You are NOT a lone voice. You articulate brilliant and with strength and compassion for millions of us.NEVER FORGET THAT. We need you, we love you, we wait to hear your words every nite you write your newsletter,
"As Dionne, notes, the only issue where a plurality of voters favors Republicans is the economy," Can you talk about this absolute fallacy in a later column? the idea that Republicans would be "better" in handling whatever "the economy" means--stock market? jobs? wages? is arguably false and absurd.
How has the media and/or right wing talking points produced this dangerous notion?
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Robert! Don't change your attitude one bit. I stick with you because of your detailed analysis AND your eternal optimism in the face of a blitz of media bobbleheads telling us something they heard elsewhere. IMO, the radicals have gone too far and there is more dissatisfaction with the ridiculous Republicans and the Sicko Supreme Court than there is disappointment that Democrats haven't performed miracles.
I actually think we have done miraculous stuff considering the obstructionism fueled by the McConnells of the world - he declared he wanted Obama to have a failed presidency! That is treasonous. That's anti-American. And he has maintained that hyper partisan approach ever since. So yes, it amazing how much we have done.
Note to Justice Alito: IT IS NOT YOUR JOB to protect a religion or religions in general. Where did you get such a medieval notion? From Henry the VIII? Mr. Alito, your job is to allow the freedom of expression of all religions or faiths or lack thereof. And most of all, your job is NOT to apply your creepy version of a religion to an entire nation! The Founders would pillory you!
My latest thought about religious freedom is that freedom of religion ought to be of equal weight with freedom from religion. Not only should no particular religion be favored (established), but those who do not espouse any particular religion, or who explicitly favor an absence of religion should have equal rights with those of faith. I suggest—without having yet had much chance to test the proposition—that applying that analysis will generally answer the question of whether or when the religion clauses of the First Amendment should apply. (And I suspect that I am only stating the obvious.)
I’m sitting on my screen in porch in NC with a cup of coffee reading Today's Edition and appreciating every word of it and thanking you ( not enough) for not only lifting our spirits but your relentless optimism we all need every day. Everyday it seems we are overwhelmed with a myriad of stories and articles about the threats to our individual freedoms and the rule of law. We get frustrated by the behaviors of the Supreme Court Justices who are walking a thin line of legal unbiased behaviors and we are powerless to actually do anything about it. The tide i believe is shifting away from the Republicans and Trump and everyday they give voters a reason not to support them. How many more demographic groups can they piss off? Most of us and you included are impatient and want immediate change and a return to some normalcy and are afraid it might never happen. It’s 99 days till the midterm and Robert we need your continued optimism to make it to the Finnish line.
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
'He concluded his speech paraphrasing a quote from St. Augustine’s Confessions (“Our hearts are restless until we rest in God”) and closed with the promise that “the champions of religious liberty, who ‘go out as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves’ can expect to find hearts that are open to their message.”' from Alito's speech resembles nothing so much as a child's storytelling but one who gets to sit at the front of the class interminably. The bible for many is a collection of stories, and changed during history for political reasons, practical reason. But that doesn't mean that some can't consider it fact if they want.
'Inherit the Wind' is a great example of using rhetoric where Spencer Tracey's character pulls the knife back out, because when you use your stories to make other people do things, you are using aggression.
I was planning on sending a link to the latest podcast of "That Trippi Show" and your last paragraph gave me the perfect opportunity. As you know, Joe Trippi is a longtime Democrat who been a strategist for many years. This podcast (about 36 minutes) is right up Robert's alley: optimistic with facts to back it up. I encourage you to listen to it. But, for me, one of the best take-aways is that if people vote for Democrats, they will have freedom of reproductive choice, freedom to vote, freedom to marry whom they want (etc.) plus inflation. If they vote for Republicans, they will have none of these freedoms and will still have inflation. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/traditional-political-physics-need-not-apply/id1523896927?i=1000571526879
As always, thank you for another great newsletter. Why do people trust republicans with economy? There has been no minimum wage increase or help to average worker ( rights and benefits). Universal health care would be great start for improving worker wages. But republicans still want to destroy the affordable care act Republicans want to reduce or get rid of Medicare and social security. Republicans want to get regulations that protect workers and those living near worksites so people are not safe living in area- air, water and earth.
