On this President's Day, we reflect on the wisdom of great Americans and spotlight people in New York and Chicago who are vigorously opposing the injustice of the Trump regime
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel
I do not think we are powerless, but we are certainly challenged to combat all of the nefarious activities being undertaken. At least in the short term.
Thank you once again Steven. On this day, it is amazing to read George Washington’s wisdom and warnings, and of course Abraham Lincoln.May we prevail in protests. Thank you for the Frederick Douglass quotes and those from Elie Weisel. We have wisdom from the past showing us what to do.
My favorite part of your post is the reference to "bad men."
There have been so many polysyllabic adjectives spilled in all that has been written, and most of it is either hedging (the media) or overflowing with emotions of anger and excess (me, for instance). I had not yet seen the whole of their nefariousness reduced so poignantly to a mere two syllables. Plain speaking.
Yes, Steven, we must continue to resist this authoritarian takeover by unscrupulous men (and other genders who are complicit). We are not going back and it is good to learn that people are taking to the streets as we did in the 60’s.
My cousin stayed with her abusive husband because he was always sorry after black eyes and broken bones... and he said it only abused her because he loved her, wanted to make her do better, be a better person. America is being abused... and some believe it is to make us better. I hope he doesn't kill us.
Thank you once again, Steven, and thank you for your “Spotlight”
Excerpt from your words:—-
“Put another way, courtesy of Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will…The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
In the months ahead, we will continue to spotlight people who refuse to buckle under pressure from the oppressive demands of America’s tyrants.”
And yet Americans voted for the chaos and evil we endure today. Those elected to combat Presidential overreach agree with and promote the vengeful acts. The Courts who could stop the carnage are powerless now that the highest court has given immunity to all official acts. Washington and his little band of WHITE MEN could not see how they were oppressors when they were all powerful in the beginning of our nation. All men were created equal when the definition was white land owners with slaves. All others did not have rights or person-hood. Same today!
77 million USians voted for Trump-Vance, that's for sure. Did they vote for "the chaos and evil we endure today"? I don't think so. I don't think most voters really know *what* we're voting for, and how could we? Reliable sources of information aren't easy to find, but unreliable sources and unsubstantiated rumors are everywhere, fueled by out-of-control campaign spending. I suspect that most of us are more aware of what we're voting *against* than of what we're voting *for*.
John Roberts was appointed SCOTUS chief justice in 2005. Samuel Alito joined the Court in January 2006. Citizens United was decided in 2010, Shelby County v. Holder in 2013. During his first term, Trump -- with the key assistance of Mitch McConnell -- packed the Court with Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. (All of which seemed to waken Clarence Thomas from the doze he'd been in since 1991.) None of this came out of nowhere.
Exactly. I keep seeing posts about nothing being done, but they need to remember or maybe become aware of how many years the Reps, Heritage Foundation, etc., have been planning all this. We can't turn it all around in a hurry. It took weeks to turn the the ship Ever Given when it was stuck in the Suez. What we have to turn is much bigger and much deeper in the mud. But we CAN and MUST do it!
Voter suppression is the clear cause of this criminal regime. Georgia is the perfect example, voter’s registrations were challenged by individuals in the GOP to remove black, brown, and young women from the voter rolls, and if they voted provisional ballots, they were tossed out. This should be countered by voter’s rights laws, but they are being subverted by the GOP so that they are sure to win elections. Cheating, no matter how it’s done is unamerican, and laws must be passed to prevent it from happening again.
Neither Washington nor Lincoln was around to see the rise of corporate power in the late 19th century, though it's highly likely that they, especially Lincoln, would have recognized its close kinship with the white oligarchy of the antebellum South. That particular oligarchy was back in the saddle by the end of the 1870s. The Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s set them back temporarily but it also made them mad as swarming hornets -- and they've been at it ever since.
