Our prolific Robert (COVID notwithstanding) has led me to the following conclusion: There is more than one of him. No one person could write such detailed and supported commentary, with intelligence and optimism, let alone read our emails and daily comments. These are times of conspiracy theories, so I wonder what explains it. I'm thinking he's actually identical twins.
“what can I do?” I’ve asked myself that dozens of times, and have finally found 3 things that work for me.
1) I signed up to be an elections inspector. Training is in Sept.
2) every Monday, I send two texts. One to my local Dem coordinator, and one to my local legislator. I ask, “what do you need help with?” And then I do whatever they ask. This past week it was gathering voter registration forms (physical ones, as we’re starting a door-knocking campaign), and writing a letter to the editor. Don’t know what to say? Ask the person what they want included in the letter. A lot of times they have a template, which you can easily personalize.
3) I’m using my white picket fence to post information. This week I have an 8x11 sign that says “meet your Dem candidates Sat at 10 at XYZ coffee shop”. It’s not much, but it gets read by every person who walks by with their dog (2ce a day) and everyone walking around the block for exercise, and everyone taking their child to the bus stop. The best part? People thank me for posting info, and we have discussions.
So think hard—there’s probably something you could be doing that you haven’t thought of yet.
As frustrating and apparently conflicted as Manchin seems to be, never forget that he is the 50th Senate Democrat. If he were to switch parties: Democrats would lose control and Mitch McConnell would again be calling the shots. Perhaps best to bite our tongues, bide our time, and do all in our power to deliver a more robust Democratic majority.
Jul 16, 2022·edited Jul 16, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Robert, I am sure I speak for many of us here when I say that you brought us great comfort and security over the past several years. I don’t know how I could have managed the period between the election and the inauguration without your rational evaluations.
That said, I am a mother and a grandmother, and as such (you know, we can’t help it!) I worry that you are not taking the time you need to recover from Covid. Perhaps instead of *adding* a newsletter, reduce the number of newsletters for a week or two and give your mind and body time to heal. Covid takes a great toll on both. I’m sure all of your readers would prefer that you take care of yourself! 🤗
Please no points for this, but there were 11,418 coal mining jobs in WV in 2020. Not enough to "fuel" Joe Manchin's motivation for burning up the planet. He is a coal operator which is the proverbial fox in the henhouse. The only option we have is to vote in so many Democratic Senators that we make Joe irrelevant. Citizens United and its dark money has to be addressed if we wish to have a future as a Republic. Thanks for each and every newsletter, Robert!
Jul 16, 2022·edited Jul 16, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
In response to the serious online privacy concerns raised by the overturning of Roe v Wade, nonprofit SecureTheVillage is hosting a free webinar on July 21, 11:00AM - 12:30PM. Titled "Roe v Wade: Critical Implications for Our Personal Privacy," panelists will:
1. Explore the privacy implications of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling
2. Outline expected legal intrusions by states on personal privacy
3. Discuss how new state laws directly incentivize vigilantes and hackers
4. Share tangible strategies on how to protect oneself, including minimizing the vast ‘data footprint’ created by our use of everyday technology.
Last night I attended the Nimitz Foundation annual dinner which supports the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX, which celebrates the Greatest Generation. Admiral Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet in WWII, was born and raised in Fredericksburg. So was the current CEO of the Museum, former Commandant of the Marines, Mike Hagee. Each year Mike invites amazing guest speakers from the top ranks of the our military. In recent past years the speakers were Secretary of Defense Mattis, and White House Chief of Staff, General John Kelly. This year the guest was former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Obama and DT, General Joseph Dunford, also a former Commandant of the Marines. For the main program, the two Generals sat in large recliners and had a conversation about the state of the world! They discussed Ukraine - we must defeat Putin; the weakness of the Russian military and the strengths of ours; the withdrawal from Afghanistan - being in Afghanistan kept another 9/11 from happening (and we should still be there) as well as deterring India and Pakistan from using nuclear weapons against each other, China - China is the largest threat to the world order we face; the strict non-partisan position of the military will always put Country first; war is a political act to achieve something -- we need to clear on what the objective is; the military are advisors not advocates - when an officer retires they should also retire their tongues (not criticize current and past administrations); wars are not only going to be fought on sea, land and air but also space and cyber; wars will not ever be local again - ballistic missiles like North Korea has can reach the United States; the world is in the most precarious it has been since WWII; still very optimist because the American people unleashed are unstoppable! This all blew my mind and I'm still absorbing them. We, the People, all of us this time!
