Hi, all. We have one person posting comments with environmental conspiracy theories. I have removed her comments. Please email me if you see more such activity by replying to the newsletter to let me know. Please identify the user name of the person so I can remove the comments. Thanks!
"I’ve literally talked to people when phonebanking who didn’t know which party opposed abortion rights and which supported them." Jessica Craven's comment in today's Chop Wood, Carry Water newsletter stunned me. I know some people's lives are so complex and demanding that they can't follow the news closely, but what about skimming headlines? What about everyone else?
How can we pro-democracy activists overcome this appalling willful ignorance and indifference about attacks on our rights from our own elected leaders?
Of course it is way easier to not pay attention, to not care. But people's lives are at stake, as is our country's future. Imagine what people in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and other countries would say if they knew Americans were willing to toss their rights in the trash. Imagine how excited they would be if they could comment in public about their own country's leaders and politics without fear of imprisonment or death. Americans' willful apathy is shameful and a tragedy.
Laurie, I was also surprised at the lack of awareness about the importance of upcoming elections until I began to understand some of the "why". Our Louisville (KY) Democrats Volunteers were knocking doors last summer to register voters in a large apartment complex in an area of town that probably rarely sees a candidate and houses folks on the lower end of the economic scale. What I came to realize was that most of these people are the "working poor" with two and three jobs who are scrambling day to day just to make it. I doubt if many get a newspaper and most probably don't have time to scroll through online news. However, I will say, most were very polite, listened to the information we provided on early voting and some of the big issues (KY was voting on an amendment to our state constitution that would have outlawed abortion...we defeated it !) and we registered a fair number of new voters! On the last door I knocked that day I was able to check the website and register a voter who had previously been unable to vote due to a prior felony conviction! To see his face, to see some dignity restored, and to see a sense that he felt like he mattered/his vote mattered...gave me a deeper insight in to the complicating factors of why we see such abysmal turn out rates during elections. I will add, that when election time came, we received multiple calls from folks at that complex who were taking us up on our volunteer "Ride to the Polls" effort. It takes work to make a difference in these outcomes and we can all join in the effort.
Hi, JP. I think your sentence explains a lot of the reason for voters with low engagement: "What I came to realize was that most of these people are the "working poor" with two and three jobs who are scrambling day to day just to make it."
This is such an important, critical observation. This demographic is disengaged because our socioeconomic/political system is not designed for them. There is a war being waged on the poor by guess who? I believe there is a direct relationship between low economic status and voting.
Reliable, convenient transportation; easy access to healthy food; child care; medical bills (poor or no medical insurance and lack of access to decent, timely medical care); decent housing; poorly funded public schools; low pay/no benefits; lack of access to technology - political engagement is a luxury when struggling against so many hurdles.
Robert, While you and JP have zeroed in on a critical problem, one remedy would be for Democrats to go make the argument in West Virginia, and also in the red parts of Mississippi and Alabama, and in other states and say, “This is what we have tried to deliver (noting Biden’s “Build Back Better”that aside from roads and bridges would have kept pandemic relief programs in place and expanded the social safety net for good) and these folks (every House and Senate Republican + Manchin & Sinema) voted against it.”
Consider the impact if everyday people across the country were asked, “Who do you want here—somebody who doesn’t want to expand the child tax credit or those who do?” “Doesn’t want to raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 or those who do?” Doesn’t want to provide affordable, quality childcare, universal Pre-K, and paid sick and family leave or those who do?” “Investments in housing? In eldercare? In climate? and the like” In a word, Democrats, with receipts in hand, have got to say, “America, when they didn’t care about you, we did.”
@JP, Thank you for your insightful and inspiring reply to Laurie. I imagine I’m not the only engaged citizen here who is intent on aspiring to the standard you have set.
Illness, caregiving and obligations have kept me from canvassing and doing what you are so heroically engaged in. THANK YOU! Canvassing provides benefits to the people you talk to as well as the canvasser- everyone learns and grows!
Exactly!! I share your frustration with those whose lives are “so busy” they have scant knowledge of 2023-2024 high stakes elections, and refuse to participate, insisting they will refrain from grassroots activism.
They proverbially, lift “not a finger” to protect and save our Democracy.
These folks of my acquaintance are mostly, not all, affluent and privileged.
Grassroots colleagues say, leave them alone. all the grassroots are working hard.
Keep doing what we are all doing.
I am tempted to send copies of David Pepper’s new book “Saving Democracy,” might simply recommend, as the book is not inexpensive, except they ignore or shut me down.
Everyone must do what is comfortable for them!
The rest of us can -- hopefully -- balance and compensate.
Please kindly excuse/forgive the rant.
Also, today in her Substack Civil Discourse, Joyce Vance analyses in close detail the legal cases against you-know-who, and what to expect. To calm frightened, worried readers.
Congratulations, Robert Hubbell, on advance, for finishing the Swings project for your fortunate granddaughters.
Looking forward to your own legal analysis soon.
Off to write Postcards To Voters for Lorie Love, TN House, and Ohio Ballot Issue I.
Thank you JP for knocking on doors. Not necessary in Massachusetts. I should perhaps find a fairly close by state where it IS necessary for the next election and do so.
There was an article in Harvard Magazine about a decade ago, which gave the reader a clear and visceral sense of the trials and tribulations of people with low incomes--people whose energy and brain power goes almost completely to staying above the water line. I wish I had the URL, but I don't.
Don't assume Massachusetts is "safely" Dem. Moms for Liberty are busily infiltrating every corner of the country and will wreak havoc, beginning with school boards and ending up with total fascism. I seem to remember seeing a maps highlighting states where the organization has toeholds and Massachusetts is among those unfortunate states.
I'm not terribly surprised. When Boston schools tried integrating their school system by busing, the ruckus, rants and rioting were heard all over New England.
Racists are very much alive and well in MA. Maine, too, I'm afraid.
We have elected Republicans before--our previous governor, Charlie Baker, is a Republican, and we've had a few other governors like that. I can't imagine us electing a MAGAt. Moms for Liberty aren't going to get more than a toe-hold here. (If any Massachusetts residents disagree with me, please respond!)
I don’t disagree, but think we still need to be vigilant. Remember, Scott Brown was elected Senator not that many years ago running a slick campaign with a truck and a barn coat. Metro Boston is a very liberal area compared to much of the state. I can envision some communities outside of this area being fertile ground for MAGA extremists.
Scott Brown ran against Martha Coakley, who ran a truly crappy campaign, and I was not at all surprised he beat her. he lost in his re-election bid to Elizabeth Warren. I'm not worried about Mass.
I'm much more worried about how the Democratic Party is ditching the traditional base of working class Americans. We totally lost Iowa because we've gone too far left. Despite Fox' deserved reputation, this seems to me a fair article on the subject--and it's a quick read.
My guess is that mass immigration played a major role. I remember all too well how--when my family lived in Paris for the year I was 12 (1965-66) the Parisians had a lot of antipathy towards Americans, because we were all over the place, and not always respectful of our hosts.
Mass immigration is worse for Americans, because the flood of cheap labor reduces American workers' wages, and takes jobs from them--which is a major reason why I voted against drivers' licenses for immigrants here illegally. This is also the reason why big biz GOPers want more immigration. Mark Z'berg's fwd.us is a pro-immigration website; the Koch organization has always been in favor of increasing immigration, etc. etc.
See: Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth, by Roy Beck. $14 on Amazon, but check your local bookstore. The book is thoroughly researched, yet highly readable, as the author was an environmental journalist for 30 years. Among much else, meat packers were all Blacks in 1980, earning good middle class wages thanks to decades of organizing. By that decade's end, they were almost all immigrants, toiling under atrocious conditions for barely above minimum wage.
JP, I agree with all who have said your comment is inspiring! Re canvassing folks who might be overlooked…I knocked on a lot of apartment doors during a recent school board run-off. Of COURSE these (too rarely contacted) voters care about their children’s school just as much as anyone else! Plus, their one vote truly CAN make the difference in a small, low turnout race. The “good” candidate won soundly, and I hope those voters realized how critical their vote was!
Laurie, Regrettably, the combination of extremism and apathy, in my view, opens the door to authoritarianism. Accordingly, we must be grateful to Jessica for showing us the challenges that lie ahead if we are to preserve our constitutional republic.
Sadly, my 3 sisters are among those too apathetic to even pay attention to what's happening. They claim they're "too busy," and that all politicians are alike. I really can't even talk with them.
I, for one, am glad to have you with us, JustJanice!
Not sure which is worse, apathy or zealous "MAGAthy"! One of my 2 sisters is a MAGAt. The other is more libertarian but leans Republican. I will say the MAGAt one went on at length for what a great guy 45 is. My simple response was "He's just a grifter," which did manage to end the conversation!
