I have encouraged my Republican representative Ken Buck to break away and persuade enough Rs to vote Hakeem Jeffries in as Speaker. Buck wants the R speaker candidates, Scalise and Jordan, to acknowledge that the 2020 election was not stolen. They have equivocated; Jeffries obviously checks that box. Buck seems to be shopping for a media gig so maybe he's got nothing to lose. His remarks are not popular in CO 4 which is deeply conservative. We'll see what happens. Country before party? Country before career? Who knows?
As a fellow Coloradan in Lauren Boebert’s district, I’m glad to see Ken Buck acting like an adult and showing that he has some common sense and a conscience. Thank you for writing to him about this issue. I won’t even attempt to contact Boebert about this because it’s a complete waste of time.
With all due respect, it would not be a waste of time to call and at least leave a message with one of Boebert's staff members. Not hearing from constituents allows her to convince herself that she's got the support of the people who sent her to Congress. You almost certainly won't change her mind or behavior, but you might cause a twinge in whatever conscience she has left.
Dave, I have left many messages for this woman over the years. I have lost count. I have also lost count of the notes I've sent through her congressional website. In the few instances when I get a reply (form letter usually), it's to tell me that she is doing the opposite of what I ask because of the "corrupt" Biden administration. With all due resect, she is a lost cause and my focus now is getting Adam Frisch elected, which is seeming much more likely now. In any case, at the start of the speaker debacle (right after Kevin was ousted), I used one of Jennifer Craven's scripts to call and leave a message. It's a pointless exercise. Let me add this: she has no conscience as far as I can tell. She is a deeply damaged human being and her children all have emotional problems. The Denver post published an audio of a call one of her sons made to the police because he was afraid his father was going to hurt him badly. Her oldest son is now going to be a father soon because he impregnated his 15 year old girlfriend. I used to live 40 minutes from her. The whole family is nuts and there have been numerous calls to the police from neighbors reporting disturbances and domestic issues. Ugh, it's truly awful. Mother Jones did one or two in-depth reports on this earlier in her pathetic career in Congress.
That's some very interesting background on her. How does the GOP come up with these people?!!! Oh, right, as Robert said way above, extreme gerrymandering!
When you have a minute to spare, just Google Colorado District 3, and you will see how enormous this district is. It covers the whole western half of Colorado from the Wyoming border to the New Mexico border, and then scoops in a little bit of the eastern plains and the city of Pueblo. It includes the very wealthy living in Aspen and Telluride; many farmers and ranchers; the liberal city of Durango, which is flanked by two large tribal reservations belonging to the Ute people; many ski towns; the very conservative city of Grand Junction (where Tina Peters was arrested for tampering with voting operations to help Trump win in 2020); and many other towns that form blue pockets in this sea of red. I believe there are over 35 counties in this district alone. How can one person, especially a nitwit like Boebert, represent such a variety of interests?
It is NOT a waste of time to contact Boebert in my thinking. You will register your thoughts with the person answering the phone who is just tracking comment NUMBERS not arguing your or Boebert's point of view. You have more power in her district than someone from out of her district. Her staff looks at those numbers of calls and content. Promise its true. My son worked, when in college, in a Congressional office and took those calls!
Like I said, I already contacted her early on, when Kevin first got ousted, and I’ve sent a follow up note. I’m not making multiple calls to Lauren Boebert. Trust me, it’s a waste of time.
Lol!! There’s a strong possibility that I’m going to come back to the east coast in a couple of years. (Or possibly move back to the Boulder area where I started out.) I’m just trying to enjoy the mountains for a while longer. There are so many things that I miss about NYC, and I don’t get to visit that often. However, I’ve been in Colorado for 37 years now. It’s been home for a long time. Also, BooBoo has very little chance of surviving the next election. 😉🥂
My guess is that the Rubbish caucus is so affected by Stockholm syndrome that no member would even consider voting for Jeffries. No, Jeffries must find an R who is acceptable to the Ds and can bring half a dozen votes, and make that one speaker. So far, no R has had the courage to put his or her head above the parapet.
I agree, and it should be someone who is not in Congress currently. It needs to be someone respected by both parties. I think it’s on the Democrats to do this. I fully understand it’s not their mess, but the idea of another government shutdown threat without a functioning House is terrifying.
Jerry Weiss, at Feathersofhope.org, has a list of potential Speaker candidates headed by Don Bacon of Nebraska. You're right about Jeffries not being the proper choice at the moment, that will have to wait for a Democratic majority, hopefully Jan. 2025. In the meantime, calls to your Congressperson in support of a bipartisan Bacon coalition are the best bet we've got.
I wonder if Ken Buck would think of throwing his name in as a possible Speaker candidate. I know he is super conservative, so that would please some of his friends in the freedom caucus. Also, he did oppose the bogus impeachment inquiry, and even wrote an editorial about that in the Washington Post, and he’s behaving in a sensible way now. That might encourage enough other sensible Republicans to vote for him.
He might attract enough moderate, sensible R votes plus Democratic votes to carry through. His head is in the right place; surely moderate Rs and the Ds have noticed! I can't believe he's not talking to others behind the scenes. It's a stretch for him to vote for Jeffries. I suggested it because Jeffries does check that box about who won. Just a little jab in the side.:)
It would be a stretch for him to vote for Jeffries. I am familiar with your district because I used to have a close friend in Weld county who fell onto the Trump bandwagon, and we went our separate ways. (I moved to the western slope from the front range. I was a long time Boulder County resident.) If he voted for Jeffries I think he’d be voted out of office in 2024. I’m not sure he’s going to jump that far, but it’s good to see him showing some moral fortitude here.
I echo and appreciate Robert’s call to action and also the need to make contact with each other and our voters and neighbors and do a lot of listening to others. I’m out door-knocking in my town almost every day now as we have some pivotal local and county elections. Our voters are wanting to talk and visit more than usual and everyone is sad, scared and edgy. Sometimes door knocking gets a bad rap but I have heard more gratitude for our visits than ever, this fall. For better or worse, Democrats are an extended family and our members need to know we’re together and that there is hope in our participation, together. One voter asked if I was soliciting. I said no I’m bringing information for our upcoming elections. She said, “but that’s soliciting” and I said actually it’s not and that this work keeps our Democracy going. She decided to come outside, and we talked for 1/2 hour and ended up hugging as I left. Doing this work helps me know deeply in my heart that I’m not soliciting. My own poor heart really wants to connect and be part of something good and better. I’m so grateful to all of you who do this work all over the country. And to leaders such as Robert who keep elevating it day by day for all of us.
