Friends, we often visit in this space about how this fight is as important on the local and state as well as the national level. Heavy on my heart this weekend is that the NRA is hoping to relocate to Texas, a leader in mass shootings, fresh off the May 6, Allen Outlet Mall that killed children and parents.
Specifically, the plan is that State Farm Inc., would sublease a space to the NRA in Richardson, TX, my home. Richardson is a city that has successfully navigated much change in the last 50 years, but this would give us a black eye, rightfully, and send a horrible message.
Yes, there's lots of organizing going on, to what avail I do not know. But if you could spare five minutes to send a quick email sentence or two to our Council members as to the message this sends to others around the country, I would be grateful.
I recently completed an 8-day cross country trip (I-90 east to west ) and I want everyone to know this is a beautiful vast country worth all of our interests to keep up our fight to preserve and strengthen our democracy . And that I thought i would see a lot of visual Trump propaganda in the form of apparel, flags, signs etc… and I didn’t! In Cody Wyoming I interacted with staff in a national grocery store wearing pride flag pins. Bozeman Montana Main St. most stores had pride flags. We are making a difference. If you are discouraged, I want to share there is hope at the local level. We must be loud and proud that President Biden is governing with a steady hand and smart policy and that we can support him by getting out the vote-
Here's a fascinating piece about MAGA country in the New York Times by columnist David French. I encourage people to read it to understand a key element of what we are struggling against. I've pasted the opening paragraph. The link is free; it opens the story behind the paywall.
I’ve shared this fact with readers before: I live in Tennessee outside Nashville, a very deep-red part of America. According to a New York Times tool that calculates the political composition of a community, only 15 percent of my neighbors are Democrats. I’ve been living here in the heart of MAGA country since Donald Trump came down the escalator. This is the world of my friends, my neighbors and many members of my family. That is perhaps why, when I’m asked what things are like now, eight years into the Trump era, I have a ready answer: Everything is normal until, suddenly, it’s not. And unless we can understand what’s normal and what’s not, we can’t truly understand why Trumpism endures.
I've decided that the most important thing I can do for my grandchildren is to focus on climate change and reduction of fossil fuels. I'm involved in Third Act https://thirdact.org
“Experienced Americans” are the fastest-growing part of the population: 10,000 people a day pass the 60-year mark. That means that there’s no way to make the changes that must be made to protect our planet and society unless we bring our power into play.
We’re used to thinking that humans grow more conservative as they age, perhaps because we have more to protect, or simply because we’re used to things the way they are. But our generations saw enormous positive change early in our lives—the civil rights movement, for instance, or the fight to end massive wars or guarantee the rights of women. And now we fear that the promise of those changes may be dying, as the planet heats and inequality grows.
But as a generation we have unprecedented skills and resources that we can bring to bear. Washington and Wall Street have to listen when we speak, because we vote and because we have a large—maybe an overlarge—share of the country’s assets. And many of us have kids and grandkids and great grandkids: we have, in other words, very real reasons to worry and to work."
In part it says "His utter disregard for facts denigrates the legal profession...Mr. Giuliani’s effort to undermine the integrity of the 2020 presidential election has helped destabilize our democracy. His malicious and meritless claims have done lasting damage...We have considered in mitigation Mr. Giuliani’s conduct following the September 11 attacks as well as his prior service in the Justice Department and as Mayor of New York City. But all of that happened long ago. The misconduct here
sadly transcends all his past accomplishments. It was unparalleled in its destructive purpose and effect. He sought to disrupt a presidential election and persists in his refusal to acknowledge the wrong he has done. For these reasons, we unanimously recommend that Mr. Giuliani be disbarred."
As to the "mitigation" aspect: I have lived in NYC in 2001 and worked closely with local, state and national authorities in the aftermath of 9/11. All I remember of Giuliani in that time is that he didn't have a nervous breakdown and did his job. Certainly nothing exceptional. Coming out of this tragedy as "America's Mayor" is beyond me.
I urge everyone to read Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter today in toto. It is a superb and encouraging assessment of today’s America, the Biden administration’s remarkable accomplishments, and the far right’s attack.
I heard that the UN is meeting next week to explain next steps for Ukraine to become a NATO member. While I'm all for Ukraine joining NATO, I'm wondering if the timing is problematic. If Ukraine becomes a NATO member, and if declaring war on one NATO member is tantamount to declaring war on all NATO members, then wouldn't that mean the USA is at war with Russia?
In regards to the recent Trump rally in Pickens, SC, and the number of people that attended, the media fell back into the old habit of quoting instead of verifying. Claims made by the Trump clan were 50,000 to 60,000 or even 75,000 attended.
