Just read your pre-Thanksgiving “pep talk” (ahem). Please be reminded that the definition of an optimist is that he doesn’t know where he’s going, but is making really good time.
I too am an optimist generally, but not regarding the direction of this country. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.
Why oh why is Donald Trump being given preferential treatment here in our system of the rule of law?Why is this most lawless of persons continuing to hamstring our system?I am totally flummoxed.What is going on here that 3 years out that this guy is still out there to kill us?Again,I love your takes and those of many others who”know” but really WTF?
This is a bit off topic but I can’t help wondering if a repeated simple thread would change the views of some those who applaud MAGAisms:
“You can never disagree with anything said or proposed by MAGAs because you and your family will get repeated death threats and will need to hire security.”
I am reminded time and again how many MAGA critics have had to endure ongoing violent threats to their lives. Traditional republicans like the Raffenspergers included. Someone should estimate the numbers and create visual of this appalling degree of violence against personal freedom. Perhaps some might see the light and be “persuaded” that this violence is not the way to live.
You have spotlighted many great grassroots GOTV organizations over the past year, but I don’t recall seeing one that I would highly recommend to your readers. Guides.vote produces and distributes nonpartisan candidate guides for key races at all levels across the nation. Their guides help potential voters overcome political misinformation, overload, and cynicism by making clear the differences between candidates and the stakes of showing up. They provide a concise and credible way to get past the myth that it’s not worth voting because candidates are “all the same.”
For a summary of their work, click on this link that describes how they’re laying the groundwork for 2024 In 2022, their first independent year, guides.vote distributed over 600,000 guides to important races. Colleges with a total enrollment of 715,000 also posted them as enlarged posters and banners in key locations. Their guide to the April 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race reached every major campus in the state and got hand-delivered to every dorm room at University of Wisconsin Madison, while organizations like the NAACP, Souls to the Polls, and African American churches distributed them to historically underrepresented communities.
The guides are particularly important given the low approval ratings of both Biden and Trump, which puts historically disenfranchised voters at risk of staying home in 2024. Among youth who didn’t vote in 2022, 53% said it was because they didn’t have enough information or didn’t think their votes mattered.
Guides.vote is scaling up to expand in 2024. They need to raise $300,000 for 2023 and $1.1M for 2024. Donations, which are tax deductible, should be made out to their 501 (c) 3 fiscal sponsor, Youth Service America (EIN 52-1500870) with a note saying For Guides.Vote project, and mailed to:
Youth Service America
PO Box #65525
Washington, DC 20035-5525.
I hope you’ll find this work worthy of your endorsement. And thanks again for your herculean effort to help us and guide us to a victory for democracy in 2024.
I don’t understand why so-called conservative judges rule to restrict voting rights and subvert our democracy which is supposed to be an example to the world. What do they get out of it? Do they really want an autocracy like Hungary where the judiciary is powerless? Are they just racist and they think they are preserving white power? I also don’t get Musk at all. He had and still has such an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to our society other than his electric vehicles. I have heard excuses like he is bi-polar but he just seems to not care about what America is supposed to stand for. I also don’t understand the New York Times invite. Is it just to court controversy? Anyway, thanks for your optimism, Robert.
I am very thankful for your intelligence, devotion, insights and stamina to write this column! You and your “managing editor” are blessings to all of us and this country. Thank you.
I wrote the following to Vice President Harris today:"Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Thank you for the wonderful job you are doing! PLEASE do NOT attend the New York Times Forum with Elon Musk. He is a rapacious capitalist and authoritarian. You lower your self and the administration by appearing. I implore you to CANCEL."
We must forge on and be thankful for Biden and team....this mess would be so much worse without them.
But the Musk discussion was disheartening. The man is on the horrible list of Deplorables. Buying a Tesla or anything from his is abhorrent....and we did look into his satellite coverage for internet at our cabin which gets little. But we didn't do it.
Argh. Today's antidote for me is Ella Fitzgerald on repeat.
Dear Robert and Judith, I do not think it can be overstated how important your work is to so many of us. In these times we have abundant political worries. And equally important we also have intense psychological uncertainty: maybe even fear and foreboding.(fueled in part by the horse racing media). Speaking for myself, your consistent words of encouragement, compassion and support for our battered psyches is every bit as important as your political clarity and depth. A large Open hearted hug to you both!.
