I think some people [republicans?] see Biden quietly going about his job, saving the economy and shoring up our economic future. Saving other democratic nations in order to form a stronger world of democracy over the increasingly strident [in voice and action] dictators, citizens with grudges, and people wanting to blame someone for the problems around them.
And they don't see strength, they have the notion bullies are strong, but silent types who do not curry favor, are not blowhards, don't make excuses, well, they must be weak.
We all know better. As Robert said, the stark examples before us; a President who is attempting to mend and is in fact mending the country and by extension the world, versus a small man who lives only for his own glory and gratification but getting it very seriously wrong and illegal to boot-- well what a contrast.
I say we couldn't be luckier with our current President, and must do all in our power to see that he wins the next election. I'm reminded of the Dr. Seuss book title; Oh the places you'll go... when Biden begins thinking up his next agenda, and his next... luckily for us.
Except, he has worked very quickly to put the country and the world on a good path and undo much of the harm inflicted by tfg. His steady and steadying hand has been a tremendous relief to me.
This is indeed a big deal. South Korea (and North) were controlled by Japan from 1910-45, in a particularly vicious form of colonialism, in which it was illegal for a Korean to speak Korean, or for children to be taught Korean History (control their history, you control them, where have I heard that recently?). Nearly every Korean family has at least one episode in the family's oral history of some Japanese atrocity. Korean women were turned into the "comfort women" (that the Japanese government, which has among its leaders descendants of the war criminals of World War II that "Big Mac" MacArthur didn't prosecute after the war) and has never accepted responsibility for things like the comfort women or the systematic attempted destruction of Korean society and culture. (Or the Bataan Death March, or the Rape of Nanking, or the atrocities of the Malaya-Burma Railway)
So getting this agreement took a lot of effort. Probably Kim Jong Un's nukes was the only threat that could have brought about the result.
And, a major component of Biden's success is his ability to fill key executive positions with highly qualified people who exercise quiet leadership without fanfare. A prime example is Antony Blinken, a class act and highly effective negotiator/leader.
I would like to caution those who celebrate Biden, Blinken and Nuland and their coalition-building. It was cold warriors Biden, Hillary and the rest of the Democratic establishment who helped drag us into invading Iraq, wasting 3 Trillion dollars, and killing a half million Iraqi citizens.
One byproduct of the dominance of corporate media and the military industrial complex is our acceptance of the concept that it is our destiny and right to reach anywhere around the planet to enforce our idea of what is best for others--even if it means bombing them into the stone age.
We cloak our aggression in the cloth of “defense” and you can see this in our diplomacy concerning Ukraine. First we push our military bases as close to Russia as possible. Then, when Putin reacts, we load our proxies up with our outdated surplus weapons and assure them “they” will never have to negotiate. Now, we find that their offensive is unable to penetrate the dug-in enemy. What’s the response going to be--more endless war and dead Ukrainians, or being “forced” to escalate to “teach Russia a lesson”?
Look at how everyone is beating the war drums now about China’s aggression in the S. China Sea and how we’re “militarily un-prepared” for it. It’s Vietnam, Israel, Iran Contra, Afghanistan and Iraq all over again. We project onto one country or leader after another that they are our enemy, bent on our destruction (imagine that--Saddam Hussein hurting us--be real).
The only people we’re fooling are ourselves--the whole world knows that WE are the ones who will actually invade. I’m not saying that Mao, Ho Chi Minh, bin Laden, Khomeini, Saddam, Putin or Xi Jinping aren’t playing their parts in all this. But I am saying is; when are we going to wake up and look in the mirror?
Recently a friend wrote that her professor had an epiphany about art. Most art in museums is appropriated. Indigenous people asking the Vatican for their art back is a model.
For those of you in the path of hurricane Hillary and are being warned about flash flooding, please heed the advise we get in Texas when approaching water flowing across the road: "Turn around! Don't drown!" Even three inches of water can lift a car off the road surface and move it downstream quite rapidly. Please stay safe!
Thank you from a Kathy in San Diego! The last time this region was hit with such a big storm was in the 1850s, so your advice is much appreciated. We’re all facing unfamiliar territory these days when it comes to weather events. Thank goodness we have a president who is addressing climate change head on. Vote in 2024 like your life depends on it!
Cathy, this is wise advice! Several years ago I was finishing up a business trip in Beaumont, TX. It was raining heavily and the people at the facility were concerned about me leaving to head to the airport. They were well aware of the flooding in the area of bayous. I went ahead as everything looked like concrete to the access road to the highway. I rounded a corner and a wall of water came over the car's hood. A man in one of those monster trucks with huge tires and it was jacked-up way off the road came to my rescue! He deposited me my suitcase and briefcase back at the facility. They were not surprised to see my soaking wet mess of a self. They gave me some scrubs, took my clothes to the dryer, and somehow resisted any "I told you so's," so I waited it out and went off with someone heading into Houston. I learned my lesson and was happy to have survived only damaging my ego. Fortunately the car loss was covered by the corporate card I used. So, yes, just don't mess with it.
Wow, Thank you, Kathy, for the vivid example of what can happen! In Texas there are a lot of low water crossings in the rural areas so when it rains a lot of them are not passable and certainly one shouldn't try!
In Florida, we evacuate. It seems that California is even more at risk from rain because of the mountains and desert terrain. I worry most about flash flooding. Please be sensible and listen to advice from the weather experts.
Be sure to stock up on water, if not the bottled version, then fill as many containers as possible with fresh water. Also, make sure you have batteries for charging and for flashlights. Good luck!
