I had been following Evan's story for a while and seeing him bear hug his mom and lift her off the ground in joy after he disembarked just made me bawl... my son would've done the same thing to me. It was so gratifying to see them all come down out of the plane and be greeted by President Biden and VP Harris. One of the highlights of the year, and knowing that Biden had been working diligently behind the scenes with our allies for many months to make this happen, that has to be one of the most priceless gifts ever. President Biden's grace and legacy will be glowingly remembered in history for the ages.
For tonight I will take joy in this homecoming, and resume working towards a better future tomorrow.
I have always known Biden was working diligently behind the scenes. It is that persistence and relationship network, that has led to his continuous accomplishments including with the most obstinately ungoverning House in all history. Bravo Biden. Bravo the team of Biden and Harris. They have been wonderful, and I think we will only realize how much as time goes on.
I think we are being reminded about the word: “Statecraft”. Biden continually demonstrates a master’s skill at crafting a well-working administration, and the fruits of that effort benefit All Americans. For a guy “past-his-sell-by-date”…….damn he’s good!
Took the wind out of Trump, the proto-"Putinist." Putin installed his own oligarchs and took a cut. May be the richest man in the world. That's why Trump admires him so much. Wants the Russification of our country.
Also one if not the most despised man in the world. Money isn’t everything. That is a lesson our oligarchs need to learn. Musk. Thiel and their cohort will end up in the trash can of history, but they have their money to keep them warm.
Let us not forget Biden's retort (spontaneously and without a teleprompter) when challenged by another childish reporter who said - the criminal says he could have done it much faster ---- to which Biden immediately said - "Well why didn't he when he was president?' Hah!!!!!
Thank you, Jean, for your lovely words. Biden and his team are doing such an incredible job. Perhaps the silver lining is that the ignorance exhibited by the media and the public keeps the team focused on doing the fine work they are doing, and keeps egos in check. Having run several smaller organizations, I am so impressed by this group; it's an honor to watch them from a distance.
“Although JD Vance tried to clean up Trump's attacks by claiming that Trump was raising questions about Harris’s “authenticity,” saying she was a “phony” and a “chameleon.”
This is rich, coming from JD who is the poster boy for phony and a chameleon. Not to mention, he has sold his soul to the tech bros who are pulling his strings and the zombie KoolAid drinkers of the MAGAt movement. JD, here is a clue, about your new BFF, DJ, ETTD (Everything Trump Touches Dies). Neither you nor your ambitious wife are special enough to escape the curse of ETTD. Google “Rudy Gillianni” and get a clue.
It’s all about the power. In the scope of a human life how the hell do you go from that wedding day (see photo, a document of love and joy) to actually being hell bent enough on power that you can put your ancestry far enough onto the back burner that it doesn’t hurt when your husband belittles some one ‘like you’. Here a woman who was a lawyer and practiced for a firm committed to DEI, and hated what happened at Jan 6 can sit back and pander to trump (ah to be Second Lady).
I was tempted to feel sorry for her but this is about power and “…absolute power corrupts…”.
To allow oneself to be corrupted by a creepy, weird guy who has attempted to turn our country upside down (for his own personal gain)- dang it, that is nasty and disturbing.
Wow, Karen. This story is an eye-opener for me. It reminds me there are many women like Usha out there that prefer holding power behind the scenes. Thanks for this link.
She married Newsom a couple of years before he became mayor of SF. She married a multi-millionaire Eric Villency after Newsom and she were divorced in February 2006 - she had Eric's son a few months later. That marriage ended in 2009. She worked at Fox from 2006 to 2018, fired for sexual harassment on her part at Fox. She liked to post naked pictures of herself at work among other problems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Guilfoyle. She and Jr. supposedly got together in 2018.
Derek, read Karen's Slate article linked above. It'll explain Usha Vance's perplexing stance. It'll explain why there are many women who choose to be Republicans.
JD's neck size has been recorded, and is on file, according to self-described Dirty Trickster Stone. Rumor has it Hannibal and his electric shark will soon replace the Hillbully.