Lynell, While your reply was not addressed to me, I, nonetheless, would note, that in my view, we all must pull the alarm and say, “Don’t be indifferent.” Though it might sound harsh, I believe, if one ignores the suffering MAGA already has inflicted on so many, one becomes an accomplice. In a word, by seemingly accepting it she or he is helping it along.
Show is better than tell. Let’s all MARCH. Grab your indifferent friends’ hands and bring them along to protest the assault on our freedom while we affirm the keeping of our freedom.
Janice, i am curious what their response would be if you discussed issues such as reproductive rights or climate change in a more personal way with them just to get them thinking how this does matter. I think that when we talk “politics’ it is a turn off and I get it, but reproductive rights and climate change hit everyone. Maybe there is an issue that is more personal to them that the MAGA threatens that you could discuss. It’s just a thought.
climate change is probably going to reach a lot of people in the near future. Floods and dangerously high temperatures are going to change the views of a lot of MAGAts. I have been spooked, lately, by what I'm reading, and by the fact that normally temperate Cape Cod has had some hot, unpleasant weather.
This is why education of the population is so crucial. Climate legislation would be a cakewalk if everyone had a working knowledge of even the simple fundamentals of climate science as explained by a trusted source. Sadly, many in this country still are of the misguided view that climate change will not affect them, even though it already is, and I credit the decades of fossil fuel disinformation for this sad state. But it is improving - we just need to double down and accelerate it. (I was relieved to hear that my daughter's friends in Vermont, near Middlebury, also are okay, but so, so many are not. Yikes.)
Yeah, New England used to be safe from most everything. When I was in kindergarten, in Belmont Mass, in 1959-60, one day the teacher told us there'd been a tornado in Worcester a few years earlier. I told her tornadoes didn't happen in Massachusetts, only in the midwest, and she insisted it had happened (I had recently gotten very interested in tornadoes). So I went home, told my brother--in third grade--and he wrote my teacher a note to the effect that in fact they didn't happen in Mass, and the teacher, bless her heart, let it stand. But tornadoes certainly were extremely rare in Mass back then.
Unfortunately climate change and reproductive rights are not relevant to them either, nor racism nor economic inequities - their primary concerns in life are for their own comfort and financial security, but their children may feel differently when they become adults and IF they become capable of independent thinking. I feel slightly more hopeful about the next generation.
I understand completely. The antidote to apathy is action. When I get frustrated by recent events, I write postcards to get-out-the vote.One of my favorite postcards is from an artist on Etsy that reads: Democracy blooms when you vote. The front has three beautiful watercolors of flowers. I try to write my message with colorful pens so they’re easy to read and positive. I sign them Thanks❤️Susan. Let’s make democracy fun again. Why not? Almost every body likes a good party. Let’s just make sure ours is the best one.
Barbara, also regrettably, I have two siblings that have turned against me for expressing Democratic views even though I’m registered Independent. This has been going on for two years and it’s hard to accept coming from a close religious family. I have no words of advise but I know I have more hope and joy in my life. It may never be resolved and I’m working at being at peace with it.
@mdtiedeman, While I expect you are replying to Janice, I would note, despite your siblings’ hostility towards you, the words that really caught my attention were you stating, “I know I have more hope and joy in my life.”
One topic I have gotten positive comments from Trump supporters is the gun issue. I tell ppl how upset I am about children and other unarmed innocent ppl getting killed with assault guns. I say I am not against guns or responsible gun owners. I have that they agree with me. At times I think I should be a psychologist.
There are members of my family who suffer with anxiety; and state that they absolutely cannot follow the news because of the negative impact on their mental health. I try to tell them the “bare bones” of the issues, but more often than not, I het cut off mis sentence. I convinced one family member of the importance of voting in 2020; she went to the polling location, had a panic attack and promptly left without voting. The constant drumbeat of negative, hateful, deceitful and overwhelming news is deeply affecting the mental health of Americans. I guess this is another tactic of authoritarian regimes.
Hi, Cathy. You identify an important dynamic: [Family members] state that they absolutely cannot follow the news because of the negative impact on their mental health.
But that is part of the plan of the GOP--to take such outrageous positions that we will look away in horror and disgust.
Cathy, While I empathize with your family members, I can’t help but think of the impact on theirs and everyone’s mental health were Republicans to gain control of both U.S. Houses and win the Presidency. Surely, this would precipitate a fatal weakening of American civic institutions and also a presidency conceivably eager and able to consolidate power, wherein the rule of law would be subjugated to an individual. Accordingly, we who can, stay in the fight.
“The constant drumbeat of negative, hateful, deceitful and overwhelming news...”. That ,like a virus, gets into your head --into your very being. If they can control your thoughts they control your vote. They know what they are doing.
Our Military, who gets a paycheck from the US government, watches Fox. That’s how they get their news!
Cathy, I respect your family’s struggles. Your sister’s anxiety sounds overwhelming. Figuring out how to support her and others can be the best way to get them to take action. I think sometimes giving people who care something to do versus watching the news feels much more productive. Also, it helps to connect with others do you don’t feel alone in it. There are times I stay clear of the news so I have the energy to fight the good fight.
To quote Jerry Carbone's post from HCR's comment section where he quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffe:
Or to quote the courageous German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer,who was executed in Germany during WWII, “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed- in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.”
And I add I believe that one of the laws of stupidity is that there are many more stupid people than we like to admit. Just observe the vast numbers of Americans that vote AGAINST their own best interests. Every time. They never learn. Explain that without using stupidity.
I appreciate your adding that quote here. I will be spending 3 of August's 4 weeks with various family members. One set is 'just too busy' to know what is going on and a SIL that voted for trump! The next group is in the 'all politicians are the same' camp, which they see as excusing them from having to follow any news at all. I lump them all in one camp, and I'm going to need this newsletter and commenters to keep me sane during the dog days of hot August afternoons.
Safe travels, Wendy. What might help is to pretend during stressful conversations that these people are characters in a movie or that they aren't your relatives. Detaching emotionally can be a wise move when authentic, intimate conversations aren't possible.
Thank you for the Bonhoeffer quotation. It provides insight into the mental framing of people who oppose democracy.
However, I am put off by Bonhoeffer’s characterization of people with whom he disagrees as *stupid*. Such characterization implies a sense of innate superiority (shared, I fear, by many American ‘progressives’).
Aside from being (in my opinion) unseemly, such a dismissive stance implies that such people cannot be won over. Remember Hillary Clinton and her ‘deplorables’ remark and Barak Obama’s opining about why he thought people had guns.
If someone says the grass is blue, but I say it’s green, I’m disagreeing with their perception not their opinion. They don’t have an opinion. These people who believe the lies they are constantly and repeatedly told (and I have to ask why repeat and repeat?) have a perception and a vision planted in them by people who are paid to do it.
Each of the extreme right ideologues are like individual terrariums. The seeds of outrage and fear and false patriotism are carefully planted in the fertile soil of their brains and hearts. Then comes the media to incite repeat, incite repeat, incite repeat, incite a repeat.
Now, all the terrariums grow the same plants. The Stupid Plants.
I know this is “academic”, but it may be worth adding: “blue” and “green” are defined *scientifically* by their wavelengths. They are not matters of “perception”, so long as eyesight is normal.
Of course, there’s blue-green, about which people might legitimately describe differently …
I think one reason is because many ppl do not get newspapers. Especially the young ppl. Also many are using streaming services and may not get the news. I am from Ohio. We have been out getting petitions for Women’s choice. Also have been instructing ppl why they need to oppose Issue I that wants to take away majority rule.
I think we need to use all forms of communication to reach different age groups and adjust our messaging to reach them.
Another problem is that people now rely on Social Media and T.V. news programs that reflect the values that they believe in...without looking at the Other Side of an issue, thought, proposed legislation, at all....whoever said "elections have consequences" was right on the mark.
Here's something people concerned about abortion rights can do that can make a huge difference. Sign up with Vote Forward, and send letters to Ohio voters to get out on 8/8/2023 and vote down a Republican effort to increase the threshold for state initiatives from 50% to 60%, a blatant effort to allow a minority of 40% to block what the majority clearly want. A state initiative to amend the Ohio state Constitution to preserve access to abortion services to all Ohio residents, is set to be voted on 11/7/2023. In the alternative there are post-card campaign and phone banks also working on this - pick one and help Ohio voters get what the majority wants. Don't let a motivated minority run the show. If public policy reflected public opinion, the U.S. would be a far more progressive place (gun regulation, abortion rights, safety net, access to health care, climate crisis action, etc., etc.).
TC, This is great news and great incentive to keep letter writing, postcarding, and phone banking. Exactly what I needed to hear to keep going. Thanks! Additionally, I would note that taking control of the Virginia State House and holding the Senate in November, 23 also is in full swing.
Gail, While I imagine, for good reason, Virginia residents are most fearful, I can confirm that Democrats, overall, are fearful both for Virginians and for the country-at-large losing Virginia as a reliable blue state.
