Maybe it’s because it’s 4 in the morning and I’m tired but can’t sleep, but the fact that the Republicans are reacting out of fear and the reality that without Trump they will disintegrate into the nothingness they are, is not comforting. Right now the American judiciary is not doing their job to secure our rights and privileges. We seem helpless to stop them, and THEY should not be above the law. I believe we are winning voters over with the hard work so many of us are doing, but we need an army to be out there so that we can elect people in the fall who will work to right this ship of ours before it, like the titanic ends up on the bottom of the sea, because we were oblivious to the iceberg in front of us.
I’m with you. It’s now 4:42 am and I’m wide awake too. While I’m encouraged by all of the grassroots efforts I am so angry and upset about the judiciary doing all it can to stop any and all attempts to hold T responsible. And Mike Johnson appointing Scott Perry and Ronny Jackson to the intel committee is beyond the pale.
I agree, Ilene. Yes, they are in panic mode, but they are a very dangerous wounded dragon, and they have so many things going for them. Their long term investments in a propaganda machine; their success at taking over state legislatures; their decades of "playing the ref," and terrifying mainstream media into being afraid to report the truth; the rise of the conservative billionaire class through monetary and tax policies that concentrate wealth; their single-minded efforts to salt the justice system with extreme conservatives, now all the way up to SCOTUS--all of these have given them structural power. And at the same time, whether it's social media, the aftermath of COVID, or something else, there is some kind of social poison that has given them an opening with people, as we see the rise of enthusiasm for fascism among the young and the swelling of White Christian Nationalist sentiment among people who at least never expressed their desire for it in the past.
Thanks. My post-card writing hand is still in good shape. Also, someone quoted poetry below so I will add a line from a poem I often recite when I'm feeling anxious , "I come into the peace of wild things, who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief," (Wendell
I couldn't agree more. For obvious reasons I would rather like the convicted felon, his handlers and his followers to a cornered rat than to a wounded dragon, though.
Thinking about cornered rats a story comes to mind Putin told in his memoirs a few years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he shared the lessons learned with trump and his other pals in Congress.
watch for the propaganda machine to also kick into high gear - after all,
Putin basically OWNS (45).
Just as (45) is running for office in an effort to pardon himself and his lackeys, avoid accountability and prison, and enrich his pockets,
Putin is essentially doing the same thing, with (45) as a valuable asset.
Putin can defeat the USA without firing a shot or mounting an invasion -
all he has to do is encourage us to destroy each other.
And we have the guns to do it!
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said, “We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know that we will win. But I've come to believe we're integrating into a burning house."
It's hard not to be terrified. But after realizing that we are terrified, we still need to canvass, make phone calls and write postcards. It all has an effect!
I’m with you on that as well. The more involved with and aware of the multitude of pro democracy groups out there the more disgusted I am by the MSM and its breathless negativity. Most people don’t want to be depressed. Most people want to be inspired and all we hear is soap opera drama for your mama. That’s wrong. There is absolutely no need to give cover to gangsters. I heard someone suggest each of us write down 34 reasons why we will not vote for Trump. It’s 2 am here so I’ll do mine in the morning. Then I’ll commit it to memory.
I am going to write 34 reasons to vote for Biden, instead. I can no longer allow the negativity control how I feel and think. I need to find the things I can use to reach out to people to help them see how Biden and his administration have either made things better or held things steady so we can recover.
More thoughts on baseball and the Supreme Court....
Major League Baseball has always had a Commissioner whose job is to act to in the best interest and integrity of the game. The Chief Justice, Roberts, is similarly charged with the same task. In addition, he famously declared that his job was to call "balls and strikes". He is to make sure EVERYBODY( emphasis intended) plays by the rules. He has failed miserably in both of those endeavors. No surprise. BTW, the immunity decision should have been decided in one day( see Gore v. Bush).
Ilene, I understand your early morning frustration and fatigue. However, I think it’s a mistake to generalize about the American judiciary by lumping all judges in with the likes of Judges Cannon, Alito and friends. Over 60 judges did their job to secure our rights during and after the 2020 election when Trump’s goon squad was calling “fake election”. And Judge Merchan certainly did his job in the recent NY trial.
We do need "an army out there," and every woman actively volunteering for Democrats in some way who has a husband, brother, son, male friend or co-worker who is not now an active volunteer should consider sending them the link to the Man Up resources, found here: https://www.grassrootscollaboration.org/man-up-initiative/ Robert Hubbell's endorsement is wonderful. Congressman Jamie Raskin is doing a video endorsement we will be posting. Your personal appeals can do the most!
The Raskin endorsement should be up by June 14th and I will do my best to make sure I comment and include the link again when it's up. You can also send your email to this Contact (https://www.grassrootscollaboration.org/contact/) and I will message you directly.
Ilene, I woke up at 5:00 am today, and I totally get your feelings of helplessness. However, we are NOT oblivious, and there IS an army out there fighting every day for our democracy. You and I are in that army!. It looks like Joe Biden is going to be taking down Trump, hopefully, on a daily basis. Although on days like this it is hard to remain optimistic, I feel I must do that! Take care, Ilene!
"re-electing Biden is like the Titanic hitting the iceberg, and backing up to hit it again."
I clarified the history and present situation for them.
"No, (45) is like Captain Smith ignoring ALL warnings of ice and pushing the ship at full speed, thinking it was indeed unsinkable. The lower-class passengers were most affected, but every social class suffered losses.
President Biden's Administration is like the RMS Carpathia hearing the distress call, rushing to the site of the disaster sixty miles away in two hours, saving the survivors, attending to the dead, and then COMPLETING THE VOYAGE to New York City."
Y'all feel free to use that analogy on anyone who needs to hear it.