Thank you, Amy! I am so impressed by your work and touched by your emotional connection to it. Passion for the good can be perceived by most people of any age.
You are special! Thanks for describing your wonderful experience. I agree with Robert that the community formed with Democrats - who are sending postcards with groups like Swing Left, as well as Focus For Democracy, a group that sponsors donations to various candidates who need money to defeat their Mega opponents, both groups Robert has referred us to - are amazing! Community is IT!
As Robert poiints out, "There is only one path forward: a bipartisan governing coalition." But that doesn't mean Hakeem Jeffries wants to be Speaker while Republicans continue to hold the majority. Let me suggest that we follow Mr. Jeffries leadership as to exactly what it does mean.
On the PBS Newshour Thursday night, when asked whether he was suggesting that 5 Republicans should join Democrats to make him Speaker, Leader Jeffries replied:
"No, this shouldn't be about any one particular individual's aspirations to lead either House Democrats or House Republicans. This is about what is good for the American people. . . .
We've got to find a way to come together, restructure the House in a bipartisan way, designed to allow for common sense things to come to the floor, receive an up or down vote . . ."
In other words, the priority here is to protect and defend the integrity of the House of Representatives against MAGA extremists who've repeatedly demonstrated that they have no interest in governing. As former Speaker McCarthy observed, they "want to burn the whole place down."
Hakeem Jeffries is bringing out the hoses and raising the ladders. Putting out the fire is every bit as important as electing a consensus Speaker.
I agree that the only path forward is a bipartisan coalition, but getting to that path us fraught with thorns. I don't believe there's a snowball's chance that this Republican group would EVER make Jeffries its Speaker, nor should he want to be as long as the Democrats are the minority.
I believe the way thru the thorns is to either empower McHenry or elect a moderate Speaker pro tem with limited powers to deal with the urgent matters of Ukraine support, Israel support, and extending the federal budget. Arguably, if the House can elect such a Speaker pro tem, they can elect a permanent speaker, but they need to marinate more on the latter. Maybe a shellacking next month will move them, but in the meantime, Nero, Rome is burning.
No rose without a thorn Bob. This is one situation where phone calls to Congresspeople might actually make a difference. Mine is boring and unimaginative but might be frightened enough at the possibility of a government shutdown the week before Thanksgiving to get off her fundament and support a Bacon coalition.
I've mailed letters to my Congressman (a former Democrat turned Republican) and Hakeem Jeffries with my suggestions. We should redouble our efforts to get out the vote in this year's elections, even if they're not consequential. An overwhelming blue wave might smack some sense into the intransigent Republicans in the House. Same goes for the Senate with Tuberville's inane hold on military promotions and Paul's hold on diplomatic appointments. I've sent letters in that regard to my senators and Senator Schumer as well.
Yes, but if the Dems would nominate a candidate for Speaker so qualified that it would be political suicide for swing district Republicans to vote against them, it would either solve the problem or deliver what could amount to a political knockout blow to the Republican Party.
Then it would be a political victory for the Democrats. The Republicans would be 100% responsible for what came after and the Dems would have a huge campaign issue.
Nope. Not since George H.W. Bush accepted the VP nod from Reagan when I was nineteen years old, much to my Republican family’s chagrin. My mother finally came around, but it took Trump to do it when she was eighty.
I have similar stories with my extended family. My first election was Carter vs Reagan. I got a talking to from my late dad for voting for a "peanut farmer." I told him I was proud to vote for a man of integrity.
Hello Jerry, I decided to subscribe to this new Substack newsletter that Adam Kinzinger started a couple of weeks ago. He did a couple of video updates about what’s going on behind the scenes in the Speaker selection debacle. He’s apparently talking to someone on the inside. I’ll post this here in case you find it interesting:
I wonder whether people who voted for these Republicans understand the danger they put our country and the world in for not approving military and diplomatic appointments. I think that the American people should pick a different Day of Rage to protest against Tuberville, Rand and Cruz. There should be rage specifically about military and diplomatic appointments, and the Republican members of the house for blocking military aid to our allies. Not to threaten, but a peaceful protest calling for their removal. I am currently not in the USA, but I still feel my blood boil over their harming of the country and planet.
They've been programmed to believe that Democrats are pedophiles and perverts coming for their children. The only ones who can break that programming are the ones who implanted those ideas. Unfortunately, that would take a spine.
Just for the historical record, since I am an historian of World War II, 6,000 bombs dropped on Gaza, an area smaller than Washington DC, over the past five days is the equivalent of all the area bombing attacks carried out on Berlin between 1942-45 (which is why the photographs look like they do). I doubt the 500 children and 280+ women who have died in the bombing as of Thursday afternoon are likely to be "Hamas militants." The "Law of War" can be described by the Old Testament rule (written by a Jewish theologian) "An eye for an eye." It's not "A head for an eye."
This is proportionately heavier bombing than the United States carried out in the Christmas Bombing of Hanoi in 1972.
If Biden and his administration are actually serious about defending "the law of war," they have already fallen behind in the responsibility they have undertaken.
HI, TCinLA. Thanks for the information. In this difficult time, we need to be rooted in facts. Whether you agree with Israel's response or not, knowing what the facts is a good place to start the conversation.
Hamas is saying not to leave, which they really cannot, and then Israel is saying that half of the inhabitants around 1 million people need to leave, as if this impossible to fulfill warning absolves the IDL for slaughtering them if they do not. About half of the residents are children. I want those children to have what my own have. That is what every child deserves. It seems like they will be either killed by Hamas if they try to leave or ADL, so that is a lose-lose situation. Egypt is not allowing them safe passage, and no one else is either. So, trapped, with no food, water, shelter, electricity, medicine. It is genocidal slaughter and I do not stand with Israel in doing this. The words, "Two wrongs don't make a right!' are clear in my head. I also read in the Washington Post this morning an article about an American family trapped in Gaza. They were visiting their parents, with their 1 year old child. I know there are other Americans there, including hostages of Hamas. It seems to me that there is no plan being made to save the hostages. Right now they are going to die so that their captors may die too. It is all horrid and upsetting. Then I am reading that in Europe and the USA, Jews and Muslims are under attack at home. So, things are all quite volatile, and then we have our own homegrown terrorist party, the Republican party.
