Jun 15, 2023·edited Jun 15, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Hear, Hear, Robert. Off topic, but maybe not, is this inspirational speech by Illinois' Governor Pritzker. It's 3 minutes long but IMO worth your time!
My friend who is a Presiding Judge in Texas who supervises and mentors all the District Court judges in a large part of the state calls the new judges "baby judges". As in all professions, it takes time to learn the job and extensive experience and knowledge to do it well. In corporations, each level of management demands new challenges. One is promoted to the next level of management because you are seen as having the potential to handle the larger responsibilities. When you step into the job you find you are about 50% ready to handle the job and it is good to be a quick learner and have some mentors at hand. So, why is a "toddler judge" with three years experience and only 14 days of presiding over criminal trials and next to no experience with espionage and classified documents going to be in charge of "one of the most significant stories of our lifetime". Shouldn't be more than geography and a random draw. I must admit I smell a rat in the random draw process. Did someone do random draws until it came up with perhaps the worse person for this trial (unless you're the defendant) including a very negative perception of her fairness and competence by the public? And with the rules that the judge has the power to acquit the defendant with no way to appeal her singular perhaps quite biased ruling. This leaves me with even less confidence in our judicial system than the shenanigans of the Alito/Thomas Court. My friend, the Presiding Judge, has a long view of the judicial system and has confidence the system will right itself over time like it has in the past. I hope he is right. However, it seems like there is a lot of room for reform to remedy some of these obvious problems with judicial ethics and in our time the bias of judges. This said, I do have confidence in Jack Smith who has considerable experience and acumen in dealing with rogue heads of state. We may yet have accountability and together we can influence the arch of justice toward fairness and accountability.
Dear Robert, I loved today’s writing. I am so in favor of supporting the 18-35 year old voters and their colleagues to get them to vote. I follow Dash Dobrofsky on substack and am impressed by his energy and dedication to Gen Z. Please check him out when you have a moment. He is very responsive and comments on all his readers’ observations. I am relieved not to be reading about Dump. I do take breaks, though it is all so heart-stopping sometimes to see what is going on in the US and “hard to look away” like a car crash or train wreck. I agree with you that the repugnants are their own worst enemy and will turn so many people off, they will continue to lose. That is why they gerrymander the hell out of everywhere they can. I find your even tone and factual reporting so uplifting. You are on my daily reading schedule, with Heather, Dash, Joyce Vance, Kareem, Steve Schmidt. I love substack and rely on you all for my news. I look at the Times and WAPO, but you are the writers I turn to for the facts, M’am, nothing but the facts. Thank you, as always.
Here’s something sunny from the Sunshine State ! 😎 Rep Anna Eskamani ( a thorn in DeSantis’s side 😉)is an amazing boots-on-the-ground community organizer and her non-profit, People Power For Florida, takes NO corporate donations. PPFF is doing amazing work throughout Florida. This is how it’s done !
Thank you for your example of Texas environmental coalition. My fear relates to the estimated 35+million 18-35 year olds, likely progressive voters , who won’t be voting in 2024. When will they understand that their saying “ doesn’t make a difference” resulted in Hillary losing and Trump winning in 2016. They want the USA to slide further into a racist, Christian theocracy controlled by corporations? Who, what, how do we break through their anti-political veneer? Don’t they care about: their rights, the climate, gun control, free speech, their rights to be LGBTQAI+ or not, their privacy, abortion rights, etc. We need to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Act so that we have one person one vote and every vote counted, but unless voters vote, those 22 States who are putting up barriers to the ballot box will prevail and so will book-burning and much more.
I was shocked to hear today that Trumps play book for keeping the documents came from a right wind nut job by the name of Tom Fitton (not an attorney). Trump listened to him and not his Legal team. He has walked The Donald right into this mess. LOL. I almost feel like sending him flowers.
Yes Robert, it was nice that you shifted to other topics rather than the former president. As a sales person over the years, we tried to never give the competition “free time“ by mentioning there name. Similar to the way that Stephen Colbert never mentions the former presidents name. And yes, young voters are the key. Finally, as a new subscriber, really enjoy your conversational style when you write your newsletter. Thank you.
Jun 15, 2023·edited Jun 15, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Re the Blue-Red balance and the role of young new voters ... we need to highlight the threat of the "No Labels" third-party movement. The polls show that young people's sentiment for Biden is antsy, and is boosting the improbable RFKJr. But unfortunately the seductive pitch of "No Labels" targets exactly them, pushing a sensible, practical, mid-stream Positive Solutions third-party candidate. Surprise, they will take more votes from Biden than from Trump, and surprise, their funding is from dark money such as Justice Thomas's own Harlan Crow clearly having a motive. Just a tiny fraction in key states can be critical, as we saw with Jill Stein causing the defeat of Hillary. You can see the very misleading "No Labels" website https://www.nolabels.org , and NYT's stories on the threat perspectives, eg https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/politics/no-labels-president-manchin.html? or WaPo https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/14/biden-no-labels-opposition/.