I'm double-liking your response, Beverly. I am disturbed by the snarky cuteness of many of the memes (theirs and ours), and really like the way you reframed this one. This is the kind of thing that can get people to rethink how they see things.
I believe that most of us who read this newsletter are not oblivious! The news from yesterday (which, by the way is outmatched by the reports and images of Biden in France marking D-Day) is worrisome, but we are on it! Look at what the Republicans in the Senate did yesterday, not passing the bill protecting contraception. Most women in this country must be outraged by this. We have to keep that outrage alive until the election! It is going to require a tremendous amount of hard work on our parts to do that. It's exhausting, but what are our choices?
The GOPers' move not to protect contraception will come back and bite their behinds, and send them back to where they came from. It will supercharge us!
Ilene, we are not helpless. Democratic leadership are wringing their hands, as republicans are tearing our democracy apart. Republicans that appear to be acting out of fear are no comfort to me. We need to respond in kind. A million man march would be a good first step, as I suggested on the HCR newsletter. Democrats and Independents need to be informed. We need to grab people's attention and time is running out. Democrats are on the side of the truth, a valuable asset. Our side has the evidence based on facts. Our side has people like Sheldon Whitehouse, Dan Goldman, Jamie Raskin that can speak at a protest. We are not without assets. What more evidence do we need than the appointment of Scott Perry and Ron Jackson, two leading insurrectionists who are being investigated by the FBI will be heading the FBI, whom Johnson appointed to head our Intelligence dep't. Hakeem Jeffries needs to get busy and stop wringing his hands.
If you are going to promote a Millian Man March, it would be good to remember that the original march in 1995 was organized and centered around Black men, with the intent of demonstrating the positive power of Black men to both the Black community and to the rest of the American community. It seems to me that it would be appropriate to vigorously reach out to the Black Community to offer to join with them in promoting and supporting democracy - not to coopt the image and goal, but to enlarge it.
Ilene, I agree with you entirely. There is little comfort in what Robert might explain as "Republicans deep-seated fear and insecurity” while they give us a look at what we can expect IF Trump gets elected. As Robert wrote, we should not dismiss the ”revenge fantasies of the Convicted Felon and his pathetic homunculi.” (Whew! Had to look that one up.)
To that end, if anyone reads the reports of Heather Cox-Richardson, Robert Hubbell and Joyce Vance we can be very clear headed that the actions of Republicans in the House, in the Republican held State Legislatures, in the Georgia and Florida Courts as the work of people desperately but also in real time laying down the path to the most destructive and upending period of our democracy and constitutional law. To me, this appears as both the present and the preview of extremist agenda. It is obvious that phony conservatives have decided to do as much harm as possible while they have the opportunity if only to demonstrate they are very willing to take down our history and our democracy IF they take control in 2025.
Recalling Justice J. Michael Luttig’s January 6th hearing testimony. "How do we know they intend to do the same thing in 2024? Because they are telling us."
Thus, it is imperative that we do what Robert has always written, focus our energy completely on getting out the vote AND doing so in huge numbers - as strong and wide as we can. Not to mention, do all we can to speak to and confront misinformation, disinformation and lies. We must back away from the terror that runs through our body and soul and find our inter strength to take action.
It is chilling to run down the list that Robert has included to fully recognize the extent to which Republicans and the courts have taken whatever actions they can to block justice and lay out aspects of their 2025 Project agenda. I have said before that my expectation is that the SCOTUS extreme right justices will twist themselves and our constitution into a personally driven interpretation that serves their interests and offers the citizens of the Untied States NO justice in 2024. They are completely corrupt and walking a road that has been lightly tread since Chief Justice Roberts declared that “corporations are people.” He set the right on a path to gut voter rights. Now, as Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in his written opinion of Roe vs. Wade, their efforts should go further to revisit many of the previous decisions. (I paraphrase."
I repeat. We must double down to get out the largest vote our country has ever seen to win big in November. For in this moment the extremists are demonstrating their cynicism and disrespect for voters surely believing they can openly declare and act upon their intentions with their conviction that people don’t care or aren’t listening. Let’s show them that we are actively listening, taking them seriously and are ready to confront their malice.
Below is a link to Letters From An American that, unlike Today’s Edition, reflects an historians cold reality of the moment. For me, Robert offers the passion and conviction of our collective commitment fight like hell. Let’s do it!!!
I wrote on the FB page of Mike Johnson and requested him to give proof that former Pres Trump was innocent on all counts. His press secretary then asked me whether I would like to text privately with Mike Johnson! And I said no, because this isn't a private matter and if he has a defence, he could show it here.
Add male sexual stimulants like Viagra (easily delivered through the postal system with an over-the-phone ‘consultation’) to the Congressional bill outlawing contraception and watch how fast Republicans defeat it.
Good point but it would take some wiggling around to get it right. You'd be adding them to the bill protecting access, but since the Repubs know those male lifestyle enhancing drugs wouldn't be under threat anyway they wouldn't necessarily feel obliged to protect them. It's always things that are important to females and female health and independence that are under threat.
“Before anyone on the other side saddles up and gets on their high legal horses, I would just like to remind the committee that the chairman (Jim Jordan) is 754 days into his own subpoena defiance.”
“Do you believe in state’s right, except for when a jury in that state convicts your nominee for president? you might be in a cult. if you claim to ‘back the blue’ but want to defund the police when the police go to your nominee’s house to retrieve national security secrets? you might be in a cult. if you’re supporting a guy whose felony convictions prevent him from getting a security clearance? you might be in a cult. and if the guy you’re supporting for president has felony convictions that prevent him from going to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the UK, you might be in a cult.”
