Thank you professor. I hope you are right, I am afraid, you are not. This has been a tough week, month, year, decade, in fact, tough adult life. I suppose it is too late for me. I am awake in the middle of the night, simply unable to visualize a better world. In that, I hope that I am alone.
Even being here in this forum is an education. Without knowledge, it's difficult to find the way to push back. We must identify the problems to see a remedy, and know which side we want to support.
Fred, I throughly can relate as I keep trying to wrap my mind around whether or not we are up to the task of salvaging democracy in this moment and, admittedly, haven’t quite found an answer yet. Still, despite it sounding annoyingly cliche, I have found that the antidote to despair is action.
We cannot give up hope because that is what the right wants! Hope is all we have to combat this evil! If we have hope we can develop TB3 weapons. Not to kill the opposition but to render them ineffective!
You are not alone in your fears, Fred. But the only way out of the fear is to keep your eye on the solution- getting sane people to the polls and doing whatever you’re able to contribute to the current fight for our democracy. None of us can do it alone but if we all push the truck will move.
Ken - I work with and am surrounded by the youth of our nation (elementary and high school teacher as well as mom/aunt to college age kids). They are much more sane than the far right and they are all angry that we haven’t taken global warming (my generation)/climate change (theirs) seriously enough to do something. They are appalled by the fact that they’ve grown up fearing school shootings and our generations do nothing about it. While they haven’t yet learned the art of compromise, I guarantee you, the vast majority are not hopeless cases. We will continue to see changes demanded by them as they continue to become eligible to vote.
The coffee klatch this morning is encouraging, and not pollyanna -ish. Whenever the extreme right want to distract they pull out the old 'sanctity of life' anti choice argument. Then there is the 2nd amendment misinterpretation. Now we have a collision between their 'pro life' nonsense and the gunning down of another classroom full of children and their teachers. Even for the dug in sycophants, it's not a good look! As hideous as these events have been, (reversing settled law for women's medical care and now, another terrible slaughter of innocents) ; these nauseating attacks on our rule of law and sanity should help in the midterms. How can anyone miss the conflict between their 'pro life' lie and the gun rights mantras? Sickening! It speaks for itself ; The GOP is in league with Putin and his killing of innocents, and trampling on human rights for his people.
Plus 99% of the population need benefits to survive -- funded by benefit trust funds that Republicans undermine. Even a racist "pro life" gun nut needs the necessities of life that only Democratic policies offer: food, clothes, housing and medical benefits.
The way I look at it, if 5% of them vote their self interests, we win.
I keep asking Democrats, media, to go to support court, bankruptcy court and interview the MAGAs who would deny the necessities of life to their families.
Sickening! And People are very angry!! But this is not how we get change it’s the start of us wanting change, we’re so angry we want something different but anger is a dangerous emotion when making important decisions. We are the definition of insanity. We have been emotionally reacting to these shootings rather than logically responding and we are getting the same awful results. Immediately after shootings the 2nd amendment vs bans/regulation debate begins. We become so emotionally engaged in the debate as if it could be the only possible solution. If we take emotions out we can correctly address the situation. If there are already so many guns in circulation and they’re also only 5 clicks away regulation will only help to an extent. Logically, if this debate shows us we can only do so much about the offensive, shall we try the defense? Remove the weapon sure, but if the weapon remains what can we do to combat this problem in a different way? Most Americans enjoy football and most would understand if I’m playing against the GOAT, Tom Brady, and my biggest defensive strategy relies on removing Brady, I’m probably losing this game. If removing the threat is as difficult as it’s proven to be we have to think of another way to approach. There’s maybe one officer per school campus? But I might see several different police cars hiding in an area where they know many people are in a hurry to get to work just to issue citations under the facade of preventing a speeding accident when really its to reach a quota and secure revenue. Why aren’t those same police officers that we pay for in schools? Because protecting children in schools is not a source of revenue. More and more parents are coming out saying the officers waited outside for a janitor key?.....teachers locked their classroom doors and the shooter still entered without a janitors key, did he have more training than the police to enter a locked classroom? Can we make sure the sworn officers that we pay for are not cowards that stand outside for fear of their own lives while innocent babies are murdered? If the police officers acted promptly and entered the school do you think he might have shifted his attention to them instead of the children we pay those officers to protect? Didn’t we just take away women rights because the child’s life is always more important even as a fertilized egg?....But these police officers were able to determine their lives were more important than these babies in school?.... It’s cowardly and they have stated themselves they failed. Why are we only focusing on removing the weapons that are already so flooded into this country? We kept kids away from school entirely because of COVID-19 when some Americans didn’t even believe COViD-19 was real and they weren’t even the ones dying!!!!! . We can protect our kids if we really want to, we would find a way if it’s important enough to us, if it made money that is. If the only way we’ve been trying hasn’t worked, we’ve been failing.
Liv ; The weapons of war have made the police potential victims ; They had handguns and were outgunned. Going into that room would have resulted in the deaths of those officers, because the bullets of those powerful war weapons would have gone through their body armor from front to out of the back. Clearly, there is no justification for civilians to have greater firepower than the local law enforcement. The thugs want to grow their own army. They want to overthrow the will of the people of the United States of America. They want to end Democracy.
Exactly my point, going into that room would have resulted in the deaths of those officers, because he would have turned his attention from innocent children to aiming towards them, and they are adults whom have taken positions in which they understand there is a risk they may lose their lives in the line of duty, they sign up knowing they may be potential victims, which is also why they may also have life insurance policies that reflect the risk they have signed up for. I’m not saying they would have prevented this but it doesn’t hurt to bring attention to other areas that could improve. A child’s life is most important here, isn’t that what the abortion thing is even about? A child’s life is always most important even from the time it’s a fertilized egg, that is the very justification for taking away a woman’s rights isn’t it? And I agree completely money talks is the problem as I stated “We can protect our kids if we really want to, we would find a way if it’s important enough to us, if it made money.”
I agree! As a teacher, it’s not in my contract to put myself between a shooter and my students, but I and all of the teachers I know, have known we would rather die trying to protect our kids (that’s what we call them for a reason!) than to watch even one of them die. I literally could not live with myself if I don’t do everything in my power to keep them safe. The only problem is that my body can only physically shield so many of them at once and that my daughters will be devastated.
Not to mention y’all are very underpaid and have the challenge of nourishing the minds of future generations while shielding them at any costs, even though it isn’t what y’all signed up for. Thank you and the teachers that continue to do so. We fail the kids and we fail y’all as well. Y’all deserve some NFL salaries, which I know y’all would pour back into your classrooms because I’ve seen firsthand by preparing tax returns for several teachers just how much they spend vs how much credit they’re allowed on their tax returns.
