Steven, I don't want to go back to the day after the election of 2024. It's just too distressing and depressing. My focus is on today: what can I do to counter fear and hate? What can I do today to promote tolerance and love?
If you read my teaching memoir that takes you into the bowels of our education system, A Graver Danger, the path forward will be clear. Democracy’s foundation - our corrupt schools - did this to us. Both parties let it happen; their failure cleared the path for a new party.
It’s another Harvey Weinstein saga only an intellectual rather than sexual one this time. Our “Harvey” forced teachers to behave stupidly so that they could maintain our schools for THEIR sake, not this country’s sake. By making us look ineffective, they’ve successfully gotten you not to listen to teachers like me who know how learning happens. They’ve made our schools their treasure chests rather than our guardrail for democracy.
All we need is an investigative reporter like Ronan Farrow and the path back to democracy will be clear to all. In the meantime, learn that whoever controls our school boards, controls democracy’s direction. Up until now, bad guys have easily groomed boards to rubber stamp their misdeeds while the public remained clueless. Read my memoir, run for school board on a save democracy platform and you’ll turn despair into joy.
Meanwhile, Steven, please find us an investigative reporter to blow this scandal open.
I promised myself that I wouldn't write until after the New Year. Your message is so compelling that here I am typing and expressing my thoughts - as if I could just ignore them. First, your message is inspiring. I hope that all who reads it will feel some level of hope. I am with you all the way, except that my background/experiences with 20 years living in dictator-led countries leads me down a somewhat different path. I wrote From Democracy to Democrazy in 2019 with the final version published in 2023. It was intended as a warning to all Americans - many of whom thought I was a fanatic. I am a realist and not crazed or batty. I have been there, seen that, and know what a dictator looks like and behaves like. I also was in Moscow during Trump's many trips. Since the 1990's, I realized that Trump was a Putin-puppet and would do or say anything to fulfill and effectuate Putin's wishes. Trump is a narcissistic, self-absorbed, and self-obsessed imbecile. Putin purchased Trump's devotion in 1990's when he was caught up in a typical Russian KGB /FSB spy trap. The Russians flattered him, provided him with women and sex, and loaned him large sums of money. He fell for their entrapment 100%.
Your messages gave readers the hope that Trump will be defeated in four years. Here is what Trump has said: "in four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not gonna have to vote." (Reuters, by Tim Reid, July 28, 2024). BELIEVE HIM. Let me remind you that Putin was voted into the Russian presidency FOR A SIX YEAR TERM and assumed his office in 2000. Twenty-five years later, he is still in office and the DUMA has voted to allow him to stay there until 2034. Donald Trump will do the same maneuver
The Democratic Party ran a good, honest, and powerful campaign against Trump. They bet on Harris and abortion rights. Trump, with the widespread help from Russia's propaganda - told the Republicans and Americans that the economy was in trouble. Under Biden's leadership, our economy was not just the fastest growing in the entire world, but also the most stable. U.S. manufacturing was on the rise and unemployment was at an all-time low. This didn't matter to the Joe Blow buying $6 bread at the market, nor did they stop and think that Trump had filed six bankruptcies, was a convicted felon had committed massive fraud, and was legally labeled a "sexual predator." The Joe Blow on the streets of America does not believe that Trump had committed treason on January 6th, or that he has been working for the Russians and probably feeding them U.S. Top Secret military secrets.
Brad Raffensperger (R), the Secretary of State of Georgia, PROVED that the Russians had hacked into the voting locations in Fulton County and planted "bomb threats." Fulton County, Georgia is the place where Trump was to be prosecuted for his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. This verifies and confirms Trump's relationship with Putin and Russia. But no one listens.
I lived in Russia during Putin's rise to power. I witnessed the changes as one reporter after another was murdered or fled for their lives. I was there during communism, during the Yeltsin years of more freedom, and then watched as the black cloud of a dictatorship slowly covered the vast land of Russia. I now see that same toxic black cloud hovering off the shores of the U.S.
I suggest that a review of U.S. history from the mid-20th century to the present might be more helpful to understanding our current situation than analogies to Putin's Russia.
