You are right! We have reason to be hopeful, but we cannot be complacent. Action is both the antidote to anxiety and the necessary fuel to translate hope into reality. We must persist in our work to support to strengthen our democracy and fight anti-democratic forces. Join us tonight for a zoom fundraiser and show your support for Lt Governor Mandela Barnes, Democratic candidate for US Senate in Wisconsin. Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce him.https://www.forcemultiplierus.org/events
Robert, thank you very much for your support! Readers, I hope you can join us. You must RSVP at this link (https://www.forcemultiplierus.org/events) in order to register, donate, and get a zoom link for this event. It’s time to pull out the stops and support Democratic candidates for the House and Senate. Mandela Barnes recently won the Wisconsin Senate primary. He may be the Democrats' best hope for flipping a Senate seat in November and strengthenig the Democratic majority. If he wins in November, Barnes would be the first Black Senator from Wisconsin. He’s a strong supporter of Medicare For All, the Green New Deal, and works to build trust among communities of color. His opponent is a well-funded, Trump-supported MAGA candidate. Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce him.
Here are three anecdotes written by commenters on yesterday's Letters from an American. They definitely gave me hope!
Gary (407 hearts): "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."
Beth from Las Vegas (191 hearts): "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 [of] 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."
Runragged (52 hearts) "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 lose from this letter." (IMO, the letter is very respectful) https://www.penzeys.com/shop/about-republicans/
The message from Penzeys to it's Republican customers is a work of art. It does not condemn them. It condemns the people they are voting for who are not believers in "conservative" family values. Thanks for this link!
Bill Penzey has become increasingly adept over time at maintaining the clarity of his messaging while observing the truth of Michael Jordan's comment on the market for expensive basketball shoes. He also sells really good spices.
Great stories. Thanks for highlighting them. By the way, my cabinet is overflowing with various Penzey’s spices! I admire their courage and do whatever I can to support them.
I clicked onto their page and read the letter. I was so impressed by the principled yet respectful stance that I promptly signed up and ordered a cupboardful of spices from them myself.
I have heard about Penzey's Spices for years, I never took the time to look. I cook from scratch and I bake from scratch. After reading his letter, I knew I had to purchase some spices and Ceylon cinnamon! I can't wait! His letter was so respectful, yet he really drove his point home. Since the people in the trump world aren't big on reading (imho), I wonder if they've read it?
One can hope, since the link to the letter has been added to their homepage!
Thank you, Lynell! I have heard their spices are outstanding! I really am excited to get them, and to grow my collection! I don't want to waste what I've got, so I will finish them. But dang! The Ceylon cinnamon has got to be better than the Ceylon I purchased from Amazon! I've also been looking for sweet basil for over a decade...lol You wouldn't think it would be so hard to find, but living so rural, in the Midwest? Yes, nearly impossible. This winter is going to be great for cooking/ roasting and baking! 😋 Like a kid in a candy store....😊
Well, that letter on top of the Obama portraits video has me in tears. But they are good tears and it's so good to be reminded that all is not ashes and dust; that brave people are standing up in whatever way they can; and that we have a fight on our hands that is worth winning. It's time.
"We are Standing on Their Shoulders" by Joyce "Earth Mama" Rouse is a song written for the 75th anniversary of Women's Right to Vote in 1995. This year is year 102 since women won the right to vote. They weren't "given" that right; they fought long and hard for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjjKXuceRYQ Listening to this song here in 2022 we find we must fight again so the generations that come after us can stand on our shoulders. "We can see beyond the struggles .. I am stronger for their efforts ... I am honored by their passion for our liberty ... My shoulders will be there for the ones who follow me ... " We the People, its up to us now -- all of us!
Aren't the machinations of Michigan's GOP to deny reproductive rights to women appalling? Made even more egregious by the fact that the zealots do not represent the majority of the populace. Back to my rant about the sins of gerrymandering and the awful impact on the majority.
And it's always been a great state with great colleges/universities and a beautiful outdoors. I just don't understand how the crazies gained a foothold as strong as it is.
Or how the Tigers lost their roar for 2 seasons now (3?). But, Yes! Thank You! The Great Lake State!
I can tell you part of how the Republican nonsense happened. A few months after working on the 2010 Census, I started a new company. I met with a friend, my state senator, who wanted to advise me on how best to do it. But before we could talk business, he excitedly announced what they had done in the legislature that week. "We've redistricted this state so great those damn Democrats will never win another seat!! I smiled.