Speaking of Ron DeSantis and Covid statistics and, in general, his Covid responses, we were senior citizens in our home in Sanibel , Florida when the first vaccines became available. Gov. DeSantis chose the local grocery chain, Publix , as the official distributor. In Florida there ate competing Walgreen’s and CVS on opposite corner every half mile or so all up and down every coastal and interior town. So that winter we rose at 5am, turned on our IPads, grabbed our cell phones and entered the lottery of the state appointment site. Twice in our case but we managed to get through and got appointments in Cape Coral which was close. My brother in law drove to Delray Beach for his 2 appointments from Ft. Myers ( totally across the state ) and a friend flew to Pensacola from Ft. Myers because she thought Pfizer was safer. Gov. DeSantis chose Publix because the Publix heiress had given a pot full of money to his campaign PAC. Those were the days !! If anyone today can remember those hectic days of vaccines only for first responders and senior citizens. No initial help for seniors who were not computer literate or persistent or even able to access a computer. Today Gov. DeSantis runs on a platform of Covid management that is duplicitous and heartbreaking. And he should be chastised for it but the majority of Republican Floridians celebrate his stand.
Hear, Hear, Robert. Off topic, but maybe not, is this inspirational speech by Illinois' Governor Pritzker. It's 3 minutes long but IMO worth your time!
https://twitter.com/GovPritzker/status/1668399578155024384?s=20
I appreciated your shift in focus to more positive points. I am tired of reading the same Trump news all the time. Thank you, Robert.
My friend who is a Presiding Judge in Texas who supervises and mentors all the District Court judges in a large part of the state calls the new judges "baby judges". As in all professions, it takes time to learn the job and extensive experience and knowledge to do it well. In corporations, each level of management demands new challenges. One is promoted to the next level of management because you are seen as having the potential to handle the larger responsibilities. When you step into the job you find you are about 50% ready to handle the job and it is good to be a quick learner and have some mentors at hand. So, why is a "toddler judge" with three years experience and only 14 days of presiding over criminal trials and next to no experience with espionage and classified documents going to be in charge of "one of the most significant stories of our lifetime". Shouldn't be more than geography and a random draw. I must admit I smell a rat in the random draw process. Did someone do random draws until it came up with perhaps the worse person for this trial (unless you're the defendant) including a very negative perception of her fairness and competence by the public? And with the rules that the judge has the power to acquit the defendant with no way to appeal her singular perhaps quite biased ruling. This leaves me with even less confidence in our judicial system than the shenanigans of the Alito/Thomas Court. My friend, the Presiding Judge, has a long view of the judicial system and has confidence the system will right itself over time like it has in the past. I hope he is right. However, it seems like there is a lot of room for reform to remedy some of these obvious problems with judicial ethics and in our time the bias of judges. This said, I do have confidence in Jack Smith who has considerable experience and acumen in dealing with rogue heads of state. We may yet have accountability and together we can influence the arch of justice toward fairness and accountability.
Dear Robert, I loved today’s writing. I am so in favor of supporting the 18-35 year old voters and their colleagues to get them to vote. I follow Dash Dobrofsky on substack and am impressed by his energy and dedication to Gen Z. Please check him out when you have a moment. He is very responsive and comments on all his readers’ observations. I am relieved not to be reading about Dump. I do take breaks, though it is all so heart-stopping sometimes to see what is going on in the US and “hard to look away” like a car crash or train wreck. I agree with you that the repugnants are their own worst enemy and will turn so many people off, they will continue to lose. That is why they gerrymander the hell out of everywhere they can. I find your even tone and factual reporting so uplifting. You are on my daily reading schedule, with Heather, Dash, Joyce Vance, Kareem, Steve Schmidt. I love substack and rely on you all for my news. I look at the Times and WAPO, but you are the writers I turn to for the facts, M’am, nothing but the facts. Thank you, as always.
Let's talk about Joe Biden. I repeat: "Let them make headlines. Joe Biden is making headway. ~Jim Clyburn, South Carolina.