Start with what happened to the Republican Party after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Review Nixon's "southern strategy," which prompted the previously "Solid (white) South" to turn Republican. After that the key milestones include Lewis Powell's now-famous memo of 1971, urging the corporations and very wealthy to basically take "their" country back from the pesky folks who take democracy seriously; the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision (1973); the end of the "fairness doctrine" and the rise of Fox News; and of course the Reagan administration and everything that's happened since.
Short version: Racism, sexism, corporate power, and the ignorance of the electorate (which has multiple causes) don't explain everything that's going on now, but any scenario that doesn't address them is of limited use going forward.
Exactly right. This is why I'm pressing that 1971 Lewis Powell memo on everyone who doesn't know about it. It points the way to the Reagan administration, the unleashing of corporate power, the repeal of Glass-Steagall (for which President Clinton and his corporate advisers were responsible), and eventually the Citizens United decision. (The memo is easy to find online these days. Pass it on!)
I agree that the Democratic party ran a good campaign, that is ,with one exception. They were never able to penetrate the tight propaganda bubble his maga cult created. Maga controlled nearly all information. The massive and extended propaganda campaign began some time ago. One of the first orders of business for them was to distrust all information coming from anyone but themselves--it's all fake news. It isolated them and they obeyed admirably, and quit watching/listening/reading anything that did not come from their "trusted" source. If we don't figure out how to get a hold of these propaganda machines, nothing will change.
We resist. 👊 The Nazis won the battle for the election but we cannot let them win the war and destroy democracy, the Constitution, and our democratic Republic. We resist.
Thank you for providing this community and the invaluable truth that is shared here. It matters. Thank you.
I believe one way to deal with meanies is to mock them, though doing so does enrage the orange fourth grader. Most people will just get on with their lives, as they did before the election, don't you think? They probably won't notice changes until a woman they know seeks emergency health care, or their Latino neighbors aren't at the barbecue or they get sick from eating e.coli-tainted meat, or a bridge collapses or they're left without power for months after another hurricane blows through. Then they will wonder if their vote was worth the price of eggs. The fourth grader is a blowhard. I don't know what he will manage to effect, but Kash and Tulsi are dangerous people and should be rejected.
“We cannot indulge ourselves with the feeling that ‘it’s all over,’ that democracy dies on the day Trump takes office again, however understandable that fear is.” Powerful words Steven. It feels like we’ll be in a battle for a while, and remembering these words will give us courage until we emerge triumphant.
I will not comply. I will not believe or accept Trump (or his disturbed followers) daily performances and chaos. I will not abandon my character and core belief in the Democratic values that have sustained me and our country my entire life. I will not change. To Steven and everyone else, count me in.
I was a teenager during the Vietnam war. Today, there are still many good men who are broken from their experience then and how they were treated by their fellow Americans when they came home, and still through the problems of the VA system. Now, at age 75, with 13 brilliant and beautiful grandchildren, I fear that the lunatic-in-chief will follow his leader Putin’s example and sacrifice another generation to his imperial ambitions by activating the draft. Yes, resist we must!
My husband is a Vietnam vet and it has taken 54 years to get the benefits he has deserved. He said the VA just waits for the veteran to die so that they do not have to pay anything. You cannot believe the hoops the government puts them through!
Steven, thank you for revisiting this. I didn’t read it the first time around, bc I couldn’t read anything for weeks after the election. I think I’m still grieving bc I just couldn’t and wouldn’t let myself believe that he could possibly win again..so the grief had taken over. Come the new year, I hope to build up my strength and get back to the fight.
I just sent a letter to Sen Marsha Blackburn ( strong Trump supporter from my deeply red state) urging her to oppose Mahon confirmation as a representative of allTennesseeans,nojt just the”red” ones. I forwarded a copy to my list of nearly 50 other in-state voters urging they do the same
It is gloomy in so many ways on this day after Boxing Day. I don't expect much sun to nourish Democracy, although I am already committed to activities that I hope will begin to lighten the horizon as we slog through 2025. Thanks for the encouragement, sir. I am already seeing spots which may allow me to work with comrades and kindred spirits, and your message (though it is subdued) is tossing bits of energy into the air above us. Thanks.
