I grew up thinking democracy was the culmination of human social organization, and that our job was just to perfect it, a movement I was proud to participate in. Like several commenters here in the past few days - and at other times when the news tends toward “WTF?” - I frequently find myself now gobsmacked that fights I thought we had won 50, 60, 80 years ago are being re-fought, and that decisions that seemed permanent are now seen as transitory, that nothing is final. Now we’re learning democracy itself may have been a phase.
I'm crossing my fingers regarding Poland and hope its people reassess what's going on and the locations of their borders. I'm sure the polls there reflect the results of Russian propaganda efforts. And should the bad guys lose, I expect to see the Polish version of the Big Lie play out in a similarly destructive manner. As for the rest of your semi-poetic lamentations, they are now part of history in the way previous great writers have cautioned their countries during times of looming crisis.
It appears that the majority of New Zealanders have voted for a right-wing coalition led by a suit-wearing penis of an ex-CEO. A political novice who will be forming a government along with two (further to the right) minor parties. Only one of which has a single member (the 78 year old leader and chief dog whistler) with any prior experience of being in government. He is currently the kingmaker, the smallest of the three parties but without one seat from his party there is no majority as things rest at this time.
The special ballots, around 20% of the total (from overseas and out of electorate voters) are yet to be counted and declared, so there may be changes before the November 3rd deadline for those results. Not holding mine either.
Seems that, having avoided recession, the majority of Kiwis have opted for clinical Depression.
I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but I can’t help but think that Trump and his cronies are somehow involved in the Middle East destabilization. Did he sell them secrets? Was he paid off to continue to sow chaos and destruction here in the states to weaken our response, to make us vulnerable… to use this as an excuse so that he can pretend to swoop in and be our “savior” with an authoritarian mandate? Are the house Maga in on it?
You are not crazy, but it would not surprise any of us if that were so. Why, exactly was Jared Kushner given two billion dollars by MBS? and on and on. Let us hope it is not the case, but....
I keep wondering why some of those supposed "moderate" rethugs don't just stand up for one second and decide that they have had enough of the bullying and the doxxing and would rather do something else for a living than to be punching bags for a bunch of lunatics.
If we could ever learn to watch what they do instead of listening to what they say, we might be able to save ourselves. Corrupt, destructive, violent people have taken control of the House and much of the apparatus of state government. We cannot change them, we can only vote them out. They know this so they are rigging the system in every way possible. And while we watch the wars in Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere we often miss the horrors happening here. Homelessness is rampant and growing. Many prisons are unfit for human habitation without air conditioning in 100+ temperatures. Women are being held in these prisons, mostly in red states, for having a miscarriage or stillbirth deemed “questionable”. Others are forced to carry pregnancies in prison because they are alleged a danger to their unborn child because of drug use. In many prisons, prenatal care is nonexistent and women are too often left to give birth alone. This has nothing to do with preserving life. It’s pure cruelty wearing a sanctimonious mask. Racial hatred and antisemitism is growing. And then there’s the consuming gun violence. I believe it was Steve Schmidt who said we’re on the “hinge of history”. That hinge could swing either way and at this moment the probabilities don’t favor common decency. I’m struggling to hang onto a shred of optimism.
Now feels like the time to post a poem. This was published in Beloit Poetry Review and I have no idea which of us owns the copyright. I'm afraid Substack will make hash of the stanza breaks. It's three line stanzas if that isn't clear. It's part of a series I did on Buck Rogers.
-------------------- Waiting for the Archduke
News item, Nov 3, 1992: The last animal at Sarajevo Zoo died of starvation after snipers kept the keepers from taking food to the cages.
.
.
There are no leaves at Sarajevo Zoo; the last
bear died a year ago, hunched hungry
over the bones of its brother.
.
Buck Rogers walks the pathways in late-autumn
haze, sidestepping peacocks grown adept
at dodging bullets; he's invulnerable himself
.
as heroes usually are one way or another.