The whole anti abortion thing and the gun violence thing distract us from the real problem ; Money is speech and the obscenely wealthy oligarchs of this nation and the world who can buy our government and lawmakers and not pay their fair share of taxes (or any share), and now want to oppress and imprison us. Denying more than half of us the dignity of equal rights and shooting up the schools, places of worship, supermarkets etc..and STILL insisting that their 2nd amendment rights are sacred (even more than our very children), is a distraction of pain and fear. We can look at what they are doing, thanks to this forum. We can call it out! Talk about the truth. Talk about the sources of 'news' and the fact that our government is on the take, from the representatives in congress and the Senate to the highest court in the land. Shine the light of day on them!
Laurie Blair, it all seems related and in some part coordinated, far right Republicans, trumpster fire, the right wing of Europe, Putin. Simple anti-democracy behaviors, I suppose. Have yet to figure out a plausible reason or benefit to the common man supporters of such entities.
I seem to recall reading that, in 2020, guns killed more children than automobile accidents. Just yesterday, four local teens in my area were arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at an occupied school bus.
The gun industry, through advertising agencies, has cultivated a gun culture, with the express intent of raking in more and more profits by selling more and more guns. They have convinced millions that they need guns to keep themselves safe from criminals, or that they can be heroes by taking out the bad guys and saving the day ("the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"), or fomenting anger at "the other" (immigrants, Black people, etc.), or that they need guns to defend themselves against "the government," which is poised to take away their freedom at any minute.
It was reported that, as with other mass shootings, there was a dramatic increase in gun sales after the Uvalde massacre. Shooting children is good business for the merchants of death gun industry. How much are our children worth?
As you know a business goal is to maximize profit. You cannot reason with businessmen if it is going to impact profit in a negative way. My take on getting politicians to make a positive move is by getting mothers who have loss children in school shootings to approach Republican women organizations and seek their help to bring about some changes. Imagine several hundred thousand Republican women in each state tell their representative enough is enough, you will meet with the democrats and come out with a reasonable law to reduce murders in our schools by weapons of war. These women can threaten to withhold their vote if the representative refuses to act on their request. There is nothing like a woman with children who can relate to the loss of a child. Men are generally heartless!
That's an admirable goal. It has been reported that 88% of Americans polled support universal background checks for gun purchases. The problem is that the other 12% are very activist, flooding their senators' inboxes with opposition to any gun restrictions, and often voting on that issue alone. A recent New York Times column addresses this issue:
Of course, it's senators' job to serve the country, not secure their own reelection at any cost, but we have to deal with reality. Those who really want effective measures taken against gun violence have to be as active as those who oppose them.
We enforce stay at home orders for our students just like they did when it made them loads of money during COVID. Guess what when your kid is not in class California is not going to pay for school that’s the only real reason they care when your kid is absent, they need the money!!!!!!. Can we please think logically, we took our children out of schools for at least a year not because they were being killed by shootings, but because COVID-19 was killing everyone else and they were mostly the lowest risk. Mind you some Americans still don’t even believe in COVID-19 or vaccines and children were kept from classrooms despite the debate and despite us knowing their education would suffer. We can protect our kids if we really want to, we would find a way if it’s important enough to us, if it makes money for the business.
On guns in America: After the Port Arthur shootings, the Australians showed themselves photos of the carnage caused by the weapons used. (Australia is a country that required cigarette packs carry a photo of a diseased lung.)
It made me think of the Driver's Ed classes back in Michigan in the 60s -- and the films we had to watch -- in full color -- of the results of traffic accidents taken right at the scene. The crushed and mutilated bodies. Filming an officer as he arrives at a home to inform the parents their child had died in an accident. The films had their intended effect on me.
We Americans insulate ourselves FAR too much from the real consequences of our decisions. I would require that every gun shop and gun show -- and NRA convention -- be required to keep on display some of these photos of their handiwork -- blown up to wall-size proportion. (I think of the mother of Emmett Till -- and what she did to affect the hearts and minds of Americans.)
A second suggestion comes not to ban the military-grade weapons outright, but to recognize (classify) them as such, and make it so that a request for purchase to own one is, in essence, an enlistment in the state's National Guard -- with all that entails. (Let's not forget that "keep and bear," as written in our second amendment, meant military/militia service. As Madison proposed in his original draft, drawing from state constitutions: "but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person..."
Right on, Thomas! That was exactly the intent of legislatures who ratified the second Amendment in 1791. Except they didn't need to force the young men to join the State Militia. All were aware of the dangers being faced in the frontiers (albeit we were the perpetrators of that danger by stealing land from the indigenous population and further mistreating those indigenous persons). As Dr. Reich has suggested we really do need to reinstate National Service of some kind to remind young people that freedom depends on citizenship, and the protection of ALL Americans.
Those militias were "slave patrols" in southern states. At that time if a sheriff needed help, could deputize anyone with a gun. The issue is whether there is an individual right to own any gun, regardless of qualifications. Scalia in one of the worst decisions of all time struck state and local restrictions and registries.
Most southern whites did not own slaves -- so there had to be a way for the oligarchs -- the slave-owning class -- to press other whites into service to protect their "property." A state like Georgia or North Carolina could do this and not worry about the federal government stepping in to protect the rights of whites who wanted no part of a militia.
The wealthy convinced the poor whites they should hate the newly freed slaves b/c they would take jobs away from the poor white people (this didn’t happen) just like the right continues to demonize immigrants by telling today’s poor whites “they will take your jobs!”. The rich has always been playing the poor against each other to insure that they don’t band together to go after the wealthy in our country.
Thank you so much for your reply! The Protestants of New England were really upset by the pacifist Quakers! The Quakers made EVERY effort to establish respectful and amicable relations with indigenous people. This was part of the underlying "religious" tension to "bearing arms" on the part of some.
Fast forward to the Mormons -- who believed native peoples were of the lost tribes of Israel -- which really infuriated our less-tolerant Protestants. When we start digging below the surface, we have an amazing history.
When I lived in Seattle, I was surprised to learn of a lot of Japanese-Americans (Nisei) who became Quaker. It's not well known, but a lot of Quakers demanded to be put into the internment camps with Americans of Japanese descent.
These are terrific ideas! We should allow the media to photograph the scenes and the horror, instead of just the grieving parents. Just strip away the insulation. And your second idea excellent as well, tying responsibility and training to the purchase off an assault weapon. I can imagine any numbers might refuse the offer.
These numbers are staggering. 20 million assault weapons in this country? The ability to acquire one in FIVE clicks? Say it ain’t so 😢
There is a glimmer of hope in that so many of the former guys endorsements lost their elections.
I agree that there will be huge turnouts at the polls in November because we cannot stand by and allow Roe v. Wade to be overturned and we cannot stand by and be traumatized by children with assault weapons to kill innocent children at school.
You both help ground folks like me that are so confused right now; thank you. 🌻
I write principally because a reply I received this morning from a fellow LFAA ( Letters from an American) subscriber read, at least to me, like a stunningly reassuring predicate for the two themes—“women’s right to choose” and “children’s right to safety”—the Professor cites as particularly impactful for galvanizing voters this fall.