I do hope that President Biden reads your newsletter Robert. You gave voice to why so many of us appreciate President Biden. I think he might go down as the very best president in history! Amazing. And what joy to see the energy behind VP Harris as she becomes our nominee. I hope we have a huge Democratic sweep!! Edited for typo.
@PS, you said what I am also thinking. What a time to be a witness to history.
President Biden embodies the American spirit he describes in virtually all of his major speeches. "We are THE United States of America. A nation of POSSIBILITIES. Together, there is nothing we cannot do."
I can't get enough of the homecoming story of the wrongfully detained prisoners, especially Paul Whelan. I hope all of them can quickly overcome whatever ill-effects come from being held against your will in a hostile country.
Thank you, Robert, for providing your substack to allow us to express our feelings over this truly joyous news. High Five to the Biden/Harris Administration!
Robert, you cited "decency, compassion, and fairness" in your description of the Biden/Harris administration. May I add competence and professionalism? It has been a gift to watch the restoration of the positive role that government can provide for Americans and the world. I have loved witnessing the repudiation of trickle-down economics and "the government is your enemy" ideology. So glad I have lived long enough to have my 9th grade civics education validated by President Biden and his administration. Now working for VP Harris's election.
I stayed up last night to watch the returnees step off the plane, welcomed by President Biden, VP Harris, and all of their families and colleagues. What an occasion!
I find it ironic (more aptly, moronic) that the Party that wants to stop birth control and force women to give birth to children they cannot support is the same Party that refuses to support those women and children after birth.
Famous people, athletes and yes Presidents like to have the last hurrah before they exited the stage and the complicated prisoner exchange was Biden’s. By stepping aside he energized the Democratic Party and by negotiating this prisoner swap he solidified his reputation as one of the best and most competent Presidents in our life time. Meanwhile the Republicans are bogged down on racial attacks on Harris that are not designed to add new voters but to maintain the slipping base. Some columnist even suggested that it’s Putin’s way of telegraphing that he does not feel confident Trump will win. There are stark comparisons and differences between the two candidates and their parties platforms and the Democrats need to everyday show and articulate those differences. No we are not going back and Americans deserve better.
Need a super majority in both Houses, and then the states have to agree for a constitutional amendment. The only thing he can do is increase the number of justices.
Thank you Robert, Jill , Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for restoring hope and decency to our country day in and Day out. Also love your pictures of our infinite universe. To much for our minds to comprehend ( almost like the statements Trump makes on a daily basis).
Diplomacy matters. Relationships matter. Goodness matters. And it matters that yesterday President Biden was shown the respect and gratitude he has earned and deserves.
Relationships matter: From what I read and heard, Biden’s relationships were the underpinning of Germany’s willingness to release the murderer the Russians insisted on having back. Probably no one but Biden could have pulled off that coup.
Amen! And under appreciated. No big she-bang at the convention, no matter how spectacular, will be “enough” (for me). I suspect the reunion on the tarmac, Kamala included, may be the “enough” for our president’s great big heart.
Benjamin Franklin has two particularly famous quotes from the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
“A republic, if you can keep it.”
--Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
As the last names were being signed, Franklin, in a personal aside to some other members, made an observation about the chair that Washington had been sitting in as he presided over the Convention. The chair had an emblem of half of a sun. Franklin noted that artists often have a hard time distinguishing between a rising and a setting sun in their artwork. “I have often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”
Since I read it as a kid, some 65 years ago, in a comic book history of the American Revolution no less, this has been one of my favorite touchstone quotes about the true Founding Fathers vision, articulated by a great man. Thanks for resurrecting it for us. Trump has been telling us for years the sun has been setting on America and only he can save us. In Biden's and Harris's work over the last 3.5 years and in their vision and language, they have shown us that the sun is rising. America does not need Trump to be a great nation. We can be a greater nation and a greater people by following Obama-Biden-Harris in hope and hard work, intelligence, care, and dignity.
It is so nice going into the weekend (which will include Saturday morning block walking) so hopeful!
I LOVE the clear messaging that has emerged, and for that I have to credit Harris and her team.