Then there's this analysis by Jennifer Rubin about Joe Biden on Twitter - the 3/4 of a loaf man, again and again and again (2 minutes):
https://twitter.com/HC_Richardson/status/1668977759064936452?s=20
Here’s something sunny from the Sunshine State ! 😎 Rep Anna Eskamani ( a thorn in DeSantis’s side 😉)is an amazing boots-on-the-ground community organizer and her non-profit, People Power For Florida, takes NO corporate donations. PPFF is doing amazing work throughout Florida. This is how it’s done !
https://www.peoplepowerforflorida.com/
Thank you for your example of Texas environmental coalition. My fear relates to the estimated 35+million 18-35 year olds, likely progressive voters , who won’t be voting in 2024. When will they understand that their saying “ doesn’t make a difference” resulted in Hillary losing and Trump winning in 2016. They want the USA to slide further into a racist, Christian theocracy controlled by corporations? Who, what, how do we break through their anti-political veneer? Don’t they care about: their rights, the climate, gun control, free speech, their rights to be LGBTQAI+ or not, their privacy, abortion rights, etc. We need to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Act so that we have one person one vote and every vote counted, but unless voters vote, those 22 States who are putting up barriers to the ballot box will prevail and so will book-burning and much more.
I was shocked to hear today that Trumps play book for keeping the documents came from a right wind nut job by the name of Tom Fitton (not an attorney). Trump listened to him and not his Legal team. He has walked The Donald right into this mess. LOL. I almost feel like sending him flowers.
Yes Robert, it was nice that you shifted to other topics rather than the former president. As a sales person over the years, we tried to never give the competition “free time“ by mentioning there name. Similar to the way that Stephen Colbert never mentions the former presidents name. And yes, young voters are the key. Finally, as a new subscriber, really enjoy your conversational style when you write your newsletter. Thank you.
I like your advice about taking a break. I’m usually a news nut, but I took a break tonight. Just so much of Orangeman I can take.
Re the Blue-Red balance and the role of young new voters ... we need to highlight the threat of the "No Labels" third-party movement. The polls show that young people's sentiment for Biden is antsy, and is boosting the improbable RFKJr. But unfortunately the seductive pitch of "No Labels" targets exactly them, pushing a sensible, practical, mid-stream Positive Solutions third-party candidate. Surprise, they will take more votes from Biden than from Trump, and surprise, their funding is from dark money such as Justice Thomas's own Harlan Crow clearly having a motive. Just a tiny fraction in key states can be critical, as we saw with Jill Stein causing the defeat of Hillary. You can see the very misleading "No Labels" website https://www.nolabels.org , and NYT's stories on the threat perspectives, eg https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/politics/no-labels-president-manchin.html? or WaPo https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/14/biden-no-labels-opposition/.
Off-topic. For those who have read Robert's urgings to write letters to the editor and thought, "They'd never publish mine," I offer:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/opinion/letters/trump-indictment.html?smid=url-share
(You'll have to wade down past a group of letters about Trump's indictment.) Yes, that could be you.
Never take break from your words, Robert.
They are the oxygen that gets me up, keeps me going, and gives me hope. So grateful.
Michael Podhorzer is almost always one of the speakers at the Movement Briefing webinars. This Friday's webinar with Anat Shenkar-Osorio and the Research Coalition will have guests Rep. Jamie Raskin and EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler. Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TTF5PM7wQHmScGCGxUjzNQ?utm_campaign=Movement%20Briefing#/registration It is very well worth you time!
Speaking of Ron DeSantis and Covid statistics and, in general, his Covid responses, we were senior citizens in our home in Sanibel , Florida when the first vaccines became available. Gov. DeSantis chose the local grocery chain, Publix , as the official distributor. In Florida there ate competing Walgreen’s and CVS on opposite corner every half mile or so all up and down every coastal and interior town. So that winter we rose at 5am, turned on our IPads, grabbed our cell phones and entered the lottery of the state appointment site. Twice in our case but we managed to get through and got appointments in Cape Coral which was close. My brother in law drove to Delray Beach for his 2 appointments from Ft. Myers ( totally across the state ) and a friend flew to Pensacola from Ft. Myers because she thought Pfizer was safer. Gov. DeSantis chose Publix because the Publix heiress had given a pot full of money to his campaign PAC. Those were the days !! If anyone today can remember those hectic days of vaccines only for first responders and senior citizens. No initial help for seniors who were not computer literate or persistent or even able to access a computer. Today Gov. DeSantis runs on a platform of Covid management that is duplicitous and heartbreaking. And he should be chastised for it but the majority of Republican Floridians celebrate his stand.
Thank you, Robert. Your note makes me reflect on how Moses kept the spirits of the Israelites, as they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Onward!