This LFAA subscriber wrote, “As forlorn and cynical as I can be, I also hold hope in my heart that some one thing will flip that switch. The answer is simple, I think—one word, ‘ENOUGH!” coupled with aggressive campaigning to oust the monsters in power by physically showing our will in the voting booth. The complacent will be the hardest to budge but it can be done. It can be done.”
As one who periodically is haunted by the question of whether we are up to the task of salvaging democracy in this moment, my hearing this morning both from Reich and from this subscriber was enormously restorative, though admittedly, I don’t yet claim to have any definitive answers.
One of the most tragic videos from Uvalde, Texas, was the Anderson Cooper interview with the young first-responder/medic who headed for the elementary school and encountered a young child running from the scene and soaked in blood. He immediately asked if she were hurt and she was not; she had covered herself with the blood of a dead classmate and played dead, which was what some of the kids did as their only defense. The thing got a lot worse when the girl sobbed that her best friend had died in the assault. At which point, the young man asked the name of the best friend, only to learn that it was his own daughter. I do not know how that young man and Anderson made it through the rest of the exchange; I do not know how I made it through the interview on my distant computer screen. But I wondered then and I wonder now: Why are any of us here if it is not to make the nation (and the world) better for ourselves and, most importantly, each other? Why have we decided that ego-centric, wealthy and powerful men should decide when we live--and when we die by the most inhumane and violent means possible? Is life ultimately just a question of personal wealth or do family, friends, co-workers, our communities and nation, our world, matter? We had better decide pretty quickly and opt for truth, service to others, and kindness toward everyone in need of our presence and involvement whose path happens to cross our own.
I love your passion. You are spot on, we need to turn our backs on the "what's in it for me" of the Reagan years and turn back to the "ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country" of the brief Kennedy years.
Hi Fay, I have never really understood why we are supposed to revere Ronald Reagan, that is, why he is considered among the great presidents of our nation. He was the forerunner in trends that reached their conclusion in the presidency of president number 45 and we are still deeply engulfed in the "ideals" (if you can call 'em that) underline the most recent past presidency. We have finally (finally!) concluded that the hugely popular "trickle-down theory" by which the wealth and prosperity of the wealthiest citizens would somehow magically "trickle down" to those of moderate and low income is a flop. ("That'll never work," my accountant father used to state---and he was right, of course. Nothing ever trickled down anywhere. Programs put in place to help the less affluent--programs that really worked--were promptly disbanded and the safety net was punctured or abandoned entirely for some. Those from other countries or cultures of ethnic groups were made to feel unwelcome and women, disabled, gays, blacks, browns, Asians were made to bear the brunt of the taxes and expected to do so cheerfully. It was---in short--a nightmare from beginning to end. We now have faint hopes of shaking off decades of Reagan Era thinking but it will be too much to expect that politicians from the Trumpy remnants of the GOP will embrace the kind of change we need. Such as Ted Cruz are happily stuck in ideals of self-service and advancement at the cost of higher taxes/lower income on those of us who can least afford to keep any vestige of Reagan style politics and economics going. It will be interesting to see where this goes but I believe that we better start considering what we are as a nation and what our communities and people need to thrive. Otherwise, we're doomed and all the weapons in the world will not save us as individuals or as a nation but only accelerate our demise.
(You might be interested in the series on the Roman Empire running on netflix.com. The series features three Roman emperors (Commodus, Julius Caesar (the best and most effective but also ruthless and power-driven) and Caligula). All three were assassinated.. The interesting thing was not how different the Roman Empire was from present-day America but, rather, how similar with the grand exception that, unlike America, the Romans could really do infrastructure and did so with great style and expertise...a lot of their buildings are still standing today, 2000 years later. We never got around to infrastructure but there is much we never got around to...to the detriment of all of us.)
Reagan was popular for 3 reasons: some people, especially women, thought he was handsome, even I admit he had a good voice, and he had a totally empty head. My daughter, who was a physician, said 'The best thing Reagan did in office was to sleep through all the cabinet meetings." That about sums it up. Other than to point out the value system in our Country is completely out of whack. We, as a Nation, revere athletes, entertainers, celebrities, persons of wealth. We do not admire persons of high intellect ('brainiacs', 'egg-heads', 'nerds' are some of the kinder terms applied to them). We do not admire people who help other people (unless they have achieved celebrity status elsewhere (Sean Penn, Bill Gates, etc.) We heroize criminals, 'rugged men', guns, and even violence. No, I'm not suggesting this covers all of us, but it is how we are depicted in the media, and how a lot of other countries see us. I think we need a complete make-over.
Dr. Reich I hope you're right. I think the best thing this nation could do is go back to teaching Civics - not just in high school, but starting in Kindergarten. Explaining to children about sharing and respect is part of Civics. Discussion of the social contract in 6th grade is part of Civics.
On abortion, I really do not understand how this can be a Constitutional issue since it isn't even mentioned in the Constitution. We don't allow the government to dictate who can have an appendectomy, open-heart surgery, or kidney removal, so why do we allow the government to determine who can or cannot have an abortion. Religion has NO place in the government according to Amendment I. The only input government has over health care decisions is in licensing Medical practitioners.
MM: Amen, so-to-speak...! Please tell that to Archbishop Cordileone. I'm waiting for him to refuse Communion to politicians who won't be rational on gun safety -- and to those who vote for them.
I can't understand why (well, yes, I'm afraid I can) the church-state separation clause is not used as a litmus test in SCOTUS confirmations. Anyone who is confirmed and is religious should automatically be recused from relevant decisions.
I agree with recusal on religious grounds, but if I had my way, all male judges and legislators Nationwide should be automatically recused from, any decision on abortion. After all, men are physically. physiologically, and even psychologically incapable of either gestation of parturition. Therefore have no first hand experience in the process. Abortion should be a decision involving only the pregnant woman and her physician (of either gender - since both genders have witnessed the harms and joys of childbirth).
Fay, I agree with extending the religious recusal to all judges and legislators, but I feel compelled to note that at least some of us males exhibit a degree of rational thinking, EMPATHY and responsibility. I think it's valuable to permit our perspective, especially when we demonstrate some common sense. I have been pro-choice since before I escaped from Catholicism.
Recusal on the basis of addiction to the theory of creationism (not only on abortion issues, but on other matter such as birth control) would extend through all genders.
Thank you Gary, I am well aware that the majority of thinking men, are aware of the dangers and joys women face in childbirth. Most men are appalled by, and would never consider rape or incest. Unfortunately a number of judges (of both genders) rammed through Congress by Mitch McConnell and his Merry Men are either mysogynistic, or incapable of critical thinking (and possibly ultra religious) so they consistently rule against what can be considered appropriate law. Such as the judge who reversed our California ban on assault weapons being sold to persons under 21. I intended my rant to be over the top (:-)
Gary D. ; there is also the idea of the Second Coming. If we abort this new, second Messiah, the world will not be saved by 'Him'. I was raised Catholic, too. I also know Catholics who heavily invest in the stock market and worship at the altar of the Almighty Dollar. They are true believers in The Market.