Aerial photography totally disproved those claims. Actual attendance was more in the vicinity of 5,000 inside, and less than 10,000 outside the fenced area.
To put that in perspective, Clemson football games draw an average crowd of 80,694 to a game.
Credible statistics regarding attendance at past Trump rallies are hard to find; however, I did find a report that Trump once drew a crowd of 30,000 in Alabama during the 2016 election campaign.
The Trump campaign lies about attendance following nearly every rally. Whether those lies are intended to discourage and demoralize competing campaigns, or are made in an effort not to hurt Trump’s petty-narcissistic-fragile ego, I cannot say. However, in one of the reddest of red MAGA areas of the country, I found the low numbers for the Pickens rally to be heartening.
A credible argument can be made that he still has a hard core base of reverent supporters, but the support is not growing as reflected by attendance at his rallies, and may even be dwindling.
I think the respective party leaders are not doing their jobs. In my view, the job of the party leader is to vet, screen, encourage good candidates.
In the Republican Party, there seems no screening process. In the Democrat Party, there seems no selection process. Where is the successor to Joe Biden being selected and groomed?
Failure of Party leadership is harming our political process, which harms our country.
There are several comments here criticizing the fact that America is going to give Ukraine cluster bombs. It was not a decision made lightly.
Alexander Vindman is a decorated American army war hero, former Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. army and former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Alexander Vindman's honesty and integrity, his service and loyalty to our country, his love of his native country, his gratitude to be living in America and his intimate knowledge of what is happening in the vicious and totally unjustifiable Russian War on Ukraine.
He explained today on "Velshi" how critical it is that Ukraine receives the cluster bombs now, so it does not run out of weapons. I trust his judgment about war in general and about the Russian War on Ukraine in specific. I also believe he has a real love and compassion for humanity.
I hate war. But I would not substitute my opinion, of what is needed for Ukraine to win this war of Russian aggression, for that of Alexander Vindman's. And it is critical that Ukraine win, both for Ukraine to keep what is rightfully theirs and for the survival of democracy.
Jul 8, 2023·edited Jul 8, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Hi my friends. I can use your help. I feel flummoxed over the support for RFK Jr. I’m a former journalist and co-author of a book that pre-dated the Covid catastrophe by about a year called “The End of Epidemics” that included a lot of information about the importance of vaccines. I’m married to a 76-year-old, liberal, anti-war contrarian who really likes RFK Jr. As a good faith gesture toward my significant other, I did a bunch of Googling and read a lot from RFK’s side of the parking lot, as well as David Talbot’s and others' defenses of him. Looking at RFK’s website, most of the things posted there sound pretty good to me.
The problem is obviously that while his website sounds fairly rational, things he’s said in public are completely and irretrievably irrational (SSRI’s leading to school shootings, the vaccine nonsense (which he appears to be ducking from a bit), Fauci and the Holocaust, going on Alex Jones' show, etc. The “watch out for THEM” argument that is the centerpiece of all conspiracy thinking is exactly the same in Kennedy’s fevered brain as it is for MAGAts.
Given the increasing lack of trust everywhere evident, along with the rise of AI (as Google's Eric Schmidt has mentioned too), I fear that we’re sinking into massive quicksand in which nothing can be believed and everything is up for grabs. This situation actually makes life easier for the likes of people like RFK Jr. and Alex Jones. And that is a terrible, terrible thing to consider.
How to discuss RFK Jr in a rational way? I admit to feeling a bit triggered.
I'm sure everyone knows how despicable Moms for Liberty is. They have taken root in Sarasota, FL. and have intimidated school boards and parents everywhere. Let me introduce you to a local "hero", Brandt Robinson. He has taught HS history in Pinellas County for 26 years. He posts daily TikTok videos on Twitter https://twitter.com/BrandtRobinson/status/1677408882241552384 which challenge the governor and teach history at the same time. He has invited Moms for Liberty to sit in on his classes and at the last minute they have said "something has come up". He's been targeted and people have tried to get him fired. Yet he persists. He sat for a PBS interview and as soon as the link is posted I will publish it here. In the meantime, I encourage you to watch the short tweet (above) and then follow him on Twitter (as long as it exists).
I have 2 things that puzzle me, so here goes. One is why there doesn't seem to be much, if any, response from supporters of President Biden to the attacks from the former POTUS and his supporters when his age and mental and physical capabilities are attacked. Without going into detail, I think he's doing fine, more than fine. Sure he's 80 but he's accomplished some amazing successes. He's a steady, relatable leader.
