Thanks for talking about Vice President Kamala Harris. It is beyond shocking that she is treated with such sexism and racism in this campaign by the press, and the population. She and Biden are a team and as such she is learning from a master, and has her own rich and varied experiences. It is important that people understand she is an ace in the hole.
I was not interested in it until my daughter wanted to watch her speech before we started watching parodies of it. Unfortunately I am not able to watch the Scarlett Johansson version because it will not show in the country I am in.
Since Katie Britt has been pointed to as someone who was under consideration and might have been Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump's running mate, I was just pointing out that that is who the Republican party chooses to showcase, and they present opposite pictures of a woman. I think it is important to point out the differences in the parties stance on women and on who is being represented.
I would guess that being married to an NFL player was a big plus in football crazy Alabama. After all, Alabama elected Tuberville, a football coach, to be a senator.
On NC's extremist candidates, the candidate for State Superintendent makes me furious because I was an NC public school teacher. Michelle Morrow is unfit to lead NC schools. Her educational background is in nursing. I am not disparaging nurses, but a nurse is not well equipped to lead public schools. Homeschooling one's own children is not sufficient either. Try teaching a class of 25 6 and 7 year olds BY YOURSELF WITH NO HELP. Whole different ball game. Would you want a plumber to step in for your dentist? Or a teacher to do your surgery? Her views are beyond the fringe and are insulting to NC's hardworking teachers.
The absurd folly. Of the talking heads, we have lived through 4 years of the most corrupt and incompetent administration from 2017 to 2021! Only fools who want to destroy our democracy would question Vice President Harris’ readiness to become POTUS is necessary!
Exactly so; what I am referring to is this statement in the post: "When I question readers about their desire for a different vice presidential candidate, some say Harris is not “likable.”"
She reminds me of my mother: telling it straight and taking no nonsense. (I’ve had a number of Jewish mothers in my life, but none of them were my mother.).
Michael, I appreciate what you’re saying. However, for a lot of time, a woman had to be “likable” to have any success in the business/professional environment. Not opinionated, not forthright, but likable to men. What you have with VP Harris is opinionated, forthright, having the audacity to succeed in the political arena as a mixed race woman.
I have really liked how she has gone out on the campaign trail and spoken up loudly for women's health, especially abortion. And warning women that contraception is next on the GOP's agenda. It feels like we've gone to sleep and awakened back in the last century, where women are concerned. What a mean and backward-leaning entity the Republican Party has become. What a drastic contrast between them and our leaders, who speak compassionately about all women's health and well-being.
Actually, the agenda of the Republican party supports us going back more than half a century, and living like they did in England of 1558. I am reading Ken Follett's book A Column of Fire set in a place called "Kingsbridge" in 1558, and here we have the Catholics killing the Protestants for heretical behavior. They have them beheaded, drawn and quartered, burned and stretched on the rack. How power is exercised and innocents die is very clear. It sounds about right for Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump and his followers. The rules for women seem pretty much those of the Church of the Duggars of Shiny, Happy People infamy. They belong to the Institute in Basic Life Principals (IBLP). It is shocking to me that the Republican party endorses a lifestyle for women and children that was part of the oppressor society that we overthrew in our search for independence from monarchy in the Revolutionary War. The sheer corruption of the church is highlighted in this book. The heresy is that Protestants use lay people as clergy, have their sermons in the language of the land, and sing in the congregation instead of the church choir. A character remarks that the extreme of both the Catholics and the Protestants is very much alike. The setup in 1558 gives so much power to members of the clergy in the Catholic Church, much as we have given power to the Supreme Court justices, and Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump would have us give him as president. It is a set-up that leads to unfairness and corruption.
Great Edition today, Robert. Thank you for pointing out that VP Harris is just as qualified as many of our former presidents were before taking office.
What a brilliant summation you bring to Dr. King's actions when he took his followers up to that bridge but did not cross it due to a federal injunction. To me, that he believed in following the law is huge. Imagine the lives he saved by his decision not to defy that injunction.
But I must say I was shocked - shocked, I tell you! - by your suggestion that nobody's perfect. Goodness, wherever did you get that idea? (wink-wink!)
"That is what good leaders do. They are vessels into which we pour our competing hopes and desires. They contain our incompatible demands and convert that entropy into pressure capable of performing useful work." Perfectly stated, Robert!
Don’t overly generalize about Dr. King not breaking the law. Along with other civil rights marchers, Dr. King intentionally broke unjust laws in order to make a point publicly.
Finally! We are beginning to see positive news about an excellent Vice President who has long ago deserved better, more favorable coverage than she has received. She will be an excellent second term VP with great potential going forward. Rock on, Vice President Kamala Harris.