I want to believe -- I have to believe -- that we will get through this with our flawed but aspiring democracy reasonably intact. Then what? Shake hands, let bygones be bygones, and get back to "business as usual" (whatever that was)? I hope not. What I hope is that "we the people," enough of us anyway, will follow the lead of the post-WW2 Germans and take a hard look at how we got to this point. It didn't start with Project 2025 or Trump's 2nd election. Trump's first election didn't come out of nowhere either. Neither did the Reagan administration.
This "hard look" can't be foisted off on some blue-ribbon commission either. The future of our democracy depends on it, so we the people have to be involved.
An important and educational President's Day piece. I know of many in a nearby community where I live that are undoubtedly undocumented... (agricultural workers.) I've always thought that most citizens in the area never gave a second thought about the value of these hard workers, until came Trump.
Keep writing about those contemporary profiles in courage. It gives us courage and inspiration to read and learn what others are doing.
MLK understood that confronting systemic injustice requires moral courage and nonviolent resistance. He taught that silence and compliance with oppression only perpetuate it - true change demands standing firm against powerful wrongs.
President Washington's words could not have been more prescient. It is almost as if he is writing in Substack today. You, Steven, by quoting him at length, are allowing him, in effect, to do so. Thank you.
While applauding the courage of those who are opposing the fascist regime - in the DoJ by resigning, on the streets by standing up against the depravity of forced deportation - I have to ask: where is the official Democratic response to the outrages we are facing? Yes, there are a huge number of stray voices (right here on Substack, for example), but why do we not have a body of officials (elected and otherwise) to unite us in opposing the ongoing coup in the strongest possible manner?
Let us also pay attention to the fact that Trump has now discarded any pretense that he is anything but a quisling of Putin's. What an utter disgrace to our nation that Trump is attempting to rehabilitate a war criminal, a mass murderer, by entering into "negotiations" with him. These talks between Putin and his poodle are nothing more than a hoax to allow Putin to leverage his terms for Ukraine's future. What a travesty.
Europe, are you listening? It's only the future of the free world that is at stake.
Timothy Snyder's advocacy for a "Shadow Cabinet" that could frame our situation, unite us in our opposition, and propose a way forward becomes more relevant by the hour.
As always thank you for your service in writing these important articles. We must push back at every opportunity and point out that Trump’s criminal cabal are not patriots but nationalists who cloak themselves in the flag while embracing and enacting Nazi policies. I wrote about Benjamin Ferencz last night, who prosecuted the Einsatzgrüppen Trial which was the largest murder trial in history. Here is the link to my short article. https://dundas.substack.com/p/are-we-patriots-or-nationalists-do
Our foreign policy lacks adult leadership. The world is dumbfounded by your dummies going abroad. At least our leaders are not yet shooting our citizens, but they will crack skulls and shoot us. We need to be ready for that fork in the road. https://bit.ly/4b5wkL4
This from a fellow ornithologist of renown. In this case a black man. J. Drew Lanham
"It is like watching a house burn down with friends and family within. We feel helpless as water sprayed -- no matter how much -- does not save the innocent from being consumed, nor keep smoke inhaled and scarring burns from maiming those somehow surviving the conflagration. The thing is, we saw the arsonists pour the accelerant and light the flame, but too many stood silent or claimed the fire prescribed would cleanse. They, too, in time, will get burned. But for now, we stand by and help to heal the hurt with love and care as soothing salve, where we can. As the fire rages and jumps the line, be advised, prepare for flare-ups. Rake the litter off the lines. Fireproof your heart best you can and live your lives as if joy was essential dousing agent. That joy is the strength to fight the flames. That joy is what they can not take unless we give them the key to come in. You see, the fuel they heap on is despair. The spark is fear. Beware. Joy in whatever amount we can conjur is the only hope. Joy, is the rain we must dance, sing, shout, write and paint for. Joy lit with hope for better will be my backing fire set to slow the inferno down. Joy is the ember within each of us who truly cares kept glowing, ready by the rising sun. Be ready with a breath of hope to set fires of your own. Keep fighting with joy as your rain. Our time will come."
Thanks, Steven, for this thoughtful article. I believe that your work, and that of those like you, is needed more than ever during this crisis for our country.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel
I do not think we are powerless, but we are certainly challenged to combat all of the nefarious activities being undertaken. At least in the short term.