As for the former POTUS, he's 3, only 3, years younger. He's obese, out of shape, often looks very red-faced and sweaty. Without even considering his bizarre behavior or track record, I just don't get why the attacks on President Biden aren't challenged. I know there are probably lots and lots of you who have a more sophisticated view than mine, but, I wonder about it so I thought, being Saturday and all, I'd ask.
The other thing is the pressure from former POTUS and his team on former AZ Gov. Doug Ducey and AZ House Speaker Rusty Bowers. I live in AZ and spent most of my career working in local government. This story, particularly the exceedingly cruel tactics used on Mr. Bowers and his family, was made very public in AZ months ago. It didn't make much of a ripple on the national news, at least what I saw, but now it's a big deal. Maybe that's because of the current investigation? I'm just curious. There was a picture of former Gov. Ducey signing the official approval of the election results while sending a call from the former POTUS to voicemail. I thought...great! He did the right thing. That's my greatest hope for politicians. Do the right thing. Thanks, Robert and everyone for sharing your hope, thoughts and wisdom.
Friends, we often visit in this space about how this fight is as important on the local and state as well as the national level. Heavy on my heart this weekend is that the NRA is hoping to relocate to Texas, a leader in mass shootings, fresh off the May 6, Allen Outlet Mall that killed children and parents.
Specifically, the plan is that State Farm Inc., would sublease a space to the NRA in Richardson, TX, my home. Richardson is a city that has successfully navigated much change in the last 50 years, but this would give us a black eye, rightfully, and send a horrible message.
Yes, there's lots of organizing going on, to what avail I do not know. But if you could spare five minutes to send a quick email sentence or two to our Council members as to the message this sends to others around the country, I would be grateful.
Cathy Murphree
Addresses at this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bcSZamIMx30r6M2O11ZEabjty8ICTBBRS-7GZu3DCqY/edit?usp=sharing
I recently completed an 8-day cross country trip (I-90 east to west ) and I want everyone to know this is a beautiful vast country worth all of our interests to keep up our fight to preserve and strengthen our democracy . And that I thought i would see a lot of visual Trump propaganda in the form of apparel, flags, signs etc… and I didn’t! In Cody Wyoming I interacted with staff in a national grocery store wearing pride flag pins. Bozeman Montana Main St. most stores had pride flags. We are making a difference. If you are discouraged, I want to share there is hope at the local level. We must be loud and proud that President Biden is governing with a steady hand and smart policy and that we can support him by getting out the vote-
Locally, regionally and nationally.
Here's a fascinating piece about MAGA country in the New York Times by columnist David French. I encourage people to read it to understand a key element of what we are struggling against. I've pasted the opening paragraph. The link is free; it opens the story behind the paywall.
I’ve shared this fact with readers before: I live in Tennessee outside Nashville, a very deep-red part of America. According to a New York Times tool that calculates the political composition of a community, only 15 percent of my neighbors are Democrats. I’ve been living here in the heart of MAGA country since Donald Trump came down the escalator. This is the world of my friends, my neighbors and many members of my family. That is perhaps why, when I’m asked what things are like now, eight years into the Trump era, I have a ready answer: Everything is normal until, suddenly, it’s not. And unless we can understand what’s normal and what’s not, we can’t truly understand why Trumpism endures.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/maga-america-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=beDQJ_cNEwkMPAXudV4N_CdFOG5aux3yPI2AdswxCbu0DCTwKPINFTJJUtfBnjmNaQKYnweRL5vrAeTIOGNnpFoPeucNiUIxRRU-4TkYGk55VUxGyHZ-odIME4_Oo-jOf_5yZlcvEBx2uaxO612-ilXYXmShCmtJHjX4XdDyI5e5ZJuQHA669b5VpP7uQUJWqBk4P_sb5OMGYdaEBUU25fBMFWivxSyerUVLRuaLOE37CglhL0xhc-oIaEL7JynQoGUVJwUf9etL8WtudbHKpCw8ahXZnW_H8K9rILuQlYYlDQvEji27R_ZA0-ONV86YSXACvZMSR6rr8A&smid=url-share.
I've decided that the most important thing I can do for my grandchildren is to focus on climate change and reduction of fossil fuels. I'm involved in Third Act https://thirdact.org
“Experienced Americans” are the fastest-growing part of the population: 10,000 people a day pass the 60-year mark. That means that there’s no way to make the changes that must be made to protect our planet and society unless we bring our power into play.
We’re used to thinking that humans grow more conservative as they age, perhaps because we have more to protect, or simply because we’re used to things the way they are. But our generations saw enormous positive change early in our lives—the civil rights movement, for instance, or the fight to end massive wars or guarantee the rights of women. And now we fear that the promise of those changes may be dying, as the planet heats and inequality grows.