I am shifting my word choice from Tropical Storm Hilary to Hurricane Hilary. As someone not living through it, “tropical storm” conjures up sipping a mai tai on the lanai as a refreshing rain passes by, and not the fact that slower wind velocity means the rain downpour system will hover, dumping more rain on over-saturated terrain, causing devastating destruction. “Hurricane” is catching my attention to prepare ahead with water and food, back up power and coolers in case electric power goes out and the fridge is off, how to contact friends and family, and to be alert for evacuation orders—and use common sense without needing an order.
"Turn around! Don't drown!" is a mantra here in San Diego and, I'm sure, throughout Southern California. Just saw a startling map on the Weather Channel: how much rain in one hour will lead to flooding, orange for 1/2", yellow for 1". The entire multi-state map was yellow with orange spots.
Aug 19, 2023·edited Aug 19, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
In the analog of Buddhist folklore, there is a story about a wanderer seeking the meaning of life. He travels far and wide to ultimately find his way to a remote mountaintop ashram. The Master of the settlement welcomed him cordially and asked him, "What is it you are seeking?" The stranger said that he wished to know the secret to a good life. Thusly, the Master took him by a circuitous path through a long dark hallway to a cellar-like underground where the hallway extended with doors on either side. The Master said, "I will show you the meaning of life". He proceeded to open a door which the wanderer stepped in through to see a huge room with a huge cauldron of hot, bubbling soup. Sitting around the cauldron were seated people with six-foot long wooden spoons, each emaciated, sallow, sad and dying. The wanderer shuttered with dismay at the scene. The Master then led the stranger out of the room, down the hall and into another room. In this room the scene was similar, with the cauldron of hot, bubbling soup, and people arrayed around the cauldron each with a six-foot long spoon. Yet, these people were vibrant, rosy pink in color, healthy and cordial to one another. The wanderer was immediately confused. As the Master ledthe stranger out of the room, the Master could see the confusion on the wanderer's face. "What troubles you", asked the Master. The wanderer said, "How can it be that in the first room, the people were sad, scrawny, and dying. Yet, in the other room, with the same means, the people were healthy and happy and thriving." "Ah", the Master said. "In the first room, the folks were trying to feed themselves, each getting in the other's way, and unable to survive by not being able to do so. While in the second room, those people have learned to feed one another, have learned to share and make each other healthy and happy."
I would suggest that President Biden is teaching us and the international community an ages-old parable about how to take care of one another, how to feed each other, how to find what is common and sensible to us all. It is a lesson of the hearty...to take to heart. Heather Cox Richardson noted in today's blog, "Japan and the Republic of Korea are two of the largest allies of the U.S. in eastern Asia, but their own history of conflicts has made the idea of a joint summit impossible before now." Biden's wisdom is leading us well.
Although there have been some unpopular decisions by the Biden administration like the unsuccessful withdrawal from Afghanistan and presently the problem in Niger, the overall foreign ;policy work has been fantastic and very well orchestrated. Our standing abroad has improved substantially and with the wonderful work done to improve the economy and the middle and lower classes Biden should be above 50% approval. It just seems the media and Trump have sucked all the oxygen out of the system and making it harder and harder to get traction for the Biden team and their successes. Even with four indictments Trump still has the support of over 80% of the Republican party and that is saying a lot about where our country is headed. I never thought I would see this lack of intelligent thinking happen in America and from my vantage point in France it is hard to explain to my friends and neighbors.
from my vantage point in Sebastopol, it (this lack of intelligent thinking) is entirely inexplicable to anyone, anytime, anywhere. i'm dumbfounded, gobsmacked, and am choosing to believe that the polls are wrong. i have a good feeling about this election -- perhaps because this time -- truly -- "failure is not an option".
I need to correct some of your comments. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a pretty even logistically it today appears to be the right decision. The 80% of the Republicans supporting Trump,is highly inflated.
Not only did TFG set the May deadline for the withdrawal, he did not task the military with making plans for it So President Biden had a choice on Inauguration Day: Renege on a US commitment made on the world stage and await the violent repercussions of that path OR to mobilize the US military planning assets to pull it off any way they could. TFG set us up for another 1975 Saigon by intention. How’s that for an act of treason?!?
Highly inflated for sure. Majority of registered voters are now Independent and Democrats. The number often quoted is 30% of Republicans are for the TFG....but one is never given what the number of registered Republicans is. Ballotpedia.org puts that number at about 36MM. Still a big number, but.....ignore all polls for now.
A recent remark I read discussed that TFG had set the deadline for the Afghanistan troop withdrawal. I researched some more. TFG allowed 5K imprisoned Taliban fighters go free and the agreement did NOT include the Afghan Gov't. Here's a timeline regarding this I found on Fact Checker. https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/timeline-of-u-s-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/
It's common to hear, from the media, that 80% of Republicans support TFG. What they don't add is that the R party is bleeding members. They are not even close to being 50% of the US population. 80% of a shrinking number still means that there are more of us (along with most of the independents) than there are of them, and they are losing ground with every scandal, criminal entanglement, and inanity.
If we can put Trump and the MAGAs behind us and move continually in the direction President Biden is pointing us, one day there will be world peace. It may not be in our times since we are just a small segment on the timeline of civilization. Civilization must result in a civilized world. With all his good work, we tend to forget that Joseph Biden has suffered tremendous personal loss-his wife and the mother of his three children and the loss of his daughter both in an instance and one son in the horrendous destructive illness of cancer while his son Hunter struggles with addiction and criminal behavior which would make any parent’s life miserable. Yet he leads us, giving no sign of his personal suffering while the Right gives him no quarter.
