other hand, a minor celebrity, known best for reality tv and/or bankrupting a number of businesses.
Take just the resume, leaving out age, sex, political party, and would you choose door #1 or door #2?
Agree.
True. But after watching first hand what happened when term limits were implemented in Michigan (some really, really evil legislators finally got the boot), I am no longer against the limits. I do think they should be allowed more terms, however. And True, as a lobbyist I was at an advantage with the newbies, but remember, not all of us worked for oil companies.
You make a good case TC—exactly the one I used to make, in the Before Times (before the pernicious apparition was booted-up by a dying party). I’m not here to argue with you, merely to offer my thoughts. I submit we are in the uncharted New Politics now, a sort of “Vuja de” (I’ve never been here before).
Would we really need a Speaker Pelosi if politicians like McConnell, Cruz, Rubio, Gosar etc. timed-out as well? I would trade three Pelosi’s for one McCarthy and one McConnell right now. Throw in Cruz and Rand Paul, I’ll make it four Pelosi’s. She’s worth more than twenty of ‘em….
It would tear me out of the frame to lose someone like Rep. Adam Schiff or Sen. Raphael Warnock—or fill in your own hero—to term limits; Yet, in a time when our very vote itself is but a few wrong cycles away from losing it’s effective power (followed shortly by Democracy), term limits would protect both parties AND We The People. Yes, it takes a new politician a few years to learn the job! We used to expect extensive experience and good mentoring. The best ones will learn quickly; the bad ones will learn quicker.
It’s all moot anyway. The wishful thinking of an incorrigible idealist. Few lawmakers would vote for a law limiting their own terms.
And we’ve just never been this way before….
You have to put up with the crap to find the gold. One Pelosi does outweigh the others. Having had the privilege of working for Jess Unruh, the inventor of the modern state legislature, and Willie Brown, the best operator of a modern state legislature, I wouldn't have traded either for 100 of the morons. But I would like more of them - unfortunately, the Volvo-driving chardonnay-swillers in the modern Democratic Party would get a bad case of the vapors if they ever ran into either of them. You're absolutely not going to get rid of the idiots even with term limits, and it's amazing what damage an idiot can do in 2-3 terms when there are no adults present.
Great point there, TC. Without Pelosi during the reign of the Apparition we would be lost already. But I have to believe that term limits would not extinguish the greats. They would find other ways and means to rise and serve. Sadly, it’s all moot. What about scotus limits?
As I remember 32 years of caring for my wife, I think of you frequently. I would give everything I have to be able to do it again, and I encourage you to pause, once in a while, to savor the deeper meaning of caring for your beloved.
The 2-year term for a Congressman is equally dumb in my view. Campaigning starts at the end of their first orientation to Congress. This movement play to ignorance/exuberance over competence/experience of those peddling the simple solutions over the real work of figuring out lasting practices and policies.
Agree about 2 yr terms--but 4 yr terms (alternating w/Senate & Presidential elections) could still provide the balance of Mid-terms, and repealing Citizens United...politics can never be cleaned up as long as that stands. And term limits like only 2 SUCCESSIVE terms.
Yesterday, I held signs for candidates I support at the local polling place - for the primary here in MA. I had a short discussion with a brother of the Republican candidate who is running in opposition to mine. That candidate's Web site had the usual hot-button-for-Republicans-but-nobody-sane-really-gives-a-damn issues (his first point was about CRT), and he supported term limits for everyone in government. I had to remind him it cuts both ways and he'd be wise to drop the issue because, as a rep in the MA House, he could never sell it. TCinLA is right: especially when the terms for reps are only two years. It takes that long for them to learn the layout of the MA State House.
Same was true in California.
I'd rather go for age limits. In Oregon, Circuit Court Judges "age out" at 75. In my county, I have seen judges who stayed WAY beyond their effective time (3 in particular come to mind) along with others who were still at the top of their judicial game (3 again) who also were forced from the bench due to age, not ability. Same thing for congress critters. 75 is plenty.
Yes, that would work better. Corporations do it: the CEO of the company I worked for was aged out at 65, as I recall. It keeps the position from being 'frozen in time'. 75 would work for any political office.
Yes, term limits for all! And don’t allow elected officials to take money from lobbyists either!
Evil is never decisively conquered because so much can be gained by jettisoning conscience. But then, so much more is lost, such as a world worth living in. Lost in so many ways; perhaps even, if we are not careful, lost forever.
Biden gave us the clear descriptors to split the Republican Party: "Mainstream Republicans" and "MAGA Republicans." We ALL need to echo these terms, and clearly define the first as Loyal Americans but the second as American Traitors. Our democracy depends on this distinction. Kindly give your Republican friends and relatives this out, and help them come to the conclusion that they must vote Democratic on November 8, 2022.
ENOUGH!!!
Rubio has to go. The guy is literally a U.S. traitor.
Doug, First send money to Val Demmings. Second, please tell me how the hell did Rubio become head of the Senate Intelligence Committee???? An oxymoron if I ever heard one....omg.