When Kamala was chosen for VP and I saw her background, I believed she had some excellent chops. But for a good part of the past 3 years, she has not been given the chance to shine as she could. Hopefully this task of Womens' Reproductive Rights avenue will show what she can accomplish.
Harris has been underrated, as have the majority of women throughout history, period! At least some of us are geared up in NC. There are no guarantees, of course, but the idea of returning to a theocracy-flavored USA like the one I was raised in GA simply does not compute. Too many bridges have been crossed. I guess it’s detention camp for me otherwise. But I don’t want to believe that “otherwise” will win.
Having the Vice President lead the reproductive rights charge is not only smart politically but also is the only respectful thing to do, and I applaud Biden’s team for making that decision.
With no disrespect to so many men in my life and in public service who are champions for the rights of women, it must be a woman at the front making the administration’s case. The genuine insult and fury women are feeling is most effectively expressed by another woman.
And it shall be by VP Harris, hopefully over and over and over again for the next 8 months and beyond.
What the Republicans have done is unforgivable, and it’s up to all of us to be sure every woman in America knows it.
We must stay laser focused in our efforts to have the results of the 2024 election be what we want..the defeat of Donald Trump , the reclaiming of the majority in the House and increasing our majority in the Senate. Not lost is the importance of myriad state races for governor, state legislatures, all the way down to school boards. All of these races are vitally important and we as a nation need to send a message loud and clearly that enough is enough! We are advocates for decency, truth and equality under the law and we must prevail. It has been made abundantly clear that this victory is not going to be handed to us by the Justice system. We , as the voting conscience of America, are charged with the responsibility to deliver that victory. Concentrate on what you can control, not wish lists that are beyond our reach or power. GET OUT THE VOTE!!!!
1. Robert was great in the Field Team 6 Summit yesterday. I'm calling into Pa and Oh. I did this 4 years ago. I haven't lived there for almost 50 years, but keep in touch -- even with my 1961 HS graduating class. Field Team 5 concentrates on young women -- who trend virtually all Democratic.
2. They raised roughly $100,000 yesterday that translates into 100,000 new registered Democrats. They estimate that they need $3MM to swing the election. Last night was dedicated to North Carolina.
"We are engaged in a consequential battle for democracy. Our leaders face decisions for which there are no easy answers. They must manage incompatible demands from passionate people on all sides. We must not hold their good faith efforts against them by demanding perfection in every decision and criticizing them when they fail to deliver perfection. If every contested decision is grounds for abandoning our leaders, democracy is in peril.”
It partly answers a question I asked in Heather Cox Richardson’s comments area for today’s post. She had mentioned President Biden’s hot mic moment after the State of the Union speech when he said that he and Netanyahu need a “come to Jesus” conversation. President Biden is facing criticism from many quarters in his military support for Israel at the same time he is delivering aid to the people in Gaza and demanding that Israel’s far right government cease its “over the top” attacks on Gaza and move toward a two-state solution.
Yes, Hamas set off this conflagration with its October 7 pogrom. But the fuel was already there and ready to explode. What are your thoughts on this situation that President Biden called “gut-wrenching” in his SOTU address and what might help people better understand the challenges he faces?
Like you, Hamas has tried to blame Israel for starting the current war.
However, Hamas’s protestations of victimization do not ring true. Hamas had long fired rockets at civilians in Israel, without Israel responding in kind. Hamas had built tunnels into Israel through which terrorist fighters tried to enter Israel.
I blamed Hamas for starting this war and described its actions as a pogrom. When I wrote "but the fuel was already there and ready to explode," I acknowledge parts played by many parties and a long history that led to current conditions. If you read Tom Friedman's columns, I'm aligned with his thinking.
"Because leaders in a democracy must “contain multitudes,” we cannot—we must not—demand absolute perfection or conformity to our viewpoint at every moment. They will make controversial decisions that will not please everyone. They have assumed a great burden and deserve from us the benefit of the doubt and the presumption of goodwill."
Spot on!!!! And too often we forget all the good that goes under the radar and see the focus in the media on missteps that our leaders thought would be the best choice at the time. No successful leader ever picks a path that they know will be bad for the people, but no one can be right all the time. You hit this nail right on the head, Robert!
And listen to this podcast interview with Andra Watkins, a NY Times best-selling author was indoctrinated as a child in Christian Nationalism on the horrific policies on women Republicans have laid out in their Project 2025 manifesto.
Thanks, Deepak for your efforts to amplify the dangers of Project 2025 !📣
If I may take the liberty to share Andrea Watkin’s Subsatck:How Project 2025 Will Ruin Your Life.
