Hoping you'll mention at some point the special election for Florida's 6th District. The primary is at the end of January and the generAL election is in April. The Democratic candidate is Josh Weil, a young teacher. If he wins he will flip this seat from Republican to Democratic, creating I think a one or two vote margin in the House. I worked for Ted Blazek who is doing canvassing work on his behalf, so i know he's a good candidate. I thank you also for the eloquent summary of Biden's speech.
It looks like it is an R+7 district. Is it flippable? Although I believe with persistent work of connecting door to door voters almost any seat is flippable.
You answered your own question; 36% of the people eligible to vote in the last election didn't. It doesn't take many of those to overcome a 1 or 2 percentage point margin and only a few more to flip what are referred to as 'safe' districts.
Yes, I agree. After spending 2 weeks in Algerian Sahara my brain was sand washed. I was writing while flying back to our home in Rome. You put a very logical end to my thoughts. Thank you. This is one of the many reasons I like substack communities. We keep each other better informed and force ourselves to think better.
I'm so glad you wrote this. I've been getting solicitations from Josh Weil. He seems like a smart capable Democrat, but it's good to get a recommendation. Why is that seat open again?
Yes, thank you, I also have been inundated with requests from the Weil campaign but his website is thin and it is hard to gauge whether there is any local support for him. why is he relying on us? If you recommend him, as a fellow Robert Reader I'll send him a little donation, if anything just to encourage folks to run for office.
I don't recall the Tech-Bros being listed on my ballot. It seems to me we're seeing something both significant and not anticipated with Trump 2. It's clear to me that Musk is undergoing some kind of breakdown and extreme mid-life crisis. Bezos and Zuckerberg have just sold their souls and any genuine self-respect they had. I guess Altman didn't want to feel left out. I'm pretty sure at this point that each day Trump could host an event where he comes on stage, bends over, and one of these guys just plants a big smooch, and they would gladly do it. Man, if someone had presented convincing evidence in 1995 this would be the Inauguration in 2025, I would have been stunned. I wonder how many of that thin plurality of Trump voters thought they were voting for an explicit oligarchy of Tech-Bros?
This is what I am thinking about this morning, too and agree this is one of the most alarming dangers we face.
Maybe I was too swamped in GOTV-work like everyone else last year, but I just don’t remember hearing about any of this pre-election other than the Musk stories the last several weeks. Was MSM covering what in hindsight seems to be a consistent if not coordinated effort to sort of take over everything? Are there other extremely wealthy people (Gates, the Waltons, Bloomberg) out there speaking out against this?
It feels, to me at least, that this story was just not being covered, other than Musk contributing obscene amounts, but not the broader picture.
Robert Reich, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Timothy Snyder, and of course Robert Hubbell among others have been warning and writing about these dangers since Trump 1.0. But the chaos he causes distracts from what is really going on. We must stay focused and ignore the BS, such as taking over Greenland.
I agree with you about those esteemed observers and writers although I sure wasn’t seeing that as one of THE big issues facing us, and, at least from my viewpoint, it wasn’t incorporated into a broader but more succinct Dem/campaign message. I can only speak for me—I just was not hearing that as a big threat and am not sure less informed voters were. Again, just my perception.
And re the “BS,” I am not sure I see the Greenland talk that way. Past “BS” has included Texas child rape victims being forced to carry pregnancies to term, complete obliteration of Roe, talk of razor wire in the Rio Grande. I am in a super red state with MAGA leadership…I am weary of being told certain topics are hyperbole and I don’t need to worry about them. I agree we stay focused and don’t panic, but I’m not going to give him a pass when he proposes things like taking over Greenland. He is a grown up. His words ARE actions. I take them seriously.
I’m a required educator, too, and toward the end of my career, I had the good fortune of being a charter member of the Holocaust museum here in Dallas. My husband went with me to an opening event, and I have to say the exhibit that impacted us the most was the section on what led up to the Holocaust, in particular how so much was ignored. Like Hitler, Trump is a madman. So, I won’t panic, but I don’t brush off any talk as hyperbole.
Yes, and the Germans have been facing their history since 1978 when The Holocaust with Meryl Streep was shown on television. I was there and experienced the outrage. They showed one episode each night, and held discussions with journalists and historians after each episode which lasted until they were done. This was on public television. It was like a pus infected wound being opened. But Germans took it on and have not stopped since. As opposed to us here in the US, where it has taken 400 years to really bring truth about our history to the public. We now face a horrific backlash to that truth. The US was founded on racism and genocide. And on MLK day, next Monday, a white supremacist will pretend to take the oath of office.