Buck's waiting for a dapper fellow
decked in braid and bristling
'
with mustachios, who (he's heard) still haunts
this ground, awaiting history's call to spark
again that glorious clash
'
of sabers for the justice of some cause,
Buck can't remember which. The chap
is avatar of futures; his story makes alive
.
what neither Buck nor his keepers can bear to know
in other ways. Buck's task: to slay this ghost,
this spectre who incarnates all
.
we must deny is human, who stalks the zoo
against the day he'll prove us wrong again. Buck
wanders past the primate house, and there, in parallel
Most depressing thing I have read in a while, even more so than TC’s post. The animals break my heart as much as anything. They are truly innocent and powerless.
I've lived through pretty depressing times. Vietnam. The Balkans. Northern Ireland. Afghanistan and Iraq. Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sudan, Syria, the fate of the Kurds.
That really happened to the Sarajevo Zoo.
There were uplifting times. The fall of the Soviet Union--but then, plunk, down again. The Civil Rights movement and its success above all. And now that is descending into depressive again.
So much is so hard to know about. But unlike DeSatan, we need to know. Because I know, I know who is responsible. Can you think of one current crisis that has not been created or made worse by republicans.
Azerbaijan against Armenians. Only because the GOP has no clue it is going on. They even know where it IS. Well, Fox News has covered it. But only because the Armenians are Christians I'll bet
I keep wondering why some of those supposed "moderate" rethugs don't just stand up for one second and decide that they have had enough of the bullying and the doxxing and would rather do something else for a living than to be punching bags for a bunch of lunatics.
What I'm reading is that Hamas may have been counting on Hezbollah to start an attack from the north, which definitely would have placed Israel into an existential crisis. Hezbollah has not moved, and there seems to be some suggestions that Iran is behind that, and that Hamas feels "abandoned" by Iran. If so that would mean Iran, of all countries, is showing more restraint in this current crisis than Israel's government is. (It's not unprecedented; recall that Trump ordered a hit on an Iranian general, and Iran did not respond, at least overtly.).
To me it all comes back to Bibi. He was warned months ago that Hamas was planning an action, yet he pulled most troops to the West Bank to guard the Jewish holy sites. The thought has occurred to me that Bibi allowed this attack to happen to gain the "rally around the flag" effect, and possible use that to push through his authoritarian "reforms." If so, that has failed as well. Ironically, the national unity government that just formed may have pushed out the most radical elements from the Cabinet. There is also a building protest movement about the fact that the hostages have only barely been acknowledged by the Netanyahu government. The anger within Israel is very real, and great deal of it is directed towards Bibi. This attack may profoundly change Israel in the not-too-distant future.
If any of us haven't yet called our Congresspeople and made clear our opposition to Jordan or anyone of his ilk attaining the Speakership, now, and tomorrow, and Tuesday, are the times. If the only voices heard are those of the MAGAts, they will prevail. If enough of us speak up, we might provide an artificial backbone for enough of the GOP invertebrates to stand up for a change. All it will take to break the Jordan movement is one defeat. Bullies aren't known for their courage under fire and the fact that they are resorting to the tactics you write about indicates that they are cornered and have few options left. You very accurately detail the downside of the situation, but there is an upside too and we dare not lose sight of it.
This shows the stupidity of not going after the 147 Repubs who actively participated in the Jan. 6 election coup by refusing to certify legitimate electoral votes for Biden and opening the way to consider the bogus electoral votes for Trump, to say nothing of the active conspirators, like Jordan, Grassley, Boebert, Loudermilk, MTG, Cruz and probably Hawley..... If they were all under indictment and facing being banned from electoral office for life, they'd be too busy to do what they are doing to the country right now.....
Regarding Republican moderates: an acquaintance from Nebraska, so he should know, told me decades ago, that the defining characteristic of Republicans is the need to follow a leader. Republicans are not iconoclasts. They don’t like like to stand out on their own. They are followers and they look for leaders. It is one reason that Republican primaries, pre-MAGA, were always so predictable, because there is always some senior person who was presumed the winner. Academic political scientists refer to this as an authoritarian trait; the Republican party being dubbed by John Dean as the daddy party. So the “moderate” Republicans will ultimately fall in line behind whoever has the most swagger. The intractability of the MAGA Republicans give them swagger. It is their leaders who will call the shots.