During the last several painful years, as Republican lawmakers and judges have taken away decades-old rights, my husband and I have continued to say this cannot stand. Unlike Reconstruction, women, blacks, all minorities have increasingly gained rights and power. I know we’re not there yet, but these folks are in leadership positions in government and private industry, on courts, even in the White House. It has continued to make no sense to me that there can be sustained backwards movement. They/WE will not stand for that.
Yes, we may have fights ahead, but WE’RE NOT GOING BACK.
Small joyful correction: Endorsing Harris was not Joe Biden's "final gift." He is POTUS for 5 more months will keep making astonishing progress, and will campaign effectively for Kamala.
Yet “weird” is so perfect for nudging the American’s who support, or have supported the felon. It’s perhaps the quiet nudge, a less mind-blocked word -so far - to get them to peer through the fog of cognitive dissonance they must accept to see things the “trump way”.
I had been following Evan's story for a while and seeing him bear hug his mom and lift her off the ground in joy after he disembarked just made me bawl... my son would've done the same thing to me. It was so gratifying to see them all come down out of the plane and be greeted by President Biden and VP Harris. One of the highlights of the year, and knowing that Biden had been working diligently behind the scenes with our allies for many months to make this happen, that has to be one of the most priceless gifts ever. President Biden's grace and legacy will be glowingly remembered in history for the ages.
For tonight I will take joy in this homecoming, and resume working towards a better future tomorrow.
I have always known Biden was working diligently behind the scenes. It is that persistence and relationship network, that has led to his continuous accomplishments including with the most obstinately ungoverning House in all history. Bravo Biden. Bravo the team of Biden and Harris. They have been wonderful, and I think we will only realize how much as time goes on.
I think we are being reminded about the word: “Statecraft”. Biden continually demonstrates a master’s skill at crafting a well-working administration, and the fruits of that effort benefit All Americans. For a guy “past-his-sell-by-date”…….damn he’s good!
How Biden exemplifies leadership, and this latest example illustrates how his wisdom and maturity is a gift to us and the world.
Took the wind out of Trump, the proto-"Putinist." Putin installed his own oligarchs and took a cut. May be the richest man in the world. That's why Trump admires him so much. Wants the Russification of our country.
Also one if not the most despised man in the world. Money isn’t everything. That is a lesson our oligarchs need to learn. Musk. Thiel and their cohort will end up in the trash can of history, but they have their money to keep them warm.
What about that old adage, "You can't take it with you" ?? :-)
Wouldn't it be interesting to know how much $$ tffg *actually* has?
'O how beautiful,' I said aloud on reading your words this quiet morning hour, Karen. Thank you.
Let us not forget Biden's retort (spontaneously and without a teleprompter) when challenged by another childish reporter who said - the criminal says he could have done it much faster ---- to which Biden immediately said - "Well why didn't he when he was president?' Hah!!!!!
Thank you, Jean, for your lovely words. Biden and his team are doing such an incredible job. Perhaps the silver lining is that the ignorance exhibited by the media and the public keeps the team focused on doing the fine work they are doing, and keeps egos in check. Having run several smaller organizations, I am so impressed by this group; it's an honor to watch them from a distance.
“Although JD Vance tried to clean up Trump's attacks by claiming that Trump was raising questions about Harris’s “authenticity,” saying she was a “phony” and a “chameleon.”
This is rich, coming from JD who is the poster boy for phony and a chameleon. Not to mention, he has sold his soul to the tech bros who are pulling his strings and the zombie KoolAid drinkers of the MAGAt movement. JD, here is a clue, about your new BFF, DJ, ETTD (Everything Trump Touches Dies). Neither you nor your ambitious wife are special enough to escape the curse of ETTD. Google “Rudy Gillianni” and get a clue.
I can't imagine what it would be like to be married to a man who joins in belittling a woman of Asian descent when she herself is of Asian descent.
Below story shows picture of JD and his wife on their wedding day.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/another-great-indian-wedding-anand-mahindra-is-not-referring-to-the-ambanis-hint-think-jd-vance-101721108292591.html
It’s all about the power. In the scope of a human life how the hell do you go from that wedding day (see photo, a document of love and joy) to actually being hell bent enough on power that you can put your ancestry far enough onto the back burner that it doesn’t hurt when your husband belittles some one ‘like you’. Here a woman who was a lawyer and practiced for a firm committed to DEI, and hated what happened at Jan 6 can sit back and pander to trump (ah to be Second Lady).