WE MUST BE VIGILANT. (My first post was inaccurate and said 1975 Sophie's Choice.)
Can we step back and look at our own history in the United States? Our own history has episodes of anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Asian hysteria, in addition to treating Black Americans as less than human?
Cathy, actually big money greasing the wheels of the political system has been THE central issue – and it has been so for decades. The only difference is that in the last elections it became all too evident as you can tie it to faces and individuals, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Koch, Crow just being some of them.
Of course you have not seen those names on your ballot. But you can be assured that the names you see, those of Republican as well as of Democratic candidates, need the financial support of those billionaires or of other bid donors, companies, etc.
And without introducing strict campaign financing laws worthy of a functioning democracy and the repeal of the Citizens First SCOTUS decision nothing will change.
You’re absolutely right. This danger was not a loud part of the Dems messaging. This is why I love Robert’s newsletter. He reaches a lot of people with his summaries. What I am saying though, is the information is out there. We still have a free press, so we must pay attention, and take responsibility to inform ourselves.
Maybe not broader in the sense of potential outcomes, but deeper in the sense of roots, it's been a cause of outrage since Citizens United at least, and yet you are right that there has also been an element of sudden revelation to this. There has been a rather dramatic sudden curtain lift with Elon Musk interfering with the governments of other nations. It's as if, having gotten a solid anchor in our government, he's free to unveil his world domination aspirations. As to the rest of them, I expect protecting their money and fear of retribution (having so much money draws unwanted as well as wanted attention) as much as power was the biggest initial part of their defection but once they put a foot on the bandwagon they began to like the feel of this ride. I think you will have noticed the part the oligarchy played in the election in the form of bias in the news, yes? That was broader and deeper, but expecting the future casting of that into the present outcome to have been handed us by the very media involved would have been unrealistic. I'm not even sure they knew where they were headed themselves. Except Elon. I believe he had a plan. And still does.
Thank you so very much, Robert, for this entire newsletter. I am especially grateful for your putting in the excellent touching moving farewell address of President Biden. I missed it and I'm so glad to have the opportunity to watch it and just did. For those of you who don't know, I would like you to know that President Biden will appear for his final sit-down interview on the Lawrence O'Donnell show tonight.
The despicable remarks of the vile, senile nonagenarian chairman of the Judiciary Committee about the documents case should finally prompt President Biden to do what he should have done days ago already: order the dismissal of the cases against the co-defendants (they will be dined and wined and offered cushy jobs at the expense of the taxpayer anyway) and publish the second part of Jack Smith's report without further ado.
The questioning of Adam Schiff perfectly encapsulated the farce of this 'advise and consent' event. Of course he knows that Bondi is hardcore MAGA, an election denier, a liar (even under oath, who would believe she never listend to or heard of the 'tape'), a willing tool in the ongoing plot against America. And still he adopted a concerned, even fatherly tone, recalling Sessions and Barr and talking about the challenges she might have to face in her future position. His remarks were dripping with sarcasm, a masterclass in holding the mirror to the legislative branch at a moment when it was kissing the ring of the incoming leader.
I agree on Schiff's questioning. He pushed back hard on Bondi's incorrigible evasion and weasel-like demeanor. Schiff repeatedly pressed forward: "why is it so difficult for you to answer the question?" Her response, "I will follow the law," is not affirmative in any substantive way. It rather presumes a law of choice, a law chosen and imposed by her master -- not unlike "school choice" that enables chartered private schools to impose nationalist, anti-democratic agendas.
The links I supplied above help to frame the confirmation hearings' logic. Unfortunately, it is not for the Democrats to prevail in the present minority. But following Schiff's, Kaine's, Duckworth's et al mode of questioning, D's can come out of this playing best the hand they've been dealt.
Dan, just to make sure, I am absolutely fine with Schiff's questioning. I just wanted to highlight the one part where when seemingly playing along with the charade Bondi and the whole Republican caucus is pulling he was mocking it.
Coming back to your observation that D's come out of this playing best the hand they've been dealt I'd like to add 'and knowing that the other side has four aces up their sleeves.'
Listening to the President's historic speech - full of LOVE for the nation - I anticipated historian Michael Beschloss had a hand in its crafting, but thought I heard echoes of Heather Cox Richardson as well.
People do not realize or appreciate the gift of Lady Liberty "originally" depicted emancipation from slavery. President Biden included the chains and moving forward in his imagery.