They are indeed appalling, but they are also the last gasp attempt to maintain an untenable position and, as Robert notes, the measure will pass. If nothing else, the 4-3 Democratic majority on the MI Supreme Court will probably overrule any lower court's decision favorable to the GOP nitwits.
The best interviewer I ever did a show with promoting one of my books was in 2016 for The Bridgebusters. The interviewer had read the book himself, loved it, managed to quote things from it, had great questions and was overall enthusiastic as hell about it. Nobody else has ever done a better interview, not even Leonard Lopate on WBAI.
Who was this amazing interviewer?
It was Steve Bannon, about three months before he became "Steve Bannon."
This story makes me think that much of what Bannon is today is play-acting designed to fleece MAGA-extremists, much like Alex Jones. There is little in his life before Breitbart that would suggest his current extremist views.
No ever said Steve Bannon was stupid--quite the opposite. Unfortunately, it seems that people, as well as businesses, who are touched by or come into the Trump orbit become either trivialized or corrupted and evil.
I don't think I was implying he was stupid - quite the opposite! - it's just a funny story to me that the guy who would do the best job of publicizing my book would be the guy I would most like to kick in the head.
Oh no, TC...I didn't think you were. Indeed, you made it clear that he was not only one of the best interviewers you ever encountered, but also gave him credit for having read your book (some interviewers don't even bother) and liked it well enough to be enthusiastic and to use some quotes. Being an excellent interviewer of authors is not a job for an intellectual sloth, for sure. The interviewer must read the book, be prepared with many questions, alternative questions, relevant comments and just generally be on one's toes to either go with the direction that the interview takes or lead it to more interesting pastures, so to speak. A good interview takes considerable skill. So yes, he is smart. Not smart enough to stay well away from Trump the Toxic, however.
WOW!!! As Ellie said, Did not see that coming, TC! Think of all the GOOD Bannon could have been doing these past 6 years for readers and Americans. Hopefully his next 6 (or 16) will be in prison.
As I read this and today's letter from Heather Cox Richardson I feel ever stronger that Gerrymandering in our states is a foundational threat to our republic. You just shouldn't have states like NC allocate 77% of the members of congress to less than 50% of the populace. It happens in other states too. A mechanical, math-driven system, needs to be created and adopted by each state to make representation representative.
Maybe the answer is to eliminate Congressional "districts" altogether! Let there be so many House Rep positions available in each state and let people vote for them on an "at large" basis. The top vote getters get to go to DC.
Though I never will relent regardless of the 22 midterm outcomes, I, nonetheless, wish to use this opportunity to advance beliefs I have held for some time.
As I anticipate how the country, in 22, will write the next chapter of its story, my mind is fixated both on a pivotal question— whether mainstream institutions of American life will hold up to the coordinated effort to put in place a targeted veto to control the outcome of future elections—and also on a concomitant and, in my view, indisputable truth—that we’re in an untenable and precarious position, wherein our democracy cannot afford for the Democratic Party to lose either House in 22, let alone cede ground on either the state or the local level.
While defending democracy at the state and local levels is of paramount importance, so not to present an overly protracted statement, I will restrict my comments to the federal level, starting with the consequences were the Republicans to retake one or, God forbid, both Houses in November. Were that to happen, Republicans, in my view, would have captured, at every turn, the dynamic of the political conversation in the country, leaving but a small window to protect the key mechanisms of American democracy. Further down the road, Republicans plausibly could retain control of Congress and win the White House, conceivably precipitating both a fatal weakening of American civic institutions and also a Presidency eager and able to consolidate power, wherein the rule of law could be subjugated to an individual.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, I have long understood that virtually all of America’s effective movements have met with repeated frustration and failure before making significant progress toward their goals. Typically, only in retrospect is the true value of persistence in the face of difficulty revealed. Hence, I carry on my person a statement from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who once wrote, “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.”
A great response but most voters are not intellectual or think about Democracy as a thing to be saved but are mostly focused on their individual lives and how they feel about themselves, their families, jobs and the future for their children. People are tired and worn out about the political wars raging in this country.
You are right about most voters. Which is why it is up to those who care about issues beyond their immediate daily concerns to motivate citizens to vote for the right candidates.
Stephen, I appreciate your comment and mostly agree, though recent polling does indicate increasing concerns about protecting our democracy. On another matter, perhaps I should clarify, that as someone who has carried the analyses of other subscribers into my political work, I also strive to contribute my own thinking as warranted.