I was tempted to feel sorry for her but this is about power and “…absolute power corrupts…”.
To allow oneself to be corrupted by a creepy, weird guy who has attempted to turn our country upside down (for his own personal gain)- dang it, that is nasty and disturbing.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/07/jd-vance-wife-usha-vance-politics-amy-chua.html
Wow, Karen. This story is an eye-opener for me. It reminds me there are many women like Usha out there that prefer holding power behind the scenes. Thanks for this link.
The entire thing is sickening but it does help to get some ‘eye opening’ perspective, hey?
What you said! Also, how did Kimberly Guilfoyle go from being Newsom's wife to trump jr.'s fiancee??
She married Newsom a couple of years before he became mayor of SF. She married a multi-millionaire Eric Villency after Newsom and she were divorced in February 2006 - she had Eric's son a few months later. That marriage ended in 2009. She worked at Fox from 2006 to 2018, fired for sexual harassment on her part at Fox. She liked to post naked pictures of herself at work among other problems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Guilfoyle. She and Jr. supposedly got together in 2018.
Exactly
It confounds me too!! I guess it's a little like the Conways.
Derek, read Karen's Slate article linked above. It'll explain Usha Vance's perplexing stance. It'll explain why there are many women who choose to be Republicans.
Wonder whether he puts syrup on his naam bread?
It's 'naan'.
The article describes Sycovance as “ the business tycoon”. Boy, am I glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read that!
JD's neck size has been recorded, and is on file, according to self-described Dirty Trickster Stone. Rumor has it Hannibal and his electric shark will soon replace the Hillbully.
Oh I love the joy we are feeling now
Oh my…
I do hope that President Biden reads your newsletter Robert. You gave voice to why so many of us appreciate President Biden. I think he might go down as the very best president in history! Amazing. And what joy to see the energy behind VP Harris as she becomes our nominee. I hope we have a huge Democratic sweep!! Edited for typo.
@PS, you said what I am also thinking. What a time to be a witness to history.
President Biden embodies the American spirit he describes in virtually all of his major speeches. "We are THE United States of America. A nation of POSSIBILITIES. Together, there is nothing we cannot do."
PS, to your final point, perhaps we should make it so, as a tribute to President Biden.
I can't wait for Biden and the people freed from Russia today to walk on the stage of the DNC Convention in Chicago. The roof is going to blow off...
I can't get enough of the homecoming story of the wrongfully detained prisoners, especially Paul Whelan. I hope all of them can quickly overcome whatever ill-effects come from being held against your will in a hostile country.
5-minute ABC video:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/gershkovich-whelan-greeted-by-president-biden-vp-harris-after-landing-on-us-soil/ar-BB1r1AwY?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Thank you, Robert, for providing your substack to allow us to express our feelings over this truly joyous news. High Five to the Biden/Harris Administration!
Robert, you cited "decency, compassion, and fairness" in your description of the Biden/Harris administration. May I add competence and professionalism? It has been a gift to watch the restoration of the positive role that government can provide for Americans and the world. I have loved witnessing the repudiation of trickle-down economics and "the government is your enemy" ideology. So glad I have lived long enough to have my 9th grade civics education validated by President Biden and his administration. Now working for VP Harris's election.
I stayed up last night to watch the returnees step off the plane, welcomed by President Biden, VP Harris, and all of their families and colleagues. What an occasion!
The terrified old man is being left behind in the dust.
Dan Rather's STEADY
"This Guy Is Scared."
https://open.substack.com/pub/steady/p/this-guy-is-scared?r=aidb7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I find it ironic (more aptly, moronic) that the Party that wants to stop birth control and force women to give birth to children they cannot support is the same Party that refuses to support those women and children after birth.