But as a generation we have unprecedented skills and resources that we can bring to bear. Washington and Wall Street have to listen when we speak, because we vote and because we have a large—maybe an overlarge—share of the country’s assets. And many of us have kids and grandkids and great grandkids: we have, in other words, very real reasons to worry and to work."
I would like to know what it would take to disbar [In]justices Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito.
To the end of his long life, W.B. Yeats quoted his father's friend, the Irish nationalist John O'Leary:
"There are some things a man cannot do, even to save a nation."
Cluster bombs are one of those things. Sixty years on, there is still shrapnel in limbs of humans and trees all over Southeast Asia. To no good end.
President Biden: Don't. Do. This.
It is well worth reading the 'III. Sanctions' chapter of the DC Disciplinary Council's recommendations to bar Rudy Giuliani beginning on page 34. Let's hope that Jack Smith reads it as well. https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2023-07-07-issuance-letter-and-hearing-committee-report-giuliani.pdf?utm_source=Democracy+Docket+Newsletters&utm_campaign=fec1b51f11-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_07_05_06_07_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-c02d905569-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=fec1b51f11&mc_eid=8411ab07e3
In part it says "His utter disregard for facts denigrates the legal profession...Mr. Giuliani’s effort to undermine the integrity of the 2020 presidential election has helped destabilize our democracy. His malicious and meritless claims have done lasting damage...We have considered in mitigation Mr. Giuliani’s conduct following the September 11 attacks as well as his prior service in the Justice Department and as Mayor of New York City. But all of that happened long ago. The misconduct here
sadly transcends all his past accomplishments. It was unparalleled in its destructive purpose and effect. He sought to disrupt a presidential election and persists in his refusal to acknowledge the wrong he has done. For these reasons, we unanimously recommend that Mr. Giuliani be disbarred."
As to the "mitigation" aspect: I have lived in NYC in 2001 and worked closely with local, state and national authorities in the aftermath of 9/11. All I remember of Giuliani in that time is that he didn't have a nervous breakdown and did his job. Certainly nothing exceptional. Coming out of this tragedy as "America's Mayor" is beyond me.
I urge everyone to read Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter today in toto. It is a superb and encouraging assessment of today’s America, the Biden administration’s remarkable accomplishments, and the far right’s attack.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-7-2023
From Denialad: donbialostosky.substack.com
The Freedom Caucus has voted to ditch
MTG for calling Boebert “bitch”
And maybe too because Ms. Taylor Greene
Has been crowned as House king McCarthy’s queen.
Surprising to hear that the MAGA forum
Has such a delicate sense of decorum.
Apparently she hadn’t understood
That “saying things in terms that no one should”
“Publicly . . . about another member”
Could get her canned. Does anyone remember,
When she and Boebert were mean girl allies,
Their State of the Union heckling cries
At President Biden? Greene shouted “Liar!”
Without provoking Freedom Caucus ire.
Though Caucus members still cannot agree
On major issues facing the country,
They came together to give her the boot
For rude words she said in public dispute
With another member, who’s well known
For saying crude and mean things of her own.
Sounds just like a high school dustup to me,
A tempest in a pot of herd-al tea!
I heard that the UN is meeting next week to explain next steps for Ukraine to become a NATO member. While I'm all for Ukraine joining NATO, I'm wondering if the timing is problematic. If Ukraine becomes a NATO member, and if declaring war on one NATO member is tantamount to declaring war on all NATO members, then wouldn't that mean the USA is at war with Russia?
In regards to the recent Trump rally in Pickens, SC, and the number of people that attended, the media fell back into the old habit of quoting instead of verifying. Claims made by the Trump clan were 50,000 to 60,000 or even 75,000 attended.
Aerial photography totally disproved those claims. Actual attendance was more in the vicinity of 5,000 inside, and less than 10,000 outside the fenced area.
To put that in perspective, Clemson football games draw an average crowd of 80,694 to a game.
Credible statistics regarding attendance at past Trump rallies are hard to find; however, I did find a report that Trump once drew a crowd of 30,000 in Alabama during the 2016 election campaign.
The Trump campaign lies about attendance following nearly every rally. Whether those lies are intended to discourage and demoralize competing campaigns, or are made in an effort not to hurt Trump’s petty-narcissistic-fragile ego, I cannot say. However, in one of the reddest of red MAGA areas of the country, I found the low numbers for the Pickens rally to be heartening.
A credible argument can be made that he still has a hard core base of reverent supporters, but the support is not growing as reflected by attendance at his rallies, and may even be dwindling.
I think the respective party leaders are not doing their jobs. In my view, the job of the party leader is to vet, screen, encourage good candidates.