Let's go now to favorite Congressman Jamie Raskin, seen/heard here in remarks from Slate's Amicus Live with Dahlia Lithwick. If you don't or can't watch the whole thing, listen to what he says about being a liberal, a progressive AND a conservative, starting at circa minute 21:44:
Thank you for the link to Rep Raskin with Dahlia Lithwick. I've never understood the term "conservative" in relation to politics because I've never seen the adherents conserve anything.
Thanks for passing this on, Lynell. Going to repass it.
I've been out of the loop for a little bit, showing an overseas guest around, and it surprised me to sort of emerge from that and discover that while I was sightseeing and exploring with my guest, the mood seems to have changed. Not sure all the factors, but it seemed to me that there were a lot of shifts on the legal front that deflated the high from the 34 verdicts. Ah, enter the disinformation and the fear engendered by right wing threats of what we would become under Trump - as if that were a given. And too many let that get to them.
I get it. I get overwhelmed at times too. But hey, you guys, this is just standard Trump fare. We have been doing well getting the word out. Biden and the Dems have been doing well publicizing what is going right. Why are we letting them get under our skin? We do not need to buy into their scare tactics. We need to believe in ourselves and keep doing what we've been doing, and keep speaking out, keep writing postcards, keep informing people one at a time.
The thing we must NOT do is call names, demean people we disagree with, allow our emotions to be manipulated, and most of all, we must not undermine our own ability to reach out to those people who we might persuade with our own sense of confidence. We can do this. We have the power.
P.S. I hope you had a nice visit with your guest. Taking someone sightseeing is a perfect way to get to re-visit places you wouldn't ordinarily go to by yourself!
Well, actually, Lynell, a few days before my guests arrival, I did something to my knee and ended up with a knee brace and a cane! Actually, it turned out to be a kind of blessing, as it slowed me down and made me focus on what was important. I took him first to a gravesite that was central to our having connected in the first place (I do genealogy and found the grave for him based on very slim evidence, and we've kept in touch since). From there I took him to many of my own special out of the way places. It was quiet and laid back- we talked for hours, and to both our surprise, found ourselves bonding deeply. Do not know where this will end up, but it has all been an unexpected delight. All my special places now have a new dimension for having shared them.
Tonight’s post is a reminder that MAGATs flood the zone with BS actions and messages. They’ve learned from the Convicted Felon to take up all the media oxygen they can. And they’ve been organizing their reactionary agenda for many years until the mounting threat caused our current crisis. It can be disheartening to read the litany, but I’m getting some distance from the flash bang of all of it.
We’ve got too much work to do to get out Democratic votes. Let others and our elected officials and institutions fight back. There’s just so much we can do to help them steer their efforts correctly, and mine is a small voice.
But, I’ve also been encouraged to see that very smart progressive organizers are stepping up to wage a social media campaign and to find and register likely Democratic voters. For more on those efforts, see:
- Focus for Democracy, which vets effective activist efforts and helps get them crowd-funded. They are laser focused on the swing states that will tip the presidential election: https://www.focus4democracy.org/
I have signed on to be one of very many co-hosts of the next Focus for Democracy Zoom call, where they present organizations that show exceptional analysis of actions with results and are in need of funds. Their meeting this last Monday night was attended by more than 1800 people. They had a matching pledge offered by Charlie Sykes and another donor and raised over $1.1 M. Actress Kerry Washington introduced the Accelerate Change part of the meeting and talked about her efforts to recruit hundreds of celebrities as influencers. The leaders of the featured organizations answered questions. The next Focus for Democracy Zoom call will be Monday, June 20th at 4PM PT/7PM ET.
Robert probably knows about all of these initiatives, and I applaud him and his executive editor as they roam the country making a difference.
Good on you, Gary S. Better to create our own narratives and focus on democracy than to spend our time commenting on the narratives the Rs want us to focus on.
We need to broadcast all this important, intelligent pushback by these great groups as loudly and widely as possible. There are so many thousands of us making a difference in this battle for democracy and it’s heartening to see. It’s the beautiful story too few hear about. The money people are trying to buy silence, complacency, and fear. It’s not working. We are throwing a collective monkey wrench into their plans and we’re not stopping now.
And I applaud you, Gary, for hosting a Zoom call for Focus for Democracy. All we can do in this moment is to get involved with SOMETHING! I write postcards. It's what I can do, and so I just keep writing them every day as part of my group, Swing Left West Valley, here in LA. We write for Vote Forward. Right now we are writing to potential voters in Arizona and Georgia. It's what we can do!
Thanks for this positive and uplifting message. After reading all the ways the repulsive Reppublicans are responding to the verdict in NYC I needed it. And still on a positive note the NYT article on D-Day had a picture of a D-Day vet with a sign on the wall in his room reading “World War II Veteran, No Trump, No Nazis.” I needed that message as well.
Robert: Especially strong, blunt words today. I love it. Keep tellin' it like it is, loud and clear.
The rest of us: Our social, political, and legal institutions have for the most part failed us. The battle has come to us, in no uncertain terms. Spread the word, register voters, turn out the vote.
If we do not, it will be as W.B. Yeats wrote; we will know "...what rough beast slouches toward Bethlehem to be born."
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Thanks for this great poem: I've lived with it for years (English prof), and in my private and public life the words:
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Comes to haunt me over and over. Like when I hear smart, good people say things like "We have two bozos running this fall," or "You know, I'm no fan of Trump's, but his conviction is likely to be overturned. Bragg didn't have to prosecute. It's political motivation
We must live and work so that no one can say of us: "They were good smart people, but they didn't have the conviction to fight."
We have to want it more than MAGA wants it. And pledge time, talent, and treasure to getting it done.
It is the most important poem of this time, as it was during Yeat's time! We must stop the beast! These terrifying images are what will happen if we do not do everything we can to stop it. Thank you for writing it out, pts.
