I don't understand all this gloom and doom about the Democratic party. Why isn't anyone talking about the slim margin Trump won by? More people voted against him than for him. That tells me the Democrats did a pretty good jib (yes, some of those
Votes were for 3rd party) but not that many in the grand scheme. I
Yes Daniel. And, how many Russian bomb scare victims in PA evacuated, and didn't return later out of fear? Remember The Wrecking Crew back in the day? Terrific musicians who played studio back-up for many recording artists. This is what Putin is foisting off on us in order to wreck America fully. Make America Grovel Again. NOT Vladdee, NOT!
So, so correct. Bomb scares, weird sloughings-off of a thousand registered voters here and there, who knows what sophisticated hanky-panky with subtle but key software applications at key points in the election process (doesn't need to be at the voting-machine level, too obvious). I don't know, but I want some federal agency to investigate. Which one would have the best jurisdiction? I don't want to be alarmist or conspirational, but there have been legitimate warnings by government agencies of undue foreign election interference and influence. Even social media troll farms using algorithms to skew information and attack the most vulnerable readers/users with weird lies that appeal to their uneducated prejudices and make them vote based on nonsense that supports one side. I need it all to be investigated, reported, and corrected. Russia, Iran, China, other. Somebody(ies) screwing with our country. In addition to all the plentiful native Kool-Aid drinkers. It's a truly poisonous combination.
And everything Putin put into play across the globe are all coming into maturity. He was KGB, for Pete's sake. He's been playing the long game. I'm feeling like I'm the only one who has ever read a spy novel.
Karen, I've thought about those 90 million a lot. I think they're people who are not that engaged and that they are suffering from a double whammy: they are bombarded (whether through choice or just blanket exposure) to Fox news lies and they believe them all without examining them much. These lies paint Democrats as evil people who are pro-crime, want open borders, actively work to raise prices, and possibly drink the blood of children stolen from shopping malls (go figure). So they CAN'T vote for a Democrat.. BUT they also are neutral enough to take in what they are hearing about Trump--that's he's a convicted felon, rapist, insurrectionist, aspiring dictator, compulsive liar, psychopath, and fraudster. So they CAN'T vote for him. So they don't vote. They've dropped out. For one reason and another, they're disgusted, afraid, and completely alienated. Let's have some compassion. These are our fellow citizens we need to spend four years reaching out to.
The "spread" in the swing states was at most 2%. Voters susepible to psy opos: hate Trumps logic. 99% voted contrary to their own ecomomic and physical health.
Lots of controversy over the count. Allegations that valid votes were not counted. Voters and election officials intimidated. Ballots destroyed. Polls closed due to bomb scares.
Much of America has selective amnesia. They have forgotten about how much damage Trump did by bungling the Covid crisis and are amazingly ignorant about how the economy works! Binden didn't solve all the economic woes with his first 6 months in office, therefore his plan was a failure! /s
The GOP knows this is how voters think so they obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. And if by some miracle a good bill is passed (like the infrastructure bill) GOP congress critters claim that THEY were responsible for bringing money back to the district even though they voted against it.
It is frustrating beyond belief that the American people keep falling for this ruse. But if you try try and explain it, then Democrats are being elitist! ARGH!!
I agree and keep saying it! It was a historically slim win. D's won many races around the country and out here in CA we flipped 3 R seats. Come on!! Lets go!!
As a white woman, I simply cannot understand this racism. I cannot understand how anyone can look at trump and kamala and choose trump - even if you didn’t believe democracy is at risk, there is nothing close to compelling about trump.
As far as opposing cabinet nominees, I also can’t fathom being too exhausted to continue opposing. Nothing is easier than saying no effing way in this lifetime, ever, would I EVER accept any nominee. Even ones that might seem ok. Oppose everything. Give him nothing.
I moved from the north to the south 40+ years ago. I found that racism is alive and well in the deep south; it never died. Additionally, misogyny is rampant as it was when I lived up north. Here, I had an employer question me about hiring a black woman for my department! She was qualified, but she was black. I was appalled. So while I cannot understand the racism, I must regularly fight it.
THIS. I woke up super early this morning with this on my mind--these appointments are a travesty and an offense against the US and all American citizens. My senator, Cornyn, was on TV yesterday bemoaning how tough the confirmation were going to be on HEGSETH! We're to feel sorry for him!
Link below is to 200 ish word letter I wrote to the DALLAS MORNING NEWS with lots of other links to other Texas papers. I now send my letters to multiple papers, most of which are in red areas. Last week, the VICTORIA ADVOCATE (Rio Grande Valley) published one.
I'm also going to call my senators and read them this letter. At the bottom of this Google doc is a list of phone numbers for all senators so you don't have to go from page to page.
Cathy, thanks for sharing this and for working the smaller newspapers. I have written to Joni Ernst about Hegseth and will write more. If you don't mind, I will use some of your points and language in my additional letters and calls.