Thank you, Barbara. I am working hard, acting in every way of which I'm physically capable, and for the most part that keeps me from sinking into despair.
I will admit that it doesn't have much impact on those moments when I am caught off guard by a shiver of pure dread. Fortunately, they don't last long. They remind me of Dickinson's poem about the snake.
Dean, Part of what helps me stay focused and centered is repeatedly turning to American novelist Scott Russell Sanders, who suggests that “every gesture, every act, every choice we make sends ripples of influence into the future.”
What a lovely thing and I have just this minute gotten off a Zoom conversation about words and people who love words and those, like me, who are in love with words and wallow in words. Mr. Sanders has reminded me what a delight it is to read something in which every word is precisely the right one. I think two superstars in that arena are Joan Didion and Emily Dickinson. And so, I get two benefits from what you sent: a frisson of pleasure about words and a profound new way of thinking about the gravity of our actions.
"We can affect the outcome, but to do so, we must be relentless, dedicated, and fearless." And we have to spend money, provide more financial help to candidates than we ever have before. And we are doing just that. Len Lubinsky, Len's Political Notes
We are in the thick of the fight. Anxiety and worry are luxuries we cannot afford because they distract and exhaust us. If you find your thoughts drifting to imagined fears, pivot to action—which is the antidote to anxiety.”
Everybody read Robert Hubbell’s Today’s Edition will be best served by pinning these two paragraphs on their refrigerator AND echoing the sentiment within and among their respective communities.
"If you find your thoughts drifting to imagined fears, pivot to action—which is the antidote to anxiety".
This basic approach to life in general but, especially in the thick of the next 63 days, is the only one I've ever known to work. An organization to which I belong says it in a slightly different way. We are encouraged to act our way into right thinking. It took me a long time to even understand this, until I finally had to admit that my effort to use my anxious mind to heal my anxious mind wasn't working.
A friend has pointed out that, if she waited to mow the lawn until she felt like mowing the lawn, the lawn would never get mowed. She mows the lawn, and the physical effort and the results miraculously change her whole attitude about lawn-mowing. Until the next time, when she does it all again.
Your newsletters are full of this kind of call to action and the wisdom that reminds us that worrying isn't action. When my friends tell me, despairingly, that there's nothing they can do, I always smile and say, "Lick stamps."
There is so much to say about this particular newsletter, but I believe this clear call to get out there and do things in the service of the immediate target, the mid-terms, coupled with the call to the even more difficult job of accepting the results and moving into more action. Action and acceptance--a touch challenge to all of us.
I'll quote another wise friend who says he had finally realized that he hadn't been appointed to "the Results Committee."
And, incidentally, with that speech, are you sure you wouldn't consider a run for office?
Please amplify how important it is to have majorities in Congress, State Houses, School Boards, etc. In this political climate where there is almost no bi-partisanship and politicians vote as a block, there isn't any good Republican as even they will be one more person in the race for the majority.
The power of the majority is immense. They have committee chairs, decide what bills to bring forward, what investigations and oversight to have, what judges to consider, what bills pass, and probably much more. For example, it doesn't matter that Romney may be a decent Republican, he still is one more Senator for the Red Team which, if they win, will give McConnell the power to decide what Supreme Court Judge to consider. Yikes.
So, a vote for a Republican congressperson is a vote for a Congress with the likes of Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, MT Greene, Bobert, in positions of great power.
Wow! That was an awesome newsletter. They’re all great, but this one was a cut above! Kudos.
Since I can’t write anything better, can I lift your language for use in writing a letter to the editor for my local newspaper? (And maybe posting it on my Facebook page!)
My hope is to simply persuade one or more voters to vote democratic in midterm elections.
My hope and prayers are with your idea of what a President 50 years from now would say. Historians probably would wonder as they did in WWII and the Holocaust why did this happened and how could citizens let this happen.? FiveThirtyEight had a OpEd where they are indicating that Democrats have a 68% chance of keeping and expanding the Senate. The House because of gerrymandering is a toss up. Two important factors are influencing voter opinion and they are the Dobb’s decision and Trump’s meddling and headline grabbing media circus and it’s negative impact on the unqualified and poor candidates he endorsed. Inflation is somewhat under control, gas prices are going down and some of the food price increases are in fact now influenced by the horrible summer weather and not the Democrats. Democrats must focus on their messages around abortion, climate change and the everyday attack on individual freedoms by Republicans nationally. It’s not Trump but the MAGA cult we have to fear and defeat. Momentum is hard to define but the Democrats seem to have some right now and we need to continue taking the fight to the Republicans everyday in every way.