I am very encouraged by Robert's use of "Convicted Felon" with or instead of the mention of his name. I see others are doing it here too. In contrast, we should say "President Biden" as much as practical. That small conscious act helps to remove the false equivalency between the two candidates. Keep it up! Maybe the media will catch on!
I hope everyone reads HCR's letters today. In it you'll find that Speaker Mike Johnson, never far from being full MAGA, has managed to glaringly establish his appalling judgment of character: "Most dramatically, House speaker Mike Johnson elevated Ronny Jackson (R-TX) and Scott Perry (R-PA) to the House Intelligence Committee, giving them oversight of the entire U.S. intelligence community and access to the nation’s most sensitive foreign intelligence." Can you imagine? Establishing an open conduit for our sensitive info to the Russians!!! Our European allies are preparing their burn-bags!
Johnson must be voted out of office, or alternatively, we must win back the House by working to replace a few members in those states where our candidates are strong.
What happens when abortions are banned with no exceptions for rape (even for young girls) and contraceptives are banned? Which states have the most rape related pregnancies (RPP) and ban abortions? Who are the Republicans stripping women of their freedoms? Click on this StoryMap.
It is horrifying how many women and young girls are being forced to carry their rapist's babies to term in TX, MO and other red states. We MUST work to elect Dems everywhere in November to bring back sanity and the rights of women!
Horrifying indeed. And electing Dems can only be the first step. The deeply flawed system protecting the tyranny of the minority must be corrected. It is a disastrous testament to democratic values that with a vote of 51 : 39 in favor of the contraceptive law the initiative actually FAILED.
It should enrage women everywhere! They must use their rage at the ballot box. We must be writing letters and postcards to women and men in those states where their legislatures, their Congressmen/women, and their Senators support this kind of treachery. It is up to us to make sure women especially understand all that is at stake in November!
I had never heard the word "homunculi" before today. I had to look it up! How well it applies to these shrunken, impotent people whose last gasp effort is to try to deprive women of any right to control their own bodies. I hope that as many men as women are outraged by this, enraged and energized enough to stand up and be counted. To do things like write postcards, knock on doors and make phone calls to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot. That is what we need right now!
Please give credit to the Canadians who participated in the D Day invasion. My dad helped in planning the invasion, though he did not arrive in Europe until a few days later.
The following statement glaringly omits the critically important D-day contributions and sacrifices of soldiers from Great Britain and then-Commonwealth countries such as Canada and India: “The sacrifices made on D-Day by soldiers from America, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland saved Western democracy. The allies who launched the D-Day invasion remain allies today—a fact responsible for Europe's peace and stability for the last 80 years.”
No one who has since 1944 stood on the Normandy cliffs overlooking the beaches far below, much less visited the nearby cemetery, can fail to appreciate the valor, courage and fierce loyalty - to democracy and all those defending it and benefitting from its protections, of all those persons who crossed the English Channel and climbed or tried to climb those cliffs, or parachuted to land in enemy-controlled territory on June 6, 1944. I am awe-struck every time I recall their experiences and the reality that I today am among the beneficiaries of their dedication and courage.
Your post brought to my mind climbing the cliff, many years ago, that American GIs fought their way up, accompanied by my then-early-teenaged son, thinking how hard and bloody it must have been.
Then, when we reached the top, a very large expanse of graves came into view. We wandered among the graves, silence enveloping us. It was incredibly sobering, moving, and literally awesome.
Maybe it’s because it’s 4 in the morning and I’m tired but can’t sleep, but the fact that the Republicans are reacting out of fear and the reality that without Trump they will disintegrate into the nothingness they are, is not comforting. Right now the American judiciary is not doing their job to secure our rights and privileges. We seem helpless to stop them, and THEY should not be above the law. I believe we are winning voters over with the hard work so many of us are doing, but we need an army to be out there so that we can elect people in the fall who will work to right this ship of ours before it, like the titanic ends up on the bottom of the sea, because we were oblivious to the iceberg in front of us.
I’m with you. It’s now 4:42 am and I’m wide awake too. While I’m encouraged by all of the grassroots efforts I am so angry and upset about the judiciary doing all it can to stop any and all attempts to hold T responsible. And Mike Johnson appointing Scott Perry and Ronny Jackson to the intel committee is beyond the pale.
Likewise, in the witching hour (apologies to witches) Mike Johnson is a ring leader.
I agree, Ilene. Yes, they are in panic mode, but they are a very dangerous wounded dragon, and they have so many things going for them. Their long term investments in a propaganda machine; their success at taking over state legislatures; their decades of "playing the ref," and terrifying mainstream media into being afraid to report the truth; the rise of the conservative billionaire class through monetary and tax policies that concentrate wealth; their single-minded efforts to salt the justice system with extreme conservatives, now all the way up to SCOTUS--all of these have given them structural power. And at the same time, whether it's social media, the aftermath of COVID, or something else, there is some kind of social poison that has given them an opening with people, as we see the rise of enthusiasm for fascism among the young and the swelling of White Christian Nationalist sentiment among people who at least never expressed their desire for it in the past.
They may be terrified, but I am terrified too.
It’s OK to be terrified as long as your not paralyzed
Thanks. My post-card writing hand is still in good shape. Also, someone quoted poetry below so I will add a line from a poem I often recite when I'm feeling anxious , "I come into the peace of wild things, who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief," (Wendell
Berry).
I turn to this poem often: thanks for alluding to it here. Here is the whole poem for those who aren't familiar with it.
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives might be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
- From The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (Counterpoint, 1999),
That is so beautiful. I love Wendell Berry. Thank you so much.
Love that, Ellen!
Wendell Berry is one of our national treasures.
love that poem!
Totally, Stephen!
Absolutely Stephen - much more succinct than my terrorized reply.
I couldn't agree more. For obvious reasons I would rather like the convicted felon, his handlers and his followers to a cornered rat than to a wounded dragon, though.