Eric, thank you for sharing these links. I subscribe to all three! I had to double-check the last one, and it is there! With the bad news hitting us constantly, it is essential to have good news to add balance. We all must take care of ourselves in these trying times, and reading the good news helps balance things.
My Dad sold packaging, traveled all over the Midwest and south, and told me that the people he met had never met a Jewish person and were surprised that they liked him. He said the level of antisemitism and racism are astonishing and scary. He always said that the type of people that supported Hitler were always here, and it only will take one charismatic person to bring them out from under their rock. Trump is that guy. Trump charismatically inspires those types of people. (DeSantis is a worse and more competent authoritarian and Christian Nationalist, but thankfully lacks the charisma)
Biden is not charismatic. He is a better President than Obama, but lacks Obama's charisma.
I wonder if those people, young ones, or my age who are "liberal" but "do not like either Trump or Biden", are looking for a charismatic liberal. Biden has shocked me at his competence and what he has accomplished, and I love him.
I keep working at a way to message all that. Like when Biden says "don't compare me to God, compare me to the alternative".
We have grandkids in college who are 19 & 22 and may not vote because they think Biden is way too old to be president. Any suggestions for ideas and organizations that would help convince this generation to get involved and vote for Biden would be appreciated.
Aug 19, 2023·edited Aug 19, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Hey, Judy. This comment does not address Biden's age directly, just his accomplishments. This writer (William Weir, born 1967) over on Quora has this to say: (Thanks to Barbara S over on LFAA for this quote)
"In only 2–1/2 years, Biden has already set a record for the most jobs ever created in a single presidential term. We have the lowest peacetime unemployment since before the Great Depression, and workforce participation is rising for the first time since Clinton was President. His Rescue Plan launched the fastest economic recovery in history, and the “Biden Boom” led to record consumer spending, record corporate profits, rising home values, record low childhood poverty, the best GDP growth in forty years, and a banner year for the Dow. Despite deliberate sabotage by his predecessor, he brought an end to America’s longest war with a near-record low number of American casualties. He has already cut the record deficit he inherited by half, making record cuts his first two years, and is on track to become only the second President to reduce the deficit every year of his administration. He passed a historic investment in our infrastructure that was budget neutral and that is projected to create as many as 19 million new jobs. Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year. He brought microchip manufacturing to the US, cut prescription drug prices for seniors, capped insulin prices, and signed a bill to protect our elections from future coup attempts. The biggest challenges in his Presidency so far have been global inflation exacerbated domestically in part by record economic growth on the heels of crippled supply lines due to his predecessor’s failure to address the pandemic and his ill-advised trade war.
Another comment over on LFAA that might help! This, from Doc Ryan McCormick:
"Can we please start a meme to counter all the negative stuff about Biden? Like he’s actually one of the greatest presidents, meeting the dire challenges of this moment on climate, geopolitics, defense of democracy at home and abroad, defense of working class dignity, a smooth hand with economics, and Yoda-like restraint while running the gauntlet of spitting haters? He’s kind of awesome, really. Old like history, and better for it."
My advice to voters of all ages who are concerned about the Democratic ticket, whether it is President Biden's age or the very vague concerns about Vice-President Harris, is this: "Take the bus that gets you closest to where you want to be."
Aug 19, 2023·edited Aug 19, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I have been following this group after reading great things about them. I have supported them financially from time to time. Perhaps this will help with your grandkids.
Aug 19, 2023·edited Aug 19, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Issues that affect them will be motivating. Climate change, abortion rights, the right to vote, gun control The list can be long.
Adding that I heard the same from friend’s kids last election- some were Bernie or no one. What got them motivated was the horror of Trump - not so much the politics but who he is morally. Not voting against a person or organization that is ok with making fun of a disabled person or exploiting women or fill in the blank gives an acceptable pass to that behavior. This argument got those kids to the polls.
Indivisible.org. I have supported this group since their founding. It was founded and is run by young people, ex Obama staffers. It is a fantastic grass roots organization with chapters in all states doing on the ground work. Hugely pro Biden for all of the right reasons. Climate, guns, Women’s health.....democracy!
You might tell them that voting is a right and if they don’t vote they are not supporting the US Constitution. Then let them know, as a group of us did when our kids were college age, NO VOTE-NO MONEY! Change your will and leave your money to SPCA.
Lots of good ideas here already. But the issues they will care about most are Climate and Women's reproductive
Rights. Biden has done more to promote sustainable energy than all the previous presidents combined. To not vote for him is a vote for planetary and human destruction.
Not voting helps elect those like Ramaswamey(rising in the polls) who believe in restricting college kids ability to vote. His platform includes “ Civic Duty Voting”, requiring those under 25 to take an exam or complete 6 months of military service.
are two youth activist groups I get emails from. See if your grandkids are willing to look at their websites and work.
Plus David Hogg's new Leaders We Deserve.
Yes, Biden is old. But it's not even an option to run the country off the GOP's cliff of climate chaos and the Handmaid's Tale. Dystopia or Democrats? Easy choice.
Do your grandkids have an issue that is important to them? Environment, Women’s’ rights, Workers rights or Book banning, to name just a few. Try to narrow down what is important to them then start with the local and state elections. Who is in office in their own backyard that is doing things they agree with? Once they get involved locally the national stage will follow.
That's a tough one, and I'm sure they're not alone. I guess one approach would be to ask what the consequences of not voting might be. With inadequate support for the Democratic candidate, the likelihood is greater that TFG or someone equally undesirable will be elected to undo all of the repairs President Biden has led. They need only look back to 2016 to see what complacency and inertia can deliver.
