David Hogg, the Parkland student who founded March for Our Lives, said: "Hatred is not a mental illness, it 's learned!" That very much struck a chord with me. Yes, address suicides and PTSD causes of gun deaths with funding mental illness resources. However, dealing with hatred and the promotion of hate and violence in reinforcing bubbles on social media need to be addressed. If hate is learned that means we can teach tolerance and love. We also need to teach every person that they matter and deserve respect. I believe it only requires one connection to counter loneliness and isolation. With what I call big talk rather than small talk one can create a positive meaningful connection with any one even a complete stranger in under a minute. My favorite big talk meaningful question is "What is your dream?" If they don't have one ask "What are you passionate about?' If they have a dream ask " What are you doing now to achieve it?" and offer some ideas and encouragement. You reward is seeing the person's eyes light up as the think of their dream. We, the People, all of us this time.
I have quoted this many times. Also, the Sesame Street jingle, “one of these things is not like the other,” which some use for purposes other than what was intended.
Years ago, my best friend’s family watched Fox literally 24/7. They had dreams and pursued them vigorously, feeling that republican ideals was the path. They still do. But, I guarantee that they never responded to any such query with anything but Bill O’Reilly bull Schitt. That was before chump, they are educated, smart and totally brain washed. They can rationalize with Goebbel’s fervor.
Hatred as a learned response was addressed in 1948's "South Pacific" - Lt. Cable's aria, "You've got to be carefully taught" said it all beautifully - and got the show banned in apartheid South Africa at the time. To paraphrase Pete Seeger, "when will we ever learn?"
"The usual obnoxious cheerleaders on the right—Cruz, Hawley, Johnson, Jordan—have all concluded that silence is the better option in the face of the overwhelming evidence presented by the Committee." So true. Thank goodness Gym Jordan is not on the committee. He would have been a waste and a disruptive blowhard. I wish the good citizens of Ohio's 4th District would send him back home. He's been in congress since 2007 and I defy any reader to name one good thing he has done in that time.
Gym Jordan shows how far Ohio has fallen. I find him the greatest embarrassment but now we have JD Vance on the ticket. What has led to this explosion of political ordure?
Thanks to you Robert we have had an opportunity to dig deeper into the Supreme Courts recent decisions and the nuisances associated with their interpretation of the constitution and frankly it has been a wonderful education for all of us. My concern and I think the challenge we face as a country is that a majority of Americans have a very limited knowledge of the Constitution and probably at some level don’t care. What’s even more appalling is there are 66 Senators today and many Republican Senators ( Cruz, Graham, Hawley, etc) all having law degrees and they have willfully accepted the recent rulings without saying a word. In order to change the dynamics we need to gain grass root support that we need to elect Democrats to gain a majority and carve out the filibuster to protect individual rights. Americans need to be educated to understand the jeopardy we are all facing.
I have the Constitution as an app on my phone and also carry a pocket Constitution in my purse. I'd also like to see all candidates for office have to take the 100 questions of the citizenship test people applying for US citizenship must pass. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf Wonder if Justices Alito and Thomas need to go refresh their fading memory of what is actually in the Constitution.
I'd like Biden to find what MSB got for the $2 Billion payoff to Jared Kushner. Those on the right have vowed to investigate Hunter Biden if they gain control in Congress, yet we are not investigating what should be termed "Jaredgate"?
Like a TV detective who always has a three-day stubble on his face, it takes work to always show up in a wrinkled shirt. In truth, that is what Bannon wore to his arraignment, which he followed with a meeting with the press.
Excellent report, Robert. I regret that Biden felt forced to choose between reasons to visit/not visit Saudi Arabia. The USA still has some of the cheapest gas in the world.
It occurred to me while my dog and I were walking this morning that, in conversations about rights, the corresponding responsibilities are far too often left out. A prime example is the 2nd Amendment where the two are set in direct juxtaposition that should make them inseparable. The reasoning that supports a "right to keep and bear arms" from "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state" escapes me and always will. While not all other rights are so pointedly associated with their obligating accompaniments, the separation of privilege and responsibility invariably has and, I submit, always will result in a state of near anarchy where no one is fully aware of their status and where apparent rights to privacy and related privileges can be abruptly taken away and where those who abuse the privilege by using their free speech rights to incite an insurrectionary riot or by firing the gun they have a right to own into a group of people exercising their right to pursue happiness or just go to work are not merely not held accountable but are enabled by those who profit from their behavior.