Bravo! I agree that it is the “long-term” result of day to day thinking and action that ultimately counts. I also like the distinction you make between “hoary” conventional wisdom and the less hoary reality that fear and anxiety usually if not always yield to hope-based action, especially in the long-term.
Last night, I took our out of town house guests on a night time tour of Washington’s memorial structures, ending at the FDR Memorial. It is perhaps our most effective monument, actually to two persons (both FDR and his spouse, Eleanor), each of whom responded creatively, hopefully and eventually effectively to the major crises both the nation and world faced during their eras of leadership. In order to experience the memorial, one has to walk through it and read the quotations chiseled in massive blocks of granite - then think for just a moment about how those ideas, those thoughts, drove the Roosevelts in their days and how relevant those same thoughts are today as we face the crises we are today encountering. Thank you for again reminding us to think and act for the long-term.
A close friend sent me a despairing email today saying “The experiment is failing”—responding to TFG’s seemingly endless ability to wriggle free of the law and an article about Mike Flynn and his adoring followers. I responded by sending her a link to your sub stack, along with the message “here is your antidote to feeling helpless.” Thank you, Robert.
Robert,
You are right! We have reason to be hopeful, but we cannot be complacent. Action is both the antidote to anxiety and the necessary fuel to translate hope into reality. We must persist in our work to support to strengthen our democracy and fight anti-democratic forces. Join us tonight for a zoom fundraiser and show your support for Lt Governor Mandela Barnes, Democratic candidate for US Senate in Wisconsin. Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce him.https://www.forcemultiplierus.org/events
Pinning to the top so readers can see and join.
Robert, thank you very much for your support! Readers, I hope you can join us. You must RSVP at this link (https://www.forcemultiplierus.org/events) in order to register, donate, and get a zoom link for this event. It’s time to pull out the stops and support Democratic candidates for the House and Senate. Mandela Barnes recently won the Wisconsin Senate primary. He may be the Democrats' best hope for flipping a Senate seat in November and strengthenig the Democratic majority. If he wins in November, Barnes would be the first Black Senator from Wisconsin. He’s a strong supporter of Medicare For All, the Green New Deal, and works to build trust among communities of color. His opponent is a well-funded, Trump-supported MAGA candidate. Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce him.
Here are three anecdotes written by commenters on yesterday's Letters from an American. They definitely gave me hope!
Gary (407 hearts): "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."
Beth from Las Vegas (191 hearts): "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 [of] 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."
Runragged (52 hearts) "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 lose from this letter." (IMO, the letter is very respectful) https://www.penzeys.com/shop/about-republicans/
The message from Penzeys to it's Republican customers is a work of art. It does not condemn them. It condemns the people they are voting for who are not believers in "conservative" family values. Thanks for this link!
Bill Penzey has become increasingly adept over time at maintaining the clarity of his messaging while observing the truth of Michael Jordan's comment on the market for expensive basketball shoes. He also sells really good spices.
Great stories. Thanks for highlighting them. By the way, my cabinet is overflowing with various Penzey’s spices! I admire their courage and do whatever I can to support them.
Me, too!
I clicked onto their page and read the letter. I was so impressed by the principled yet respectful stance that I promptly signed up and ordered a cupboardful of spices from them myself.
Way to go, Penzeys!!!!
Me too!
Good for you. You won't be disappointed and they often send out e-mails with specials and notes about how cooks are the ones that care for the world.
You won’t be disappointed. Their spices are as wonderful as their politics!
I have heard about Penzey's Spices for years, I never took the time to look. I cook from scratch and I bake from scratch. After reading his letter, I knew I had to purchase some spices and Ceylon cinnamon! I can't wait! His letter was so respectful, yet he really drove his point home. Since the people in the trump world aren't big on reading (imho), I wonder if they've read it?
One can only hope his letter reached a few of his customers, Terry!
Hope you enjoy the spices you picked.
One can hope, since the link to the letter has been added to their homepage!