Thinking about cornered rats a story comes to mind Putin told in his memoirs a few years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he shared the lessons learned with trump and his other pals in Congress.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7dxax/the-new-russia-anxiety-what-putin-might-do-if-he-feels-cornered
Dear god. Please protect us all from the hubris of "strongmen." They aren't and they screw it up for the rest of us.
thanks for sharing the Putin story.
watch for the propaganda machine to also kick into high gear - after all,
Putin basically OWNS (45).
Just as (45) is running for office in an effort to pardon himself and his lackeys, avoid accountability and prison, and enrich his pockets,
Putin is essentially doing the same thing, with (45) as a valuable asset.
Putin can defeat the USA without firing a shot or mounting an invasion -
all he has to do is encourage us to destroy each other.
And we have the guns to do it!
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said, “We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know that we will win. But I've come to believe we're integrating into a burning house."
It's hard not to be terrified. But after realizing that we are terrified, we still need to canvass, make phone calls and write postcards. It all has an effect!
Reread today's Today's. Robert waxed eloquent about how Convicted Felon Trump is going down!
Waxing eloquent is great but doing it is our task.
Right on, Kathleen!!
@Ellen Thomas - you just wrote the book on our present situation.
Certainly multifaceted
many shades of gray, not "black and white."
Register Democrats -- save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
We are sending out thousands to two congressional districts in NC
FT6 is texting, calling, etc into NC. In oine day, registered 11,000.
You are powerful, Ilene!
I’m with you on that as well. The more involved with and aware of the multitude of pro democracy groups out there the more disgusted I am by the MSM and its breathless negativity. Most people don’t want to be depressed. Most people want to be inspired and all we hear is soap opera drama for your mama. That’s wrong. There is absolutely no need to give cover to gangsters. I heard someone suggest each of us write down 34 reasons why we will not vote for Trump. It’s 2 am here so I’ll do mine in the morning. Then I’ll commit it to memory.
I am going to write 34 reasons to vote for Biden, instead. I can no longer allow the negativity control how I feel and think. I need to find the things I can use to reach out to people to help them see how Biden and his administration have either made things better or held things steady so we can recover.
I like the "34 Reasons" idea!
More thoughts on baseball and the Supreme Court....
Major League Baseball has always had a Commissioner whose job is to act to in the best interest and integrity of the game. The Chief Justice, Roberts, is similarly charged with the same task. In addition, he famously declared that his job was to call "balls and strikes". He is to make sure EVERYBODY( emphasis intended) plays by the rules. He has failed miserably in both of those endeavors. No surprise. BTW, the immunity decision should have been decided in one day( see Gore v. Bush).
In one day or better yet, not taken on at all.
Ilene, I understand your early morning frustration and fatigue. However, I think it’s a mistake to generalize about the American judiciary by lumping all judges in with the likes of Judges Cannon, Alito and friends. Over 60 judges did their job to secure our rights during and after the 2020 election when Trump’s goon squad was calling “fake election”. And Judge Merchan certainly did his job in the recent NY trial.
What you say is true. I was reacting to what happened last night in GA, what’s going on in FL with Cannon, and what I’m fearing from SCOTUS.
Yes. It’s important for all of us to express our fears about Alito, Cannon, and others who appear to be biased. It’s shocking to observe them.
We do need "an army out there," and every woman actively volunteering for Democrats in some way who has a husband, brother, son, male friend or co-worker who is not now an active volunteer should consider sending them the link to the Man Up resources, found here: https://www.grassrootscollaboration.org/man-up-initiative/ Robert Hubbell's endorsement is wonderful. Congressman Jamie Raskin is doing a video endorsement we will be posting. Your personal appeals can do the most!
As always, Robert is ON IT in encouraging more men to become involved.
We do have quite a few men actively working with us. Robert’s request that they will be past on.
Thank you for this link. Will you post again after the Raskin endorsement, please? (In case I somehow lose track of it… )
The Raskin endorsement should be up by June 14th and I will do my best to make sure I comment and include the link again when it's up. You can also send your email to this Contact (https://www.grassrootscollaboration.org/contact/) and I will message you directly.
Thanks. I’ll email you. And I’ll add this to my Save Links page. 💙
Ilene, I woke up at 5:00 am today, and I totally get your feelings of helplessness. However, we are NOT oblivious, and there IS an army out there fighting every day for our democracy. You and I are in that army!. It looks like Joe Biden is going to be taking down Trump, hopefully, on a daily basis. Although on days like this it is hard to remain optimistic, I feel I must do that! Take care, Ilene!
someone posted a meme saying
"re-electing Biden is like the Titanic hitting the iceberg, and backing up to hit it again."
I clarified the history and present situation for them.
"No, (45) is like Captain Smith ignoring ALL warnings of ice and pushing the ship at full speed, thinking it was indeed unsinkable. The lower-class passengers were most affected, but every social class suffered losses.
President Biden's Administration is like the RMS Carpathia hearing the distress call, rushing to the site of the disaster sixty miles away in two hours, saving the survivors, attending to the dead, and then COMPLETING THE VOYAGE to New York City."
Y'all feel free to use that analogy on anyone who needs to hear it.
I'm double-liking your response, Beverly. I am disturbed by the snarky cuteness of many of the memes (theirs and ours), and really like the way you reframed this one. This is the kind of thing that can get people to rethink how they see things.
Great response and analogy
For those of us who are not oblivious- ya- get out there and be part of that army
I believe that most of us who read this newsletter are not oblivious! The news from yesterday (which, by the way is outmatched by the reports and images of Biden in France marking D-Day) is worrisome, but we are on it! Look at what the Republicans in the Senate did yesterday, not passing the bill protecting contraception. Most women in this country must be outraged by this. We have to keep that outrage alive until the election! It is going to require a tremendous amount of hard work on our parts to do that. It's exhausting, but what are our choices?
