Well written, Robert. I am dumbfounded by all of the Trump Republicans who say that President Biden has dementia and that he is too old and demented to be President. Trump is three years younger than Biden, that is all. Trump has always seemed demented to me. Now he is making gaffes that are pretty bad, but they brush those off.
I am also frustrated by the Trump Republicans who continue to say that President Biden and his son Hunter are crooks. I am not sure about Hunter, quite frankly, but I have not heard anything that proves that President Biden has done anything illegal or unethical. How do we refute these statements by Trump Republicans?
One of the Republicans participating in negotiations that Politico reports on is quoted as saying “If you are a nihilist and you want to burn the place down, you don’t care.” What, I think, is moving people toward Democrats is the recklessness of Republicans. From Trump to the Freedom Caucus, they are willing to risk the country's stability, the well-being of all of his for fealty to a cult leader and for an idiosyncratic version of personal freedom.
That is also why so many of us are with the Ukrainians. Consider the extent to which Professor Snyder's thanks to the Ukrainian people is about safety and stability as well as commonly understood versions of freedom and good behavior:
Is there a more loathsome swamp creature than Gym Jordan? He insults our nation's Attorney General to gain clicks on Fox. He either is so severely deluded that he has no business being in congress to say nothing of heading the Judiciary Committee. Or he is subversive.
Such chaos! Thank you for the Snyder article and thanks to the reader who recommended it.
These are the kinds of reflections we need in these days when irresponsible political actors underline negative thinking. You are a shot in the arm, Robert!
Sep 21, 2023·edited Sep 21, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I was at my Wednesday night knitting group last night with four other women. Our host, a former Republican, pulled out her phone at the start of the evening and played the video of Swalwell “verbally bitch-slapping” (Kathy’s words) Jim Jordan. Then this usually reserved entrepreneurial small business owner went on a rant about how Republicans are wasting precious time and resources protecting Trump’s treason. I was dumbfounded by her rage and amazed that everyone agreed. Not the usual order of business at knit night!
I think it is safe to say that these four suburban women, (formerly a Republican stronghold in elections) are fed up. Seven years ago, I was the only one of the five who was a Democrat (lifelong). Now, all five will vote straight blue in 2024 - and, best of all, we will spend an hour or two once in a while, writing postcards to voters, rather than crafting. Wowsa!
Good job by the bozos in Congress in supporting taking away reproductive rights and wasting time and resources chasing right wing media sound bites. Keep it up so we Dems are able to over- perform in our election results in 2024!
As for the American Climate Corp, my paternal grandfather was foreman on a CCC crew that helped develop several of the most loved State parks along the North Shore of Lake Superior - a fabulous legacy enjoyed by thousands each day. Imagine the legacy for participants in the Climate Corp - a more livable world and a career path in government service!
Again I recall reading in Life magazine in 1964 that that was the first time in yonks that a majority of the nation's newspapers had endorsed the Democratic candidate for president. The media have always opposed Democrats; this is nothing new. The difference today, with their relentless attacks on Biden contrasting with their fond-parent-of-erring-boy attitude towards the Defendant, is one of degree.
Of more importance, I think, is the Fed's decision not to raise interest rates this month. Has Powell given up on his campaign to create a recession? Or has he decided to hold off until another time, closer to the election? So far, Bidenomics is winning!
I have never understood why moderate Republican representatives just sit back and allow the Freedom Caucus to cause chaos. Are they being threatened with "well funded primary opponents"? I continue to keep my fingers crossed that they will work with Democrats to keep our government funded.
Many in this country do not realize how much agriculture depends on federal funding.
We are retired, and have our crop ground in the Conservation Reserve Program. This program pays farmers to idle highly erodible land and reduce run-off into rivers and streams. It is also a boon for wildlife, and has been responsible for sharp increases in pheasant, turkey and deer populations here in hilly SW Wisconsin. (This is not a give-away; we have regular land maintenance that must be performed to control weeds etc, which can cost a considerable amount of money.) Those annual "rent" checks from the government come in mid October. We have two neighbors, recent widows, that also have their crop ground in the CRP. Farmers who had to pull cattle early off of pasture because of a severe drought in our area have been able to apply for disaster relief to offset the cost of buying extra hay. A government shutdown means that none of us will receive that income. I have already written our representative Derrick Van Orden (the guy who screamed at the young people in the rotunda) about this and will write again shortly.
I do not know Mr. Hufstedler, but I still belatedly wish him a very happy 101st birthday! He plainly proves the point that Cicero makes in the essay, “On Old Age,” that I quoted in a comment posted in response to yesterdays Newsletter:
“I am particularly grateful for the reference to Governor Newsom’s “full throated” defense of Biden and rebuttal of the “too old” to run claim. At least Washington Post writers are claiming that millions of potential voters, including Democrats, are expressing “too old” anxiety about Biden’s candidacy. This is a threat or vulnerability that must not be ignored. We need to remind ourselves and everyone else that Cicero correctly reminds us in his essay “On Old Age,” “ The great affairs of life are not performed by physical strength, or activity, or nimbleness of body, but by deliberation, character, expression of opinion.””