The slaughter of children is immoral, no matter who does it. Not that the killing of adults is okay. But this has gotten so ugly that I will not stand with Israel if it does this.
You covered everything here, Linda. This is an outright horror show, and the killing of innocents en masse is not going to bring peace to this region, ever. Like you wrote, two wrongs do not make a right. Biden said in his speech to Jewish leaders that he is working with Secretary Blinken and surrounding Arab countries not involved in this mess to get people out of Gaza, but due to security reasons, he can’t give any details.
Thank you. I had no idea the bombing had been that intense already. I hope Antony Blinken figures out some way with Egyptian assistance to get the rest of the civilians out of there. What a living hell Hamas has unleashed, which was exactly their intention.
By any measure, what's happening in Israel and Gaza is a horror of overwhelming proportion. Tragically, I fear the Israeli Government is preparing to make a monumental mistake that will reverberate for generations, and may ultimately threaten the legitimacy of the Jewish State itself.
Timothy Snyder, highly respected historian whose work specializes in Eastern Europe, the Holocaust and the Soviet Union, responded to the Hamas attack with this warning:
"Classically, a terrorist provokes a state in order to generate so much suffering among his own people that they will take the terrorist’s side indefinitely.
My point is that it is always worth asking, in such situations, whether you are following the terrorist's script. If what you want to do is what your enemy wants you to do, someone is mistaken. It might be your enemy. But it also might be you."
I had read what Timothy Snyder was saying about terrorism and counter-terrorism, and keep it in mind as the events unfold. It is an important article to read. Thank you for sharing it here.
I read Professor Snyder’s essay the other day and it makes a whole lot of sense. Hamas did this to elicit an overwhelming response, which in the end, will only strengthen their hold over the region, unless somehow Israel manages to totally annihilate them and Hezbollah. And none of this is favorable to any of the innocent civilians who are going to suffer more than any leaders or terrorists, and already have.
Jerry, has any country in world history ever responded in the way you're suggesting? You're asking people to ignore their tribal instincts. Survival of the fittest. I'd love to see Jordan and Egypt allow safe corridors to be constructed. I also believe Jews will be blamed no matter how they respond.
You are right of course, Eadie. History is littered with examples of mindless slaughter in the name of vengeance.
If someone raped my daughter and murdered my wife, I'd respond with blind rage regardless of long term consequences. I understand that. But I hope that I'd not massacre his family and blow up his house, thinking that would lead to some kind of peaceful future.
The more salient point is that terrorism is not mindless rage. It's a calculated strategy. As Mr. Snyder explains, the purpose is to elicit precisely the reaction being contemplated by the Israeli Government under Mr. Netanyahu.
The Jewish State's continued existence is already fragile, and in large part dependent on support from Western democracies. If 2023 is remembered for an action history deems genocidal, not only will it be a horror of incalculable magnitude. Israel will have sown the seeds of her own destruction.
Jerry, I cannot disagree with your conclusions. They are heartfelt and well thought out. However, I would like to suggest you read the Hartmann report and the comments that follow. There are only 28. I'd like to point out Daniel Solomon, Robert Elliot, William Farrar, and Bob Johnson, whose comments made me realize what immediately came to mind when I heard about the crisis, but felt I was going off the deep edge. These people possess skill above my pay grade so I learned a lot. I would also like to point out you read the Algemeiner article referenced by Daniel Solomon. That was a real eye opener. https://hartmannreport.com/p/is-russias-battlefield-shifting-from-bdd
TC’s post stresses the wrong things. Yes, the Israeli bombing is causing widespread destruction. But no – it’s not equivalent to Allied carpet bombings of World War II.
If the bombing seems extensive, it’s got to be because Hamas has *extensively* placed weapons and munitions extensively in civilian and religious sites. This is like using a civilian as a shield – contrary to morality and rules of war.
If Israel is to root out Hamas, to forestall more and more wars in Gaza, it must destroy Hamas’s weapons caches. Most unfortunately, it means bombing the buildings that hide those weapons caches.
Yes, it’s horrible. But assign blame to Hamas rather than blindly deploring the resulting destruction.
If you are going to quote the "old testament" with an "eye for eye" it would behoove you to learn what it really means under Jewish law or Halachah. An "eye for eye" always meant and still today it means monetary compensation. It is also in Hammurabi's Code which predates the Torah.
It is so disgusting that we humans continue to do this bombing, killings, taking hostages. On and on and on. All of those being killed and wounded are still someone’s husband, brother, sister, daughter, son, spouse, grandparent. We still don’t think of that. It is still ‘the other side’ . NO it is not! There is no other side! It is all of us!
If we are so damn smart and we can make ‘rules of war’ why aren’t we smart enough to make ‘rules of peace’? Maybe we could just grow the hell up.
"If Biden and his administration are actually serious about defending "the law of war," they have already fallen behind in the responsibility they have undertaken."
What is Trump doing? Committing crimes against any American and other people who are duped by him, as well as taking advantage of a system that privileges wealthy, White men? Supporting the chaos in Congress. Supporting terrorist governments like Russia, and his friendships with authoritarian leaders around the world?
You’re not funny. What I meant is Israel will react based on revenge not doing what is politically correct. I meant Trump is doing the wrong thing by criticising the effort and players. Innocent people will die at the hands of both sides of this war. The fight is not limited to just the Gaza and the leaders are located miles away.