The GOPers' move not to protect contraception will come back and bite their behinds, and send them back to where they came from. It will supercharge us!
so true.
Ilene, we are not helpless. Democratic leadership are wringing their hands, as republicans are tearing our democracy apart. Republicans that appear to be acting out of fear are no comfort to me. We need to respond in kind. A million man march would be a good first step, as I suggested on the HCR newsletter. Democrats and Independents need to be informed. We need to grab people's attention and time is running out. Democrats are on the side of the truth, a valuable asset. Our side has the evidence based on facts. Our side has people like Sheldon Whitehouse, Dan Goldman, Jamie Raskin that can speak at a protest. We are not without assets. What more evidence do we need than the appointment of Scott Perry and Ron Jackson, two leading insurrectionists who are being investigated by the FBI will be heading the FBI, whom Johnson appointed to head our Intelligence dep't. Hakeem Jeffries needs to get busy and stop wringing his hands.
If you are going to promote a Millian Man March, it would be good to remember that the original march in 1995 was organized and centered around Black men, with the intent of demonstrating the positive power of Black men to both the Black community and to the rest of the American community. It seems to me that it would be appropriate to vigorously reach out to the Black Community to offer to join with them in promoting and supporting democracy - not to coopt the image and goal, but to enlarge it.
Ilene, I agree with you entirely. There is little comfort in what Robert might explain as "Republicans deep-seated fear and insecurity” while they give us a look at what we can expect IF Trump gets elected. As Robert wrote, we should not dismiss the ”revenge fantasies of the Convicted Felon and his pathetic homunculi.” (Whew! Had to look that one up.)
To that end, if anyone reads the reports of Heather Cox-Richardson, Robert Hubbell and Joyce Vance we can be very clear headed that the actions of Republicans in the House, in the Republican held State Legislatures, in the Georgia and Florida Courts as the work of people desperately but also in real time laying down the path to the most destructive and upending period of our democracy and constitutional law. To me, this appears as both the present and the preview of extremist agenda. It is obvious that phony conservatives have decided to do as much harm as possible while they have the opportunity if only to demonstrate they are very willing to take down our history and our democracy IF they take control in 2025.
Recalling Justice J. Michael Luttig’s January 6th hearing testimony. "How do we know they intend to do the same thing in 2024? Because they are telling us."
Thus, it is imperative that we do what Robert has always written, focus our energy completely on getting out the vote AND doing so in huge numbers - as strong and wide as we can. Not to mention, do all we can to speak to and confront misinformation, disinformation and lies. We must back away from the terror that runs through our body and soul and find our inter strength to take action.
It is chilling to run down the list that Robert has included to fully recognize the extent to which Republicans and the courts have taken whatever actions they can to block justice and lay out aspects of their 2025 Project agenda. I have said before that my expectation is that the SCOTUS extreme right justices will twist themselves and our constitution into a personally driven interpretation that serves their interests and offers the citizens of the Untied States NO justice in 2024. They are completely corrupt and walking a road that has been lightly tread since Chief Justice Roberts declared that “corporations are people.” He set the right on a path to gut voter rights. Now, as Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in his written opinion of Roe vs. Wade, their efforts should go further to revisit many of the previous decisions. (I paraphrase."
I repeat. We must double down to get out the largest vote our country has ever seen to win big in November. For in this moment the extremists are demonstrating their cynicism and disrespect for voters surely believing they can openly declare and act upon their intentions with their conviction that people don’t care or aren’t listening. Let’s show them that we are actively listening, taking them seriously and are ready to confront their malice.
Below is a link to Letters From An American that, unlike Today’s Edition, reflects an historians cold reality of the moment. For me, Robert offers the passion and conviction of our collective commitment fight like hell. Let’s do it!!!
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/june-5-2024?r=39h2h&utm_medium=ios
I wrote on the FB page of Mike Johnson and requested him to give proof that former Pres Trump was innocent on all counts. His press secretary then asked me whether I would like to text privately with Mike Johnson! And I said no, because this isn't a private matter and if he has a defence, he could show it here.
Right on! And write on! 🤗
How weird. I wouldn't want him to have my private phone number.
My thought entirely.
Well done, Elisabeth!!!
Add male sexual stimulants like Viagra (easily delivered through the postal system with an over-the-phone ‘consultation’) to the Congressional bill outlawing contraception and watch how fast Republicans defeat it.
I think condoms need to be on the list as well.
Good point but it would take some wiggling around to get it right. You'd be adding them to the bill protecting access, but since the Repubs know those male lifestyle enhancing drugs wouldn't be under threat anyway they wouldn't necessarily feel obliged to protect them. It's always things that are important to females and female health and independence that are under threat.
I've had that exact thought, Loretta!
Pardon my going off topic, everyone, but...
Eric Swalwell, in defense of Merrick Garland:
“Before anyone on the other side saddles up and gets on their high legal horses, I would just like to remind the committee that the chairman (Jim Jordan) is 754 days into his own subpoena defiance.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h04SVXq5D9w
Then he goes on as to Matt Gaetz:
"Mr. Attorney General..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8ZGIpnO3EI
And then for the piece de resistance"
“Do you believe in state’s right, except for when a jury in that state convicts your nominee for president? you might be in a cult. if you claim to ‘back the blue’ but want to defund the police when the police go to your nominee’s house to retrieve national security secrets? you might be in a cult. if you’re supporting a guy whose felony convictions prevent him from getting a security clearance? you might be in a cult. and if the guy you’re supporting for president has felony convictions that prevent him from going to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the UK, you might be in a cult.”
https://x.com/Acyn/status/1798024355575955751
Let's go now to favorite Congressman Jamie Raskin, seen/heard here in remarks from Slate's Amicus Live with Dahlia Lithwick. If you don't or can't watch the whole thing, listen to what he says about being a liberal, a progressive AND a conservative, starting at circa minute 21:44:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoOx-nZlrqY
Beautiful, Lynell! Thank you.
