True. But essentially duplication of all prior essays with different conduct as rhe basis for the appalling conduct. Since the majority of congress and the supreme court fall in line, the country seems doomed. Brilliant citizens but morally bankrupt majority facilitated by technology.
Well, well. I guess we can conclude from this that you're not part of the "fight-back" caucus?
American independence and our world-shaping governance was not won by people sitting back and letting the men in power continue to do what they wanted.
We are not children! And we need not be isolated individuals left to mourn behind closed doors. It has fallen to us to fight off the wicked men who have hijacked the powers of government.
Use the same energy with which you fight for "we are doomed" to fight for "we are a free and decent people!"
Find 3 candidates for Congress whose positions you like (not perfect, just better than) and do ALL that you can to help them. Or if you have a local Democratic committee, they'll need help too. (They don't do policy, they're no way the DNC, they just get voters to the polls.)
Inaction is a sure-fire recipe for anxiety, depression and paralysis, which is exactly what the madmen need from us.
I suspect that November 3 and the blue/change wave that will sweep the Reps out and the Dems in will come to be known as Liberation Day. And the ungodly history of the trump regime will be a lesson for our fragile and weakened democracy. Scholars will write about the madness and question whether the bonds of a people so divided could ever join again. The repairs, the desperate call for unity and common purpose, will all spring from a new Congress and a new day. Fighters at the Lincoln Memorial, while the band played on, on the south lawn with the White House as a backdrop, will be a chapter on our shame.
It was a mistake not to punish the traitors of the Confederacy for their treason. At the very least, the civilian and military leadership should have been tried and imprisoned or executed. Instead, the traitors were able to avoid accountability for the horror they unleashed on the country. They were able to fight against the Union in different ways. The Lost Cause was a lie that has done so much harm.
In theory yes all the traitors. In practice very very impractical probably impossible to define traitors and punish them all — family members, wives and so on. Leadership more responsible so more feasible & appropriate.
In reality what derailed accountability was VP Johnson who took over after Lincoln’s assassination. A southern sympathizer.
— Within one month of taking office, President Johnson—a former slave holder from Tennessee—issued an amnesty proclamation granting full pardons “to all white persons who have, directly or indirectly, participated in the existing rebellion.”2 That same day, he formally recognized state governments in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, and Louisiana, even though they remained largely controlled by former Confederate officials. — https://eji.org/report/reconstruction-in-america/the-danger-of-freedom/sidebar/the-impeachment-of-andrew-johnson/
Martin Buber spoke so eloquently of the “I and Thou” relationship. I could not help thinking how far we have traveled from this beautiful premise; a premise upon which all democracy and human rights are seated. Trump treats everything and everyone as an “it”. As such, could we possibly expect anything but a sacrilegious display of horrifying proportions to emanate from his disturbed mind and be realized in all its horror at such a sacred place? I grieve not only for his lack of humanity but his callous disregard for ours.
Thanks for sharing the words of Warren Harding at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. He is not a president from whom I would have expected to hear such thoughtful remarks. Harding, long regarded as one of our worst, looks like a statesman compared to #47..
...and it shows us exactly who we are in the eyes of the world because the citizens of other countries don't differentiate between those of us who elected that monster and those of us who are horrified by him
From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial I could see The Wall, upon which are carved the names of too many of my childhood friends. The cowards who would desecrate that place, in spite of their fifteen minutes of dubious fame, do not deserve to share that view, or the tragic history it represents. Instead, like the tasteless sycophants who pay them they deserve to fade away in anonymity, like bloodstains on the street, where the beholder looks away, remembering with disgust only the violence.
What's the likelihood that the federal government will tamper with the election? And what damage will occur until then. Its a 4 alarm fire. Waiting is not am option.
Wonderful context to a severely damaged government which stands on the precipice of authoritarianism. This cannot continue or certainly endure. Time to rise up.
We simply have a lunatic president who disrespects just about every national memorial or monument in DC, and he will continue to do so, because he himself is trash!
Beautiful essay. Perfectly encapsulated my feelings. I don’t need to say anything more.
True. But essentially duplication of all prior essays with different conduct as rhe basis for the appalling conduct. Since the majority of congress and the supreme court fall in line, the country seems doomed. Brilliant citizens but morally bankrupt majority facilitated by technology.
Well, well. I guess we can conclude from this that you're not part of the "fight-back" caucus?
American independence and our world-shaping governance was not won by people sitting back and letting the men in power continue to do what they wanted.
We are not children! And we need not be isolated individuals left to mourn behind closed doors. It has fallen to us to fight off the wicked men who have hijacked the powers of government.
