Dear Robert, Please let your readers know about the Democracy 2022 Youth Film Challenge. This is a rare opportunity to hear the voices of today's youth (ages 15 to 25) express themselves, quite profoundly, on issues that matter to them and to the future of our country and democratic values across the globe. September 21 at 7PM EST. Here is the link https://www.civiclifeawards.org. Thank you! Catherine Tatge
Thanks for another fine letter with that "Hubbell perspective" that is both salve to the wounds and an energy boost.
The thought I am left with after my mandatory reading each early morning is this:
All the political stunts and lies and hateful rhetoric are awful - all by themselves. But the greater crime, IMO, is that for every sentence we devote to fighting or defending someone like TFG or DeathSantis, we have not uttered one phrase about ways to improve the lives of our fellow humans. It is a pathetic spiral dive to oblivion. The idiots are like kids running through a clothing store, tossing matches. We have no choice but to put out the fires. But that steals the time with which we could be doing something positive.
We are lost in a vortex of evil when we could be putting our heads together to help the people who flee their countries. We could be joining forces to adapt to the "unnatural disasters" that are besetting our planet - drowning and burning people of all persuasions.
Too much CO2 from the mouths of haters - taking the oxygen out of the room. It's a global mental illness.
Hear, hear! Bravo, Bill. Recently I've come to the same conclusion. Except for Substack's brilliant contributors I am without connectivity to the noise and sound bites. The people of the world are suffering mightily.
Critical thinking skills need: Interpretation, Analysis, Inference, Explanation, Evaluation, and Self Regulation. No matter how much the dust is stirred the person doing the critical thinking needs to employ all of these time consuming skills. When I read your newsletter I mentioned I sit under this tree in the yard, about the size of a football field, with trees, rabbits etc. and the day before yesterday, seeing a stick land at my feet and a morning dove fly to a bottom branch, I looked up. There is a nest now ten feet above my head. So it can't be all bad! Nature goes where it's safe. Today I played the newsletter for her! ha
I love thinking of you sitting under trees playing Robert for the dove! (I had to think for a minute how one plays a newsletter because I read it!! ) ! I live on the third floor of a building in the city, right next to an elementary school. So often throughout the day I hear the children playing, really loud!!! So no, it can't be all bad!!! Thanks for the reminder.
Thank you so much for being with us on zoom tonight. There is a small group of us still going and watching the documentary of The Janes while we write and fight for Democracy! It has been so motivating hearing from our favorite partners in this work.
The first “rule of thumb” when you find yourself standing in a hole with a shovel in hand, is to STOP DIGGING. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for DJT, he never learned that lesson. His default position when found in those type of circumstances is “to double down”, ie dig faster.
Eventually that digging will hit a metal box, the contents of which contain a federal indictment for crimes committed by TFG against the laws and public of The United States of America 🇺🇸.
It is sad when "liberal" media amplify misinformation by displaying images which distort truth. Thanks for verifying what i suspected while watching MSNBC I had to replay the short glimpse of empty seats which seemed to be accidently shown without comment to realize the commentor intended to inflame rather than inform.
Agree! Surely their cameras have a zoom-out button. Since tfg is obsessed with crowd size, why not show it like it really is, like his inauguration day?
Good on ya! Me too. Substack has become my media of choice. All of the so-called-news channels drive me nuts with constant chatter. "Much ado about nothing."
I got sick of the constant hyping the negative and calling out "BREAKING NEWS" before cutting to commercials - and I'm including MSNBC (Rachel Maddow) in my opinion.
I also include Rachel. At first, I thought she was terrific. (I do think she is very bright, and she was among the first to let us know about Russian oligarchs intruding on the election of 2016.) However, I found myself saying, "Just what is it she is trying to say, here?"