Thank you once again Steven. On this day, it is amazing to read George Washington’s wisdom and warnings, and of course Abraham Lincoln.May we prevail in protests. Thank you for the Frederick Douglass quotes and those from Elie Weisel. We have wisdom from the past showing us what to do.
Thanks you Steve.
My favorite part of your post is the reference to "bad men."
There have been so many polysyllabic adjectives spilled in all that has been written, and most of it is either hedging (the media) or overflowing with emotions of anger and excess (me, for instance). I had not yet seen the whole of their nefariousness reduced so poignantly to a mere two syllables. Plain speaking.
Yes, Steven, we must continue to resist this authoritarian takeover by unscrupulous men (and other genders who are complicit). We are not going back and it is good to learn that people are taking to the streets as we did in the 60’s.
My cousin stayed with her abusive husband because he was always sorry after black eyes and broken bones... and he said it only abused her because he loved her, wanted to make her do better, be a better person. America is being abused... and some believe it is to make us better. I hope he doesn't kill us.
Thank you once again, Steven, and thank you for your “Spotlight”
Excerpt from your words:—-
“Put another way, courtesy of Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will…The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
In the months ahead, we will continue to spotlight people who refuse to buckle under pressure from the oppressive demands of America’s tyrants.”
Power to the people...not to the individuals who don't believe in us and our freedoms.
And yet Americans voted for the chaos and evil we endure today. Those elected to combat Presidential overreach agree with and promote the vengeful acts. The Courts who could stop the carnage are powerless now that the highest court has given immunity to all official acts. Washington and his little band of WHITE MEN could not see how they were oppressors when they were all powerful in the beginning of our nation. All men were created equal when the definition was white land owners with slaves. All others did not have rights or person-hood. Same today!
77 million USians voted for Trump-Vance, that's for sure. Did they vote for "the chaos and evil we endure today"? I don't think so. I don't think most voters really know *what* we're voting for, and how could we? Reliable sources of information aren't easy to find, but unreliable sources and unsubstantiated rumors are everywhere, fueled by out-of-control campaign spending. I suspect that most of us are more aware of what we're voting *against* than of what we're voting *for*.
John Roberts was appointed SCOTUS chief justice in 2005. Samuel Alito joined the Court in January 2006. Citizens United was decided in 2010, Shelby County v. Holder in 2013. During his first term, Trump -- with the key assistance of Mitch McConnell -- packed the Court with Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. (All of which seemed to waken Clarence Thomas from the doze he'd been in since 1991.) None of this came out of nowhere.
Exactly. I keep seeing posts about nothing being done, but they need to remember or maybe become aware of how many years the Reps, Heritage Foundation, etc., have been planning all this. We can't turn it all around in a hurry. It took weeks to turn the the ship Ever Given when it was stuck in the Suez. What we have to turn is much bigger and much deeper in the mud. But we CAN and MUST do it!
Voter suppression is the clear cause of this criminal regime. Georgia is the perfect example, voter’s registrations were challenged by individuals in the GOP to remove black, brown, and young women from the voter rolls, and if they voted provisional ballots, they were tossed out. This should be countered by voter’s rights laws, but they are being subverted by the GOP so that they are sure to win elections. Cheating, no matter how it’s done is unamerican, and laws must be passed to prevent it from happening again.
Neither Washington nor Lincoln was around to see the rise of corporate power in the late 19th century, though it's highly likely that they, especially Lincoln, would have recognized its close kinship with the white oligarchy of the antebellum South. That particular oligarchy was back in the saddle by the end of the 1870s. The Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s set them back temporarily but it also made them mad as swarming hornets -- and they've been at it ever since.
I want to believe -- I have to believe -- that we will get through this with our flawed but aspiring democracy reasonably intact. Then what? Shake hands, let bygones be bygones, and get back to "business as usual" (whatever that was)? I hope not. What I hope is that "we the people," enough of us anyway, will follow the lead of the post-WW2 Germans and take a hard look at how we got to this point. It didn't start with Project 2025 or Trump's 2nd election. Trump's first election didn't come out of nowhere either. Neither did the Reagan administration.