I know today's Newsletter was about the Republican debacle in Washington. However, I have a different story to share for those who are interested. My mother's maiden name was Zlotky. Her grandfather's family immigrated from a little town on the Polish/Russian border that is currently in Russia. The only Zlotkys that we know of are all in America. There are none in that town. I want to believe that they all got out before World War II but I fear that was not the case. My Grandfather Zlotky refused to raise his children as Jews because of the abuse and bullying he had endured growing up in the only Orthodox Jewish family (at the time) in Fremont, Nebraska. Toward the end of her life my mother shared with me that my grandfather did not have a high school diploma because he had been expelled a few weeks before he was due to graduate after he threw a desk at his teacher. She said he had been physically and verbally bullied and abused so much that he snapped. It was a secret in her, our, family because of the perceived shame he brought on himself, but she didn't want to go to her own grave without having shared that story. He was a gentle, loving, funny man who loved to play the violin, golf and spoke fluent Yiddish. Out of fear of how his own children might be treated, he made a painful choice not to put them through what he had endured. Because he married outside of his faith he was no longer considered a member of his family, but my mom said he reconciled with his father shortly before he died and had secretly been in contact with his mother all along. My mother and my uncle never met their Jewish grandparents. Since the Jewish faith is passed through women in Jewish families and my grandfather had married outside the faith, my mother and her brother were not considered to be Jewish. The point of this story is that hatred and abuse of Jews is something they have suffered in every country, every generation, every area of society, and yet, they have persevered and thrived, much to the disappointment of those who have sought to wipe them out. The present slaughter in Israel is yet another chapter in a colossal tome of atrocities that the Jewish people have had to endure. I don't know enough about the political and human tragedies that have just taken place in Israel to speak intelligently to that point. I do know that we should all reach out to our Jewish neighbors, friends, business acquaintances, anyone we know who is Jewish and let them know we are thinking of them and we stand with them. Full disclosure: all of this information is anecdotal and given to me by my mother, therefore, it is possible that some of it is inaccurate, but I doubt that it is. I also know that many Muslims and their families have also suffered terrible abuses, but that is a story for someone else to tell. Thanks for letting me share, William Carlton
Thank you for sharing your story. Tears are rolling down my eyes as I write this. I will share your story as many times as I can. It is heartfelt and authentic.
I know that getting a Speaker in place is very serious business, and the clock is ticking toward another government shutdown, which may have disastrous effects both at home and with regard to Ukraine and Israel. However, sometimes having a good laugh helps ease the stress, and this comic article will make you laugh:
The Grossberger bulletin is hilarious most of the time. He does kind of remind me of Andy Borowitz, except his pieces are longer. Never in American history did comedians have so much material to work with.
You wrote: " I urge everyone to recognize that many Americans are feeling additional anxiety, anger, and fear, even if they have not been touched directly by the terror attack and war in Israel and Gaza." Thank you for this. Empathy is is vital to the resilience of community. Empathy is one small defense against terrorism in our own communities.
Let's not lose sight that this speaker crisis was caused by Gaetz who was encouraged by Trump to ouster McCarthy, and that the inability of the Republicans to unite behind someone is in part because Trump endorses Jordan, who is totally unfit for a number of reasons, including his role in January 6 and election denial. The Trump- Bannon aim is to have a dysfunctional, chaos in Congress. This includes Tuberville, Cruz and Rand in the Senate. It is important to inoculate the public against the claim that this crisis is Biden's fault.
By the way, let's remind the taxpayers that each of these congress people are getting paid $174,000 plus benefits and given office expenses, etc.
Many people in the world are hurting today and as pictures are being released of the horror in Israel and the suffering families and friends are feeling now it is the time for all people to come together to provide help and support so badly needed in this time of horror. What we don’t need is a former guy attacking our president and even having a voice in the discussions and all voters need once again to see and hear that it is now and always will be about him and never about us or those who are courageously fighting to protect our freedom and safety. How much more depravity do we need to see and hear before we ALL agree he is not fit to hold any office. We need to come together especially Republicans and now is that time
I pray that the good citizens of Ohio and Virginia realize that making a good, sound choice in favor of reasonable candidates is good policy at local levels as well as on a national level. None of us, none, is well served by egregious gerrymandering. Don't elect the firebrands of either stripe. Think hard about the candidates and imagine them, if you can, looking out for the best interests of all, repeat all, of their constituents on a bipartisan basis.
There is actually a second path forward. Six Republican congressmen from New York have called for the House to expel George Santos. Without looking it up, I bet that most or all of them are in districts that Biden carried in 2020. There are over a dozen more Republicans in such districts. All of those Republicans must be mortally afraid of the 2024 elections. If five of them were willing to admit that the Republican Party is doomed—that it is no longer a party—and become Democrats, then Hakeem Jeffries would become Speaker. It would take courage for them to do that, because they would certainly face challenges in Democratic primaries next year, but perhaps some of them are willing to risk it. I certainly hope that Democrats are trying to entice them, behind the scenes.
However, those Republicans don’t have to become Democrats. They could declare themselves Independents and vote with Democrats on selected legislative matters.
The irony and contradiction in terms of a political party opposed to government should be evident to all. No one should be surprised that a party that refuses to recognize the results of an election is unable to conduct an election to select a Speaker. We should be unsurprised by their inability to govern. Stop sending Republicans anywhere to govern. They are clearly incapable of it.
I have encouraged my Republican representative Ken Buck to break away and persuade enough Rs to vote Hakeem Jeffries in as Speaker. Buck wants the R speaker candidates, Scalise and Jordan, to acknowledge that the 2020 election was not stolen. They have equivocated; Jeffries obviously checks that box. Buck seems to be shopping for a media gig so maybe he's got nothing to lose. His remarks are not popular in CO 4 which is deeply conservative. We'll see what happens. Country before party? Country before career? Who knows?
As a fellow Coloradan in Lauren Boebert’s district, I’m glad to see Ken Buck acting like an adult and showing that he has some common sense and a conscience. Thank you for writing to him about this issue. I won’t even attempt to contact Boebert about this because it’s a complete waste of time.
Agree!! Adam Frisch will hopefully be your new rep!
It’s looking good, in fact, better every day.
Good. I hope my great uncle, Philip Hornbein, can cease turning over in his grave.
With all due respect, it would not be a waste of time to call and at least leave a message with one of Boebert's staff members. Not hearing from constituents allows her to convince herself that she's got the support of the people who sent her to Congress. You almost certainly won't change her mind or behavior, but you might cause a twinge in whatever conscience she has left.
Dave, I have left many messages for this woman over the years. I have lost count. I have also lost count of the notes I've sent through her congressional website. In the few instances when I get a reply (form letter usually), it's to tell me that she is doing the opposite of what I ask because of the "corrupt" Biden administration. With all due resect, she is a lost cause and my focus now is getting Adam Frisch elected, which is seeming much more likely now. In any case, at the start of the speaker debacle (right after Kevin was ousted), I used one of Jennifer Craven's scripts to call and leave a message. It's a pointless exercise. Let me add this: she has no conscience as far as I can tell. She is a deeply damaged human being and her children all have emotional problems. The Denver post published an audio of a call one of her sons made to the police because he was afraid his father was going to hurt him badly. Her oldest son is now going to be a father soon because he impregnated his 15 year old girlfriend. I used to live 40 minutes from her. The whole family is nuts and there have been numerous calls to the police from neighbors reporting disturbances and domestic issues. Ugh, it's truly awful. Mother Jones did one or two in-depth reports on this earlier in her pathetic career in Congress.