If there was any doubt that MAGA Republicans are opposed to the democratic process in general, the speaker fight should be the proof. MAGA Republicans are not simply opposed to Democrats, and thus refuse to accept the election of a Democrat as president, but they are opposed to any process which does not result in victory for them. They have an election for speaker among Republicans only, the MAGA lose, but they do not accept that they lost, and continue to press for victory, through threats of political, and physical, violence. They are modern Brown Shirts. If only the MSM would take note. I’m not holding my breath.
Very solid points, for sure, but one other characteristic of Nebraskans is Evangelical Christianity. I grew up knowing several families of such who were definitly followers.
I still can't wrap my head around any Republican coalition that could accept, least of all, imagine Jim Jordan as President. Unless they are certain that Biden and Harris will still be (alive) in office through November 2024.
Dead in the water. Whenever one of a few possibilities bears fruit, Trump will be dead in the water. It is my belief that as chaotic as it will be, that is the primary event that will cause the ship of democracy to right itself. Over the bloated remains of the lead of the MAGAt movement. Dead in the water.
While diplomacy worldwide is at a functional level not witnessed for a long time, the event to turn the tide towards democracy must occur right here in our country. Death of the symbol of evil lies at the crux of Good washing the slate clean.
I just want him dead. Whether in the water, on dry land, found in the wreckage of whatever, flat on his face on the stage in front of the MAGAts after the massive fatal myocardial infarction, whatever...
I'm right there with you Tom. Everything I thought I knew, I obviously did not. I grew up a student of history. What did I miss? Heather is showing us very clearly that what we are seeing now is almost a word for word recreation of the 1840s to 1860 in this country. Hold on to your loved ones.
Get HCR's new book - I "know it all" and when she lays it out - all the anti-democratic tendencies, groups, moves, etc., and then shows how they moved to the Republicans a century ago and began gaining strength, it' mind-boggling. She shows how they're all interconnected and have been for a loooonnngg time.
I just bought it at a little and very well thought out book store in Langley, an artish town on Whidbey Is. while I was visiting a dear friend in Everett, WA. She is a very interesting artist. I was going to buy it at Vroman's in Pasadena, but the twinkle in the eye of the woman owner told me this was the place. She chose her stock wisely an purposeully. I only buy from independants. Fuck Amazon. You discover nothing if you are not browzing a good bookstore or library. The WWII book is a case in point. See you next week, hopefully.
OK TC ... certainly there is chaos & instability; things are lugubrious if that is the word -- "dismal" if is not.
Today, Sunday afternoon, Hakeem in Jeffries has not quit. The Number or Votes needed all agree is 217. The D's have 213.
I know you love cats & do not want to herd them much less a gaggle of drifting "moderates" but, all Hakeem needs is 4 votes from a purple district, 4 votes from a district going blue now or soon, from blue districts with R Reps or 1 Nebraskan District that wants to keep the farm subsidies flowing in Fall.
D's have had more than than 72 hours. All I want for Christmas is a Budget.
The problem is, any four are guaranteed to be squashed like bugs - primaried, anything else. But if 20-30 do it, the MAGAt can't do anything to them all.
Knew I should have waited 'til morning to read this. Thanks, I think, Tom. I hope your indepth knowledge of all these factors and forces does not keep you up at night.
I'm crossing my fingers regarding Poland and hope its people reassess what's going on and the locations of their borders. I'm sure the polls there reflect the results of Russian propaganda efforts. And should the bad guys lose, I expect to see the Polish version of the Big Lie play out in a similarly destructive manner. As for the rest of your semi-poetic lamentations, they are now part of history in the way previous great writers have cautioned their countries during times of looming crisis.
I wouldn't be holding your breath if I were you.