Steven, thanks for reposting the November column, although it made me ill. Actually, I am angry! Angry that people buried their heads in the sand or turned their heads like the Germans did when Jews and others were being murdered. I have to say, however, that I am very grateful that the House has an extremely thin margin and that Johnson will have to rely on the Dems, once again. Here is what I really worry about: Child separation. Homan, the border “czar” monster has stated he will march in any state to carry out his deportation plans. We still have something like 1500 children unaccounted for and Stephen Miller apparently didn’t keep “notes” like the Nazis did, on each of these families. It’s heinous and criminal. In a sane world, Trump & Co. would have been imprisoned. Nope! In our country, they get elevated to godlike status!
Hope? I was doubtful. But already MAGA is imploding … over immigration, of all things. Musk and Ramaswamy want exceptions for tech workers (apparently real Americans are too dumb). And Trump looks just awful: A petty, petty man who looks truly old and lost.
So maybe the next question to MAGA could be, “Why are Elon and Vivek indicating that regular Americans are too stupid? Could it be because our schools have been systematically hollowed out by every argument besides actual education?” Build on your subject from there and while you’re at it, ask how getting sidelined by culture war issues really helps teach the basic skills necessary to make future adults highly skilled(you know, like the very people Elon and Vivek want to allow in).
Hmm, yes. But having a real education would mean not having to ask those questions at all, the answers would be obvious. Doesn’t having an education mean you’re on the way to learning how to think for yourself?
“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” - Elie Wiesel.
Get up, stand up, speak up: Motto for 2025+
Elie Wiesel and Bob Marley (and Peter Tosh)
A perfect combination.
Steven, I don't want to go back to the day after the election of 2024. It's just too distressing and depressing. My focus is on today: what can I do to counter fear and hate? What can I do today to promote tolerance and love?
The proof of the pudding is in the doing!
I understand. And I’m all for the positive additions to the here and now. It’s needed. (I’m hoping the looking back helps that forward thrust.)
If you read my teaching memoir that takes you into the bowels of our education system, A Graver Danger, the path forward will be clear. Democracy’s foundation - our corrupt schools - did this to us. Both parties let it happen; their failure cleared the path for a new party.
It’s another Harvey Weinstein saga only an intellectual rather than sexual one this time. Our “Harvey” forced teachers to behave stupidly so that they could maintain our schools for THEIR sake, not this country’s sake. By making us look ineffective, they’ve successfully gotten you not to listen to teachers like me who know how learning happens. They’ve made our schools their treasure chests rather than our guardrail for democracy.
All we need is an investigative reporter like Ronan Farrow and the path back to democracy will be clear to all. In the meantime, learn that whoever controls our school boards, controls democracy’s direction. Up until now, bad guys have easily groomed boards to rubber stamp their misdeeds while the public remained clueless. Read my memoir, run for school board on a save democracy platform and you’ll turn despair into joy.
Meanwhile, Steven, please find us an investigative reporter to blow this scandal open.
In case you missed it, here is Joyce Vance’s Substack from yesterday along these same lines. https://open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/educate-or-not?r=np4n&utm_medium=ios
Thanks so much. Substack is amazing. It gives me hope.
Well said. I’m sure a lot of your readers share this outlook; I certainly do. Thank you.
I promised myself that I wouldn't write until after the New Year. Your message is so compelling that here I am typing and expressing my thoughts - as if I could just ignore them. First, your message is inspiring. I hope that all who reads it will feel some level of hope. I am with you all the way, except that my background/experiences with 20 years living in dictator-led countries leads me down a somewhat different path. I wrote From Democracy to Democrazy in 2019 with the final version published in 2023. It was intended as a warning to all Americans - many of whom thought I was a fanatic. I am a realist and not crazed or batty. I have been there, seen that, and know what a dictator looks like and behaves like. I also was in Moscow during Trump's many trips. Since the 1990's, I realized that Trump was a Putin-puppet and would do or say anything to fulfill and effectuate Putin's wishes. Trump is a narcissistic, self-absorbed, and self-obsessed imbecile. Putin purchased Trump's devotion in 1990's when he was caught up in a typical Russian KGB /FSB spy trap. The Russians flattered him, provided him with women and sex, and loaned him large sums of money. He fell for their entrapment 100%.