That's some very interesting background on her. How does the GOP come up with these people?!!! Oh, right, as Robert said way above, extreme gerrymandering!
When you have a minute to spare, just Google Colorado District 3, and you will see how enormous this district is. It covers the whole western half of Colorado from the Wyoming border to the New Mexico border, and then scoops in a little bit of the eastern plains and the city of Pueblo. It includes the very wealthy living in Aspen and Telluride; many farmers and ranchers; the liberal city of Durango, which is flanked by two large tribal reservations belonging to the Ute people; many ski towns; the very conservative city of Grand Junction (where Tina Peters was arrested for tampering with voting operations to help Trump win in 2020); and many other towns that form blue pockets in this sea of red. I believe there are over 35 counties in this district alone. How can one person, especially a nitwit like Boebert, represent such a variety of interests?
She can't and she won't!
I just did. That's crazy! That's probably more than half the state!
It is NOT a waste of time to contact Boebert in my thinking. You will register your thoughts with the person answering the phone who is just tracking comment NUMBERS not arguing your or Boebert's point of view. You have more power in her district than someone from out of her district. Her staff looks at those numbers of calls and content. Promise its true. My son worked, when in college, in a Congressional office and took those calls!
Perhaps look at my reply to Dave.
Like I said, I already contacted her early on, when Kevin first got ousted, and I’ve sent a follow up note. I’m not making multiple calls to Lauren Boebert. Trust me, it’s a waste of time.
Oof IN Assault Rifle Barbie’s district? I’m so sorry. NYC would welcome you back with open arms. We don’t hold grudges (for long). 💕
Lol!! There’s a strong possibility that I’m going to come back to the east coast in a couple of years. (Or possibly move back to the Boulder area where I started out.) I’m just trying to enjoy the mountains for a while longer. There are so many things that I miss about NYC, and I don’t get to visit that often. However, I’ve been in Colorado for 37 years now. It’s been home for a long time. Also, BooBoo has very little chance of surviving the next election. 😉🥂
My guess is that the Rubbish caucus is so affected by Stockholm syndrome that no member would even consider voting for Jeffries. No, Jeffries must find an R who is acceptable to the Ds and can bring half a dozen votes, and make that one speaker. So far, no R has had the courage to put his or her head above the parapet.
I agree, and it should be someone who is not in Congress currently. It needs to be someone respected by both parties. I think it’s on the Democrats to do this. I fully understand it’s not their mess, but the idea of another government shutdown threat without a functioning House is terrifying.
Jerry Weiss, at Feathersofhope.org, has a list of potential Speaker candidates headed by Don Bacon of Nebraska. You're right about Jeffries not being the proper choice at the moment, that will have to wait for a Democratic majority, hopefully Jan. 2025. In the meantime, calls to your Congressperson in support of a bipartisan Bacon coalition are the best bet we've got.
Right. I've read about Bacon and he sounds reasonable.
That’s the problem; what you said in your last sentence.
You are probably right.
I wonder if Ken Buck would think of throwing his name in as a possible Speaker candidate. I know he is super conservative, so that would please some of his friends in the freedom caucus. Also, he did oppose the bogus impeachment inquiry, and even wrote an editorial about that in the Washington Post, and he’s behaving in a sensible way now. That might encourage enough other sensible Republicans to vote for him.
He might attract enough moderate, sensible R votes plus Democratic votes to carry through. His head is in the right place; surely moderate Rs and the Ds have noticed! I can't believe he's not talking to others behind the scenes. It's a stretch for him to vote for Jeffries. I suggested it because Jeffries does check that box about who won. Just a little jab in the side.:)
It would be a stretch for him to vote for Jeffries. I am familiar with your district because I used to have a close friend in Weld county who fell onto the Trump bandwagon, and we went our separate ways. (I moved to the western slope from the front range. I was a long time Boulder County resident.) If he voted for Jeffries I think he’d be voted out of office in 2024. I’m not sure he’s going to jump that far, but it’s good to see him showing some moral fortitude here.
I echo and appreciate Robert’s call to action and also the need to make contact with each other and our voters and neighbors and do a lot of listening to others. I’m out door-knocking in my town almost every day now as we have some pivotal local and county elections. Our voters are wanting to talk and visit more than usual and everyone is sad, scared and edgy. Sometimes door knocking gets a bad rap but I have heard more gratitude for our visits than ever, this fall. For better or worse, Democrats are an extended family and our members need to know we’re together and that there is hope in our participation, together. One voter asked if I was soliciting. I said no I’m bringing information for our upcoming elections. She said, “but that’s soliciting” and I said actually it’s not and that this work keeps our Democracy going. She decided to come outside, and we talked for 1/2 hour and ended up hugging as I left. Doing this work helps me know deeply in my heart that I’m not soliciting. My own poor heart really wants to connect and be part of something good and better. I’m so grateful to all of you who do this work all over the country. And to leaders such as Robert who keep elevating it day by day for all of us.
Thanks for canvassing. It is the most difficult but most effective way to reach voters.
Thank you, Amy! I am so impressed by your work and touched by your emotional connection to it. Passion for the good can be perceived by most people of any age.
You brave person, I love that you are bringing information to folks in your town! Thank you for sharing and thank you for the good (great) work!
Thank you Amy! Your fan, Susan
You are special! Thanks for describing your wonderful experience. I agree with Robert that the community formed with Democrats - who are sending postcards with groups like Swing Left, as well as Focus For Democracy, a group that sponsors donations to various candidates who need money to defeat their Mega opponents, both groups Robert has referred us to - are amazing! Community is IT!
As Robert poiints out, "There is only one path forward: a bipartisan governing coalition." But that doesn't mean Hakeem Jeffries wants to be Speaker while Republicans continue to hold the majority. Let me suggest that we follow Mr. Jeffries leadership as to exactly what it does mean.
On the PBS Newshour Thursday night, when asked whether he was suggesting that 5 Republicans should join Democrats to make him Speaker, Leader Jeffries replied:
"No, this shouldn't be about any one particular individual's aspirations to lead either House Democrats or House Republicans. This is about what is good for the American people. . . .