The issue that is being raised about abortion is that a fetus is being classified as a living human with rights that are violated when the mother has an abortion.
Elias Bigio ; an eight celled blastocyst should not trump the life of a woman. If it could not live or grow outside of her womb, has no brain or even heartbeat, it should not be considered an autonomous, fully formed and viable human. It should not determine the fate of the woman.
Fay Reid ; the abortion issue is just another way to keep women down. The Equal Rights Amendment still has not passed for the majority of humans in this country : that is for the millions of women who represent every race in this 'melting pot' Democratic experiment. The implications for the world are evident. Equal rights for women will enhance dignity and improve life for every human, every child, regardless of race.
I beg to differ, Mr. Blackburn. Civics is neither liberal, progressive, conservative, nor authoritarian. It is important for teachers to leave their personal biases out, but study of the Constitution, as written, and the history of times in which it was written are facts, not someone's mythology.
On issue after issue, there is widespread popular and majority support for reform. Yet, time and time again the Republican Party has been able to keep a minority or majority in POWER in Washington, and have used that power to block anything and everything significant Democrats try to do (plus those two DINOs in the Senate of course). They have used that power to appoint more SCOTUS justices than Democrats. Despite this I cannot fathom why so many people vote for these craven, greedy, spineless, sleazy weasels that are perfectly willing to let children be murdered in exchange for NRA checks. The NYT asked all 50 Republican senators about gun reform, and also listed their lifetime NRA blood money. Mitt Romney. MITT frigging ROMNEY has taken over $13M!!!
The sad and pathetic truth is that more people and children will have to die from guns, covid, climate change, air pollution, food contamination, PFAS, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and so on because our regulations are pro-business and not pro-consumer. Plus a slow creep erosion of voting rights, reproductive rights, and other rights we have taken for granted will be stripped away by the billionaire funded forces out there, to a point where we will have to collectively snap out of our streaming entertainment distraction bubbles, get off the couch, walk out of our jobs, shut down everything, and throw the bums out of Washington! Human history does repeat itself, and it always seems like things have to get really ugly, scary, and terrible before the masses say enough is enough.
Oh and we need more than two political parties. This two party system ain't working very good. One is completely bonkers, and the other is ineffectual and sucks at messaging. Some Dems believe what they say, others say things in public, but take the influence money in private and vote or water down accordingly, and then we have DINOs on the rubbery end of the backbone spectrum.
p.s. I just watched the HBO documentary on George Carlin, so I'm feeling very cynical about my country and fellow citizens given everything that's happened since 2016....
Got up this morning a bit too early and put coffee on. And now, as I pour my first cup, I find your invitation in my Inbox. (I saw Mr. Friedman's post and I know I'll be thinking about it too, as I listen.)
[podcast reaches the end...}
I want to add that I'm writing from Cobb County, north of Atlanta, where we've lived for nearly 40 years now. I come from a blue-collar family in Detroit, served during Vietnam, and lived for about 8 years in Seattle before moving to Georgia. I've been involved in politics, and it's been a long, patient effort to help move Georgia in the direction it's been going. I cried tears of joy when the returns came in from the run-off election on January 5, 2021 -- to learn our state had elected two Democrats to the US Senate. (And then came the shock and horror of January 6.)
That's what it seems like life has been serving up: a brief moment of victory followed by a terrible feeling of loss. I want to comment on the gun thing in a separate post, as I pour my second cup. Really enjoyed coffee with you and Heather this morning.
Thank you, Robert and Heather. Very cogent, as usual.
I hate to keep preaching it, but I have to quote Thomas Paine again: "To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Assuming there are a few people who might still be capable of reason, here are a couple of very recent scholarly editorials (with links) on gun violence and the politics, in case anyone needs talking points. PLEASE pass them on.
In the past few months when abortion has been in the news I had a sense (hope?) that this issue alone might do the gop in. Then when Uvalde happened I thought, "THIS should finally put an end to the gop". They have been determined to ignore major national public opinion concerning both abortion rights and gun control. They have angered the majority of women and now they have angered the majority of EVERYONE. Especially with Uvalde, they show how insensitive, how tone deaf, and how married to the NRA they are. They have expressed absolutely no remorse, and the total bungling by LEO is the last straw. I agree with the Professor. The "eleventh hour" timing of these things could not be more perfect in terms of elections. I hope our predictions are shared by voters who will RACE to the polls.
Unfortunately we have 5 1/2 months for people to lose their passion and the far right to put their spin lies onto something else…come on Jan 6th hearings! And hopefully the DOJ will finally charge tfg.
"[Wayne] LaPierre, the CEO who has been in charge of the NRA’s day-to-day operations since 1991, is accused in the lawsuit of spending millions on private travel and personal security and accepting expensive gifts — such as African safaris and use of a 107-foot yacht — from vendors.
"He is also accused of setting himself up with a $17 million contract with the NRA if he were to exit the organization, spending NRA money on travel consultants, luxury car services, and private jet flights for himself and his family — including more than $500,000 on eight trips to the Bahamas over a three-year span.
"Some of the NRA’s excess spending was kept secret, the lawsuit said, under an arrangement with the organization’s former advertising agency, Ackerman McQueen. The advertising firm would pick up the tab for expenses for LaPierre and other NRA executives and then send a lump sum bill to the organization for “out-of-pocket expenses,” the lawsuit said.
"Though headquartered in Virginia, the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state. James is the state’s chief law enforcement officer and has regulatory power over nonprofit organizations incorporated in the state, such as the NRA. In the lawsuit, James’ office argued that one way to remedy the alleged misspending at the organization was by closing it down.
"In January 2021, the NRA declared bankruptcy and sought to move its state of incorporation from New York to Texas, but a judge blocked the move, saying the NRA’s bankruptcy was not filed in good faith. In the process, the NRA had made clear it sought to escape regulatory oversight in New York, in part because of the lawsuit’s threat to its existence.
"In a court filing last year, lawyers for the organization called the lawsuit filed by James, a Democrat, “a blatant and malicious retaliation campaign against the NRA and its constituents based on her disagreement with the content of their speech.”
The problem with background checks is that most if not all of the most recent shooters would pass! No criminal record or history of mental illness. Maybe if a background check included is internet rants.
Not the cursory checks now used. Would have to get a release. Get school records. Gendron and Ramos would have had hostile personality profiles in their IEPs.
From what I have seen, both of the sellers should be investigated. Possibly liable. Reminds me of dram shops -- selling booze to drunks. I remember when Pa passed handgun background checks. Our sheriff denied a high proportion.