Mr. Jefferson et al set up the same pairing in the Declaration when they said "...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," and "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it." The recent actions of the Supreme Court, the ongoing entropy of Congressional legislative capability and the increasingly imperial nature attributed to the Presidency all indicate that our government has at least begun to be destructive of our freedoms, rights and privileges and it is clear that the first step in the necessary alteration is to remove by ballot all of those, in either party, who have contributed to it and see that they are replaced with people who have an understanding that, in being elected, they are being given not just the privilege of representing us but the obligation to do so.
Too bad we can't take what you wrote here and mainline it into the veins of a few hundred million Americans, since it would be some pretty good medicine for a lot of what ails us.
As with so many comments recently, I can't really 'Like' this, but I also can't disagree. I'm going to see if my local paper will run it as an op-ed, I think it's too long for a letter to the editor. We'll see what happens.
Heather Cox Richardson, in the July 10 edition of "Letters from an American", guides us to Thom Hartmann's amazing summation of 41 years of "Reagan Revolution". I recommend everyone read Thom's post, in "The Hartmann Report".
Never wanted to scream “lock him up” any more than when Bannon got indicted.
John Roberts Will always be a Citizens United man before anything else.
Republicans bare responsibility for latest shooter, and every mass shooter since chump. Hate begets hate, always.
Pandora’s box of ills has been opened and an army of trolls and MAGAts (I repeat myself) run rampant spreading them around. The pandemic for which there is no vaccine…
The DOJ just filed a document last night that makes the case against Bannon much stronger. It turns out that he lied to the Court about Trump's invocation of executive privilege. I think Bannon and his lawyer are in deep trouble.
Trump lawyer interviewed with FBI about Bannon contempt case - POLITICO
The vaccine is effective but slow to develop, it is the education and engagement of the electorate. In the meantime, the disease has to be treated by correcting the symptoms, one by one, at each election.
I 'd like to read others' thoughts about trolls, which Robert mentioned. I engaged in a Twitter conversation last evening, posting respectful, factual comments and was met with lots of "go read the Constitution," "you're just a sore loser," "go move to another state..." You know, endless, and I'm not sure there was any persuading to be done. I'm tempted to just forget commenting on Twitter. I do like the good news links, though. Others?
Hi, Cathy. I decided long ago that Twitter has surrendered to the trolls and is a toxic place to communicate. I use Twitter to link to the newsletter, and but that is it. No Instagram, no Facebook, either.
For every responsible user of Twitter, there are hundreds who use it anonymity to bully and abuse people in a way that they have neither courage nor wits to do in a public, social setting. I have found that almost all of the trolls who pop up in my comments sections are pushing Q conspiracies, although there were a few anti-abortion extremists in yesterday's comments.
Well, I've dropped out of Twitter, FB, et al. The meanness wore me out, not just for me but toward others . Sometimes trolls troll and it's best to ignore them (I'm sure you know that.) As the phrase says, "Don't cast your pearls before swine." I've found so much more "news" and sensibility here and a few other Substack sites that I hardly miss the social media. I found no sense in allowing myself to absorb hatred and others' ill will.
Jul 11, 2022·edited Jul 11, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I did follow through yesterday on making a Women's Rights Ninth Amendment t-shirt on the HeathersHerd store on Zazzle. While I realize the Ninth Amendment doesn't specify the unenumerated rights, women's reproductive rights certainly has a place at the top of the list. It can't be ignored as Justice Alito so blatantly did. I like the parallel implication that the Ninth Amendment is as important to women as the Second Amendment is to gun owners. We could even set up the NRRA - National Reproductive Rights Association. Our NINTH AMENDMENT rights will NOT be abridged! The People choose their rights and the Supreme Court is suppose to support the laws supporting those rights.
In regard to Biden's achievements in foreign policy, isn't he visiting Saudi Arabia to beg for cheap oil because he involved America in Ukraine? Doesn't the involvement of billions of dollars there not only deplete the public purse, delay the end of the war there, but also raise the price of gas and increase the danger of a nuclear war? Doesn't this focus on oil (and renewed calls for drilling) cloud the most important issue of our time that he never talks about: catastrophic and ongoing climate change?