Jul 16, 2022·edited Jul 16, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Here is what I have written to the Deans of major US law schools and to other law professors whom I know, personally: please share this with any and all who could help us fight for democracy: thank you.
-----
This is a call for you to act and not be professorial. Danger invites a rescue and you are all in a position to do so.
We can't just hear talk on MSNBC:
We need to direct action to each of our 100 US Senators on the Senate's responsibilities under Article 1.4 to set times, places and manners of elections, in order to stop the march towards totalitarianism evidenced by the current US Supreme Court plus 19 Republican States with their repressive attacks on voting and civil rights.
You have the power and the contacts at the highest levels in business as well as contacts with law professors in ME, OH, UT, WV, AZ, AK to effectuate change.
You and your contacts must join together to demand a meeting with Senators Manchin, Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Portman as the only Senators who voted for the filibuster against H.R. 5746 (the Freedom to Vote; John R. Lewis Voting Rights bill) who should/must reconsider their vote. Make them acknowledge the US Supreme Court's overturning or diminishing federal voting rights laws using the arguments that Congress hasn't acted recently (Shelby), or the action wasn't envisioned (Brnovich), or the Supreme Court isn't going to interfere with Sovereign States' acts when Congress has failed to enact laws (partisan gerrymandering: Rucho)/(Roberts in his minority ruling in Arizona Redistricting) and not enough time for States to act (allows racial gerrymandering: Alabama, Louisiana, Texas ).... and the grotesque laws already passed in 19 Republican-controlled State legislatures repressing the vote and impacting vote integrity itself.
It isn't enough to educate via ADL or your classes at law school: lawyers and professors have to ACT this month so H.R. 5746 is no longer filibustered and the Senate debates our rights to vote in public.
See our advertisement that National Voter Corps is running in the New York Times this Sunday Section 1... Build on this please. WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NEED YOUR SKILLS AND CONTACTS. (sorry: not able to insert the content here)..it will be on our website
National Voter Corps would join any or all of your contacts in Washington DC in the next 2 weeks and meet with any or all of these Senators.
Heather Cox Richardson, one of my favorite Substack authors, wrote in her July 15, Letters from an American, "While U.S. leaders after the Civil War thought their best hope of building a nation based on racial equality was to avoid prosecution, scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law."
My concern as an ordinary citizen is that Merrick Garland doesn't get this important point and will fail to hold the leaders of the January 6 attack on the Capitol accountable, specifically Donald Trump and his close advisors and political supporters. If the DOJ does not uphold the idea that no one, regardless of their position in the hierarchy is above the law, then the Committee's investigations into this grave matter are a waste of time. So far, the Committee's findings indicate that vigorous prosecutorial action is clearly warranted to redress the American people for the criminal behavior of people at the highest levels of the Trump administration. The DOJ must act accordingly in order to maintain the sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the nation's institutions of democracy.
First I would like to say that Robert and his wife need to spend more time taking care of their ailments -in mu view his is one of those that we can scarcely want to possibly lose for the reasons everyone reading these newsletters know. I agree with those who say that he has got to be more than one person to do all this. I have all I can do to keep up with his newsletter let alone read other materials as well.
Having said that I can't think of much more than I have said in comments for previous newsletters, but I will try. I wish I knew how to get the DEMs to spend more time helping people to register, arranging to get people out to vote, stop the infighting and start acting like adults instead of petulant children. I'd like to ensure that those who demonstrate whether about guns, abortion and/or other matters do the same thing and explain why it is important to vote - Their votes do matter. Look what would have happened in 2000 where so many sat on the sideline.