The United States of America has a culture that embraces guns and a culture that does not. The people with weapons are repugnant and despicable to me, but can kill me. Therefore I should leave them. I live in Massachusetts, a state with relatively sane gun laws. But the culture of weaponry is here. Laws don't matter to the people of the gun culture. Wayne La Pierre just announced that owning a gun is a god given right. Well, let's see. I don't do gods, or rights given by gods. I guess Wayne and I aren't in the same culture. We can vote the monsters out of office over abortion and murdering children, but that won't stop the hateful ignorance spread by Fox and lousy public education, christian churches and plutocrats. Here is one thing that will work: If the rest of the world boycotts the USA.
If you have school age children you can do something, you can attend school board meetings, which, by law, are open to the public. There is usually a time for comments from the audience. Come prepared, make notes, don't lose your cool but be adamant about what changes you want. Then keep attending those meeting until the board agrees to consider your requests. Trust me, it works. When I was a teacher the air conditioning broke in my building and the indoor temperature was 110 to 112 degrees F. Neither my Principal nor Vice-Principal were able to get any action from District maintenance. So I went to the Board meeting, explained what was happening, what the temperatures were in my science classroom/lab. The next day the maintenance people came and fixed the system..
Interesting concept, but one that I think would escape notice / understanding by those who most need to be impacted. They would probably only blame Biden!
It's a joke, it would never happen. Besides, the power is in the hands of the transnational corporations. See "The Carbon Bankroll - the climate impact and untapped power of corporate cash."
Like every other horrendous mass shooting, this should be a teachable moment. Advocates of sensible gun regulation should be bombarding the media, the general public, and especially elected officials, with the obvious message that SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE. The voice and money of the NRA and its' followers has to be drowned out by the voice of the people. To succeed in 2024 will take a concerted effort by Dems, Progressives, Leftists, and all people of conscience. Gun control can be a wedge issue for that coalition, but the other pieces of a Democracy Platform also must be in place to give the voters a real contrast with the oligarchy and crypto-fascist agenda that the Trump wing is pushing.
And The Equal Rights Amendment should be passed, because it affects more than half the population and all races in this country ; All women and girls! IT IS TIME!
It has to be put back out there again because it did finally get enough states to ratify it a few years ago and the official response was that it took too long to ratify so it didn’t count.
Krissy Wilcox ; It's maddening that the whole country can't see this injustice as it is. More than half of our population do not officially have equal rights! Women and girls make up more than half of our country, and include all races, faiths and walks of life (classes). We are the majority! Majority rules in our Democracy, we were taught in school when I was young. We need to get the word out and cannot wait for the Corporate owned 'news' media or the privately held 'news' (Fox and enemies) (Musk owned Twitter),to keep us updated.
How else would they have the temerity to tell us when and under what circumstances we MUST give birth?!!? Our Constitution clearly states there is a separation of church and state!
Seems like they don't know who their base is anymore: Middle-class suburbans college grads or working-class factory and trades people. They shouldn't be mutually exclusive because we're all losing ground to the financial elites. I see the culture wars as a tool to divide people who should have a common interest.
The culture wars keep us from focusing on the obscenely wealthy and their control of everything we see, and our legislators/ 'representatives ; the whole enchilada! They write/ buy laws that keep them in untaxed generational wealth, while they want to keep us barefoot and pregnant, have poor schooling and poverty. Money is speech and they make sure we can't speak!
Thomas has the right idea. Despite all the breathless and tearful reporting the American public is protected from the actual horror and the news is sanitized. If the public were actually shown the battlefields with arms and legs and pieces of heads and blood, I think it would loosen the tolerance of republicans who year after year refuse to control firearms and prohibit citizens from walking around with assault rifles.
Given the violent video games some people play, I fear this would only increase their fascination with "going real". The networks do a reasonable job of humanizing the victims with their on-air bios. Getting their manifestos and on-line rants off the Web would also help reduce the spread of the sick ideas behind their actions.
I've done Pennsylvania voter registration and Get Out The Vote work for a number of years. With the governor's race there critical I am planning to head up there again. Keep the faith.
Great. At least two of the incumbent Republicans in Congress were active participants in the insurrection. Pennsylvania -- 595,734 unregistered likely Democratic women. Also hoping that Shapiro and Fetterman have coattails.
Thank you professor. I hope you are right, I am afraid, you are not. This has been a tough week, month, year, decade, in fact, tough adult life. I suppose it is too late for me. I am awake in the middle of the night, simply unable to visualize a better world. In that, I hope that I am alone.
You are not alone, but we have hope.
kind of you to say
"Hope"? Occupy your time. Change the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Even being here in this forum is an education. Without knowledge, it's difficult to find the way to push back. We must identify the problems to see a remedy, and know which side we want to support.
Fred, I throughly can relate as I keep trying to wrap my mind around whether or not we are up to the task of salvaging democracy in this moment and, admittedly, haven’t quite found an answer yet. Still, despite it sounding annoyingly cliche, I have found that the antidote to despair is action.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
We cannot give up hope because that is what the right wants! Hope is all we have to combat this evil! If we have hope we can develop TB3 weapons. Not to kill the opposition but to render them ineffective!
You are not alone in your fears, Fred. But the only way out of the fear is to keep your eye on the solution- getting sane people to the polls and doing whatever you’re able to contribute to the current fight for our democracy. None of us can do it alone but if we all push the truck will move.
Ken - I work with and am surrounded by the youth of our nation (elementary and high school teacher as well as mom/aunt to college age kids). They are much more sane than the far right and they are all angry that we haven’t taken global warming (my generation)/climate change (theirs) seriously enough to do something. They are appalled by the fact that they’ve grown up fearing school shootings and our generations do nothing about it. While they haven’t yet learned the art of compromise, I guarantee you, the vast majority are not hopeless cases. We will continue to see changes demanded by them as they continue to become eligible to vote.
The coffee klatch this morning is encouraging, and not pollyanna -ish. Whenever the extreme right want to distract they pull out the old 'sanctity of life' anti choice argument. Then there is the 2nd amendment misinterpretation. Now we have a collision between their 'pro life' nonsense and the gunning down of another classroom full of children and their teachers. Even for the dug in sycophants, it's not a good look! As hideous as these events have been, (reversing settled law for women's medical care and now, another terrible slaughter of innocents) ; these nauseating attacks on our rule of law and sanity should help in the midterms. How can anyone miss the conflict between their 'pro life' lie and the gun rights mantras? Sickening! It speaks for itself ; The GOP is in league with Putin and his killing of innocents, and trampling on human rights for his people.
Plus 99% of the population need benefits to survive -- funded by benefit trust funds that Republicans undermine. Even a racist "pro life" gun nut needs the necessities of life that only Democratic policies offer: food, clothes, housing and medical benefits.