"an important response to convulsive times is cultivating a Deeper Peace Within."(I don't know who said this) For me, and I am sure others, your clarity and calmness makes room for the Deeper Peace Within.
GOOD on you Robert for providing the clarity we need so much to see today’s news in perspective - and the day before we give thanks! There IS a lot to be thankful for - and, as proven so many times before, clarity and optimism bring results. We need to imagine the results of these good signs you spotlight and EXPECT the desired results. This is the good moral bedrock that the MAGA tribe is now hitting and we can indeed make it a turning point for threats to Democracy. It’s up to US and thanks for pointing out that we are the drivers here!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and all of us.
I don't understand what these judges that make anti-democratic decisions think they are going to get out of it. Do they really want an autocratic country where democracy and voting means nothing? I am totally confused by these repeated attacks on established rights and principles by so called conservatives on the right. They are not conserving anything. Maybe they should move to Hungary where the judiciary has been gutted. Musk had a chance to do great things for our country but is over the edge. I have heard bi-polar and other excuses but I don't get him either. Why would the NYT give him a platform? Crazy stuff. Thanks for your optimism though, Robert.
My wife and I just finished watching the series "All The Light We Cannot See" - and I then read the book. It's easy to come away in near-despair of what might happen....a despair that can overwhelm.
I take different messages:
1) The threat is all too real. Joseph Goebbels understood the power of radio. The Nazis distributed a free radio to every German family. The radio would only work on short range (relatively "long" wave) frequencies - and it was a crime punishable by death to listen to radio stations outside of Germany.
Substitute Fox News and its ilk - and you have the same propaganda machine.
The message is that we must broadcast 24/7 an entirely different message of hope and the effectiveness of democracy - with a massive dose reminder of where we might be led.
2) The book (unlike the series, which took great liberties with the text) ends with characters' retrospectives from 20 years after WWII. Not only did life go on - it went on with pain, but the pain lessened and beauty continued to emerge.
Ozymandias is the best reminder of the fate of tyrants.
Hi Robert,
Just read your pre-Thanksgiving “pep talk” (ahem). Please be reminded that the definition of an optimist is that he doesn’t know where he’s going, but is making really good time.
I too am an optimist generally, but not regarding the direction of this country. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.
People keep talking about Roberts' legacy, this IS his legacy. It's not "might be his legacy", "could be his legacy," it IS his legacy.
Why oh why is Donald Trump being given preferential treatment here in our system of the rule of law?Why is this most lawless of persons continuing to hamstring our system?I am totally flummoxed.What is going on here that 3 years out that this guy is still out there to kill us?Again,I love your takes and those of many others who”know” but really WTF?
This is a bit off topic but I can’t help wondering if a repeated simple thread would change the views of some those who applaud MAGAisms:
“You can never disagree with anything said or proposed by MAGAs because you and your family will get repeated death threats and will need to hire security.”
I am reminded time and again how many MAGA critics have had to endure ongoing violent threats to their lives. Traditional republicans like the Raffenspergers included. Someone should estimate the numbers and create visual of this appalling degree of violence against personal freedom. Perhaps some might see the light and be “persuaded” that this violence is not the way to live.
You have spotlighted many great grassroots GOTV organizations over the past year, but I don’t recall seeing one that I would highly recommend to your readers. Guides.vote produces and distributes nonpartisan candidate guides for key races at all levels across the nation. Their guides help potential voters overcome political misinformation, overload, and cynicism by making clear the differences between candidates and the stakes of showing up. They provide a concise and credible way to get past the myth that it’s not worth voting because candidates are “all the same.”
For a summary of their work, click on this link that describes how they’re laying the groundwork for 2024 In 2022, their first independent year, guides.vote distributed over 600,000 guides to important races. Colleges with a total enrollment of 715,000 also posted them as enlarged posters and banners in key locations. Their guide to the April 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race reached every major campus in the state and got hand-delivered to every dorm room at University of Wisconsin Madison, while organizations like the NAACP, Souls to the Polls, and African American churches distributed them to historically underrepresented communities.
The guides are particularly important given the low approval ratings of both Biden and Trump, which puts historically disenfranchised voters at risk of staying home in 2024. Among youth who didn’t vote in 2022, 53% said it was because they didn’t have enough information or didn’t think their votes mattered.