Any chance you could get them to watch even a part of President Biden's 2023 State of the Union message? It's 1 hr 20 min but even parts of it would help dispel unfounded claims that he's too old. He was unusually dynamic for most of it, a style more likely to catch the attention of your younger grandkids. Here's the link, just in case... https://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2023/
Biden is way too old to be President, but he's doing a very good job of it and is by far the best choice available to us. For the record, his apparently likely opponent is also way too old to be President and has already demonstrated his incompetence. As disconcerting as it might be, we really do face and either/or decision this time and non-participation will result in the greater of the two evils being our fate.
When these Trumpsters hear that their Orange leader is going to hold a press conference that will PROVE that the election was stolen, do they not wonder why he waited for 2 and 1/2 years to disclose? And when he cancels said press conference, do they not wonder why?
*this is starred as I know there is no answer....they just follow and adore I presume. Sad!
While the mainstream media has been "all Trump, all the time," President Biden continues to work diligently on behalf of the United States. His has been a Presidency with unprecedented challenges. The frustration that more Americans do not seem to appreciate, or are even aware of the amazing accomplishments of his administration - the bulk of which was accomplished when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress (which hopefully brings both houses back into unified control of the Dems in '24) - continues, as fewer people pay attention to his amazing foreign relations achievements.
For whatever reasons (Trump sucking the oxygen out of the political room), I am convinced that when the history of his term is put in historical perspective he will be deemed not a "good" President, but a "great" one., perhaps one of our greatest. He's already there in my book!
The meeting at Camp David is another example of how experienced and involved the Biden Administration is in building bridges and alliances on the world stage. The Biden Administration is about building things like important global alliances, infrastructure, wage and income parity and a climate change infrastructure to name a few and Trump and the Republicans are all about tearing apart the fabric of our country. The difference between the two approaches are stark and overwhelming and yet many voters either don’t understand it or are not interested in finding out about it. We need to keep informing the voting public about what is being accomplished and we need to needle the media and ask them why they are not covering the stories that need to be covered. Think about this the Camp David meeting between Japan and South Korea has far reaching potential impacts on the world economy and deserves more attention compared to noise around if Trump will attend the debate and when he will be arraigned in Georgia.
Biden is substance. Trump is smoke. Unfortunately, the mass media are genetically drawn to smoke ... where's the fire??!!! Is how journalists are trained (man bites dog etc.).
So much of what's wrong in our country has originated in our legal community. Licensed lawyers, from the top (SCOTUS) down and across (the Federalist Society), have shown a criminal willingness to corrupt the legal system. Ethics became a more prominent part of licensing exams after Watergate, but I guess you can't keep a bad lawyer down. The tendencies to the seven deadly sins will always challenge the goodness in the idea that all people are created equal. And yet goodness prevails when people take action. Even all that evil from our legal institutions got its due. Worth celebrating!
I feel compelled to respond to Janet’s comment about the “criminal willingness” of lawyers. Please remember that for every one of those legal (and illegal) actions, there are lawyers, both willing and compelled, to fight that corruption. I suppose it is the yin and yang that exists in every aspect of human life. May we continue the fight. May we continue along the arc of justice. May the good prevail.
I agree. There are tons more good lawyers than bad, for sure. But the willingness of the bad apples to violate our ethical mandates reveals just how dangerous those bad apples are to our "voluntary" system of ethical conduct. Even now, too few of those lawyers have suffered disbarment or any action against their licenses. When lawyers get away with their dirty work, a lot of harm befalls all of us. It shows the ineffectiveness of our state disciplinary systems in support of putting muscle behind the ethical rules. That Clarence Thomas scoffs at those ethical mandates shows something rotten in the system.
First, Robert, I hope that you and Jill and your family will stay safe from the hurricane. We here in New England have some familiarity with them, though not so many in recent years, but we don’t live in an area so prone to harm from weather as you folks. So please be careful.
And let’s be clear that Joe Biden is showing us what it’s like when a president does his job, instead of preening and lining his pockets.
I'd love to have seen or read about one or two senior Republican senators or representatives with foreign relations credentials leaning in to support this rapprochement. We've got to start the process of being united when it comes to foreign relations or our allies will never trust us again. The Trump years were a wound to the heart of our foreign allies, NATO, etc.
I think some people [republicans?] see Biden quietly going about his job, saving the economy and shoring up our economic future. Saving other democratic nations in order to form a stronger world of democracy over the increasingly strident [in voice and action] dictators, citizens with grudges, and people wanting to blame someone for the problems around them.
And they don't see strength, they have the notion bullies are strong, but silent types who do not curry favor, are not blowhards, don't make excuses, well, they must be weak.
We all know better. As Robert said, the stark examples before us; a President who is attempting to mend and is in fact mending the country and by extension the world, versus a small man who lives only for his own glory and gratification but getting it very seriously wrong and illegal to boot-- well what a contrast.
I say we couldn't be luckier with our current President, and must do all in our power to see that he wins the next election. I'm reminded of the Dr. Seuss book title; Oh the places you'll go... when Biden begins thinking up his next agenda, and his next... luckily for us.
President Biden is definitely a slow and steady will win the race and he continues to prove that.
Except, he has worked very quickly to put the country and the world on a good path and undo much of the harm inflicted by tfg. His steady and steadying hand has been a tremendous relief to me.
Ask any of the small contractors,who were not paid or not correctly paid for services rendered, what they think of the former guy.
Well said!