Sullivan Island outside of Charleston, South Carolina has sometimes been paralleled to Ellis Island in New York/New Jersey for those entering the United States after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Vastly different circumstances, of course. But as the saying goes, "we may have arrived by different means, but we are in the same boat now."
We are seeing and experiencing the impact of the erosion of honor in speaking and listening. We are witnessing the erosion of word.
The illumination we seek from the torch Biden asks each of us to hold is the shining light of honoring truth. It slowly gathers and illuminating the space we live in when we bring honor to our speaking by being honest with ourselves and others.
This is at all times possible and for most of us, nothing more difficult, nothing more complex than to commit our lives to a purpose bigger than our lives. Making this commitment shift the whole spectrum of the problems in our lives so that suddenly these are not problems but simply additional things to deal with.
George Bernard Shaw said it simply and beautifully.
“This is the true joy in life, to be used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, to be a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and that as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live, I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me, it is a sort of splendid torch which i've got a hold of for a moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
This commitment to something larger than our individuality it is what gives meaning to our lives, is what dignifies us, is what sanctifies us, is what makes us real, is what makes us honest, is what makes us tough, is what makes us straightforward, is what makes love present.
Now that I reflect further, perhaps someone could recommend a passage from Elie Wiesel's writings. We certainly need to remember the horrors of the Shoah / Holocaust, and say "Never again." The audacity of 45's Nazi Rally in Madison Square Garden along with the January 6 insurrection waving Swastikas, The Stars and Bars, QAnon, and his own face were desecrations of the American Stars and Stripes flag.
Red Wine & Blue held their monthly banned books discussion last night, featuring Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. We appear to be at Stage 4 of 4, like a metastatic cancer. Uncertain if the condition is curable.
I so appreciated your commentary on President Biden's Farewell Address. As a retired history teacher, I agree that this ranks right up there with the Eisenhiwer and Washington Farewell Addresses.This newsletter is a keeper! I tried to open the link to Ben's platform but it is not working. I would love to read it if you could fix the link. Thanks again and stay safe with Jill and your family.
Joe Biden gave the best speech of his career and gave the country a warning yet a large number of voters will not have listened to either the speech or the warning. I live in a community of former college professors and a large number of professionals and none of these individuals have listened to the confirmation hearings and are like us appalled at the credentials of the nominees. The reality is no one is paying attention and that is what the Republicans are counting on. The billionaires on the stage with Trump have defined their success not in money made the old currency but in the fact they have a relationship with the President of the United States. That for them is the new trophy and toy. We all need to pay attention and get involved.
I think it's more complicated than that. If there was a clear path to some solution, it would be simpler. But the crazies are right that we are left wringing our hands, with no one to look to. We feel helpless.
I am among those described by Stephen Berg’s disparaging comment about professionals who haven’t listened to the confirmation hearings. If I am typical, these people will find out about the hearings from reliable sources; and we already knew a lot about the nominees. We are well enough informed to understand what is going on without subjecting ourselves to the entire « confirmation » hearings.
For those interested in the power of the oligarchy of the tech bros, I urge you give a listen to Katie Courics recent interview of Kara Swisher. about 30 minutes yet you can get your kitchen counters & dishes done while listening
Hoping you'll mention at some point the special election for Florida's 6th District. The primary is at the end of January and the generAL election is in April. The Democratic candidate is Josh Weil, a young teacher. If he wins he will flip this seat from Republican to Democratic, creating I think a one or two vote margin in the House. I worked for Ted Blazek who is doing canvassing work on his behalf, so i know he's a good candidate. I thank you also for the eloquent summary of Biden's speech.
.
It looks like it is an R+7 district. Is it flippable? Although I believe with persistent work of connecting door to door voters almost any seat is flippable.
You answered your own question; 36% of the people eligible to vote in the last election didn't. It doesn't take many of those to overcome a 1 or 2 percentage point margin and only a few more to flip what are referred to as 'safe' districts.
Yes, I agree. After spending 2 weeks in Algerian Sahara my brain was sand washed. I was writing while flying back to our home in Rome. You put a very logical end to my thoughts. Thank you. This is one of the many reasons I like substack communities. We keep each other better informed and force ourselves to think better.
I'm so glad you wrote this. I've been getting solicitations from Josh Weil. He seems like a smart capable Democrat, but it's good to get a recommendation. Why is that seat open again?