Learn from the Reps who have learned how to walk together[one reason I will never vote for another one], learn how to create instead of react - does "pro life" or "defund the police" sound familiar. These slogans unfortunately work with too many. I'm not sure how one deals with educating people in a cult and that's what we have today - at least 70 million in 2000 and in mid term elections primarily zealots seem to vote. There's nothing like lot of wannabes running around with their weapons in hand - I guess they didn't play cops and robbers or war when they were little like I did where I got that nonsense out of my system so hopefully I could become [more] adult as I got older. The other day I was talking to a few youngish people [30s and 40s - I'm 81 and so many are young to me] Anyway they said that in order to vote you need something to get excited about - my response - if the threat to our democracy isn't enough what is. These are not stupid people, but....
I am hoping that people are getting the message and will turn out to vote -after all if you don't try, don't complain about the result.
I hope what my comments were wroth the time to read and hope they make some sense. I look forward to November with mixed hopes!
Musings about how Washington DC functions: As a teenager at Xmas I was tasked to drive around Washington DC delivering thank you packages of 3 bottles of wine valued under the Federal gift limit of $25.00 on behalf of a foreign government to various Federal officials. Many accepted the modest gift yet others refused. Concerned about conflict of interest or bad optics (a term not yet in vogue). People in govt showed restraint & had great concerns about appropriateness. At a similar time the Ollie North scandal & Iran/Contra unfolded & thanks to Bill Moyers PBS documentary North was pilloried and essentially run outta town. So allow me to jump to the conflict of interest & bad optics of Clarence Thomas’ wife supporting the Proud Boys. Certainly bad optics, conflict of interest & maybe illegal? Back in the day Thomas would have been hounded to resign! It has always been axiomatic that federal officials spouses are not separate entities in Washington: it is invariably a team affair. So my ramble will close with query as to how the ethics of Washington, the indignation of the media and other factors haven’t run the Thomases out of town? (Answer: Jan 6. It takes a year of investigation to clarify the obvious criminality of the former President & his collaborators and with no actionable outcome yet)?
I remain astounded that Maria Butina, a died-in-the-wool Russian agent who infiltrated the NRA to over-promote ownership and use of firearms got such a light sentence. She influenced the way the NRA threw money around for the previous president's benefit and now she is a sitting member of the Russian Duma, a fitting reward for the spy who came in from the heat. And moreover, that Patrick Byrne, Mr. Overstock, would be caught in flagrante with her, giving her money and yet escape serious legal repercussions boggles the imagination. For Byrne to go on and on and on as he does about imaginary issues, it seems as if she planted a mind-control device in him.
Jul 16, 2022·edited Jul 16, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
My thoughts today are on the sad tale of of the 10 year old child who was first raped, then impregnated, then transported to another state to have an abortion. As if that weren't enough to harm her for life, she was subjected to a mealy-mouthed swarm of opinions by the usual thick-skulled characters. Then they maligned her doctor. I'm very pleased the doctor has lawyered-up and that her attorney is pursuing defamation. Go git'em!
Rule of law, rights of self-determination, equality? We think of saving democracy as a national issue, but in fact it comes down to 7 pivotal states: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine, Minnesota, and Nebraska. We must be smart, we must be efficient, we must focus our efforts. Check out The States Project. Set up a Giving Circle!
My very astute (but untrained in the Law) friend Carol hopes some legal eagle can find out if and/or how the Interstate Commerce Commission ruling to desegregate restaurants might apply to people crossing state lines for legal abortion.
I treasure your steady sanity & hope for your swift return to wellness. Thank you for your guidance through the heavy smog. Liz Helenchild, coastal northern CA
Our prolific Robert (COVID notwithstanding) has led me to the following conclusion: There is more than one of him. No one person could write such detailed and supported commentary, with intelligence and optimism, let alone read our emails and daily comments. These are times of conspiracy theories, so I wonder what explains it. I'm thinking he's actually identical twins.