Been writing postcards to Ohio voters recently and this is music to my ears! Yes!!!!! (Thanks to everyone here who writes postcards, sends money, sends texts and knocks on doors. Ya’ll are making a difference. Keep it up).
TY from Ohio. We have been writing post cards,canvassing,wearing buttons,etc. I was hoping other states would help us. I have helped other states like Georgia, Wisconsin,VA.
I get discouraged wondering if anyone would help us
I'm in California, have sent 120 letters to Ohio voters so far regarding the Aug. 8 vote, working on my next 20 ( votefwd.org) and will be doing so again for the November vote on the constitutional amendment.
What are the sources of these "reports" you mention? Or perhaps this is a troll comment suggesting that massive voter fraud is occurring, which virtually everyone knows is not the case, including those who are claiming that it is.
Good to know. That 500% figure I had not seen (the voting has just started) and I had my doubts. Thanks for clearing that up. That makes it great news. Also, in the interval since I posted that reply, I discovered who TC is, and am right now reading an interview of him about his screenwriting career. Cheers!
TC, I took the liberty of linking your post about the “ culture war amendments” to the defense bill. Easy reading summary with sponsors listed ! Let’s make some some calls .If you’re uncomfortable, call your Rep after hours and leave a message about this national embarassment.📞
Please help us in Ohio!! Issue 1 would implement minority rule AND make it virtually impossible to get citizen-led initiatives on the ballot in the future. The genesis of this illegal August election definitely was abortion. The effects of passage would go well beyond reproductive choice, though. Thank you!!
Ditto. This was funded by outside interest. Shifty, lying Republicans have crafted this so that any bills they propose will pass with majority vote. We have had previous governors and AGs from both parties testify that this bill is wrong
Thank you so much for this comment, Gary. I am writing letters with Vote Forward for this campaign and was so glad to see how specific and informative their template is this time. I heartily endorse your suggestion!
I would guess autocorrect struck again and that you meant to write "heartily" instead of hardly. I also have been sending letters through Vote Forward votefwd.org
You can change your post by using the Edit function in the 3 dots to the right of Reply.
Thanks for the encouragement! I write postcards and will continue to - next effort is to be sure I encourage my friends to write letters and postcards also😉
Vote Forward: http://www.votefwd.org/ I'm on my 7th batch of letters and expect I can get out another 40-60 by the end of the months, aiming for 200. Leftover 1st class stamps will be used in advance of the upcoming Ohio vote on the Constitution amendment to memorialize women's right to their personal reproductive choices.
I read earlier today that the Ohio legislature that put the measure on the ballot in August (the August election that the legislature had said earlier that it wouldn't hold because it would be too expensive) to change the required majority vote to approve a constitutional amendment from 50%+1 to 60%, had tried earlier this year to get the court to separate elements of the initiative petition into two separate petitions.
If the court had not rejected that earlier request to split the measure into two, it would have resulted in petitioners throwing out signatures already gathered and having to start over with two separate initiatives. Thankfully, the court pointed out that the subject of the initiative related to a single amendment to the state constitution therefore the measure could not reasonably be split into two measures. I remain stunned by the ways in which Republicans attempt to hornswoggle their electorate (Hornswoggle: Deprive of by deceit)
Replying to my own post - I just want to say that I am so encouraged by the many likes and the responses from motivated activists who are stepping up to make a difference in Ohio, and, no doubt, many, many other elections around the country. Kickin' it!
So Senator Tuberville is blackmailing the DOD by blocking thousands of promotions. I doubt that there is absolutely no way to work around his obstination, but for argument's sake let's assume there isn't.
Thus the DOD finds itself between a rock and a hard place. They can't give in to the demands of this evangelical zealot, on the other hand they can't put their servicewomen in harms way by deploying them to red states. So a reasonable response would be to announce that forthwith no female personnel would be deployed to red states, the ones already there would be relocated.
Additionally a significant scale down of personnel in military installations in red states should be announced as not only active servicewomen but also female family members of servicemen face serious threats in red states.
As a first state to introduce this policy Alabama comes to mind.
Military installations are a huge economic factor in the respective states and counties. Huge! And money talks. So I wouldn't be surprised if his MAGA followers would fairly rapidly be able to 'convince' the Senator to change his vote.
Well, there is a difference. It is your free choice to live in a red state which is withholding certain medical procedures for political and/or religious reasons. US servicemen and -women are deployed around the world, also in countries which lack adequate medical treatment possibilities. If necessary, they would be flown out at the government's expense. Nobody would tell them 'tough luck, live with the local standard, pay your own way if you expect better treatment.
As to harm's way: MAGA zealots in various red states are already trying to put obstacles in the way of pregnant women trying to leave their states.
Robert Hubbell gently but forcefully reminds his readers just how out of control the Supreme Court has become, both in its rulings and its unethical conduct. When the third Trump Justice was confirmed, I had a mostly negative reaction to calls for actions that would add Justices or impose tenure restrictions.
But having now lived through two terms of this renegade--and retrograde--court, I no longer feel the country can afford such high-minded principles. We must, next year, regain control of the House, as well as expand our slim margin in the Senate, if there is to be any hope of reining in these purely ideological, tendentious decisions that are chipping away at a carefully-constructed consensus about how our nation is to be governed. I increasingly agree with Samuel Johnson that we should all rather be hanged as a goat than as a sheep.
I would just like to say thank you, Robert, for taking the time to write your newsletter and working to keep us informed with fact-based information about the state of the nation. I am actually in the UK right now and have been visiting sites of Anglo-Saxon and Roman and medieval and Elizabethan strife, and while that historical perspective certainly does now condone complacency, it does underline the importance of continuing to fight for the values of democracy and individual freedoms, a struggle that is the hallmark of this young country’s history, too.
I removed the comment from someone is not a subscriber (paid or unpaid) to this newsletter. She has been writing / posting about environmental conspiracy theories (i.e., that "the government" is "engineering" the climate crisis by purposefully injecting chemicals into the atmosphere (with jet "contrails"). Allegedly to secure world domination -- or some other such nonsense.
I do not understand the practice of adding amendments to bills, in the US Congress, that have nothing to do with the main intention of the bill. Funding the military should take precedence over any other issue. Roll on 2024. The GOP is going to reap what it has sowen. I vote from abroad and mine will be Blue.
If anyone still nurses the fantasy that there are any "good" Republicans, any "sane moderates," the votes on the NDAA should drive a stake through that. ALL of the alleged "moderates," the "Biden district Republicans" voted in lockstep with the fascists. As Dan Goldman said of the seven Confederate scum who snuck through last fall in New York, "We're going to hang these votes around their necks till November 2024." Personally, I'd be fine with something else being wrapped around their necks.
Harry Truman was right back in 1948: "The only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies." The Republican Party is America's Enemy.
Jul 15, 2023·edited Jul 15, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
A former colleague is moving to Germany to take a DOD teaching job. She is doing this because she has 4 young children. They will live off base and send them to German schools because she and her husband realized they cannot afford US college tuition when the time comes. All of their children are currently under 6. This way their children will learn German and go to college for free there, saving them and their parents from incurring debt to do this. There they will learn of the USA history of racism, just as they will learn of the German history of racism. In fact, it seems one may soon have to go abroad in the military to get a good education if the MAGAts in the House have their way. I am counting on the Democrats in the Senate to shut this down. Many women stationed abroad also are living in countries that do not have good abortion laws, and the military should be advising them which countries nearby that they can go to if they need to get an abortion. I assume that the MAGAts probably don't want women abroad who are in the military to get their abortion travel paid for either. We are living in dystopian times and so many novels seem to be coming to life. It is truly scary. Again, I thank Prof. Kathleen Belew for cluing me in on the White Supremacist agenda, which is a global one, and I see it happening with more and more force. https://www.kathleenbelew.com/
While her book focuses on the US, she discusses the meetings of people from many countries here, to set a world domination agenda. There are bots, probably coming from Russia and allies, that are designed to trigger off all of the White Supremacists into a big war, starting with actions like being anti-immigrant (but selectively to certain countries), trying to now have control of our reproductive freedom, and the education of our children. I do not know why anyone Black or Latinx or Asian would stay in a Red state. One is too likely to be looking at the end of a shotgun as it blows up in one's face. I would not want to be Muslim, Jewish, or Gay in a Red state either, and I definitely would not want to be female in a Red state. The heatwave and storms are evidence that climate change is real, yet I read that Red State governments are turning down the climate aid for their people, content to let them die from extreme weather, and go into crippling debt without helping them. EVIL, EVIL, EVIL! One does not have to build crematoriums to exterminate people. The Republican agenda is a White Supremacists one. They are not differing from Hitler in content, perhaps only methods. There is nothing good or Christlike about that. Unfortunately the poor fools that give them money don't seem to understand that.