This is indeed a big deal. South Korea (and North) were controlled by Japan from 1910-45, in a particularly vicious form of colonialism, in which it was illegal for a Korean to speak Korean, or for children to be taught Korean History (control their history, you control them, where have I heard that recently?). Nearly every Korean family has at least one episode in the family's oral history of some Japanese atrocity. Korean women were turned into the "comfort women" (that the Japanese government, which has among its leaders descendants of the war criminals of World War II that "Big Mac" MacArthur didn't prosecute after the war) and has never accepted responsibility for things like the comfort women or the systematic attempted destruction of Korean society and culture. (Or the Bataan Death March, or the Rape of Nanking, or the atrocities of the Malaya-Burma Railway)
So getting this agreement took a lot of effort. Probably Kim Jong Un's nukes was the only threat that could have brought about the result.
Very informative,TC!
I would only add that Kim Jong Un’s nukes and Joe Biden’s statesmanship.
And, a major component of Biden's success is his ability to fill key executive positions with highly qualified people who exercise quiet leadership without fanfare. A prime example is Antony Blinken, a class act and highly effective negotiator/leader.
I would like to caution those who celebrate Biden, Blinken and Nuland and their coalition-building. It was cold warriors Biden, Hillary and the rest of the Democratic establishment who helped drag us into invading Iraq, wasting 3 Trillion dollars, and killing a half million Iraqi citizens.
One byproduct of the dominance of corporate media and the military industrial complex is our acceptance of the concept that it is our destiny and right to reach anywhere around the planet to enforce our idea of what is best for others--even if it means bombing them into the stone age.
We cloak our aggression in the cloth of “defense” and you can see this in our diplomacy concerning Ukraine. First we push our military bases as close to Russia as possible. Then, when Putin reacts, we load our proxies up with our outdated surplus weapons and assure them “they” will never have to negotiate. Now, we find that their offensive is unable to penetrate the dug-in enemy. What’s the response going to be--more endless war and dead Ukrainians, or being “forced” to escalate to “teach Russia a lesson”?
Look at how everyone is beating the war drums now about China’s aggression in the S. China Sea and how we’re “militarily un-prepared” for it. It’s Vietnam, Israel, Iran Contra, Afghanistan and Iraq all over again. We project onto one country or leader after another that they are our enemy, bent on our destruction (imagine that--Saddam Hussein hurting us--be real).
The only people we’re fooling are ourselves--the whole world knows that WE are the ones who will actually invade. I’m not saying that Mao, Ho Chi Minh, bin Laden, Khomeini, Saddam, Putin or Xi Jinping aren’t playing their parts in all this. But I am saying is; when are we going to wake up and look in the mirror?
John Spock
Recently a friend wrote that her professor had an epiphany about art. Most art in museums is appropriated. Indigenous people asking the Vatican for their art back is a model.
For those of you in the path of hurricane Hillary and are being warned about flash flooding, please heed the advise we get in Texas when approaching water flowing across the road: "Turn around! Don't drown!" Even three inches of water can lift a car off the road surface and move it downstream quite rapidly. Please stay safe!
Thank you from a Kathy in San Diego! The last time this region was hit with such a big storm was in the 1850s, so your advice is much appreciated. We’re all facing unfamiliar territory these days when it comes to weather events. Thank goodness we have a president who is addressing climate change head on. Vote in 2024 like your life depends on it!
Yes, our lives depend on our Vote! As Tim Synder says vote as if it is the last time you'll be allowed to vote!
Vote freely, do you mean?
Be safe!!
Cathy, this is wise advice! Several years ago I was finishing up a business trip in Beaumont, TX. It was raining heavily and the people at the facility were concerned about me leaving to head to the airport. They were well aware of the flooding in the area of bayous. I went ahead as everything looked like concrete to the access road to the highway. I rounded a corner and a wall of water came over the car's hood. A man in one of those monster trucks with huge tires and it was jacked-up way off the road came to my rescue! He deposited me my suitcase and briefcase back at the facility. They were not surprised to see my soaking wet mess of a self. They gave me some scrubs, took my clothes to the dryer, and somehow resisted any "I told you so's," so I waited it out and went off with someone heading into Houston. I learned my lesson and was happy to have survived only damaging my ego. Fortunately the car loss was covered by the corporate card I used. So, yes, just don't mess with it.
Glad you made it through okay!
Wow, Thank you, Kathy, for the vivid example of what can happen! In Texas there are a lot of low water crossings in the rural areas so when it rains a lot of them are not passable and certainly one shouldn't try!
Ahead of Tropical Storm Hilary, it sounds like it would be wise to prepare to shelter in place and have back up electrical power.
In Florida, we evacuate. It seems that California is even more at risk from rain because of the mountains and desert terrain. I worry most about flash flooding. Please be sensible and listen to advice from the weather experts.
Be sure to stock up on water, if not the bottled version, then fill as many containers as possible with fresh water. Also, make sure you have batteries for charging and for flashlights. Good luck!
I am shifting my word choice from Tropical Storm Hilary to Hurricane Hilary. As someone not living through it, “tropical storm” conjures up sipping a mai tai on the lanai as a refreshing rain passes by, and not the fact that slower wind velocity means the rain downpour system will hover, dumping more rain on over-saturated terrain, causing devastating destruction. “Hurricane” is catching my attention to prepare ahead with water and food, back up power and coolers in case electric power goes out and the fridge is off, how to contact friends and family, and to be alert for evacuation orders—and use common sense without needing an order.
Stay safe. 🙏
Adding a great list of specific preparations from a voice of experience in Florida:
https://x.com/abbyerhinehart/status/1692512658610593812?s=46&t=G1vnalQqxYifVbjonWfCIA
"Turn around! Don't drown!" is a mantra here in San Diego and, I'm sure, throughout Southern California. Just saw a startling map on the Weather Channel: how much rain in one hour will lead to flooding, orange for 1/2", yellow for 1". The entire multi-state map was yellow with orange spots.