Hi, Lauren. Let me agree with your major premise: Biden, like everyone else, needs to talk about the climate crisis all the time. But you will recall that Biden proposed a massive investment in green energy in the BBB--which was defeated by Manchin and Sinema's refusal to support the bill (which needed only 50 votes in the Senate to pass under the reconciliation rules). So, I applaud your focus on the climate crisis. But if I were picking politicians to focus on for the current lack of response, it would be Manchin and Sinema, not Biden.
As to involving the US in Ukraine, it was simply a question of line-drawing: When and where does the US step up to Putin's aggression? If not Ukraine, then it would have been Poland or Georgia or Finland or some other country included in Putin's Russkiy Mir worldview of a re-assembled USSR. The fact that Russia controls so much of the world's oil makes standing up to Putin difficult, but it should not give Putin a free pass to invade any country he wants. The pain would have been worse if we allowed Ukraine to fall, and then had to fight the same battle in Poland, Finland, Georgia etc.
Lets agree to disagree. I thought it was important in this conversational space to put in an argument against the involvement of U.S. in Russia/Ukraine dispute. Because we need the billions of dollars here. Because the Republicans are using it as a talking point. Because the media goaded Biden into sending more and more money. Because the only existential issue is whether there'll be a liveable planet for our kids and that means getting off oil asap.
He is not begging for cheap oil because we are not as dependent on Saudi Arabia as people think for oil. We need a relationship with them for many reasons not the least of which is to tell them we are not for sale like the previous administration
HI Lauren, I share your concerns about the obeisance to the gods of petroleum. I keep myself in "Just Joe" Biden's corner, though. I think it is an extremely delicate balance right now. I imagine that part of Biden's concern is not letting Putin influence Saudi Arabia and skew the Ukrainian blockades in his favor. Not that I understand it all, but the petroleum industry is still extremely influential in this country and the world. Since I have a tendency to make sweeping "solutions," I wish we in this nation could change our fossil fuels dependency overnight!
Thanks for removing the “offensive comments” from Saturday‘’s newsletter. However, remember that most of us are big boys and girls and can ignore offensive comments. Folks like me who live in South Carolina do it nearly everyday thanks to Lindsay Graham and our life-long memories of that “Great American” Storm Thurmond.
I cannot image who would do such a thing. I have read some comments from people I am convinced are sick. I hope they are mentally ill. I could find compassion for them and those who care for them.
Otherwise, I fear my feelings might be more along the lines of the way I feel when I see someone hit a child in the grocery store and cannot help but tell them to stop, often being the first a several points of discussion.
Not ones you'd want to meet or have anything to do with IRL. I spent more than a decade working a job with a guy whose main pastime seemed to be trolling Twitter and trying to stay out of Facebook Jail. When not engaged in that, he was often politically trolling fellow employees, at least those too 'polite' or meek to put a stop to his ugly and pathetic BS. Which was actually pretty simple in this case, since this behavior often amounts to not much more than schoolyard bullying in some folks. Not much to be done online, but one good toe-to-toe and very brief conversation put an end to my personal IRL trolling problems one night.
Not a solution in every case to be sure, and I'm certainly not saying anyone should do so. But if you know for sure you're dealing with a cheap suit IRL, it often doesn't take much to get them to fold. Sadly, it's only 'the screen' that emboldens and enables many of them elsewhere.
YES - take out the trolls. Having any on this comments page would make it intolerable and I would sign off so fast, the ink on this computer wouldn't have time to dry. Why I have no Twitter and never read anything anymore on FB. We all have to deal with our "bodily functions" but don't have to have them waved in our face constantly!
I am so glad that someone finally brought up the 9th Amendment in discussion. It has bothered me that no one in the judicial system or the media has used this in argument against Alito or Thomas's comments about rights not being mentioned in the Constitution or their "selective memory". I have not heard the 9th used by anyone until you the other day. Thank you regardless of the "slippery slope" that someone mentioned. Like the Governor of ILLINOIS last week and Peter Finch's character in NETWORK, I wish Democrats and Independents would go to their windows and yell, "We're as mad as hell, and We're not going to take this anymore." I live in a die-hard Republican state and as I have been told my Republican relatives, "your votes doesn't count," I will continue to vote for Democrats and donate to Democrats in my state and other places. I am so sad that the US appears to have lost her way and fascism appears to be growing. Unfortunately, many people I know don't know the characteristics of fascism! Thank you for NEWSLETTER. It keeps me going.