This ⬇️is not hyperbole! DeSantis vetoed funding for certain forms of birth-control for low-income women because the Florida Catholic Bishop’s Conference believe they are abortifacients.
“They oppose birth control methods that suppress ovulation because they believe it interferes with God’s will. The Catholic Church has long forbidden all forms of man-made birth control because it is God’s choice to create life. The evangelical anti-abortion, forced-birth movement has adopted this view. They insist that it is not up to human beings to interfere with a natural process designed by God.”
Robert, I fully understand how publishing requires a good edit, but really, you're being too kind with "an insurrectionist, coup-plotting, extortionist, document-stealing sexual abuser". In my stream of consciousness the adjectives keep flowing to include: thrice married, serial philandering, multiple bankrupt, proven liar, friend of tyrants. Just the attributes I'd grown up expecting in a President of the US.
Yes, Swbv, I strongly felt the absence of "habitual liar" in Robert's polite description of the former president. I also think it's critical to highlight that he is a malignant narcissist, totally lacking in empathy for others. DJT embodies an astounding number of horrible traits.
I don’t think this was your intent, Robert, but I was almost ready to abandon my idealism regarding Merrick Garland because he, an idealist, was more focused on restoring the DOJ’s reputation than holding Trump accountable. But then you ended with the example of Dr. King not crossing the bridge after Bloody Sunday. He followed the law. Not everyone liked it. Last night, after I’d listened to too much bad political news, I was feeling a bit frantic and upset about it all. I gave myself time, though, and came back around to something else you’ve been telling us: it is we the people, we the voters, we the ones who can still make a difference in the outcome of the coming elections who will make the difference. And just think how wonderful it will be to see all those trials come to fruition in 2025. And we will have set an example by playing fair. Oh, Glory Days will be here again.
Yes. How easy it is for us to get frantic and upset - so many reasons! And I do. And I rant.
But still, I do believe that a certain karma exists. People like Trump can't spend an entire adulthood hurting so many people - thousands on a business basis - hundreds of millions on a global basis - without reaping the hate they have sown. Karma always happens - sometimes it just takes too long.
I have been very frustrated with AG Garland's glacial pace. But if it means that Trump's convictions are more solid and unassailable...then this AG will indeed be revered in the long run. Hope I am right.
Where is the "love" heart option on substack? This letter resonated with me big time. Two huge and important messages from Robert Hubbell. I hope he would accept a role in the next Biden/Harris administration. I suspect White House Communications would be his calling.
I don't "love" Kamala Harris. I don't "love" any politician. Only kings and queens are "loved". In a democracy, we should seek to admire, respect and trust our leaders. I have all three of those for VP Harris. The criticism of her has been ridiculous. Just look how well she has performed her work! Her primary job has been to be an apprentice to the president - so she could seemlessly step into his role if necessary. Check! Her secondary job is to work hard to promote the policies of the administration. Check!
The issue of women's Reproductive Health and FREEDOM is THE biggest factor in what will be a Blue Wave on November 5th. The frosting on the cake is the MAGA effort to control it further. What could be a more stupid (and evil) political move than to mess with a woman's right to contraception? Employing an impassioned woman VP to spread the word about this threat is brilliant and obviously well planned. If we were angry about abortion bans, imagine our rage about this!
And Robert's discussion about trusting our leaders even when we disagree with some elements of their decisions or statements should be common sense. But Common Sense has been lost by many of late. Not voting for Biden/Harris might be a reasonable option if the opposition was a reasonable choice.
November 5th is like walking up to a building with only two doors. You HAVE TO OPEN A DOOR or a trap door opens beneath you and you will fall into a vast emptiness.
Open the Blue Door and there is a team smiling at you who wants to hear your thoughts, wants to find fairness in taxation and every element of society. It wants to build and raise people up - ALL people. It wants to be factor in supporting democracy and opposing oppression around the world.
Open the Red Door and a Mafia like gang of crooks and con men will begin to bark lies and suck even more money and freedom away from you. The gang will further divide you from "others" of all types. It will control what you read and view. It will own your brain, your body and your bank account.
My Managing Director said to be last night she’s afraid that Trump is going to avoid any prosecution for federal offenses because he seems he has had every break in the book starting with the Mueller Report and has effectively stalled many prosecutions. The faith of many voters in our Justice System is diminishing as Trump wiggles out of various legal situations. Trump seems more aggressive and effective in avoiding prosecutions than Jack Smith is in trying him. It feels like Trump is getting away with things without any accountability including selling his support to the highest bidder like he did with Tik Toc.
Stephen Berg, I am afraid of the same thing. It’s hard not to think otherwise. Trumps stalling tactics are working. Things would’ve been different it seems if Merrick Garland had been a year faster in appointing a special council.
