Here's my daily dose of perspective. A month ago when the dogs died unexpectedly. It's been tough to recover from that. The other dog is old and failing. Robins are outside every morning. They're doing their normal spring routine. My flowers are starting to Bud and some of them are blooming. My best friend who I've known since I was 9 has been taking care of her sister for almost a year and her sister is nearing death. My brother who I used to care about and respect has become a source of intense disgust as he is in with the maga crowd. I have a roof over my head and a refrigerator that has food in it. I regularly provide some meals for some people that I encounter. They're simple meals and they're not going to save anything but they're better than doing nothing. I cringe when I read the news but I still read it. I'm going to the resistance event on Monday and I heard it's national all over the country at capitals and municipalities so I hope you go too.
This is the kind of perspective and love that touches my heart. Thank you. I’ve been so stressed. I love knowing you’re out there doing the work and loving the people around you and the bird, practicing gratitude for basics. 💜
Hi Ivy, I'm sorry for the loss of your beloved dogs. Please take the time you need to grieve. I can tell you have a good heart. Take care of yourself. I I'm going to our state capital tomorrow with others in my community. We will not surrender in advance!
YES! I remember when Syria ran all those people over the border though I can't think of which country they fled to. It was deliberately done to cause a migrant crisis
Ivy, thanks for your heart-felt comments. Your words are a brave declaration of independence. Through loss, you endure; and your bravery in owning your former admiration for your brother and your "intense disgust" at his being "in with the maga crowd" shows us all what is at stake.
Your beautiful prose sounds heartbeats of affirmation and led me back to Stephen Spielberg's (1985) film and Celie's (Whoopie Goldberg) courageous departure from Albert's farm leaving the place she has known most of her life in Shug's car shouting back at Albert's insults. "I'm poor, I'm black, I may even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here!" Every act of political courage is literally a "demonstration," a showing of who we are. Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, and so many others have no idea whom they are dealing with. We are here! Thank you for reminding me of that clear, simple fact.
heartfelt condolences on the death of your dear dog, been there, similar situation, one sudden death and the other old and in decline. how we love them! and amid all your other personal suffering, I honor your gratitude and resilience.
Watching the Livestreaming of the Munich Security Conference yesterday was interesting. If just intelligence alone where what could win the war Ukraine's president Zelenskyy has it in spades. Apparently JD Vance and Pete Hegseth said really horrible things about Ukraine and Europe in terms of them trying to shut down the Nazi parties that are most like his and Trump's party, and that made European countries mad. Even if they are all embracing the same anti-Muslim politics on their right wing as the US, does not mean that the countries are ready to cave to their far right parties. Of course they are making inroads too.
Unfortunately for the world more liberal governments in Europe during Covid and Putin's war, led to these governments being overthrown for something different. People are of the opinion that if liberal did not make my economic situation better, and for many it is just fine. They have a home, health insurance, can afford to go to the local football games, drink in a pub, go on a vacation with the family and get paid vacations but they still think furrigners are a problem because some bot on the internet has been hetting them up to believe that they cannot be integrated into society. There are a few who had illiberal governments and have voted them out for something they hope is better. Changing bad systems takes a lot of political capital that most countries do not have, and time that most leaderships don't get.
What Austria is doing is just Nazi-like with their far right, and right now not able to make a coalition. What will happen. If the people were smart they would come to their senses and have a recall election. The far right won 28.9% of the votes, while the center right won 26.3% Neither has enough to rule on its own, but they are not able to form a coalition together because the Center Right is balking and the crazy extremism of the far right party and their leader Klikl. My daughter has a good friend in Austria and she has been out there demonstrating against this Nazi party as part of the government. Austria is too aligned with its former monarchy partner Hungary. So, you can have beautiful cities, and lovely pastries, but fascist governments. Let us hope it ruins the tourism in Austria.
Germany has an election in a week, and I am hoping that the Far right party comes in behind the Center right party who will then only make a coalition with other democratic parties. My family and friends will certainly will be doing our part to stave off the far right.
The present leader of Germany’s far-right party, AfD, is Alice Weidel. Her party’s supporters now chant, “Alice für Deutschland!” at rallies. When pronounced in German, this chant — in a cruel pun — sounds very much like “Alles für Deutschland!” which was the slogan loudly voiced by the S.A. (a/k/a The Brownshirts) who were the street thugs who served as enforcers of Nazi doctrine throughout Germany in the mid-1930s. AfD is predicted to do better than ever before in Germany’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
We communicate regularly with friends from Germany who were terrified as they watched the popularity of AFD growing stronger. However after Elon Musk came out and supported the Nazi party and gave the Nazi salute, they started to see this party become weaker. Now after Pete Hegsth's appalling speech, they feel that it woke more Germans up to realize they needed to stand up against the party.
Like Canada, they are in disbelief and no longer look at America as a friend.
Don't know that these one time actions can make a dent in what Putin and his bots are doing to spread disinformation in the election, but I am hopeful that they still remain in second place behind another party I would never vote for the CDU/?CSU. At least in Germany I can vote for the party that is more tailored to my thinking because they will still have seats in the Bundestag and might even be coalition partners.
My husband's family are mostly farmers, and I believe they vote CDU/CSU but not all of them. His closest cousin probably votes SPD. He also has a wife who was a teacher of young adults with retardation, as opposed to his cousin whose wife was a banker. At least no one in his family would vote AfD.
One of the leaders of the AfD was sentenced to pay a fine for using the well-known S.A. slogan Alles für Deutschland last year, as it is an illegal Nazi slogan (sorry JD Vance, we do have certain limits to the freedom of expression and your whining about this terrible injustice won't change that).
But that you can mix up Alice and Alles surely just is a very unfortunate coincidence, just like the heartfelt warm gesture of Elon Musk greeting his followers very unfortunately and absolutely unintended resembles the Sieg Heil salute.
unintended? You’re kidding, right? With everything in his background, it was unintended? Please wake up to what is going on and stop giving people the benefit of the doubt. We are way past that.
Thanks, Dan. Of course you are right. But it is a testament to our crazy times that you seem to have to point out sarcasm in order to not being misunderstood. I actually thought about adding a Sarcasm! in brackets but then thought it should not be necessary.
It's a sad world we live in now, when satire and irony are indistinguishable from reality, and sometimes we check to see if we are reading The Onion because FOTUS intentionally wants outrage and discouragement so that we are too distracted to notice his looting of the country - and FELON enables ELON to loot the agencies for data to train his AI and to profit his businesses, not to mention shut down the agencies that have been or are currently investigating his businesses for illegal practices and workplace safety issues.
Jeff Tiedrich had a meme where he had Musk and Hitler side by side saluting and it was exactly exactly the same salute. I do not know how to isolate it, so please scroll down.
He is right on the money and should be leading the Democrats in revolt along with AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Bernie Sanders, Raskin, Warren and a few others.
Linda, I appreciqte that you watched the Munich conference and shared your assessments. Aside from this comment, I appreciate your posts. Debbie in Massachusetts
What do grassroots actions look like in Germany, in addition to the street protests? Zoom organizing webinars? Postcard/letter campaigns? Scripts to call one's elected representatives? Emails and text messages soliciting campaign donations?
Hi Ellie, I cannot speak to all of what is going on, because I don't know. I will let you know what I do know.
--There is organizing to support immigrants in multiple ways to stand up to anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly refugees. Right now 17% of Germany is immigrant even if they have been here since the 1950s, since citizenship until recently was not easy to acquire, and 4% of those are refugees. So, about 1/4.