Your litany of Trumps nepotism at the start of your letter is partiularly effective and has to seem really wrong to most Americans simply on the face of it. Former Senator from Alabama Doug Jones on MSNBC yesterday said that he thought Joni Ernst is partly biding her time to hit Hegseth hard in the hearings. I am not so optimistic, but that would be welcome. It is sad that we have to encourage the most protected elected officials -- 6 year terms -- to do their jobs if for no other reason than protecting their party and their President from making stupid and dangerous choices. NONE of these Senators would hire Hegseth to be on their own staffs, but they want to put him in charge of 3 million of our most vulnerable citizens in the Armed Forces. Cowardice and a condemnation of the intelligence of their own constituents.
I am sharing these documents as I write them with the hope that they WILL be helpful to some--actually I'm fine with them being copied word for word if that saves folks time! Thank you, Patrick!
And with the LTEs to smaller papers, I hoping to come across as nonpartisan and maybe--just maybe--nudge a few people to consider some points they haven't thought of. I always enjoy the comments of people like you and others in these substacks, but I fear they don't reach folks who don't think as we do--this is my attempt to maybe catch a few of those in local papers.
Cathy, your idea of writing letters to papers, especially smaller ones is a great idea as a way to reach outside our circles. My sister in Idaho recently shared a letter on Facebook from her local paper.
I caution people in contacting their elected officials. I've heard many who say that anything that looks like a form letter will be ignored. It is best to use your own words, even if you aren't articulate. All have contact information on their websites. Short clear messages are best.
Phone calls have the best value, and are easy to do. Love it when I get to talk to a person rather than voice mail, but both work. Be sure to say you are a voter in their district. All contacts from constituents are counted.
In most circumstances contacting someone outside of your state is a waste of time. They ignore it. Though, this time, I think thousands of postcards sent to Joni Ernst will be noticed. Postcards are best because they don't have to go through the extra security that envelopes do because of anthrax so many years ago. I'm partial to local offices: Sen. Joni Ernst, 111 - 7th Ave. SE #480, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401.
Great, Cathy, thanks. I'll try to send something like this to the Arizona Republic. They're not a bad newspaper. And the Philadelphia Inquirer--I don't live in Pennsylvania, but I want to turn them into a truly national-quality paper because they are truly free press--owned by a non-profit foundation that aims to keep them editorially free to publish the news, not billionaires' masturbatory fantasies.
Just want to add my 'duh!' (and meant in the best possible way -- not snarkily) to Ifill's conclusions and a thank-you to Mr. Hubbell! for supporting them. The Dems and other progressives are, in my opinion, spinning their collective wheels to no good purpose, wasting energy/money/time/emotions/brain cells by dicing and slicing election results to figure out why we lost at the top of the ticket. The majority of White voters voted for Trump. Anyone who needs further support for the alive-and-well racism and misogyny in this country can read 'The Message' by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2024) or, in my opinion, more emotional and just beautiful writing from almost anything by James Baldwin. I'm not addressing misogyny here as much as racism; but the same deeply believed distrust and hatred exists toward women. When we start talking to people outside our bubbles about how they feel about people of color and women; they aren't even asking these as questions (Are they 'worthy'? Are they 'human'?); they've decided in the negative. Having lived all my life in the South, including 6 very informative years in South Carolina and most of the rest in Texas -- I will never forget comments like the one from a retired schoolteacher who, in 2016, was thrilled that 'we won't have to look at that Michelle Obama anymore; finally we'll have a First Lady in the White House we can be proud of.' How we deal with this is to continue to bring people's real opinions and beliefs out into the open where at least their neighbors will understand who they are.
We had friends of many years with whom we cut ties after the 2020 election, and one of the factors in that decision was racism. When I thought about conversations we had had over the years I was struck by the number of times that they brought up race-somehow their black colleagues and black public figures were always problematic-because they were black, apparently, and weren't smart/qualified/hardworking, etc.
Racism is real, and it's ugly, and the media chattering class (most of whom are still white) do NOT want to address it.
And sadly, after this last election, I cut ties with family for the same reason. "Family" does not necessarily mean blood connections, as I see it. I belong to the "family of mankind" and that does not include racists and misogynists and other haters.
Racism and fascism go hand-in-hand. I too, am disgusted with people who harbor these ill-gotten misled feelings about those whose color doesn’t match theirs or their religion isn’t acceptable.. I despise them and they have no seat at my table as I would rather be alone than have a fake relationship.
I miss our friends because for many years we shared many i terests- sports, hobbies, things that in retrospect allowed us to minimize some major issues.
Prior to the 2020 election we noticed that they were less interested in those shared interests and many conversations moved quickly to politics, and we were increasingly uncomfortable.
Great initiative, Louise. As I hope you will write more letters in the coming weeks, may I suggest that as an example why Hegseth is absolutely unfit for the position you include the following: During the last trump administration he actively campaigned against holding service members accountable for committing war crimes thus turning the US Army into a rogue militia. The Army leadership was shocked because as a result adversaries might not accord captured and/or wounded servicemen and -women the protection of the Geneva Conventions as well.
Given the disdain of their leader for captured or wounded American soldiers the MAGA crowd might not care but their might be one or the other of the Senators who is open to the argument that Hegseth with this history should be kept at arm's length especially from the DOJ.
What about frequently getting so drunk in public that he passes out on the floors of bars and has to be carried out? I think that disqualifies him from any position that requires discretion or keeping national security secure. Why is that never mentioned in his list of disqualifications? (Yes, of course I hope he gets the help he needs but not as an American cabinet member. Drying out is a full time job, anyway. And then he'll have to go to another rehab for being a sex addict. Two full time jobs.)