Sep 20, 2022·edited Sep 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
On the "willful intent." Yes, intent is hard to prove.** Paragraphs a, b and c of USC 793 need a showing of an intent to pass on national security (not classified) documents to someone. That could be hard to prove. But the person with the documents in paragraphs d and e only needs to be shown to have "reason to believe [that they] could be used to the injury of the United State or to the advantage of any foreign nation. " And all he has to willfully DO is "retain...the same and fail...to deliver it on demand to the officer or employees of the United States entitled to receive it."
That strikes me in this case as pretty easy to show. Is trump going to claim that he is too dumb to know docs "marked" classified might be of interest to someone desiring to injure the US?" If not, it seems the "willfully retained" part happened when he first refused to respond to the Archives' letters. Not to mention the stuff still at Mar A Lago. "Oh, I didn't know what was in the boxes?" What about the one in the drawer with your passport??? You just thought it was a McDonald's receipt??
If for some reason the courts find that he "owned" (i.e. made "personal records of") the "marked classified' documents in clear contradiction to the plain wording of the statute, we are doomed as a country governed by the rule of law. I very much doubt a court will do that.
The dispute over executive privilege can't result in claiming that these are "personal documents." You really can't claim "executive privilege"' over something that has nothing to do with being the executive (the prime example is medical records).
**the difficultly of proving intent to conspire specifically to commit a crime was what stopped Mueller from recommending a conspiracy indictment. There are lots of other things that he unearthed which could have led to a criminal indictment, but his remit was criminal conspiracy. He actually BEGGED someone to look at the evidence and do something about it.
It also occurs to me that if trump is claiming "ownership" under a false theory of law, his failure to return them when he is found wrong is pretty clearly willful. I don't think he can make it even under "color of law" or some kind of "mistake of law" as to the documents marked classified. As many have noticed, whether or not he declassified them is irrelevant if they still contain national security information. All that is a red herring and I truly believe Dearie is smart enough to know that.
For Biden to avoid acknowledgement that our "SARS Co-V-2 situation" has improved would also be to say that the vaccines have had no impact. The vaccines have saved many lives, reduced hospitalizations and will continue to do so.
With all the completely insane things that TFG said, did, and did not do while 800 people died every day in NYC, in 2020, I don't think people need to be up in arms regarding Biden's observance of the societal improvements we now see in our communities.
The public health emergency has been in effect since Jan 31, 2020, and the Biden administration has signaled that it would be extended again for another 90 days when it is up for renewal in the middle of October.
The Biden administration has been reported to have a plan to ask Congress for $22.4 billion for COVID-19 relief ahead of a potential fall case surge. So we press on with vaccines, because they work.
Meanwhile, the link between global warming and the increased risk of diseases spread by organisms such as viruses and bacteria have been proven to spread more easily amid climate change and a warming planet. The improving global problem we continue to see with SARS-Co-V-2 may not be the only infectious threat we will be forced to face. Everyone needs to continue to protect themselves.
For some time now, mainstream media (CBS, PBS, NBC, ABC, CNN; NYTimes, WaPo, WSJ) has had a decidedly negative slant - not just towards liberal sentiments, but towards the state of the world in all of its particulars. Bad news sells, and what gets reported (and how it is reported) tends to emphasize the bad news angle, as you have eloquently pointed out many times. Prolonged exposure to this stream of negatively-interpreted news affects our mental health; it clearly depresses and angers people, makes them fearful, worried, and even hopeless.
One of the reasons I turn to Today's Edition, and Letters from An American and Chop Wood/Carry Water before and sometimes instead of mainstream media, is that much of the news involves technical, legalistic information that needs to be put in context and interpreted to be understood. That takes time, effort, skill and real knowledge of history, politics, law, ethics and human psychology, something that is increasingly absent from journalism which now gravitates to sound bites rather than deep research and thoughtful analysis.
There is a risk to limiting our sources of information to only what we want to hear; but there is an equal, perhaps greater risk, in bathing our brains in poorly-prepared, hastily-presented sound-bite negativism. Through sources like this one we can be aware of all the fast-breaking daily/hourly news but avoid most of the negative spin that is designed to manipulate and whiplash our emotions.
