I am going to a language school. Three of the women in my class are from Ukraine. They came here to Spain when the war began. Yesterday (Monday) they were so fearful for family and friends in their neighborhoods. When I walk to school, I pass elementary schools brimming with children and sidewalks teeming with fathers and mothers walking their little ones to school. And I think constantly that once upon a time these were Ukrainian families in Ukrainian neighborhoods in a peace-filled Ukraine that one day because of the ego of one man became a nightmare. In a flash. In a brief moment. And how it can happen anywhere at any time. Even in the U.S. where a different kind - but no less dangerous - attack is happening through missiles of misinformation being fed to the ignorant. And my god. The legions of ignorant who have the right to vote in this country. For those who haven't seen this. It is so powerful. So true. and must be shared.
Unlike the "good" Republicans, who say nothing about the racism and antisemitism of too many in their ranks Democrats take the time to clean house immediately, as was the case today in Los Angeles, as reported tonight in Axios:
"Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez resigned from her position Monday after she and two other councilmembers were recorded making racist remarks.
"Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera submitted his resignation on Monday night over his involvement in the racist conversation, per the Los Angeles Times.
"Martinez referred to a white councilmember's child, who is Black, as "ese changuito," or that little monkey, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, according to the leaked audio of a nearly year-old conversation.
"Martinez also reportedly said that the councilor, Mike Bonin, handled his son as though he were an "accessory." She also referred to Bonin as a "little b---h."
"Herrera suggested that Bonin puts his young son out in public like a lawn jockey, the racist statues used to invoke the antebellum South.
"Martinez also is heard making fun of Indigenous people from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, who have migrated to Los Angeles. She referred to them as "short little dark people" and called them "ugly."
"The secretly recorded conversation revolved around the councilors' frustration that the growing Latino population wasn't resulting in more Latino council districts and concerns Black leaders were keeping some Black-majority ones.
In a statement announcing her resignation, Martinez asked for forgiveness "from my colleagues and from the residents of this city that I love so much... In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will give me the opportunity to make amends. Therefore, effective immediately I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council," the statement continued.
Whether one takes Martinez' statement as sincere or at least an attempt to say the right thing, the statement is light years better than anything said by any Republican in the past 24 hours since the events in Minden NV and Mesa AZ.
We Democrats are obviously not "free of the taint," but it's not considered something to be complicit in. Rather than having leaders support the transgressors for "honesty" or other phoney baloney, every
Democratic leader came out and said there was only one course of action to be taken, which is what Martinez did.
The Republican Party embraces and promotes its authoritarian cult of violence, lawlessness, and anti-Americanism. The GOP's contempt for the masses becomes more evident every day, as right-wing extremists, including GOP leadership, Fox News personalities, and assorted billionaires, cynically spread hate, fear, and grievance. They assume we're all too dumb or indifferent to confront their lies with truth - or they think we're as cynical and corrupt as they are. I can't begin to imagine the emptiness in their lives and psyches that they attempt to fill with power.
In the meantime, most of us are wearing from years of Trump deception, Covid, Putin, the climate crisis, and the anti-democratic leanings of a good-sized chunk of Americans and the Supreme Court. As Robert says, we must stay the course, we must keep protesting, we must defend our country and constitution with passion and persistence. We must be voters, letter-writers, and democracy activists.
I take heart from what Jessica Craven said in her October 6 Chop Wood, Carry Water:
"Darkness marches on, but so does illumination. Hatred marches on, but so does love. Greed marches on. So does charity.
Fascists march on.
We will march on also.
Evil doesn’t get extinguished—it just gets beaten back and beaten down over and over and over again.
Right now it’s our turn to do the beating.
If we do our jobs well, future generations will be able to take their turns more ably. That’s why we’re here; that’s why we act."
The Russian air strikes on civilian targets would have been impossible to organize overnight. It is likely that the reality is even worse than "retaliation": Putin was already planning the attacks.
We need reinforcements. We may not be able to do this alone. Democracy is on the ballot. Decency is on the ballot. Anyone who listens to the hate speech and the vitriol knows that. Anyone who listens to the speeches of the likes of Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano know that they want to eliminate the democracy that we know and have defended. So, in addition to the thousands of us who are giving it our all, why haven't the Republicans who are no longer in office saying something? Where are George and Jeb Bush? Where is Jeff Flake? There are so many more that have gone into turtle mode. Also.....why aren't the prominent Democrats front and center? Looking at you, Jamie Harrison. We need everyone in this coalition and, sadly, some of them are MIA.