I get petitions regularly to sign from Campact, which is like Moveon and they suggest legislation or protest against political actions.
--My local branch of my political party sends me weekly, and more often updates on initiatives that are actually going on, or things they find problematic. All political parties have offices in each city, and multiple ones. There are standing working groups as well, and they meet regularly and any citizen who cares about an issue can be involved in developing policy that gets to the regional and national party branches. So, there are working committees, on immigrants, feminism, environment, digital media, Education, Ethics, Democracy and national and international politics against the right wing, Europe and peace, Health, I live in a port city so harbors and shipping, Children, youth and families, Culture, Queer, Social support and work, sport, regional development, animal politics, Climate and energy, traffic, business and finance, science and higher ed, etc... People who are interested join these groups and help develop policy.
--I know that there are people going door to door campaigning.
However, privacy laws mean no one is getting a mailing list or email list or phone list of anyone in Germany. In fact, that is why we had to attend so many festivals and events in order to recruit people for Democrats Abroad, because we are not allowed to get lists of Americans. It is violation of privacy here, and that is strictly guarded. For example, no one is allowed to take photos of people here without their permission. So, at Demonstrations you take pictures of the people in front of you who have their backs to you, or of someone's sign if they let you, but not of people whose permission you do not have.
There are election posters up all over the city for the different parties. There are no AfD signs in my city that I have seen, and they also have no representation here in the government. Also, for voters who are undecided there is Wahl-o-mat (Vote-o-matic), or another one like that which is a list of questions say 40 or so, where you answer them and then they tell you which parties you most match in order of percentage. Also, you can ask for which ones you least match. You get a description of the parties and what they stand for.
In Germany right now there are 8 parties which have a chance of getting representation in the Bundestag (Federal Government) and they are CDU/CSU, SPD, AfD, The Greens, The Left, BSW, The FDP. They have to have 5% votes to have representation. The FDP is on shaky ground right now to even make it, and BSW is thinking of dropping out I have read. Don't know if that is true.
There are no scripts to call elected representatives, but one has a closer relationship to the parties, because the people are all involved in parties and their initiatives. My mom's childhood friend is active in her party. She attends party meetings, which they all regularly have locally, and then bigger ones which one might attend in Berlin. She is to be found regularly in our marketplace demonstrating on topics that her party cares about every Saturday at a certain time when she is in the city. She is 90, and her partner is a bit younger. His home is in another city, so they spend 6 weeks here and 6 weeks there, plus some other trips, but all by train and a lot related to political actions.
Does this give you a sense of what goes on here vs, in the US?
Linda, thank you for taking the time to pen this exhaustive answer to Ellie's question. I would just like to add two or three points. You mentioned the activities of party members in marketplaces. In addition to countless appearances, town hall meetings etc. of the candidates on the national or state level that truly is one of the central campaign activities. Party members as well as the local candidates and representatives make themselves available to voters, discussing issues, handing out campaign brochures or little gifts like pens, buttons, sweets, etc.
The other important way to reach out to voters are numerous discussions between the leading candidates on the various TV channels in the last two or three weeks before the election. Usually representatives of all the parties represented in the Bundestag, the German parliament, are being invited.
These discussions are playing an important role as otherwise TV commercials are very limited, there are no robocalls either. This brings me to the biggest (and perhaps decisive) difference between elections in Germany and the US: the influence of money. Our elections cost a fraction of what is being spent in the US. We have strict campaign financing laws and though there is no cap on individual donations, they have to be disclosed and the influence of individual donors is minuscule. More on that here https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-party-and-campaign-financing/a-58807353
Social media play an increasingly important role in the campaigns and unfortunately that opens venues for misinformation spreading lies or, in MAGA speak, 'alternative facts'. We know, that Putin is very active in this area, trying to hurt the democratic parties and to help the neo-nazi AfD.
It came as quite a shock to Germans that while Putin is using clandestine and shady cyber methods Musk and Vance are openly throwing their support behind the German rightwing extremists.
Thank you, Linda and Stefan. Would that the Democratic Party go to school on some of these methods such as town hall meetings and rallies led by the politicians actually out there speaking with the people.
Some of the Dems are holding town halls when they are back in their districts. And they are also attending rallies, like against the DOE cuts. It would be better to support their efforts rather than tarnish them.
With Austria the numbers are fascinating. Similar to so many other western democracies. I keep thinking there is something there that is deeply rooted in the human species.
These words, at the end of your second paragraph, say a lot: "Changing bad systems takes a lot of political capital that most countries do not have, and time that most leaderships don't get."
The same goes for us. It's much easier to destroy than to build or rebuild, and the political capital and time needed to fix things broken seems too expensive and slow, so people abandon it and try something different. The damage trump did in his first term couldn't be fixed in Biden's term, and the cost (political and economic) was high. The second trump term promises to be far more destructive than the first, and will take decades to recover from, if we don't stop it.
Recovery from all that is being destroyed may mean that the US will once again have a government that takes care of the people, hopefully to a greater extent than it has, but Trump is destroying the USs chance of being a Superpower. That will be hard to rebuild, and perhaps that is the way it will be. Iceland has a nice quality of living and they do not aim to be a super power. In fact, they do not even have a standing military, yet they have the number one country for peacefulness and safety. https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/#/
Stay tuned, re: Hungary. In 2026, there will be an election that may actually amount to something: A patriot (albeit a business conservative) named Peter Magyar is challenging Viktor Orban, for the Prime Ministership. Austria may beat its eastern neighbour to the punch, if Klikl can't build a coalition.
Gary, I have been reading that there is stirring in Hungary, but have not kept up with it. Perhaps because people are not just dependent on state owned media but have other potential sources of information. Also, living under an illiberal leader who is stealing from the people becomes obvious after a while. I really wish Hungary well.
Just reading in Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum about the situation in Venezuela. Right now the US is reminding me of this, because Trump and Musk are blatantly stealing from us so it is ironic that Trump put sanctions on Venezuela, but then again. Trump hates Brown skinned people, even light brown, unless they got their tans from a tanning salon, or staying at one of his hotels.
I really hope that Klikl cannot make a coalition with the Center Right ÖPV, which is sort of like the Austrian parallel to the CDU/CSU in German. Then, I hope that the either have to have a reelection or the ÖVP can get together a coalition with the more center left parties.
If you live in Seattle, in or near Ballard, welcome to join us: A small group standing with signs on Saturdays at noon to 1, thru at least Mar 8 at Bergen Pavilion, Market & Leary. Not organized, 2 of us just met thru NextDoor. We thought there might be very few of us, but word of mouth turned out at least 17. Lots of enthusiastic response from walkers and drivers, plus many of the passing bus drivers! Appreciated by many were the handouts I printed of Robert's listing--from the 2/13 newsletter--of illegal & unconstitutional actions of FFOTUS since 1/20. Our hour was uplifting, companionable, great energy. Thanks, Robert, for inspiring, at least in me, the idea of starting at whatever level. "Little snail, slowly, slowly, climb Mt Fuji." ~Issa
“Appreciated by many were the handouts I printed of Robert's listing--from the 2/13 newsletter--of illegal & unconstitutional actions of FFOTUS since 1/20.”
I “borrowed” (I’m sure he‘ll forgive me 😏) from Robert’s excellent 2/13 list his wording about DOGE activities for a Letter To Ed expressing how deeply unsettling it is that members of Congress have such apparent disregard for the safety and security of their constituents.
It was published here in my MAGA Florida community.Many letters and all anti-Trump,which is rare.The tide will slowly turn. Keep protesting,calling writing !!!