Excellent comments on leadership today, Robert. As we frame and reframe the current battle, we must keep the qualities of good leadership in the front of our minds and conversations, as Trump is depicted by the GOP as strong and decisive and, let's understand it, and by many of the powerful and some wavering independents. Others have praised this sentence in your remarks: "We must not hold their [ our leaders'] good faith efforts against them by demanding perfection in every decision and criticizing them when they fail to deliver perfection." We should all study this.
And I want to point out our national confusion about what "perfection" means. To millions of Americans it seems that "perfection" means agreeing with the Almighty Me every step of the way. People say things like, "I am for Trump because he is honest and he says what he thinks and he speaks for me," which means, too often, "He speaks aloud my fears, my hatreds, my prejudices, my evil desires that I don't have the courage to say. That's why I laugh so hard when he makes fun of Biden's stutter or makes a crude sexual gesture regarding Fani Willis." Trump speaks to the worst part of our national psyche and to the Almighty Me that says my religious views, my ideas or ignorance about science, my views about the Other, are right and unquestionable and everyone should think and feel and fear as I do. Democracy fails when every person is a monarch: "Well, I don't want to think about it, I just FEEL Trump has done a better job than Biden and he speaks for me."
I can wish Biden would do what I am thinking, but I am not the President, and much of the time, I don't know what I would do about Gaza or about "the economy," or about the do-nothing Congress.
I don't want a president or any leader who is the Almighty Me, channeling my few strengths and many weaknesses. A democracy is not a tyranny of individuals getting their way in every action of our leaders. That produces a narcissism and a nation of babies.
You also said something very important when you noted that in North Carolina and elsewhere,
"Republicans have nominated candidates that most Republicans would not allow in their homes or workplaces." I use the question, "Who would you want to sit next to in your high school cafeteria?"
I would not want to sit next to Donald Trump, and when he scoots his pals, Vik Orban and Vlad Putin, in next to him, I am moving to a table where my true friends don't always agree with me, but they are kind, thoughtful, caring, and -- an old-fashioned word -- nice.
And I don't think Jamie Dimon and Elon Musk and any of our other oligarchs would want for a day a man of Trump's colossal deficits running their companies.
As the parent of a non-binary young adult, I'm thankful every day that Arin and Arin's spouse, who is also non-binary, were able to survive their teenage and college years and are now productive and independent 20 somethings. One is approaching the second year of a three-year program which will award a dual degree - Physician Assistant degree, as well as a doctorate in Health Sciences. The other is a special education teacher working with high school seniors to teach financial literacy. They are both autistic and suffer from long-term effects of Covid. But they are active, engaged in their community, curious about the world, and happy. Through it all, I pray every day that they stay safe and do not fall victim to the violence against the LGBTQ community. I deeply mourn the tragic and unnecessary loss of Nex Benedict.
A couple of thoughts. I like VP Harris, a lot, but I have to say, again, that Democrats should approach the issues surrounding her tour more broadly. The issue is actually much larger than reproductive freedom, vital as that is. The issue is human rights—all of them, for all people. If women are deprived of dominion over their own bodies, then no rights are safe, for anyone. That should be the message.
And on a different tack, telling a Jewish leader to have a come to Jesus meeting may not be the most felicitous phrasing. (No, I am not being completely serious.).
Thanks for talking about Vice President Kamala Harris. It is beyond shocking that she is treated with such sexism and racism in this campaign by the press, and the population. She and Biden are a team and as such she is learning from a master, and has her own rich and varied experiences. It is important that people understand she is an ace in the hole.
I like Kamala Harris. I have long thought that it was great for Democrats to have so much power, grit and intelligence "on deck".
Agreed! Such a contrast to Katie Britt!
I have yet to summon the strength to watch Katie Britt, but judging from the parodies, that must have been some stupid speech.
I was not interested in it until my daughter wanted to watch her speech before we started watching parodies of it. Unfortunately I am not able to watch the Scarlett Johansson version because it will not show in the country I am in.
Since Katie Britt has been pointed to as someone who was under consideration and might have been Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump's running mate, I was just pointing out that that is who the Republican party chooses to showcase, and they present opposite pictures of a woman. I think it is important to point out the differences in the parties stance on women and on who is being represented.
I would guess that being married to an NFL player was a big plus in football crazy Alabama. After all, Alabama elected Tuberville, a football coach, to be a senator.