We've got to find a way to come together, restructure the House in a bipartisan way, designed to allow for common sense things to come to the floor, receive an up or down vote . . ."
In other words, the priority here is to protect and defend the integrity of the House of Representatives against MAGA extremists who've repeatedly demonstrated that they have no interest in governing. As former Speaker McCarthy observed, they "want to burn the whole place down."
Hakeem Jeffries is bringing out the hoses and raising the ladders. Putting out the fire is every bit as important as electing a consensus Speaker.
(Learn more here: https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/putting-out-the-fire)
.
I agree that the only path forward is a bipartisan coalition, but getting to that path us fraught with thorns. I don't believe there's a snowball's chance that this Republican group would EVER make Jeffries its Speaker, nor should he want to be as long as the Democrats are the minority.
I believe the way thru the thorns is to either empower McHenry or elect a moderate Speaker pro tem with limited powers to deal with the urgent matters of Ukraine support, Israel support, and extending the federal budget. Arguably, if the House can elect such a Speaker pro tem, they can elect a permanent speaker, but they need to marinate more on the latter. Maybe a shellacking next month will move them, but in the meantime, Nero, Rome is burning.
No rose without a thorn Bob. This is one situation where phone calls to Congresspeople might actually make a difference. Mine is boring and unimaginative but might be frightened enough at the possibility of a government shutdown the week before Thanksgiving to get off her fundament and support a Bacon coalition.
I've mailed letters to my Congressman (a former Democrat turned Republican) and Hakeem Jeffries with my suggestions. We should redouble our efforts to get out the vote in this year's elections, even if they're not consequential. An overwhelming blue wave might smack some sense into the intransigent Republicans in the House. Same goes for the Senate with Tuberville's inane hold on military promotions and Paul's hold on diplomatic appointments. I've sent letters in that regard to my senators and Senator Schumer as well.
You have been busy! Excellent work!
Busy, yes. Productive, remains to be seen...
Agree but it won’t happen unless they want it to happen
Yes, but if the Dems would nominate a candidate for Speaker so qualified that it would be political suicide for swing district Republicans to vote against them, it would either solve the problem or deliver what could amount to a political knockout blow to the Republican Party.
A great idea but Republicans would never do this. Too much pride and it’s the right thing to do.
Then it would be a political victory for the Democrats. The Republicans would be 100% responsible for what came after and the Dems would have a huge campaign issue.
You’re making a lot of sense in your comments, Dean. Clearly, you’re not a Republican. 😁
Nope. Not since George H.W. Bush accepted the VP nod from Reagan when I was nineteen years old, much to my Republican family’s chagrin. My mother finally came around, but it took Trump to do it when she was eighty.
I have similar stories with my extended family. My first election was Carter vs Reagan. I got a talking to from my late dad for voting for a "peanut farmer." I told him I was proud to vote for a man of integrity.
Hello Jerry, I decided to subscribe to this new Substack newsletter that Adam Kinzinger started a couple of weeks ago. He did a couple of video updates about what’s going on behind the scenes in the Speaker selection debacle. He’s apparently talking to someone on the inside. I’ll post this here in case you find it interesting:
https://open.substack.com/pub/adamkinzinger/p/speaker-update-video-2-dude-its-getting?r=2vk1c6&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I wonder whether people who voted for these Republicans understand the danger they put our country and the world in for not approving military and diplomatic appointments. I think that the American people should pick a different Day of Rage to protest against Tuberville, Rand and Cruz. There should be rage specifically about military and diplomatic appointments, and the Republican members of the house for blocking military aid to our allies. Not to threaten, but a peaceful protest calling for their removal. I am currently not in the USA, but I still feel my blood boil over their harming of the country and planet.
They dont care as long as it’s a Republican
They've been programmed to believe that Democrats are pedophiles and perverts coming for their children. The only ones who can break that programming are the ones who implanted those ideas. Unfortunately, that would take a spine.
Very good idea.
Just for the historical record, since I am an historian of World War II, 6,000 bombs dropped on Gaza, an area smaller than Washington DC, over the past five days is the equivalent of all the area bombing attacks carried out on Berlin between 1942-45 (which is why the photographs look like they do). I doubt the 500 children and 280+ women who have died in the bombing as of Thursday afternoon are likely to be "Hamas militants." The "Law of War" can be described by the Old Testament rule (written by a Jewish theologian) "An eye for an eye." It's not "A head for an eye."
This is proportionately heavier bombing than the United States carried out in the Christmas Bombing of Hanoi in 1972.
If Biden and his administration are actually serious about defending "the law of war," they have already fallen behind in the responsibility they have undertaken.
HI, TCinLA. Thanks for the information. In this difficult time, we need to be rooted in facts. Whether you agree with Israel's response or not, knowing what the facts is a good place to start the conversation.
Yes. I am reading of what is going on in Gaza in Politico Europe this morning and it seems like all of the residents are in a Catch-22.
https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-orders-civilians-to-evacuate-gaza-city/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=alert&utm_campaign=Israel%20orders%20civilians%20to%20evacuate%20Gaza%20City
Hamas is saying not to leave, which they really cannot, and then Israel is saying that half of the inhabitants around 1 million people need to leave, as if this impossible to fulfill warning absolves the IDL for slaughtering them if they do not. About half of the residents are children. I want those children to have what my own have. That is what every child deserves. It seems like they will be either killed by Hamas if they try to leave or ADL, so that is a lose-lose situation. Egypt is not allowing them safe passage, and no one else is either. So, trapped, with no food, water, shelter, electricity, medicine. It is genocidal slaughter and I do not stand with Israel in doing this. The words, "Two wrongs don't make a right!' are clear in my head. I also read in the Washington Post this morning an article about an American family trapped in Gaza. They were visiting their parents, with their 1 year old child. I know there are other Americans there, including hostages of Hamas. It seems to me that there is no plan being made to save the hostages. Right now they are going to die so that their captors may die too. It is all horrid and upsetting. Then I am reading that in Europe and the USA, Jews and Muslims are under attack at home. So, things are all quite volatile, and then we have our own homegrown terrorist party, the Republican party.
The slaughter of children is immoral, no matter who does it. Not that the killing of adults is okay. But this has gotten so ugly that I will not stand with Israel if it does this.