“what can I do?” I’ve asked myself that dozens of times, and have finally found 3 things that work for me.
1) I signed up to be an elections inspector. Training is in Sept.
2) every Monday, I send two texts. One to my local Dem coordinator, and one to my local legislator. I ask, “what do you need help with?” And then I do whatever they ask. This past week it was gathering voter registration forms (physical ones, as we’re starting a door-knocking campaign), and writing a letter to the editor. Don’t know what to say? Ask the person what they want included in the letter. A lot of times they have a template, which you can easily personalize.
3) I’m using my white picket fence to post information. This week I have an 8x11 sign that says “meet your Dem candidates Sat at 10 at XYZ coffee shop”. It’s not much, but it gets read by every person who walks by with their dog (2ce a day) and everyone walking around the block for exercise, and everyone taking their child to the bus stop. The best part? People thank me for posting info, and we have discussions.
So think hard—there’s probably something you could be doing that you haven’t thought of yet.
As frustrating and apparently conflicted as Manchin seems to be, never forget that he is the 50th Senate Democrat. If he were to switch parties: Democrats would lose control and Mitch McConnell would again be calling the shots. Perhaps best to bite our tongues, bide our time, and do all in our power to deliver a more robust Democratic majority.
Robert, I am sure I speak for many of us here when I say that you brought us great comfort and security over the past several years. I don’t know how I could have managed the period between the election and the inauguration without your rational evaluations.
That said, I am a mother and a grandmother, and as such (you know, we can’t help it!) I worry that you are not taking the time you need to recover from Covid. Perhaps instead of *adding* a newsletter, reduce the number of newsletters for a week or two and give your mind and body time to heal. Covid takes a great toll on both. I’m sure all of your readers would prefer that you take care of yourself! 🤗
Please no points for this, but there were 11,418 coal mining jobs in WV in 2020. Not enough to "fuel" Joe Manchin's motivation for burning up the planet. He is a coal operator which is the proverbial fox in the henhouse. The only option we have is to vote in so many Democratic Senators that we make Joe irrelevant. Citizens United and its dark money has to be addressed if we wish to have a future as a Republic. Thanks for each and every newsletter, Robert!
In response to the serious online privacy concerns raised by the overturning of Roe v Wade, nonprofit SecureTheVillage is hosting a free webinar on July 21, 11:00AM - 12:30PM. Titled "Roe v Wade: Critical Implications for Our Personal Privacy," panelists will:
1. Explore the privacy implications of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling
2. Outline expected legal intrusions by states on personal privacy
3. Discuss how new state laws directly incentivize vigilantes and hackers
4. Share tangible strategies on how to protect oneself, including minimizing the vast ‘data footprint’ created by our use of everyday technology.
For more information and free registration, please visit https://securethevillage.org/event/roe-v-wade-critical-implications-for-our-personal-privacy.
Last night I attended the Nimitz Foundation annual dinner which supports the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX, which celebrates the Greatest Generation. Admiral Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet in WWII, was born and raised in Fredericksburg. So was the current CEO of the Museum, former Commandant of the Marines, Mike Hagee. Each year Mike invites amazing guest speakers from the top ranks of the our military. In recent past years the speakers were Secretary of Defense Mattis, and White House Chief of Staff, General John Kelly. This year the guest was former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Obama and DT, General Joseph Dunford, also a former Commandant of the Marines. For the main program, the two Generals sat in large recliners and had a conversation about the state of the world! They discussed Ukraine - we must defeat Putin; the weakness of the Russian military and the strengths of ours; the withdrawal from Afghanistan - being in Afghanistan kept another 9/11 from happening (and we should still be there) as well as deterring India and Pakistan from using nuclear weapons against each other, China - China is the largest threat to the world order we face; the strict non-partisan position of the military will always put Country first; war is a political act to achieve something -- we need to clear on what the objective is; the military are advisors not advocates - when an officer retires they should also retire their tongues (not criticize current and past administrations); wars are not only going to be fought on sea, land and air but also space and cyber; wars will not ever be local again - ballistic missiles like North Korea has can reach the United States; the world is in the most precarious it has been since WWII; still very optimist because the American people unleashed are unstoppable! This all blew my mind and I'm still absorbing them. We, the People, all of us this time!