That’s fantastic, thank you for being an inspiration. I don’t know if you follow Heather Cox Richardson on FB, but I wonder if you might post your comment in her comment section there. She has hundreds of thousands of readers and they/we are all wondering “what to do” and you are providing a fine example.
Great idea, but I'm not on FB any longer. Maybe someone else can post there on HCR's page? Thanks. I'm sure there are many, many other small scale protests happening throughout the country also needing a way to get the word out. I sent a message to Seattle indivisible a week ago, and no reply.
The Economic Blackout on Friday, Feb. 28, is a super easy entry level action. Just don't buy anything from big corporations, and get your friends and family to join you in "doing nothing!" We're flexing a muscle, building strength.
Like the Indivisible leaders say, we are in a time of needing to try a lot of different things, and some will work better than others.
I was all hyped up to attend the protest at our capital in Minnesota. The weather report is for 10 below zero so unfortunately I have to pass on this one. But you better believe I'll be at the next one! Even as a senior citizen, being part of the resistance is empowering.
Thanks for the exercise in perspective by way of Hadrian's Wall.
Lesson here: something lasting and valuable (in beauty of structure, as well as in practicable application), is worth saving and rebuilding): "In the 19th century, John Clayton, an antiquities scholar, bought land around the wall to prevent farmers from removing stones. He used money from his farms to restore the wall"; and: "In 2013, a project used original Roman stone to shore up weak sections of the wall."
The same principle applies to the Roman aqueduct, built in Europe and the Middle East - notably in Turkey and Israel - over a period of about 500 years, from 312 BC to the 2nd century AD. and still can be viewed there today, because it has been preserved and restored in many places.
So, when applying that hypothesis to the beauty, structure and benefit for humankind of the Constitution of the United States, we KNOW, that this, too, is a legal and humane edifice, aimed at dispensing equality and justice for all, that deserves to be defended and maintained for many more generations to enjoy and improve; not just to be abandoned at the first challenge and attempts to dismantle and destroy something so precious which allows an entire population of 335 million humans of great diversity to live in solidarity and under an equally applied rule of law - as well as to preserve our planet as best and as long as we can. Let's gird up for the defense and preservation of that edifice and defeat the forces that aim to hijack and destroy it, and the practice and precepts of humanism along with it.
Yes, the Constitution is a great document. But we are 235 years into a vastly changed world and flaws we expect in a "revolutionary" framework for governance have turned into fatal failure points. The consequences have caught up with us. Can we fix it? I don't think we have the resources any where near ready to take on that task and end with a decent result in the time we have to do it. But perhaps I am too pessimistic.
We have serious differences in our population that give little sign of changing and enabling us to again be united. There has been too much disagreement and outright blood-shed in our history that should not be repeated.
Our constitution was a prototype for a radically new form of government. You build prototypes to test new ideas. Sooner or later the prototype wears out and having shown its flaws, gets retired. And a new one is then built to incorporate what we learned into an all new design to fit the present needs.
And I hasten to point out that some present needs were unthinkable just a few years ago.
You must have missed the part of my comment that addresses the need to “IMPROVE” that document:
“…the beauty, structure and benefit for humankind of the Constitution of the United States, we KNOW, that this, too, is a legal and humane edifice, aimed at dispensing equality and justice for all, that deserves to be defended and maintained for many more generations to enjoy and improve…”
and a couple of points on improving the document -
* I believe freedom of speech had the "intent" of truth-full speech.
The original myth conferred on our First President was of his inherent HONESTY.
Relationships cannot be made nor sustained with lies.
* Freedom is of value. But I do not believe the founders envisioned the development of increasingly lethal forms of guns as well as bombs, which can result in total annihilation - nor the stupidity of malignant narcissists focused on using such weapons rather than engaging in dialogue.
Another thought here. Perhaps we ought to lighten up if only for the remaining hours of our day of rest. Imagine a constitution that is different that the traditional 2 dimensional text characters on a sheet of paper. Perhaps think back to the way you expressed yourself as a child. Or built things as play or pastime. Or how you accomplished things in a working career.
I think arguments over words are a distraction. No one wants to take the original paper documents and cut and paste corrections. And the Constitution changes every morning with the awakening of our nation's Supreme Court justices to a new day. What we need is a new document that is clear in its wording and difficult to change except by an orderly and prompt process, regardless of where the changes might come from. The continuous shower of arguments over the meaning of words in our Constitution must stop. It is slowly poisoning us.
Last year I saw the wonderful play, "What the Constitution Means to me," centered on a high school debate. I loved it so much I saw it twice. At the end the audience votes on who won the debate, and whether the Constitution should be saved, or thrown out and rewritten. One night it was to save, and the other to rewrite.
I am still believing the pendulum theory, that natural forces will stop and reverse the rightward swing. But all efforts are needed to speed the change.
I want so badly to know how all of this is going to end. On his podcast James Carville said that what is happening is much worse than what he imagined. Every day, it gets worse.
Yes, there are the court cases, but they don't feel like wins. Is the money being paid like it should be? Is everyone going to work and doing their jobs? I don't think so. Is there going to be a moment when the tide turns, and it feels like we might win? I know we're all in it for as long as we need to be, but this part is hard.
This will end when we force the issue. There are not enough tears in our beer for the taste to change and make us realize we need a new drink. Will it taste as good as the old beer? That's up to us. Any brewer will tell you good beer takes a lot of effort; not readily sensed until you taste it.
Mr Carville speaks for the camera, as is his nature. A good man; he means well. He is not a great leader.
We have ways out of this. There is some dependence on where and how the our enemy crashes in their out of control rush to overwhelm our senses. Their weaknesses are plainly visible. So we stay out of their way and watch. Sun Tsu inspires us. Prepare for some unexpected actions and consequences on both sides. New leaders will arise from our ranks. What we all need to do is keep last years tactics where they will do some good. The same goes for the good numbers of our team who only know those tactics of a now lost time.
Interesting to see Sun Tsu quoted here. Watching The Sopranos ( missed the first time round) and Tony Soprano quotes him from time to time. Guess Tsu's strategies can work many ways.
There is such a failure of imagination. “It can’t happen here.”For me, I imagined day one to be worse- a trumpian dramatic show arresting democrats at the inauguration. I thought project 2025 was more organized to start immediately. So the rollout, while fast, isn’t as fast as i had thought. I cannot comprehend how anyone could not have anticipated any of this.
I am not a Carville fan, but I appreciate that he says what others are afraid to. He was not trying to be a "reliable source" but was expressing his personal opinion. Everyone I follow knew it would be bad, and Project 2025 would be in our future, but no one predicted Elon Musk taking complete control. If anyone did, I want to know their name because I will be following them.
The majority of Americans approve of Trump's administration, and applaud him. Actions being taken right now are not going to be reversible. Grassroots movements are slow, and now slow will be too late.
DO the majority of Americans approve of Trump's administration??? More people voted AGAINST him than for him. More people didn't vote at all than voted for any one candidate. Most people didn't understand Project 2025 was years in development and had (unqualified) loyalists ready to replace experienced workers on Day One if the could fire or shut down agencies. Most people prefer having clean air and water. I take issue with your "majority" statement; although I WILL acknowledge the majority have not stood up in anger enough.
Trump's administration is like a grape vine at harvest time. But they harvest the grapes with a sword and scatter branches to the wind. Their wine will be like vinegar and make anyone who drinks it sick. Our strategy now is to cut away the roots where they feed the plant while we keep our distance and cover our noses.