This last round of nominations may not be as disastrous and downright dangerous as the first ones but it shows a clear trend: in the coming four years the US will give banana republics a bad name.
A Newsmax (pure Trump station) journalist was castigated and threatened for speaking out against Hegseth, and told in no uncertain terms to "show unqualified support for Hegseth."
Newsmax reporter questioned fitness of Hegseth on air. Emergency meeting to write new policy to prohibit any criticism of Trump’s decisions. The right news only in future.
Thank You Robert Hubbell for highlighting the Sherrilyn Ifill piece! “The stupefying choice of a majority of white voters to support Trump again . . . is the story of this election.
And yet still, despite these historic and unprecedented warnings, a majority of white voters – men and women – chose Trump to lead this country…” I, too, was on the ground with dems in this election. I experienced the exact opposite of the gop trope about “Liberal Elites” looking down on working people. At every turn I encountered earnest people of all backgrounds working shoulder to shoulder. It was a great experience! We may have lost, but I am so damn glad to be on our side!
And don't forget, MLRGRMI, we lost by a hair. So we didn't really lose, it was sort of a photo finish. I'm thinking of our loss as a virtual technicality.
Even though I found your newsletter discouraging, I found it, as always, useful and important. And I did sign up to write some postcards with postcards to voters for the Virginia election. And that does help. I have written for them and other organizations as well. And I do realize that's all we can do is to do what we can do.
I'm not so sure that postcards are working like they did in the beginning. I have a friend in Pennsylvania who always votes, and this year she was inundated by postcards and mail. I wrote for Postcards to Swing States, and found out that they sent 3 postcards to every voter. Combine that with every organization writing postcards, and working from the same list. I think they will still work went sent outside of swing states local elections.
Robert, I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for your daily dose of sanity and commitment to fighting for democracy. DT and his minions the GOP are so outrageous and despicable, it is easy to give up. But you are right, we cannot. Thank you for pressing on.
Robert, On the User Interface front. Would you consider publishing a document of recommendations with a link here in the newsletter for readers to download that A) summarizes the lead points of the day; B) list the action items in order of what you consider the priority; C) lists additional actions or notes?
If not a daily updated doc maybe a weekly set of “marching orders”?
This online format doesn’t lend itself to easy reference and retrieval. Also the what seems daily shifting priorities requires decisional resources. Plus if you read more than one newsletter as most readers probably do, there’s additional resources needed to sort things.
Ideally, the lot of you Substack leaders would meet to coordinate and combine forces to concentrate the league of reader activists.
Of course ya’ll have endless time and energy and resources that you just don’t know what to do with ;).
I’m looking from two fronts, managing overwhelm and not flooding my own personal headspace zone along with leveraging Robert’s experience and expertise in terms of where to put my limited resources.
I find the daily changing list of recommendations from the 3-6 political SubStacks I follow lacks a kind of energy that is returned at the end of a project I can look back on and feel I did complete work on and produced a quality of work that’s consistent with the level of excellence I’m committed to. Too much is as unworkable as too little.
So it’s the opposite of not having action items but more like decision fatigue and a lack of daily completion. Stringing day after day of incompletions is draining.
Of course everyone’s experience and needs are unique and I’ll bet there is much overlap.
Substack is like an ad hoc political force that might gain power if it were to coalesce into a more distinct entity.
Another of course is that it is human nature to say no to any yes and say yes to any no. So suggesting this will likely almost immediately collapse under the positionality that gets generated around any “Let’s do this” call to action.
Lastly, I’m also focused on the interface or form factor. The structure of SubStack with articles that live as lists in an inbox or in an unorganized mountainous archive make imposing an order that works for me difficult. I’d like to have tags for the myriad of topics or categories that could be sorted by so the various writers works could be brought together more coherently and retrieved easily.
Case in point, I was talking with someone about the news bias that gets frequently coverage here and wanted to find specifics. Sorting through a year or two of Robert’s writings here on SubStack is onerous and what good is it if it’s not ready at hand?
Good suggestion for Substack. I don't want to add to RBH's workload by suggesting he build some kind of database to catalogue and archive all the issues.
No harm in making a request. He’ll decline if it doesn’t work for him and making an actual request means that no is every bit as good as yes. If you’re not absolutely free to say no then you can’t genuinely say yes. For example, if your mother asks you out for lunch, saying no FREELY isn’t really on the table.
This dynamic is on full display with Trump’s cabinet picks where Trump isn’t making a request as there are huge consequences to saying no.
Same for that amplified voice in the car behind you that say pull over to the curb. Not a request you are free to decline. The bill from the IRS isn’t a request either ;).
Sounds like a great idea, Bern, but we don't want to wear out Robert. He has become one of the shining stars in my firmament. And my go-do Substack columnist.
Yes, don’t eat the hen laying golden eggs, agreed. Still, I’ve interacted with him personally and he is a mature, thinking, highly educated, experienced, and capable adult. His obvious capacity leaves me completely comfortable with making a request which he will consider and accept or decline as he sees fit.