In the analog of Buddhist folklore, there is a story about a wanderer seeking the meaning of life. He travels far and wide to ultimately find his way to a remote mountaintop ashram. The Master of the settlement welcomed him cordially and asked him, "What is it you are seeking?" The stranger said that he wished to know the secret to a good life. Thusly, the Master took him by a circuitous path through a long dark hallway to a cellar-like underground where the hallway extended with doors on either side. The Master said, "I will show you the meaning of life". He proceeded to open a door which the wanderer stepped in through to see a huge room with a huge cauldron of hot, bubbling soup. Sitting around the cauldron were seated people with six-foot long wooden spoons, each emaciated, sallow, sad and dying. The wanderer shuttered with dismay at the scene. The Master then led the stranger out of the room, down the hall and into another room. In this room the scene was similar, with the cauldron of hot, bubbling soup, and people arrayed around the cauldron each with a six-foot long spoon. Yet, these people were vibrant, rosy pink in color, healthy and cordial to one another. The wanderer was immediately confused. As the Master ledthe stranger out of the room, the Master could see the confusion on the wanderer's face. "What troubles you", asked the Master. The wanderer said, "How can it be that in the first room, the people were sad, scrawny, and dying. Yet, in the other room, with the same means, the people were healthy and happy and thriving." "Ah", the Master said. "In the first room, the folks were trying to feed themselves, each getting in the other's way, and unable to survive by not being able to do so. While in the second room, those people have learned to feed one another, have learned to share and make each other healthy and happy."
I would suggest that President Biden is teaching us and the international community an ages-old parable about how to take care of one another, how to feed each other, how to find what is common and sensible to us all. It is a lesson of the hearty...to take to heart. Heather Cox Richardson noted in today's blog, "Japan and the Republic of Korea are two of the largest allies of the U.S. in eastern Asia, but their own history of conflicts has made the idea of a joint summit impossible before now." Biden's wisdom is leading us well.
I LOVE that story David! I’m surprised I’ve not heard it before. Thank you for your post.
More like this David. What if we drowned out the selfish and hateful junk with ideas like this?
Really well done David. It's a little evocative of Dante's trilogy but shorter and more effective. Thanks.
I loooove that story - remember when I heard it first in college, at 48 years old.
Although there have been some unpopular decisions by the Biden administration like the unsuccessful withdrawal from Afghanistan and presently the problem in Niger, the overall foreign ;policy work has been fantastic and very well orchestrated. Our standing abroad has improved substantially and with the wonderful work done to improve the economy and the middle and lower classes Biden should be above 50% approval. It just seems the media and Trump have sucked all the oxygen out of the system and making it harder and harder to get traction for the Biden team and their successes. Even with four indictments Trump still has the support of over 80% of the Republican party and that is saying a lot about where our country is headed. I never thought I would see this lack of intelligent thinking happen in America and from my vantage point in France it is hard to explain to my friends and neighbors.
from my vantage point in Sebastopol, it (this lack of intelligent thinking) is entirely inexplicable to anyone, anytime, anywhere. i'm dumbfounded, gobsmacked, and am choosing to believe that the polls are wrong. i have a good feeling about this election -- perhaps because this time -- truly -- "failure is not an option".
Your choice to disbelieve the accuracy of the polls is probably the best decision one can make.
I need to correct some of your comments. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a pretty even logistically it today appears to be the right decision. The 80% of the Republicans supporting Trump,is highly inflated.
Not only did TFG set the May deadline for the withdrawal, he did not task the military with making plans for it So President Biden had a choice on Inauguration Day: Renege on a US commitment made on the world stage and await the violent repercussions of that path OR to mobilize the US military planning assets to pull it off any way they could. TFG set us up for another 1975 Saigon by intention. How’s that for an act of treason?!?
So true and another example of why he he cannot be trusted or serve another term
Highly inflated for sure. Majority of registered voters are now Independent and Democrats. The number often quoted is 30% of Republicans are for the TFG....but one is never given what the number of registered Republicans is. Ballotpedia.org puts that number at about 36MM. Still a big number, but.....ignore all polls for now.
Good points. It’s way to early to put any credence in the polls.
A recent remark I read discussed that TFG had set the deadline for the Afghanistan troop withdrawal. I researched some more. TFG allowed 5K imprisoned Taliban fighters go free and the agreement did NOT include the Afghan Gov't. Here's a timeline regarding this I found on Fact Checker. https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/timeline-of-u-s-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/
Thank you for the link.
It's common to hear, from the media, that 80% of Republicans support TFG. What they don't add is that the R party is bleeding members. They are not even close to being 50% of the US population. 80% of a shrinking number still means that there are more of us (along with most of the independents) than there are of them, and they are losing ground with every scandal, criminal entanglement, and inanity.
If we can put Trump and the MAGAs behind us and move continually in the direction President Biden is pointing us, one day there will be world peace. It may not be in our times since we are just a small segment on the timeline of civilization. Civilization must result in a civilized world. With all his good work, we tend to forget that Joseph Biden has suffered tremendous personal loss-his wife and the mother of his three children and the loss of his daughter both in an instance and one son in the horrendous destructive illness of cancer while his son Hunter struggles with addiction and criminal behavior which would make any parent’s life miserable. Yet he leads us, giving no sign of his personal suffering while the Right gives him no quarter.
For sources of good news (yes, there is forward movement on justice and equity at the same time as the opposite), I have three favorites:
(1) Every Sunday, action-driven Jess Craven sends out on Substack a GREAT newsletter of what went right this week: "Extra! Extra!"
(2) Reasons to be Cheerful
(3) Positive.News, out of the UK, has been going for 30 years. So uplifting!