Sep 21, 2023·edited Sep 21, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Excellent news in the special election trends, but we cannot allow that to lead to complacency. The only thing worse than someone feeling that their vote won't make a difference is someone feeling their vote is not needed.
The message we need to convey is that everyone must vote in order to make sure America (and the world) knows how big the majority really is. It's going to take a massive BLUE WAVE to wash away the toxic RED TIDE!
Thank you to the reference (and Janet) to the Tim Snyder podcast and yes it was beautiful. The GOP has transitioned from the Party of Lincoln to the Party of Trump to the Party of Putin.
For the ongoing issues of "journalists posing as amateur neurologists" (love it, Robert!) and the "drift of major media outlets to the right," thank you, Robert, for highlighting for the past few days the work we can do through the Media and Democracy (MAD) Project. We have the world of the media as another venue for bending the arc of justice--by winning hearts and minds.
An issue we all know about that I predict will increasingly motivate rational, independent voters, and can even do so at the local level is book banning. My goodness, I see my dear Texas is again being highlighted:-)
Thank you for your writings, it always calms me reading your work.
I will have to say watching Gym Jordan perform - I noticed he is always screaming into a microphone and then sprinting away..... NEVER stays around to back up anything that comes out of his mouth.
I appreciate reader Janet's inclusion of the link to Prof. Snyder's "thank you" note to Ukraine. In its own way, it's a document of historical significance. On Substack and elsewhere, I regularly follow Pro. Snyder, our country's top historian on all things Eastern Europe, and would encourage anyone who might be interested to take (for free) his Yale course on Ukraine. Just go look for it on YouTube.
Well written, Robert. I am dumbfounded by all of the Trump Republicans who say that President Biden has dementia and that he is too old and demented to be President. Trump is three years younger than Biden, that is all. Trump has always seemed demented to me. Now he is making gaffes that are pretty bad, but they brush those off.
I am also frustrated by the Trump Republicans who continue to say that President Biden and his son Hunter are crooks. I am not sure about Hunter, quite frankly, but I have not heard anything that proves that President Biden has done anything illegal or unethical. How do we refute these statements by Trump Republicans?
One of the Republicans participating in negotiations that Politico reports on is quoted as saying “If you are a nihilist and you want to burn the place down, you don’t care.” What, I think, is moving people toward Democrats is the recklessness of Republicans. From Trump to the Freedom Caucus, they are willing to risk the country's stability, the well-being of all of his for fealty to a cult leader and for an idiosyncratic version of personal freedom.
That is also why so many of us are with the Ukrainians. Consider the extent to which Professor Snyder's thanks to the Ukrainian people is about safety and stability as well as commonly understood versions of freedom and good behavior:
Safety:
Feeding the world
Making nuclear war less likely
Security in Europe
Security in the Pacific
Plus a more common understanding of freedom
Giving democracy a chance
Talking about freedom
Showing courage
Searching for truth
Giving us a chance to be on the right side.
Democrats know how to govern…
They passed laws in the last Congress for….
Medicare Reform
Social Security
Infrastructure
Climate Change
Job Security
Union Rights
US Manufacturing
Women’s Rights
Lower Drug Costs
Civil Rights
War Weapons Ban
Voting Rights
All these laws were and are opposed by the GOP…They are for nothing …
It’s no wonder Democrats are winning special elections
In a new Congress Democrats will continue to pass new laws to help AMERICA
Is there a more loathsome swamp creature than Gym Jordan? He insults our nation's Attorney General to gain clicks on Fox. He either is so severely deluded that he has no business being in congress to say nothing of heading the Judiciary Committee. Or he is subversive.
Such chaos! Thank you for the Snyder article and thanks to the reader who recommended it.
These are the kinds of reflections we need in these days when irresponsible political actors underline negative thinking. You are a shot in the arm, Robert!
I was at my Wednesday night knitting group last night with four other women. Our host, a former Republican, pulled out her phone at the start of the evening and played the video of Swalwell “verbally bitch-slapping” (Kathy’s words) Jim Jordan. Then this usually reserved entrepreneurial small business owner went on a rant about how Republicans are wasting precious time and resources protecting Trump’s treason. I was dumbfounded by her rage and amazed that everyone agreed. Not the usual order of business at knit night!
I think it is safe to say that these four suburban women, (formerly a Republican stronghold in elections) are fed up. Seven years ago, I was the only one of the five who was a Democrat (lifelong). Now, all five will vote straight blue in 2024 - and, best of all, we will spend an hour or two once in a while, writing postcards to voters, rather than crafting. Wowsa!