Hi Robert, thank you for your newsletter. I find it enlightening and very helpful. I live in Collier County, Florida. It’s a very red county controlled by a Republican MAGA grocery store owner, Alfie Oakes. Alfie took two bus loads of people to the January 6th attempted coup. Since then, he has bought two conservative county commissioners and three conservative school board members. Now Alfie and commissioner Chris Hall want to make Collier County a Sanctuary for the Bill of Rights. Using the anti-commandeering doctrine, their goal is to make Collier free from any federal law or executive order that they deem unconstitutional. I see this as the first step towards secession as their ultimate goal is to make Florida a Sanctuary for the Bill of Rights. Is there any hope for saving Collier County and Florida?
I am sorry that the citizens of Collier County have to put up with such bad-faith, lawless nonsense.
No, neither Collier County nor Florida can secede. The most likely outcome is that leaders who ignore and violate the law will be indicted and imprisoned.
Thank you so much for your comments! However, this ordinance was proposed in 2021 and the then two conservative commissioners said that the thought of being sued would not stop them from making Collier County a sanctuary county for the Bill of Rights.
I’m really sorry you’re going through this. I’m from California and I believe McCarthy ran a yogurt shop in his former life. We all need to find a way out of MAGA ville. Good luck. Check out Seniors Taking Action. We work with a lot of groups trying to vote out these nuts. I’ve learned a lot through them.❤️
I am not sure what Jack Smith is planning vis a vis indictments and trials, but he is a brilliant attorney and he is laying out a masterful case and STRATEGY. I do not have clarity on why I think this, but somehow I suspect that while everyone is ranting about Judge Cannon, the case in DC that he will bring, while legally more challenging, will proceed, I suspect, in a direct and expedient manner. Whatever I think about Merrick Garland being too namby pamby in his process, he knows brilliance and legal mastery when he sees it, and he knows it exists in Jack Smith, a very very different breed than Robert Muller. An aside about Garland. My husband has long said that Obama made a huge mistake in appointing him to SCOTUS. Had he made a bolder nomination, perhaps an African American woman, it would have been harder for McConnell to hold up the confirmation process. Appointing center, slightly left, Garland, who everyone liked, took away any personal arguments in this process. Everyone on both sides of the aisle liked Garland. And, this is consistent with Obama. Make safe choices when possible. Oh well, that is my rant for today. As always, thank you Robert.
The norm has been for unanimous consent for military promotions. Without unanimous consent, each promotion would have to be individually voted upon.
If Schumer were a strong leader, he would cancel the August recess and force the Senate to stay in Washington and vote 12 hours a day, every day, to approve as many officers as possible.
DC Democrats continually make the same strategic error. They believe that holding the high ground is sufficient. All voters see is gridlock, and they blame both parties.
The Unanimous Consent Rule enables confirmation of a slate of military promotions in a single action. Repealing it would require the Senate to hold hearings on and vote on each and every promotion. Why would you prefer that?
McConnell radically slashed the 2018 August recess to jam through confirmation of Trump judges.
Schumer lacks the killer instincts that made McConnell so effective. He also has to contend with Durbin (who has been running out the clock on SCOTUS accountability), and 2024 Senate Democrats who want to use the time to campaign (apparently unaware that action that impacts every state, ie military promotions, carries far more weight than campaign promises).
I blame McConnell for the Supreme Court and the MAGAs. He brags about killing any bills that would benefit the public. He refuses to cooperate with any Dem president. The Senate election should be about him and his agenda. He refused discussing infrastructure when PBO president
McConnell is a monster, but he used the tools he had to effect minority rule.
No one will remember the norms so beloved by elder Democratic Senators. They'll care about voter suppression, loss of abortion rights, an illiberal SCOTUS, loss of affirmative action, etc.
Perhaps Judge Ponsor should be invited to hold,a professional development day for the justices, who I hope are utterly ashamed at having to be (rightfully) schooled by a lower court.
Reflecting in current times, I blame the most Republican senators for unleashing a maniac devoted to ending our democracy, so that they can keep their Senate seat. My feeling on that one is mostly anger.
Re the Supreme Court, my feeling is sadness and profound disappointment. It will take decades to build trust again, if ever.
Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry's response in Thursday's hearing on climate change calling John Kerry a "grifter" was despicable. Set aside the fact that Perry, an unrelenting science denier, is deadly wrong on the issue, his words were a breach of congressional decorum and should have been stricken from the record.
Ambassador Kerry's service to our country in Vietnam, the United States Senate and the executive branch of our government is far more impressive than anything Perry has or will accomplish.
Oh wait, perhaps "grifter" is high praise coming from a Trump-loving MAGAite who worships the Great Grifter with impunity.
The ideological add ons to the Defense budget are exactly why we must end Republican control of Congress. Its crazed supporters will be happy with nothing less than the soul of our country, as if such a thing were achievable.
The politicization of women’s reproductive health in the military will negatively affect recruitment. Having missed recruitment goals for for the past several years, this is something the our military cannot afford.
In line with your comment, this is what Lucian Truscott wrote on Thursday:
"There was a lot of opposition when women were integrated into the military services in 1976. There was at least an equal amount of opposition to allowing gay soldiers to serve openly in the Army and other services when the end of don’t ask don’t tell was passed in 2010. And yet an American military without female or gay soldiers, sailors, airmen or airwomen or marines is not just unthinkable, but impossible. What would the Army, for example, do without the 84,000 women who serve in its ranks? What would they do without the gay and transgender soldiers who serve their country effectively and honorably as soldiers? All the services would be severely damaged if women and gay and transgender people were not allowed to serve. The word the military uses for it is “readiness.” The readiness of the military services to go to war if necessary for the country would be severely, even fatally, damaged. Lives would be lost if there were not enough troops in each of the services, and it is an undeniable fact in 2023 that this country would not be able to field an effective Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines without the women and gay and transgender people who currently serve.
Hi, all. We have one person posting comments with environmental conspiracy theories. I have removed her comments. Please email me if you see more such activity by replying to the newsletter to let me know. Please identify the user name of the person so I can remove the comments. Thanks!
"I’ve literally talked to people when phonebanking who didn’t know which party opposed abortion rights and which supported them." Jessica Craven's comment in today's Chop Wood, Carry Water newsletter stunned me. I know some people's lives are so complex and demanding that they can't follow the news closely, but what about skimming headlines? What about everyone else?
How can we pro-democracy activists overcome this appalling willful ignorance and indifference about attacks on our rights from our own elected leaders?
Of course it is way easier to not pay attention, to not care. But people's lives are at stake, as is our country's future. Imagine what people in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and other countries would say if they knew Americans were willing to toss their rights in the trash. Imagine how excited they would be if they could comment in public about their own country's leaders and politics without fear of imprisonment or death. Americans' willful apathy is shameful and a tragedy.
Laurie, I was also surprised at the lack of awareness about the importance of upcoming elections until I began to understand some of the "why". Our Louisville (KY) Democrats Volunteers were knocking doors last summer to register voters in a large apartment complex in an area of town that probably rarely sees a candidate and houses folks on the lower end of the economic scale. What I came to realize was that most of these people are the "working poor" with two and three jobs who are scrambling day to day just to make it. I doubt if many get a newspaper and most probably don't have time to scroll through online news. However, I will say, most were very polite, listened to the information we provided on early voting and some of the big issues (KY was voting on an amendment to our state constitution that would have outlawed abortion...we defeated it !) and we registered a fair number of new voters! On the last door I knocked that day I was able to check the website and register a voter who had previously been unable to vote due to a prior felony conviction! To see his face, to see some dignity restored, and to see a sense that he felt like he mattered/his vote mattered...gave me a deeper insight in to the complicating factors of why we see such abysmal turn out rates during elections. I will add, that when election time came, we received multiple calls from folks at that complex who were taking us up on our volunteer "Ride to the Polls" effort. It takes work to make a difference in these outcomes and we can all join in the effort.
Hi, JP. I think your sentence explains a lot of the reason for voters with low engagement: "What I came to realize was that most of these people are the "working poor" with two and three jobs who are scrambling day to day just to make it."
This is such an important, critical observation. This demographic is disengaged because our socioeconomic/political system is not designed for them. There is a war being waged on the poor by guess who? I believe there is a direct relationship between low economic status and voting.
Reliable, convenient transportation; easy access to healthy food; child care; medical bills (poor or no medical insurance and lack of access to decent, timely medical care); decent housing; poorly funded public schools; low pay/no benefits; lack of access to technology - political engagement is a luxury when struggling against so many hurdles.