I’ve sent money to Val Demings 3 or 4 times. $25 each time. I also have done this to some 6 or 7 Democrats. How the Senate puts an asshole like Rubio in that position is bizarre.
Send to Mark Kelly in Arizona.
Me too, I keep sending small amounts to several candidates who have a chance of winning. I think the Republican Right has maneuvered all these posts to serve their long term goals of ruling the roost. Just my guess. He is SUCH an idiot and backward thinker, as are they all....you know who I mean.
Have donated to Demings. Rubio is a twit.
“Twit” is far too kind.....
I know, but I am about to go to bed and want to be mellow. I thought it was too kind too.
Oxymoron or proxy-moron? Republicans use their powers of appointment to pour sand in the gears of democracy and rule of law; so that despotic plutocrats can fill the vacuum. You see it everywhere you look.
Just donated to Demings. Thanks for the prompt!
Demings donation coming up.
Support Get Out The Vote in FL --Val Demmings & Charlie Crist (though Charlie’s not my 1st choice, at least he’s not DeSatan or Scott...
This is a continuing slow motion coup attempt and it won’t end till the leaders are found guilty and sent to prison.
The most dangerous part is the control over the courts.
What are the chances that many of these Trump appointees are dirty, all the way to the SCOTUS? What effort is being made to investigate these judges and justices with an eye to removal if warranted?
I'm going out on a limb and going to say that at least 50% of those judges are tainted.
It's a big, strong limb.
First: It's scary when I find myself agreeing with Kristol. Wow. Though I admit to not having any clue where that party is going to be by the end of the year, or in 2024. Will they survive? Be stronger? Have disintegrated? I find myself knocking on the wooden table next to me. And the wall. And the coffee table...
Second: Marco Rubio- fight over document storage? He can't possibly believe what he is saying, can he? Idiotic.
Great letter, Heather!
Terrtl
Mario stands a good chance of losing. We should help him out the door.
"He can't possibly believe what he is saying, can he? Idiotic."
Of course not. There is discernible method in their evil madness. Their entire movement is powered by money and lies.
He has Demmings breathing down his neck…..he’ll say anything to save his ass
It is the Francis J. Mathew judges of the country against the Aileen Cannon judges of the country who will play a big role in deciding the future of our democracy. Luckily everyone is paying close attention despite the significant distractions (pandemic, recession, Trump's diarrhea of the mouth, media that has been neutered, etc.). If the basic functioning of our courts can not withstand this scrutiny, then we lost our democracy a long time ago. The judicial system withstood the Trumpanze blizzard of ca ca directed at it by Eastman-Giuliani-et al. It has always been the case that the court system is riddled with partisan judges, just ask any Black defendant or plaintiff's lawyer trying to hold Big Tobacco or any big corporation to account. I worry more about the determination of the prosecutors. If they are determined, adequately skilled and provided sufficient resources, MAGAs lose. Look at the prosecutions of the Insurrectionists. Yeah a few judges bent over backwards for the Insurrections but as a group they are getting adequately punished. Personally I'd like to see longer sentences as mentioned by Chief Judge of D.C. courts, but lots of defendants and some getting decent jail time.
Speaking of justice..."Stephen K. Bannon is expected to surrender to state prosecutors on Thursday to face a new criminal indictment, people familiar with the matter said, weeks after he was convicted of contempt of Congress and nearly two years after he received a federal pardon from President Donald Trump in a federal fraud case.
The precise details of the state case could not be confirmed Tuesday evening. But people familiar with the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sealed indictment, suggested the prosecution will likely mirror aspects of the federal case in which Bannon was pardoned." https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/bannon-border-wall-indictment/
Biased judges have always been a problem, but the GOP has gone into the business of wholesaling them.
We have really gone down the rabbit hole and the mad tea party has begun and things keep getting curiouser by the day. Thom Hartman has some YouTube videos from two psychiatrists who both assert that a violent meltdown by TFG, is ahead. If he is to be arrested and indicted, they had better bring a net to throw over him. Color me worried.
There’s an article today (where?) that Biden deliberately baited Trump in his speech, and Trump’s rhetoric at “his” rally was the result. Not sure if that actually was Biden’s intention, but Trump sure reacted.
David Frum, The Atlantic, Sep. 4th
Much Appreciated
The old saying applies, give him enough rope and he will hang himself. He cannot control his rage, he can never back down.
Breaking Иews:
Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted former president Trump’s request for a special master to review a tourist's digital video alleged to depict the former president shooting and killing 73 year old Rebecca Braunschweiger on Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan.
Said the Judge:
“As a function of Plaintiff’s former position as President of the United States, the stigma associated being shoved in a patrol car and taken to an undisclosed location is in a league of its own. "
Mr. Trump claims the copyright to his image in any form. It's mine. It's mine. All of it is MINE. he said in his brief. MINE!
“Dave Fake News” wholeheartedly approves this message
Way too much truth in humor. Thank You, JL. I can see it clearly now.
My goodness what a week.