Use the same energy with which you fight for "we are doomed" to fight for "we are a free and decent people!"
Find 3 candidates for Congress whose positions you like (not perfect, just better than) and do ALL that you can to help them. Or if you have a local Democratic committee, they'll need help too. (They don't do policy, they're no way the DNC, they just get voters to the polls.)
Inaction is a sure-fire recipe for anxiety, depression and paralysis, which is exactly what the madmen need from us.
Couldn’t sleep over this deranged weekend debacle…but your article has some beautiful historical moments Steven.
The contrasts between these heartfelt words by Lincoln - and the antics of the creature now leading the Caligula clown brigade is shocking.
Here is this lovely helpful excerpt you included:
“The mystic chords of memory,
stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave,
to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land,
will yet swell the chorus of the union,
when again touched, as they surely will be,
by the better angels of our nature.”
I hold on to these words.
Thank you
“So the unwanting soul sees what's hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants.”- Lao Tzu
And what of the soulless? You get cage matches…
I suspect that November 3 and the blue/change wave that will sweep the Reps out and the Dems in will come to be known as Liberation Day. And the ungodly history of the trump regime will be a lesson for our fragile and weakened democracy. Scholars will write about the madness and question whether the bonds of a people so divided could ever join again. The repairs, the desperate call for unity and common purpose, will all spring from a new Congress and a new day. Fighters at the Lincoln Memorial, while the band played on, on the south lawn with the White House as a backdrop, will be a chapter on our shame.
It was a mistake not to punish the traitors of the Confederacy for their treason. At the very least, the civilian and military leadership should have been tried and imprisoned or executed. Instead, the traitors were able to avoid accountability for the horror they unleashed on the country. They were able to fight against the Union in different ways. The Lost Cause was a lie that has done so much harm.
FYI—I was born and raised in the south.
In theory yes all the traitors. In practice very very impractical probably impossible to define traitors and punish them all — family members, wives and so on. Leadership more responsible so more feasible & appropriate.
In reality what derailed accountability was VP Johnson who took over after Lincoln’s assassination. A southern sympathizer.
— Within one month of taking office, President Johnson—a former slave holder from Tennessee—issued an amnesty proclamation granting full pardons “to all white persons who have, directly or indirectly, participated in the existing rebellion.”2 That same day, he formally recognized state governments in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, and Louisiana, even though they remained largely controlled by former Confederate officials. — https://eji.org/report/reconstruction-in-america/the-danger-of-freedom/sidebar/the-impeachment-of-andrew-johnson/
Martin Buber spoke so eloquently of the “I and Thou” relationship. I could not help thinking how far we have traveled from this beautiful premise; a premise upon which all democracy and human rights are seated. Trump treats everything and everyone as an “it”. As such, could we possibly expect anything but a sacrilegious display of horrifying proportions to emanate from his disturbed mind and be realized in all its horror at such a sacred place? I grieve not only for his lack of humanity but his callous disregard for ours.
Thanks for sharing the words of Warren Harding at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. He is not a president from whom I would have expected to hear such thoughtful remarks. Harding, long regarded as one of our worst, looks like a statesman compared to #47..
No - nothing is sacred anymore. And it seems especially demeaning towards our past presidents
“…his simplicity enlisting…”
How I long for simplicity, and a leader dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal.
The statement says it all. What an embarassment for the US only to gratify the ego of the egomaniacal president.
Thank you for this eloquent essay. I am sickened by Trump’s narcissism. What an abomination. How the hell could we ever have allowed this to happen?
...and it shows us exactly who we are in the eyes of the world because the citizens of other countries don't differentiate between those of us who elected that monster and those of us who are horrified by him
That's why it's so important that we all speak out--to remind the world and each other--that we are not a monolith in support of the horror.
From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial I could see The Wall, upon which are carved the names of too many of my childhood friends. The cowards who would desecrate that place, in spite of their fifteen minutes of dubious fame, do not deserve to share that view, or the tragic history it represents. Instead, like the tasteless sycophants who pay them they deserve to fade away in anonymity, like bloodstains on the street, where the beholder looks away, remembering with disgust only the violence.
What's the likelihood that the federal government will tamper with the election? And what damage will occur until then. Its a 4 alarm fire. Waiting is not am option.
Your questions are all extremely valid, JBR. Seems like Felon47’s removal from office needs to happen now!
Wonderful context to a severely damaged government which stands on the precipice of authoritarianism. This cannot continue or certainly endure. Time to rise up.
We simply have a lunatic president who disrespects just about every national memorial or monument in DC, and he will continue to do so, because he himself is trash!