Yes, thank you, I also have been inundated with requests from the Weil campaign but his website is thin and it is hard to gauge whether there is any local support for him. why is he relying on us? If you recommend him, as a fellow Robert Reader I'll send him a little donation, if anything just to encourage folks to run for office.
Karen, Do you know of any phonebanks happening today for VBM ? I see the deadline for requesting,at least in Volusia, is 5PM today.
http://www.volusiaelections.gov/elections/calendar.stml
There are two Democratic candidates in that election.
I don't recall the Tech-Bros being listed on my ballot. It seems to me we're seeing something both significant and not anticipated with Trump 2. It's clear to me that Musk is undergoing some kind of breakdown and extreme mid-life crisis. Bezos and Zuckerberg have just sold their souls and any genuine self-respect they had. I guess Altman didn't want to feel left out. I'm pretty sure at this point that each day Trump could host an event where he comes on stage, bends over, and one of these guys just plants a big smooch, and they would gladly do it. Man, if someone had presented convincing evidence in 1995 this would be the Inauguration in 2025, I would have been stunned. I wonder how many of that thin plurality of Trump voters thought they were voting for an explicit oligarchy of Tech-Bros?
This is what I am thinking about this morning, too and agree this is one of the most alarming dangers we face.
Maybe I was too swamped in GOTV-work like everyone else last year, but I just don’t remember hearing about any of this pre-election other than the Musk stories the last several weeks. Was MSM covering what in hindsight seems to be a consistent if not coordinated effort to sort of take over everything? Are there other extremely wealthy people (Gates, the Waltons, Bloomberg) out there speaking out against this?
It feels, to me at least, that this story was just not being covered, other than Musk contributing obscene amounts, but not the broader picture.
Robert Reich, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Timothy Snyder, and of course Robert Hubbell among others have been warning and writing about these dangers since Trump 1.0. But the chaos he causes distracts from what is really going on. We must stay focused and ignore the BS, such as taking over Greenland.
I agree with you about those esteemed observers and writers although I sure wasn’t seeing that as one of THE big issues facing us, and, at least from my viewpoint, it wasn’t incorporated into a broader but more succinct Dem/campaign message. I can only speak for me—I just was not hearing that as a big threat and am not sure less informed voters were. Again, just my perception.
And re the “BS,” I am not sure I see the Greenland talk that way. Past “BS” has included Texas child rape victims being forced to carry pregnancies to term, complete obliteration of Roe, talk of razor wire in the Rio Grande. I am in a super red state with MAGA leadership…I am weary of being told certain topics are hyperbole and I don’t need to worry about them. I agree we stay focused and don’t panic, but I’m not going to give him a pass when he proposes things like taking over Greenland. He is a grown up. His words ARE actions. I take them seriously.
I’m a required educator, too, and toward the end of my career, I had the good fortune of being a charter member of the Holocaust museum here in Dallas. My husband went with me to an opening event, and I have to say the exhibit that impacted us the most was the section on what led up to the Holocaust, in particular how so much was ignored. Like Hitler, Trump is a madman. So, I won’t panic, but I don’t brush off any talk as hyperbole.
Yes, and the Germans have been facing their history since 1978 when The Holocaust with Meryl Streep was shown on television. I was there and experienced the outrage. They showed one episode each night, and held discussions with journalists and historians after each episode which lasted until they were done. This was on public television. It was like a pus infected wound being opened. But Germans took it on and have not stopped since. As opposed to us here in the US, where it has taken 400 years to really bring truth about our history to the public. We now face a horrific backlash to that truth. The US was founded on racism and genocide. And on MLK day, next Monday, a white supremacist will pretend to take the oath of office.
WE MUST BE VIGILANT. (My first post was inaccurate and said 1975 Sophie's Choice.)
Can we step back and look at our own history in the United States? Our own history has episodes of anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Asian hysteria, in addition to treating Black Americans as less than human?
Cathy, actually big money greasing the wheels of the political system has been THE central issue – and it has been so for decades. The only difference is that in the last elections it became all too evident as you can tie it to faces and individuals, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Koch, Crow just being some of them.
Of course you have not seen those names on your ballot. But you can be assured that the names you see, those of Republican as well as of Democratic candidates, need the financial support of those billionaires or of other bid donors, companies, etc.
And without introducing strict campaign financing laws worthy of a functioning democracy and the repeal of the Citizens First SCOTUS decision nothing will change.
You’re absolutely right. This danger was not a loud part of the Dems messaging. This is why I love Robert’s newsletter. He reaches a lot of people with his summaries. What I am saying though, is the information is out there. We still have a free press, so we must pay attention, and take responsibility to inform ourselves.
