I have been a huge critic of Powell because of his "WMD" UN presentation. But he was hardly alone in being duped by Cheney and team. Most of Congress and most of our Democratic heroes were as well. You voted for them if you are reading this substack piece. When I look at Powell's influence on others, his demeanor, his style of leadership and his broader legacy I wish he had become President. Name one American hero who was flawless and made no mistakes.
Another day and another "thank you" to Robert Hubbell for the info on voter ID impact - actual stats instead of panic. 80 million potential voters to register. Let's get to work. It is all about turnout. And I believe there are more of us who support democracy than not. We just have to show up.
Thank you, Robert, for illuminating the positive path forward, albeit with more disappointments along the way. I expect 200 doomsday voices ("democracy is dead!") in your neighbor Heather Cox Richardson's Substack comments. It is particularly frustrating for grassroots activists. But we shall persevere with registering voters and getting out the vote. Then the question will be the effect of the looming force of set ups to overturn election results at the state level.
Voter ID impact and failure to pass Voter Rights legislation. Focus, people. No more hysteria from our flooded emails full of red boxes and "I can't believe this". Done. Focus.
1. Voter Registration in ALL places. Door to door, corners, gas stations.....
2. Get Out the Vote projects everywhere. EVERYWHERE
We can counter the restrictions by our community organizing to vote. All hands on deck all over.
I have to recommend Sen. Angus King's speech on voting rights and democracy in the Senate this week. I'm only an amateur historian, and even in that do not specialize in congressional history, but I am nonetheless confident that it was one of the great addresses in the history of that body. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4982613/user-clip-sen-angus-king (Sen. King's remarks begin at 8:00.)
Excellent advice. I have not much opinion about Colin Powell. He seems to have been duped. To blame him for military consequences is like blaming Ike for WWII. The Kool Aid he drank seems to have been concocted by an overzealous Cheney-led cabinet and the God Knows Who Was in Charge Pentagon. There are many ways to interpret the adage “Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me,” and at least one of them is biblical, Old Testament and New. I always back the dark horse.
I am so sad that you in the US have the same problem as we in the U.K. With reference to Colin Powell, it seems that because he was not perfect - a condition unknown to human beings - he was somehow beneath contempt. In my opinion he was as good a human being as we are likely to see in public service. We need more, not fewer, men and women both your side of the pond and mine.
I don't think the hopelessness of it all will get Democrats to give up the fight and not vote, The thing about true patriots (and I am one) is that they know what's at stake and we will fight until we can't. If we can prevail by registering presently unregistered voters, we will. We'll follow what Stacy Abrams tells us needs to be done. To be honest, I trust Black leaders to tell us what to do. The white male mentality that is still directing the power of this country needs to listen to the leaders of minority constituents. Like Rev. William Barber's Poor People's Movement. We need to tap into the Millennials, who don't share the greed that is so obvious in the McConnells, the Manchins, the Sinemas, the GOP that supports lies notwithstanding they will kill the main principle of democracy, namely the peaceful transfer of power.
I know what causes this current constitutional crisis, and we all have blood on our hands, albeit our bloody fingerprints have been rendered invisible by the seemingly legitimate nature of the law and our legal system. What I see, that most everyone misses, is the corrupting nature of the legal profession, which is itself sick and promotes greed, power, and money over democracy. Until now, the undercurrent of evildoing that is promulgated by the largest law firms and legal organizations has gone unseen. The heart of our legal system, and the profession which draws large salaries from that heart, is ruthless and adversarial - and morality and truth are no part of the foundation of that power.
Since the mid-1800's, the American Bar Association has supported the white male purpose behind every aspect of the law. The majority of the Senate and a large percentage of the House are law school graduates/ The law allows for jury nullification, which is just a different way of saying voting restrictions. Virtually all wrongdoing committed against ordinary people has had favor with the law. Look at the tobacco companies and how long they got away with intentionally making people sick through the clever legal maneuver of warnings on cigarette packages. Every aspect of our legal profession is driven by the paradigms and principles of gamesmanship, which is what the legal system nurtures - and the behavior of the Josh Hawleys and the nose-thumbing by Bannon and the stick-together GOPers, reflects what our white-male-wealth-driven-power-holding legal organizations perpetuate.