One of the best things we can do while continuing to work towards success in November is to limit our exposure to this caustic flow. I would urge all readers of Today's Edition to consider their mental health in choosing how much time to spend watching and listening to mainstream media, and to make sure it's counterbalanced with healthy influences: being outdoors in nature; listening to music; hanging out with friends; reading or watching non-political uplifting and inspiring things, spending quality time with loved ones (with devices off!), playing with the dog or with children, watching clouds...
More of trump's mastery of delay, delay, delay - his modus operandi for decades. I'm curious #1 that he actually HAS lawyers (he usually doesn't pay them); and #2 that the lawyers aren't somewhat worried about possible legal ramifications from being involved in his "Pig Pen" mess. As to Biden's appearance on "60 Minutes", I'll quote Trace Adkins, who appeared on last Friday's Bill Maher show: "Grievance junkies have to have something to complain about." Lastly, I watched that extremely disturbing video of Trump's "rally" - the music, the sing-song cadence of his speech, his actual speech. And the fact is he doesn't believe a word he's saying and thinks his followers are trash - it's just another grift. Truly Jim Jones and the Kool-Aid Gang 2.0.
I join your prayers for the people of Puerto Rico and include one that this time the Puerto Rican government will start the rebuilding process by completely revamping the administrative infrastructure of the generation and distribution system. Removing that corruption is essential to building a secure, distributed, sustainable, and affordable electrical power system for the country.
Since the failed insurrectionist has declined to cooperate with the Special Master he requested would it not be appropriate for Judge Cannon to thank Judge Dearlie for his service and release the restrictions on the DoJ so the investigation can proceed?
Let us all try to remember that all those in Puerto Rico are all American citizens. We need to do a lot more to help then throw a few rolls of paper towels to them.
Watching Trump, DeSantis, Abbott and other MAGA hopefuls circle each other all attempting to portray themselves as the most extreme reminds me of high schoolers campaigning to be class President by promising better cafeteria food, longer summer vacations, more school holidays, and better music for school dances. It is all just so meaningless and superficial.
Thanks for the chuckle Bruce. I envisioned the high schooler's campaigning and will hang on to that thought throughout the day to keep my mind from falling.
Surprised Cruz isn’t raising his hand saying…”Look at me, look at me ! “.. after he proposed last year to have ports of entry in many New England towns.
Robert… I hope you realize how much we, your readers, rely on your analysis of each day’s news? It’s hard to comprehend the horrors that are continuing with no consequences for TFG or his Republican cohorts. You give us hope and encourage us to believe in the Good of humanity. Thank you so very much.
"it would certainly be interesting if both Trump and DeSantis were under indictment as they competed for the GOP nomination for 2024." Sad, maybe, but representative of what is characterizing the Republican Party. That's why Joe Biden gave his speech about MAGA Republicans. Those who dominate the Republican Party have little regard for the rule of law, which is why they are so dangerous.
Dear Robert, Please let your readers know about the Democracy 2022 Youth Film Challenge. This is a rare opportunity to hear the voices of today's youth (ages 15 to 25) express themselves, quite profoundly, on issues that matter to them and to the future of our country and democratic values across the globe. September 21 at 7PM EST. Here is the link https://www.civiclifeawards.org. Thank you! Catherine Tatge
Pinning this comment to the top
Aid for victims of the hurricane in Puerto Rico:
https://twitter.com/schock/status/1571664435323838464?s=20&t=TOYBhFvowT8-rfrAINOltg
https://twitter.com/deviIette/status/1571936250625658880?s=20&t=TOYBhFvowT8-rfrAINOltg
Have been donating through this org for Hurricane Relief in PR since Maria five years ago:
https://www.hispanicfederation.org/fionahelp/?bbeml=tp-qoBii4KTGEmD_gbnzOvj8g.jC8YrnTp2CUGHKD5ybhZdIw.rKDzNJBvkNkm7XGpFpyOVwg.l5YIktjI7e0CzGuea3fOp2g
Thanks for another fine letter with that "Hubbell perspective" that is both salve to the wounds and an energy boost.
