Several readers have noted the intelligence conclusion is that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fired the "errant missile" that hit the hospital in Gaza, not Hamas. In the interest of accuracy, I will note the group's name in future, but here, I think detail obscures the truth.
The PIJ is a group of 1,000 terrorists operating in Gaza--something that can only happen with Hamas's permission. PIJ has been launching missiles and mortars into Israel for the last ten days, again something that can only happen with Hamas's permission. PIJ is effectively an auxiliary of Hamas in Gaza. To make the distinction between those groups in assigning responsibility for the attack on the hospital is a distinction that blurs the essential truth: Hamas is responsible for the attack on the hospital. It controls Gaza, it controls PIJ.
Thank you. Every such clarification provides reason to endure as you have asked today - not that we should need one more reason. Our humanity and social conscience is called for at this very “exhausting” but critical time for all.
This, which I just discovered, Harlan Crow donating to Cornel West, is disturbing me. It's in multiple lesser tier publications like Business Insider. Haven't (yet) seen it in the NYT or the WaPo. David
I have noticed Israel said there is a Hamas command centre under a hospital, before the attack. This could be a finding of Israeli intelligence, or it could be planted information by Hamas. Considering the perfect timing of the attack for Hamas, right before Biden arriving, and the global support for Hamas by the outraged muslim crowds, I think make strong indications. No evidence, but in line with what seems to be Hamas holding all Palestinians hostages to the cause; now also underlined by taking Israeli and international hostages, so that we in the West also have to bother.
I'm coming to a conclusion I never thought I would: the Press Corpse, with its willful ignorance and ill-informed self-righteousness, is as big a problem as the MAGAts are.
The problem is, we view the Media as journalism. It isn't. It is entertainment designed to inflame emotions so you will watch again and again. There as not been real news reporting since Cronkite, Huntley & Brinkley, and Howard K Smith.
Spot on Robert. There is more and better journalism being presented on Substack than anywhere on broadcast TV or radio. NPR might be an exception but I don't listen often enough to judge.
Welcome to the club! They gave a platform to the fraud and immoral trump via that abysmal non-reality show on NBC! Every utterance verbal or gaseous echoed by the press and other media outlets in 2016!
I enjoy watching the David Packman Show on YouTube. Now we have Fox News reporting Packman to YouTube for ‘unfair use’. One more strike and Packman loses his show. Per Packman “… this is Big corporate media silencing independent progressive media…”.
How bloody rich is it that media either out and out lies, or withholds all pertinent news and then goes after the little guy who is willing to report what is really going on ‘out there’?! Sickening.
Mostly the press does not accept their responsibility for more directly speaking to the threat that right wing extremists, the former president and his cabal of sycophants pose. Instead they either ignore serious threats or are truly driven by some self-righteous belief that balance is their friend even when overlooking the full story or nuances.
I agree. And in our current political environment fairness should be of higher concern than balance as Republicans are broadly - state & national, courtrooms & ring wing media - they have charted new waters by ignoring law & order norms replacing them with lies and gaslighting.
Thank you for this. Re the House: As Aaron Blake points out in WaPo, it is significant that a handful of GOP house members who voted against Jordan also called his camp out publicly for bullying and intimidation tactics. He should put a stop to it (all he does is talk). If it continues, let's hope that at least it peels away more votes from him. Yesterday, as suggested by Jessica Craven, I called the offices of each of the 20 GOP reps who voted no in round 1 and I thanked them. Today, I am calling and thanking each rep who spoke up in this article about intimidation. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/18/jim-jordan-maga-intimidation-threats/
All his Congressional life Jordan has been an attacker, destroyer, and intimidator. I find these tactics by his allies and Hannity to be very akin to Jordan's way. So he talks out of the side of his mouth when he "condemns" the attacks.
Republicans in the House said they supported Jim Jordan for House Speaker because he was dedicated to gutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The American voters should be told every day what the GOP stands for.
I really needed that. Thank you so much for being who you are and for being there for us who often feel like we are in the wilderness ( even though we might live in NYC!!!)
Lucretia Mott, abolitionist and early suffragette: My conviction led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth for authority, not on authority for truth.