My thoughts why Bannon decided to testify? Maybe it has to do with his legal status and possible jail time but I think he’s decided how to turn it into a “win” for himself. I believe that when he does his “negotiations,” with the committee, he will insist in doing his testimony on public TV whereby he can work to monopolize the cameras with lies after lies. Or, if not allowed to do so on TV, will cry “foul,” in that the committee is picking and choosing who they want and not letting the ‘real’ truth be told.
The DOJ made a midnight filing (after I sent the newsletter) that said Trump's lawyer refuted the claim that Trump asserted executive privilege over Bannon's testimony or documents. See DOJ Scoffs At Bannon’s Last-Ditch Effort To Head Off Contempt Trial (talkingpointsmemo.com). I think Bannon (and his lawyer) are in big trouble for lying to the Court about their defense to the contempt charges. They are scrambling to save their *****.
I am wary of Bannon's decision to testify at the this time and the former President's indication of support. It offers Bannon both the opportunity to avoid conviction and to offer whatever testimony he can conjure in support of the former President by refuting the recent testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson. Even more so as reports are that White House Counsel Cippolone did not negate Hutchinson's testimony.
David Hogg, the Parkland student who founded March for Our Lives, said: "Hatred is not a mental illness, it 's learned!" That very much struck a chord with me. Yes, address suicides and PTSD causes of gun deaths with funding mental illness resources. However, dealing with hatred and the promotion of hate and violence in reinforcing bubbles on social media need to be addressed. If hate is learned that means we can teach tolerance and love. We also need to teach every person that they matter and deserve respect. I believe it only requires one connection to counter loneliness and isolation. With what I call big talk rather than small talk one can create a positive meaningful connection with any one even a complete stranger in under a minute. My favorite big talk meaningful question is "What is your dream?" If they don't have one ask "What are you passionate about?' If they have a dream ask " What are you doing now to achieve it?" and offer some ideas and encouragement. You reward is seeing the person's eyes light up as the think of their dream. We, the People, all of us this time.
In 1949, when South Pacific opened, William Tabbert created quite a stir when he stepped downstage and sang,
“You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear,
It’s got to be drummed
In your dear little ear,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.”
Broadway was never the same after that, and neither, in a small way, was America.
I have quoted this many times. Also, the Sesame Street jingle, “one of these things is not like the other,” which some use for purposes other than what was intended.
Years ago, my best friend’s family watched Fox literally 24/7. They had dreams and pursued them vigorously, feeling that republican ideals was the path. They still do. But, I guarantee that they never responded to any such query with anything but Bill O’Reilly bull Schitt. That was before chump, they are educated, smart and totally brain washed. They can rationalize with Goebbel’s fervor.
How sad that is!
Hatred as a learned response was addressed in 1948's "South Pacific" - Lt. Cable's aria, "You've got to be carefully taught" said it all beautifully - and got the show banned in apartheid South Africa at the time. To paraphrase Pete Seeger, "when will we ever learn?"
"The usual obnoxious cheerleaders on the right—Cruz, Hawley, Johnson, Jordan—have all concluded that silence is the better option in the face of the overwhelming evidence presented by the Committee." So true. Thank goodness Gym Jordan is not on the committee. He would have been a waste and a disruptive blowhard. I wish the good citizens of Ohio's 4th District would send him back home. He's been in congress since 2007 and I defy any reader to name one good thing he has done in that time.
Does showing the bankruptcy of the Republican Party count?
Gym Jordan shows how far Ohio has fallen. I find him the greatest embarrassment but now we have JD Vance on the ticket. What has led to this explosion of political ordure?
Thanks to you Robert we have had an opportunity to dig deeper into the Supreme Courts recent decisions and the nuisances associated with their interpretation of the constitution and frankly it has been a wonderful education for all of us. My concern and I think the challenge we face as a country is that a majority of Americans have a very limited knowledge of the Constitution and probably at some level don’t care. What’s even more appalling is there are 66 Senators today and many Republican Senators ( Cruz, Graham, Hawley, etc) all having law degrees and they have willfully accepted the recent rulings without saying a word. In order to change the dynamics we need to gain grass root support that we need to elect Democrats to gain a majority and carve out the filibuster to protect individual rights. Americans need to be educated to understand the jeopardy we are all facing.