It appears that the majority of New Zealanders have voted for a right-wing coalition led by a suit-wearing penis of an ex-CEO. A political novice who will be forming a government along with two (further to the right) minor parties. Only one of which has a single member (the 78 year old leader and chief dog whistler) with any prior experience of being in government. He is currently the kingmaker, the smallest of the three parties but without one seat from his party there is no majority as things rest at this time.
The special ballots, around 20% of the total (from overseas and out of electorate voters) are yet to be counted and declared, so there may be changes before the November 3rd deadline for those results. Not holding mine either.
Seems that, having avoided recession, the majority of Kiwis have opted for clinical Depression.
As Churchill is alleged to have once said, "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."
Hah, yes. Or counter to the disputed quote of your Abe Lincoln, some people are quite content with being fooled all the time.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67118787?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
Have to see how this shakes out.
I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but I can’t help but think that Trump and his cronies are somehow involved in the Middle East destabilization. Did he sell them secrets? Was he paid off to continue to sow chaos and destruction here in the states to weaken our response, to make us vulnerable… to use this as an excuse so that he can pretend to swoop in and be our “savior” with an authoritarian mandate? Are the house Maga in on it?
Please tell me I’m crazy.
I hope that's a step too far.
Me too.
Hope. I hope hope is not all we have left.
His very existence is a catalyst for chaos
Monday may bring a gag order.
Wish I could have gagged him on the escalator
You are not crazy, but it would not surprise any of us if that were so. Why, exactly was Jared Kushner given two billion dollars by MBS? and on and on. Let us hope it is not the case, but....
Yes. But...
I’m one for conspiracy theories. I like the possibility. I like that it’s only a possibility.
I keep wondering why some of those supposed "moderate" rethugs don't just stand up for one second and decide that they have had enough of the bullying and the doxxing and would rather do something else for a living than to be punching bags for a bunch of lunatics.
Depending on cowards to stop being afraid of their own shadows is a losing strategy.
They are cowards, make Benedict Arnold look like a hero.
If we could ever learn to watch what they do instead of listening to what they say, we might be able to save ourselves. Corrupt, destructive, violent people have taken control of the House and much of the apparatus of state government. We cannot change them, we can only vote them out. They know this so they are rigging the system in every way possible. And while we watch the wars in Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere we often miss the horrors happening here. Homelessness is rampant and growing. Many prisons are unfit for human habitation without air conditioning in 100+ temperatures. Women are being held in these prisons, mostly in red states, for having a miscarriage or stillbirth deemed “questionable”. Others are forced to carry pregnancies in prison because they are alleged a danger to their unborn child because of drug use. In many prisons, prenatal care is nonexistent and women are too often left to give birth alone. This has nothing to do with preserving life. It’s pure cruelty wearing a sanctimonious mask. Racial hatred and antisemitism is growing. And then there’s the consuming gun violence. I believe it was Steve Schmidt who said we’re on the “hinge of history”. That hinge could swing either way and at this moment the probabilities don’t favor common decency. I’m struggling to hang onto a shred of optimism.
"It's pure cruelty wearing a sanctimonious mask"—That pretty much defines the MAGAts and those too cowardly to contradict them.
Steve is one of the few who know the current history and calls it like it is.
Now feels like the time to post a poem. This was published in Beloit Poetry Review and I have no idea which of us owns the copyright. I'm afraid Substack will make hash of the stanza breaks. It's three line stanzas if that isn't clear. It's part of a series I did on Buck Rogers.
-------------------- Waiting for the Archduke
News item, Nov 3, 1992: The last animal at Sarajevo Zoo died of starvation after snipers kept the keepers from taking food to the cages.
.
.
There are no leaves at Sarajevo Zoo; the last
bear died a year ago, hunched hungry
over the bones of its brother.
.
Buck Rogers walks the pathways in late-autumn
haze, sidestepping peacocks grown adept
at dodging bullets; he's invulnerable himself
.
as heroes usually are one way or another.