Here is what I have written to the Deans of major US law schools and to other law professors whom I know, personally: please share this with any and all who could help us fight for democracy: thank you.
-----
This is a call for you to act and not be professorial. Danger invites a rescue and you are all in a position to do so.
We can't just hear talk on MSNBC:
We need to direct action to each of our 100 US Senators on the Senate's responsibilities under Article 1.4 to set times, places and manners of elections, in order to stop the march towards totalitarianism evidenced by the current US Supreme Court plus 19 Republican States with their repressive attacks on voting and civil rights.
You have the power and the contacts at the highest levels in business as well as contacts with law professors in ME, OH, UT, WV, AZ, AK to effectuate change.
You and your contacts must join together to demand a meeting with Senators Manchin, Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Portman as the only Senators who voted for the filibuster against H.R. 5746 (the Freedom to Vote; John R. Lewis Voting Rights bill) who should/must reconsider their vote. Make them acknowledge the US Supreme Court's overturning or diminishing federal voting rights laws using the arguments that Congress hasn't acted recently (Shelby), or the action wasn't envisioned (Brnovich), or the Supreme Court isn't going to interfere with Sovereign States' acts when Congress has failed to enact laws (partisan gerrymandering: Rucho)/(Roberts in his minority ruling in Arizona Redistricting) and not enough time for States to act (allows racial gerrymandering: Alabama, Louisiana, Texas ).... and the grotesque laws already passed in 19 Republican-controlled State legislatures repressing the vote and impacting vote integrity itself.
It isn't enough to educate via ADL or your classes at law school: lawyers and professors have to ACT this month so H.R. 5746 is no longer filibustered and the Senate debates our rights to vote in public.
See our advertisement that National Voter Corps is running in the New York Times this Sunday Section 1... Build on this please. WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NEED YOUR SKILLS AND CONTACTS. (sorry: not able to insert the content here)..it will be on our website
National Voter Corps would join any or all of your contacts in Washington DC in the next 2 weeks and meet with any or all of these Senators.
Inaction is not a choice left to our democracy.
Alice Schaffer Smith
Executive Director, National Voter Corps
www.nationalvotercorps.org
Heather Cox Richardson, one of my favorite Substack authors, wrote in her July 15, Letters from an American, "While U.S. leaders after the Civil War thought their best hope of building a nation based on racial equality was to avoid prosecution, scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law."
My concern as an ordinary citizen is that Merrick Garland doesn't get this important point and will fail to hold the leaders of the January 6 attack on the Capitol accountable, specifically Donald Trump and his close advisors and political supporters. If the DOJ does not uphold the idea that no one, regardless of their position in the hierarchy is above the law, then the Committee's investigations into this grave matter are a waste of time. So far, the Committee's findings indicate that vigorous prosecutorial action is clearly warranted to redress the American people for the criminal behavior of people at the highest levels of the Trump administration. The DOJ must act accordingly in order to maintain the sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the nation's institutions of democracy.
First I would like to say that Robert and his wife need to spend more time taking care of their ailments -in mu view his is one of those that we can scarcely want to possibly lose for the reasons everyone reading these newsletters know. I agree with those who say that he has got to be more than one person to do all this. I have all I can do to keep up with his newsletter let alone read other materials as well.
