A letter from AMY JO HUTCHISON: I am Cornelia ("Neil") Hutt, and I live in Northern VA, 9 miles from the WVA line. Your "Morning Edition" issue linking readers to Amy Jo's testimony before Congress resonated with me, and I did some research about her work and about her organization, Rattle the Windows. I contacted her and sent her a copy/paste of the portion of that "Morning Edition" regarding the derailing (for now) of BBB. I thought you should see Amy Jo's response to your words, copied here with her permission to share it with you and with others. From Amy Jo last week:
"Hello. I have sat all day with this message in the back of my mind, waiting until I had a chance to sit with it for a while before I responded. You see, this week has been hard. I awoke Sunday morning to text messages from people I collaborate with, sparing no emotion at seemingly losing a battle that we had been fighting for no less than seven long months. But the one message that forced me to take pause was from a leader with Rattle The Windows. Her text simply said, "What are going to do now, Amy Jo? What do we do now?" And I sat back and cried.
I've organized around a lot of issues over the past five, almost six, years and the work is always focused on economic justice with poor and marginalized folks. But this BBB has been different. It's different because I've never seen hope take hold of my community, my people, so quickly.
I've grown weary this week from hearing myself say the same things over and over to countless reporters. I went from immense anger to emptiness, and I questioned whether I would be able to do this anymore because I am heartbroken and full of anxiety when I think of the struggles people are returning to, compounded now because there was a little reprieve.
So thank you. Thank you for sharing this with me because I have been dragging my toes this week; these boots on the ground feel as if they're made of concrete. And then you blessed me with a view of my work that I never allow myself to see or acknowledge because of my own lived experience of poverty with its trauma and stigma. I'm always battling the feelings and barriers of the disenfranchised myself, and it's hard.
So thank you, Neil. You delivered a Christmas gift to me that I never expected and didn't realize how badly I needed. Your message allowed me to release a lot of the emotion I've been holding this week. And, come next week, I'll be ready to get back in the battle. I wish you blessings as great as the one you delivered to me as we move through the holidays. Thanks again for speaking life into me. I will remember this. ❤️
Re: 31st St. Swing Left, I have participated in its Zoom meetings. It has a shrewd approach. It assumes that Senate and House candidates can raise the money they need. State legislative candidates have more trouble. And a $50 or $100 contribution is more meaningful in a $10,000 race than in a $10 million race. So 31st St. Swing Left focuses on the state legislative races. For reasons all too plain on a host of issues, Dems need to win back state legislatures. Majorities often are decided by a handful of votes (see Virginia) so those small contributions REALLY matter.
I'm always grateful for Today's Edition, and today, especially - being offered so many examples/lists of positive happenings , along with the reminder that it's not only possible but necessary to be vigilant and grateful at the same time.
And as always I love your use of language, turns of phrase - e.g "Despite the supertankers of ink and floods of news...trash-talking the economy..." Thank you, Robert, and may your moment of equipoise and onward be peaceful, energized, and joyful.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a comment about how the world looked 80 years ago, on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. As the year ends, I've been thinking about how the new year of 1942 looked four-score years ago. The outlook, at least in the short- to medium-term, was bleak. German troops had been pushed back a bit in Russia (on December 4th, the German front lines could glimpse the towers of the Kremlin; they would never be that close again), but it was clear that the USSR was still in extreme danger. In North Africa, the British 8th Army had a tenuous hold inside Libya, but there was no assurance that the position could be held. Along the Atlantic coast, U-boats were sinking ships in sight of American ports. (When I was a child spending summers in Rockport, MA, you could still see the remains of a tanker torpedoed perhaps a mile offshore.) In Asia, Japan was just starting to run wild, and knowledgeable people could see that there was little to stop them overruning Southeast Asia and what is now Indonesia.
And 1942 started off worse. The Nazis drove toward the vital Soviet oil fields in the Caucuses, and got as far as the Volga River. The 8th Army was driven back to Alamein, almost the gates of Alexandria and Cairo. Sinkings in the Atlantic threatened to starve Britain. Japan did conquer Malaya, Burma and the Dutch East Indies.
But what a change by the end of the year. By then, a huge German army was surrounded at Stalingrad. The US and British navies were making progress against the U-boat threat. In the Pacific, the great victory at Midway (the American Trafalgar) turned the tide, and the landing on Guadalcanal marked the start of the island-hopping campaign that would lead to the Home Islands themselves. The 8th Army won a great victory at Alamein and started the Afrika Korps and their Italian allies on the long retreat that would end with surrender at Bizerte in early 1943. US and British forces invaded French North Africa in November and were driving toward Tunisia by the end of the year. As Churchill said of the North African landings, it was not the end, not the beginning of the end, but perhaps the end of the beginning.