Silence is indeed complicty. The need to speak up about the racism and hate speech of Republicans of bad conscience reminds me the famous poem "First They Came" by Pastor Martin Niemöller https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/. Meanwhile Dr. Oz, Republican candidate for senator in Pennsylvania, gave a fund-raising speech in front of Hitler's car.
Robert, my friend: This is among your best letters. Truly outstanding. I agree with everything you say, but I find it difficult to avoid being despondent about the state of our world.
This is the proper response to Kanye. Jamie Lee Curtis (whose father, Tony Curtis, was Jewish) wasn’t having any of it. Starts at about 2:30. https://youtu.be/nxDw2pMdvhA
Why Trump never speaks out about anti-Semitism is beyond me. His daughter converted to Judaism. His grandkids are Jewish. His grandkids go to a private Jewish day school. I happen to know one of the teachers. The language of hate is growing. And not to give a free pass to the Left...where is Bernie?
As TCinLA said: "There are no "innocent" Republicans." Not now.
If there is to be an America that has integrity - a desire for truth, fairness and justice - it will need to come from a "center right" movement. We on the left or center left or disgusted middle will have limited impact. We can try to "Hodor"! But we can't win alone.
There must be a revolt from within - those who considered themselves Republicans and Independents who are repelled by the speech and behavior of TFG, McCarthy, Tuberville and yes, Kanye and Musk. There are millions of folks who have stepped back and just watched all this like a TV series.
Maybe there is some hope when an evangelical decides to stand tall and remind his parishioners what truth and justice really is.
Curious...Why is no one commenting on the impact on voting in FLA. as a result of the hurricane? Seems like displaced, disillusioned people may forgo the ballot box?
We "must lead with touts of Biden's accomplishments in the first two years" is so essential and so missing. We no longer discuss content, ideas, plans, data just the ballparkscore of who is ahead. We will lose if we don't talk about issues and compare the two parties plans. Vote on the content of what would happen if each candidate were elected. Argh. It is all about money, sensationalism, and fear. It just has to change and it us up to us.
"We must be neither silent nor afraid but must instead raise our voices in righteous indignation and condemnation. The targets of the GOP’s hate speech are looking nervously to see who will rise to their defense. That must be us."
Good morning, Robert and all. I am so in agreement with this. We find ourselves once again in a crisis, as President Biden calls it, for the soul of America. And, for myself, a crisis for my own soul. Anti-Semitism is the foundational prejudice of western civilization. It's always there and it always surfaces in the wake of racism and xenophobia aimed at any group--Mexicans at the border, members of the LGBTQ community, African-Americans.
Any of our thousand and one ways of targeting groups of people brings out anti-semitism.
It's been a long time since I could get out there in the world and march, demonstrate, or make a noise for the good. There are many grand people, just on this newsletter who are doing all that like pros, but what I have realized is that, as an echo of your wonderful call to action today, I can call this terrible violence to the spirit for what it is. I have had the experience just this year of two vey good friends making anti-semitic remarks in my living room. These weren't aimed at me. I'm a cradle Episcopalian. They were just the kind of casual, "acceptable" remarks that are just subtle enough that it's possible to cringe and let therm go. I think of them as "cocktail party anti-semitism."
I stop it when I hear it with something like, "I don't let that kind of talk happen in my house."
Because I can't NOT do that and because I have to believe that the battle for fundamental good is won by one of us at a time doing one thing at a time and if we do it often and with enough love we can change the world.
We are down to the last few weeks till the midterms. The bottom line is the races are very close, closer than they should be. Republicans will out spend Democrats because of their dark money and foreign contributors. The way Democrats can win is to focus on those races where with a little more effort and contributions it will make the difference. We need to be totally focused on the Senate seats in Arizona Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina and Wisconsin. These are winnable seats if we put in the extra effort. These states and candidates need feet on the ground virtually. Each of these states have several interesting things in common. They have a large number of college students in large urban areas, the voter registration of women has significantly increased and most importantly the Republican candidates all have been endorsed by Trump and are election and abortion deniers and are less qualified to be a US Senator on multiple levels. Robert has identified many organizations in each state you can contact and please put helping to win these states on top of your “ To Do” list today.
I applaud today's comments about the war in Ukraine. The strength and resilience of the Ukranian people must be recognized and supported by the US, NATO, and the EU. The West must continue to provide high technology weapons systems to Ukraine. After all, Ukraine is fighting alone for the principles of freedom and democracy that we say we cherish. The Ukranian fight should be an example to the US people who are now, or should be, fighting against the anti-democratic elements (MAGA) in our own country.