Daniel Solomon ; They would burn their own house down to get at a hated neighbor!
Daniel Solomon ; True!
The way I look at it, if 5% of them vote their self interests, we win.
I keep asking Democrats, media, to go to support court, bankruptcy court and interview the MAGAs who would deny the necessities of life to their families.
Sickening! And People are very angry!! But this is not how we get change it’s the start of us wanting change, we’re so angry we want something different but anger is a dangerous emotion when making important decisions. We are the definition of insanity. We have been emotionally reacting to these shootings rather than logically responding and we are getting the same awful results. Immediately after shootings the 2nd amendment vs bans/regulation debate begins. We become so emotionally engaged in the debate as if it could be the only possible solution. If we take emotions out we can correctly address the situation. If there are already so many guns in circulation and they’re also only 5 clicks away regulation will only help to an extent. Logically, if this debate shows us we can only do so much about the offensive, shall we try the defense? Remove the weapon sure, but if the weapon remains what can we do to combat this problem in a different way? Most Americans enjoy football and most would understand if I’m playing against the GOAT, Tom Brady, and my biggest defensive strategy relies on removing Brady, I’m probably losing this game. If removing the threat is as difficult as it’s proven to be we have to think of another way to approach. There’s maybe one officer per school campus? But I might see several different police cars hiding in an area where they know many people are in a hurry to get to work just to issue citations under the facade of preventing a speeding accident when really its to reach a quota and secure revenue. Why aren’t those same police officers that we pay for in schools? Because protecting children in schools is not a source of revenue. More and more parents are coming out saying the officers waited outside for a janitor key?.....teachers locked their classroom doors and the shooter still entered without a janitors key, did he have more training than the police to enter a locked classroom? Can we make sure the sworn officers that we pay for are not cowards that stand outside for fear of their own lives while innocent babies are murdered? If the police officers acted promptly and entered the school do you think he might have shifted his attention to them instead of the children we pay those officers to protect? Didn’t we just take away women rights because the child’s life is always more important even as a fertilized egg?....But these police officers were able to determine their lives were more important than these babies in school?.... It’s cowardly and they have stated themselves they failed. Why are we only focusing on removing the weapons that are already so flooded into this country? We kept kids away from school entirely because of COVID-19 when some Americans didn’t even believe COViD-19 was real and they weren’t even the ones dying!!!!! . We can protect our kids if we really want to, we would find a way if it’s important enough to us, if it made money that is. If the only way we’ve been trying hasn’t worked, we’ve been failing.
It’s insanity y’all.
I’m crying everyone’s tears.
Liv ; The weapons of war have made the police potential victims ; They had handguns and were outgunned. Going into that room would have resulted in the deaths of those officers, because the bullets of those powerful war weapons would have gone through their body armor from front to out of the back. Clearly, there is no justification for civilians to have greater firepower than the local law enforcement. The thugs want to grow their own army. They want to overthrow the will of the people of the United States of America. They want to end Democracy.
Exactly my point, going into that room would have resulted in the deaths of those officers, because he would have turned his attention from innocent children to aiming towards them, and they are adults whom have taken positions in which they understand there is a risk they may lose their lives in the line of duty, they sign up knowing they may be potential victims, which is also why they may also have life insurance policies that reflect the risk they have signed up for. I’m not saying they would have prevented this but it doesn’t hurt to bring attention to other areas that could improve. A child’s life is most important here, isn’t that what the abortion thing is even about? A child’s life is always most important even from the time it’s a fertilized egg, that is the very justification for taking away a woman’s rights isn’t it? And I agree completely money talks is the problem as I stated “We can protect our kids if we really want to, we would find a way if it’s important enough to us, if it made money.”
I agree! As a teacher, it’s not in my contract to put myself between a shooter and my students, but I and all of the teachers I know, have known we would rather die trying to protect our kids (that’s what we call them for a reason!) than to watch even one of them die. I literally could not live with myself if I don’t do everything in my power to keep them safe. The only problem is that my body can only physically shield so many of them at once and that my daughters will be devastated.
Not to mention y’all are very underpaid and have the challenge of nourishing the minds of future generations while shielding them at any costs, even though it isn’t what y’all signed up for. Thank you and the teachers that continue to do so. We fail the kids and we fail y’all as well. Y’all deserve some NFL salaries, which I know y’all would pour back into your classrooms because I’ve seen firsthand by preparing tax returns for several teachers just how much they spend vs how much credit they’re allowed on their tax returns.
The whole anti abortion thing and the gun violence thing distract us from the real problem ; Money is speech and the obscenely wealthy oligarchs of this nation and the world who can buy our government and lawmakers and not pay their fair share of taxes (or any share), and now want to oppress and imprison us. Denying more than half of us the dignity of equal rights and shooting up the schools, places of worship, supermarkets etc..and STILL insisting that their 2nd amendment rights are sacred (even more than our very children), is a distraction of pain and fear. We can look at what they are doing, thanks to this forum. We can call it out! Talk about the truth. Talk about the sources of 'news' and the fact that our government is on the take, from the representatives in congress and the Senate to the highest court in the land. Shine the light of day on them!
Laurie Blair, it all seems related and in some part coordinated, far right Republicans, trumpster fire, the right wing of Europe, Putin. Simple anti-democracy behaviors, I suppose. Have yet to figure out a plausible reason or benefit to the common man supporters of such entities.
DW ; although very distressing, what is going on, there is a kind of Karma.
DW ; It does! Doesn't it!?
DW I love the description : trumpeter fire!!!
Trumpster
My spell check doesn't get me either sometimes. :)
It's haunted ; perhaps by the extreme right!?
After all ; elephants do trumpet, don't they?
I seem to recall reading that, in 2020, guns killed more children than automobile accidents. Just yesterday, four local teens in my area were arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at an occupied school bus.
The gun industry, through advertising agencies, has cultivated a gun culture, with the express intent of raking in more and more profits by selling more and more guns. They have convinced millions that they need guns to keep themselves safe from criminals, or that they can be heroes by taking out the bad guys and saving the day ("the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"), or fomenting anger at "the other" (immigrants, Black people, etc.), or that they need guns to defend themselves against "the government," which is poised to take away their freedom at any minute.
It was reported that, as with other mass shootings, there was a dramatic increase in gun sales after the Uvalde massacre. Shooting children is good business for the merchants of death gun industry. How much are our children worth?
The nra will probably see a spike in membership also. Their lapdog tactics to benefit gun manufacturers are disgusting beyond compare.
Sick, SICK people whose "illness" has been caught by far too many gop
MM Harris ; We still outnumber them!
Saddening and maddening.