The thought I am left with after my mandatory reading each early morning is this:
All the political stunts and lies and hateful rhetoric are awful - all by themselves. But the greater crime, IMO, is that for every sentence we devote to fighting or defending someone like TFG or DeathSantis, we have not uttered one phrase about ways to improve the lives of our fellow humans. It is a pathetic spiral dive to oblivion. The idiots are like kids running through a clothing store, tossing matches. We have no choice but to put out the fires. But that steals the time with which we could be doing something positive.
We are lost in a vortex of evil when we could be putting our heads together to help the people who flee their countries. We could be joining forces to adapt to the "unnatural disasters" that are besetting our planet - drowning and burning people of all persuasions.
Too much CO2 from the mouths of haters - taking the oxygen out of the room. It's a global mental illness.
Hear, hear! Bravo, Bill. Recently I've come to the same conclusion. Except for Substack's brilliant contributors I am without connectivity to the noise and sound bites. The people of the world are suffering mightily.
Lots on the queen's funeral on the tv, not so much Puerto Rico. Reverse the images - PR full screen, funeral small box in the corner.
Critical thinking skills need: Interpretation, Analysis, Inference, Explanation, Evaluation, and Self Regulation. No matter how much the dust is stirred the person doing the critical thinking needs to employ all of these time consuming skills. When I read your newsletter I mentioned I sit under this tree in the yard, about the size of a football field, with trees, rabbits etc. and the day before yesterday, seeing a stick land at my feet and a morning dove fly to a bottom branch, I looked up. There is a nest now ten feet above my head. So it can't be all bad! Nature goes where it's safe. Today I played the newsletter for her! ha
I love thinking of you sitting under trees playing Robert for the dove! (I had to think for a minute how one plays a newsletter because I read it!! ) ! I live on the third floor of a building in the city, right next to an elementary school. So often throughout the day I hear the children playing, really loud!!! So no, it can't be all bad!!! Thanks for the reminder.
That's a nice sound.
❤️
Thank you so much for being with us on zoom tonight. There is a small group of us still going and watching the documentary of The Janes while we write and fight for Democracy! It has been so motivating hearing from our favorite partners in this work.
Onward!
Lisa Goldenberg Corn
Downtown Nasty Women NYC
More power to you and your crew!
The Janes was really moving. Thank you for all you are doing.
The first “rule of thumb” when you find yourself standing in a hole with a shovel in hand, is to STOP DIGGING. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for DJT, he never learned that lesson. His default position when found in those type of circumstances is “to double down”, ie dig faster.
Eventually that digging will hit a metal box, the contents of which contain a federal indictment for crimes committed by TFG against the laws and public of The United States of America 🇺🇸.
Merry Christmas Donald 🥂🎊
"May it be so!"
I’ll take your first name as my “word of the day”. Blessings to you!
"Eventually that digging will hit a metal box..." or a coffin? 😈 (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
It is sad when "liberal" media amplify misinformation by displaying images which distort truth. Thanks for verifying what i suspected while watching MSNBC I had to replay the short glimpse of empty seats which seemed to be accidently shown without comment to realize the commentor intended to inflame rather than inform.
Agree! Surely their cameras have a zoom-out button. Since tfg is obsessed with crowd size, why not show it like it really is, like his inauguration day?
Trump provided the video feed and the networks dutifully ran it. The link I included shows a half empty stadium.
I'm sure the networks were ever so dutiful [sigh]. But I'm not finding your link within your post....
Well, the mainstream media did help get 45 elected. It's why I cut my cable!
Good on ya! Me too. Substack has become my media of choice. All of the so-called-news channels drive me nuts with constant chatter. "Much ado about nothing."