I am going to a language school. Three of the women in my class are from Ukraine. They came here to Spain when the war began. Yesterday (Monday) they were so fearful for family and friends in their neighborhoods. When I walk to school, I pass elementary schools brimming with children and sidewalks teeming with fathers and mothers walking their little ones to school. And I think constantly that once upon a time these were Ukrainian families in Ukrainian neighborhoods in a peace-filled Ukraine that one day because of the ego of one man became a nightmare. In a flash. In a brief moment. And how it can happen anywhere at any time. Even in the U.S. where a different kind - but no less dangerous - attack is happening through missiles of misinformation being fed to the ignorant. And my god. The legions of ignorant who have the right to vote in this country. For those who haven't seen this. It is so powerful. So true. and must be shared.
https://t.co/JSmch1n6WE
Unlike the "good" Republicans, who say nothing about the racism and antisemitism of too many in their ranks Democrats take the time to clean house immediately, as was the case today in Los Angeles, as reported tonight in Axios:
"Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez resigned from her position Monday after she and two other councilmembers were recorded making racist remarks.
"Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera submitted his resignation on Monday night over his involvement in the racist conversation, per the Los Angeles Times.
"Martinez referred to a white councilmember's child, who is Black, as "ese changuito," or that little monkey, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, according to the leaked audio of a nearly year-old conversation.
"Martinez also reportedly said that the councilor, Mike Bonin, handled his son as though he were an "accessory." She also referred to Bonin as a "little b---h."
"Herrera suggested that Bonin puts his young son out in public like a lawn jockey, the racist statues used to invoke the antebellum South.
"Martinez also is heard making fun of Indigenous people from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, who have migrated to Los Angeles. She referred to them as "short little dark people" and called them "ugly."
"The secretly recorded conversation revolved around the councilors' frustration that the growing Latino population wasn't resulting in more Latino council districts and concerns Black leaders were keeping some Black-majority ones.
In a statement announcing her resignation, Martinez asked for forgiveness "from my colleagues and from the residents of this city that I love so much... In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will give me the opportunity to make amends. Therefore, effective immediately I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council," the statement continued.
Whether one takes Martinez' statement as sincere or at least an attempt to say the right thing, the statement is light years better than anything said by any Republican in the past 24 hours since the events in Minden NV and Mesa AZ.
We Democrats are obviously not "free of the taint," but it's not considered something to be complicit in. Rather than having leaders support the transgressors for "honesty" or other phoney baloney, every
Democratic leader came out and said there was only one course of action to be taken, which is what Martinez did.
There are no "innocent" Republicans.
The Republican Party embraces and promotes its authoritarian cult of violence, lawlessness, and anti-Americanism. The GOP's contempt for the masses becomes more evident every day, as right-wing extremists, including GOP leadership, Fox News personalities, and assorted billionaires, cynically spread hate, fear, and grievance. They assume we're all too dumb or indifferent to confront their lies with truth - or they think we're as cynical and corrupt as they are. I can't begin to imagine the emptiness in their lives and psyches that they attempt to fill with power.
In the meantime, most of us are wearing from years of Trump deception, Covid, Putin, the climate crisis, and the anti-democratic leanings of a good-sized chunk of Americans and the Supreme Court. As Robert says, we must stay the course, we must keep protesting, we must defend our country and constitution with passion and persistence. We must be voters, letter-writers, and democracy activists.
I take heart from what Jessica Craven said in her October 6 Chop Wood, Carry Water:
"Darkness marches on, but so does illumination. Hatred marches on, but so does love. Greed marches on. So does charity.
Fascists march on.
We will march on also.
Evil doesn’t get extinguished—it just gets beaten back and beaten down over and over and over again.
Right now it’s our turn to do the beating.
If we do our jobs well, future generations will be able to take their turns more ably. That’s why we’re here; that’s why we act."
The Russian air strikes on civilian targets would have been impossible to organize overnight. It is likely that the reality is even worse than "retaliation": Putin was already planning the attacks.
There are no words to express my contempt for Kevin McCarthy.
We need reinforcements. We may not be able to do this alone. Democracy is on the ballot. Decency is on the ballot. Anyone who listens to the hate speech and the vitriol knows that. Anyone who listens to the speeches of the likes of Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano know that they want to eliminate the democracy that we know and have defended. So, in addition to the thousands of us who are giving it our all, why haven't the Republicans who are no longer in office saying something? Where are George and Jeb Bush? Where is Jeff Flake? There are so many more that have gone into turtle mode. Also.....why aren't the prominent Democrats front and center? Looking at you, Jamie Harrison. We need everyone in this coalition and, sadly, some of them are MIA.