On NC's extremist candidates, the candidate for State Superintendent makes me furious because I was an NC public school teacher. Michelle Morrow is unfit to lead NC schools. Her educational background is in nursing. I am not disparaging nurses, but a nurse is not well equipped to lead public schools. Homeschooling one's own children is not sufficient either. Try teaching a class of 25 6 and 7 year olds BY YOURSELF WITH NO HELP. Whole different ball game. Would you want a plumber to step in for your dentist? Or a teacher to do your surgery? Her views are beyond the fringe and are insulting to NC's hardworking teachers.
Not to mention that she has advocated that Obama and Biden be killed!!!! She is psycho………….would you want her in charge of YOUR children???
Let us hope she does not win! As a fellow teacher I totally agree with you.
What you say about Michelle Morrow is correct, but let’s face it, she is a perfect Republican candidate.
Agreed.
The absurd folly. Of the talking heads, we have lived through 4 years of the most corrupt and incompetent administration from 2017 to 2021! Only fools who want to destroy our democracy would question Vice President Harris’ readiness to become POTUS is necessary!
Linda, the use of "likeability" is code for sexism/racism, period the end. She is not liked because she is a strong woman of color.
She is liked and respected because of her qualifications!
Exactly so; what I am referring to is this statement in the post: "When I question readers about their desire for a different vice presidential candidate, some say Harris is not “likable.”"
She reminds me of my mother: telling it straight and taking no nonsense. (I’ve had a number of Jewish mothers in my life, but none of them were my mother.).
Exactly what I said to my husband as we listened to Robert Hubbell this morning!
Call it in-house tribalism maybe?
You CANNOT leave the sexism out of it, unless you consider that gender based discrimination is included in the definition of "tribalism."
Thanks, Ally. That makes a lot of sense.
I disagree with some commenters re “likeability”. The criterion has been used with regard to men as well as women candidates.
Saint Ronnie was elected President largely because many voters liked him.
My moderate Republican father always referred to Reagan as "an amiable dolt."
Michael, I appreciate what you’re saying. However, for a lot of time, a woman had to be “likable” to have any success in the business/professional environment. Not opinionated, not forthright, but likable to men. What you have with VP Harris is opinionated, forthright, having the audacity to succeed in the political arena as a mixed race woman.
I have really liked how she has gone out on the campaign trail and spoken up loudly for women's health, especially abortion. And warning women that contraception is next on the GOP's agenda. It feels like we've gone to sleep and awakened back in the last century, where women are concerned. What a mean and backward-leaning entity the Republican Party has become. What a drastic contrast between them and our leaders, who speak compassionately about all women's health and well-being.
Actually, the agenda of the Republican party supports us going back more than half a century, and living like they did in England of 1558. I am reading Ken Follett's book A Column of Fire set in a place called "Kingsbridge" in 1558, and here we have the Catholics killing the Protestants for heretical behavior. They have them beheaded, drawn and quartered, burned and stretched on the rack. How power is exercised and innocents die is very clear. It sounds about right for Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump and his followers. The rules for women seem pretty much those of the Church of the Duggars of Shiny, Happy People infamy. They belong to the Institute in Basic Life Principals (IBLP). It is shocking to me that the Republican party endorses a lifestyle for women and children that was part of the oppressor society that we overthrew in our search for independence from monarchy in the Revolutionary War. The sheer corruption of the church is highlighted in this book. The heresy is that Protestants use lay people as clergy, have their sermons in the language of the land, and sing in the congregation instead of the church choir. A character remarks that the extreme of both the Catholics and the Protestants is very much alike. The setup in 1558 gives so much power to members of the clergy in the Catholic Church, much as we have given power to the Supreme Court justices, and Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump would have us give him as president. It is a set-up that leads to unfairness and corruption.
Yikes!
Well said. Thank you, Linda.
Not shocking at all, read David Mura’s book, “The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself.”
Great Edition today, Robert. Thank you for pointing out that VP Harris is just as qualified as many of our former presidents were before taking office.
What a brilliant summation you bring to Dr. King's actions when he took his followers up to that bridge but did not cross it due to a federal injunction. To me, that he believed in following the law is huge. Imagine the lives he saved by his decision not to defy that injunction.
But I must say I was shocked - shocked, I tell you! - by your suggestion that nobody's perfect. Goodness, wherever did you get that idea? (wink-wink!)
"That is what good leaders do. They are vessels into which we pour our competing hopes and desires. They contain our incompatible demands and convert that entropy into pressure capable of performing useful work." Perfectly stated, Robert!
Don’t overly generalize about Dr. King not breaking the law. Along with other civil rights marchers, Dr. King intentionally broke unjust laws in order to make a point publicly.
Finally! We are beginning to see positive news about an excellent Vice President who has long ago deserved better, more favorable coverage than she has received. She will be an excellent second term VP with great potential going forward. Rock on, Vice President Kamala Harris.