I realize that this has been said many times by many people. Many of those on the right are supporting efforts by their leaders who are working against their supporters best interests. Many people receive more economic benefit from their government than they pay in and yet support politicians and policies that will reduce these benefits while cutting taxes that they do no even pay. I often wonder what great improvements we could have in the quality of life in the USA and the world if the Democrats could control the White House and both houses of Congress for a long period of time. Of course I am just a progress (liberal) dreamer.
Which is the biggest reason I want the electoral college gone. For every 10c states like KY put in they get $1 back. For every dollar NY puts in we get 10c back.
Attacks on the Electoral College are a waste of time and energy. There is no way in Hades that enough states (most of which have small populations) legislatures will vote to abolish the Electoral College.
The Suffragist movement didn’t threaten the power of any states. Proposed reforms of the Electoral College threaten the power of states like Vermont, Wyoming, etc. They’re not likely to endorse giving up their electoral power.
Are you aware of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact? To be enacted it requires 270 electoral college votes. (50%+1). It currently has 205 enacted, with 63 pending. Vermont, Rhode Island, and Delaware are among the signatories.
Thank you; I wasn’t aware of that movement. I applaud their aims; but after having done some quick research, I suspect that it will be a long time (as it has been already) before they’ll get enough states in their camp; and then their program will have to be blessed by a potentially hostile Supreme Court.
I disagree. Keeping the public’s attention focused on topics like the electoral college may not yield immediate results but continue to assure they cannot be ignored.
Sadly, these same people that vote for the emotion-evoking crowd often don't have the ability to problem-solve or do critical thinking. The whole goal of the Republican/MAGA party now is to use their platforms to evoke fear, anger, and hostility in their followers. Their goal is to obtain votes, donations, and to provide the communications to others of like mind. Conspiracy theories grab hold because of this lack of ability to think, and the theory evokes great pride, anger, and fear. Many of them are a great danger to themselves and our nation.
We could have a solid social safety net. Here's one of the most important articles I've read in my life, which shows just how much better off our poverty stricken fellow citizens would be. And if they were so much better off, we all would be.
Really worth reading! Thanks, David. We all make poorer decisions in conditions of scarcity, time scarcity included. Indian farmers, the same individuals, had better judgment when they had just been paid versus when money was almost gone, their worries multiplying.
You are not alone as a dreamer! We everyday readers of this newsletter also dream. However, we must also act for this to happen. Many days it does feel overwhelming, but, as you know, you can get a shot in the arm every day with this newsletter, and its encouragement to stay involved. Just remember, there are now thousands who read this page. Breathe and act!
Yesterday, I posted a comment about why I thought the hospital explosion was more likely from an Israeli weapon than an errant rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel. I had seen no visual evidence of the actual damage to the hospital, but deemed it impossible for hundreds to have died without the hospital...or a portion of it...collapsing due to a large high explosive detonation. I reasoned that the smaller warheads on the Hamas rockets could not have caused the collapse of the hospital;.
Today, I wish to correct that call. I believe the Israeli judgement that an errant rocket caused the limited damage and the deaths of an unconfirmed number of people who had taken shelter in the parking lot. Why? I have now seen video of the hospital and the building did not collapse. It appears that damage was limited to the parking lot and there is no large crater that a bomb would have made. The apparent damage and fire is consistent with the detonation of the relatively small rocket warhead and the fire was probably caused by the remaining unburnt solid fuel of the rocket that crashed before its fuel had been expended.
There is also this from the New York Times today:
A correction was made on Oct. 18, 2023: An earlier version of this article described incorrectly a video filmed by a woman at the hospital after the blast. The hospital itself was not ruined; its parking lot was damaged most heavily in the blast.
I was wrong yesterday. I hope this sets the record straight. CPO
Hi, Charlie. Thanks for your note. At the very least, you set forth your premises in making your argument yesterday. That is much more than most of the media did.
Sometimes we need to stop and realize that the type of changes we are all looking for take longer to materialize than we expect. Slowly very slowly things, small changes are happening and in most cases we don’t even notice them but they are happening. Sometimes we need a dose of reality or truth serum and I am enclosing a comment that was sent to me that I think captures a lot of what we are feeling. I do not know the author but I am including it anyhow.
