Thank you, Mr. Beschloss. And, sadly, we knew everything we needed to know about this man before his first election. Not only are less than a majority of Americans dangerously stupid, they are intellectually lazy.
So absolutely true on the rampant ignorance that put that abomination in the White House. And beyond that, the cadre of disturbed and dishonorable human beings Trump surrounds himself with.
They cloak themselves in Christian Nationalism, calling the forces of justice “demonic”. It is hard to fight that type of framing, that sort of intellectual and spiritual dishonesty…but they live to create fear among their adherents. For me, this is one of the scariest and most pernicious lies that they tell their followers. This provides them a smug assurance and rationale that they are doing the ‘Lord’s work’ when they terrorize their fellow citizens.
Reading “Grant” was an epiphany for me. The historical events of the time were in small part a precursor to ongoing racial tensions and bigotry. The past is prologue and we must surge forward to prevent the dismantling of our government, our democracy and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness so beautifully proposed in the Declaration of Independence. Though the KKK was a thing of the past, it managed to pop up in the earlier 1900’s until it was revealed as a boil on the posterior of our country. Common sense prevailed and it should do so again.
Love this article.Love the visions. Love the ideals. Inspiring
Powerful illumination of our previous history as we strategically created laws and policy to mitigate the unjust and foul uncivilized cruelty of certain forces.
We succeeded previously with hearts and minds of purpose to right wrongs and overcome powerful tyrannical systems and we must succeed again.
Your sentence "reflecting on a president's obligations..." says it all. Will repeat: If do not know, remember history are bound to repeat - the best & the horrendous. TY, Stephen, for this today. Will be sharing!
Thank you for defining what we see with the historical context. Our forefathers gave us a framework connecting the dots for us. We need to focus on our next steps.
One of the things I greatly enjoy is the injection of humor, silliness and the unexpected into protests and rallies. This provides multiple ways for people to participate & attracts people who otherwise do not participate. It’s an important strategy in the information war. If it was not, satire would be much more popular with despots — not their target. Few things undermine the ‘insurrection’ narrative like cartoon characters, dancers or drummers being held at gunpoint or being wrestled to the ground by masked me in tactical gear. Not what they want in Noem video.
Another is that faith leaders have begun coming to the front of the information war all the way up the chain to the Pope. Not a good look for ICE to be perched on the roof, using ‘less lethal’ weapons on priests, preachers and their parishioners and others who joined them. Even worse to have video of projectiles hitting those individuals who are small in number, no threat to anyone.
I’ll add one caution. It is not unusual for trouble makers to infiltrate protests. It is one reason some organizations advise keeping them small. I’ve seen it up close and personal in the past. We saw it in the Floyd and Taylor protests. Know who the leaders & have allies monitoring in the crowd. (We used to call them our ‘marshals’. Probably not the best term these days.) Leave an area where someone becomes too aggressive or violent. — They are much more conspicuous in the midst of dancers etc.
Thank you, Mr. Beschloss. And, sadly, we knew everything we needed to know about this man before his first election. Not only are less than a majority of Americans dangerously stupid, they are intellectually lazy.
So absolutely true on the rampant ignorance that put that abomination in the White House. And beyond that, the cadre of disturbed and dishonorable human beings Trump surrounds himself with.
As my mom used to say, “stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed.” Let’s focus on how to fix the ignorance.
They cloak themselves in Christian Nationalism, calling the forces of justice “demonic”. It is hard to fight that type of framing, that sort of intellectual and spiritual dishonesty…but they live to create fear among their adherents. For me, this is one of the scariest and most pernicious lies that they tell their followers. This provides them a smug assurance and rationale that they are doing the ‘Lord’s work’ when they terrorize their fellow citizens.
I have a small file where I keep Substack columns that affect me. This one of yours today is going into it. Thank you.
Reading “Grant” was an epiphany for me. The historical events of the time were in small part a precursor to ongoing racial tensions and bigotry. The past is prologue and we must surge forward to prevent the dismantling of our government, our democracy and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness so beautifully proposed in the Declaration of Independence. Though the KKK was a thing of the past, it managed to pop up in the earlier 1900’s until it was revealed as a boil on the posterior of our country. Common sense prevailed and it should do so again.
An old post, but still pertinent.
We need better leaders, who are elected by better citizens.
https://open.substack.com/pub/albellenchia/p/paging-george-bailey?r=7wk5d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Thank you for your post Al Bellenchia. One of my favorite movies and George Bailey was a hero in the movie.
The struggles to build affordable housing remain all too real. 🖖
Absolutely still a struggle
Love this article.Love the visions. Love the ideals. Inspiring
Powerful illumination of our previous history as we strategically created laws and policy to mitigate the unjust and foul uncivilized cruelty of certain forces.
We succeeded previously with hearts and minds of purpose to right wrongs and overcome powerful tyrannical systems and we must succeed again.
Oct 18th
State Activities at this link
https://www.nokings.org/
It’s up to us
This is our moment
We are the Majority
We have each other
💙🇺🇸💙
Thank you Steven
Your sentence "reflecting on a president's obligations..." says it all. Will repeat: If do not know, remember history are bound to repeat - the best & the horrendous. TY, Stephen, for this today. Will be sharing!
Beschloss
Thank you for defining what we see with the historical context. Our forefathers gave us a framework connecting the dots for us. We need to focus on our next steps.
One of the things I greatly enjoy is the injection of humor, silliness and the unexpected into protests and rallies. This provides multiple ways for people to participate & attracts people who otherwise do not participate. It’s an important strategy in the information war. If it was not, satire would be much more popular with despots — not their target. Few things undermine the ‘insurrection’ narrative like cartoon characters, dancers or drummers being held at gunpoint or being wrestled to the ground by masked me in tactical gear. Not what they want in Noem video.
Another is that faith leaders have begun coming to the front of the information war all the way up the chain to the Pope. Not a good look for ICE to be perched on the roof, using ‘less lethal’ weapons on priests, preachers and their parishioners and others who joined them. Even worse to have video of projectiles hitting those individuals who are small in number, no threat to anyone.
I’ll add one caution. It is not unusual for trouble makers to infiltrate protests. It is one reason some organizations advise keeping them small. I’ve seen it up close and personal in the past. We saw it in the Floyd and Taylor protests. Know who the leaders & have allies monitoring in the crowd. (We used to call them our ‘marshals’. Probably not the best term these days.) Leave an area where someone becomes too aggressive or violent. — They are much more conspicuous in the midst of dancers etc.
https://apnews.com/article/us-citizen-detained-ice-portland-oregon-646ac425d32902b5f447e021f70da7df
Thanks very much Steve!! Excellent review of history and how relevant it is today