2022 starts much the same way as 1942. The wave of Covid infections does look, as has been said, like a Tsunami. The leaders of the January 6th insurrection remain un-prosecuted. Division stalks the land. But let us hope that next year, like 1942, will witness a great rebound, so that in December 2022 we can look forward with hope and confidence.
Love whe nyou list Bide's accomplishments - wish it woud make front page of every newspaper. I am continuing my daily activisim in NC and virtually in GA to stop voter suppression, increase voter participation and help stop the gerrymandering in NC. We now have the New NC Project based on the New GA Project to increase voter registration especially for Black and brown voters. Thank you for all you do to keep us sane. 2022 - we can do this - we can be postive.
Robert thank you for reminding us of the accomplishments the Biden Administration has made in their first year. As I think about the list there were many I was unaware of or did not remember and I think we all need to share this information with as many people as possible. What’s interesting is many of these accomplishments touch many different voting groups and individuals and to some degree has helped make their lives safer and better. I think the Biden administration has touched more people than the media and right wing press has acknowledged and hopefully this will be rewarded with votes next November.
I am posting your two lists to the refrigerator, Robert. You are the Vigilant Sunshine Man! Thanks especially for listing Garland’s achievements who I feel guilty for deriding because his priorities are not my priorities, as if I knew what the heck was important.
Much to be thankful for, indeed, especially for you and the others on Substack who work hard to keep us informed! Well worth supporting with a paid subscription, and this issue tipped me over to do so.
Thank you so much for your diligence. Stay healthy, grateful, and optimistic! 👍
Thank you for giving us reasons to hope. Thank you for all that you do. I wish you and your family a happy and healthy new year. You are right we have much to be thankful for.
So - I’m not sure if this is the right venue to raise a question - but it’s something that’s I’d love to get your thoughts on: it goes to the foundation of the Big Lie. If Republicans really believe that Trump was cheated out of a 2nd term, why isn’t that also viewed as a colossal failure by his presidency - as the leader of the free world with the CIA and FBI (and other federal officials) at his disposal - to ensure free and fair elections? If there was a successful deep state conspiracy to thwart the will of the people, besides there being not a shred of evidence, why isn’t Trump to blame for not effectively using the enormous power of the presidency to guard against it? Seems to me that Republicans should be viewing Trump as either a colossal failure - if they buy the Big Lie, or as committing treason.
Thank you for a year of valuable thoughts and insights. We must all keep moving forward and try to avoid looking back. Let’s move on with enthusiasm and continue to make wise decisions as to our role in this grand experiment in our democracy!
at the gym today- 5:30 am when few people are around-- the treadmills face TV screens. Fox News is on one and CNN on the other. The juxtaposition could not be any more telling. Fox blasted the size of the nation's debt. CNN talk about the lowest unemployment rate in some 50 years! Not a word of that from FOX. CNN covered Biden's position of strength with Putin. Fox lambasted his and assigning blame.
Sigh... is there any wonder I wear a head set and would have preferred to run outside despite the rain. Thanks Robert for keeping perspective. BY THE WAY: the audio quality on the program is soothing and great,
Robert, as always, thank you for all that you and Jill do to lift all of us up. We really do have much to be thankful for and I’m glad that you listed so many things in the newsletter.
We really do need to get the good word out more and loudly! My fellow activists in Indivisible are working on that through many channels like Field Team 6. All the organizing and work gives me hope. Many Dems have come alive to the urgency of our times and are working everywhere.
I am so touched by Amy Jo’s story and the fight she is in. And I’m glad that she and others have organized to fight the good fight in W. VA. I am enjoying reading everyone’s comments and I’m applaud her and her group. We need more people like Amy Jo!
Happy New Year to you, Robert, and your family. Let’s pray 2022 brings health and hope to our country and our precious democracy.