As you know a business goal is to maximize profit. You cannot reason with businessmen if it is going to impact profit in a negative way. My take on getting politicians to make a positive move is by getting mothers who have loss children in school shootings to approach Republican women organizations and seek their help to bring about some changes. Imagine several hundred thousand Republican women in each state tell their representative enough is enough, you will meet with the democrats and come out with a reasonable law to reduce murders in our schools by weapons of war. These women can threaten to withhold their vote if the representative refuses to act on their request. There is nothing like a woman with children who can relate to the loss of a child. Men are generally heartless!
That's an admirable goal. It has been reported that 88% of Americans polled support universal background checks for gun purchases. The problem is that the other 12% are very activist, flooding their senators' inboxes with opposition to any gun restrictions, and often voting on that issue alone. A recent New York Times column addresses this issue:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/us/republicans-gun-control.html?smid=url-share
Of course, it's senators' job to serve the country, not secure their own reelection at any cost, but we have to deal with reality. Those who really want effective measures taken against gun violence have to be as active as those who oppose them.
We enforce stay at home orders for our students just like they did when it made them loads of money during COVID. Guess what when your kid is not in class California is not going to pay for school that’s the only real reason they care when your kid is absent, they need the money!!!!!!. Can we please think logically, we took our children out of schools for at least a year not because they were being killed by shootings, but because COVID-19 was killing everyone else and they were mostly the lowest risk. Mind you some Americans still don’t even believe in COVID-19 or vaccines and children were kept from classrooms despite the debate and despite us knowing their education would suffer. We can protect our kids if we really want to, we would find a way if it’s important enough to us, if it makes money for the business.
On guns in America: After the Port Arthur shootings, the Australians showed themselves photos of the carnage caused by the weapons used. (Australia is a country that required cigarette packs carry a photo of a diseased lung.)
It made me think of the Driver's Ed classes back in Michigan in the 60s -- and the films we had to watch -- in full color -- of the results of traffic accidents taken right at the scene. The crushed and mutilated bodies. Filming an officer as he arrives at a home to inform the parents their child had died in an accident. The films had their intended effect on me.
We Americans insulate ourselves FAR too much from the real consequences of our decisions. I would require that every gun shop and gun show -- and NRA convention -- be required to keep on display some of these photos of their handiwork -- blown up to wall-size proportion. (I think of the mother of Emmett Till -- and what she did to affect the hearts and minds of Americans.)
A second suggestion comes not to ban the military-grade weapons outright, but to recognize (classify) them as such, and make it so that a request for purchase to own one is, in essence, an enlistment in the state's National Guard -- with all that entails. (Let's not forget that "keep and bear," as written in our second amendment, meant military/militia service. As Madison proposed in his original draft, drawing from state constitutions: "but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person..."
We had an effective assault weapon ban, sunsetted in 2003.
Right on, Thomas! That was exactly the intent of legislatures who ratified the second Amendment in 1791. Except they didn't need to force the young men to join the State Militia. All were aware of the dangers being faced in the frontiers (albeit we were the perpetrators of that danger by stealing land from the indigenous population and further mistreating those indigenous persons). As Dr. Reich has suggested we really do need to reinstate National Service of some kind to remind young people that freedom depends on citizenship, and the protection of ALL Americans.
Those militias were "slave patrols" in southern states. At that time if a sheriff needed help, could deputize anyone with a gun. The issue is whether there is an individual right to own any gun, regardless of qualifications. Scalia in one of the worst decisions of all time struck state and local restrictions and registries.
Most southern whites did not own slaves -- so there had to be a way for the oligarchs -- the slave-owning class -- to press other whites into service to protect their "property." A state like Georgia or North Carolina could do this and not worry about the federal government stepping in to protect the rights of whites who wanted no part of a militia.
The wealthy convinced the poor whites they should hate the newly freed slaves b/c they would take jobs away from the poor white people (this didn’t happen) just like the right continues to demonize immigrants by telling today’s poor whites “they will take your jobs!”. The rich has always been playing the poor against each other to insure that they don’t band together to go after the wealthy in our country.
I think National Service would g a long way to pull the country together.
Thank you so much for your reply! The Protestants of New England were really upset by the pacifist Quakers! The Quakers made EVERY effort to establish respectful and amicable relations with indigenous people. This was part of the underlying "religious" tension to "bearing arms" on the part of some.
Fast forward to the Mormons -- who believed native peoples were of the lost tribes of Israel -- which really infuriated our less-tolerant Protestants. When we start digging below the surface, we have an amazing history.
When I lived in Seattle, I was surprised to learn of a lot of Japanese-Americans (Nisei) who became Quaker. It's not well known, but a lot of Quakers demanded to be put into the internment camps with Americans of Japanese descent.
Wow. I didn’t know that
These are terrific ideas! We should allow the media to photograph the scenes and the horror, instead of just the grieving parents. Just strip away the insulation. And your second idea excellent as well, tying responsibility and training to the purchase off an assault weapon. I can imagine any numbers might refuse the offer.
These numbers are staggering. 20 million assault weapons in this country? The ability to acquire one in FIVE clicks? Say it ain’t so 😢
There is a glimmer of hope in that so many of the former guys endorsements lost their elections.
I agree that there will be huge turnouts at the polls in November because we cannot stand by and allow Roe v. Wade to be overturned and we cannot stand by and be traumatized by children with assault weapons to kill innocent children at school.
You both help ground folks like me that are so confused right now; thank you. 🌻
Anne ; Well said!
Thank You Laurie. These days I don’t have much of a filter…
I write principally because a reply I received this morning from a fellow LFAA ( Letters from an American) subscriber read, at least to me, like a stunningly reassuring predicate for the two themes—“women’s right to choose” and “children’s right to safety”—the Professor cites as particularly impactful for galvanizing voters this fall.
This LFAA subscriber wrote, “As forlorn and cynical as I can be, I also hold hope in my heart that some one thing will flip that switch. The answer is simple, I think—one word, ‘ENOUGH!” coupled with aggressive campaigning to oust the monsters in power by physically showing our will in the voting booth. The complacent will be the hardest to budge but it can be done. It can be done.”
As one who periodically is haunted by the question of whether we are up to the task of salvaging democracy in this moment, my hearing this morning both from Reich and from this subscriber was enormously restorative, though admittedly, I don’t yet claim to have any definitive answers.
One of the most tragic videos from Uvalde, Texas, was the Anderson Cooper interview with the young first-responder/medic who headed for the elementary school and encountered a young child running from the scene and soaked in blood. He immediately asked if she were hurt and she was not; she had covered herself with the blood of a dead classmate and played dead, which was what some of the kids did as their only defense. The thing got a lot worse when the girl sobbed that her best friend had died in the assault. At which point, the young man asked the name of the best friend, only to learn that it was his own daughter. I do not know how that young man and Anderson made it through the rest of the exchange; I do not know how I made it through the interview on my distant computer screen. But I wondered then and I wonder now: Why are any of us here if it is not to make the nation (and the world) better for ourselves and, most importantly, each other? Why have we decided that ego-centric, wealthy and powerful men should decide when we live--and when we die by the most inhumane and violent means possible? Is life ultimately just a question of personal wealth or do family, friends, co-workers, our communities and nation, our world, matter? We had better decide pretty quickly and opt for truth, service to others, and kindness toward everyone in need of our presence and involvement whose path happens to cross our own.