Make sure to read Heather Cox Richardson today: Trump's proposed (and already done) cuts will hurt MAGA states and voters much harder and are not what those voters want. Our job is to publicize this far and wide. Ultimately, if we do our job, facts will win.
I sure hope so, but my read of MAGA people tells me many are convinced of their "facts" and are pleased that their "facts" are winning. Some minds are changing. That is good. But we all have to draw connections again and again. The number of people who do not care about the dissolution of USAID is legion, for one example, or do not even know that it is happening, just another wasteful program down the tubes. And why should we help Ukraine when was have needs here and Ukraine is ripping us off (not true) and NATO allies are not paying their fair share (not true), etc.
Today's Des Moines Register is trying to give the MAGA folks a good shove. Here is their headline: "Iowa farmers stuck with millions in bills amid Trump spending freeze."
Patrick, I agree with you. We have no idea what we are up against with MAGA. They are ecstatic about what Musk is doing. The latest reliable poll said the majority of Americans support Trump. I heard Joe Walsh on a podcast say that he was shocked to discover a lot of MAGA really want Trump to be king.
You may have seen it mentioned in previous editions of RH's excellent "Today's Edition", but there is a well regarded historian at Yale who publishes on Substack too. HIs name is Timothy Snyder. It's very good grist for the mill:
My heroes of the week are Robert Hubbell for obvious reasons (my daily pep talk). Rachel Maddow's latest piece on Nixon's failed attempt to close the USAID, The Court system held and it did not happen, and my new favorite Canadian MP Charlie Angus...if you haven't heard Charlie speak, he dresses down Trump as only a kindly intelligent Canadian could. The cream is rising to the top, albeit slower than I would like, but nevertheless it's rising...The people that end up really taking Trump down will be by a thousand cuts. Death will come and this will be a stain on our society for a long time. We will deserve it. It will be a distant memory like Nixon doing the exact same thing in the 60's. The exact same thing. This has been in their play book forever. When we get our power back we have a lot of house cleaning to do. Does anyone know of any rallies taking place on President's Day this Monday in Los Angeles? I would like to attend one.
You are so right. Thank you. I will look up the Rachel Maddow piece, and Charlie Angus. I recently discovered Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and her "Where are the Republicans?" speech on the House floor, and I just saw another. There are lots of leaders out there that the media won't cover, so that work is up to us.
As Joyce Vance wrote the courts can’t save us, maybe slow things down but it’s up to us. We need to focus on the impact of the program and employee cuts on our everyday lives and the health and safety of our families. Egg prices are higher than ever and the Democrats need to remind folks every day how this impacts them. Millions of people get cancer every year and cancer research is being almost eliminated and the list goes on. Voters regardless of party did not sign up for this and we need to remind them every day
I recently discovered Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico. She did a great speech on the floor about "Where are the Republicans?" and a new one I saw on Instagram about prices.
Buncombe Dems are having “Turn Your Anger Into Action Day”today at Democratic Headquarters in Asheville. Slammed by the double whammy of Helene knocking down our trees and houses followed by the horror of Trump and First Lady Elon Musk’s takover of government, we’ve got little left to lose. We’re gonna fight on, friends.
Robert, I am so glad I found you and Jill and this community. I liked the analogy with McCarthyism yesterday because it is a reminder of an upside down world which turned around quickly (in the relative scheme of things). 80 years in the USSR and Venezuela since Chavez came into office in 1999 scare me.
This is the moment to seize before the guns and tanks come out. I think the protest on 2/17 in DC will be big. While we are doing that and the lawsuits are continuing, the message on the harm Musk and Trump are doing needs to seep in to everyone’s consciousness, for his populist revolution just turned into arrogant elites who are robbing as much as they can steal. From the pain of the farmers to the moms with kids with disabilities whose funding for accommodations will be shut down soon to the towns near the national parks to Canadians canceling their vacations in Nashville, to the imminent slowdown in FEMA work, their core constituency needs to understand things are going so badly and why that is.
Livestreaming of Munich Security Conference today, I found a panel discussion that included the new 36 year old female PM of Iceland very interesting. She is very articulate and her English sounds almost accent-less. The PM of Finland, Latvia and Croatia were part of this panel. No one is saying anything bad about the US, and even though shocked by JD Vance's offensive Christian Nationalist speech, are not rhetorically turning on the US.
However, a general in the audience brought up the Budapest Memorandum and I was looking at it and wonder if someone can explain the purpose of this memorandum and how it might be informing the US negotiators in the Ukrainian Russian peace negotiations taking place in Saudi Arabia this week.
Random thought of the day, but it seems to me that we need to embrace the American tendency to celebrate celebrity, and choose a candidate for 2028 who crosses all political divides in their appeal. The Oprah Candidate if you will, or if you disagree, the insert-name-here apolitical celebrity candidate. I mean if Reagan the actor and DJT the reality tv “star” 🤢 can ascend to the White House, why not acknowledge that millions of our citizens are inherently superficial rather than expecting them to miraculously become critical thinkers overnight? Then you surround that person with the brilliant, the principled, and the honorable to help steer the ship back to a stable, equitable, and lasting democracy. R’s have patented the playbook on smearing anyone who aspires to higher office, especially those best-equipped to do so. Think of how successful their decades-long campaign to delegitimize and denigrate Hillary Clinton has been. Why not choose someone they’d least expect to be the face of our nation, and surround them with the Pete B’s and AOC’s to assure their success? Maybe I need more coffee. 🫠
Why are the artists, college presidents, major scientists, business people with a brain, writers and intellectuals, movie makers, and intellectuals silent or just publishing their "view with alarm" pieces on magazines that only 5% of the population read? Even scientists who are seeing their research funds evaporating are just publishing "petitions" in the NYTs. They should be in USA Today and on every net work explainin in no uncertain terms what Trump is doing. Same way with the lawyers.
Here's my daily dose of perspective. A month ago when the dogs died unexpectedly. It's been tough to recover from that. The other dog is old and failing. Robins are outside every morning. They're doing their normal spring routine. My flowers are starting to Bud and some of them are blooming. My best friend who I've known since I was 9 has been taking care of her sister for almost a year and her sister is nearing death. My brother who I used to care about and respect has become a source of intense disgust as he is in with the maga crowd. I have a roof over my head and a refrigerator that has food in it. I regularly provide some meals for some people that I encounter. They're simple meals and they're not going to save anything but they're better than doing nothing. I cringe when I read the news but I still read it. I'm going to the resistance event on Monday and I heard it's national all over the country at capitals and municipalities so I hope you go too.
When one person stands up, it gives courage for others to do the same.
Be the change you (we) want to see in the world.
Thank you Ivy from deep in my heart.🙏❤️
This is the kind of perspective and love that touches my heart. Thank you. I’ve been so stressed. I love knowing you’re out there doing the work and loving the people around you and the bird, practicing gratitude for basics. 💜
You're a good person. I'm so sorry for your losses.
Hi Ivy, I'm sorry for the loss of your beloved dogs. Please take the time you need to grieve. I can tell you have a good heart. Take care of yourself. I I'm going to our state capital tomorrow with others in my community. We will not surrender in advance!
The crisis is global. 1933 wasn’t just Germany’s crisis.
Let’s also look at how Russia created the migration of refugees in Europe which is causing this shift to the right.
YES! I remember when Syria ran all those people over the border though I can't think of which country they fled to. It was deliberately done to cause a migrant crisis
Ivy, thanks for your heart-felt comments. Your words are a brave declaration of independence. Through loss, you endure; and your bravery in owning your former admiration for your brother and your "intense disgust" at his being "in with the maga crowd" shows us all what is at stake.