In the Republican Party, there seems no screening process. In the Democrat Party, there seems no selection process. Where is the successor to Joe Biden being selected and groomed?
Failure of Party leadership is harming our political process, which harms our country.
There are several comments here criticizing the fact that America is going to give Ukraine cluster bombs. It was not a decision made lightly.
Alexander Vindman is a decorated American army war hero, former Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. army and former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Alexander Vindman's honesty and integrity, his service and loyalty to our country, his love of his native country, his gratitude to be living in America and his intimate knowledge of what is happening in the vicious and totally unjustifiable Russian War on Ukraine.
He explained today on "Velshi" how critical it is that Ukraine receives the cluster bombs now, so it does not run out of weapons. I trust his judgment about war in general and about the Russian War on Ukraine in specific. I also believe he has a real love and compassion for humanity.
I hate war. But I would not substitute my opinion, of what is needed for Ukraine to win this war of Russian aggression, for that of Alexander Vindman's. And it is critical that Ukraine win, both for Ukraine to keep what is rightfully theirs and for the survival of democracy.
https://twitter.com/AVindman/status/1677151151068782592
Hi my friends. I can use your help. I feel flummoxed over the support for RFK Jr. I’m a former journalist and co-author of a book that pre-dated the Covid catastrophe by about a year called “The End of Epidemics” that included a lot of information about the importance of vaccines. I’m married to a 76-year-old, liberal, anti-war contrarian who really likes RFK Jr. As a good faith gesture toward my significant other, I did a bunch of Googling and read a lot from RFK’s side of the parking lot, as well as David Talbot’s and others' defenses of him. Looking at RFK’s website, most of the things posted there sound pretty good to me.
The problem is obviously that while his website sounds fairly rational, things he’s said in public are completely and irretrievably irrational (SSRI’s leading to school shootings, the vaccine nonsense (which he appears to be ducking from a bit), Fauci and the Holocaust, going on Alex Jones' show, etc. The “watch out for THEM” argument that is the centerpiece of all conspiracy thinking is exactly the same in Kennedy’s fevered brain as it is for MAGAts.
Given the increasing lack of trust everywhere evident, along with the rise of AI (as Google's Eric Schmidt has mentioned too), I fear that we’re sinking into massive quicksand in which nothing can be believed and everything is up for grabs. This situation actually makes life easier for the likes of people like RFK Jr. and Alex Jones. And that is a terrible, terrible thing to consider.
How to discuss RFK Jr in a rational way? I admit to feeling a bit triggered.
I'm sure everyone knows how despicable Moms for Liberty is. They have taken root in Sarasota, FL. and have intimidated school boards and parents everywhere. Let me introduce you to a local "hero", Brandt Robinson. He has taught HS history in Pinellas County for 26 years. He posts daily TikTok videos on Twitter https://twitter.com/BrandtRobinson/status/1677408882241552384 which challenge the governor and teach history at the same time. He has invited Moms for Liberty to sit in on his classes and at the last minute they have said "something has come up". He's been targeted and people have tried to get him fired. Yet he persists. He sat for a PBS interview and as soon as the link is posted I will publish it here. In the meantime, I encourage you to watch the short tweet (above) and then follow him on Twitter (as long as it exists).
I have 2 things that puzzle me, so here goes. One is why there doesn't seem to be much, if any, response from supporters of President Biden to the attacks from the former POTUS and his supporters when his age and mental and physical capabilities are attacked. Without going into detail, I think he's doing fine, more than fine. Sure he's 80 but he's accomplished some amazing successes. He's a steady, relatable leader.
As for the former POTUS, he's 3, only 3, years younger. He's obese, out of shape, often looks very red-faced and sweaty. Without even considering his bizarre behavior or track record, I just don't get why the attacks on President Biden aren't challenged. I know there are probably lots and lots of you who have a more sophisticated view than mine, but, I wonder about it so I thought, being Saturday and all, I'd ask.
The other thing is the pressure from former POTUS and his team on former AZ Gov. Doug Ducey and AZ House Speaker Rusty Bowers. I live in AZ and spent most of my career working in local government. This story, particularly the exceedingly cruel tactics used on Mr. Bowers and his family, was made very public in AZ months ago. It didn't make much of a ripple on the national news, at least what I saw, but now it's a big deal. Maybe that's because of the current investigation? I'm just curious. There was a picture of former Gov. Ducey signing the official approval of the election results while sending a call from the former POTUS to voicemail. I thought...great! He did the right thing. That's my greatest hope for politicians. Do the right thing. Thanks, Robert and everyone for sharing your hope, thoughts and wisdom.