I'm wondering if there's a $ trail to Cannon - or a property trail, a la Charles Rettig?
I'm also wondering if the friendly (or hostile!) nation whose nuclear data was found would be irritated enough to skip due process. Could be horrifying for FL if so.
Doubt there is any money to trail. She is now on the 'short list' to be a judge in a higher court if another MAGA or MAGAesque person makes it to the White House. Mission Accomplished! Bet ya she gets an honorary dinner at Federalist Society.
Speaking of which, how do we get rid of the Federalist Society?
We probably can't but we should be doing something about the vast sums of money now legally used to purchase politcal outcomes. Time was that was called "corrupt".
True irony - the FS was created because republicans thought democrats yielded to much influence in higher education.
They have become EXACTLY that which they sought to rid our educational system of….
Yes! I’ve long wished for this!!!!
💙💙💙💙💙 x 1000
And a luncheon with Sarah Palin, youbetcha
Perhaps the ticket to a job she is clearly unqualified for?
Ah, The Cannon Principle
A reminder to Democrats and liberal independents who accept only perfection in a presidential candidate; who stay home or vote third party rather than suffer any flaw in the party’s candidate, looking into future campaigns.
How different would the world be today if we were in the middle of the second term of a Hillary Clinton Administration? How utterly, obscenely, trivial those emails are now.
Running through the list of items in today’s HCR letter, I began to imagine how different the world would be if only…
Nobody stays home on election day again. Ever.
Exactly. One of the things that I was certain of was that the 2016 election was about SCOTUS. My left wing friends "took the ball and went home" when Bernie did not get the nomination, or they voted for Stein. I had a conversation with one of them about 6 months ago, and I asked him (almost always "him"s) what he thought about the current SCROTUS. He hemmed and hawed, but eventually told me that I had been right.
Seven years and counting. For someone who never watched a minute of "The Apprentice" or "Celebrity Apprentice" and when he was aware of Trump at all (beyond that scowling presence at the White House Correspondents Dinner, some time during the Obama administration when President Obama ripped him a new one), thought he was nothing but a sideshow clown and a joke, that is how long now this cretin has been a part of my consciousness and all of our lives. (Longer for many who were paying closer attention.) We are being held hostage by a morally bankrupt bully and liar . . . a worthless and unworthy human being. It seems all of the country is in court - or, perhaps, arming themselves - thanks to or because of him, while people I used to respect for our differences in opinion have tossed in with this narcissistic, cowardly, violence-inciting, bloviating horror show. His complete lack of principle and civility has unleashed the toxic bile lurking under the surface of our lives, poisoning a country of which I used to a proud citizen. Every night I affirm safety for Merrick Garland and others who are bold enough to stand up for what is right . . . to honor their oaths to protect and serve the Constitution. And I fall asleep hoping they will be there again in the morning. How much longer? I thought I would survive him. Now I am not so sure.
In the questioning of Judge Aileen Cannon before confirmation, she was asked about recusal when there was the appearance of partisanship and she said that she would do so. She lied and today she showed so.
But this is not the only lie circulating. The lie that I’ve heard, over and over, from Fox News and some Republicans is that President Biden criticized all those who voted for Trump in 2020 (“half of America”). They’re obviously trying to: 1) deflect from the classified documents kept in Trump’s desk and 2) create an impression that President Biden feels contempt toward anyone who voted for Trump in 2020 (cue Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables”).
It would seem that the far right candidates are just now remembering the Women’s March on January 21, 2017 and are trying to cover up their true feelings about outlawing abortion and contraception.
Ah yes, wiping certain statements off their social media as if people already didn't have screen shots of their dreck. And for me if I see a R after a name, no vote for that person.
Yup! I can proudly say the last R I voted for was Clifford Case, senator from NJ, in 1974, because he said he would vote to convict Nixon. Turns out Dickie resigned first, but I still voted for Case
Do you have a cite for this claim? Senator Feinstein did ask Cannon if Trump asked of her about loyalty and whether she promised any loyalty, answer 'no'. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Cannon%20Responses%20to%20QFRs1.pdfIn the hearing via teleconference didn't see any questions of much probative value.https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/07/29/2020/nominations
The first one wouldn't work and the video wouldn't play in the second one. Also we must never forget the lies of the two now on the Supreme Court.
Second one plays. Nothing happens for a while. At 37min mark Cannon comes on.
First one is a PDF. Problem was subtack joined the link with my text. If link continues not to work, Google Senator Feinstein questions for Judge Aileen Cannon. Really not much to see, but Big Hug for your rigorous search for facts!
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Cannon%20Responses%20to%20QFRs1.pdf
Biden gave us the clear descriptors to split the Republican Party: "Mainstream Republicans" and "MAGA Republicans." We ALL need to echo these terms, and clearly define the first as Loyal Americans but the second as American Traitors. Our democracy depends on this distinction. Kindly give your Republican friends and relatives this out, and help them come to the conclusion that they must vote Democratic on November 8, 2022
Good idea. Thanks.