Yes, yes, yes Paula! I like your sentence, "Political engagement is a luxury when struggling against so many hurdles". Thank you
Thank YOU, JP! You are democracy’s vanguard🙏🏽👍🏽
Robert, While you and JP have zeroed in on a critical problem, one remedy would be for Democrats to go make the argument in West Virginia, and also in the red parts of Mississippi and Alabama, and in other states and say, “This is what we have tried to deliver (noting Biden’s “Build Back Better”that aside from roads and bridges would have kept pandemic relief programs in place and expanded the social safety net for good) and these folks (every House and Senate Republican + Manchin & Sinema) voted against it.”
Consider the impact if everyday people across the country were asked, “Who do you want here—somebody who doesn’t want to expand the child tax credit or those who do?” “Doesn’t want to raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 or those who do?” Doesn’t want to provide affordable, quality childcare, universal Pre-K, and paid sick and family leave or those who do?” “Investments in housing? In eldercare? In climate? and the like” In a word, Democrats, with receipts in hand, have got to say, “America, when they didn’t care about you, we did.”
@JP, Thank you for your insightful and inspiring reply to Laurie. I imagine I’m not the only engaged citizen here who is intent on aspiring to the standard you have set.
Illness, caregiving and obligations have kept me from canvassing and doing what you are so heroically engaged in. THANK YOU! Canvassing provides benefits to the people you talk to as well as the canvasser- everyone learns and grows!
JP; Your post has put a spring in my step. Thank you!
LaurieOregon and JP,
Exactly!! I share your frustration with those whose lives are “so busy” they have scant knowledge of 2023-2024 high stakes elections, and refuse to participate, insisting they will refrain from grassroots activism.
They proverbially, lift “not a finger” to protect and save our Democracy.
These folks of my acquaintance are mostly, not all, affluent and privileged.
Grassroots colleagues say, leave them alone. all the grassroots are working hard.
Keep doing what we are all doing.
I am tempted to send copies of David Pepper’s new book “Saving Democracy,” might simply recommend, as the book is not inexpensive, except they ignore or shut me down.
Everyone must do what is comfortable for them!
The rest of us can -- hopefully -- balance and compensate.
Please kindly excuse/forgive the rant.
Also, today in her Substack Civil Discourse, Joyce Vance analyses in close detail the legal cases against you-know-who, and what to expect. To calm frightened, worried readers.
Congratulations, Robert Hubbell, on advance, for finishing the Swings project for your fortunate granddaughters.
Looking forward to your own legal analysis soon.
Off to write Postcards To Voters for Lorie Love, TN House, and Ohio Ballot Issue I.
Happy weekend everyone.
You inspire me. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your efforts, JP, and this informed posting
Thank you for this important work
Thank you JP for knocking on doors. Not necessary in Massachusetts. I should perhaps find a fairly close by state where it IS necessary for the next election and do so.
There was an article in Harvard Magazine about a decade ago, which gave the reader a clear and visceral sense of the trials and tribulations of people with low incomes--people whose energy and brain power goes almost completely to staying above the water line. I wish I had the URL, but I don't.
Don't assume Massachusetts is "safely" Dem. Moms for Liberty are busily infiltrating every corner of the country and will wreak havoc, beginning with school boards and ending up with total fascism. I seem to remember seeing a maps highlighting states where the organization has toeholds and Massachusetts is among those unfortunate states.
I also recently read that Massachusetts is one of the top states for white supremacist groups. That really surprised me.
I'm not terribly surprised. When Boston schools tried integrating their school system by busing, the ruckus, rants and rioting were heard all over New England.
Racists are very much alive and well in MA. Maine, too, I'm afraid.
We have elected Republicans before--our previous governor, Charlie Baker, is a Republican, and we've had a few other governors like that. I can't imagine us electing a MAGAt. Moms for Liberty aren't going to get more than a toe-hold here. (If any Massachusetts residents disagree with me, please respond!)
I’m thinking of what happened in NYS last November, too.
I think a lot more people in NYS are rural
I don’t disagree, but think we still need to be vigilant. Remember, Scott Brown was elected Senator not that many years ago running a slick campaign with a truck and a barn coat. Metro Boston is a very liberal area compared to much of the state. I can envision some communities outside of this area being fertile ground for MAGA extremists.
Scott Brown ran against Martha Coakley, who ran a truly crappy campaign, and I was not at all surprised he beat her. he lost in his re-election bid to Elizabeth Warren. I'm not worried about Mass.
I'm much more worried about how the Democratic Party is ditching the traditional base of working class Americans. We totally lost Iowa because we've gone too far left. Despite Fox' deserved reputation, this seems to me a fair article on the subject--and it's a quick read.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/how-onetime-battleground-state-heartland-america-turned-bright-red/.
My guess is that mass immigration played a major role. I remember all too well how--when my family lived in Paris for the year I was 12 (1965-66) the Parisians had a lot of antipathy towards Americans, because we were all over the place, and not always respectful of our hosts.
Mass immigration is worse for Americans, because the flood of cheap labor reduces American workers' wages, and takes jobs from them--which is a major reason why I voted against drivers' licenses for immigrants here illegally. This is also the reason why big biz GOPers want more immigration. Mark Z'berg's fwd.us is a pro-immigration website; the Koch organization has always been in favor of increasing immigration, etc. etc.
See: Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth, by Roy Beck. $14 on Amazon, but check your local bookstore. The book is thoroughly researched, yet highly readable, as the author was an environmental journalist for 30 years. Among much else, meat packers were all Blacks in 1980, earning good middle class wages thanks to decades of organizing. By that decade's end, they were almost all immigrants, toiling under atrocious conditions for barely above minimum wage.
JP, I agree with all who have said your comment is inspiring! Re canvassing folks who might be overlooked…I knocked on a lot of apartment doors during a recent school board run-off. Of COURSE these (too rarely contacted) voters care about their children’s school just as much as anyone else! Plus, their one vote truly CAN make the difference in a small, low turnout race. The “good” candidate won soundly, and I hope those voters realized how critical their vote was!
Love that you do/did this!
I sure hope the DNC,at all levels (state and federal) latch onto and drive these critical points you make.
Laurie, Regrettably, the combination of extremism and apathy, in my view, opens the door to authoritarianism. Accordingly, we must be grateful to Jessica for showing us the challenges that lie ahead if we are to preserve our constitutional republic.
Sadly, my 3 sisters are among those too apathetic to even pay attention to what's happening. They claim they're "too busy," and that all politicians are alike. I really can't even talk with them.
I, for one, am glad to have you with us, JustJanice!
Not sure which is worse, apathy or zealous "MAGAthy"! One of my 2 sisters is a MAGAt. The other is more libertarian but leans Republican. I will say the MAGAt one went on at length for what a great guy 45 is. My simple response was "He's just a grifter," which did manage to end the conversation!
Lynell, While your reply was not addressed to me, I, nonetheless, would note, that in my view, we all must pull the alarm and say, “Don’t be indifferent.” Though it might sound harsh, I believe, if one ignores the suffering MAGA already has inflicted on so many, one becomes an accomplice. In a word, by seemingly accepting it she or he is helping it along.
Sadly, my new favorite word: Complicit.
Karen, I must believe that our engagement, our energy, our caring, our work can have an impact on those who might otherwise remain indifferent.
Show is better than tell. Let’s all MARCH. Grab your indifferent friends’ hands and bring them along to protest the assault on our freedom while we affirm the keeping of our freedom.
Agree, Barbara Jo!
Janice, i am curious what their response would be if you discussed issues such as reproductive rights or climate change in a more personal way with them just to get them thinking how this does matter. I think that when we talk “politics’ it is a turn off and I get it, but reproductive rights and climate change hit everyone. Maybe there is an issue that is more personal to them that the MAGA threatens that you could discuss. It’s just a thought.
climate change is probably going to reach a lot of people in the near future. Floods and dangerously high temperatures are going to change the views of a lot of MAGAts. I have been spooked, lately, by what I'm reading, and by the fact that normally temperate Cape Cod has had some hot, unpleasant weather.
I live in Vermont - it’s been disastrous here with the flooding. So many people have lost so much.
We have a home on the tip of the cape- the warm water, seals, and sharks have caused such havoc.
My Gawd, we used to swim out in the harbor at night… most people don’t swim anymore.
I am in Vermont which typically feels pretty safe. Flooding has been disastrous. We are ok but lots of areas are devastated. No one is immune.
This is why education of the population is so crucial. Climate legislation would be a cakewalk if everyone had a working knowledge of even the simple fundamentals of climate science as explained by a trusted source. Sadly, many in this country still are of the misguided view that climate change will not affect them, even though it already is, and I credit the decades of fossil fuel disinformation for this sad state. But it is improving - we just need to double down and accelerate it. (I was relieved to hear that my daughter's friends in Vermont, near Middlebury, also are okay, but so, so many are not. Yikes.)