Agree!!
I have the Constitution as an app on my phone and also carry a pocket Constitution in my purse. I'd also like to see all candidates for office have to take the 100 questions of the citizenship test people applying for US citizenship must pass. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf Wonder if Justices Alito and Thomas need to go refresh their fading memory of what is actually in the Constitution.
I'd like Biden to find what MSB got for the $2 Billion payoff to Jared Kushner. Those on the right have vowed to investigate Hunter Biden if they gain control in Congress, yet we are not investigating what should be termed "Jaredgate"?
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/why-the-hell-isnt-jared-kushners-2-billion-saudi-payment-a-big-scandal/
It's not so much a pay-off as a down payment. MBS owns him now just like Deutsche Bank and the Russians own the traitor.
Oh, how true that is! Remember when MBS was caught telling the leader of UAE that he "had Jared in his pocket"?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-saudi-crown-prince-says-kusher-was-in-his-pocket/
Indeed.
“He managed to pull a newly wrinkled shirt from his laundry basket.”
👍👍👍👍
Like a TV detective who always has a three-day stubble on his face, it takes work to always show up in a wrinkled shirt. In truth, that is what Bannon wore to his arraignment, which he followed with a meeting with the press.
He's very theatrical, but he's a bad actor.
Your comments and informative links keep my motivation up as i write post cards and try to set up GOTV actions, thanks
Excellent report, Robert. I regret that Biden felt forced to choose between reasons to visit/not visit Saudi Arabia. The USA still has some of the cheapest gas in the world.
It occurred to me while my dog and I were walking this morning that, in conversations about rights, the corresponding responsibilities are far too often left out. A prime example is the 2nd Amendment where the two are set in direct juxtaposition that should make them inseparable. The reasoning that supports a "right to keep and bear arms" from "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state" escapes me and always will. While not all other rights are so pointedly associated with their obligating accompaniments, the separation of privilege and responsibility invariably has and, I submit, always will result in a state of near anarchy where no one is fully aware of their status and where apparent rights to privacy and related privileges can be abruptly taken away and where those who abuse the privilege by using their free speech rights to incite an insurrectionary riot or by firing the gun they have a right to own into a group of people exercising their right to pursue happiness or just go to work are not merely not held accountable but are enabled by those who profit from their behavior.
Mr. Jefferson et al set up the same pairing in the Declaration when they said "...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," and "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it." The recent actions of the Supreme Court, the ongoing entropy of Congressional legislative capability and the increasingly imperial nature attributed to the Presidency all indicate that our government has at least begun to be destructive of our freedoms, rights and privileges and it is clear that the first step in the necessary alteration is to remove by ballot all of those, in either party, who have contributed to it and see that they are replaced with people who have an understanding that, in being elected, they are being given not just the privilege of representing us but the obligation to do so.
Too bad we can't take what you wrote here and mainline it into the veins of a few hundred million Americans, since it would be some pretty good medicine for a lot of what ails us.
(Sigh...very long sigh)
Thanks, but that history lesson is long overdue and rarely even taught any more.
You are absolutely, positively right about that.
(Sigh...very long sigh. Again.)
As with so many comments recently, I can't really 'Like' this, but I also can't disagree. I'm going to see if my local paper will run it as an op-ed, I think it's too long for a letter to the editor. We'll see what happens.
Yeah, I get it. Good luck with the paper. And if they don't print it, shame on them.
Heather Cox Richardson, in the July 10 edition of "Letters from an American", guides us to Thom Hartmann's amazing summation of 41 years of "Reagan Revolution". I recommend everyone read Thom's post, in "The Hartmann Report".
You are always on target from where I sit.
Never wanted to scream “lock him up” any more than when Bannon got indicted.
John Roberts Will always be a Citizens United man before anything else.
Republicans bare responsibility for latest shooter, and every mass shooter since chump. Hate begets hate, always.
Pandora’s box of ills has been opened and an army of trolls and MAGAts (I repeat myself) run rampant spreading them around. The pandemic for which there is no vaccine…
The DOJ just filed a document last night that makes the case against Bannon much stronger. It turns out that he lied to the Court about Trump's invocation of executive privilege. I think Bannon and his lawyer are in deep trouble.