What I hear in your concern for his wellbeing is, in my interpretation, an expression of loyalty and more deeply, love, which is great! He feeds us power through knowledge he so wonderfully curates which now empowered we can feed back to make him even more powerful in a power source power feeder spiraling dance. It’s a great relationship to be in!
In addition to race and gender, there is little conversation about the campaign of lies perpetrated by Trump and his cronies in this election. Disinformation is not a strong enough word to describe the Republican/MAGA approach to campaigning. And the question going forward will be how to address that. Someone recently told me that women in her fitness class were going to vote for Trump because they did not think it was right that children could have gender surgery at school. Unbelievable! This election turned out to be very close, despite the Trump lying machine. Democrats are an easy target for the lazy MSM. We need to address that, as well.
I agree: "Trump grounded his campaign on racism and sexism. Any post-election analysis that ignores that fact is not credible and provide no basis for making any conclusions whatsoever." Which begs for an answer to the question: if the top of the Dem ticket had been a white man like Andy Beshear, do you think the Dems would have won?
And --- let us not forget the role of billionaires, the Russians and Musk - And --- also the vile bile that was standard fare for many of the social media stuff. I agree - Harris and Walz ran an amazing campaign. That they raised so much money is a credit to their appeal, and as you say, their ground operation was amazing. I still am confounded by so many voting for a criminal instead of competence and decency. I just don't get it. As for the mainstream media --- frankly - I think there is NO HOPE of change there. It has become like the media in So Africa was - controlled by the government.
"so many voting for a criminal." Not that many. 36% didn't vote; of the 74% that voted, half voted for Harris. The other half voted for Trump, and many didn't think he was a criminal, because Fox told them he wasn't. Others in the Trump half didn't vote FOR anything--they voted AGAINST a female and AGAINST a Black person.
And true, the voters who voted against females and Black people cherished that hatred more than any wish to have a moral or ethical person represent them.
Hi Robert. I read your newsletter every morning. Thank you for all you do. Regarding your valid argument about the dismissal of racism and sexism in evaluating Harris’ loss, I wonder if you listened to John Stewart’s recent interview with Bernie Sanders. I recommend it because Sanders articulates the way many voters feel about how the whole system fails the working class. Yes, it is amazing that Biden was able to negotiate the price of insulin, but it’s a drop in the bucket in our need for a total reform of a healthcare system that bankrupts people if they get sick. The power of the insurance companies and their financial support of candidates prevents the required overhaul and only incremental changes are possible. Perhaps Democrat messaging needs to acknowledge this problem and work toward solving it. And maybe we also need to call out racism and sexism in our campaigns and not pretend it does not exist. Unfortunately living in a Citizens United world makes all of this a pipe dream.
Our little group, Miami Springs Activists, are contacting Senators Rubio and Scott twice a week. I just hung up and instead of "leaving a comment," I asked a question and requested a response from staff. I want someone among them to call and explain to me why President-Elect Trump is choosing so many unqualified and morally unfit people to run our government, as it appears he is trying to destroy it. I am sincere in this and I hope my voice shows it. And I leave my number. Not sure anyone will respond. . . but I guess that's an answer in itself. I shall report back to you.
*You* think they are unqualified. I also think they’re unqualified. But Trump thinks they’re qualified.
The nub of the matter is that Trump exercises a different standard than you or I exercise. For Trump, unquestioning loyalty to him is of supreme importance, eclipsing all other qualities.
I don't understand all this gloom and doom about the Democratic party. Why isn't anyone talking about the slim margin Trump won by? More people voted against him than for him. That tells me the Democrats did a pretty good jib (yes, some of those
Votes were for 3rd party) but not that many in the grand scheme. I
Or the fact that Russia interfered via psy ops, and Putin expects a quid pro quo from Trump. But for that, we would have won.
Yes Daniel. And, how many Russian bomb scare victims in PA evacuated, and didn't return later out of fear? Remember The Wrecking Crew back in the day? Terrific musicians who played studio back-up for many recording artists. This is what Putin is foisting off on us in order to wreck America fully. Make America Grovel Again. NOT Vladdee, NOT!
So, so correct. Bomb scares, weird sloughings-off of a thousand registered voters here and there, who knows what sophisticated hanky-panky with subtle but key software applications at key points in the election process (doesn't need to be at the voting-machine level, too obvious). I don't know, but I want some federal agency to investigate. Which one would have the best jurisdiction? I don't want to be alarmist or conspirational, but there have been legitimate warnings by government agencies of undue foreign election interference and influence. Even social media troll farms using algorithms to skew information and attack the most vulnerable readers/users with weird lies that appeal to their uneducated prejudices and make them vote based on nonsense that supports one side. I need it all to be investigated, reported, and corrected. Russia, Iran, China, other. Somebody(ies) screwing with our country. In addition to all the plentiful native Kool-Aid drinkers. It's a truly poisonous combination.
Same scares here in Georgia as well.
And everything Putin put into play across the globe are all coming into maturity. He was KGB, for Pete's sake. He's been playing the long game. I'm feeling like I'm the only one who has ever read a spy novel.
I have too, Karen, and i'm with you 100%! How can we get some kind of commission started to investigate?
And more than 90 million did not vote!
That’s what burns me up the most!