Your beautiful prose sounds heartbeats of affirmation and led me back to Stephen Spielberg's (1985) film and Celie's (Whoopie Goldberg) courageous departure from Albert's farm leaving the place she has known most of her life in Shug's car shouting back at Albert's insults. "I'm poor, I'm black, I may even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here!" Every act of political courage is literally a "demonstration," a showing of who we are. Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, and so many others have no idea whom they are dealing with. We are here! Thank you for reminding me of that clear, simple fact.
heartfelt condolences on the death of your dear dog, been there, similar situation, one sudden death and the other old and in decline. how we love them! and amid all your other personal suffering, I honor your gratitude and resilience.
Ivy: You are a hero. Like me, my dog is old but the pills for dogs actually work and extend his life. See a vet.
Musk may be hitting social security soon. That will surely bring out crowds like me.
My friends and I are going.
Please tell me more about the Monday resistance event. Where can I find information about it?
Watching the Livestreaming of the Munich Security Conference yesterday was interesting. If just intelligence alone where what could win the war Ukraine's president Zelenskyy has it in spades. Apparently JD Vance and Pete Hegseth said really horrible things about Ukraine and Europe in terms of them trying to shut down the Nazi parties that are most like his and Trump's party, and that made European countries mad. Even if they are all embracing the same anti-Muslim politics on their right wing as the US, does not mean that the countries are ready to cave to their far right parties. Of course they are making inroads too.
Unfortunately for the world more liberal governments in Europe during Covid and Putin's war, led to these governments being overthrown for something different. People are of the opinion that if liberal did not make my economic situation better, and for many it is just fine. They have a home, health insurance, can afford to go to the local football games, drink in a pub, go on a vacation with the family and get paid vacations but they still think furrigners are a problem because some bot on the internet has been hetting them up to believe that they cannot be integrated into society. There are a few who had illiberal governments and have voted them out for something they hope is better. Changing bad systems takes a lot of political capital that most countries do not have, and time that most leaderships don't get.
What Austria is doing is just Nazi-like with their far right, and right now not able to make a coalition. What will happen. If the people were smart they would come to their senses and have a recall election. The far right won 28.9% of the votes, while the center right won 26.3% Neither has enough to rule on its own, but they are not able to form a coalition together because the Center Right is balking and the crazy extremism of the far right party and their leader Klikl. My daughter has a good friend in Austria and she has been out there demonstrating against this Nazi party as part of the government. Austria is too aligned with its former monarchy partner Hungary. So, you can have beautiful cities, and lovely pastries, but fascist governments. Let us hope it ruins the tourism in Austria.
Germany has an election in a week, and I am hoping that the Far right party comes in behind the Center right party who will then only make a coalition with other democratic parties. My family and friends will certainly will be doing our part to stave off the far right.
The present leader of Germany’s far-right party, AfD, is Alice Weidel. Her party’s supporters now chant, “Alice für Deutschland!” at rallies. When pronounced in German, this chant — in a cruel pun — sounds very much like “Alles für Deutschland!” which was the slogan loudly voiced by the S.A. (a/k/a The Brownshirts) who were the street thugs who served as enforcers of Nazi doctrine throughout Germany in the mid-1930s. AfD is predicted to do better than ever before in Germany’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
We communicate regularly with friends from Germany who were terrified as they watched the popularity of AFD growing stronger. However after Elon Musk came out and supported the Nazi party and gave the Nazi salute, they started to see this party become weaker. Now after Pete Hegsth's appalling speech, they feel that it woke more Germans up to realize they needed to stand up against the party.
Like Canada, they are in disbelief and no longer look at America as a friend.
I hope you are right. Maybe Musk and Vance hurt the AFD cause rather than helping it as intended.
Don't know that these one time actions can make a dent in what Putin and his bots are doing to spread disinformation in the election, but I am hopeful that they still remain in second place behind another party I would never vote for the CDU/?CSU. At least in Germany I can vote for the party that is more tailored to my thinking because they will still have seats in the Bundestag and might even be coalition partners.
My husband's family are mostly farmers, and I believe they vote CDU/CSU but not all of them. His closest cousin probably votes SPD. He also has a wife who was a teacher of young adults with retardation, as opposed to his cousin whose wife was a banker. At least no one in his family would vote AfD.
Ugh…NOOOO!
One of the leaders of the AfD was sentenced to pay a fine for using the well-known S.A. slogan Alles für Deutschland last year, as it is an illegal Nazi slogan (sorry JD Vance, we do have certain limits to the freedom of expression and your whining about this terrible injustice won't change that).
But that you can mix up Alice and Alles surely just is a very unfortunate coincidence, just like the heartfelt warm gesture of Elon Musk greeting his followers very unfortunately and absolutely unintended resembles the Sieg Heil salute.
unintended? You’re kidding, right? With everything in his background, it was unintended? Please wake up to what is going on and stop giving people the benefit of the doubt. We are way past that.
Yes, he is pointing out the irony. He is in no way proclaiming what you attribute. Read carefully before you flame another poster.
Thanks, Dan. Of course you are right. But it is a testament to our crazy times that you seem to have to point out sarcasm in order to not being misunderstood. I actually thought about adding a Sarcasm! in brackets but then thought it should not be necessary.
Nichts zu danken. Es war nicht notwendig, und du hast recht. Manchmal ist es auch mir peinlich zu lesen.
It's a sad world we live in now, when satire and irony are indistinguishable from reality, and sometimes we check to see if we are reading The Onion because FOTUS intentionally wants outrage and discouragement so that we are too distracted to notice his looting of the country - and FELON enables ELON to loot the agencies for data to train his AI and to profit his businesses, not to mention shut down the agencies that have been or are currently investigating his businesses for illegal practices and workplace safety issues.
Jeff Tiedrich had a meme where he had Musk and Hitler side by side saluting and it was exactly exactly the same salute. I do not know how to isolate it, so please scroll down.
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/what-the-fuck-is-this
He is also discussing JD Vance today.
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/jd-vance-lectures-germany-be-nice?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
He is right on the money and should be leading the Democrats in revolt along with AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Bernie Sanders, Raskin, Warren and a few others.
Doubtful that Musk's gesture was unintended.
I hear you.
It's the sound of boots marching
and tanks rolling
and drones flying...
Linda, I appreciqte that you watched the Munich conference and shared your assessments. Aside from this comment, I appreciate your posts. Debbie in Massachusetts
Thank you Debbie.
yes, I skim through and look for your name in the comments when I read Robert's Substack.
What do grassroots actions look like in Germany, in addition to the street protests? Zoom organizing webinars? Postcard/letter campaigns? Scripts to call one's elected representatives? Emails and text messages soliciting campaign donations?
Hi Ellie, I cannot speak to all of what is going on, because I don't know. I will let you know what I do know.
--There is organizing to support immigrants in multiple ways to stand up to anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly refugees. Right now 17% of Germany is immigrant even if they have been here since the 1950s, since citizenship until recently was not easy to acquire, and 4% of those are refugees. So, about 1/4.
I get petitions regularly to sign from Campact, which is like Moveon and they suggest legislation or protest against political actions.
--My local branch of my political party sends me weekly, and more often updates on initiatives that are actually going on, or things they find problematic. All political parties have offices in each city, and multiple ones. There are standing working groups as well, and they meet regularly and any citizen who cares about an issue can be involved in developing policy that gets to the regional and national party branches. So, there are working committees, on immigrants, feminism, environment, digital media, Education, Ethics, Democracy and national and international politics against the right wing, Europe and peace, Health, I live in a port city so harbors and shipping, Children, youth and families, Culture, Queer, Social support and work, sport, regional development, animal politics, Climate and energy, traffic, business and finance, science and higher ed, etc... People who are interested join these groups and help develop policy.