Thank you, Lynell. Robert, could I make a donation and buy about 754 little like buttons to tack onto Lynell's post
Go, Swalwell, sink it, swish. And Jamie Raskin. Courage, wisdom, maturity!
Thank you for the link to Rep Raskin with Dahlia Lithwick. I've never understood the term "conservative" in relation to politics because I've never seen the adherents conserve anything.
Thank you, Lynell. A spectacular boost!!
Thanks for passing this on, Lynell. Going to repass it.
I've been out of the loop for a little bit, showing an overseas guest around, and it surprised me to sort of emerge from that and discover that while I was sightseeing and exploring with my guest, the mood seems to have changed. Not sure all the factors, but it seemed to me that there were a lot of shifts on the legal front that deflated the high from the 34 verdicts. Ah, enter the disinformation and the fear engendered by right wing threats of what we would become under Trump - as if that were a given. And too many let that get to them.
I get it. I get overwhelmed at times too. But hey, you guys, this is just standard Trump fare. We have been doing well getting the word out. Biden and the Dems have been doing well publicizing what is going right. Why are we letting them get under our skin? We do not need to buy into their scare tactics. We need to believe in ourselves and keep doing what we've been doing, and keep speaking out, keep writing postcards, keep informing people one at a time.
The thing we must NOT do is call names, demean people we disagree with, allow our emotions to be manipulated, and most of all, we must not undermine our own ability to reach out to those people who we might persuade with our own sense of confidence. We can do this. We have the power.
Thanks again, Lynell.
You are so right, Annie. Thanks!
P.S. I hope you had a nice visit with your guest. Taking someone sightseeing is a perfect way to get to re-visit places you wouldn't ordinarily go to by yourself!
Well, actually, Lynell, a few days before my guests arrival, I did something to my knee and ended up with a knee brace and a cane! Actually, it turned out to be a kind of blessing, as it slowed me down and made me focus on what was important. I took him first to a gravesite that was central to our having connected in the first place (I do genealogy and found the grave for him based on very slim evidence, and we've kept in touch since). From there I took him to many of my own special out of the way places. It was quiet and laid back- we talked for hours, and to both our surprise, found ourselves bonding deeply. Do not know where this will end up, but it has all been an unexpected delight. All my special places now have a new dimension for having shared them.
Oh, Lordy, this sounds so good.
P.S. Why weren't Swalwell's remarks covered by every major network and every newspaper.
Never mind, I think I know.
That JD Vance comment is straight up Nazi talk.
Tonight’s post is a reminder that MAGATs flood the zone with BS actions and messages. They’ve learned from the Convicted Felon to take up all the media oxygen they can. And they’ve been organizing their reactionary agenda for many years until the mounting threat caused our current crisis. It can be disheartening to read the litany, but I’m getting some distance from the flash bang of all of it.
We’ve got too much work to do to get out Democratic votes. Let others and our elected officials and institutions fight back. There’s just so much we can do to help them steer their efforts correctly, and mine is a small voice.
But, I’ve also been encouraged to see that very smart progressive organizers are stepping up to wage a social media campaign and to find and register likely Democratic voters. For more on those efforts, see:
- Focus for Democracy, which vets effective activist efforts and helps get them crowd-funded. They are laser focused on the swing states that will tip the presidential election: https://www.focus4democracy.org/
Here’s their info on being a co-host to their Zoom calls, i.e., invite your friends and network: https://www.focus4democracy.org/co-host
- Accelerate Change, which creates social media campaigns to influence young voters and inform them: https://acceleratechange.org/
- Civitech, which uses data engineering to help campaigns and drive votes: https://civitech.io/mission/
I have signed on to be one of very many co-hosts of the next Focus for Democracy Zoom call, where they present organizations that show exceptional analysis of actions with results and are in need of funds. Their meeting this last Monday night was attended by more than 1800 people. They had a matching pledge offered by Charlie Sykes and another donor and raised over $1.1 M. Actress Kerry Washington introduced the Accelerate Change part of the meeting and talked about her efforts to recruit hundreds of celebrities as influencers. The leaders of the featured organizations answered questions. The next Focus for Democracy Zoom call will be Monday, June 20th at 4PM PT/7PM ET.
Robert probably knows about all of these initiatives, and I applaud him and his executive editor as they roam the country making a difference.
Good on you, Gary S. Better to create our own narratives and focus on democracy than to spend our time commenting on the narratives the Rs want us to focus on.
We need to broadcast all this important, intelligent pushback by these great groups as loudly and widely as possible. There are so many thousands of us making a difference in this battle for democracy and it’s heartening to see. It’s the beautiful story too few hear about. The money people are trying to buy silence, complacency, and fear. It’s not working. We are throwing a collective monkey wrench into their plans and we’re not stopping now.
Amen, Susan!
And I applaud you, Gary, for hosting a Zoom call for Focus for Democracy. All we can do in this moment is to get involved with SOMETHING! I write postcards. It's what I can do, and so I just keep writing them every day as part of my group, Swing Left West Valley, here in LA. We write for Vote Forward. Right now we are writing to potential voters in Arizona and Georgia. It's what we can do!
Bravo! Thanks. Exactly what we need to do immediately for the next 5-6 months.
Thanks for this positive and uplifting message. After reading all the ways the repulsive Reppublicans are responding to the verdict in NYC I needed it. And still on a positive note the NYT article on D-Day had a picture of a D-Day vet with a sign on the wall in his room reading “World War II Veteran, No Trump, No Nazis.” I needed that message as well.