This "hard look" can't be foisted off on some blue-ribbon commission either. The future of our democracy depends on it, so we the people have to be involved.
An important and educational President's Day piece. I know of many in a nearby community where I live that are undoubtedly undocumented... (agricultural workers.) I've always thought that most citizens in the area never gave a second thought about the value of these hard workers, until came Trump.
Keep writing about those contemporary profiles in courage. It gives us courage and inspiration to read and learn what others are doing.
MLK understood that confronting systemic injustice requires moral courage and nonviolent resistance. He taught that silence and compliance with oppression only perpetuate it - true change demands standing firm against powerful wrongs.
Keep sharing those historical words of wisdom.
Thank you, Ralph.
President Washington's words could not have been more prescient. It is almost as if he is writing in Substack today. You, Steven, by quoting him at length, are allowing him, in effect, to do so. Thank you.
While applauding the courage of those who are opposing the fascist regime - in the DoJ by resigning, on the streets by standing up against the depravity of forced deportation - I have to ask: where is the official Democratic response to the outrages we are facing? Yes, there are a huge number of stray voices (right here on Substack, for example), but why do we not have a body of officials (elected and otherwise) to unite us in opposing the ongoing coup in the strongest possible manner?
Let us also pay attention to the fact that Trump has now discarded any pretense that he is anything but a quisling of Putin's. What an utter disgrace to our nation that Trump is attempting to rehabilitate a war criminal, a mass murderer, by entering into "negotiations" with him. These talks between Putin and his poodle are nothing more than a hoax to allow Putin to leverage his terms for Ukraine's future. What a travesty.
Europe, are you listening? It's only the future of the free world that is at stake.
Timothy Snyder's advocacy for a "Shadow Cabinet" that could frame our situation, unite us in our opposition, and propose a way forward becomes more relevant by the hour.
Steven,
As always thank you for your service in writing these important articles. We must push back at every opportunity and point out that Trump’s criminal cabal are not patriots but nationalists who cloak themselves in the flag while embracing and enacting Nazi policies. I wrote about Benjamin Ferencz last night, who prosecuted the Einsatzgrüppen Trial which was the largest murder trial in history. Here is the link to my short article. https://dundas.substack.com/p/are-we-patriots-or-nationalists-do
Thank you again and watch your six.
Steve Dundas
Our foreign policy lacks adult leadership. The world is dumbfounded by your dummies going abroad. At least our leaders are not yet shooting our citizens, but they will crack skulls and shoot us. We need to be ready for that fork in the road. https://bit.ly/4b5wkL4
This from a fellow ornithologist of renown. In this case a black man. J. Drew Lanham
"It is like watching a house burn down with friends and family within. We feel helpless as water sprayed -- no matter how much -- does not save the innocent from being consumed, nor keep smoke inhaled and scarring burns from maiming those somehow surviving the conflagration. The thing is, we saw the arsonists pour the accelerant and light the flame, but too many stood silent or claimed the fire prescribed would cleanse. They, too, in time, will get burned. But for now, we stand by and help to heal the hurt with love and care as soothing salve, where we can. As the fire rages and jumps the line, be advised, prepare for flare-ups. Rake the litter off the lines. Fireproof your heart best you can and live your lives as if joy was essential dousing agent. That joy is the strength to fight the flames. That joy is what they can not take unless we give them the key to come in. You see, the fuel they heap on is despair. The spark is fear. Beware. Joy in whatever amount we can conjur is the only hope. Joy, is the rain we must dance, sing, shout, write and paint for. Joy lit with hope for better will be my backing fire set to slow the inferno down. Joy is the ember within each of us who truly cares kept glowing, ready by the rising sun. Be ready with a breath of hope to set fires of your own. Keep fighting with joy as your rain. Our time will come."
Thanks, Steven, for this thoughtful article. I believe that your work, and that of those like you, is needed more than ever during this crisis for our country.