--I know that there are people going door to door campaigning.
However, privacy laws mean no one is getting a mailing list or email list or phone list of anyone in Germany. In fact, that is why we had to attend so many festivals and events in order to recruit people for Democrats Abroad, because we are not allowed to get lists of Americans. It is violation of privacy here, and that is strictly guarded. For example, no one is allowed to take photos of people here without their permission. So, at Demonstrations you take pictures of the people in front of you who have their backs to you, or of someone's sign if they let you, but not of people whose permission you do not have.
There are election posters up all over the city for the different parties. There are no AfD signs in my city that I have seen, and they also have no representation here in the government. Also, for voters who are undecided there is Wahl-o-mat (Vote-o-matic), or another one like that which is a list of questions say 40 or so, where you answer them and then they tell you which parties you most match in order of percentage. Also, you can ask for which ones you least match. You get a description of the parties and what they stand for.
In Germany right now there are 8 parties which have a chance of getting representation in the Bundestag (Federal Government) and they are CDU/CSU, SPD, AfD, The Greens, The Left, BSW, The FDP. They have to have 5% votes to have representation. The FDP is on shaky ground right now to even make it, and BSW is thinking of dropping out I have read. Don't know if that is true.
There are no scripts to call elected representatives, but one has a closer relationship to the parties, because the people are all involved in parties and their initiatives. My mom's childhood friend is active in her party. She attends party meetings, which they all regularly have locally, and then bigger ones which one might attend in Berlin. She is to be found regularly in our marketplace demonstrating on topics that her party cares about every Saturday at a certain time when she is in the city. She is 90, and her partner is a bit younger. His home is in another city, so they spend 6 weeks here and 6 weeks there, plus some other trips, but all by train and a lot related to political actions.
Does this give you a sense of what goes on here vs, in the US?
Linda, thank you for taking the time to pen this exhaustive answer to Ellie's question. I would just like to add two or three points. You mentioned the activities of party members in marketplaces. In addition to countless appearances, town hall meetings etc. of the candidates on the national or state level that truly is one of the central campaign activities. Party members as well as the local candidates and representatives make themselves available to voters, discussing issues, handing out campaign brochures or little gifts like pens, buttons, sweets, etc.
The other important way to reach out to voters are numerous discussions between the leading candidates on the various TV channels in the last two or three weeks before the election. Usually representatives of all the parties represented in the Bundestag, the German parliament, are being invited.
These discussions are playing an important role as otherwise TV commercials are very limited, there are no robocalls either. This brings me to the biggest (and perhaps decisive) difference between elections in Germany and the US: the influence of money. Our elections cost a fraction of what is being spent in the US. We have strict campaign financing laws and though there is no cap on individual donations, they have to be disclosed and the influence of individual donors is minuscule. More on that here https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-party-and-campaign-financing/a-58807353
Social media play an increasingly important role in the campaigns and unfortunately that opens venues for misinformation spreading lies or, in MAGA speak, 'alternative facts'. We know, that Putin is very active in this area, trying to hurt the democratic parties and to help the neo-nazi AfD.
It came as quite a shock to Germans that while Putin is using clandestine and shady cyber methods Musk and Vance are openly throwing their support behind the German rightwing extremists.
Thank you, Linda and Stefan. Would that the Democratic Party go to school on some of these methods such as town hall meetings and rallies led by the politicians actually out there speaking with the people.
Some of the Dems are holding town halls when they are back in their districts. And they are also attending rallies, like against the DOE cuts. It would be better to support their efforts rather than tarnish them.
Wow, that was fantastic. Thanks for educating me so thoroughly.
Thank you, Linda and Stefan.
With Austria the numbers are fascinating. Similar to so many other western democracies. I keep thinking there is something there that is deeply rooted in the human species.
These words, at the end of your second paragraph, say a lot: "Changing bad systems takes a lot of political capital that most countries do not have, and time that most leaderships don't get."
The same goes for us. It's much easier to destroy than to build or rebuild, and the political capital and time needed to fix things broken seems too expensive and slow, so people abandon it and try something different. The damage trump did in his first term couldn't be fixed in Biden's term, and the cost (political and economic) was high. The second trump term promises to be far more destructive than the first, and will take decades to recover from, if we don't stop it.
I estimate that right now, recovery will take 10 years. And it will be 20 years, minimum by 2028. Unless he's impeached before then.
Recovery from all that is being destroyed may mean that the US will once again have a government that takes care of the people, hopefully to a greater extent than it has, but Trump is destroying the USs chance of being a Superpower. That will be hard to rebuild, and perhaps that is the way it will be. Iceland has a nice quality of living and they do not aim to be a super power. In fact, they do not even have a standing military, yet they have the number one country for peacefulness and safety. https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/#/
Stay tuned, re: Hungary. In 2026, there will be an election that may actually amount to something: A patriot (albeit a business conservative) named Peter Magyar is challenging Viktor Orban, for the Prime Ministership. Austria may beat its eastern neighbour to the punch, if Klikl can't build a coalition.
Gary, I have been reading that there is stirring in Hungary, but have not kept up with it. Perhaps because people are not just dependent on state owned media but have other potential sources of information. Also, living under an illiberal leader who is stealing from the people becomes obvious after a while. I really wish Hungary well.
Just reading in Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum about the situation in Venezuela. Right now the US is reminding me of this, because Trump and Musk are blatantly stealing from us so it is ironic that Trump put sanctions on Venezuela, but then again. Trump hates Brown skinned people, even light brown, unless they got their tans from a tanning salon, or staying at one of his hotels.
I really hope that Klikl cannot make a coalition with the Center Right ÖPV, which is sort of like the Austrian parallel to the CDU/CSU in German. Then, I hope that the either have to have a reelection or the ÖVP can get together a coalition with the more center left parties.
If you live in Seattle, in or near Ballard, welcome to join us: A small group standing with signs on Saturdays at noon to 1, thru at least Mar 8 at Bergen Pavilion, Market & Leary. Not organized, 2 of us just met thru NextDoor. We thought there might be very few of us, but word of mouth turned out at least 17. Lots of enthusiastic response from walkers and drivers, plus many of the passing bus drivers! Appreciated by many were the handouts I printed of Robert's listing--from the 2/13 newsletter--of illegal & unconstitutional actions of FFOTUS since 1/20. Our hour was uplifting, companionable, great energy. Thanks, Robert, for inspiring, at least in me, the idea of starting at whatever level. "Little snail, slowly, slowly, climb Mt Fuji." ~Issa
You go, Diane !!!
“Appreciated by many were the handouts I printed of Robert's listing--from the 2/13 newsletter--of illegal & unconstitutional actions of FFOTUS since 1/20.”
I “borrowed” (I’m sure he‘ll forgive me 😏) from Robert’s excellent 2/13 list his wording about DOGE activities for a Letter To Ed expressing how deeply unsettling it is that members of Congress have such apparent disregard for the safety and security of their constituents.
It was published here in my MAGA Florida community.Many letters and all anti-Trump,which is rare.The tide will slowly turn. Keep protesting,calling writing !!!
Thanks,Robert, for inspiring us !
🪧✍️📲
That’s so good to read!
Congratulations Kathy, for jumping right into the MAGA snake pit, and coming out with allies. What you did is so incredibly important.
I live in Seattle and will try to join next Saturday. I've messaged you.