Karen, I've thought about those 90 million a lot. I think they're people who are not that engaged and that they are suffering from a double whammy: they are bombarded (whether through choice or just blanket exposure) to Fox news lies and they believe them all without examining them much. These lies paint Democrats as evil people who are pro-crime, want open borders, actively work to raise prices, and possibly drink the blood of children stolen from shopping malls (go figure). So they CAN'T vote for a Democrat.. BUT they also are neutral enough to take in what they are hearing about Trump--that's he's a convicted felon, rapist, insurrectionist, aspiring dictator, compulsive liar, psychopath, and fraudster. So they CAN'T vote for him. So they don't vote. They've dropped out. For one reason and another, they're disgusted, afraid, and completely alienated. Let's have some compassion. These are our fellow citizens we need to spend four years reaching out to.
I think you are right. If it wasn't for Fox news demonizing libs, trump would have lost.
⬆️⬆️⬆️🤬
The "spread" in the swing states was at most 2%. Voters susepible to psy opos: hate Trumps logic. 99% voted contrary to their own ecomomic and physical health.
Lots of controversy over the count. Allegations that valid votes were not counted. Voters and election officials intimidated. Ballots destroyed. Polls closed due to bomb scares.
That the real story...why did 90 million not bother. They will suffer and hopefully vote next time.
Much of America has selective amnesia. They have forgotten about how much damage Trump did by bungling the Covid crisis and are amazingly ignorant about how the economy works! Binden didn't solve all the economic woes with his first 6 months in office, therefore his plan was a failure! /s
The GOP knows this is how voters think so they obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. And if by some miracle a good bill is passed (like the infrastructure bill) GOP congress critters claim that THEY were responsible for bringing money back to the district even though they voted against it.
It is frustrating beyond belief that the American people keep falling for this ruse. But if you try try and explain it, then Democrats are being elitist! ARGH!!
Yes it is much easier to critisize than to govern. And the reason trump won was Fox News. Plain and simple.
Thank you for writing what no one
Nah... not going to happen.
I agree and keep saying it! It was a historically slim win. D's won many races around the country and out here in CA we flipped 3 R seats. Come on!! Lets go!!
YES WE DID!
As a white woman, I simply cannot understand this racism. I cannot understand how anyone can look at trump and kamala and choose trump - even if you didn’t believe democracy is at risk, there is nothing close to compelling about trump.
As far as opposing cabinet nominees, I also can’t fathom being too exhausted to continue opposing. Nothing is easier than saying no effing way in this lifetime, ever, would I EVER accept any nominee. Even ones that might seem ok. Oppose everything. Give him nothing.
I moved from the north to the south 40+ years ago. I found that racism is alive and well in the deep south; it never died. Additionally, misogyny is rampant as it was when I lived up north. Here, I had an employer question me about hiring a black woman for my department! She was qualified, but she was black. I was appalled. So while I cannot understand the racism, I must regularly fight it.
And I moved from the South to the West coast, 50 years ago. I have no regrets.
THIS. I woke up super early this morning with this on my mind--these appointments are a travesty and an offense against the US and all American citizens. My senator, Cornyn, was on TV yesterday bemoaning how tough the confirmation were going to be on HEGSETH! We're to feel sorry for him!
Link below is to 200 ish word letter I wrote to the DALLAS MORNING NEWS with lots of other links to other Texas papers. I now send my letters to multiple papers, most of which are in red areas. Last week, the VICTORIA ADVOCATE (Rio Grande Valley) published one.
I'm also going to call my senators and read them this letter. At the bottom of this Google doc is a list of phone numbers for all senators so you don't have to go from page to page.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fFgmmmSpt1kyeRwB6rPoDHj3TFxBPaP0dFEKtbgjB1A/edit?usp=sharing
Cathy, thanks for sharing this and for working the smaller newspapers. I have written to Joni Ernst about Hegseth and will write more. If you don't mind, I will use some of your points and language in my additional letters and calls.
Your litany of Trumps nepotism at the start of your letter is partiularly effective and has to seem really wrong to most Americans simply on the face of it. Former Senator from Alabama Doug Jones on MSNBC yesterday said that he thought Joni Ernst is partly biding her time to hit Hegseth hard in the hearings. I am not so optimistic, but that would be welcome. It is sad that we have to encourage the most protected elected officials -- 6 year terms -- to do their jobs if for no other reason than protecting their party and their President from making stupid and dangerous choices. NONE of these Senators would hire Hegseth to be on their own staffs, but they want to put him in charge of 3 million of our most vulnerable citizens in the Armed Forces. Cowardice and a condemnation of the intelligence of their own constituents.
I am sharing these documents as I write them with the hope that they WILL be helpful to some--actually I'm fine with them being copied word for word if that saves folks time! Thank you, Patrick!
And with the LTEs to smaller papers, I hoping to come across as nonpartisan and maybe--just maybe--nudge a few people to consider some points they haven't thought of. I always enjoy the comments of people like you and others in these substacks, but I fear they don't reach folks who don't think as we do--this is my attempt to maybe catch a few of those in local papers.
Cathy, your idea of writing letters to papers, especially smaller ones is a great idea as a way to reach outside our circles. My sister in Idaho recently shared a letter on Facebook from her local paper.