Buck's waiting for a dapper fellow
decked in braid and bristling
'
with mustachios, who (he's heard) still haunts
this ground, awaiting history's call to spark
again that glorious clash
'
of sabers for the justice of some cause,
Buck can't remember which. The chap
is avatar of futures; his story makes alive
.
what neither Buck nor his keepers can bear to know
in other ways. Buck's task: to slay this ghost,
this spectre who incarnates all
.
we must deny is human, who stalks the zoo
against the day he'll prove us wrong again. Buck
wanders past the primate house, and there, in parallel
.
gait, grimacing back from plate glass sheen
that separates stray peacocks from rotting
monkey fur, he finds his man.
Most depressing thing I have read in a while, even more so than TC’s post. The animals break my heart as much as anything. They are truly innocent and powerless.
I've lived through pretty depressing times. Vietnam. The Balkans. Northern Ireland. Afghanistan and Iraq. Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sudan, Syria, the fate of the Kurds.
That really happened to the Sarajevo Zoo.
There were uplifting times. The fall of the Soviet Union--but then, plunk, down again. The Civil Rights movement and its success above all. And now that is descending into depressive again.
So much is so hard to know about. But unlike DeSatan, we need to know. Because I know, I know who is responsible. Can you think of one current crisis that has not been created or made worse by republicans.
Azerbaijan against Armenians. Only because the GOP has no clue it is going on. They even know where it IS. Well, Fox News has covered it. But only because the Armenians are Christians I'll bet
Love
I keep wondering why some of those supposed "moderate" rethugs don't just stand up for one second and decide that they have had enough of the bullying and the doxxing and would rather do something else for a living than to be punching bags for a bunch of lunatics.
Because they're cowards and don't want to spend the rest of their lives back home as oucasts of the community.
What I'm reading is that Hamas may have been counting on Hezbollah to start an attack from the north, which definitely would have placed Israel into an existential crisis. Hezbollah has not moved, and there seems to be some suggestions that Iran is behind that, and that Hamas feels "abandoned" by Iran. If so that would mean Iran, of all countries, is showing more restraint in this current crisis than Israel's government is. (It's not unprecedented; recall that Trump ordered a hit on an Iranian general, and Iran did not respond, at least overtly.).
To me it all comes back to Bibi. He was warned months ago that Hamas was planning an action, yet he pulled most troops to the West Bank to guard the Jewish holy sites. The thought has occurred to me that Bibi allowed this attack to happen to gain the "rally around the flag" effect, and possible use that to push through his authoritarian "reforms." If so, that has failed as well. Ironically, the national unity government that just formed may have pushed out the most radical elements from the Cabinet. There is also a building protest movement about the fact that the hostages have only barely been acknowledged by the Netanyahu government. The anger within Israel is very real, and great deal of it is directed towards Bibi. This attack may profoundly change Israel in the not-too-distant future.
Oh, if only Bibi had to pay the price
He will, unfortunately others will pay first on a debt they don't owe.
Always
If any of us haven't yet called our Congresspeople and made clear our opposition to Jordan or anyone of his ilk attaining the Speakership, now, and tomorrow, and Tuesday, are the times. If the only voices heard are those of the MAGAts, they will prevail. If enough of us speak up, we might provide an artificial backbone for enough of the GOP invertebrates to stand up for a change. All it will take to break the Jordan movement is one defeat. Bullies aren't known for their courage under fire and the fact that they are resorting to the tactics you write about indicates that they are cornered and have few options left. You very accurately detail the downside of the situation, but there is an upside too and we dare not lose sight of it.
This shows the stupidity of not going after the 147 Repubs who actively participated in the Jan. 6 election coup by refusing to certify legitimate electoral votes for Biden and opening the way to consider the bogus electoral votes for Trump, to say nothing of the active conspirators, like Jordan, Grassley, Boebert, Loudermilk, MTG, Cruz and probably Hawley..... If they were all under indictment and facing being banned from electoral office for life, they'd be too busy to do what they are doing to the country right now.....