Yeah, New England used to be safe from most everything. When I was in kindergarten, in Belmont Mass, in 1959-60, one day the teacher told us there'd been a tornado in Worcester a few years earlier. I told her tornadoes didn't happen in Massachusetts, only in the midwest, and she insisted it had happened (I had recently gotten very interested in tornadoes). So I went home, told my brother--in third grade--and he wrote my teacher a note to the effect that in fact they didn't happen in Mass, and the teacher, bless her heart, let it stand. But tornadoes certainly were extremely rare in Mass back then.
Glad your daughter's friends were ok.
Unfortunately climate change and reproductive rights are not relevant to them either, nor racism nor economic inequities - their primary concerns in life are for their own comfort and financial security, but their children may feel differently when they become adults and IF they become capable of independent thinking. I feel slightly more hopeful about the next generation.
I understand completely. The antidote to apathy is action. When I get frustrated by recent events, I write postcards to get-out-the vote.One of my favorite postcards is from an artist on Etsy that reads: Democracy blooms when you vote. The front has three beautiful watercolors of flowers. I try to write my message with colorful pens so they’re easy to read and positive. I sign them Thanks❤️Susan. Let’s make democracy fun again. Why not? Almost every body likes a good party. Let’s just make sure ours is the best one.
Your message here is so inspiring. It made my heart sing!
Barbara, also regrettably, I have two siblings that have turned against me for expressing Democratic views even though I’m registered Independent. This has been going on for two years and it’s hard to accept coming from a close religious family. I have no words of advise but I know I have more hope and joy in my life. It may never be resolved and I’m working at being at peace with it.
@mdtiedeman, While I expect you are replying to Janice, I would note, despite your siblings’ hostility towards you, the words that really caught my attention were you stating, “I know I have more hope and joy in my life.”
One topic I have gotten positive comments from Trump supporters is the gun issue. I tell ppl how upset I am about children and other unarmed innocent ppl getting killed with assault guns. I say I am not against guns or responsible gun owners. I have that they agree with me. At times I think I should be a psychologist.
I am reminded of Stephen Covey and his books
There are members of my family who suffer with anxiety; and state that they absolutely cannot follow the news because of the negative impact on their mental health. I try to tell them the “bare bones” of the issues, but more often than not, I het cut off mis sentence. I convinced one family member of the importance of voting in 2020; she went to the polling location, had a panic attack and promptly left without voting. The constant drumbeat of negative, hateful, deceitful and overwhelming news is deeply affecting the mental health of Americans. I guess this is another tactic of authoritarian regimes.
Hi, Cathy. You identify an important dynamic: [Family members] state that they absolutely cannot follow the news because of the negative impact on their mental health.
But that is part of the plan of the GOP--to take such outrageous positions that we will look away in horror and disgust.
Cathy, While I empathize with your family members, I can’t help but think of the impact on theirs and everyone’s mental health were Republicans to gain control of both U.S. Houses and win the Presidency. Surely, this would precipitate a fatal weakening of American civic institutions and also a presidency conceivably eager and able to consolidate power, wherein the rule of law would be subjugated to an individual. Accordingly, we who can, stay in the fight.
“The constant drumbeat of negative, hateful, deceitful and overwhelming news...”. That ,like a virus, gets into your head --into your very being. If they can control your thoughts they control your vote. They know what they are doing.
Our Military, who gets a paycheck from the US government, watches Fox. That’s how they get their news!
And I keep asking . . . . WHY FOX?!?!?!
Me too. And WHO put it in place? I want to know who.
Perhaps voting by mail (in the privacy of one’s home) would address this problem/situation.
Cathy, I respect your family’s struggles. Your sister’s anxiety sounds overwhelming. Figuring out how to support her and others can be the best way to get them to take action. I think sometimes giving people who care something to do versus watching the news feels much more productive. Also, it helps to connect with others do you don’t feel alone in it. There are times I stay clear of the news so I have the energy to fight the good fight.
To quote Jerry Carbone's post from HCR's comment section where he quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffe:
Or to quote the courageous German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer,who was executed in Germany during WWII, “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed- in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.”
And I add I believe that one of the laws of stupidity is that there are many more stupid people than we like to admit. Just observe the vast numbers of Americans that vote AGAINST their own best interests. Every time. They never learn. Explain that without using stupidity.
I appreciate your adding that quote here. I will be spending 3 of August's 4 weeks with various family members. One set is 'just too busy' to know what is going on and a SIL that voted for trump! The next group is in the 'all politicians are the same' camp, which they see as excusing them from having to follow any news at all. I lump them all in one camp, and I'm going to need this newsletter and commenters to keep me sane during the dog days of hot August afternoons.
Safe travels, Wendy. What might help is to pretend during stressful conversations that these people are characters in a movie or that they aren't your relatives. Detaching emotionally can be a wise move when authentic, intimate conversations aren't possible.
Laurie, thank you for the positive encouragement.
Plus, Laurie, it helps you to actually hear them. It helps them to feel heard too. Very important.
Thank you for the Bonhoeffer quotation. It provides insight into the mental framing of people who oppose democracy.
However, I am put off by Bonhoeffer’s characterization of people with whom he disagrees as *stupid*. Such characterization implies a sense of innate superiority (shared, I fear, by many American ‘progressives’).
Aside from being (in my opinion) unseemly, such a dismissive stance implies that such people cannot be won over. Remember Hillary Clinton and her ‘deplorables’ remark and Barak Obama’s opining about why he thought people had guns.
If someone says the grass is blue, but I say it’s green, I’m disagreeing with their perception not their opinion. They don’t have an opinion. These people who believe the lies they are constantly and repeatedly told (and I have to ask why repeat and repeat?) have a perception and a vision planted in them by people who are paid to do it.
Each of the extreme right ideologues are like individual terrariums. The seeds of outrage and fear and false patriotism are carefully planted in the fertile soil of their brains and hearts. Then comes the media to incite repeat, incite repeat, incite repeat, incite a repeat.
Now, all the terrariums grow the same plants. The Stupid Plants.
I know this is “academic”, but it may be worth adding: “blue” and “green” are defined *scientifically* by their wavelengths. They are not matters of “perception”, so long as eyesight is normal.
Of course, there’s blue-green, about which people might legitimately describe differently …
If a child was raised to believe the green grass is blue, he perceives it to be blue.
Even when his friends keep saying, “No, it’s green!”
I think one reason is because many ppl do not get newspapers. Especially the young ppl. Also many are using streaming services and may not get the news. I am from Ohio. We have been out getting petitions for Women’s choice. Also have been instructing ppl why they need to oppose Issue I that wants to take away majority rule.
I think we need to use all forms of communication to reach different age groups and adjust our messaging to reach them.
Another problem is that people now rely on Social Media and T.V. news programs that reflect the values that they believe in...without looking at the Other Side of an issue, thought, proposed legislation, at all....whoever said "elections have consequences" was right on the mark.
Here's something people concerned about abortion rights can do that can make a huge difference. Sign up with Vote Forward, and send letters to Ohio voters to get out on 8/8/2023 and vote down a Republican effort to increase the threshold for state initiatives from 50% to 60%, a blatant effort to allow a minority of 40% to block what the majority clearly want. A state initiative to amend the Ohio state Constitution to preserve access to abortion services to all Ohio residents, is set to be voted on 11/7/2023. In the alternative there are post-card campaign and phone banks also working on this - pick one and help Ohio voters get what the majority wants. Don't let a motivated minority run the show. If public policy reflected public opinion, the U.S. would be a far more progressive place (gun regulation, abortion rights, safety net, access to health care, climate crisis action, etc., etc.).
Reports are with early voting starting this week in Ohio on this, that voting in Democratic precincts is up 500%.
TC, This is great news and great incentive to keep letter writing, postcarding, and phone banking. Exactly what I needed to hear to keep going. Thanks! Additionally, I would note that taking control of the Virginia State House and holding the Senate in November, 23 also is in full swing.
Thank you, Barbara. Virginia must remain Blue. Youngkin’s political aspirations make me fearful if the General Assembly were to turn red!
Gail, While I imagine, for good reason, Virginia residents are most fearful, I can confirm that Democrats, overall, are fearful both for Virginians and for the country-at-large losing Virginia as a reliable blue state.
Been writing postcards to Ohio voters recently and this is music to my ears! Yes!!!!! (Thanks to everyone here who writes postcards, sends money, sends texts and knocks on doors. Ya’ll are making a difference. Keep it up).
TY from Ohio. We have been writing post cards,canvassing,wearing buttons,etc. I was hoping other states would help us. I have helped other states like Georgia, Wisconsin,VA.
I get discouraged wondering if anyone would help us
This Cheesehead from WI felt good writing to Ohio!!
We are and we will continue.
Writing from Durham, NC, another gerrymandered state.
I'm in California, have sent 120 letters to Ohio voters so far regarding the Aug. 8 vote, working on my next 20 ( votefwd.org) and will be doing so again for the November vote on the constitutional amendment.