I am also feeling a glimmer of hope for November in terms of holding the Senate. Our group has been texting for John Fetterman. Although we get the usual MAGA responses, not one response positive for Oz. Women ask his position on reproductive rights. This seat can be flipped.
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I hope my Catholic friends will forgive me for this criticism of Samuel Alito and his comments. However, I feel that a Conference on Religious Liberty, sponsored by a Catholic University, taking place in Rome with the history of the Catholic Church over millennia is the very last place I would expect to take guidance on Religious Liberty. It would be more appropriate if he delivered to us a history lesson on the Inquisition.
Dear Robert, here’s some free advice (we all know what that’s worth) from an old (85) retired psychotherapist: there are some folks that need to have a doom & gloom perspective, they CAN’T Give it up.
I read the Insider story this weekend, and the lesson here is that no matter the likelihood of this event taking place, there are plenty of people who do not like this country's bedrock foundation and who will continue working to undermine it on this and any other front they can find. All day, every day. And who are these people? They are Republicans. And whether their names are Rick Santorum or Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert, they all have the blessing of, and are in good standing with, the GOP.
I don't normally put a lot of stock in guilt by association, but after the past six years, membership in the GOP is an automatic disqualifier for even consideration for my vote, no matter the office being sought, and at this point in our history it should be for anyone who cares about democracy, the rule of law and equal rights for all in this country.
I wish I could find the reference to remind people that Donald Trump remarked that the American economy does better under Democratic presidents. He did say that.
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
According to 538 (whether you like them or not): "Democrats are now slightly favored to win the Senate." The House is a heavier lift, but a massive voter turnout could do the trick. Keep in mind that the Senate approves judges and presidential appointments. So even if we have to bear Jim Jordan's circus of "Hunter Biden's laptop investigations" in the House, Biden would still get his Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, district court judges, cabinet members, and agency heads.
You are NOT a lone voice. You articulate brilliant and with strength and compassion for millions of us.NEVER FORGET THAT. We need you, we love you, we wait to hear your words every nite you write your newsletter,
"As Dionne, notes, the only issue where a plurality of voters favors Republicans is the economy," Can you talk about this absolute fallacy in a later column? the idea that Republicans would be "better" in handling whatever "the economy" means--stock market? jobs? wages? is arguably false and absurd.
How has the media and/or right wing talking points produced this dangerous notion?
Alito IS inappropriate. What he says and does is inappropriate. Period.
Robert! Don't change your attitude one bit. I stick with you because of your detailed analysis AND your eternal optimism in the face of a blitz of media bobbleheads telling us something they heard elsewhere. IMO, the radicals have gone too far and there is more dissatisfaction with the ridiculous Republicans and the Sicko Supreme Court than there is disappointment that Democrats haven't performed miracles.
I actually think we have done miraculous stuff considering the obstructionism fueled by the McConnells of the world - he declared he wanted Obama to have a failed presidency! That is treasonous. That's anti-American. And he has maintained that hyper partisan approach ever since. So yes, it amazing how much we have done.
Note to Justice Alito: IT IS NOT YOUR JOB to protect a religion or religions in general. Where did you get such a medieval notion? From Henry the VIII? Mr. Alito, your job is to allow the freedom of expression of all religions or faiths or lack thereof. And most of all, your job is NOT to apply your creepy version of a religion to an entire nation! The Founders would pillory you!
My latest thought about religious freedom is that freedom of religion ought to be of equal weight with freedom from religion. Not only should no particular religion be favored (established), but those who do not espouse any particular religion, or who explicitly favor an absence of religion should have equal rights with those of faith. I suggest—without having yet had much chance to test the proposition—that applying that analysis will generally answer the question of whether or when the religion clauses of the First Amendment should apply. (And I suspect that I am only stating the obvious.)