Your messages gave readers the hope that Trump will be defeated in four years. Here is what Trump has said: "in four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not gonna have to vote." (Reuters, by Tim Reid, July 28, 2024). BELIEVE HIM. Let me remind you that Putin was voted into the Russian presidency FOR A SIX YEAR TERM and assumed his office in 2000. Twenty-five years later, he is still in office and the DUMA has voted to allow him to stay there until 2034. Donald Trump will do the same maneuver
The Democratic Party ran a good, honest, and powerful campaign against Trump. They bet on Harris and abortion rights. Trump, with the widespread help from Russia's propaganda - told the Republicans and Americans that the economy was in trouble. Under Biden's leadership, our economy was not just the fastest growing in the entire world, but also the most stable. U.S. manufacturing was on the rise and unemployment was at an all-time low. This didn't matter to the Joe Blow buying $6 bread at the market, nor did they stop and think that Trump had filed six bankruptcies, was a convicted felon had committed massive fraud, and was legally labeled a "sexual predator." The Joe Blow on the streets of America does not believe that Trump had committed treason on January 6th, or that he has been working for the Russians and probably feeding them U.S. Top Secret military secrets.
Brad Raffensperger (R), the Secretary of State of Georgia, PROVED that the Russians had hacked into the voting locations in Fulton County and planted "bomb threats." Fulton County, Georgia is the place where Trump was to be prosecuted for his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. This verifies and confirms Trump's relationship with Putin and Russia. But no one listens.
I lived in Russia during Putin's rise to power. I witnessed the changes as one reporter after another was murdered or fled for their lives. I was there during communism, during the Yeltsin years of more freedom, and then watched as the black cloud of a dictatorship slowly covered the vast land of Russia. I now see that same toxic black cloud hovering off the shores of the U.S.
Elizabeth Graham, www.democrazy2020.org
From Democracy to Democrazy
I suggest that a review of U.S. history from the mid-20th century to the present might be more helpful to understanding our current situation than analogies to Putin's Russia.
Start with what happened to the Republican Party after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Review Nixon's "southern strategy," which prompted the previously "Solid (white) South" to turn Republican. After that the key milestones include Lewis Powell's now-famous memo of 1971, urging the corporations and very wealthy to basically take "their" country back from the pesky folks who take democracy seriously; the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision (1973); the end of the "fairness doctrine" and the rise of Fox News; and of course the Reagan administration and everything that's happened since.
Short version: Racism, sexism, corporate power, and the ignorance of the electorate (which has multiple causes) don't explain everything that's going on now, but any scenario that doesn't address them is of limited use going forward.
We can't forget one of the biggest factors of all: the constant erosion of laws and policies by and for the rich. Corporations are people, really?
Exactly right. This is why I'm pressing that 1971 Lewis Powell memo on everyone who doesn't know about it. It points the way to the Reagan administration, the unleashing of corporate power, the repeal of Glass-Steagall (for which President Clinton and his corporate advisers were responsible), and eventually the Citizens United decision. (The memo is easy to find online these days. Pass it on!)
I agree that the Democratic party ran a good campaign, that is ,with one exception. They were never able to penetrate the tight propaganda bubble his maga cult created. Maga controlled nearly all information. The massive and extended propaganda campaign began some time ago. One of the first orders of business for them was to distrust all information coming from anyone but themselves--it's all fake news. It isolated them and they obeyed admirably, and quit watching/listening/reading anything that did not come from their "trusted" source. If we don't figure out how to get a hold of these propaganda machines, nothing will change.
We resist. 👊 The Nazis won the battle for the election but we cannot let them win the war and destroy democracy, the Constitution, and our democratic Republic. We resist.
Thank you for providing this community and the invaluable truth that is shared here. It matters. Thank you.
I believe one way to deal with meanies is to mock them, though doing so does enrage the orange fourth grader. Most people will just get on with their lives, as they did before the election, don't you think? They probably won't notice changes until a woman they know seeks emergency health care, or their Latino neighbors aren't at the barbecue or they get sick from eating e.coli-tainted meat, or a bridge collapses or they're left without power for months after another hurricane blows through. Then they will wonder if their vote was worth the price of eggs. The fourth grader is a blowhard. I don't know what he will manage to effect, but Kash and Tulsi are dangerous people and should be rejected.