Great news ❤️❤️❤️Way to go, Buckeyes!
What are the sources of these "reports" you mention? Or perhaps this is a troll comment suggesting that massive voter fraud is occurring, which virtually everyone knows is not the case, including those who are claiming that it is.
TCinLA is a longtime reader and trustworthy source.
Good to know. That 500% figure I had not seen (the voting has just started) and I had my doubts. Thanks for clearing that up. That makes it great news. Also, in the interval since I posted that reply, I discovered who TC is, and am right now reading an interview of him about his screenwriting career. Cheers!
Come on over an join the crew at That's Another Fine Mess. :-)
TC, I took the liberty of linking your post about the “ culture war amendments” to the defense bill. Easy reading summary with sponsors listed ! Let’s make some some calls .If you’re uncomfortable, call your Rep after hours and leave a message about this national embarassment.📞
https://open.substack.com/pub/tcinla757/p/the-kulturkampf-continues?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
When TCinLA turns out one of his “That’s Another Fine Mess” newsletters, it always cuts to the chase. You’d likely find it energizing and sobering.
I am postcarding for Ohio in the lead up to August 8. My advice is keep it simple, keep it short. Always thank them for voting!
https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards
Yes! 50 postcards sent yesterday from this household.
Yay, Margie!
TY from Ohio
Thank you from Ohio. We appreciate your help
You're welcome, Charlotte. I'll take pride in the effort when Ohio secures the win!
Thank you, Gary. For writers who prefer postcards, postcardstovoters.org also has a Ohio campaign going on.
TY. I will check this out. Our local groups in Ohio have been doing post cards.
Please help us in Ohio!! Issue 1 would implement minority rule AND make it virtually impossible to get citizen-led initiatives on the ballot in the future. The genesis of this illegal August election definitely was abortion. The effects of passage would go well beyond reproductive choice, though. Thank you!!
Ditto. This was funded by outside interest. Shifty, lying Republicans have crafted this so that any bills they propose will pass with majority vote. We have had previous governors and AGs from both parties testify that this bill is wrong
Thank you so much for this comment, Gary. I am writing letters with Vote Forward for this campaign and was so glad to see how specific and informative their template is this time. I heartily endorse your suggestion!
I would guess autocorrect struck again and that you meant to write "heartily" instead of hardly. I also have been sending letters through Vote Forward votefwd.org
You can change your post by using the Edit function in the 3 dots to the right of Reply.
I’m with you on this one. I’ve been writing get-out-the-vote postcards for Ohio all summer.
TY from Ohio
Thanks for the encouragement! I write postcards and will continue to - next effort is to be sure I encourage my friends to write letters and postcards also😉
Vote Forward: http://www.votefwd.org/ I'm on my 7th batch of letters and expect I can get out another 40-60 by the end of the months, aiming for 200. Leftover 1st class stamps will be used in advance of the upcoming Ohio vote on the Constitution amendment to memorialize women's right to their personal reproductive choices.
I read earlier today that the Ohio legislature that put the measure on the ballot in August (the August election that the legislature had said earlier that it wouldn't hold because it would be too expensive) to change the required majority vote to approve a constitutional amendment from 50%+1 to 60%, had tried earlier this year to get the court to separate elements of the initiative petition into two separate petitions.
If the court had not rejected that earlier request to split the measure into two, it would have resulted in petitioners throwing out signatures already gathered and having to start over with two separate initiatives. Thankfully, the court pointed out that the subject of the initiative related to a single amendment to the state constitution therefore the measure could not reasonably be split into two measures. I remain stunned by the ways in which Republicans attempt to hornswoggle their electorate (Hornswoggle: Deprive of by deceit)
Replying to my own post - I just want to say that I am so encouraged by the many likes and the responses from motivated activists who are stepping up to make a difference in Ohio, and, no doubt, many, many other elections around the country. Kickin' it!
Amen!!
So Senator Tuberville is blackmailing the DOD by blocking thousands of promotions. I doubt that there is absolutely no way to work around his obstination, but for argument's sake let's assume there isn't.
Thus the DOD finds itself between a rock and a hard place. They can't give in to the demands of this evangelical zealot, on the other hand they can't put their servicewomen in harms way by deploying them to red states. So a reasonable response would be to announce that forthwith no female personnel would be deployed to red states, the ones already there would be relocated.
Additionally a significant scale down of personnel in military installations in red states should be announced as not only active servicewomen but also female family members of servicemen face serious threats in red states.
As a first state to introduce this policy Alabama comes to mind.
Military installations are a huge economic factor in the respective states and counties. Huge! And money talks. So I wouldn't be surprised if his MAGA followers would fairly rapidly be able to 'convince' the Senator to change his vote.
what an interesting scenario you bring forth--thank you- definitely a half full glass moment!
What a great idea. 🙏
Well, there is a difference. It is your free choice to live in a red state which is withholding certain medical procedures for political and/or religious reasons. US servicemen and -women are deployed around the world, also in countries which lack adequate medical treatment possibilities. If necessary, they would be flown out at the government's expense. Nobody would tell them 'tough luck, live with the local standard, pay your own way if you expect better treatment.
As to harm's way: MAGA zealots in various red states are already trying to put obstacles in the way of pregnant women trying to leave their states.
MAGA maggots should crawl back under the rock from which they came.
Robert Hubbell gently but forcefully reminds his readers just how out of control the Supreme Court has become, both in its rulings and its unethical conduct. When the third Trump Justice was confirmed, I had a mostly negative reaction to calls for actions that would add Justices or impose tenure restrictions.
But having now lived through two terms of this renegade--and retrograde--court, I no longer feel the country can afford such high-minded principles. We must, next year, regain control of the House, as well as expand our slim margin in the Senate, if there is to be any hope of reining in these purely ideological, tendentious decisions that are chipping away at a carefully-constructed consensus about how our nation is to be governed. I increasingly agree with Samuel Johnson that we should all rather be hanged as a goat than as a sheep.
Agree.
I would just like to say thank you, Robert, for taking the time to write your newsletter and working to keep us informed with fact-based information about the state of the nation. I am actually in the UK right now and have been visiting sites of Anglo-Saxon and Roman and medieval and Elizabethan strife, and while that historical perspective certainly does now condone complacency, it does underline the importance of continuing to fight for the values of democracy and individual freedoms, a struggle that is the hallmark of this young country’s history, too.
Example?
I removed the comment from someone is not a subscriber (paid or unpaid) to this newsletter. She has been writing / posting about environmental conspiracy theories (i.e., that "the government" is "engineering" the climate crisis by purposefully injecting chemicals into the atmosphere (with jet "contrails"). Allegedly to secure world domination -- or some other such nonsense.
Joyce Vance posted a Tweet today from "No Lie With Brian Tyler Cohen":
"Fundraising numbers from April-June:
Donald Trump 35M
Ron DeSantis 20M
Nikki Haley 7M
Tim Scott 6M
Mike Pence 1M
Joe Biden 72M
And 97% of Joe Biden's donations were small grassroots donations"
I suggest that this is a more accurate representation of polling efforts than that which we are subjected to in the media.
Have a nice weekend ya'll. Looking forward to seeing Robert's finished swing set project!
I do not understand the practice of adding amendments to bills, in the US Congress, that have nothing to do with the main intention of the bill. Funding the military should take precedence over any other issue. Roll on 2024. The GOP is going to reap what it has sowen. I vote from abroad and mine will be Blue.
If anyone still nurses the fantasy that there are any "good" Republicans, any "sane moderates," the votes on the NDAA should drive a stake through that. ALL of the alleged "moderates," the "Biden district Republicans" voted in lockstep with the fascists. As Dan Goldman said of the seven Confederate scum who snuck through last fall in New York, "We're going to hang these votes around their necks till November 2024." Personally, I'd be fine with something else being wrapped around their necks.
Harry Truman was right back in 1948: "The only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies." The Republican Party is America's Enemy.