I’m sitting on my screen in porch in NC with a cup of coffee reading Today's Edition and appreciating every word of it and thanking you ( not enough) for not only lifting our spirits but your relentless optimism we all need every day. Everyday it seems we are overwhelmed with a myriad of stories and articles about the threats to our individual freedoms and the rule of law. We get frustrated by the behaviors of the Supreme Court Justices who are walking a thin line of legal unbiased behaviors and we are powerless to actually do anything about it. The tide i believe is shifting away from the Republicans and Trump and everyday they give voters a reason not to support them. How many more demographic groups can they piss off? Most of us and you included are impatient and want immediate change and a return to some normalcy and are afraid it might never happen. It’s 99 days till the midterm and Robert we need your continued optimism to make it to the Finnish line.
'He concluded his speech paraphrasing a quote from St. Augustine’s Confessions (“Our hearts are restless until we rest in God”) and closed with the promise that “the champions of religious liberty, who ‘go out as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves’ can expect to find hearts that are open to their message.”' from Alito's speech resembles nothing so much as a child's storytelling but one who gets to sit at the front of the class interminably. The bible for many is a collection of stories, and changed during history for political reasons, practical reason. But that doesn't mean that some can't consider it fact if they want.
'Inherit the Wind' is a great example of using rhetoric where Spencer Tracey's character pulls the knife back out, because when you use your stories to make other people do things, you are using aggression.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/07/alito-rome-religious-liberty-foreign-leaders-secularism.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I was planning on sending a link to the latest podcast of "That Trippi Show" and your last paragraph gave me the perfect opportunity. As you know, Joe Trippi is a longtime Democrat who been a strategist for many years. This podcast (about 36 minutes) is right up Robert's alley: optimistic with facts to back it up. I encourage you to listen to it. But, for me, one of the best take-aways is that if people vote for Democrats, they will have freedom of reproductive choice, freedom to vote, freedom to marry whom they want (etc.) plus inflation. If they vote for Republicans, they will have none of these freedoms and will still have inflation. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/traditional-political-physics-need-not-apply/id1523896927?i=1000571526879
As always, thank you for another great newsletter. Why do people trust republicans with economy? There has been no minimum wage increase or help to average worker ( rights and benefits). Universal health care would be great start for improving worker wages. But republicans still want to destroy the affordable care act Republicans want to reduce or get rid of Medicare and social security. Republicans want to get regulations that protect workers and those living near worksites so people are not safe living in area- air, water and earth.
I am also feeling a glimmer of hope for November in terms of holding the Senate. Our group has been texting for John Fetterman. Although we get the usual MAGA responses, not one response positive for Oz. Women ask his position on reproductive rights. This seat can be flipped.
I hope my Catholic friends will forgive me for this criticism of Samuel Alito and his comments. However, I feel that a Conference on Religious Liberty, sponsored by a Catholic University, taking place in Rome with the history of the Catholic Church over millennia is the very last place I would expect to take guidance on Religious Liberty. It would be more appropriate if he delivered to us a history lesson on the Inquisition.
Dear Robert, here’s some free advice (we all know what that’s worth) from an old (85) retired psychotherapist: there are some folks that need to have a doom & gloom perspective, they CAN’T Give it up.
Sam the sham! What a disgrace to those who wore the SCOTUS robes and who believed in the law!
I read the Insider story this weekend, and the lesson here is that no matter the likelihood of this event taking place, there are plenty of people who do not like this country's bedrock foundation and who will continue working to undermine it on this and any other front they can find. All day, every day. And who are these people? They are Republicans. And whether their names are Rick Santorum or Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert, they all have the blessing of, and are in good standing with, the GOP.
I don't normally put a lot of stock in guilt by association, but after the past six years, membership in the GOP is an automatic disqualifier for even consideration for my vote, no matter the office being sought, and at this point in our history it should be for anyone who cares about democracy, the rule of law and equal rights for all in this country.
I wish I could find the reference to remind people that Donald Trump remarked that the American economy does better under Democratic presidents. He did say that.
According to 538 (whether you like them or not): "Democrats are now slightly favored to win the Senate." The House is a heavier lift, but a massive voter turnout could do the trick. Keep in mind that the Senate approves judges and presidential appointments. So even if we have to bear Jim Jordan's circus of "Hunter Biden's laptop investigations" in the House, Biden would still get his Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, district court judges, cabinet members, and agency heads.