The real problem is that many Republican voters have now completely internalized the cynicism of Trump and the GOP opportunists around him, and they draw no connection between national politics and the ongoing health and security of the United States. These voters rely on everyone else (including those Americans they deride as the “deep state”) to keep the country functioning. They vote for masters of performative nonsense, such as Jordan and Gaetz, who do nothing for the “forgotten” working families in the places that the MAGA movement claims have been left behind by the rest of us.
It’s not much consolation to recognize that the Republicans are now the party their voters want them to be. Their antics endanger us all, especially during multiple international crises when the United States needs to be unified and effective both at home and abroad. But to treat the GOP as merely dysfunctional is worse than a distraction; it is a fundamental error that offers the false hope that a mature and governing majority is somehow within reach, if only Jordan or Gaetz would get out of the way.”
This is why turnout and voting is the only workable solution.
THANK YOU! I am feeling exhausted, and I limit my exposure to the news (visuals of death are not helpful to my thinking process). But I am hopeful -- there are signs in the exhaustion that some people can spot the source, identify it, and shun it. And the source is not Joe Biden. As he would say, "God bless him!" He has gone into the lion's den, trying to bring some iota of sanity and calm where the blood rages and the stones cry out for vengeance. But, as Gandhi reminds us, an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Hope, against all evidence and all weight of opinion, hope is what we need to cling to, knowing hope is given wings by consistent, plodding work. Thank you, Robert. Avanti!
Thank you Tom Cole: For those who thought Jim Jordan would just drive up interest rates by defaulting on our national debt and then cut cut taxes for his rich patrons, we now are told that Jordan wanted "to get at the real drivers of debt, and we all know what they are. We all know it's Social Security, we all know it's Medicare, we all know it's Medicaid." Huh. Is Cole (T-Okla) really that stupid? Has he always been this mendacious? Or has he fallen under the spell of the wizard of Mar a Lago? Or Fox?
Cole's 4th District includes Norman, home of the University of OK. I hope students and teachers there develop a revulsion to this man and vote him out.
I find it really rich that a man whose income is paid by US taxpayers is gleefully looking forward to gutting three programs that we taxpayers have paid into and keep us healthy, especially as we age. Tom Cole needs a reduction in his salary and I hope the folks of Norman give it to him.
Tom Cole needs to be kicked out of Congress by the people who put him there. If they’re actually paying attention, he’ll lose his seat in the next election cycle, but I won’t hold my breath. I’m sure he enjoys his congressional salary, exorbitant benefits, pension, etc., while the rest of us be damned.
Oh! Janet! There are so, soooo many who need to be kicked out or expelled. How is it that Jordan could be a representative since 2006 and not produce any legislation? Is that really true? If so, it’s ridiculous and his constituents are not paying attention.
John, a gentleman who participates in this forum and a few others showed me a picture of the district map for Jim Jordan. He described it like this (I paraphrase): "It’s like someone went door-to-door asking residents if they would vote for Jim Jordan, then wrote down the names and addresses of everyone who said yes and made that his district." The map is all over the place. It looks like a snake. It’s so deeply gerrymandered. That’s why Jim Jordan keeps getting reelected.
Janet, this is what creates a real challenge for us. In some ways, I feel that the Democrats were asleep at the wheel while the Republicans were running their game plan to gain trifectas and gerrymander. It is disconcerting.
Robert, and family, thank you for sharing so much of yourselves over the past couple of years. You have not turned away, withdrawn, or ignored the difficult situations with which we and the world are coping. I do appreciate the pep talk. I need it. I do my best to spread hope, focus on courage, justice, personal discipline, and the much larger picture.
Many people have been financially hit from the pandemic and are still struggling to get back to where they were. These factors, added with the US political instability are overwhelming for most. The world events layer on more fear and uncertainty. And yet, there are millions of refugees fleeing much worse and seeking a safe place to try and rebuild a life.
Action can be an antidote for anxiety. We can all strive to be one who spreads hope versus doom and gloom. Thanks again for being with us all through these times.