You covered everything here, Linda. This is an outright horror show, and the killing of innocents en masse is not going to bring peace to this region, ever. Like you wrote, two wrongs do not make a right. Biden said in his speech to Jewish leaders that he is working with Secretary Blinken and surrounding Arab countries not involved in this mess to get people out of Gaza, but due to security reasons, he can’t give any details.
Thanks for reminding me that there is work going on behind the scenes, and hopefully it will save the people of the region from more slaughter.
We can only hope.
Thank you. I had no idea the bombing had been that intense already. I hope Antony Blinken figures out some way with Egyptian assistance to get the rest of the civilians out of there. What a living hell Hamas has unleashed, which was exactly their intention.
Exactly right. and as Sun Tzu knew 3,000 years ago: Do not fight the enemy's war.
By any measure, what's happening in Israel and Gaza is a horror of overwhelming proportion. Tragically, I fear the Israeli Government is preparing to make a monumental mistake that will reverberate for generations, and may ultimately threaten the legitimacy of the Jewish State itself.
Timothy Snyder, highly respected historian whose work specializes in Eastern Europe, the Holocaust and the Soviet Union, responded to the Hamas attack with this warning:
"Classically, a terrorist provokes a state in order to generate so much suffering among his own people that they will take the terrorist’s side indefinitely.
My point is that it is always worth asking, in such situations, whether you are following the terrorist's script. If what you want to do is what your enemy wants you to do, someone is mistaken. It might be your enemy. But it also might be you."
https://snyder.substack.com/p/terror-and-counter-terror
.
I had read what Timothy Snyder was saying about terrorism and counter-terrorism, and keep it in mind as the events unfold. It is an important article to read. Thank you for sharing it here.
Sun Tzu was right: don't fight the enemy's war.
I have to pick up that book and read it again. It was required reading in one of my college courses (40 years ago).
I read Professor Snyder’s essay the other day and it makes a whole lot of sense. Hamas did this to elicit an overwhelming response, which in the end, will only strengthen their hold over the region, unless somehow Israel manages to totally annihilate them and Hezbollah. And none of this is favorable to any of the innocent civilians who are going to suffer more than any leaders or terrorists, and already have.
Jerry, has any country in world history ever responded in the way you're suggesting? You're asking people to ignore their tribal instincts. Survival of the fittest. I'd love to see Jordan and Egypt allow safe corridors to be constructed. I also believe Jews will be blamed no matter how they respond.
You are right of course, Eadie. History is littered with examples of mindless slaughter in the name of vengeance.
If someone raped my daughter and murdered my wife, I'd respond with blind rage regardless of long term consequences. I understand that. But I hope that I'd not massacre his family and blow up his house, thinking that would lead to some kind of peaceful future.
The more salient point is that terrorism is not mindless rage. It's a calculated strategy. As Mr. Snyder explains, the purpose is to elicit precisely the reaction being contemplated by the Israeli Government under Mr. Netanyahu.
The Jewish State's continued existence is already fragile, and in large part dependent on support from Western democracies. If 2023 is remembered for an action history deems genocidal, not only will it be a horror of incalculable magnitude. Israel will have sown the seeds of her own destruction.
We can only hope that wiser minds prevail.
.
Jerry, I cannot disagree with your conclusions. They are heartfelt and well thought out. However, I would like to suggest you read the Hartmann report and the comments that follow. There are only 28. I'd like to point out Daniel Solomon, Robert Elliot, William Farrar, and Bob Johnson, whose comments made me realize what immediately came to mind when I heard about the crisis, but felt I was going off the deep edge. These people possess skill above my pay grade so I learned a lot. I would also like to point out you read the Algemeiner article referenced by Daniel Solomon. That was a real eye opener. https://hartmannreport.com/p/is-russias-battlefield-shifting-from-bdd
TC’s post stresses the wrong things. Yes, the Israeli bombing is causing widespread destruction. But no – it’s not equivalent to Allied carpet bombings of World War II.
If the bombing seems extensive, it’s got to be because Hamas has *extensively* placed weapons and munitions extensively in civilian and religious sites. This is like using a civilian as a shield – contrary to morality and rules of war.
If Israel is to root out Hamas, to forestall more and more wars in Gaza, it must destroy Hamas’s weapons caches. Most unfortunately, it means bombing the buildings that hide those weapons caches.
Yes, it’s horrible. But assign blame to Hamas rather than blindly deploring the resulting destruction.
An important point.
If you are going to quote the "old testament" with an "eye for eye" it would behoove you to learn what it really means under Jewish law or Halachah. An "eye for eye" always meant and still today it means monetary compensation. It is also in Hammurabi's Code which predates the Torah.
But it's easier to score points by saying "written by a Jewish theologian"
It is so disgusting that we humans continue to do this bombing, killings, taking hostages. On and on and on. All of those being killed and wounded are still someone’s husband, brother, sister, daughter, son, spouse, grandparent. We still don’t think of that. It is still ‘the other side’ . NO it is not! There is no other side! It is all of us!
If we are so damn smart and we can make ‘rules of war’ why aren’t we smart enough to make ‘rules of peace’? Maybe we could just grow the hell up.
Hope I didn’t make anyone mad again.
"If Biden and his administration are actually serious about defending "the law of war," they have already fallen behind in the responsibility they have undertaken."
Disappointing.
Revenge is a strong motivator and Trumps doing the right thing.
What is Trump doing? Committing crimes against any American and other people who are duped by him, as well as taking advantage of a system that privileges wealthy, White men? Supporting the chaos in Congress. Supporting terrorist governments like Russia, and his friendships with authoritarian leaders around the world?
I think you mean President Biden?
One would hope this is snark, because otherwise I can't understand how you managed to read my post, since it had lots of big words.
You’re not funny. What I meant is Israel will react based on revenge not doing what is politically correct. I meant Trump is doing the wrong thing by criticising the effort and players. Innocent people will die at the hands of both sides of this war. The fight is not limited to just the Gaza and the leaders are located miles away.
