203 Comments

Thanks for mustering the energy to write today. Many of us look to your newsletter for guidance and reassurance. We can be patient.

Please rest and take care of yourself.

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

First of all, I can't imagine anyone would want you to tax yourself while you recover. Please take care and get better soon.

Second, I would like to comment that when everything that someone has said for which there is any source of independent verification has been borne out so far, and that is a significant portion of what they have related, I am inclined to believe them on the rest. If the Secret Service contradicts Ms. Hutchinson's testimony as to the story told to her concerning the events in "the Beast" then I am inclined to feel like they are bowing to political optics. I would very much like to hear the two men who she is referring to testify under oath if they wish to impugn her honesty.

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The Secret Service was and is a politically biased organization. One officer was suspended after calling members of Congress "traitors" on social media for accepting the electoral count act.

The Secret Service has no business leaking information to the press. If its officers want to testify under oath, they can. In fact, Engel has, and has confirmed basic elements of Hutchinson's story, as has Trump. This from The Week:

Trump and Engel have also both corroborated the thrust of Hutchinson's testimony.

Trump told The Washington Post in April that he had wanted to accompany his supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6, but the "Secret Service said I couldn't go. I would have gone there in a minute." Engel testified to the Jan. 6 committee that he and Trump had disagreed about going to the Capitol and he had steered them to the White House instead, Politico reported earlier this month.

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I believe I recall reading that President Biden requested to choose which of the Secret Service were assigned to his personal detail.

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Not sure if you saw some of the MSNBC coverage after the hearing. Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig, who wrote a book about the Secret Service, said that Bobby Engel, the driver that Trump tried to strong arm, was known to be very deferential to Trump. She made it sound like Engel liked to do whatever would make Trump happy. Clearly he couldn't allow Trump to go to the Capital, but he might be willing to deny Cassidy Hutchinson's story.

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Yes, I expect deferential behavior is both a job requirement and part of the training. I thought she modeled how to speak in ways that were both deferential (a bit of something additional beyond respectful) and yet critical when necessary, throughout. I suspected she may have for the most part only given away what they had on text already, accounting for much of the long thinking pause moments before answering (and remember she couldn't confess as to having known any more than what she says she did beforehand or else put herself at jeopardy for being accessory), but surely some of it was entirely voluntary as was her response to how she felt about events. I also suspect she may be going to be on the receiving end of threats and could probably have played it safer. She deserves at least some of our sympathy.

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Lying to support Trump would be such a shame. There is no such thing as Trump loyalty.

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It is their modus operandi

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Please take care, Robert (if I may so call you), and focus on getting well. Protect yourself (selves) against long Covid by respecting and responding to every ounce of fatigue as you begin to feel better. We need you--you can best take care of us by doing a bit LESS than you think you can. When you can and if it does not trespass too much, any guesses you might have about how you got it might help those of us who are living claustrophobically cloistered in making choices.

Thank you for tonight's post -- you clearly do not have Covid brain fog--it was succinct, and I thought, bordered on brilliant. I'm enclosing a get well poem for you, yours and all of us, apologies if this is a repetition.

"The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry

When despair grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting for their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Sleep well.

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Wendell Berry's poem, one of my all-time favorites, is one of the most beautiful poems ever written. Thanks for sharing it, Carol.

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Beautiful share of poetry. Thank you.

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Oh, I love this poem. And yes, he's done such a beautiful job of summarizing that I have shared it with an elderly relative who couldn't hear the hearing (!) properly and was wishing for something just like this.

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Robert, Your impulse to convey key observations of Tuesday’s hearing despite contending with a virus, about which we still know relatively little, speaks volumes about your character and commitment. Still, at the moment, I can’t think of anything more important than taking care of you and yours.

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Thanks, Robert, for all you do - hopefully you all Ave mild cases and a good dose of immunization to prevent against the next variant!

The only thing I’m waiting for is Pat Cippolone to have his “John Dean” moment when he realizes his oath and duty is to the Office of the Presidency - NOT Donald Trump. Does the man have a conscious?