A letter from AMY JO HUTCHISON: I am Cornelia ("Neil") Hutt, and I live in Northern VA, 9 miles from the WVA line. Your "Morning Edition" issue linking readers to Amy Jo's testimony before Congress resonated with me, and I did some research about her work and about her organization, Rattle the Windows. I contacted her and sent her a copy/paste of the portion of that "Morning Edition" regarding the derailing (for now) of BBB. I thought you should see Amy Jo's response to your words, copied here with her permission to share it with you and with others. From Amy Jo last week:
"Hello. I have sat all day with this message in the back of my mind, waiting until I had a chance to sit with it for a while before I responded. You see, this week has been hard. I awoke Sunday morning to text messages from people I collaborate with, sparing no emotion at seemingly losing a battle that we had been fighting for no less than seven long months. But the one message that forced me to take pause was from a leader with Rattle The Windows. Her text simply said, "What are going to do now, Amy Jo? What do we do now?" And I sat back and cried.
I've organized around a lot of issues over the past five, almost six, years and the work is always focused on economic justice with poor and marginalized folks. But this BBB has been different. It's different because I've never seen hope take hold of my community, my people, so quickly.
I've grown weary this week from hearing myself say the same things over and over to countless reporters. I went from immense anger to emptiness, and I questioned whether I would be able to do this anymore because I am heartbroken and full of anxiety when I think of the struggles people are returning to, compounded now because there was a little reprieve.
So thank you. Thank you for sharing this with me because I have been dragging my toes this week; these boots on the ground feel as if they're made of concrete. And then you blessed me with a view of my work that I never allow myself to see or acknowledge because of my own lived experience of poverty with its trauma and stigma. I'm always battling the feelings and barriers of the disenfranchised myself, and it's hard.
So thank you, Neil. You delivered a Christmas gift to me that I never expected and didn't realize how badly I needed. Your message allowed me to release a lot of the emotion I've been holding this week. And, come next week, I'll be ready to get back in the battle. I wish you blessings as great as the one you delivered to me as we move through the holidays. Thanks again for speaking life into me. I will remember this. ❤️
Fondly,
Amy Jo"
Thank YOU for everything, Robert.
Re: 31st St. Swing Left, I have participated in its Zoom meetings. It has a shrewd approach. It assumes that Senate and House candidates can raise the money they need. State legislative candidates have more trouble. And a $50 or $100 contribution is more meaningful in a $10,000 race than in a $10 million race. So 31st St. Swing Left focuses on the state legislative races. For reasons all too plain on a host of issues, Dems need to win back state legislatures. Majorities often are decided by a handful of votes (see Virginia) so those small contributions REALLY matter.
Stan
I'm always grateful for Today's Edition, and today, especially - being offered so many examples/lists of positive happenings , along with the reminder that it's not only possible but necessary to be vigilant and grateful at the same time.
And as always I love your use of language, turns of phrase - e.g "Despite the supertankers of ink and floods of news...trash-talking the economy..." Thank you, Robert, and may your moment of equipoise and onward be peaceful, energized, and joyful.
And we are all grateful for YOU, dear Mr. Hubbell!
A few weeks ago, I wrote a comment about how the world looked 80 years ago, on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. As the year ends, I've been thinking about how the new year of 1942 looked four-score years ago. The outlook, at least in the short- to medium-term, was bleak. German troops had been pushed back a bit in Russia (on December 4th, the German front lines could glimpse the towers of the Kremlin; they would never be that close again), but it was clear that the USSR was still in extreme danger. In North Africa, the British 8th Army had a tenuous hold inside Libya, but there was no assurance that the position could be held. Along the Atlantic coast, U-boats were sinking ships in sight of American ports. (When I was a child spending summers in Rockport, MA, you could still see the remains of a tanker torpedoed perhaps a mile offshore.) In Asia, Japan was just starting to run wild, and knowledgeable people could see that there was little to stop them overruning Southeast Asia and what is now Indonesia.
And 1942 started off worse. The Nazis drove toward the vital Soviet oil fields in the Caucuses, and got as far as the Volga River. The 8th Army was driven back to Alamein, almost the gates of Alexandria and Cairo. Sinkings in the Atlantic threatened to starve Britain. Japan did conquer Malaya, Burma and the Dutch East Indies.
But what a change by the end of the year. By then, a huge German army was surrounded at Stalingrad. The US and British navies were making progress against the U-boat threat. In the Pacific, the great victory at Midway (the American Trafalgar) turned the tide, and the landing on Guadalcanal marked the start of the island-hopping campaign that would lead to the Home Islands themselves. The 8th Army won a great victory at Alamein and started the Afrika Korps and their Italian allies on the long retreat that would end with surrender at Bizerte in early 1943. US and British forces invaded French North Africa in November and were driving toward Tunisia by the end of the year. As Churchill said of the North African landings, it was not the end, not the beginning of the end, but perhaps the end of the beginning.