I hear you about taking him seriously. For me it is about what to focus on.
Maybe not broader in the sense of potential outcomes, but deeper in the sense of roots, it's been a cause of outrage since Citizens United at least, and yet you are right that there has also been an element of sudden revelation to this. There has been a rather dramatic sudden curtain lift with Elon Musk interfering with the governments of other nations. It's as if, having gotten a solid anchor in our government, he's free to unveil his world domination aspirations. As to the rest of them, I expect protecting their money and fear of retribution (having so much money draws unwanted as well as wanted attention) as much as power was the biggest initial part of their defection but once they put a foot on the bandwagon they began to like the feel of this ride. I think you will have noticed the part the oligarchy played in the election in the form of bias in the news, yes? That was broader and deeper, but expecting the future casting of that into the present outcome to have been handed us by the very media involved would have been unrealistic. I'm not even sure they knew where they were headed themselves. Except Elon. I believe he had a plan. And still does.
Ironic (rather, duplicitous) given reaction to Harris running as non-elected canidate.
Zuck has always been this person. In college he created a platform to rate women and then stole Facebook from the creators.
Thank you so very much, Robert, for this entire newsletter. I am especially grateful for your putting in the excellent touching moving farewell address of President Biden. I missed it and I'm so glad to have the opportunity to watch it and just did. For those of you who don't know, I would like you to know that President Biden will appear for his final sit-down interview on the Lawrence O'Donnell show tonight.
Thank you. I didn’t know. ✨💙💫
thank you. I thought the interview was going to be Tuesday, so I was confused.
Thanks, Robert, for an eloquent summary of Biden's historic speech. And for the reminder that he is passing the flame to US.
🗽
A pleasing image, Robert, both of the Soul Nebula and of President Biden's Farewell Address to the Nation.
Just two takeaways from the Bondi hearing:
The despicable remarks of the vile, senile nonagenarian chairman of the Judiciary Committee about the documents case should finally prompt President Biden to do what he should have done days ago already: order the dismissal of the cases against the co-defendants (they will be dined and wined and offered cushy jobs at the expense of the taxpayer anyway) and publish the second part of Jack Smith's report without further ado.
The questioning of Adam Schiff perfectly encapsulated the farce of this 'advise and consent' event. Of course he knows that Bondi is hardcore MAGA, an election denier, a liar (even under oath, who would believe she never listend to or heard of the 'tape'), a willing tool in the ongoing plot against America. And still he adopted a concerned, even fatherly tone, recalling Sessions and Barr and talking about the challenges she might have to face in her future position. His remarks were dripping with sarcasm, a masterclass in holding the mirror to the legislative branch at a moment when it was kissing the ring of the incoming leader.
I agree on Schiff's questioning. He pushed back hard on Bondi's incorrigible evasion and weasel-like demeanor. Schiff repeatedly pressed forward: "why is it so difficult for you to answer the question?" Her response, "I will follow the law," is not affirmative in any substantive way. It rather presumes a law of choice, a law chosen and imposed by her master -- not unlike "school choice" that enables chartered private schools to impose nationalist, anti-democratic agendas.
The links I supplied above help to frame the confirmation hearings' logic. Unfortunately, it is not for the Democrats to prevail in the present minority. But following Schiff's, Kaine's, Duckworth's et al mode of questioning, D's can come out of this playing best the hand they've been dealt.
Dan, just to make sure, I am absolutely fine with Schiff's questioning. I just wanted to highlight the one part where when seemingly playing along with the charade Bondi and the whole Republican caucus is pulling he was mocking it.
Coming back to your observation that D's come out of this playing best the hand they've been dealt I'd like to add 'and knowing that the other side has four aces up their sleeves.'
I, too, would prefer the cases against the minor accomplishes be dismissed and the big fish be targeted instead. The fish rots from the head.
Publish Volume 2.
Thank you, Robert, for a beautiful review of an outstanding speech.
Listening to the President's historic speech - full of LOVE for the nation - I anticipated historian Michael Beschloss had a hand in its crafting, but thought I heard echoes of Heather Cox Richardson as well.
People do not realize or appreciate the gift of Lady Liberty "originally" depicted emancipation from slavery. President Biden included the chains and moving forward in his imagery.
Sullivan Island outside of Charleston, South Carolina has sometimes been paralleled to Ellis Island in New York/New Jersey for those entering the United States after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Vastly different circumstances, of course. But as the saying goes, "we may have arrived by different means, but we are in the same boat now."