These may not count as "respite," but they sure boost mental health.
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/extra-extra-86?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
https://mailchi.mp/reasonstobecheerful.world/riding-e-bikes-travel?e=64ca8ca3e4
https://mailchi.mp/25f9cd440ad7/the-end-of-aids-2290553?e=82402bfa2d
Eric, thank you for sharing these links. I subscribe to all three! I had to double-check the last one, and it is there! With the bad news hitting us constantly, it is essential to have good news to add balance. We all must take care of ourselves in these trying times, and reading the good news helps balance things.
My Dad sold packaging, traveled all over the Midwest and south, and told me that the people he met had never met a Jewish person and were surprised that they liked him. He said the level of antisemitism and racism are astonishing and scary. He always said that the type of people that supported Hitler were always here, and it only will take one charismatic person to bring them out from under their rock. Trump is that guy. Trump charismatically inspires those types of people. (DeSantis is a worse and more competent authoritarian and Christian Nationalist, but thankfully lacks the charisma)
Biden is not charismatic. He is a better President than Obama, but lacks Obama's charisma.
I wonder if those people, young ones, or my age who are "liberal" but "do not like either Trump or Biden", are looking for a charismatic liberal. Biden has shocked me at his competence and what he has accomplished, and I love him.
I keep working at a way to message all that. Like when Biden says "don't compare me to God, compare me to the alternative".
Thanks Robert, you are always spot on. Thanks!
We have grandkids in college who are 19 & 22 and may not vote because they think Biden is way too old to be president. Any suggestions for ideas and organizations that would help convince this generation to get involved and vote for Biden would be appreciated.
Hey, Judy. This comment does not address Biden's age directly, just his accomplishments. This writer (William Weir, born 1967) over on Quora has this to say: (Thanks to Barbara S over on LFAA for this quote)
"In only 2–1/2 years, Biden has already set a record for the most jobs ever created in a single presidential term. We have the lowest peacetime unemployment since before the Great Depression, and workforce participation is rising for the first time since Clinton was President. His Rescue Plan launched the fastest economic recovery in history, and the “Biden Boom” led to record consumer spending, record corporate profits, rising home values, record low childhood poverty, the best GDP growth in forty years, and a banner year for the Dow. Despite deliberate sabotage by his predecessor, he brought an end to America’s longest war with a near-record low number of American casualties. He has already cut the record deficit he inherited by half, making record cuts his first two years, and is on track to become only the second President to reduce the deficit every year of his administration. He passed a historic investment in our infrastructure that was budget neutral and that is projected to create as many as 19 million new jobs. Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year. He brought microchip manufacturing to the US, cut prescription drug prices for seniors, capped insulin prices, and signed a bill to protect our elections from future coup attempts. The biggest challenges in his Presidency so far have been global inflation exacerbated domestically in part by record economic growth on the heels of crippled supply lines due to his predecessor’s failure to address the pandemic and his ill-advised trade war.
So if Biden’s Presidency ended today, based on what he’s done so far, it would be hard not to place him in the number one or number two spot." https://www.quora.com/profile/William-Weir-75?q=William%20Weir
Another comment over on LFAA that might help! This, from Doc Ryan McCormick:
"Can we please start a meme to counter all the negative stuff about Biden? Like he’s actually one of the greatest presidents, meeting the dire challenges of this moment on climate, geopolitics, defense of democracy at home and abroad, defense of working class dignity, a smooth hand with economics, and Yoda-like restraint while running the gauntlet of spitting haters? He’s kind of awesome, really. Old like history, and better for it."
Lynell thanks for reiterating this quote, great stuff!!
I read it at LFAA as well. And I will be sharing it. Weir is eloquent, indeed.
My advice to voters of all ages who are concerned about the Democratic ticket, whether it is President Biden's age or the very vague concerns about Vice-President Harris, is this: "Take the bus that gets you closest to where you want to be."
Brilliant!
Jan! That is excellent, and I will be repeating that a number of times!
I actually heard this from a young person during 2020 election. Thanks for young people!
I have been following this group after reading great things about them. I have supported them financially from time to time. Perhaps this will help with your grandkids.
https://www.turnup.us/
When I do voter registrations at the local high-school I tell the kids that:
1. If they're registered they have a choice, they can vote or not, but if they're NOT registered they don't have that choice
And
2. If they don't vote they're allowing old white people (of which I am one) to decide their future.
We usually get 35-40 registrations in about 1.5 hours
I work with energizingyoungvoters.org
Excellent messages, especially #2.
Issues that affect them will be motivating. Climate change, abortion rights, the right to vote, gun control The list can be long.
Adding that I heard the same from friend’s kids last election- some were Bernie or no one. What got them motivated was the horror of Trump - not so much the politics but who he is morally. Not voting against a person or organization that is ok with making fun of a disabled person or exploiting women or fill in the blank gives an acceptable pass to that behavior. This argument got those kids to the polls.
Indivisible.org. I have supported this group since their founding. It was founded and is run by young people, ex Obama staffers. It is a fantastic grass roots organization with chapters in all states doing on the ground work. Hugely pro Biden for all of the right reasons. Climate, guns, Women’s health.....democracy!
You might tell them that voting is a right and if they don’t vote they are not supporting the US Constitution. Then let them know, as a group of us did when our kids were college age, NO VOTE-NO MONEY! Change your will and leave your money to SPCA.
Lots of good ideas here already. But the issues they will care about most are Climate and Women's reproductive
Rights. Biden has done more to promote sustainable energy than all the previous presidents combined. To not vote for him is a vote for planetary and human destruction.