Thank you, Lynell! I have heard their spices are outstanding! I really am excited to get them, and to grow my collection! I don't want to waste what I've got, so I will finish them. But dang! The Ceylon cinnamon has got to be better than the Ceylon I purchased from Amazon! I've also been looking for sweet basil for over a decade...lol You wouldn't think it would be so hard to find, but living so rural, in the Midwest? Yes, nearly impossible. This winter is going to be great for cooking/ roasting and baking! 😋 Like a kid in a candy store....😊
If only I were a good cook and could use more of Penzeys spices and could buy them more often. Bill is a gem, with a good heart and a great company.
Well, that letter on top of the Obama portraits video has me in tears. But they are good tears and it's so good to be reminded that all is not ashes and dust; that brave people are standing up in whatever way they can; and that we have a fight on our hands that is worth winning. It's time.
"We are Standing on Their Shoulders" by Joyce "Earth Mama" Rouse is a song written for the 75th anniversary of Women's Right to Vote in 1995. This year is year 102 since women won the right to vote. They weren't "given" that right; they fought long and hard for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjjKXuceRYQ Listening to this song here in 2022 we find we must fight again so the generations that come after us can stand on our shoulders. "We can see beyond the struggles .. I am stronger for their efforts ... I am honored by their passion for our liberty ... My shoulders will be there for the ones who follow me ... " We the People, its up to us now -- all of us!
Aren't the machinations of Michigan's GOP to deny reproductive rights to women appalling? Made even more egregious by the fact that the zealots do not represent the majority of the populace. Back to my rant about the sins of gerrymandering and the awful impact on the majority.
We Michiganders are standing tall on the shoulders of Governor Gretchen Whitman, Attorney General Dana Nessel
and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson!!!
And it's always been a great state with great colleges/universities and a beautiful outdoors. I just don't understand how the crazies gained a foothold as strong as it is.
Or how the Tigers lost their roar for 2 seasons now (3?). But, Yes! Thank You! The Great Lake State!
I can tell you part of how the Republican nonsense happened. A few months after working on the 2010 Census, I started a new company. I met with a friend, my state senator, who wanted to advise me on how best to do it. But before we could talk business, he excitedly announced what they had done in the legislature that week. "We've redistricted this state so great those damn Democrats will never win another seat!! I smiled.
Remember Tom DeLay? He perfected the art of gerrymandering in Texas
As you should be, hopefully they'll all get another 4 if they want them.
They are indeed appalling, but they are also the last gasp attempt to maintain an untenable position and, as Robert notes, the measure will pass. If nothing else, the 4-3 Democratic majority on the MI Supreme Court will probably overrule any lower court's decision favorable to the GOP nitwits.
I love this song and have sung it on several occasions ranging from synagogue to open mic events. It's an inspiration. Linda Garson Smith (Maine)
Thanks for this song!!! It's wonderful and I had never heard it before. Will use at a UU service!
Thank you Cathy; I never heard this song. Very Powerful. Sharing on FB and Twitter.
Funny story:
The best interviewer I ever did a show with promoting one of my books was in 2016 for The Bridgebusters. The interviewer had read the book himself, loved it, managed to quote things from it, had great questions and was overall enthusiastic as hell about it. Nobody else has ever done a better interview, not even Leonard Lopate on WBAI.
Who was this amazing interviewer?
It was Steve Bannon, about three months before he became "Steve Bannon."
This story makes me think that much of what Bannon is today is play-acting designed to fleece MAGA-extremists, much like Alex Jones. There is little in his life before Breitbart that would suggest his current extremist views.
😔
Did not see that coming, TC!
Me, neither!
No ever said Steve Bannon was stupid--quite the opposite. Unfortunately, it seems that people, as well as businesses, who are touched by or come into the Trump orbit become either trivialized or corrupted and evil.
I don't think I was implying he was stupid - quite the opposite! - it's just a funny story to me that the guy who would do the best job of publicizing my book would be the guy I would most like to kick in the head.
Oh no, TC...I didn't think you were. Indeed, you made it clear that he was not only one of the best interviewers you ever encountered, but also gave him credit for having read your book (some interviewers don't even bother) and liked it well enough to be enthusiastic and to use some quotes. Being an excellent interviewer of authors is not a job for an intellectual sloth, for sure. The interviewer must read the book, be prepared with many questions, alternative questions, relevant comments and just generally be on one's toes to either go with the direction that the interview takes or lead it to more interesting pastures, so to speak. A good interview takes considerable skill. So yes, he is smart. Not smart enough to stay well away from Trump the Toxic, however.
You mean THAT Steve Bannon??? Wonder what happened....