I got sick of the constant hyping the negative and calling out "BREAKING NEWS" before cutting to commercials - and I'm including MSNBC (Rachel Maddow) in my opinion.
I also include Rachel. At first, I thought she was terrific. (I do think she is very bright, and she was among the first to let us know about Russian oligarchs intruding on the election of 2016.) However, I found myself saying, "Just what is it she is trying to say, here?"
Agree
On the "willful intent." Yes, intent is hard to prove.** Paragraphs a, b and c of USC 793 need a showing of an intent to pass on national security (not classified) documents to someone. That could be hard to prove. But the person with the documents in paragraphs d and e only needs to be shown to have "reason to believe [that they] could be used to the injury of the United State or to the advantage of any foreign nation. " And all he has to willfully DO is "retain...the same and fail...to deliver it on demand to the officer or employees of the United States entitled to receive it."
That strikes me in this case as pretty easy to show. Is trump going to claim that he is too dumb to know docs "marked" classified might be of interest to someone desiring to injure the US?" If not, it seems the "willfully retained" part happened when he first refused to respond to the Archives' letters. Not to mention the stuff still at Mar A Lago. "Oh, I didn't know what was in the boxes?" What about the one in the drawer with your passport??? You just thought it was a McDonald's receipt??
If for some reason the courts find that he "owned" (i.e. made "personal records of") the "marked classified' documents in clear contradiction to the plain wording of the statute, we are doomed as a country governed by the rule of law. I very much doubt a court will do that.
The dispute over executive privilege can't result in claiming that these are "personal documents." You really can't claim "executive privilege"' over something that has nothing to do with being the executive (the prime example is medical records).
________________________________________________________
**the difficultly of proving intent to conspire specifically to commit a crime was what stopped Mueller from recommending a conspiracy indictment. There are lots of other things that he unearthed which could have led to a criminal indictment, but his remit was criminal conspiracy. He actually BEGGED someone to look at the evidence and do something about it.
It also occurs to me that if trump is claiming "ownership" under a false theory of law, his failure to return them when he is found wrong is pretty clearly willful. I don't think he can make it even under "color of law" or some kind of "mistake of law" as to the documents marked classified. As many have noticed, whether or not he declassified them is irrelevant if they still contain national security information. All that is a red herring and I truly believe Dearie is smart enough to know that.
For Biden to avoid acknowledgement that our "SARS Co-V-2 situation" has improved would also be to say that the vaccines have had no impact. The vaccines have saved many lives, reduced hospitalizations and will continue to do so.
With all the completely insane things that TFG said, did, and did not do while 800 people died every day in NYC, in 2020, I don't think people need to be up in arms regarding Biden's observance of the societal improvements we now see in our communities.
The public health emergency has been in effect since Jan 31, 2020, and the Biden administration has signaled that it would be extended again for another 90 days when it is up for renewal in the middle of October.
The Biden administration has been reported to have a plan to ask Congress for $22.4 billion for COVID-19 relief ahead of a potential fall case surge. So we press on with vaccines, because they work.
Meanwhile, the link between global warming and the increased risk of diseases spread by organisms such as viruses and bacteria have been proven to spread more easily amid climate change and a warming planet. The improving global problem we continue to see with SARS-Co-V-2 may not be the only infectious threat we will be forced to face. Everyone needs to continue to protect themselves.
For some time now, mainstream media (CBS, PBS, NBC, ABC, CNN; NYTimes, WaPo, WSJ) has had a decidedly negative slant - not just towards liberal sentiments, but towards the state of the world in all of its particulars. Bad news sells, and what gets reported (and how it is reported) tends to emphasize the bad news angle, as you have eloquently pointed out many times. Prolonged exposure to this stream of negatively-interpreted news affects our mental health; it clearly depresses and angers people, makes them fearful, worried, and even hopeless.