I missed that! Thanks for pointing this article out.
It becomes clearer each instance: the choice in November is between 21st century democracy or the Inquisition and medieval despotism.
NYT Breaking News: Particles identified as debris from collapse of Georgia judicial system reportedly visible from outer space.
North Korea replies, “See it’s not only us.”
Robert: Especially strong, blunt words today. I love it. Keep tellin' it like it is, loud and clear.
The rest of us: Our social, political, and legal institutions have for the most part failed us. The battle has come to us, in no uncertain terms. Spread the word, register voters, turn out the vote.
If we do not, it will be as W.B. Yeats wrote; we will know "...what rough beast slouches toward Bethlehem to be born."
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"
One of my favorite poems. "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world".
Those words certainly seem to apply to our world today.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Those words have stuck with me since I was in college and first read them.
Thanks for this great poem: I've lived with it for years (English prof), and in my private and public life the words:
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Comes to haunt me over and over. Like when I hear smart, good people say things like "We have two bozos running this fall," or "You know, I'm no fan of Trump's, but his conviction is likely to be overturned. Bragg didn't have to prosecute. It's political motivation
We must live and work so that no one can say of us: "They were good smart people, but they didn't have the conviction to fight."
We have to want it more than MAGA wants it. And pledge time, talent, and treasure to getting it done.
It is the most important poem of this time, as it was during Yeat's time! We must stop the beast! These terrifying images are what will happen if we do not do everything we can to stop it. Thank you for writing it out, pts.
I am very encouraged by Robert's use of "Convicted Felon" with or instead of the mention of his name. I see others are doing it here too. In contrast, we should say "President Biden" as much as practical. That small conscious act helps to remove the false equivalency between the two candidates. Keep it up! Maybe the media will catch on!
How about using CF, to cut down on the typing effort?
That's what I'm doing, after first spelling it out.
YES!!!!!!! Anyone who says President in relation to the Convicted Felon should have their mouth washed out with soap. (or bleach?)
I hope everyone reads HCR's letters today. In it you'll find that Speaker Mike Johnson, never far from being full MAGA, has managed to glaringly establish his appalling judgment of character: "Most dramatically, House speaker Mike Johnson elevated Ronny Jackson (R-TX) and Scott Perry (R-PA) to the House Intelligence Committee, giving them oversight of the entire U.S. intelligence community and access to the nation’s most sensitive foreign intelligence." Can you imagine? Establishing an open conduit for our sensitive info to the Russians!!! Our European allies are preparing their burn-bags!
Johnson must be voted out of office, or alternatively, we must win back the House by working to replace a few members in those states where our candidates are strong.
Louisiana women will/should be our salvation
Why just women, though, Swbv?
In Louisiana, I think their more likely to value their own freedoms
I just posted the same part of today’s letter!
Terrifying!
What happens when abortions are banned with no exceptions for rape (even for young girls) and contraceptives are banned? Which states have the most rape related pregnancies (RPP) and ban abortions? Who are the Republicans stripping women of their freedoms? Click on this StoryMap.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/06/05/republicans-vote-to-ban-emergency-contraception-consequences-mapped/
So you think you know your convicted felons? Take this quiz. How many of these felons can you identify?
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/06/04/can-you-name-these-convicted-felons/
It is horrifying how many women and young girls are being forced to carry their rapist's babies to term in TX, MO and other red states. We MUST work to elect Dems everywhere in November to bring back sanity and the rights of women!
Horrifying indeed. And electing Dems can only be the first step. The deeply flawed system protecting the tyranny of the minority must be corrected. It is a disastrous testament to democratic values that with a vote of 51 : 39 in favor of the contraceptive law the initiative actually FAILED.
It should enrage women everywhere! They must use their rage at the ballot box. We must be writing letters and postcards to women and men in those states where their legislatures, their Congressmen/women, and their Senators support this kind of treachery. It is up to us to make sure women especially understand all that is at stake in November!
That map is really something. Thank you.
I just had to stop reading to comment, “homunculi!” Splendid word choice.
I had never heard the word "homunculi" before today. I had to look it up! How well it applies to these shrunken, impotent people whose last gasp effort is to try to deprive women of any right to control their own bodies. I hope that as many men as women are outraged by this, enraged and energized enough to stand up and be counted. To do things like write postcards, knock on doors and make phone calls to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot. That is what we need right now!
Please give credit to the Canadians who participated in the D Day invasion. My dad helped in planning the invasion, though he did not arrive in Europe until a few days later.
The following statement glaringly omits the critically important D-day contributions and sacrifices of soldiers from Great Britain and then-Commonwealth countries such as Canada and India: “The sacrifices made on D-Day by soldiers from America, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland saved Western democracy. The allies who launched the D-Day invasion remain allies today—a fact responsible for Europe's peace and stability for the last 80 years.”
No one who has since 1944 stood on the Normandy cliffs overlooking the beaches far below, much less visited the nearby cemetery, can fail to appreciate the valor, courage and fierce loyalty - to democracy and all those defending it and benefitting from its protections, of all those persons who crossed the English Channel and climbed or tried to climb those cliffs, or parachuted to land in enemy-controlled territory on June 6, 1944. I am awe-struck every time I recall their experiences and the reality that I today am among the beneficiaries of their dedication and courage.
Thank you for that information, John. If we omit all of those who joined Americans in that effort, we are unfair to them!
Thank you, John.
Your post brought to my mind climbing the cliff, many years ago, that American GIs fought their way up, accompanied by my then-early-teenaged son, thinking how hard and bloody it must have been.
Then, when we reached the top, a very large expanse of graves came into view. We wandered among the graves, silence enveloping us. It was incredibly sobering, moving, and literally awesome.