A former colleague is moving to Germany to take a DOD teaching job. She is doing this because she has 4 young children. They will live off base and send them to German schools because she and her husband realized they cannot afford US college tuition when the time comes. All of their children are currently under 6. This way their children will learn German and go to college for free there, saving them and their parents from incurring debt to do this. There they will learn of the USA history of racism, just as they will learn of the German history of racism. In fact, it seems one may soon have to go abroad in the military to get a good education if the MAGAts in the House have their way. I am counting on the Democrats in the Senate to shut this down. Many women stationed abroad also are living in countries that do not have good abortion laws, and the military should be advising them which countries nearby that they can go to if they need to get an abortion. I assume that the MAGAts probably don't want women abroad who are in the military to get their abortion travel paid for either. We are living in dystopian times and so many novels seem to be coming to life. It is truly scary. Again, I thank Prof. Kathleen Belew for cluing me in on the White Supremacist agenda, which is a global one, and I see it happening with more and more force. https://www.kathleenbelew.com/
While her book focuses on the US, she discusses the meetings of people from many countries here, to set a world domination agenda. There are bots, probably coming from Russia and allies, that are designed to trigger off all of the White Supremacists into a big war, starting with actions like being anti-immigrant (but selectively to certain countries), trying to now have control of our reproductive freedom, and the education of our children. I do not know why anyone Black or Latinx or Asian would stay in a Red state. One is too likely to be looking at the end of a shotgun as it blows up in one's face. I would not want to be Muslim, Jewish, or Gay in a Red state either, and I definitely would not want to be female in a Red state. The heatwave and storms are evidence that climate change is real, yet I read that Red State governments are turning down the climate aid for their people, content to let them die from extreme weather, and go into crippling debt without helping them. EVIL, EVIL, EVIL! One does not have to build crematoriums to exterminate people. The Republican agenda is a White Supremacists one. They are not differing from Hitler in content, perhaps only methods. There is nothing good or Christlike about that. Unfortunately the poor fools that give them money don't seem to understand that.
I’ve lived in Europe. And if it weren’t for my boomer parents who are still in great shape, even living in NYC, I’d be moving back.
The Manchurian Candidate
Harry Truman certainly had a way with words. The MAGA maggots really bite, don’t they?😊
There’s never been any such thing. The whole “socially liberal, fiscally conservative” has always been BS.
So true.
IMO and experience, you're either for humanity or you're not.
I say, “Get their arses, Dan Goldman!”
Agree. The moderates are threatened with primaries.
Hi Robert, thank you for your newsletter. I find it enlightening and very helpful. I live in Collier County, Florida. It’s a very red county controlled by a Republican MAGA grocery store owner, Alfie Oakes. Alfie took two bus loads of people to the January 6th attempted coup. Since then, he has bought two conservative county commissioners and three conservative school board members. Now Alfie and commissioner Chris Hall want to make Collier County a Sanctuary for the Bill of Rights. Using the anti-commandeering doctrine, their goal is to make Collier free from any federal law or executive order that they deem unconstitutional. I see this as the first step towards secession as their ultimate goal is to make Florida a Sanctuary for the Bill of Rights. Is there any hope for saving Collier County and Florida?
I am sorry that the citizens of Collier County have to put up with such bad-faith, lawless nonsense.
No, neither Collier County nor Florida can secede. The most likely outcome is that leaders who ignore and violate the law will be indicted and imprisoned.
Thank you so much for your comments! However, this ordinance was proposed in 2021 and the then two conservative commissioners said that the thought of being sued would not stop them from making Collier County a sanctuary county for the Bill of Rights.
Have these people actually read and absorbed the Bill of Rights?
I too live in Collier County. We must continue to speak up and be on the record to oppose the actions of these misguided people.
Jane, our local GOP wants to ban Covid vaccines/ “ biological weapons”. Apparently their resolution mirrors the one in Lee County.
Vaccines *are* biological weapons
– weapons for promoting public health!
I’m really sorry you’re going through this. I’m from California and I believe McCarthy ran a yogurt shop in his former life. We all need to find a way out of MAGA ville. Good luck. Check out Seniors Taking Action. We work with a lot of groups trying to vote out these nuts. I’ve learned a lot through them.❤️
I am not sure what Jack Smith is planning vis a vis indictments and trials, but he is a brilliant attorney and he is laying out a masterful case and STRATEGY. I do not have clarity on why I think this, but somehow I suspect that while everyone is ranting about Judge Cannon, the case in DC that he will bring, while legally more challenging, will proceed, I suspect, in a direct and expedient manner. Whatever I think about Merrick Garland being too namby pamby in his process, he knows brilliance and legal mastery when he sees it, and he knows it exists in Jack Smith, a very very different breed than Robert Muller. An aside about Garland. My husband has long said that Obama made a huge mistake in appointing him to SCOTUS. Had he made a bolder nomination, perhaps an African American woman, it would have been harder for McConnell to hold up the confirmation process. Appointing center, slightly left, Garland, who everyone liked, took away any personal arguments in this process. Everyone on both sides of the aisle liked Garland. And, this is consistent with Obama. Make safe choices when possible. Oh well, that is my rant for today. As always, thank you Robert.
Can someone explain how a single senator (Tommy Tuberville) can hold the military hostage. Don't committees and subcommittees vote on DoD issues?
The norm has been for unanimous consent for military promotions. Without unanimous consent, each promotion would have to be individually voted upon.
If Schumer were a strong leader, he would cancel the August recess and force the Senate to stay in Washington and vote 12 hours a day, every day, to approve as many officers as possible.
DC Democrats continually make the same strategic error. They believe that holding the high ground is sufficient. All voters see is gridlock, and they blame both parties.
very interesting...maybe we should all write/call schumer to do this...
Alternatively, call to demand repeal of the unanimous consent rule, which serves no clear good purpose.
Long ago, the Senate ceased to be a gentlemen’s/women’s club.
The Unanimous Consent Rule enables confirmation of a slate of military promotions in a single action. Repealing it would require the Senate to hold hearings on and vote on each and every promotion. Why would you prefer that?
The rule could be revised. The exact procedure to neutralize one Senator could be done.
McConnell radically slashed the 2018 August recess to jam through confirmation of Trump judges.
Schumer lacks the killer instincts that made McConnell so effective. He also has to contend with Durbin (who has been running out the clock on SCOTUS accountability), and 2024 Senate Democrats who want to use the time to campaign (apparently unaware that action that impacts every state, ie military promotions, carries far more weight than campaign promises).
Still, every bit of pressure helps.
I blame McConnell for the Supreme Court and the MAGAs. He brags about killing any bills that would benefit the public. He refuses to cooperate with any Dem president. The Senate election should be about him and his agenda. He refused discussing infrastructure when PBO president
McConnell is a monster, but he used the tools he had to effect minority rule.
No one will remember the norms so beloved by elder Democratic Senators. They'll care about voter suppression, loss of abortion rights, an illiberal SCOTUS, loss of affirmative action, etc.
What would Pelosi have done?
She would have acted quickly.
Thank you for your question. I’m hoping for an answer too
Thank you Andrew. I have this question as well and figured I was missing something, as this does not make sense.
Perhaps Judge Ponsor should be invited to hold,a professional development day for the justices, who I hope are utterly ashamed at having to be (rightfully) schooled by a lower court.
Reflecting in current times, I blame the most Republican senators for unleashing a maniac devoted to ending our democracy, so that they can keep their Senate seat. My feeling on that one is mostly anger.
Re the Supreme Court, my feeling is sadness and profound disappointment. It will take decades to build trust again, if ever.
Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry's response in Thursday's hearing on climate change calling John Kerry a "grifter" was despicable. Set aside the fact that Perry, an unrelenting science denier, is deadly wrong on the issue, his words were a breach of congressional decorum and should have been stricken from the record.
Ambassador Kerry's service to our country in Vietnam, the United States Senate and the executive branch of our government is far more impressive than anything Perry has or will accomplish.
Oh wait, perhaps "grifter" is high praise coming from a Trump-loving MAGAite who worships the Great Grifter with impunity.
The ideological add ons to the Defense budget are exactly why we must end Republican control of Congress. Its crazed supporters will be happy with nothing less than the soul of our country, as if such a thing were achievable.
The politicization of women’s reproductive health in the military will negatively affect recruitment. Having missed recruitment goals for for the past several years, this is something the our military cannot afford.
In line with your comment, this is what Lucian Truscott wrote on Thursday:
"There was a lot of opposition when women were integrated into the military services in 1976. There was at least an equal amount of opposition to allowing gay soldiers to serve openly in the Army and other services when the end of don’t ask don’t tell was passed in 2010. And yet an American military without female or gay soldiers, sailors, airmen or airwomen or marines is not just unthinkable, but impossible. What would the Army, for example, do without the 84,000 women who serve in its ranks? What would they do without the gay and transgender soldiers who serve their country effectively and honorably as soldiers? All the services would be severely damaged if women and gay and transgender people were not allowed to serve. The word the military uses for it is “readiness.” The readiness of the military services to go to war if necessary for the country would be severely, even fatally, damaged. Lives would be lost if there were not enough troops in each of the services, and it is an undeniable fact in 2023 that this country would not be able to field an effective Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines without the women and gay and transgender people who currently serve.
And yet, what did House Republicans do today? They sent a message to women and to transgender people serving in the military that they don’t matter to this country. Women are not worth as much as men, and transgender people aren’t worth as much, either. If you don’t think that civilian women and transgender people won’t get that message, you’re wrong." https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/house-republicans-vote-to-damage?publication_id=255301&post_id=134789107&isFreemail=false
We’re gotten that message for years. It’s time for theMAGA bunch to get the message that those days are over .
Nor should it have to.