I caution people in contacting their elected officials. I've heard many who say that anything that looks like a form letter will be ignored. It is best to use your own words, even if you aren't articulate. All have contact information on their websites. Short clear messages are best.
Phone calls have the best value, and are easy to do. Love it when I get to talk to a person rather than voice mail, but both work. Be sure to say you are a voter in their district. All contacts from constituents are counted.
In most circumstances contacting someone outside of your state is a waste of time. They ignore it. Though, this time, I think thousands of postcards sent to Joni Ernst will be noticed. Postcards are best because they don't have to go through the extra security that envelopes do because of anthrax so many years ago. I'm partial to local offices: Sen. Joni Ernst, 111 - 7th Ave. SE #480, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401.
Thanks for the postcard tip, and the local office as well.
Great idea, thx
Great, Cathy, thanks. I'll try to send something like this to the Arizona Republic. They're not a bad newspaper. And the Philadelphia Inquirer--I don't live in Pennsylvania, but I want to turn them into a truly national-quality paper because they are truly free press--owned by a non-profit foundation that aims to keep them editorially free to publish the news, not billionaires' masturbatory fantasies.
Love the Philly Inquirer!
Thank you!!!
Excellent work!
Cathy, please keep up this wonderfully good work, and posting about it here. It will hopefully inspire more people to do likewise!
Thank you, Cathy!
Just want to add my 'duh!' (and meant in the best possible way -- not snarkily) to Ifill's conclusions and a thank-you to Mr. Hubbell! for supporting them. The Dems and other progressives are, in my opinion, spinning their collective wheels to no good purpose, wasting energy/money/time/emotions/brain cells by dicing and slicing election results to figure out why we lost at the top of the ticket. The majority of White voters voted for Trump. Anyone who needs further support for the alive-and-well racism and misogyny in this country can read 'The Message' by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2024) or, in my opinion, more emotional and just beautiful writing from almost anything by James Baldwin. I'm not addressing misogyny here as much as racism; but the same deeply believed distrust and hatred exists toward women. When we start talking to people outside our bubbles about how they feel about people of color and women; they aren't even asking these as questions (Are they 'worthy'? Are they 'human'?); they've decided in the negative. Having lived all my life in the South, including 6 very informative years in South Carolina and most of the rest in Texas -- I will never forget comments like the one from a retired schoolteacher who, in 2016, was thrilled that 'we won't have to look at that Michelle Obama anymore; finally we'll have a First Lady in the White House we can be proud of.' How we deal with this is to continue to bring people's real opinions and beliefs out into the open where at least their neighbors will understand who they are.
We had friends of many years with whom we cut ties after the 2020 election, and one of the factors in that decision was racism. When I thought about conversations we had had over the years I was struck by the number of times that they brought up race-somehow their black colleagues and black public figures were always problematic-because they were black, apparently, and weren't smart/qualified/hardworking, etc.
Racism is real, and it's ugly, and the media chattering class (most of whom are still white) do NOT want to address it.
And sadly, after this last election, I cut ties with family for the same reason. "Family" does not necessarily mean blood connections, as I see it. I belong to the "family of mankind" and that does not include racists and misogynists and other haters.
Racism and fascism go hand-in-hand. I too, am disgusted with people who harbor these ill-gotten misled feelings about those whose color doesn’t match theirs or their religion isn’t acceptable.. I despise them and they have no seat at my table as I would rather be alone than have a fake relationship.
I miss our friends because for many years we shared many i terests- sports, hobbies, things that in retrospect allowed us to minimize some major issues.
Prior to the 2020 election we noticed that they were less interested in those shared interests and many conversations moved quickly to politics, and we were increasingly uncomfortable.
You are right on Meredith
I just sent this to Joni Ernst at her Senate Contact page
Dear once-heroic Senator Ernst:
Obeying in advance, silent sniveling, weakness in the face of clear and present danger doesn’t suit you one bit.
Stand firm against misogynist, hopelessly-unfit Pete Your country deserves nothing less.
Louise Wollman
Ooops, the message to Ernst DID include Hegseth’s last name but got truncated in cutting and pasting here:
Dear once-heroic Senator Ernst:
Obeying in advance, silent sniveling, weakness in the face of clear and present danger doesn’t suit you one bit.
Stand firm against misogynist, hopelessly-unfit Pete Hegseth. Your country deserves nothing less.
Louise Wollman
Great initiative, Louise. As I hope you will write more letters in the coming weeks, may I suggest that as an example why Hegseth is absolutely unfit for the position you include the following: During the last trump administration he actively campaigned against holding service members accountable for committing war crimes thus turning the US Army into a rogue militia. The Army leadership was shocked because as a result adversaries might not accord captured and/or wounded servicemen and -women the protection of the Geneva Conventions as well.
Given the disdain of their leader for captured or wounded American soldiers the MAGA crowd might not care but their might be one or the other of the Senators who is open to the argument that Hegseth with this history should be kept at arm's length especially from the DOJ.
What about frequently getting so drunk in public that he passes out on the floors of bars and has to be carried out? I think that disqualifies him from any position that requires discretion or keeping national security secure. Why is that never mentioned in his list of disqualifications? (Yes, of course I hope he gets the help he needs but not as an American cabinet member. Drying out is a full time job, anyway. And then he'll have to go to another rehab for being a sex addict. Two full time jobs.)