WOW!!! As Ellie said, Did not see that coming, TC! Think of all the GOOD Bannon could have been doing these past 6 years for readers and Americans. Hopefully his next 6 (or 16) will be in prison.
As I read this and today's letter from Heather Cox Richardson I feel ever stronger that Gerrymandering in our states is a foundational threat to our republic. You just shouldn't have states like NC allocate 77% of the members of congress to less than 50% of the populace. It happens in other states too. A mechanical, math-driven system, needs to be created and adopted by each state to make representation representative.
Agreed. Or...
Maybe the answer is to eliminate Congressional "districts" altogether! Let there be so many House Rep positions available in each state and let people vote for them on an "at large" basis. The top vote getters get to go to DC.
Look to our Michigan Model!
Though I never will relent regardless of the 22 midterm outcomes, I, nonetheless, wish to use this opportunity to advance beliefs I have held for some time.
As I anticipate how the country, in 22, will write the next chapter of its story, my mind is fixated both on a pivotal question— whether mainstream institutions of American life will hold up to the coordinated effort to put in place a targeted veto to control the outcome of future elections—and also on a concomitant and, in my view, indisputable truth—that we’re in an untenable and precarious position, wherein our democracy cannot afford for the Democratic Party to lose either House in 22, let alone cede ground on either the state or the local level.
While defending democracy at the state and local levels is of paramount importance, so not to present an overly protracted statement, I will restrict my comments to the federal level, starting with the consequences were the Republicans to retake one or, God forbid, both Houses in November. Were that to happen, Republicans, in my view, would have captured, at every turn, the dynamic of the political conversation in the country, leaving but a small window to protect the key mechanisms of American democracy. Further down the road, Republicans plausibly could retain control of Congress and win the White House, conceivably precipitating both a fatal weakening of American civic institutions and also a Presidency eager and able to consolidate power, wherein the rule of law could be subjugated to an individual.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, I have long understood that virtually all of America’s effective movements have met with repeated frustration and failure before making significant progress toward their goals. Typically, only in retrospect is the true value of persistence in the face of difficulty revealed. Hence, I carry on my person a statement from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who once wrote, “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.”
A great response but most voters are not intellectual or think about Democracy as a thing to be saved but are mostly focused on their individual lives and how they feel about themselves, their families, jobs and the future for their children. People are tired and worn out about the political wars raging in this country.
You are right about most voters. Which is why it is up to those who care about issues beyond their immediate daily concerns to motivate citizens to vote for the right candidates.
Stephen, I appreciate your comment and mostly agree, though recent polling does indicate increasing concerns about protecting our democracy. On another matter, perhaps I should clarify, that as someone who has carried the analyses of other subscribers into my political work, I also strive to contribute my own thinking as warranted.
Independent thinking is a luxury we can’t afford to lose in a Democracy.
Thank you!
Thank you, Barbara. I am working hard, acting in every way of which I'm physically capable, and for the most part that keeps me from sinking into despair.
I will admit that it doesn't have much impact on those moments when I am caught off guard by a shiver of pure dread. Fortunately, they don't last long. They remind me of Dickinson's poem about the snake.
"But never met this Fellow
Attended or alone
Without a tighter Breathing
And Zero at the Bone."
Dean, Part of what helps me stay focused and centered is repeatedly turning to American novelist Scott Russell Sanders, who suggests that “every gesture, every act, every choice we make sends ripples of influence into the future.”
What a lovely thing and I have just this minute gotten off a Zoom conversation about words and people who love words and those, like me, who are in love with words and wallow in words. Mr. Sanders has reminded me what a delight it is to read something in which every word is precisely the right one. I think two superstars in that arena are Joan Didion and Emily Dickinson. And so, I get two benefits from what you sent: a frisson of pleasure about words and a profound new way of thinking about the gravity of our actions.
Thank you
"We can affect the outcome, but to do so, we must be relentless, dedicated, and fearless." And we have to spend money, provide more financial help to candidates than we ever have before. And we are doing just that. Len Lubinsky, Len's Political Notes
“Six months ago....
We are in the thick of the fight. Anxiety and worry are luxuries we cannot afford because they distract and exhaust us. If you find your thoughts drifting to imagined fears, pivot to action—which is the antidote to anxiety.”
Everybody read Robert Hubbell’s Today’s Edition will be best served by pinning these two paragraphs on their refrigerator AND echoing the sentiment within and among their respective communities.