When Kamala was chosen for VP and I saw her background, I believed she had some excellent chops. But for a good part of the past 3 years, she has not been given the chance to shine as she could. Hopefully this task of Womens' Reproductive Rights avenue will show what she can accomplish.
Harris has been underrated, as have the majority of women throughout history, period! At least some of us are geared up in NC. There are no guarantees, of course, but the idea of returning to a theocracy-flavored USA like the one I was raised in GA simply does not compute. Too many bridges have been crossed. I guess it’s detention camp for me otherwise. But I don’t want to believe that “otherwise” will win.
Actually, Robert omitted a president who had less experience than Kamala Harris when taking office. A guy named Lincoln.
Having the Vice President lead the reproductive rights charge is not only smart politically but also is the only respectful thing to do, and I applaud Biden’s team for making that decision.
With no disrespect to so many men in my life and in public service who are champions for the rights of women, it must be a woman at the front making the administration’s case. The genuine insult and fury women are feeling is most effectively expressed by another woman.
And it shall be by VP Harris, hopefully over and over and over again for the next 8 months and beyond.
What the Republicans have done is unforgivable, and it’s up to all of us to be sure every woman in America knows it.
We must stay laser focused in our efforts to have the results of the 2024 election be what we want..the defeat of Donald Trump , the reclaiming of the majority in the House and increasing our majority in the Senate. Not lost is the importance of myriad state races for governor, state legislatures, all the way down to school boards. All of these races are vitally important and we as a nation need to send a message loud and clearly that enough is enough! We are advocates for decency, truth and equality under the law and we must prevail. It has been made abundantly clear that this victory is not going to be handed to us by the Justice system. We , as the voting conscience of America, are charged with the responsibility to deliver that victory. Concentrate on what you can control, not wish lists that are beyond our reach or power. GET OUT THE VOTE!!!!
1. Robert was great in the Field Team 6 Summit yesterday. I'm calling into Pa and Oh. I did this 4 years ago. I haven't lived there for almost 50 years, but keep in touch -- even with my 1961 HS graduating class. Field Team 5 concentrates on young women -- who trend virtually all Democratic.
2. They raised roughly $100,000 yesterday that translates into 100,000 new registered Democrats. They estimate that they need $3MM to swing the election. Last night was dedicated to North Carolina.
3. I also zoomed into Simon Rosenerg's Hopium. Re North Carolina. https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/my-march-2024-election-overview-with
So well said. Thank you.
Robert,
I loved this paragraph in your prepared remarks:
"We are engaged in a consequential battle for democracy. Our leaders face decisions for which there are no easy answers. They must manage incompatible demands from passionate people on all sides. We must not hold their good faith efforts against them by demanding perfection in every decision and criticizing them when they fail to deliver perfection. If every contested decision is grounds for abandoning our leaders, democracy is in peril.”
It partly answers a question I asked in Heather Cox Richardson’s comments area for today’s post. She had mentioned President Biden’s hot mic moment after the State of the Union speech when he said that he and Netanyahu need a “come to Jesus” conversation. President Biden is facing criticism from many quarters in his military support for Israel at the same time he is delivering aid to the people in Gaza and demanding that Israel’s far right government cease its “over the top” attacks on Gaza and move toward a two-state solution.
Yes, Hamas set off this conflagration with its October 7 pogrom. But the fuel was already there and ready to explode. What are your thoughts on this situation that President Biden called “gut-wrenching” in his SOTU address and what might help people better understand the challenges he faces?
Like you, Hamas has tried to blame Israel for starting the current war.
However, Hamas’s protestations of victimization do not ring true. Hamas had long fired rockets at civilians in Israel, without Israel responding in kind. Hamas had built tunnels into Israel through which terrorist fighters tried to enter Israel.
I blamed Hamas for starting this war and described its actions as a pogrom. When I wrote "but the fuel was already there and ready to explode," I acknowledge parts played by many parties and a long history that led to current conditions. If you read Tom Friedman's columns, I'm aligned with his thinking.
I’m not always.
"Because leaders in a democracy must “contain multitudes,” we cannot—we must not—demand absolute perfection or conformity to our viewpoint at every moment. They will make controversial decisions that will not please everyone. They have assumed a great burden and deserve from us the benefit of the doubt and the presumption of goodwill."
Spot on!!!! And too often we forget all the good that goes under the radar and see the focus in the media on missteps that our leaders thought would be the best choice at the time. No successful leader ever picks a path that they know will be bad for the people, but no one can be right all the time. You hit this nail right on the head, Robert!