I more than suspect that such a history with alcohol would disqualify a person from holding a security clearance, much less holding a Cabinet office.
This last round of nominations may not be as disastrous and downright dangerous as the first ones but it shows a clear trend: in the coming four years the US will give banana republics a bad name.
Because the media is now controlled by the dictator. Look what happened to the reporter re: Newsmax.
I know!
I’m not sure who you are referring to but Harmeet Dhillon is extremely dangerous for her election-denying and voter suppression stance.
A Newsmax (pure Trump station) journalist was castigated and threatened for speaking out against Hegseth, and told in no uncertain terms to "show unqualified support for Hegseth."
Newsmax reporter questioned fitness of Hegseth on air. Emergency meeting to write new policy to prohibit any criticism of Trump’s decisions. The right news only in future.
I am afraid you are right.
And the Banana Republicans a new one.
Love that! The Banana Republicans. (don't know if 21st century people know what a banana republic is, tho.)
Thank You Robert Hubbell for highlighting the Sherrilyn Ifill piece! “The stupefying choice of a majority of white voters to support Trump again . . . is the story of this election.
And yet still, despite these historic and unprecedented warnings, a majority of white voters – men and women – chose Trump to lead this country…” I, too, was on the ground with dems in this election. I experienced the exact opposite of the gop trope about “Liberal Elites” looking down on working people. At every turn I encountered earnest people of all backgrounds working shoulder to shoulder. It was a great experience! We may have lost, but I am so damn glad to be on our side!
And don't forget, MLRGRMI, we lost by a hair. So we didn't really lose, it was sort of a photo finish. I'm thinking of our loss as a virtual technicality.
Even though I found your newsletter discouraging, I found it, as always, useful and important. And I did sign up to write some postcards with postcards to voters for the Virginia election. And that does help. I have written for them and other organizations as well. And I do realize that's all we can do is to do what we can do.
I'm not so sure that postcards are working like they did in the beginning. I have a friend in Pennsylvania who always votes, and this year she was inundated by postcards and mail. I wrote for Postcards to Swing States, and found out that they sent 3 postcards to every voter. Combine that with every organization writing postcards, and working from the same list. I think they will still work went sent outside of swing states local elections.
Correction: Postcards to Swing States only sends postcards to Democrats and not all voters.
Robert, I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for your daily dose of sanity and commitment to fighting for democracy. DT and his minions the GOP are so outrageous and despicable, it is easy to give up. But you are right, we cannot. Thank you for pressing on.
Robert, On the User Interface front. Would you consider publishing a document of recommendations with a link here in the newsletter for readers to download that A) summarizes the lead points of the day; B) list the action items in order of what you consider the priority; C) lists additional actions or notes?
If not a daily updated doc maybe a weekly set of “marching orders”?
This online format doesn’t lend itself to easy reference and retrieval. Also the what seems daily shifting priorities requires decisional resources. Plus if you read more than one newsletter as most readers probably do, there’s additional resources needed to sort things.
Ideally, the lot of you Substack leaders would meet to coordinate and combine forces to concentrate the league of reader activists.
Of course ya’ll have endless time and energy and resources that you just don’t know what to do with ;).
Hi Bern, Do you follow Jess Craven/Chop Wood,Carry Water? She posts action items during the week.
https://open.substack.com/pub/chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions/p/chop-wood-carry-water-1210-aec?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Kathy, that’s just what I was going to say. Jessica does it for us!
I'm trying to generate something similar for Texas...seems like letters to the editor sharing has room for growth. LOVE Jess Craven's daily emails!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fFgmmmSpt1kyeRwB6rPoDHj3TFxBPaP0dFEKtbgjB1A/edit?usp=sharing
Jess Craven has a separate email called Chop Wood Carry Texas, doesn't she?
Hi Kathy, Yes, thank you for the suggestion.
I’m looking from two fronts, managing overwhelm and not flooding my own personal headspace zone along with leveraging Robert’s experience and expertise in terms of where to put my limited resources.
I find the daily changing list of recommendations from the 3-6 political SubStacks I follow lacks a kind of energy that is returned at the end of a project I can look back on and feel I did complete work on and produced a quality of work that’s consistent with the level of excellence I’m committed to. Too much is as unworkable as too little.
So it’s the opposite of not having action items but more like decision fatigue and a lack of daily completion. Stringing day after day of incompletions is draining.
Of course everyone’s experience and needs are unique and I’ll bet there is much overlap.
Substack is like an ad hoc political force that might gain power if it were to coalesce into a more distinct entity.
Another of course is that it is human nature to say no to any yes and say yes to any no. So suggesting this will likely almost immediately collapse under the positionality that gets generated around any “Let’s do this” call to action.
Lastly, I’m also focused on the interface or form factor. The structure of SubStack with articles that live as lists in an inbox or in an unorganized mountainous archive make imposing an order that works for me difficult. I’d like to have tags for the myriad of topics or categories that could be sorted by so the various writers works could be brought together more coherently and retrieved easily.