That’s fantastic, thank you for being an inspiration. I don’t know if you follow Heather Cox Richardson on FB, but I wonder if you might post your comment in her comment section there. She has hundreds of thousands of readers and they/we are all wondering “what to do” and you are providing a fine example.
Great idea, but I'm not on FB any longer. Maybe someone else can post there on HCR's page? Thanks. I'm sure there are many, many other small scale protests happening throughout the country also needing a way to get the word out. I sent a message to Seattle indivisible a week ago, and no reply.
Heather Cox Richardson can also be read by email, and on Substack.
Good work, and it is so important to get the truth out to people. Cory Booker calls out for us to be Citizen Truth Tellers. We must conquer the lies.
Let's walk the talk, make a plan:
2/17: March at noon, your capital or city hall
2/28: Economic blackout
3/7-3/14: no Amazon purchases
3/14: National strike
(h/t Lori Coleman @democracystorm.bsky.social)
The Economic Blackout on Friday, Feb. 28, is a super easy entry level action. Just don't buy anything from big corporations, and get your friends and family to join you in "doing nothing!" We're flexing a muscle, building strength.
Like the Indivisible leaders say, we are in a time of needing to try a lot of different things, and some will work better than others.
I was all hyped up to attend the protest at our capital in Minnesota. The weather report is for 10 below zero so unfortunately I have to pass on this one. But you better believe I'll be at the next one! Even as a senior citizen, being part of the resistance is empowering.
Hi Ellie, I saw that the "national strike" is March 15. Maybe it will clarify as we get closer...
Thanks for making the listing!!
Thanks for the exercise in perspective by way of Hadrian's Wall.
Lesson here: something lasting and valuable (in beauty of structure, as well as in practicable application), is worth saving and rebuilding): "In the 19th century, John Clayton, an antiquities scholar, bought land around the wall to prevent farmers from removing stones. He used money from his farms to restore the wall"; and: "In 2013, a project used original Roman stone to shore up weak sections of the wall."
The same principle applies to the Roman aqueduct, built in Europe and the Middle East - notably in Turkey and Israel - over a period of about 500 years, from 312 BC to the 2nd century AD. and still can be viewed there today, because it has been preserved and restored in many places.
So, when applying that hypothesis to the beauty, structure and benefit for humankind of the Constitution of the United States, we KNOW, that this, too, is a legal and humane edifice, aimed at dispensing equality and justice for all, that deserves to be defended and maintained for many more generations to enjoy and improve; not just to be abandoned at the first challenge and attempts to dismantle and destroy something so precious which allows an entire population of 335 million humans of great diversity to live in solidarity and under an equally applied rule of law - as well as to preserve our planet as best and as long as we can. Let's gird up for the defense and preservation of that edifice and defeat the forces that aim to hijack and destroy it, and the practice and precepts of humanism along with it.
Some disagreement here with your last paragraph.
Yes, the Constitution is a great document. But we are 235 years into a vastly changed world and flaws we expect in a "revolutionary" framework for governance have turned into fatal failure points. The consequences have caught up with us. Can we fix it? I don't think we have the resources any where near ready to take on that task and end with a decent result in the time we have to do it. But perhaps I am too pessimistic.
We have serious differences in our population that give little sign of changing and enabling us to again be united. There has been too much disagreement and outright blood-shed in our history that should not be repeated.
Our constitution was a prototype for a radically new form of government. You build prototypes to test new ideas. Sooner or later the prototype wears out and having shown its flaws, gets retired. And a new one is then built to incorporate what we learned into an all new design to fit the present needs.
And I hasten to point out that some present needs were unthinkable just a few years ago.
You must have missed the part of my comment that addresses the need to “IMPROVE” that document:
“…the beauty, structure and benefit for humankind of the Constitution of the United States, we KNOW, that this, too, is a legal and humane edifice, aimed at dispensing equality and justice for all, that deserves to be defended and maintained for many more generations to enjoy and improve…”
and a couple of points on improving the document -
* I believe freedom of speech had the "intent" of truth-full speech.
The original myth conferred on our First President was of his inherent HONESTY.
Relationships cannot be made nor sustained with lies.
* Freedom is of value. But I do not believe the founders envisioned the development of increasingly lethal forms of guns as well as bombs, which can result in total annihilation - nor the stupidity of malignant narcissists focused on using such weapons rather than engaging in dialogue.
"An eye for an eye leaves all people blind."
So that begins the First and Second Amendments.
Improvements continue from there.
Another thought here. Perhaps we ought to lighten up if only for the remaining hours of our day of rest. Imagine a constitution that is different that the traditional 2 dimensional text characters on a sheet of paper. Perhaps think back to the way you expressed yourself as a child. Or built things as play or pastime. Or how you accomplished things in a working career.
I think arguments over words are a distraction. No one wants to take the original paper documents and cut and paste corrections. And the Constitution changes every morning with the awakening of our nation's Supreme Court justices to a new day. What we need is a new document that is clear in its wording and difficult to change except by an orderly and prompt process, regardless of where the changes might come from. The continuous shower of arguments over the meaning of words in our Constitution must stop. It is slowly poisoning us.
Last year I saw the wonderful play, "What the Constitution Means to me," centered on a high school debate. I loved it so much I saw it twice. At the end the audience votes on who won the debate, and whether the Constitution should be saved, or thrown out and rewritten. One night it was to save, and the other to rewrite.
I am still believing the pendulum theory, that natural forces will stop and reverse the rightward swing. But all efforts are needed to speed the change.
I want so badly to know how all of this is going to end. On his podcast James Carville said that what is happening is much worse than what he imagined. Every day, it gets worse.
Yes, there are the court cases, but they don't feel like wins. Is the money being paid like it should be? Is everyone going to work and doing their jobs? I don't think so. Is there going to be a moment when the tide turns, and it feels like we might win? I know we're all in it for as long as we need to be, but this part is hard.
This will end when we force the issue. There are not enough tears in our beer for the taste to change and make us realize we need a new drink. Will it taste as good as the old beer? That's up to us. Any brewer will tell you good beer takes a lot of effort; not readily sensed until you taste it.
Mr Carville speaks for the camera, as is his nature. A good man; he means well. He is not a great leader.
We have ways out of this. There is some dependence on where and how the our enemy crashes in their out of control rush to overwhelm our senses. Their weaknesses are plainly visible. So we stay out of their way and watch. Sun Tsu inspires us. Prepare for some unexpected actions and consequences on both sides. New leaders will arise from our ranks. What we all need to do is keep last years tactics where they will do some good. The same goes for the good numbers of our team who only know those tactics of a now lost time.
Interesting to see Sun Tsu quoted here. Watching The Sopranos ( missed the first time round) and Tony Soprano quotes him from time to time. Guess Tsu's strategies can work many ways.
I was born and raised in Tony Soprano country. I know where his house was.
Excellent comment; thank you.
There is such a failure of imagination. “It can’t happen here.”For me, I imagined day one to be worse- a trumpian dramatic show arresting democrats at the inauguration. I thought project 2025 was more organized to start immediately. So the rollout, while fast, isn’t as fast as i had thought. I cannot comprehend how anyone could not have anticipated any of this.
James Carville is not what I would consider my "reliable source."
We must save ourselves from the grassroots,
and it WILL REQUIRE the full diversity of people of good will.
I am not a Carville fan, but I appreciate that he says what others are afraid to. He was not trying to be a "reliable source" but was expressing his personal opinion. Everyone I follow knew it would be bad, and Project 2025 would be in our future, but no one predicted Elon Musk taking complete control. If anyone did, I want to know their name because I will be following them.