2022 starts much the same way as 1942. The wave of Covid infections does look, as has been said, like a Tsunami. The leaders of the January 6th insurrection remain un-prosecuted. Division stalks the land. But let us hope that next year, like 1942, will witness a great rebound, so that in December 2022 we can look forward with hope and confidence.
Love whe nyou list Bide's accomplishments - wish it woud make front page of every newspaper. I am continuing my daily activisim in NC and virtually in GA to stop voter suppression, increase voter participation and help stop the gerrymandering in NC. We now have the New NC Project based on the New GA Project to increase voter registration especially for Black and brown voters. Thank you for all you do to keep us sane. 2022 - we can do this - we can be postive.
Great list today of many events for which we are thankful, all in just 1 year. Add to that the massive impact of the new Covid-19 vaccine developed through Texas University (Austin) and other partners that will provide more than a Billion vaccines for Southern Hemisphere nations. See: https://news.utexas.edu/2021/04/05/human-trials-begin-for-a-low-cost-covid-19-vaccine-to-extend-global-access/
Robert thank you for reminding us of the accomplishments the Biden Administration has made in their first year. As I think about the list there were many I was unaware of or did not remember and I think we all need to share this information with as many people as possible. What’s interesting is many of these accomplishments touch many different voting groups and individuals and to some degree has helped make their lives safer and better. I think the Biden administration has touched more people than the media and right wing press has acknowledged and hopefully this will be rewarded with votes next November.
I am posting your two lists to the refrigerator, Robert. You are the Vigilant Sunshine Man! Thanks especially for listing Garland’s achievements who I feel guilty for deriding because his priorities are not my priorities, as if I knew what the heck was important.
Much to be thankful for, indeed, especially for you and the others on Substack who work hard to keep us informed! Well worth supporting with a paid subscription, and this issue tipped me over to do so.
Thank you so much for your diligence. Stay healthy, grateful, and optimistic! 👍
Thank you for giving us reasons to hope. Thank you for all that you do. I wish you and your family a happy and healthy new year. You are right we have much to be thankful for.
We are thankful for you, Robert! You got us through a rough year. All the best to Jill and you.
Loved today’s edition!
So - I’m not sure if this is the right venue to raise a question - but it’s something that’s I’d love to get your thoughts on: it goes to the foundation of the Big Lie. If Republicans really believe that Trump was cheated out of a 2nd term, why isn’t that also viewed as a colossal failure by his presidency - as the leader of the free world with the CIA and FBI (and other federal officials) at his disposal - to ensure free and fair elections? If there was a successful deep state conspiracy to thwart the will of the people, besides there being not a shred of evidence, why isn’t Trump to blame for not effectively using the enormous power of the presidency to guard against it? Seems to me that Republicans should be viewing Trump as either a colossal failure - if they buy the Big Lie, or as committing treason.
Thank you for a year of valuable thoughts and insights. We must all keep moving forward and try to avoid looking back. Let’s move on with enthusiasm and continue to make wise decisions as to our role in this grand experiment in our democracy!
at the gym today- 5:30 am when few people are around-- the treadmills face TV screens. Fox News is on one and CNN on the other. The juxtaposition could not be any more telling. Fox blasted the size of the nation's debt. CNN talk about the lowest unemployment rate in some 50 years! Not a word of that from FOX. CNN covered Biden's position of strength with Putin. Fox lambasted his and assigning blame.
Sigh... is there any wonder I wear a head set and would have preferred to run outside despite the rain. Thanks Robert for keeping perspective. BY THE WAY: the audio quality on the program is soothing and great,
Robert, as always, thank you for all that you and Jill do to lift all of us up. We really do have much to be thankful for and I’m glad that you listed so many things in the newsletter.
We really do need to get the good word out more and loudly! My fellow activists in Indivisible are working on that through many channels like Field Team 6. All the organizing and work gives me hope. Many Dems have come alive to the urgency of our times and are working everywhere.
I am so touched by Amy Jo’s story and the fight she is in. And I’m glad that she and others have organized to fight the good fight in W. VA. I am enjoying reading everyone’s comments and I’m applaud her and her group. We need more people like Amy Jo!
Happy New Year to you, Robert, and your family. Let’s pray 2022 brings health and hope to our country and our precious democracy.