Regarding Republican moderates: an acquaintance from Nebraska, so he should know, told me decades ago, that the defining characteristic of Republicans is the need to follow a leader. Republicans are not iconoclasts. They don’t like like to stand out on their own. They are followers and they look for leaders. It is one reason that Republican primaries, pre-MAGA, were always so predictable, because there is always some senior person who was presumed the winner. Academic political scientists refer to this as an authoritarian trait; the Republican party being dubbed by John Dean as the daddy party. So the “moderate” Republicans will ultimately fall in line behind whoever has the most swagger. The intractability of the MAGA Republicans give them swagger. It is their leaders who will call the shots.
If there was any doubt that MAGA Republicans are opposed to the democratic process in general, the speaker fight should be the proof. MAGA Republicans are not simply opposed to Democrats, and thus refuse to accept the election of a Democrat as president, but they are opposed to any process which does not result in victory for them. They have an election for speaker among Republicans only, the MAGA lose, but they do not accept that they lost, and continue to press for victory, through threats of political, and physical, violence. They are modern Brown Shirts. If only the MSM would take note. I’m not holding my breath.
All very solid points.
Very solid points, for sure, but one other characteristic of Nebraskans is Evangelical Christianity. I grew up knowing several families of such who were definitly followers.
I still can't wrap my head around any Republican coalition that could accept, least of all, imagine Jim Jordan as President. Unless they are certain that Biden and Harris will still be (alive) in office through November 2024.
He will do unbelievable damage way before Nov 2024
This is an exciting time to be alive. I think I’ll make some carrot juice.
Dead in the water. Whenever one of a few possibilities bears fruit, Trump will be dead in the water. It is my belief that as chaotic as it will be, that is the primary event that will cause the ship of democracy to right itself. Over the bloated remains of the lead of the MAGAt movement. Dead in the water.
While diplomacy worldwide is at a functional level not witnessed for a long time, the event to turn the tide towards democracy must occur right here in our country. Death of the symbol of evil lies at the crux of Good washing the slate clean.
Salud.
🗽
I just want him dead. Whether in the water, on dry land, found in the wreckage of whatever, flat on his face on the stage in front of the MAGAts after the massive fatal myocardial infarction, whatever...
I'm right there with you Tom. Everything I thought I knew, I obviously did not. I grew up a student of history. What did I miss? Heather is showing us very clearly that what we are seeing now is almost a word for word recreation of the 1840s to 1860 in this country. Hold on to your loved ones.
Get HCR's new book - I "know it all" and when she lays it out - all the anti-democratic tendencies, groups, moves, etc., and then shows how they moved to the Republicans a century ago and began gaining strength, it' mind-boggling. She shows how they're all interconnected and have been for a loooonnngg time.
I just bought it at a little and very well thought out book store in Langley, an artish town on Whidbey Is. while I was visiting a dear friend in Everett, WA. She is a very interesting artist. I was going to buy it at Vroman's in Pasadena, but the twinkle in the eye of the woman owner told me this was the place. She chose her stock wisely an purposeully. I only buy from independants. Fuck Amazon. You discover nothing if you are not browzing a good bookstore or library. The WWII book is a case in point. See you next week, hopefully.
OK TC ... certainly there is chaos & instability; things are lugubrious if that is the word -- "dismal" if is not.
Today, Sunday afternoon, Hakeem in Jeffries has not quit. The Number or Votes needed all agree is 217. The D's have 213.
I know you love cats & do not want to herd them much less a gaggle of drifting "moderates" but, all Hakeem needs is 4 votes from a purple district, 4 votes from a district going blue now or soon, from blue districts with R Reps or 1 Nebraskan District that wants to keep the farm subsidies flowing in Fall.
D's have had more than than 72 hours. All I want for Christmas is a Budget.
The problem is, any four are guaranteed to be squashed like bugs - primaried, anything else. But if 20-30 do it, the MAGAt can't do anything to them all.
Knew I should have waited 'til morning to read this. Thanks, I think, Tom. I hope your indepth knowledge of all these factors and forces does not keep you up at night.
The kitties purr me to sleep. Nothing more peaceful than that.
Oh, Tom, every time we think it can't get worse, it gets worse.