See what happens when "MAGA Republicans block access to IVF: Map of devastated women and IVF clinics" with this interactive map
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/03/02/maga-republicans-block-ivf-access-map-of-devastated-women-and-clinics/
And listen to this podcast interview with Andra Watkins, a NY Times best-selling author was indoctrinated as a child in Christian Nationalism on the horrific policies on women Republicans have laid out in their Project 2025 manifesto.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/03/12/andra-watkins-explains-horrors-of-christian-nationalism-project-2025/
Thanks, Deepak for your efforts to amplify the dangers of Project 2025 !📣
If I may take the liberty to share Andrea Watkin’s Subsatck:How Project 2025 Will Ruin Your Life.
This ⬇️is not hyperbole! DeSantis vetoed funding for certain forms of birth-control for low-income women because the Florida Catholic Bishop’s Conference believe they are abortifacients.
“They oppose birth control methods that suppress ovulation because they believe it interferes with God’s will. The Catholic Church has long forbidden all forms of man-made birth control because it is God’s choice to create life. The evangelical anti-abortion, forced-birth movement has adopted this view. They insist that it is not up to human beings to interfere with a natural process designed by God.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/project2025istheocracy/p/reader-question-what-does-project?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thanks for the link to Andrea Watkins' substack. Very interesting and informative.
“They insist that it is not up to human beings to interfere with a natural process designed by
God.” —
They must, therefore, oppose antibiotics and inoculations?
Robert, I fully understand how publishing requires a good edit, but really, you're being too kind with "an insurrectionist, coup-plotting, extortionist, document-stealing sexual abuser". In my stream of consciousness the adjectives keep flowing to include: thrice married, serial philandering, multiple bankrupt, proven liar, friend of tyrants. Just the attributes I'd grown up expecting in a President of the US.
Yes, Swbv, I strongly felt the absence of "habitual liar" in Robert's polite description of the former president. I also think it's critical to highlight that he is a malignant narcissist, totally lacking in empathy for others. DJT embodies an astounding number of horrible traits.
I don’t think this was your intent, Robert, but I was almost ready to abandon my idealism regarding Merrick Garland because he, an idealist, was more focused on restoring the DOJ’s reputation than holding Trump accountable. But then you ended with the example of Dr. King not crossing the bridge after Bloody Sunday. He followed the law. Not everyone liked it. Last night, after I’d listened to too much bad political news, I was feeling a bit frantic and upset about it all. I gave myself time, though, and came back around to something else you’ve been telling us: it is we the people, we the voters, we the ones who can still make a difference in the outcome of the coming elections who will make the difference. And just think how wonderful it will be to see all those trials come to fruition in 2025. And we will have set an example by playing fair. Oh, Glory Days will be here again.
Yes. How easy it is for us to get frantic and upset - so many reasons! And I do. And I rant.
But still, I do believe that a certain karma exists. People like Trump can't spend an entire adulthood hurting so many people - thousands on a business basis - hundreds of millions on a global basis - without reaping the hate they have sown. Karma always happens - sometimes it just takes too long.
I have been very frustrated with AG Garland's glacial pace. But if it means that Trump's convictions are more solid and unassailable...then this AG will indeed be revered in the long run. Hope I am right.
I want to think about this, thank you.
Where is the "love" heart option on substack? This letter resonated with me big time. Two huge and important messages from Robert Hubbell. I hope he would accept a role in the next Biden/Harris administration. I suspect White House Communications would be his calling.
I don't "love" Kamala Harris. I don't "love" any politician. Only kings and queens are "loved". In a democracy, we should seek to admire, respect and trust our leaders. I have all three of those for VP Harris. The criticism of her has been ridiculous. Just look how well she has performed her work! Her primary job has been to be an apprentice to the president - so she could seemlessly step into his role if necessary. Check! Her secondary job is to work hard to promote the policies of the administration. Check!
The issue of women's Reproductive Health and FREEDOM is THE biggest factor in what will be a Blue Wave on November 5th. The frosting on the cake is the MAGA effort to control it further. What could be a more stupid (and evil) political move than to mess with a woman's right to contraception? Employing an impassioned woman VP to spread the word about this threat is brilliant and obviously well planned. If we were angry about abortion bans, imagine our rage about this!
And Robert's discussion about trusting our leaders even when we disagree with some elements of their decisions or statements should be common sense. But Common Sense has been lost by many of late. Not voting for Biden/Harris might be a reasonable option if the opposition was a reasonable choice.
November 5th is like walking up to a building with only two doors. You HAVE TO OPEN A DOOR or a trap door opens beneath you and you will fall into a vast emptiness.
Open the Blue Door and there is a team smiling at you who wants to hear your thoughts, wants to find fairness in taxation and every element of society. It wants to build and raise people up - ALL people. It wants to be factor in supporting democracy and opposing oppression around the world.