Guides.vote is scaling up to expand in 2024. They need to raise $300,000 for 2023 and $1.1M for 2024. Donations, which are tax deductible, should be made out to their 501 (c) 3 fiscal sponsor, Youth Service America (EIN 52-1500870) with a note saying For Guides.Vote project, and mailed to:
Youth Service America
PO Box #65525
Washington, DC 20035-5525.
I hope you’ll find this work worthy of your endorsement. And thanks again for your herculean effort to help us and guide us to a victory for democracy in 2024.
Paul Strasburg
I don’t understand why so-called conservative judges rule to restrict voting rights and subvert our democracy which is supposed to be an example to the world. What do they get out of it? Do they really want an autocracy like Hungary where the judiciary is powerless? Are they just racist and they think they are preserving white power? I also don’t get Musk at all. He had and still has such an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to our society other than his electric vehicles. I have heard excuses like he is bi-polar but he just seems to not care about what America is supposed to stand for. I also don’t understand the New York Times invite. Is it just to court controversy? Anyway, thanks for your optimism, Robert.
I am very thankful for your intelligence, devotion, insights and stamina to write this column! You and your “managing editor” are blessings to all of us and this country. Thank you.
I wrote the following to Vice President Harris today:"Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Thank you for the wonderful job you are doing! PLEASE do NOT attend the New York Times Forum with Elon Musk. He is a rapacious capitalist and authoritarian. You lower your self and the administration by appearing. I implore you to CANCEL."
The New York Times has lost its way. It is like hosting Trump for a Town Hall meeting. Quit your subscription now.
We must forge on and be thankful for Biden and team....this mess would be so much worse without them.
But the Musk discussion was disheartening. The man is on the horrible list of Deplorables. Buying a Tesla or anything from his is abhorrent....and we did look into his satellite coverage for internet at our cabin which gets little. But we didn't do it.
Argh. Today's antidote for me is Ella Fitzgerald on repeat.
Sending wishes to you and yours for a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you, Robert, and what you add to my life.
Dear Robert and Judith, I do not think it can be overstated how important your work is to so many of us. In these times we have abundant political worries. And equally important we also have intense psychological uncertainty: maybe even fear and foreboding.(fueled in part by the horse racing media). Speaking for myself, your consistent words of encouragement, compassion and support for our battered psyches is every bit as important as your political clarity and depth. A large Open hearted hug to you both!.
"an important response to convulsive times is cultivating a Deeper Peace Within."(I don't know who said this) For me, and I am sure others, your clarity and calmness makes room for the Deeper Peace Within.
Con tu luz, si se puede, Fleur
GOOD on you Robert for providing the clarity we need so much to see today’s news in perspective - and the day before we give thanks! There IS a lot to be thankful for - and, as proven so many times before, clarity and optimism bring results. We need to imagine the results of these good signs you spotlight and EXPECT the desired results. This is the good moral bedrock that the MAGA tribe is now hitting and we can indeed make it a turning point for threats to Democracy. It’s up to US and thanks for pointing out that we are the drivers here!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and all of us.
I don't understand what these judges that make anti-democratic decisions think they are going to get out of it. Do they really want an autocratic country where democracy and voting means nothing? I am totally confused by these repeated attacks on established rights and principles by so called conservatives on the right. They are not conserving anything. Maybe they should move to Hungary where the judiciary has been gutted. Musk had a chance to do great things for our country but is over the edge. I have heard bi-polar and other excuses but I don't get him either. Why would the NYT give him a platform? Crazy stuff. Thanks for your optimism though, Robert.
My wife and I just finished watching the series "All The Light We Cannot See" - and I then read the book. It's easy to come away in near-despair of what might happen....a despair that can overwhelm.
I take different messages:
1) The threat is all too real. Joseph Goebbels understood the power of radio. The Nazis distributed a free radio to every German family. The radio would only work on short range (relatively "long" wave) frequencies - and it was a crime punishable by death to listen to radio stations outside of Germany.
Substitute Fox News and its ilk - and you have the same propaganda machine.
The message is that we must broadcast 24/7 an entirely different message of hope and the effectiveness of democracy - with a massive dose reminder of where we might be led.
2) The book (unlike the series, which took great liberties with the text) ends with characters' retrospectives from 20 years after WWII. Not only did life go on - it went on with pain, but the pain lessened and beauty continued to emerge.
Ozymandias is the best reminder of the fate of tyrants.
As always, your well thought and well stated post has given me some relief. I gladly accept and greatly appreciate your "pep talk"