Oct 19, 2023·edited Oct 20, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
This was a great pep talk. I hope everyone else feels that way. I've tried to buck up a guy who were sounding depressed on another substack, which is not primarily focused on politics. I urged him to sign up here, and I suggested a book that I thought might make him feel better (Sebastian Junger's Tribe, which is about the conditions under which H. sapiens are our best selves). I finished by suggesting he come here, and also consider Hopium and HCR.
I am pessimistic by nature. When I was barely adolescent back during the LBJ administration, a girl around my age used to call me Frizzy Haired Eeyore (looking back after all these years, I have the feeling that name conveyed affection, and I'm touched). But I have not been feeling pessimistic lately. It's partly Biden. Two trips to Israel inside of two weeks, a fricken 12 hour flight each way for a total of nearly two days in the air!--telling Bibi what he needs to hear, and letting the Israelis know that we really do support them, and yet asserting that they need to abide by the rules of war.
I got serenaded with that song when I turned 64, by my high school girlfriend and her husband. A nice surprise. Since then, I've been sorry not to be able to be 64 again.
I turned 70 this past summer. And I was a bit surprised to find that I was fine with it. But that's because I still run every day with my dog, I did not lose anything with the birthday, as well as some intangible thing--70 just doesn't sound old to me anymore, as it once did. And I don't look any older than I did a decade ago--or maybe it's just that I look in the mirror and see the same person I've seen for the last 20 years, not noticeably different except for the color of my hair (the black is virtually gone) and the fact that my hair is longer than it's ever been.
Once again, our beloved President showed his steady hand and prowess in international affairs by his whirlwind trip to Israel and the results that he achieved. His departing speech to the Israeli people and their leadership (as well as to the world) is perhaps one of the best in his presidency, calling upon the humanity in all of us in navigating these difficult times. But even more directly, he reminded Israel about what sets it apart from the Hamas’ brutality and evil suddenly injected into their homes and nation. President Biden said: “You are a Jewish state, but you’re also a democracy. And like the United States, you don’t live by the rules of terrorists. You live by the rule of law. And when conflicts flare, you live by the law of wars. What sets us apart from the terrorists is we believe in the fundamental dignity of every human life-Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, Jew, Muslim, Christian-everyone. You can’t give up what makes you who you are. If you give that up, then the terrorists win. And we can never let them win....We are all human beings created in the image of God with dignity, humanity, and purpose. In the darkness, to be the light unto the world is what we’re about. You inspire hope and light for so many around the world. That’s what the terrorists seek to destroy. That’s what they seek to destroy-but not you, not Israel. Nations of conscience like the United States and Israel are not measured solely by the example of their power. We’re measured by the power of our example. That’s why, as hard as it is, we must keep pursuing peace.”
At the end of this speech, I, for one, was proud to be an American, and again challenged to do everything I can to make our country’s Democratic experiment survive and work. There was no greater example of a “pep talk” than the one given by our President yesterday to us and the rest of this world.
David, this is beautiful. Thank you. My gratitude for President Biden runs deep, especially after the years we lived through prior to his presidency. The contrast could not be greater.
Several readers have noted the intelligence conclusion is that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fired the "errant missile" that hit the hospital in Gaza, not Hamas. In the interest of accuracy, I will note the group's name in future, but here, I think detail obscures the truth.
The PIJ is a group of 1,000 terrorists operating in Gaza--something that can only happen with Hamas's permission. PIJ has been launching missiles and mortars into Israel for the last ten days, again something that can only happen with Hamas's permission. PIJ is effectively an auxiliary of Hamas in Gaza. To make the distinction between those groups in assigning responsibility for the attack on the hospital is a distinction that blurs the essential truth: Hamas is responsible for the attack on the hospital. It controls Gaza, it controls PIJ.
Thank you. Every such clarification provides reason to endure as you have asked today - not that we should need one more reason. Our humanity and social conscience is called for at this very “exhausting” but critical time for all.
This, which I just discovered, Harlan Crow donating to Cornel West, is disturbing me. It's in multiple lesser tier publications like Business Insider. Haven't (yet) seen it in the NYT or the WaPo. David
I think the main reason for making the distinction is that it shows the spread of using terror to other groups. That is truly terrifying.