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Quadruple vaxxed, and taking Plaxovid.

Pat Cippolone could bring down Trump, if Hutchison hasn't already done so!

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

So sorry to hear you are sick. I hope you get better soon. Take the time you need (although we'll miss you!).

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“The most important takeaway is that Trump and his enablers planned to use violence on January 6th to interrupt the count of electoral ballots. Trump should be indicted and convicted for seditious conspiracy.”

This frightening conclusion is yet more evident after each of the January 6 Committee public hearings. However, I wish to emphasize that as terrifying as the thought of Trump or a Trump “wanna be” holding the Oval Office is, the realization that there are tens of millions of Americans who still support Trump is even more terrifying. Yes, Trump was and is a problem, but even more serious is recognizing he is perhaps more a symptom than a cause for democracy’s tenuous state in the U.S. at present.

I realize there are more Americans who support light than darkness. However, I am greatly concerned that we have created and sustain a government of the minority granting entirely too much power to that minority and the majority lacks the moral outrage to overcome their lack of power.

I urge all to start speaking out and expressing that moral outrage in forceful but peaceful ways. Yes a vote is powerful but not alone powerful enough without that shout of moral outrage that must accompany it.

I often speak to people who tell me that they feel intimidated by Conservative voices. While they say they recognize the danger to our democracy represented by “Trumpists” and are prepared to vote against them, they do not feel motivated enough to attend rallies or protest marches, they do not donate to support progressive candidates or causes, and they do not run for local offices, or volunteer to support progressive candidates who do.

A vote is good, but it is not enough. Stoke that moral outrage and do more.

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Texas and Florida are preparing for post-chump rule. They are beyond evil

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Not even Covid can dim your perceptions, right on target as always. June 28, 2022, has proved a signal day in the history of our 233-yr. old democracy. All who care about preserving our country's democratic bona fides owe a great debt to Ms. Hutchinson--and an ongoing debt to the tireless and selfless Robert Hubbell.

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Get well soon! My understanding is that current variants are more transmissable and generally less severe. I hope you all have mild cases. We'll all be here to support when you return from a couple days off. 😀

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Thanks, Denise. Forty-eight hours into symptoms, my advice is, "If you can avoid getting Covid, do so!"

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I do. Please let Plaxovid do its thing. Rest as much as you need to.

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Very sorry to read that you have Covid; wishing you a speedy recovery. Thank you for your consistent efforts which produce an important contribution to our understanding of our time.

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thank you for all you do to keep us going. Feel better and take care

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Wishing you an easy Covid experience…..hoping/assuming your taking plaxlovid, if your doc thinks your a candidate!

Your summary was on the mark!👍👍

I found Cassidy Hutchinson to be remarkably poised, believable and patriotic! And very accomplished for a 25 (just turned 26 I heard) year old. Marcia Herman

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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Trip to cabin is in order! Chill and heal!! We will all be here when you return!!

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We were planning to go over the Fourth of July weekend, but will now stay home and rest in separate rooms / houses. Trying to keep Jill, my son-in-law, and granddaughter free from Covid.

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founding
Jun 29, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Lordy. Paxlovid? Don't do anything that doesn't feel good. Good music, naps, lots of fluids and know how terribly much you are appreciated.

My Jim gets on a plane to Boston (home) tomorrow and I stay at the cabin for a while longer at Tahoe. Thank heavens for the vaccine. Deep breath....what a time......

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Take the best care you can. God bless and keep you and your family. Plus all the good you do stands you in very good stead.

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Take it easy Robert - this virus is a wily coyote and we are now in the last group to get it. So appreciate your work these last 5 years. Read you every morning along with Heather.

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Yeah, we are disappointed that we made it this far but still contracted it. We went to an Angels baseball game two weeks ago. Jill and I were the only two people in a stadium of 35,000 fans wearing masks. But, who knows where we contracted it. We masked on the plane, but the woman next to me sniffled the entire flight and was not wearing a mask. Only about 30% of those on the plane were wearing masks. With that low level of masking compliance, it seems inevitable that almost everyone will become infected sooner or later.

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