One of the reasons I turn to Today's Edition, and Letters from An American and Chop Wood/Carry Water before and sometimes instead of mainstream media, is that much of the news involves technical, legalistic information that needs to be put in context and interpreted to be understood. That takes time, effort, skill and real knowledge of history, politics, law, ethics and human psychology, something that is increasingly absent from journalism which now gravitates to sound bites rather than deep research and thoughtful analysis.
There is a risk to limiting our sources of information to only what we want to hear; but there is an equal, perhaps greater risk, in bathing our brains in poorly-prepared, hastily-presented sound-bite negativism. Through sources like this one we can be aware of all the fast-breaking daily/hourly news but avoid most of the negative spin that is designed to manipulate and whiplash our emotions.
One of the best things we can do while continuing to work towards success in November is to limit our exposure to this caustic flow. I would urge all readers of Today's Edition to consider their mental health in choosing how much time to spend watching and listening to mainstream media, and to make sure it's counterbalanced with healthy influences: being outdoors in nature; listening to music; hanging out with friends; reading or watching non-political uplifting and inspiring things, spending quality time with loved ones (with devices off!), playing with the dog or with children, watching clouds...
More of trump's mastery of delay, delay, delay - his modus operandi for decades. I'm curious #1 that he actually HAS lawyers (he usually doesn't pay them); and #2 that the lawyers aren't somewhat worried about possible legal ramifications from being involved in his "Pig Pen" mess. As to Biden's appearance on "60 Minutes", I'll quote Trace Adkins, who appeared on last Friday's Bill Maher show: "Grievance junkies have to have something to complain about." Lastly, I watched that extremely disturbing video of Trump's "rally" - the music, the sing-song cadence of his speech, his actual speech. And the fact is he doesn't believe a word he's saying and thinks his followers are trash - it's just another grift. Truly Jim Jones and the Kool-Aid Gang 2.0.
#1 Krise reportedly got $3 million up front & not on credit. My guess is he'll bail when that's used up.
I join your prayers for the people of Puerto Rico and include one that this time the Puerto Rican government will start the rebuilding process by completely revamping the administrative infrastructure of the generation and distribution system. Removing that corruption is essential to building a secure, distributed, sustainable, and affordable electrical power system for the country.
Since the failed insurrectionist has declined to cooperate with the Special Master he requested would it not be appropriate for Judge Cannon to thank Judge Dearlie for his service and release the restrictions on the DoJ so the investigation can proceed?
Let us all try to remember that all those in Puerto Rico are all American citizens. We need to do a lot more to help then throw a few rolls of paper towels to them.
Watching Trump, DeSantis, Abbott and other MAGA hopefuls circle each other all attempting to portray themselves as the most extreme reminds me of high schoolers campaigning to be class President by promising better cafeteria food, longer summer vacations, more school holidays, and better music for school dances. It is all just so meaningless and superficial.
Thanks for the chuckle Bruce. I envisioned the high schooler's campaigning and will hang on to that thought throughout the day to keep my mind from falling.
Surprised Cruz isn’t raising his hand saying…”Look at me, look at me ! “.. after he proposed last year to have ports of entry in many New England towns.
Robert… I hope you realize how much we, your readers, rely on your analysis of each day’s news? It’s hard to comprehend the horrors that are continuing with no consequences for TFG or his Republican cohorts. You give us hope and encourage us to believe in the Good of humanity. Thank you so very much.
"it would certainly be interesting if both Trump and DeSantis were under indictment as they competed for the GOP nomination for 2024." Sad, maybe, but representative of what is characterizing the Republican Party. That's why Joe Biden gave his speech about MAGA Republicans. Those who dominate the Republican Party have little regard for the rule of law, which is why they are so dangerous.
Thom Hartmann lists 13 reasons why Republicans are a threat to America:
https://hartmannreport.com/p/why-do-you-think-im-a-threat-to-america
Excellent post, like Thom's others. I subscribe to his Substack as well. I tend to read Robert last because of, well, hope.
Thanks for this link! I shared it on my FB page just now.