I have noticed Israel said there is a Hamas command centre under a hospital, before the attack. This could be a finding of Israeli intelligence, or it could be planted information by Hamas. Considering the perfect timing of the attack for Hamas, right before Biden arriving, and the global support for Hamas by the outraged muslim crowds, I think make strong indications. No evidence, but in line with what seems to be Hamas holding all Palestinians hostages to the cause; now also underlined by taking Israeli and international hostages, so that we in the West also have to bother.
I'm coming to a conclusion I never thought I would: the Press Corpse, with its willful ignorance and ill-informed self-righteousness, is as big a problem as the MAGAts are.
Add social media.
The problem is, we view the Media as journalism. It isn't. It is entertainment designed to inflame emotions so you will watch again and again. There as not been real news reporting since Cronkite, Huntley & Brinkley, and Howard K Smith.
There is some journalism but it doesn’t get the attention it deserves: PBS News Hour, PBS Frontline, NPR & affiliates, The Guardian,
Spot on Robert. There is more and better journalism being presented on Substack than anywhere on broadcast TV or radio. NPR might be an exception but I don't listen often enough to judge.
NPR is not great, although there are a few high spots like On Point, which is superb.
PBS Newshour the most non-political, neutral reporting that I know.
Absolutely - they are lazy, ill informed at lousy at their jobs!!! Read the GUARDIAN
Welcome to the club! They gave a platform to the fraud and immoral trump via that abysmal non-reality show on NBC! Every utterance verbal or gaseous echoed by the press and other media outlets in 2016!
I enjoy watching the David Packman Show on YouTube. Now we have Fox News reporting Packman to YouTube for ‘unfair use’. One more strike and Packman loses his show. Per Packman “… this is Big corporate media silencing independent progressive media…”.
How bloody rich is it that media either out and out lies, or withholds all pertinent news and then goes after the little guy who is willing to report what is really going on ‘out there’?! Sickening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykEKfuFXY_k
Mostly the press does not accept their responsibility for more directly speaking to the threat that right wing extremists, the former president and his cabal of sycophants pose. Instead they either ignore serious threats or are truly driven by some self-righteous belief that balance is their friend even when overlooking the full story or nuances.
Balance is the wrong goal. For example, how can one responsibly give balance between Heaven and Hell?
Decades ago, David Brinkley (NBC TV News anchor) commented that he cannot be ‘balanced’; what he strived to be was *fair*.
I agree. And in our current political environment fairness should be of higher concern than balance as Republicans are broadly - state & national, courtrooms & ring wing media - they have charted new waters by ignoring law & order norms replacing them with lies and gaslighting.
I agree, but I think it's motivated by money (ie greed)
Nah.
Thank you for this. Re the House: As Aaron Blake points out in WaPo, it is significant that a handful of GOP house members who voted against Jordan also called his camp out publicly for bullying and intimidation tactics. He should put a stop to it (all he does is talk). If it continues, let's hope that at least it peels away more votes from him. Yesterday, as suggested by Jessica Craven, I called the offices of each of the 20 GOP reps who voted no in round 1 and I thanked them. Today, I am calling and thanking each rep who spoke up in this article about intimidation. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/18/jim-jordan-maga-intimidation-threats/
All his Congressional life Jordan has been an attacker, destroyer, and intimidator. I find these tactics by his allies and Hannity to be very akin to Jordan's way. So he talks out of the side of his mouth when he "condemns" the attacks.
Thank you for your positive message.
Republicans in the House said they supported Jim Jordan for House Speaker because he was dedicated to gutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The American voters should be told every day what the GOP stands for.
Are you paying attention, Democratic Party campaign pooh-bahs?
Looks like Dems haven’t been paying attention…..no coverage yesterday of GOP policies that Jordan embraces..
Jim Jordan was also supported by Republicans because he’s a bully.
Wow.
Dearest Mr. Hubbell,
I really needed that. Thank you so much for being who you are and for being there for us who often feel like we are in the wilderness ( even though we might live in NYC!!!)
Warmly,
Lannyl Stephens
"To hope is to risk frustration. Therefore, make up your mind to risk frustration."
Merton
Lucretia Mott, abolitionist and early suffragette: My conviction led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth for authority, not on authority for truth.
Beautiful!
I love that quote! Thanks!