Open the Red Door and a Mafia like gang of crooks and con men will begin to bark lies and suck even more money and freedom away from you. The gang will further divide you from "others" of all types. It will control what you read and view. It will own your brain, your body and your bank account.
Your blue door/red door analogy is BRILLIANT.
My Managing Director said to be last night she’s afraid that Trump is going to avoid any prosecution for federal offenses because he seems he has had every break in the book starting with the Mueller Report and has effectively stalled many prosecutions. The faith of many voters in our Justice System is diminishing as Trump wiggles out of various legal situations. Trump seems more aggressive and effective in avoiding prosecutions than Jack Smith is in trying him. It feels like Trump is getting away with things without any accountability including selling his support to the highest bidder like he did with Tik Toc.
Stephen Berg, I am afraid of the same thing. It’s hard not to think otherwise. Trumps stalling tactics are working. Things would’ve been different it seems if Merrick Garland had been a year faster in appointing a special council.
Excellent comments on leadership today, Robert. As we frame and reframe the current battle, we must keep the qualities of good leadership in the front of our minds and conversations, as Trump is depicted by the GOP as strong and decisive and, let's understand it, and by many of the powerful and some wavering independents. Others have praised this sentence in your remarks: "We must not hold their [ our leaders'] good faith efforts against them by demanding perfection in every decision and criticizing them when they fail to deliver perfection." We should all study this.
And I want to point out our national confusion about what "perfection" means. To millions of Americans it seems that "perfection" means agreeing with the Almighty Me every step of the way. People say things like, "I am for Trump because he is honest and he says what he thinks and he speaks for me," which means, too often, "He speaks aloud my fears, my hatreds, my prejudices, my evil desires that I don't have the courage to say. That's why I laugh so hard when he makes fun of Biden's stutter or makes a crude sexual gesture regarding Fani Willis." Trump speaks to the worst part of our national psyche and to the Almighty Me that says my religious views, my ideas or ignorance about science, my views about the Other, are right and unquestionable and everyone should think and feel and fear as I do. Democracy fails when every person is a monarch: "Well, I don't want to think about it, I just FEEL Trump has done a better job than Biden and he speaks for me."
I can wish Biden would do what I am thinking, but I am not the President, and much of the time, I don't know what I would do about Gaza or about "the economy," or about the do-nothing Congress.
I don't want a president or any leader who is the Almighty Me, channeling my few strengths and many weaknesses. A democracy is not a tyranny of individuals getting their way in every action of our leaders. That produces a narcissism and a nation of babies.
You also said something very important when you noted that in North Carolina and elsewhere,
"Republicans have nominated candidates that most Republicans would not allow in their homes or workplaces." I use the question, "Who would you want to sit next to in your high school cafeteria?"
I would not want to sit next to Donald Trump, and when he scoots his pals, Vik Orban and Vlad Putin, in next to him, I am moving to a table where my true friends don't always agree with me, but they are kind, thoughtful, caring, and -- an old-fashioned word -- nice.
And I don't think Jamie Dimon and Elon Musk and any of our other oligarchs would want for a day a man of Trump's colossal deficits running their companies.
Thank you, Robert and all.
A deep truth in this statement: "To millions of Americans it seems that "perfection" means agreeing with the Almighty Me every step of the way."
As the parent of a non-binary young adult, I'm thankful every day that Arin and Arin's spouse, who is also non-binary, were able to survive their teenage and college years and are now productive and independent 20 somethings. One is approaching the second year of a three-year program which will award a dual degree - Physician Assistant degree, as well as a doctorate in Health Sciences. The other is a special education teacher working with high school seniors to teach financial literacy. They are both autistic and suffer from long-term effects of Covid. But they are active, engaged in their community, curious about the world, and happy. Through it all, I pray every day that they stay safe and do not fall victim to the violence against the LGBTQ community. I deeply mourn the tragic and unnecessary loss of Nex Benedict.
A couple of thoughts. I like VP Harris, a lot, but I have to say, again, that Democrats should approach the issues surrounding her tour more broadly. The issue is actually much larger than reproductive freedom, vital as that is. The issue is human rights—all of them, for all people. If women are deprived of dominion over their own bodies, then no rights are safe, for anyone. That should be the message.
And on a different tack, telling a Jewish leader to have a come to Jesus meeting may not be the most felicitous phrasing. (No, I am not being completely serious.).
Yes, Buuuut, it does reflect a viewpoint...Christians do expect Jews to have a come to Jesus moment.
It is baked into the psyche of America.
Similar to asking people of color to act more white.
Yeah, it wasn't the best wording, but when I heard it that night, I was sure it would become the latest tempest in a teapot. Fortunately, it did not.