"If you find your thoughts drifting to imagined fears, pivot to action—which is the antidote to anxiety".
This basic approach to life in general but, especially in the thick of the next 63 days, is the only one I've ever known to work. An organization to which I belong says it in a slightly different way. We are encouraged to act our way into right thinking. It took me a long time to even understand this, until I finally had to admit that my effort to use my anxious mind to heal my anxious mind wasn't working.
A friend has pointed out that, if she waited to mow the lawn until she felt like mowing the lawn, the lawn would never get mowed. She mows the lawn, and the physical effort and the results miraculously change her whole attitude about lawn-mowing. Until the next time, when she does it all again.
Your newsletters are full of this kind of call to action and the wisdom that reminds us that worrying isn't action. When my friends tell me, despairingly, that there's nothing they can do, I always smile and say, "Lick stamps."
There is so much to say about this particular newsletter, but I believe this clear call to get out there and do things in the service of the immediate target, the mid-terms, coupled with the call to the even more difficult job of accepting the results and moving into more action. Action and acceptance--a touch challenge to all of us.
I'll quote another wise friend who says he had finally realized that he hadn't been appointed to "the Results Committee."
And, incidentally, with that speech, are you sure you wouldn't consider a run for office?
Thank you for these very important individual pieces of information. All Americans should know this.
Robert, you soothe the soul! Thank you!
Please amplify how important it is to have majorities in Congress, State Houses, School Boards, etc. In this political climate where there is almost no bi-partisanship and politicians vote as a block, there isn't any good Republican as even they will be one more person in the race for the majority.
The power of the majority is immense. They have committee chairs, decide what bills to bring forward, what investigations and oversight to have, what judges to consider, what bills pass, and probably much more. For example, it doesn't matter that Romney may be a decent Republican, he still is one more Senator for the Red Team which, if they win, will give McConnell the power to decide what Supreme Court Judge to consider. Yikes.
So, a vote for a Republican congressperson is a vote for a Congress with the likes of Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, MT Greene, Bobert, in positions of great power.
Wow! That was an awesome newsletter. They’re all great, but this one was a cut above! Kudos.
Since I can’t write anything better, can I lift your language for use in writing a letter to the editor for my local newspaper? (And maybe posting it on my Facebook page!)
My hope is to simply persuade one or more voters to vote democratic in midterm elections.
Keep up the great work.
You are welcome to use anything I write. No attribution necessary.
Thanks!
My hope and prayers are with your idea of what a President 50 years from now would say. Historians probably would wonder as they did in WWII and the Holocaust why did this happened and how could citizens let this happen.? FiveThirtyEight had a OpEd where they are indicating that Democrats have a 68% chance of keeping and expanding the Senate. The House because of gerrymandering is a toss up. Two important factors are influencing voter opinion and they are the Dobb’s decision and Trump’s meddling and headline grabbing media circus and it’s negative impact on the unqualified and poor candidates he endorsed. Inflation is somewhat under control, gas prices are going down and some of the food price increases are in fact now influenced by the horrible summer weather and not the Democrats. Democrats must focus on their messages around abortion, climate change and the everyday attack on individual freedoms by Republicans nationally. It’s not Trump but the MAGA cult we have to fear and defeat. Momentum is hard to define but the Democrats seem to have some right now and we need to continue taking the fight to the Republicans everyday in every way.
Bravo! I agree that it is the “long-term” result of day to day thinking and action that ultimately counts. I also like the distinction you make between “hoary” conventional wisdom and the less hoary reality that fear and anxiety usually if not always yield to hope-based action, especially in the long-term.
Last night, I took our out of town house guests on a night time tour of Washington’s memorial structures, ending at the FDR Memorial. It is perhaps our most effective monument, actually to two persons (both FDR and his spouse, Eleanor), each of whom responded creatively, hopefully and eventually effectively to the major crises both the nation and world faced during their eras of leadership. In order to experience the memorial, one has to walk through it and read the quotations chiseled in massive blocks of granite - then think for just a moment about how those ideas, those thoughts, drove the Roosevelts in their days and how relevant those same thoughts are today as we face the crises we are today encountering. Thank you for again reminding us to think and act for the long-term.
A close friend sent me a despairing email today saying “The experiment is failing”—responding to TFG’s seemingly endless ability to wriggle free of the law and an article about Mike Flynn and his adoring followers. I responded by sending her a link to your sub stack, along with the message “here is your antidote to feeling helpless.” Thank you, Robert.