73 Comments
Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Your newsletters help make the bumpy ride more bearable.

Regarding the Christian Nationalists - A reminder the parties "flipped" during the 1960s with the Passage of the Civil Rights Act 1964 and the Voting Rights Act 1965.

When the "Moral Majority" decided to align with a party it could control and institute "one issue voting," a different timeline emerges. (Think the MetaVerse in the Marvel film series.)

The result is now groups within the GOP camp that have been taught to demonize and hate, instead of follow Jesus' command to LOVE one another. They accept the labels and dog whistles without question. Nor will they listen to people who are as devout (if not more so) yet have a different lived experience than they have. AND they are prone to violence.

As in the days of the American Civil War, both sides were reading the same Bible.

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founding
Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Let’s not forget Allen Weisselberg who, with his son(s), is vulnerable to additional charges and, after sitting in Rikers for the past few months, may now be cooperating, which would make the case against TFG more than a bookkeeping misdemeanor. Just speculating.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Excellent analysis of the pending NY grand jury developments. Sometimes the 1st chink in Mr Untouchables armor is the most important one in order to topple the whole rotten deck of cards in the end.

Also so glad to hear that there's a ecumenical group called Faithful America 🇺🇸 🙏 that I will definitely check out. This scourge of white Christian nationalism is in no way, shape, or form anything 🤔 that is truly Christian.

Just like Pope Francis said last week, all people are always welcome at God's table regardless 😀, the whole point is God's grace and mercy is one of love and acceptance, no matter what our situation in life ❤️. Before we can worry about the stick in our brothers or sisters eye, we need to worry about the one in ours.

Thanks again for a well written article 👍

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I voted for Alvin Bragg and I am pleased with the vote. When he dropped Cyrus Vance's case against Trump I was impressed. Not that I knew any details, but I knew two things. 1. The only advantage to Bragg in dropping the case was a genuine belief that it was a loser. 2. As exemplified by The Marshall Project 2018 report on Vance Jr., the Manhattan DA who preceded Bragg had a reputation for going easy on celebrities and being tough on the poor. Bragg entered office with prosecutorial experience, but without political experience. HIs lack of political experience showed in his memo about not prosecuting what he perceived as minor crimes. By 2022, "Just Security" was praising Bragg for how he approached Weisselberg et al. I am looking forward to how Bragg resolves the Trump and Stormy story. And I am looking forward to the opportunity to vote for Alvin Bragg again.

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Thank you for the penultimate paragraph, Robert. IMO, it gets to the heart of the matter for what we want to have happen...the ending relevance of tfg and his anti-democracy train.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

We must beware of coverage ramping up to all Trump all the time. Yes, there are legal issues to discuss. But tfg benefits from promoting his notoriety, which feeds into messages to the hopeless and deluded masses who vote for him to stick it to the rest of us. Let's be careful about this and promote electing Democrats to prevent the ongoing MAGA coup, as Robert does with the Wisconsin judge.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thank you for mentioning Faithful America. As a lifelong but disillusioned Catholic I found Faithful America several months ago and have been following them ever since, signing many of their thoughtful petitions and even giving a small donation now and again. After a particularly unsettling interaction with my own parish pastor, I even wrote an email to them and got a thoughtful and helpful reply from one of their leaders. I encourage you to check them out.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

You are dead right about the unconscionable, cowardly delay of all other prosecutors. I hope none of your readers are still defending Merrick Garland, who will go down in infamy, as having facilitated the continuation of a fascist movement in America.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Please let’s not skip the 2023 off year election and it’s importance. For many people who are cynical about Washington politics, local elections are of real consequence. It might be easier to register voters for these. Also, we have seen again and again the impact of school boards. If the goal of the Red team is to have uneducated citizens, as it appears, school board elections is a crucial battle ground.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

The trick, WHEN Trump is indicted by at least ONE of the Grand Juries, is to neither treat the election of 2024 as a sideshow to the trial(s) nor to treat the trial(s) as a sideshow to the election.

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I refuse to call the reactionary right Christian. They are anything but followers of Christ. Another good organization is progressive Christianity, they even have a sense of humor.

Thank you Robert for my daily dose of information.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

It's a waste of time for true Christians to be criticizing you on noting the identifier of "Christian Nationalists" when in actuality, Faithful America has had to do exactly the same to voice their clarification that "Christian Nationalism" "directly contradicts the Gospel in multiple ways, and is therefore considered by many Christian leaders to be a heresy." Why is Faithful America allowed to call out with this appropriate label, yet you are not? We all know you are not talking about REAL Christians when you use that label.

I was relieved to hear you place them in a more productive direction. Many Christians are already members of large organized groups- many in church communities and congregations with organizational structures and governing bodies. It's past time they start networking and organizing together to stand up such as Faithful America is doing. Emailing you to voice their displeasure in hearing the recognition of the groups united by hate does nothing to promote their understanding of the Jesus that taught love, peace, and truth. I have been waiting for them to do so, and have seen little effort in standing to advocate that for what Jesus truly stood to represent.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Robert,

I was not aware of the second of the three elements of the unlawful documents retention case against Trump, that Trump believed the documents could harm the US or help a foreign power. What is the evidence of that element? Could looking for evidence of that element be what is giving Garland cause to pause?

Eliot

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thank you for putting the link to the Fresh Air Podcast on Our New Climate Reality in the newsletter. I listened to that in November and again today. I encourage all those interested in the issue of combating climate change to listen. The writer is still alarmed about what is happening to our climate and we cannot let up on our concern. But by giving some reasons for more optimism now because of changes that have have actually happened and because of some real benefits that could result from such developments, he has given me more hope and reason to try to keep contributing what I can to promote a better climate. I go back to a familiar message from this newsletter. We cannot become complacent but we can hope.

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founding
Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thanks for introducing Faithful America, and kudos to that group for proclaiming that Christian Nationalism is not Christian. I am Jewish, and I am well aware that every faith—mine too—has members that are evil and members that are heavenly. We all need to condemn the former and lift up the latter, or allow ourselves to be lifted up by them. Today I feel lifted up by Faithful America.

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Mar 23, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I am one of your readers who has supported Faithful America for several years now. As a Catholic-Christian, I was grateful to learn about and then participate in their push-back against the Christian Nationalists' ugly and dangerous distortions of Jesus' principles. How dare they?! And Jesus wept.

So, I thank you, Robert, for giving space today to Faithful America and their fight for the message of love, peace and truth that Jesus proclaimed. You spoke of Faithful America's tens of thousands of supporters becoming tens of millions. Made be think about Jesus multiplying those fish!

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