I realize that this has been said many times by many people. Many of those on the right are supporting efforts by their leaders who are working against their supporters best interests. Many people receive more economic benefit from their government than they pay in and yet support politicians and policies that will reduce these benefits while cutting taxes that they do no even pay. I often wonder what great improvements we could have in the quality of life in the USA and the world if the Democrats could control the White House and both houses of Congress for a long period of time. Of course I am just a progress (liberal) dreamer.
Michael W.
Which is the biggest reason I want the electoral college gone. For every 10c states like KY put in they get $1 back. For every dollar NY puts in we get 10c back.
Attacks on the Electoral College are a waste of time and energy. There is no way in Hades that enough states (most of which have small populations) legislatures will vote to abolish the Electoral College.
The Suffragette movement was a waste of time because men would never agree that women should vote.
The Suffragist movement didn’t threaten the power of any states. Proposed reforms of the Electoral College threaten the power of states like Vermont, Wyoming, etc. They’re not likely to endorse giving up their electoral power.
Are you aware of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact? To be enacted it requires 270 electoral college votes. (50%+1). It currently has 205 enacted, with 63 pending. Vermont, Rhode Island, and Delaware are among the signatories.
I wish men would sit down and STFU already. It’s why we’re here in the first place. I’m beyond exhausted from them.
Thank you; I wasn’t aware of that movement. I applaud their aims; but after having done some quick research, I suspect that it will be a long time (as it has been already) before they’ll get enough states in their camp; and then their program will have to be blessed by a potentially hostile Supreme Court.
I hope they’ll succeed, however.
😊🙌
I disagree. Keeping the public’s attention focused on topics like the electoral college may not yield immediate results but continue to assure they cannot be ignored.
I’m SO sick of men like you thinking your opinion matters more. Like beyond sick.
Sadly, these same people that vote for the emotion-evoking crowd often don't have the ability to problem-solve or do critical thinking. The whole goal of the Republican/MAGA party now is to use their platforms to evoke fear, anger, and hostility in their followers. Their goal is to obtain votes, donations, and to provide the communications to others of like mind. Conspiracy theories grab hold because of this lack of ability to think, and the theory evokes great pride, anger, and fear. Many of them are a great danger to themselves and our nation.
We could have a solid social safety net. Here's one of the most important articles I've read in my life, which shows just how much better off our poverty stricken fellow citizens would be. And if they were so much better off, we all would be.
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2015/04/the-science-of-scarcity
This is an excellent article. Thank you for sharing it, David.
Thanks for the Harvard article. It makes a guaranteed monthly income for everyone over 18 something that could really change the way people vote.
You're welcome Christi! I
Really worth reading! Thanks, David. We all make poorer decisions in conditions of scarcity, time scarcity included. Indian farmers, the same individuals, had better judgment when they had just been paid versus when money was almost gone, their worries multiplying.
You are not alone as a dreamer! We everyday readers of this newsletter also dream. However, we must also act for this to happen. Many days it does feel overwhelming, but, as you know, you can get a shot in the arm every day with this newsletter, and its encouragement to stay involved. Just remember, there are now thousands who read this page. Breathe and act!
Good point.
Yesterday, I posted a comment about why I thought the hospital explosion was more likely from an Israeli weapon than an errant rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel. I had seen no visual evidence of the actual damage to the hospital, but deemed it impossible for hundreds to have died without the hospital...or a portion of it...collapsing due to a large high explosive detonation. I reasoned that the smaller warheads on the Hamas rockets could not have caused the collapse of the hospital;.
Today, I wish to correct that call. I believe the Israeli judgement that an errant rocket caused the limited damage and the deaths of an unconfirmed number of people who had taken shelter in the parking lot. Why? I have now seen video of the hospital and the building did not collapse. It appears that damage was limited to the parking lot and there is no large crater that a bomb would have made. The apparent damage and fire is consistent with the detonation of the relatively small rocket warhead and the fire was probably caused by the remaining unburnt solid fuel of the rocket that crashed before its fuel had been expended.
There is also this from the New York Times today:
A correction was made on Oct. 18, 2023: An earlier version of this article described incorrectly a video filmed by a woman at the hospital after the blast. The hospital itself was not ruined; its parking lot was damaged most heavily in the blast.