Case in point, I was talking with someone about the news bias that gets frequently coverage here and wanted to find specifics. Sorting through a year or two of Robert’s writings here on SubStack is onerous and what good is it if it’s not ready at hand?
Good suggestion for Substack. I don't want to add to RBH's workload by suggesting he build some kind of database to catalogue and archive all the issues.
Joyce Vance is documenting the deeds of the incoming administration, perhaps as you are referring to.
No harm in making a request. He’ll decline if it doesn’t work for him and making an actual request means that no is every bit as good as yes. If you’re not absolutely free to say no then you can’t genuinely say yes. For example, if your mother asks you out for lunch, saying no FREELY isn’t really on the table.
This dynamic is on full display with Trump’s cabinet picks where Trump isn’t making a request as there are huge consequences to saying no.
Same for that amplified voice in the car behind you that say pull over to the curb. Not a request you are free to decline. The bill from the IRS isn’t a request either ;).
Sounds like a great idea, Bern, but we don't want to wear out Robert. He has become one of the shining stars in my firmament. And my go-do Substack columnist.
Yes, don’t eat the hen laying golden eggs, agreed. Still, I’ve interacted with him personally and he is a mature, thinking, highly educated, experienced, and capable adult. His obvious capacity leaves me completely comfortable with making a request which he will consider and accept or decline as he sees fit.
What I hear in your concern for his wellbeing is, in my interpretation, an expression of loyalty and more deeply, love, which is great! He feeds us power through knowledge he so wonderfully curates which now empowered we can feed back to make him even more powerful in a power source power feeder spiraling dance. It’s a great relationship to be in!
In addition to race and gender, there is little conversation about the campaign of lies perpetrated by Trump and his cronies in this election. Disinformation is not a strong enough word to describe the Republican/MAGA approach to campaigning. And the question going forward will be how to address that. Someone recently told me that women in her fitness class were going to vote for Trump because they did not think it was right that children could have gender surgery at school. Unbelievable! This election turned out to be very close, despite the Trump lying machine. Democrats are an easy target for the lazy MSM. We need to address that, as well.
I agree: "Trump grounded his campaign on racism and sexism. Any post-election analysis that ignores that fact is not credible and provide no basis for making any conclusions whatsoever." Which begs for an answer to the question: if the top of the Dem ticket had been a white man like Andy Beshear, do you think the Dems would have won?
Beshear is Jewish. Pick a different example.
Who’s who in Trump’s list of awful nominees? Check this interactive map for their details.
How many have been accused of sexual assault? Billionaires? MAGA donors? Trump relatives?
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/12/08/trump-nominees-interactive-map/
And --- let us not forget the role of billionaires, the Russians and Musk - And --- also the vile bile that was standard fare for many of the social media stuff. I agree - Harris and Walz ran an amazing campaign. That they raised so much money is a credit to their appeal, and as you say, their ground operation was amazing. I still am confounded by so many voting for a criminal instead of competence and decency. I just don't get it. As for the mainstream media --- frankly - I think there is NO HOPE of change there. It has become like the media in So Africa was - controlled by the government.
"so many voting for a criminal." Not that many. 36% didn't vote; of the 74% that voted, half voted for Harris. The other half voted for Trump, and many didn't think he was a criminal, because Fox told them he wasn't. Others in the Trump half didn't vote FOR anything--they voted AGAINST a female and AGAINST a Black person.
oops, that was 64% that voted, not 74%.
But they didn’t vote against a criminal.
Moot point, since Fox told them, and they believe, he is not a criminal.
And true, the voters who voted against females and Black people cherished that hatred more than any wish to have a moral or ethical person represent them.
Hi Robert. I read your newsletter every morning. Thank you for all you do. Regarding your valid argument about the dismissal of racism and sexism in evaluating Harris’ loss, I wonder if you listened to John Stewart’s recent interview with Bernie Sanders. I recommend it because Sanders articulates the way many voters feel about how the whole system fails the working class. Yes, it is amazing that Biden was able to negotiate the price of insulin, but it’s a drop in the bucket in our need for a total reform of a healthcare system that bankrupts people if they get sick. The power of the insurance companies and their financial support of candidates prevents the required overhaul and only incremental changes are possible. Perhaps Democrat messaging needs to acknowledge this problem and work toward solving it. And maybe we also need to call out racism and sexism in our campaigns and not pretend it does not exist. Unfortunately living in a Citizens United world makes all of this a pipe dream.
Thank you! The Stewart/Sanders interview was awesome.
Our little group, Miami Springs Activists, are contacting Senators Rubio and Scott twice a week. I just hung up and instead of "leaving a comment," I asked a question and requested a response from staff. I want someone among them to call and explain to me why President-Elect Trump is choosing so many unqualified and morally unfit people to run our government, as it appears he is trying to destroy it. I am sincere in this and I hope my voice shows it. And I leave my number. Not sure anyone will respond. . . but I guess that's an answer in itself. I shall report back to you.
*You* think they are unqualified. I also think they’re unqualified. But Trump thinks they’re qualified.
The nub of the matter is that Trump exercises a different standard than you or I exercise. For Trump, unquestioning loyalty to him is of supreme importance, eclipsing all other qualities.
What you say about Trump's standards is true, Michael. But surely they will come to bite him? Eventually.