Having said that I can't think of much more than I have said in comments for previous newsletters, but I will try. I wish I knew how to get the DEMs to spend more time helping people to register, arranging to get people out to vote, stop the infighting and start acting like adults instead of petulant children. I'd like to ensure that those who demonstrate whether about guns, abortion and/or other matters do the same thing and explain why it is important to vote - Their votes do matter. Look what would have happened in 2000 where so many sat on the sideline.
Learn from the Reps who have learned how to walk together[one reason I will never vote for another one], learn how to create instead of react - does "pro life" or "defund the police" sound familiar. These slogans unfortunately work with too many. I'm not sure how one deals with educating people in a cult and that's what we have today - at least 70 million in 2000 and in mid term elections primarily zealots seem to vote. There's nothing like lot of wannabes running around with their weapons in hand - I guess they didn't play cops and robbers or war when they were little like I did where I got that nonsense out of my system so hopefully I could become [more] adult as I got older. The other day I was talking to a few youngish people [30s and 40s - I'm 81 and so many are young to me] Anyway they said that in order to vote you need something to get excited about - my response - if the threat to our democracy isn't enough what is. These are not stupid people, but....
I am hoping that people are getting the message and will turn out to vote -after all if you don't try, don't complain about the result.
I hope what my comments were wroth the time to read and hope they make some sense. I look forward to November with mixed hopes!
Musings about how Washington DC functions: As a teenager at Xmas I was tasked to drive around Washington DC delivering thank you packages of 3 bottles of wine valued under the Federal gift limit of $25.00 on behalf of a foreign government to various Federal officials. Many accepted the modest gift yet others refused. Concerned about conflict of interest or bad optics (a term not yet in vogue). People in govt showed restraint & had great concerns about appropriateness. At a similar time the Ollie North scandal & Iran/Contra unfolded & thanks to Bill Moyers PBS documentary North was pilloried and essentially run outta town. So allow me to jump to the conflict of interest & bad optics of Clarence Thomas’ wife supporting the Proud Boys. Certainly bad optics, conflict of interest & maybe illegal? Back in the day Thomas would have been hounded to resign! It has always been axiomatic that federal officials spouses are not separate entities in Washington: it is invariably a team affair. So my ramble will close with query as to how the ethics of Washington, the indignation of the media and other factors haven’t run the Thomases out of town? (Answer: Jan 6. It takes a year of investigation to clarify the obvious criminality of the former President & his collaborators and with no actionable outcome yet)?
I remain astounded that Maria Butina, a died-in-the-wool Russian agent who infiltrated the NRA to over-promote ownership and use of firearms got such a light sentence. She influenced the way the NRA threw money around for the previous president's benefit and now she is a sitting member of the Russian Duma, a fitting reward for the spy who came in from the heat. And moreover, that Patrick Byrne, Mr. Overstock, would be caught in flagrante with her, giving her money and yet escape serious legal repercussions boggles the imagination. For Byrne to go on and on and on as he does about imaginary issues, it seems as if she planted a mind-control device in him.
Hoping you test negative this weekend, Robert!!! Good luck!
My thoughts today are on the sad tale of of the 10 year old child who was first raped, then impregnated, then transported to another state to have an abortion. As if that weren't enough to harm her for life, she was subjected to a mealy-mouthed swarm of opinions by the usual thick-skulled characters. Then they maligned her doctor. I'm very pleased the doctor has lawyered-up and that her attorney is pursuing defamation. Go git'em!
STATES !!!
Rule of law, rights of self-determination, equality? We think of saving democracy as a national issue, but in fact it comes down to 7 pivotal states: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine, Minnesota, and Nebraska. We must be smart, we must be efficient, we must focus our efforts. Check out The States Project. Set up a Giving Circle!
https://statesproject.org/get-involved/giving-circles/
My very astute (but untrained in the Law) friend Carol hopes some legal eagle can find out if and/or how the Interstate Commerce Commission ruling to desegregate restaurants might apply to people crossing state lines for legal abortion.
I treasure your steady sanity & hope for your swift return to wellness. Thank you for your guidance through the heavy smog. Liz Helenchild, coastal northern CA