I know today's Newsletter was about the Republican debacle in Washington. However, I have a different story to share for those who are interested. My mother's maiden name was Zlotky. Her grandfather's family immigrated from a little town on the Polish/Russian border that is currently in Russia. The only Zlotkys that we know of are all in America. There are none in that town. I want to believe that they all got out before World War II but I fear that was not the case. My Grandfather Zlotky refused to raise his children as Jews because of the abuse and bullying he had endured growing up in the only Orthodox Jewish family (at the time) in Fremont, Nebraska. Toward the end of her life my mother shared with me that my grandfather did not have a high school diploma because he had been expelled a few weeks before he was due to graduate after he threw a desk at his teacher. She said he had been physically and verbally bullied and abused so much that he snapped. It was a secret in her, our, family because of the perceived shame he brought on himself, but she didn't want to go to her own grave without having shared that story. He was a gentle, loving, funny man who loved to play the violin, golf and spoke fluent Yiddish. Out of fear of how his own children might be treated, he made a painful choice not to put them through what he had endured. Because he married outside of his faith he was no longer considered a member of his family, but my mom said he reconciled with his father shortly before he died and had secretly been in contact with his mother all along. My mother and my uncle never met their Jewish grandparents. Since the Jewish faith is passed through women in Jewish families and my grandfather had married outside the faith, my mother and her brother were not considered to be Jewish. The point of this story is that hatred and abuse of Jews is something they have suffered in every country, every generation, every area of society, and yet, they have persevered and thrived, much to the disappointment of those who have sought to wipe them out. The present slaughter in Israel is yet another chapter in a colossal tome of atrocities that the Jewish people have had to endure. I don't know enough about the political and human tragedies that have just taken place in Israel to speak intelligently to that point. I do know that we should all reach out to our Jewish neighbors, friends, business acquaintances, anyone we know who is Jewish and let them know we are thinking of them and we stand with them. Full disclosure: all of this information is anecdotal and given to me by my mother, therefore, it is possible that some of it is inaccurate, but I doubt that it is. I also know that many Muslims and their families have also suffered terrible abuses, but that is a story for someone else to tell. Thanks for letting me share, William Carlton
Interesting. Thank you for your story.
And, thanks for sharing.
Thank you, William, for your courage in sharing this.
Thank you for sharing your story. Tears are rolling down my eyes as I write this. I will share your story as many times as I can. It is heartfelt and authentic.
The way the republican sect is serving Russian interests it may be time to call them out as the "freedom Caucasus".
I know that getting a Speaker in place is very serious business, and the clock is ticking toward another government shutdown, which may have disastrous effects both at home and with regard to Ukraine and Israel. However, sometimes having a good laugh helps ease the stress, and this comic article will make you laugh:
https://open.substack.com/pub/grossbergerbulletin/p/republicans-nominate-pelosi-for-speaker?r=2vk1c6&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I just subscribed to the newsletter. Very well written and funny!
Thanks, Janet, for this much-needed laugh! If I may piggyback on you, here's a six-minute clip with Jordan Kleppar re democracy...is it really doomed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQMkuJoo70U
LMAO! "I guess the ocean can have Florida, which is helpful as it will probably take it anyway". Thanks Lynell!
😉
Thank you, Lynell. I find myself turning to comedy more and more these days. It’s a lot better than pulling one’s hair out.
Boy, Howdy, Janet...agree 1000%
This /s article is even better than Borowitz in The New Yorker! Best laugh of the day.
Love it. At first, from the headline, I thought it was the Borowitz report
The Grossberger bulletin is hilarious most of the time. He does kind of remind me of Andy Borowitz, except his pieces are longer. Never in American history did comedians have so much material to work with.
Indeed. I record the late night talk shows so I can watch the monologues.
Me, too, DW!
You wrote: " I urge everyone to recognize that many Americans are feeling additional anxiety, anger, and fear, even if they have not been touched directly by the terror attack and war in Israel and Gaza." Thank you for this. Empathy is is vital to the resilience of community. Empathy is one small defense against terrorism in our own communities.
Let's not lose sight that this speaker crisis was caused by Gaetz who was encouraged by Trump to ouster McCarthy, and that the inability of the Republicans to unite behind someone is in part because Trump endorses Jordan, who is totally unfit for a number of reasons, including his role in January 6 and election denial. The Trump- Bannon aim is to have a dysfunctional, chaos in Congress. This includes Tuberville, Cruz and Rand in the Senate. It is important to inoculate the public against the claim that this crisis is Biden's fault.
By the way, let's remind the taxpayers that each of these congress people are getting paid $174,000 plus benefits and given office expenses, etc.
Good point about Trump's hand behind the current crisis.
Many people in the world are hurting today and as pictures are being released of the horror in Israel and the suffering families and friends are feeling now it is the time for all people to come together to provide help and support so badly needed in this time of horror. What we don’t need is a former guy attacking our president and even having a voice in the discussions and all voters need once again to see and hear that it is now and always will be about him and never about us or those who are courageously fighting to protect our freedom and safety. How much more depravity do we need to see and hear before we ALL agree he is not fit to hold any office. We need to come together especially Republicans and now is that time
I pray that the good citizens of Ohio and Virginia realize that making a good, sound choice in favor of reasonable candidates is good policy at local levels as well as on a national level. None of us, none, is well served by egregious gerrymandering. Don't elect the firebrands of either stripe. Think hard about the candidates and imagine them, if you can, looking out for the best interests of all, repeat all, of their constituents on a bipartisan basis.
There is actually a second path forward. Six Republican congressmen from New York have called for the House to expel George Santos. Without looking it up, I bet that most or all of them are in districts that Biden carried in 2020. There are over a dozen more Republicans in such districts. All of those Republicans must be mortally afraid of the 2024 elections. If five of them were willing to admit that the Republican Party is doomed—that it is no longer a party—and become Democrats, then Hakeem Jeffries would become Speaker. It would take courage for them to do that, because they would certainly face challenges in Democratic primaries next year, but perhaps some of them are willing to risk it. I certainly hope that Democrats are trying to entice them, behind the scenes.
Interesting idea.
However, those Republicans don’t have to become Democrats. They could declare themselves Independents and vote with Democrats on selected legislative matters.
There are Independent Senators.
“If Republicans can agree on expanding powers for an acting speaker, they can elect a speaker.”
What a clown show! Only trouble is, the government should not be a circus…
Your assessment of the situation hits the nail on the head.
Can we not slander clowns?
Please mention important election in Pennsylvania on November 7!!!!
Thank you for the reminder.
The irony and contradiction in terms of a political party opposed to government should be evident to all. No one should be surprised that a party that refuses to recognize the results of an election is unable to conduct an election to select a Speaker. We should be unsurprised by their inability to govern. Stop sending Republicans anywhere to govern. They are clearly incapable of it.