Right now, any person who decides to go to law school will face a career that has a one-in-three chance of crashing before the tenth year of practice. Law school deans, like politicians, turn their law degrees into something less unhappy than practicing law. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among lawyers, and close to half of all lawyers are sorry they went to law school. Everyone wants to get harsh with Facebook for manipulating teenagers into mental turmoil, but what about the mental turmoil that everyone knows is heaped upon lawyers from the time they get their first job? How come no one is talking about this?
Our politicians are willing to promote lies because that's how the rule of law operates in this country. And every politician that went to law school was trained by a system that is still driven by the mentality of the "white male (no doubt wealthy) power" that controls our legal system - in a direct genealogy to the system when the ABA was formed in the mid-19th century.. We lost a lot when we lost RBG because turning the SCOTUS into a partisan and religious platform that doesn't care about the vitality of democracy puts us back into the mid 1800's. In truth, democracy has been corrupted by a legal profession that has been willing to use their positions for personal wealth and power. Just look at the difference in salaries drawn by a partner at the biggest law firms (about $5,000,000/year) compared to lawyers working for legal aid. Judges mostly make more than the average lawyer, but retired judges are earning millions from mediation.arbitration companies.
We aren't going to change things until we get control of the Senate and House. I personally believe that these lawless politicians will kill themselves in 2022 and 2024. At least, that is what I'm praying for. I'm not losing all hope, but I am praying!
I may be wrong, but I think the bill filibustered by the Senate was the one Manchin helped to write. I know he thought he could get ten Republican Senators to vote for the bill and that obviously didn't happen.
If this is true, what will Manchin do and is he willing to acknowledge his failure to get those ten votes?
Thanks Coach. Good pep talk. BTW. The "Powell Doctrine" is still the most coherent and useful policy ever written regarding our involvement in foreign wars.
Two thoughts.
I have been a huge critic of Powell because of his "WMD" UN presentation. But he was hardly alone in being duped by Cheney and team. Most of Congress and most of our Democratic heroes were as well. You voted for them if you are reading this substack piece. When I look at Powell's influence on others, his demeanor, his style of leadership and his broader legacy I wish he had become President. Name one American hero who was flawless and made no mistakes.
Another day and another "thank you" to Robert Hubbell for the info on voter ID impact - actual stats instead of panic. 80 million potential voters to register. Let's get to work. It is all about turnout. And I believe there are more of us who support democracy than not. We just have to show up.
Thank you, Robert, for illuminating the positive path forward, albeit with more disappointments along the way. I expect 200 doomsday voices ("democracy is dead!") in your neighbor Heather Cox Richardson's Substack comments. It is particularly frustrating for grassroots activists. But we shall persevere with registering voters and getting out the vote. Then the question will be the effect of the looming force of set ups to overturn election results at the state level.
Voter ID impact and failure to pass Voter Rights legislation. Focus, people. No more hysteria from our flooded emails full of red boxes and "I can't believe this". Done. Focus.
1. Voter Registration in ALL places. Door to door, corners, gas stations.....
2. Get Out the Vote projects everywhere. EVERYWHERE
We can counter the restrictions by our community organizing to vote. All hands on deck all over.
Thank you for your wisdom and for presenting a level headed perspective in a challenging time in our history.
I have to recommend Sen. Angus King's speech on voting rights and democracy in the Senate this week. I'm only an amateur historian, and even in that do not specialize in congressional history, but I am nonetheless confident that it was one of the great addresses in the history of that body. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4982613/user-clip-sen-angus-king (Sen. King's remarks begin at 8:00.)
Excellent advice. I have not much opinion about Colin Powell. He seems to have been duped. To blame him for military consequences is like blaming Ike for WWII. The Kool Aid he drank seems to have been concocted by an overzealous Cheney-led cabinet and the God Knows Who Was in Charge Pentagon. There are many ways to interpret the adage “Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me,” and at least one of them is biblical, Old Testament and New. I always back the dark horse.