Yes, I loved his short but impactful speech, especially the description of the Statue of Liberty. I did not know those things.
We have a bad habit of showing disrespect for office-holders who lose an election.
Robert Hubbell's post today goes a long way towards setting the record straight on President Biden's time in office.
Thank you!
What Bob and Rob said!
For your Inauguration Day gathering I would like to suggest a reading of Langston Hughes's poem, "Let America Be America Again." https://poets.org/poem/let-america-be-america-again
Thank you!
Thank you for this link!
OOOH, good one!
We are seeing and experiencing the impact of the erosion of honor in speaking and listening. We are witnessing the erosion of word.
The illumination we seek from the torch Biden asks each of us to hold is the shining light of honoring truth. It slowly gathers and illuminating the space we live in when we bring honor to our speaking by being honest with ourselves and others.
This is at all times possible and for most of us, nothing more difficult, nothing more complex than to commit our lives to a purpose bigger than our lives. Making this commitment shift the whole spectrum of the problems in our lives so that suddenly these are not problems but simply additional things to deal with.
George Bernard Shaw said it simply and beautifully.
“This is the true joy in life, to be used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, to be a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and that as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live, I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me, it is a sort of splendid torch which i've got a hold of for a moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
This commitment to something larger than our individuality it is what gives meaning to our lives, is what dignifies us, is what sanctifies us, is what makes us real, is what makes us honest, is what makes us tough, is what makes us straightforward, is what makes love present.
Well said, Bern. May we all be Keepers of the Flame.
Letter from the Birmingham Jail is essential American history.
Amanda Gorman also did a tribute to the SoCal wildfires: "Smoldering Dawn."
Nothing quite equals Maya Angelou's inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton's inauguration, "On the Pulse of Morning."
Specifically, the section that is on the mural outside of the EJI Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama:
"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."
Thank you!
Now that I reflect further, perhaps someone could recommend a passage from Elie Wiesel's writings. We certainly need to remember the horrors of the Shoah / Holocaust, and say "Never again." The audacity of 45's Nazi Rally in Madison Square Garden along with the January 6 insurrection waving Swastikas, The Stars and Bars, QAnon, and his own face were desecrations of the American Stars and Stripes flag.
Red Wine & Blue held their monthly banned books discussion last night, featuring Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. We appear to be at Stage 4 of 4, like a metastatic cancer. Uncertain if the condition is curable.
I so appreciated your commentary on President Biden's Farewell Address. As a retired history teacher, I agree that this ranks right up there with the Eisenhiwer and Washington Farewell Addresses.This newsletter is a keeper! I tried to open the link to Ben's platform but it is not working. I would love to read it if you could fix the link. Thanks again and stay safe with Jill and your family.
Joe Biden gave the best speech of his career and gave the country a warning yet a large number of voters will not have listened to either the speech or the warning. I live in a community of former college professors and a large number of professionals and none of these individuals have listened to the confirmation hearings and are like us appalled at the credentials of the nominees. The reality is no one is paying attention and that is what the Republicans are counting on. The billionaires on the stage with Trump have defined their success not in money made the old currency but in the fact they have a relationship with the President of the United States. That for them is the new trophy and toy. We all need to pay attention and get involved.
I think it's more complicated than that. If there was a clear path to some solution, it would be simpler. But the crazies are right that we are left wringing our hands, with no one to look to. We feel helpless.
I think we are not helpless but more clueless with no plan in sight.
I am among those described by Stephen Berg’s disparaging comment about professionals who haven’t listened to the confirmation hearings. If I am typical, these people will find out about the hearings from reliable sources; and we already knew a lot about the nominees. We are well enough informed to understand what is going on without subjecting ourselves to the entire « confirmation » hearings.
Truth
Joe has given us our marching orders. Thank you, Mr. President!
Darkness is coming. It is now our job to stand guard, and we should unite under the banner "Keepers of the Flame."
For those interested in the power of the oligarchy of the tech bros, I urge you give a listen to Katie Courics recent interview of Kara Swisher. about 30 minutes yet you can get your kitchen counters & dishes done while listening
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DE0eCsmySAF/?igsh=ZHk4ZXlpYnFsN3Nx
I just listened to this - fantastic! Thank you for sharing the link. I hadn't known about Kara Swisher before this.
Kara Swisher is a journalist who, for many years, has reported, with authority, on the «tech » industry.