Silence is indeed complicty. The need to speak up about the racism and hate speech of Republicans of bad conscience reminds me the famous poem "First They Came" by Pastor Martin Niemöller https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/. Meanwhile Dr. Oz, Republican candidate for senator in Pennsylvania, gave a fund-raising speech in front of Hitler's car.
Robert, my friend: This is among your best letters. Truly outstanding. I agree with everything you say, but I find it difficult to avoid being despondent about the state of our world.
This is the proper response to Kanye. Jamie Lee Curtis (whose father, Tony Curtis, was Jewish) wasn’t having any of it. Starts at about 2:30. https://youtu.be/nxDw2pMdvhA
Why Trump never speaks out about anti-Semitism is beyond me. His daughter converted to Judaism. His grandkids are Jewish. His grandkids go to a private Jewish day school. I happen to know one of the teachers. The language of hate is growing. And not to give a free pass to the Left...where is Bernie?
As TCinLA said: "There are no "innocent" Republicans." Not now.
If there is to be an America that has integrity - a desire for truth, fairness and justice - it will need to come from a "center right" movement. We on the left or center left or disgusted middle will have limited impact. We can try to "Hodor"! But we can't win alone.
There must be a revolt from within - those who considered themselves Republicans and Independents who are repelled by the speech and behavior of TFG, McCarthy, Tuberville and yes, Kanye and Musk. There are millions of folks who have stepped back and just watched all this like a TV series.
Maybe there is some hope when an evangelical decides to stand tall and remind his parishioners what truth and justice really is.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/southern-baptist-convention-president-bart-barber-60-minutes-2022-10-09/
Curious...Why is no one commenting on the impact on voting in FLA. as a result of the hurricane? Seems like displaced, disillusioned people may forgo the ballot box?
We "must lead with touts of Biden's accomplishments in the first two years" is so essential and so missing. We no longer discuss content, ideas, plans, data just the ballparkscore of who is ahead. We will lose if we don't talk about issues and compare the two parties plans. Vote on the content of what would happen if each candidate were elected. Argh. It is all about money, sensationalism, and fear. It just has to change and it us up to us.
"We must be neither silent nor afraid but must instead raise our voices in righteous indignation and condemnation. The targets of the GOP’s hate speech are looking nervously to see who will rise to their defense. That must be us."
Good morning, Robert and all. I am so in agreement with this. We find ourselves once again in a crisis, as President Biden calls it, for the soul of America. And, for myself, a crisis for my own soul. Anti-Semitism is the foundational prejudice of western civilization. It's always there and it always surfaces in the wake of racism and xenophobia aimed at any group--Mexicans at the border, members of the LGBTQ community, African-Americans.
Any of our thousand and one ways of targeting groups of people brings out anti-semitism.
It's been a long time since I could get out there in the world and march, demonstrate, or make a noise for the good. There are many grand people, just on this newsletter who are doing all that like pros, but what I have realized is that, as an echo of your wonderful call to action today, I can call this terrible violence to the spirit for what it is. I have had the experience just this year of two vey good friends making anti-semitic remarks in my living room. These weren't aimed at me. I'm a cradle Episcopalian. They were just the kind of casual, "acceptable" remarks that are just subtle enough that it's possible to cringe and let therm go. I think of them as "cocktail party anti-semitism."
I stop it when I hear it with something like, "I don't let that kind of talk happen in my house."
Because I can't NOT do that and because I have to believe that the battle for fundamental good is won by one of us at a time doing one thing at a time and if we do it often and with enough love we can change the world.
It happens.
We are down to the last few weeks till the midterms. The bottom line is the races are very close, closer than they should be. Republicans will out spend Democrats because of their dark money and foreign contributors. The way Democrats can win is to focus on those races where with a little more effort and contributions it will make the difference. We need to be totally focused on the Senate seats in Arizona Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina and Wisconsin. These are winnable seats if we put in the extra effort. These states and candidates need feet on the ground virtually. Each of these states have several interesting things in common. They have a large number of college students in large urban areas, the voter registration of women has significantly increased and most importantly the Republican candidates all have been endorsed by Trump and are election and abortion deniers and are less qualified to be a US Senator on multiple levels. Robert has identified many organizations in each state you can contact and please put helping to win these states on top of your “ To Do” list today.
I applaud today's comments about the war in Ukraine. The strength and resilience of the Ukranian people must be recognized and supported by the US, NATO, and the EU. The West must continue to provide high technology weapons systems to Ukraine. After all, Ukraine is fighting alone for the principles of freedom and democracy that we say we cherish. The Ukranian fight should be an example to the US people who are now, or should be, fighting against the anti-democratic elements (MAGA) in our own country.
Robert Thomas, Matthews, NC