I was wrong yesterday. I hope this sets the record straight. CPO
Hi, Charlie. Thanks for your note. At the very least, you set forth your premises in making your argument yesterday. That is much more than most of the media did.
Sometimes we need to stop and realize that the type of changes we are all looking for take longer to materialize than we expect. Slowly very slowly things, small changes are happening and in most cases we don’t even notice them but they are happening. Sometimes we need a dose of reality or truth serum and I am enclosing a comment that was sent to me that I think captures a lot of what we are feeling. I do not know the author but I am including it anyhow.
The real problem is that many Republican voters have now completely internalized the cynicism of Trump and the GOP opportunists around him, and they draw no connection between national politics and the ongoing health and security of the United States. These voters rely on everyone else (including those Americans they deride as the “deep state”) to keep the country functioning. They vote for masters of performative nonsense, such as Jordan and Gaetz, who do nothing for the “forgotten” working families in the places that the MAGA movement claims have been left behind by the rest of us.
It’s not much consolation to recognize that the Republicans are now the party their voters want them to be. Their antics endanger us all, especially during multiple international crises when the United States needs to be unified and effective both at home and abroad. But to treat the GOP as merely dysfunctional is worse than a distraction; it is a fundamental error that offers the false hope that a mature and governing majority is somehow within reach, if only Jordan or Gaetz would get out of the way.”
This is why turnout and voting is the only workable solution.
THANK YOU! I am feeling exhausted, and I limit my exposure to the news (visuals of death are not helpful to my thinking process). But I am hopeful -- there are signs in the exhaustion that some people can spot the source, identify it, and shun it. And the source is not Joe Biden. As he would say, "God bless him!" He has gone into the lion's den, trying to bring some iota of sanity and calm where the blood rages and the stones cry out for vengeance. But, as Gandhi reminds us, an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Hope, against all evidence and all weight of opinion, hope is what we need to cling to, knowing hope is given wings by consistent, plodding work. Thank you, Robert. Avanti!
Robert you said what needed to be said!
Thanks!
Thank you Tom Cole: For those who thought Jim Jordan would just drive up interest rates by defaulting on our national debt and then cut cut taxes for his rich patrons, we now are told that Jordan wanted "to get at the real drivers of debt, and we all know what they are. We all know it's Social Security, we all know it's Medicare, we all know it's Medicaid." Huh. Is Cole (T-Okla) really that stupid? Has he always been this mendacious? Or has he fallen under the spell of the wizard of Mar a Lago? Or Fox?
He has always been that stupid.
Cole's 4th District includes Norman, home of the University of OK. I hope students and teachers there develop a revulsion to this man and vote him out.
I find it really rich that a man whose income is paid by US taxpayers is gleefully looking forward to gutting three programs that we taxpayers have paid into and keep us healthy, especially as we age. Tom Cole needs a reduction in his salary and I hope the folks of Norman give it to him.
Tom Cole needs to be kicked out of Congress by the people who put him there. If they’re actually paying attention, he’ll lose his seat in the next election cycle, but I won’t hold my breath. I’m sure he enjoys his congressional salary, exorbitant benefits, pension, etc., while the rest of us be damned.
Oh! Janet! There are so, soooo many who need to be kicked out or expelled. How is it that Jordan could be a representative since 2006 and not produce any legislation? Is that really true? If so, it’s ridiculous and his constituents are not paying attention.
John, a gentleman who participates in this forum and a few others showed me a picture of the district map for Jim Jordan. He described it like this (I paraphrase): "It’s like someone went door-to-door asking residents if they would vote for Jim Jordan, then wrote down the names and addresses of everyone who said yes and made that his district." The map is all over the place. It looks like a snake. It’s so deeply gerrymandered. That’s why Jim Jordan keeps getting reelected.
Janet, this is what creates a real challenge for us. In some ways, I feel that the Democrats were asleep at the wheel while the Republicans were running their game plan to gain trifectas and gerrymander. It is disconcerting.
And loyal screeching from the local Fox outlet in the hospitals, police stations, and wherever else his constituents congregate
mendacious. They all are. They want the rich to be overlords and the rest of us to be chopped liver.
Thanks, Robert, for letting us eavesdrop on your Pep Talk to yourself and family!