Trump lawyer interviewed with FBI about Bannon contempt case - POLITICO
That is certainly good news. The pace may be glacial but at least it's moving in the right direction.
The vaccine is effective but slow to develop, it is the education and engagement of the electorate. In the meantime, the disease has to be treated by correcting the symptoms, one by one, at each election.
I 'd like to read others' thoughts about trolls, which Robert mentioned. I engaged in a Twitter conversation last evening, posting respectful, factual comments and was met with lots of "go read the Constitution," "you're just a sore loser," "go move to another state..." You know, endless, and I'm not sure there was any persuading to be done. I'm tempted to just forget commenting on Twitter. I do like the good news links, though. Others?
Hi, Cathy. I decided long ago that Twitter has surrendered to the trolls and is a toxic place to communicate. I use Twitter to link to the newsletter, and but that is it. No Instagram, no Facebook, either.
For every responsible user of Twitter, there are hundreds who use it anonymity to bully and abuse people in a way that they have neither courage nor wits to do in a public, social setting. I have found that almost all of the trolls who pop up in my comments sections are pushing Q conspiracies, although there were a few anti-abortion extremists in yesterday's comments.
Well, I've dropped out of Twitter, FB, et al. The meanness wore me out, not just for me but toward others . Sometimes trolls troll and it's best to ignore them (I'm sure you know that.) As the phrase says, "Don't cast your pearls before swine." I've found so much more "news" and sensibility here and a few other Substack sites that I hardly miss the social media. I found no sense in allowing myself to absorb hatred and others' ill will.
I did follow through yesterday on making a Women's Rights Ninth Amendment t-shirt on the HeathersHerd store on Zazzle. While I realize the Ninth Amendment doesn't specify the unenumerated rights, women's reproductive rights certainly has a place at the top of the list. It can't be ignored as Justice Alito so blatantly did. I like the parallel implication that the Ninth Amendment is as important to women as the Second Amendment is to gun owners. We could even set up the NRRA - National Reproductive Rights Association. Our NINTH AMENDMENT rights will NOT be abridged! The People choose their rights and the Supreme Court is suppose to support the laws supporting those rights.
I heartily agree with your approach!
Thank you! That's means a lot to me.
You are very clever!!
In regard to Biden's achievements in foreign policy, isn't he visiting Saudi Arabia to beg for cheap oil because he involved America in Ukraine? Doesn't the involvement of billions of dollars there not only deplete the public purse, delay the end of the war there, but also raise the price of gas and increase the danger of a nuclear war? Doesn't this focus on oil (and renewed calls for drilling) cloud the most important issue of our time that he never talks about: catastrophic and ongoing climate change?
Hi, Lauren. Let me agree with your major premise: Biden, like everyone else, needs to talk about the climate crisis all the time. But you will recall that Biden proposed a massive investment in green energy in the BBB--which was defeated by Manchin and Sinema's refusal to support the bill (which needed only 50 votes in the Senate to pass under the reconciliation rules). So, I applaud your focus on the climate crisis. But if I were picking politicians to focus on for the current lack of response, it would be Manchin and Sinema, not Biden.
As to involving the US in Ukraine, it was simply a question of line-drawing: When and where does the US step up to Putin's aggression? If not Ukraine, then it would have been Poland or Georgia or Finland or some other country included in Putin's Russkiy Mir worldview of a re-assembled USSR. The fact that Russia controls so much of the world's oil makes standing up to Putin difficult, but it should not give Putin a free pass to invade any country he wants. The pain would have been worse if we allowed Ukraine to fall, and then had to fight the same battle in Poland, Finland, Georgia etc.
Lets agree to disagree. I thought it was important in this conversational space to put in an argument against the involvement of U.S. in Russia/Ukraine dispute. Because we need the billions of dollars here. Because the Republicans are using it as a talking point. Because the media goaded Biden into sending more and more money. Because the only existential issue is whether there'll be a liveable planet for our kids and that means getting off oil asap.