They’ll blame it all on Joe.
David slayed Goliath … a good quip can slay the thin skinned MAGA.
“We cannot indulge ourselves with the feeling that ‘it’s all over,’ that democracy dies on the day Trump takes office again, however understandable that fear is.” Powerful words Steven. It feels like we’ll be in a battle for a while, and remembering these words will give us courage until we emerge triumphant.
We already have one shining example of protest: Martin Luther King, Junior. Back to basics … and perhaps a quick revisit with Mahatma Gandhi.
I will not comply. I will not believe or accept Trump (or his disturbed followers) daily performances and chaos. I will not abandon my character and core belief in the Democratic values that have sustained me and our country my entire life. I will not change. To Steven and everyone else, count me in.
Thank you!
I was a teenager during the Vietnam war. Today, there are still many good men who are broken from their experience then and how they were treated by their fellow Americans when they came home, and still through the problems of the VA system. Now, at age 75, with 13 brilliant and beautiful grandchildren, I fear that the lunatic-in-chief will follow his leader Putin’s example and sacrifice another generation to his imperial ambitions by activating the draft. Yes, resist we must!
My husband is a Vietnam vet and it has taken 54 years to get the benefits he has deserved. He said the VA just waits for the veteran to die so that they do not have to pay anything. You cannot believe the hoops the government puts them through!
Steven, thank you for revisiting this. I didn’t read it the first time around, bc I couldn’t read anything for weeks after the election. I think I’m still grieving bc I just couldn’t and wouldn’t let myself believe that he could possibly win again..so the grief had taken over. Come the new year, I hope to build up my strength and get back to the fight.
The resistance continues, we are all in this together. Fact is I thought I was tired , but not at all, I can’t wait.
Thank you Steven !!
I just sent a letter to Sen Marsha Blackburn ( strong Trump supporter from my deeply red state) urging her to oppose Mahon confirmation as a representative of allTennesseeans,nojt just the”red” ones. I forwarded a copy to my list of nearly 50 other in-state voters urging they do the same
It is gloomy in so many ways on this day after Boxing Day. I don't expect much sun to nourish Democracy, although I am already committed to activities that I hope will begin to lighten the horizon as we slog through 2025. Thanks for the encouragement, sir. I am already seeing spots which may allow me to work with comrades and kindred spirits, and your message (though it is subdued) is tossing bits of energy into the air above us. Thanks.
Steven, thanks for reposting the November column, although it made me ill. Actually, I am angry! Angry that people buried their heads in the sand or turned their heads like the Germans did when Jews and others were being murdered. I have to say, however, that I am very grateful that the House has an extremely thin margin and that Johnson will have to rely on the Dems, once again. Here is what I really worry about: Child separation. Homan, the border “czar” monster has stated he will march in any state to carry out his deportation plans. We still have something like 1500 children unaccounted for and Stephen Miller apparently didn’t keep “notes” like the Nazis did, on each of these families. It’s heinous and criminal. In a sane world, Trump & Co. would have been imprisoned. Nope! In our country, they get elevated to godlike status!
I think you’re right to emphasize family separation as one of the worst tragedies coming from these people.
Hope? I was doubtful. But already MAGA is imploding … over immigration, of all things. Musk and Ramaswamy want exceptions for tech workers (apparently real Americans are too dumb). And Trump looks just awful: A petty, petty man who looks truly old and lost.
So maybe the next question to MAGA could be, “Why are Elon and Vivek indicating that regular Americans are too stupid? Could it be because our schools have been systematically hollowed out by every argument besides actual education?” Build on your subject from there and while you’re at it, ask how getting sidelined by culture war issues really helps teach the basic skills necessary to make future adults highly skilled(you know, like the very people Elon and Vivek want to allow in).
It’s just a thought.
Hmm, yes. But having a real education would mean not having to ask those questions at all, the answers would be obvious. Doesn’t having an education mean you’re on the way to learning how to think for yourself?
So is it too early to start talking about the 25th Amendment?
Yes, yes!