Robert, and family, thank you for sharing so much of yourselves over the past couple of years. You have not turned away, withdrawn, or ignored the difficult situations with which we and the world are coping. I do appreciate the pep talk. I need it. I do my best to spread hope, focus on courage, justice, personal discipline, and the much larger picture.
Many people have been financially hit from the pandemic and are still struggling to get back to where they were. These factors, added with the US political instability are overwhelming for most. The world events layer on more fear and uncertainty. And yet, there are millions of refugees fleeing much worse and seeking a safe place to try and rebuild a life.
We can all practice a bit of VUCA 1.0 and 2.0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VUCA
Action can be an antidote for anxiety. We can all strive to be one who spreads hope versus doom and gloom. Thanks again for being with us all through these times.
This was a great pep talk. I hope everyone else feels that way. I've tried to buck up a guy who were sounding depressed on another substack, which is not primarily focused on politics. I urged him to sign up here, and I suggested a book that I thought might make him feel better (Sebastian Junger's Tribe, which is about the conditions under which H. sapiens are our best selves). I finished by suggesting he come here, and also consider Hopium and HCR.
I am pessimistic by nature. When I was barely adolescent back during the LBJ administration, a girl around my age used to call me Frizzy Haired Eeyore (looking back after all these years, I have the feeling that name conveyed affection, and I'm touched). But I have not been feeling pessimistic lately. It's partly Biden. Two trips to Israel inside of two weeks, a fricken 12 hour flight each way for a total of nearly two days in the air!--telling Bibi what he needs to hear, and letting the Israelis know that we really do support them, and yet asserting that they need to abide by the rules of war.
I would love to have Biden’s energy and stamina, and I am 16 years younger than him. He’s just remarkable.
Does that mean I get to sing you the relevant Beatles' song?
Lol!! Yes, I’ll be 64 on November 19.
I got serenaded with that song when I turned 64, by my high school girlfriend and her husband. A nice surprise. Since then, I've been sorry not to be able to be 64 again.
I would like to stop here and not get older, but I realize that won’t happen. LOL!
I turned 70 this past summer. And I was a bit surprised to find that I was fine with it. But that's because I still run every day with my dog, I did not lose anything with the birthday, as well as some intangible thing--70 just doesn't sound old to me anymore, as it once did. And I don't look any older than I did a decade ago--or maybe it's just that I look in the mirror and see the same person I've seen for the last 20 years, not noticeably different except for the color of my hair (the black is virtually gone) and the fact that my hair is longer than it's ever been.
Once again, our beloved President showed his steady hand and prowess in international affairs by his whirlwind trip to Israel and the results that he achieved. His departing speech to the Israeli people and their leadership (as well as to the world) is perhaps one of the best in his presidency, calling upon the humanity in all of us in navigating these difficult times. But even more directly, he reminded Israel about what sets it apart from the Hamas’ brutality and evil suddenly injected into their homes and nation. President Biden said: “You are a Jewish state, but you’re also a democracy. And like the United States, you don’t live by the rules of terrorists. You live by the rule of law. And when conflicts flare, you live by the law of wars. What sets us apart from the terrorists is we believe in the fundamental dignity of every human life-Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, Jew, Muslim, Christian-everyone. You can’t give up what makes you who you are. If you give that up, then the terrorists win. And we can never let them win....We are all human beings created in the image of God with dignity, humanity, and purpose. In the darkness, to be the light unto the world is what we’re about. You inspire hope and light for so many around the world. That’s what the terrorists seek to destroy. That’s what they seek to destroy-but not you, not Israel. Nations of conscience like the United States and Israel are not measured solely by the example of their power. We’re measured by the power of our example. That’s why, as hard as it is, we must keep pursuing peace.”
At the end of this speech, I, for one, was proud to be an American, and again challenged to do everything I can to make our country’s Democratic experiment survive and work. There was no greater example of a “pep talk” than the one given by our President yesterday to us and the rest of this world.
Well said!
David, this is beautiful. Thank you. My gratitude for President Biden runs deep, especially after the years we lived through prior to his presidency. The contrast could not be greater.
Too bad MAGAs would NEVER understand that, much less even listen to it or read it (if they can).