He is not begging for cheap oil because we are not as dependent on Saudi Arabia as people think for oil. We need a relationship with them for many reasons not the least of which is to tell them we are not for sale like the previous administration
HI Lauren, I share your concerns about the obeisance to the gods of petroleum. I keep myself in "Just Joe" Biden's corner, though. I think it is an extremely delicate balance right now. I imagine that part of Biden's concern is not letting Putin influence Saudi Arabia and skew the Ukrainian blockades in his favor. Not that I understand it all, but the petroleum industry is still extremely influential in this country and the world. Since I have a tendency to make sweeping "solutions," I wish we in this nation could change our fossil fuels dependency overnight!
Signed on to Rupert’s dissing of Ukraine involvement???
Thanks for removing the “offensive comments” from Saturday‘’s newsletter. However, remember that most of us are big boys and girls and can ignore offensive comments. Folks like me who live in South Carolina do it nearly everyday thanks to Lindsay Graham and our life-long memories of that “Great American” Storm Thurmond.
Thanks. but one of them was intended to inflict trauma on women who have had abortions. Who are these people?
I cannot image who would do such a thing. I have read some comments from people I am convinced are sick. I hope they are mentally ill. I could find compassion for them and those who care for them.
Otherwise, I fear my feelings might be more along the lines of the way I feel when I see someone hit a child in the grocery store and cannot help but tell them to stop, often being the first a several points of discussion.
Thank you again for all you do.
Not ones you'd want to meet or have anything to do with IRL. I spent more than a decade working a job with a guy whose main pastime seemed to be trolling Twitter and trying to stay out of Facebook Jail. When not engaged in that, he was often politically trolling fellow employees, at least those too 'polite' or meek to put a stop to his ugly and pathetic BS. Which was actually pretty simple in this case, since this behavior often amounts to not much more than schoolyard bullying in some folks. Not much to be done online, but one good toe-to-toe and very brief conversation put an end to my personal IRL trolling problems one night.
Not a solution in every case to be sure, and I'm certainly not saying anyone should do so. But if you know for sure you're dealing with a cheap suit IRL, it often doesn't take much to get them to fold. Sadly, it's only 'the screen' that emboldens and enables many of them elsewhere.
YES - take out the trolls. Having any on this comments page would make it intolerable and I would sign off so fast, the ink on this computer wouldn't have time to dry. Why I have no Twitter and never read anything anymore on FB. We all have to deal with our "bodily functions" but don't have to have them waved in our face constantly!
I am so glad that someone finally brought up the 9th Amendment in discussion. It has bothered me that no one in the judicial system or the media has used this in argument against Alito or Thomas's comments about rights not being mentioned in the Constitution or their "selective memory". I have not heard the 9th used by anyone until you the other day. Thank you regardless of the "slippery slope" that someone mentioned. Like the Governor of ILLINOIS last week and Peter Finch's character in NETWORK, I wish Democrats and Independents would go to their windows and yell, "We're as mad as hell, and We're not going to take this anymore." I live in a die-hard Republican state and as I have been told my Republican relatives, "your votes doesn't count," I will continue to vote for Democrats and donate to Democrats in my state and other places. I am so sad that the US appears to have lost her way and fascism appears to be growing. Unfortunately, many people I know don't know the characteristics of fascism! Thank you for NEWSLETTER. It keeps me going.
My thoughts why Bannon decided to testify? Maybe it has to do with his legal status and possible jail time but I think he’s decided how to turn it into a “win” for himself. I believe that when he does his “negotiations,” with the committee, he will insist in doing his testimony on public TV whereby he can work to monopolize the cameras with lies after lies. Or, if not allowed to do so on TV, will cry “foul,” in that the committee is picking and choosing who they want and not letting the ‘real’ truth be told.
The DOJ made a midnight filing (after I sent the newsletter) that said Trump's lawyer refuted the claim that Trump asserted executive privilege over Bannon's testimony or documents. See DOJ Scoffs At Bannon’s Last-Ditch Effort To Head Off Contempt Trial (talkingpointsmemo.com). I think Bannon (and his lawyer) are in big trouble for lying to the Court about their defense to the contempt charges. They are scrambling to save their *****.
Trust and hope you are correct!
I am wary of Bannon's decision to testify at the this time and the former President's indication of support. It offers Bannon both the opportunity to avoid conviction and to offer whatever testimony he can conjure in support of the former President by refuting the recent testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson. Even more so as reports are that White House Counsel Cippolone did not negate Hutchinson's testimony.