Good job by the bozos in Congress in supporting taking away reproductive rights and wasting time and resources chasing right wing media sound bites. Keep it up so we Dems are able to over- perform in our election results in 2024!
As for the American Climate Corp, my paternal grandfather was foreman on a CCC crew that helped develop several of the most loved State parks along the North Shore of Lake Superior - a fabulous legacy enjoyed by thousands each day. Imagine the legacy for participants in the Climate Corp - a more livable world and a career path in government service!
God, I love this administration!
Again I recall reading in Life magazine in 1964 that that was the first time in yonks that a majority of the nation's newspapers had endorsed the Democratic candidate for president. The media have always opposed Democrats; this is nothing new. The difference today, with their relentless attacks on Biden contrasting with their fond-parent-of-erring-boy attitude towards the Defendant, is one of degree.
Of more importance, I think, is the Fed's decision not to raise interest rates this month. Has Powell given up on his campaign to create a recession? Or has he decided to hold off until another time, closer to the election? So far, Bidenomics is winning!
I have never understood why moderate Republican representatives just sit back and allow the Freedom Caucus to cause chaos. Are they being threatened with "well funded primary opponents"? I continue to keep my fingers crossed that they will work with Democrats to keep our government funded.
Many in this country do not realize how much agriculture depends on federal funding.
We are retired, and have our crop ground in the Conservation Reserve Program. This program pays farmers to idle highly erodible land and reduce run-off into rivers and streams. It is also a boon for wildlife, and has been responsible for sharp increases in pheasant, turkey and deer populations here in hilly SW Wisconsin. (This is not a give-away; we have regular land maintenance that must be performed to control weeds etc, which can cost a considerable amount of money.) Those annual "rent" checks from the government come in mid October. We have two neighbors, recent widows, that also have their crop ground in the CRP. Farmers who had to pull cattle early off of pasture because of a severe drought in our area have been able to apply for disaster relief to offset the cost of buying extra hay. A government shutdown means that none of us will receive that income. I have already written our representative Derrick Van Orden (the guy who screamed at the young people in the rotunda) about this and will write again shortly.
Any of us, no matter the age, would have been challenged to execute the President’s Asian trip schedule. And appear conscious. :)
I do not know Mr. Hufstedler, but I still belatedly wish him a very happy 101st birthday! He plainly proves the point that Cicero makes in the essay, “On Old Age,” that I quoted in a comment posted in response to yesterdays Newsletter:
“I am particularly grateful for the reference to Governor Newsom’s “full throated” defense of Biden and rebuttal of the “too old” to run claim. At least Washington Post writers are claiming that millions of potential voters, including Democrats, are expressing “too old” anxiety about Biden’s candidacy. This is a threat or vulnerability that must not be ignored. We need to remind ourselves and everyone else that Cicero correctly reminds us in his essay “On Old Age,” “ The great affairs of life are not performed by physical strength, or activity, or nimbleness of body, but by deliberation, character, expression of opinion.””
Excellent news in the special election trends, but we cannot allow that to lead to complacency. The only thing worse than someone feeling that their vote won't make a difference is someone feeling their vote is not needed.
The message we need to convey is that everyone must vote in order to make sure America (and the world) knows how big the majority really is. It's going to take a massive BLUE WAVE to wash away the toxic RED TIDE!
Thank you to the reference (and Janet) to the Tim Snyder podcast and yes it was beautiful. The GOP has transitioned from the Party of Lincoln to the Party of Trump to the Party of Putin.
For the ongoing issues of "journalists posing as amateur neurologists" (love it, Robert!) and the "drift of major media outlets to the right," thank you, Robert, for highlighting for the past few days the work we can do through the Media and Democracy (MAD) Project. We have the world of the media as another venue for bending the arc of justice--by winning hearts and minds.
https://mediaanddemocracyproject.substack.com/
An issue we all know about that I predict will increasingly motivate rational, independent voters, and can even do so at the local level is book banning. My goodness, I see my dear Texas is again being highlighted:-)
https://popular.info/?utm_campaign=pub&utm_medium=web
Thank you for your writings, it always calms me reading your work.
I will have to say watching Gym Jordan perform - I noticed he is always screaming into a microphone and then sprinting away..... NEVER stays around to back up anything that comes out of his mouth.
I appreciate reader Janet's inclusion of the link to Prof. Snyder's "thank you" note to Ukraine. In its own way, it's a document of historical significance. On Substack and elsewhere, I regularly follow Pro. Snyder, our country's top historian on all things Eastern Europe, and would encourage anyone who might be interested to take (for free) his Yale course on Ukraine. Just go look for it on YouTube.