Not voting helps elect those like Ramaswamey(rising in the polls) who believe in restricting college kids ability to vote. His platform includes “ Civic Duty Voting”, requiring those under 25 to take an exam or complete 6 months of military service.
Voters of Tomorrow
Blue Future
Sunrise Movement
are two youth activist groups I get emails from. See if your grandkids are willing to look at their websites and work.
Plus David Hogg's new Leaders We Deserve.
Yes, Biden is old. But it's not even an option to run the country off the GOP's cliff of climate chaos and the Handmaid's Tale. Dystopia or Democrats? Easy choice.
Thanks so much for everyone’s excellent suggestion
Judy
Your children have a choice: keep Democracy or lose Democracy?
It is that simple!
Do your grandkids have an issue that is important to them? Environment, Women’s’ rights, Workers rights or Book banning, to name just a few. Try to narrow down what is important to them then start with the local and state elections. Who is in office in their own backyard that is doing things they agree with? Once they get involved locally the national stage will follow.
That's a tough one, and I'm sure they're not alone. I guess one approach would be to ask what the consequences of not voting might be. With inadequate support for the Democratic candidate, the likelihood is greater that TFG or someone equally undesirable will be elected to undo all of the repairs President Biden has led. They need only look back to 2016 to see what complacency and inertia can deliver.
Any chance you could get them to watch even a part of President Biden's 2023 State of the Union message? It's 1 hr 20 min but even parts of it would help dispel unfounded claims that he's too old. He was unusually dynamic for most of it, a style more likely to catch the attention of your younger grandkids. Here's the link, just in case... https://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2023/
Biden is way too old to be President, but he's doing a very good job of it and is by far the best choice available to us. For the record, his apparently likely opponent is also way too old to be President and has already demonstrated his incompetence. As disconcerting as it might be, we really do face and either/or decision this time and non-participation will result in the greater of the two evils being our fate.
This is a question to go out into the wind....*
When these Trumpsters hear that their Orange leader is going to hold a press conference that will PROVE that the election was stolen, do they not wonder why he waited for 2 and 1/2 years to disclose? And when he cancels said press conference, do they not wonder why?
*this is starred as I know there is no answer....they just follow and adore I presume. Sad!
While the mainstream media has been "all Trump, all the time," President Biden continues to work diligently on behalf of the United States. His has been a Presidency with unprecedented challenges. The frustration that more Americans do not seem to appreciate, or are even aware of the amazing accomplishments of his administration - the bulk of which was accomplished when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress (which hopefully brings both houses back into unified control of the Dems in '24) - continues, as fewer people pay attention to his amazing foreign relations achievements.
For whatever reasons (Trump sucking the oxygen out of the political room), I am convinced that when the history of his term is put in historical perspective he will be deemed not a "good" President, but a "great" one., perhaps one of our greatest. He's already there in my book!
Agree!!
The meeting at Camp David is another example of how experienced and involved the Biden Administration is in building bridges and alliances on the world stage. The Biden Administration is about building things like important global alliances, infrastructure, wage and income parity and a climate change infrastructure to name a few and Trump and the Republicans are all about tearing apart the fabric of our country. The difference between the two approaches are stark and overwhelming and yet many voters either don’t understand it or are not interested in finding out about it. We need to keep informing the voting public about what is being accomplished and we need to needle the media and ask them why they are not covering the stories that need to be covered. Think about this the Camp David meeting between Japan and South Korea has far reaching potential impacts on the world economy and deserves more attention compared to noise around if Trump will attend the debate and when he will be arraigned in Georgia.
Biden is substance. Trump is smoke. Unfortunately, the mass media are genetically drawn to smoke ... where's the fire??!!! Is how journalists are trained (man bites dog etc.).
A great analogy
So much of what's wrong in our country has originated in our legal community. Licensed lawyers, from the top (SCOTUS) down and across (the Federalist Society), have shown a criminal willingness to corrupt the legal system. Ethics became a more prominent part of licensing exams after Watergate, but I guess you can't keep a bad lawyer down. The tendencies to the seven deadly sins will always challenge the goodness in the idea that all people are created equal. And yet goodness prevails when people take action. Even all that evil from our legal institutions got its due. Worth celebrating!
I feel compelled to respond to Janet’s comment about the “criminal willingness” of lawyers. Please remember that for every one of those legal (and illegal) actions, there are lawyers, both willing and compelled, to fight that corruption. I suppose it is the yin and yang that exists in every aspect of human life. May we continue the fight. May we continue along the arc of justice. May the good prevail.
I agree. There are tons more good lawyers than bad, for sure. But the willingness of the bad apples to violate our ethical mandates reveals just how dangerous those bad apples are to our "voluntary" system of ethical conduct. Even now, too few of those lawyers have suffered disbarment or any action against their licenses. When lawyers get away with their dirty work, a lot of harm befalls all of us. It shows the ineffectiveness of our state disciplinary systems in support of putting muscle behind the ethical rules. That Clarence Thomas scoffs at those ethical mandates shows something rotten in the system.
Agreed. And well stated.
First, Robert, I hope that you and Jill and your family will stay safe from the hurricane. We here in New England have some familiarity with them, though not so many in recent years, but we don’t live in an area so prone to harm from weather as you folks. So please be careful.
And let’s be clear that Joe Biden is showing us what it’s like when a president does his job, instead of preening and lining his pockets.
I'd love to have seen or read about one or two senior Republican senators or representatives with foreign relations credentials leaning in to support this rapprochement. We've got to start the process of being united when it comes to foreign relations or our allies will never trust us again. The Trump years were a wound to the heart of our foreign allies, NATO, etc.