The majority of Americans approve of Trump's administration, and applaud him. Actions being taken right now are not going to be reversible. Grassroots movements are slow, and now slow will be too late.
DO the majority of Americans approve of Trump's administration??? More people voted AGAINST him than for him. More people didn't vote at all than voted for any one candidate. Most people didn't understand Project 2025 was years in development and had (unqualified) loyalists ready to replace experienced workers on Day One if the could fire or shut down agencies. Most people prefer having clean air and water. I take issue with your "majority" statement; although I WILL acknowledge the majority have not stood up in anger enough.
Trump's administration is like a grape vine at harvest time. But they harvest the grapes with a sword and scatter branches to the wind. Their wine will be like vinegar and make anyone who drinks it sick. Our strategy now is to cut away the roots where they feed the plant while we keep our distance and cover our noses.
Make sure to read Heather Cox Richardson today: Trump's proposed (and already done) cuts will hurt MAGA states and voters much harder and are not what those voters want. Our job is to publicize this far and wide. Ultimately, if we do our job, facts will win.
I sure hope so, but my read of MAGA people tells me many are convinced of their "facts" and are pleased that their "facts" are winning. Some minds are changing. That is good. But we all have to draw connections again and again. The number of people who do not care about the dissolution of USAID is legion, for one example, or do not even know that it is happening, just another wasteful program down the tubes. And why should we help Ukraine when was have needs here and Ukraine is ripping us off (not true) and NATO allies are not paying their fair share (not true), etc.
Today's Des Moines Register is trying to give the MAGA folks a good shove. Here is their headline: "Iowa farmers stuck with millions in bills amid Trump spending freeze."
I hope it stirs up a breeze at least!
Patrick, I agree with you. We have no idea what we are up against with MAGA. They are ecstatic about what Musk is doing. The latest reliable poll said the majority of Americans support Trump. I heard Joe Walsh on a podcast say that he was shocked to discover a lot of MAGA really want Trump to be king.
You may have seen it mentioned in previous editions of RH's excellent "Today's Edition", but there is a well regarded historian at Yale who publishes on Substack too. HIs name is Timothy Snyder. It's very good grist for the mill:
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/affirmative-action-for-dictators?r=f38fk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Thanks for including the link. I follow Timothy Snyder, and am working on people I know to do the same.
My heroes of the week are Robert Hubbell for obvious reasons (my daily pep talk). Rachel Maddow's latest piece on Nixon's failed attempt to close the USAID, The Court system held and it did not happen, and my new favorite Canadian MP Charlie Angus...if you haven't heard Charlie speak, he dresses down Trump as only a kindly intelligent Canadian could. The cream is rising to the top, albeit slower than I would like, but nevertheless it's rising...The people that end up really taking Trump down will be by a thousand cuts. Death will come and this will be a stain on our society for a long time. We will deserve it. It will be a distant memory like Nixon doing the exact same thing in the 60's. The exact same thing. This has been in their play book forever. When we get our power back we have a lot of house cleaning to do. Does anyone know of any rallies taking place on President's Day this Monday in Los Angeles? I would like to attend one.
You are so right. Thank you. I will look up the Rachel Maddow piece, and Charlie Angus. I recently discovered Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and her "Where are the Republicans?" speech on the House floor, and I just saw another. There are lots of leaders out there that the media won't cover, so that work is up to us.
Yes, Canadian Charlie Angus is a favorite of mine too!
Check out Charlie Angus interviews on YouTube. He calls a spade a spade and a great voice for Canada.
As Joyce Vance wrote the courts can’t save us, maybe slow things down but it’s up to us. We need to focus on the impact of the program and employee cuts on our everyday lives and the health and safety of our families. Egg prices are higher than ever and the Democrats need to remind folks every day how this impacts them. Millions of people get cancer every year and cancer research is being almost eliminated and the list goes on. Voters regardless of party did not sign up for this and we need to remind them every day
I recently discovered Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico. She did a great speech on the floor about "Where are the Republicans?" and a new one I saw on Instagram about prices.
It’s message like this that have to be distributed and viewed across the country.
Buncombe Dems are having “Turn Your Anger Into Action Day”today at Democratic Headquarters in Asheville. Slammed by the double whammy of Helene knocking down our trees and houses followed by the horror of Trump and First Lady Elon Musk’s takover of government, we’ve got little left to lose. We’re gonna fight on, friends.
Robert, I am so glad I found you and Jill and this community. I liked the analogy with McCarthyism yesterday because it is a reminder of an upside down world which turned around quickly (in the relative scheme of things). 80 years in the USSR and Venezuela since Chavez came into office in 1999 scare me.
This is the moment to seize before the guns and tanks come out. I think the protest on 2/17 in DC will be big. While we are doing that and the lawsuits are continuing, the message on the harm Musk and Trump are doing needs to seep in to everyone’s consciousness, for his populist revolution just turned into arrogant elites who are robbing as much as they can steal. From the pain of the farmers to the moms with kids with disabilities whose funding for accommodations will be shut down soon to the towns near the national parks to Canadians canceling their vacations in Nashville, to the imminent slowdown in FEMA work, their core constituency needs to understand things are going so badly and why that is.
Livestreaming of Munich Security Conference today, I found a panel discussion that included the new 36 year old female PM of Iceland very interesting. She is very articulate and her English sounds almost accent-less. The PM of Finland, Latvia and Croatia were part of this panel. No one is saying anything bad about the US, and even though shocked by JD Vance's offensive Christian Nationalist speech, are not rhetorically turning on the US.
However, a general in the audience brought up the Budapest Memorandum and I was looking at it and wonder if someone can explain the purpose of this memorandum and how it might be informing the US negotiators in the Ukrainian Russian peace negotiations taking place in Saudi Arabia this week.
Robert,
That’s wild! Wow! I can barely wrap my head around your explanation. I am in awe! Just…WOW…incredible. I don’t have the words 🙂
Thank you!
Sunday, hopefully a quiet day with time to unwind.
Robert, thank you for our daily dose of perspective.
Thinking of the need for us to remain resilient, I'm reposting here in comments a piece that's called "Finding anchors in the face of stress". This is freely available to all on Substack. https://longcovidjourney2wellness.substack.com/p/finding-anchors-in-the-face-of-stress
Random thought of the day, but it seems to me that we need to embrace the American tendency to celebrate celebrity, and choose a candidate for 2028 who crosses all political divides in their appeal. The Oprah Candidate if you will, or if you disagree, the insert-name-here apolitical celebrity candidate. I mean if Reagan the actor and DJT the reality tv “star” 🤢 can ascend to the White House, why not acknowledge that millions of our citizens are inherently superficial rather than expecting them to miraculously become critical thinkers overnight? Then you surround that person with the brilliant, the principled, and the honorable to help steer the ship back to a stable, equitable, and lasting democracy. R’s have patented the playbook on smearing anyone who aspires to higher office, especially those best-equipped to do so. Think of how successful their decades-long campaign to delegitimize and denigrate Hillary Clinton has been. Why not choose someone they’d least expect to be the face of our nation, and surround them with the Pete B’s and AOC’s to assure their success? Maybe I need more coffee. 🫠
Any suggestions for a celeb candidate?
Why are the artists, college presidents, major scientists, business people with a brain, writers and intellectuals, movie makers, and intellectuals silent or just publishing their "view with alarm" pieces on magazines that only 5% of the population read? Even scientists who are seeing their research funds evaporating are just publishing "petitions" in the NYTs. They should be in USA Today and on every net work explainin in no uncertain terms what Trump is doing. Same way with the lawyers.