Famous people, athletes and yes Presidents like to have the last hurrah before they exited the stage and the complicated prisoner exchange was Biden’s. By stepping aside he energized the Democratic Party and by negotiating this prisoner swap he solidified his reputation as one of the best and most competent Presidents in our life time. Meanwhile the Republicans are bogged down on racial attacks on Harris that are not designed to add new voters but to maintain the slipping base. Some columnist even suggested that it’s Putin’s way of telegraphing that he does not feel confident Trump will win. There are stark comparisons and differences between the two candidates and their parties platforms and the Democrats need to everyday show and articulate those differences. No we are not going back and Americans deserve better.
President Biden is not done yet!
The brakes are off - he can go for every item on his bucket list, while Vice President Harris campaigns around the country.
Looking forward to restructuring the Supreme Court, in particular.
True but restructuring the court is a reach.
It could be done next year with the presidency, House, and Senate. Dream big and begin somewhere.
Need a super majority in both Houses, and then the states have to agree for a constitutional amendment. The only thing he can do is increase the number of justices.
It's a reach if you don't try.
Thank you Robert, Jill , Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for restoring hope and decency to our country day in and Day out. Also love your pictures of our infinite universe. To much for our minds to comprehend ( almost like the statements Trump makes on a daily basis).
Diplomacy matters. Relationships matter. Goodness matters. And it matters that yesterday President Biden was shown the respect and gratitude he has earned and deserves.
Relationships matter: From what I read and heard, Biden’s relationships were the underpinning of Germany’s willingness to release the murderer the Russians insisted on having back. Probably no one but Biden could have pulled off that coup.
Biden has repeatedly been underestimated.
Amen! And under appreciated. No big she-bang at the convention, no matter how spectacular, will be “enough” (for me). I suspect the reunion on the tarmac, Kamala included, may be the “enough” for our president’s great big heart.
THANK YOU, ROBERT HUBBELL!
You kept reminding us "We have every reason to be hopeful, but no reason to be complacent."
We are now poised to write our own future.
Benjamin Franklin has two particularly famous quotes from the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
“A republic, if you can keep it.”
--Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
As the last names were being signed, Franklin, in a personal aside to some other members, made an observation about the chair that Washington had been sitting in as he presided over the Convention. The chair had an emblem of half of a sun. Franklin noted that artists often have a hard time distinguishing between a rising and a setting sun in their artwork. “I have often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-september17.htm
Since I read it as a kid, some 65 years ago, in a comic book history of the American Revolution no less, this has been one of my favorite touchstone quotes about the true Founding Fathers vision, articulated by a great man. Thanks for resurrecting it for us. Trump has been telling us for years the sun has been setting on America and only he can save us. In Biden's and Harris's work over the last 3.5 years and in their vision and language, they have shown us that the sun is rising. America does not need Trump to be a great nation. We can be a greater nation and a greater people by following Obama-Biden-Harris in hope and hard work, intelligence, care, and dignity.
His second quote perfectly embodies what I have felt this past week and a half: The sun rising. And the blessing of another chance.
Fascinating quote and very apropos
It is so nice going into the weekend (which will include Saturday morning block walking) so hopeful!
I LOVE the clear messaging that has emerged, and for that I have to credit Harris and her team.
During the last several painful years, as Republican lawmakers and judges have taken away decades-old rights, my husband and I have continued to say this cannot stand. Unlike Reconstruction, women, blacks, all minorities have increasingly gained rights and power. I know we’re not there yet, but these folks are in leadership positions in government and private industry, on courts, even in the White House. It has continued to make no sense to me that there can be sustained backwards movement. They/WE will not stand for that.
Yes, we may have fights ahead, but WE’RE NOT GOING BACK.
My new mantra is: “Don’t Go Back! Won’t Go Back! Got Your Back, Harris 2024!”
I haven’t commented lately but want to say this is an excellent letter, Robert.
Small joyful correction: Endorsing Harris was not Joe Biden's "final gift." He is POTUS for 5 more months will keep making astonishing progress, and will campaign effectively for Kamala.
"Weird" is just not strong enough to describe Trump and the MAGA mindset, though I know it's meant to diss him. He is PATHETIC!
Yet “weird” is so perfect for nudging the American’s who support, or have supported the felon. It’s perhaps the quiet nudge, a less mind-blocked word -so far - to get them to peer through the fog of cognitive dissonance they must accept to see things the “trump way”.