I am so sad that you in the US have the same problem as we in the U.K. With reference to Colin Powell, it seems that because he was not perfect - a condition unknown to human beings - he was somehow beneath contempt. In my opinion he was as good a human being as we are likely to see in public service. We need more, not fewer, men and women both your side of the pond and mine.
Thanks for an enjoyable ZOOM session yesterday afternoon.
I don't think the hopelessness of it all will get Democrats to give up the fight and not vote, The thing about true patriots (and I am one) is that they know what's at stake and we will fight until we can't. If we can prevail by registering presently unregistered voters, we will. We'll follow what Stacy Abrams tells us needs to be done. To be honest, I trust Black leaders to tell us what to do. The white male mentality that is still directing the power of this country needs to listen to the leaders of minority constituents. Like Rev. William Barber's Poor People's Movement. We need to tap into the Millennials, who don't share the greed that is so obvious in the McConnells, the Manchins, the Sinemas, the GOP that supports lies notwithstanding they will kill the main principle of democracy, namely the peaceful transfer of power.
I know what causes this current constitutional crisis, and we all have blood on our hands, albeit our bloody fingerprints have been rendered invisible by the seemingly legitimate nature of the law and our legal system. What I see, that most everyone misses, is the corrupting nature of the legal profession, which is itself sick and promotes greed, power, and money over democracy. Until now, the undercurrent of evildoing that is promulgated by the largest law firms and legal organizations has gone unseen. The heart of our legal system, and the profession which draws large salaries from that heart, is ruthless and adversarial - and morality and truth are no part of the foundation of that power.
Since the mid-1800's, the American Bar Association has supported the white male purpose behind every aspect of the law. The majority of the Senate and a large percentage of the House are law school graduates/ The law allows for jury nullification, which is just a different way of saying voting restrictions. Virtually all wrongdoing committed against ordinary people has had favor with the law. Look at the tobacco companies and how long they got away with intentionally making people sick through the clever legal maneuver of warnings on cigarette packages. Every aspect of our legal profession is driven by the paradigms and principles of gamesmanship, which is what the legal system nurtures - and the behavior of the Josh Hawleys and the nose-thumbing by Bannon and the stick-together GOPers, reflects what our white-male-wealth-driven-power-holding legal organizations perpetuate.
Right now, any person who decides to go to law school will face a career that has a one-in-three chance of crashing before the tenth year of practice. Law school deans, like politicians, turn their law degrees into something less unhappy than practicing law. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among lawyers, and close to half of all lawyers are sorry they went to law school. Everyone wants to get harsh with Facebook for manipulating teenagers into mental turmoil, but what about the mental turmoil that everyone knows is heaped upon lawyers from the time they get their first job? How come no one is talking about this?
Our politicians are willing to promote lies because that's how the rule of law operates in this country. And every politician that went to law school was trained by a system that is still driven by the mentality of the "white male (no doubt wealthy) power" that controls our legal system - in a direct genealogy to the system when the ABA was formed in the mid-19th century.. We lost a lot when we lost RBG because turning the SCOTUS into a partisan and religious platform that doesn't care about the vitality of democracy puts us back into the mid 1800's. In truth, democracy has been corrupted by a legal profession that has been willing to use their positions for personal wealth and power. Just look at the difference in salaries drawn by a partner at the biggest law firms (about $5,000,000/year) compared to lawyers working for legal aid. Judges mostly make more than the average lawyer, but retired judges are earning millions from mediation.arbitration companies.
We aren't going to change things until we get control of the Senate and House. I personally believe that these lawless politicians will kill themselves in 2022 and 2024. At least, that is what I'm praying for. I'm not losing all hope, but I am praying!
"Let’s hope those plans involve wine tasting, triathlons, and teaching, but not politics." 🥂
I may be wrong, but I think the bill filibustered by the Senate was the one Manchin helped to write. I know he thought he could get ten Republican Senators to vote for the bill and that obviously didn't happen.
If this is true, what will Manchin do and is he willing to acknowledge his failure to get those ten votes?
Thanks Coach. Good pep talk. BTW. The "Powell Doctrine" is still the most coherent and useful policy ever written regarding our involvement in foreign wars.