I love your passion. You are spot on, we need to turn our backs on the "what's in it for me" of the Reagan years and turn back to the "ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country" of the brief Kennedy years.
Hi Fay, I have never really understood why we are supposed to revere Ronald Reagan, that is, why he is considered among the great presidents of our nation. He was the forerunner in trends that reached their conclusion in the presidency of president number 45 and we are still deeply engulfed in the "ideals" (if you can call 'em that) underline the most recent past presidency. We have finally (finally!) concluded that the hugely popular "trickle-down theory" by which the wealth and prosperity of the wealthiest citizens would somehow magically "trickle down" to those of moderate and low income is a flop. ("That'll never work," my accountant father used to state---and he was right, of course. Nothing ever trickled down anywhere. Programs put in place to help the less affluent--programs that really worked--were promptly disbanded and the safety net was punctured or abandoned entirely for some. Those from other countries or cultures of ethnic groups were made to feel unwelcome and women, disabled, gays, blacks, browns, Asians were made to bear the brunt of the taxes and expected to do so cheerfully. It was---in short--a nightmare from beginning to end. We now have faint hopes of shaking off decades of Reagan Era thinking but it will be too much to expect that politicians from the Trumpy remnants of the GOP will embrace the kind of change we need. Such as Ted Cruz are happily stuck in ideals of self-service and advancement at the cost of higher taxes/lower income on those of us who can least afford to keep any vestige of Reagan style politics and economics going. It will be interesting to see where this goes but I believe that we better start considering what we are as a nation and what our communities and people need to thrive. Otherwise, we're doomed and all the weapons in the world will not save us as individuals or as a nation but only accelerate our demise.
(You might be interested in the series on the Roman Empire running on netflix.com. The series features three Roman emperors (Commodus, Julius Caesar (the best and most effective but also ruthless and power-driven) and Caligula). All three were assassinated.. The interesting thing was not how different the Roman Empire was from present-day America but, rather, how similar with the grand exception that, unlike America, the Romans could really do infrastructure and did so with great style and expertise...a lot of their buildings are still standing today, 2000 years later. We never got around to infrastructure but there is much we never got around to...to the detriment of all of us.)
Reagan was popular for 3 reasons: some people, especially women, thought he was handsome, even I admit he had a good voice, and he had a totally empty head. My daughter, who was a physician, said 'The best thing Reagan did in office was to sleep through all the cabinet meetings." That about sums it up. Other than to point out the value system in our Country is completely out of whack. We, as a Nation, revere athletes, entertainers, celebrities, persons of wealth. We do not admire persons of high intellect ('brainiacs', 'egg-heads', 'nerds' are some of the kinder terms applied to them). We do not admire people who help other people (unless they have achieved celebrity status elsewhere (Sean Penn, Bill Gates, etc.) We heroize criminals, 'rugged men', guns, and even violence. No, I'm not suggesting this covers all of us, but it is how we are depicted in the media, and how a lot of other countries see us. I think we need a complete make-over.
Fay Reid ; they shot Kennedy too.
Of course they did. Only decent, intelligent men get assassinated in this Country. The trumps die in bed. encased in their own blubber.
Dr. Reich I hope you're right. I think the best thing this nation could do is go back to teaching Civics - not just in high school, but starting in Kindergarten. Explaining to children about sharing and respect is part of Civics. Discussion of the social contract in 6th grade is part of Civics.
On abortion, I really do not understand how this can be a Constitutional issue since it isn't even mentioned in the Constitution. We don't allow the government to dictate who can have an appendectomy, open-heart surgery, or kidney removal, so why do we allow the government to determine who can or cannot have an abortion. Religion has NO place in the government according to Amendment I. The only input government has over health care decisions is in licensing Medical practitioners.
EXCELLENT POINTS. Tell them to amy coney barrett & co. (Oops, I meant their handlers..)
MM: Amen, so-to-speak...! Please tell that to Archbishop Cordileone. I'm waiting for him to refuse Communion to politicians who won't be rational on gun safety -- and to those who vote for them.
On a refreshing side, Catholic Bishop Flores (in Texas, no less!) actually lambasted the gun lobby: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/i-m-sick-of-hearing-it-catholic-bishop-slams-sacralizing-gun-ownership-while-children-die/ar-AAXPMg0?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=9c17dac812fa42f49ca743f3a6fd323d
He was, of course, denounced by many in responses to his position. See the comments on https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/bishop-flores-sacralized-guns-and?s=r
I can't understand why (well, yes, I'm afraid I can) the church-state separation clause is not used as a litmus test in SCOTUS confirmations. Anyone who is confirmed and is religious should automatically be recused from relevant decisions.
I agree with recusal on religious grounds, but if I had my way, all male judges and legislators Nationwide should be automatically recused from, any decision on abortion. After all, men are physically. physiologically, and even psychologically incapable of either gestation of parturition. Therefore have no first hand experience in the process. Abortion should be a decision involving only the pregnant woman and her physician (of either gender - since both genders have witnessed the harms and joys of childbirth).
Fay, I agree with extending the religious recusal to all judges and legislators, but I feel compelled to note that at least some of us males exhibit a degree of rational thinking, EMPATHY and responsibility. I think it's valuable to permit our perspective, especially when we demonstrate some common sense. I have been pro-choice since before I escaped from Catholicism.
Recusal on the basis of addiction to the theory of creationism (not only on abortion issues, but on other matter such as birth control) would extend through all genders.
Thank you Gary, I am well aware that the majority of thinking men, are aware of the dangers and joys women face in childbirth. Most men are appalled by, and would never consider rape or incest. Unfortunately a number of judges (of both genders) rammed through Congress by Mitch McConnell and his Merry Men are either mysogynistic, or incapable of critical thinking (and possibly ultra religious) so they consistently rule against what can be considered appropriate law. Such as the judge who reversed our California ban on assault weapons being sold to persons under 21. I intended my rant to be over the top (:-)
Fay Reid ; Don't forget the money incentive, too.
Thanks, Fay. I agree completely.
Gary D. ; there is also the idea of the Second Coming. If we abort this new, second Messiah, the world will not be saved by 'Him'. I was raised Catholic, too. I also know Catholics who heavily invest in the stock market and worship at the altar of the Almighty Dollar. They are true believers in The Market.
Amen, Laurie! Wel, at least they don't confer the monotheistic Almighty Dollar with a gender... 😆
The issue that is being raised about abortion is that a fetus is being classified as a living human with rights that are violated when the mother has an abortion.
Elias Bigio ; an eight celled blastocyst should not trump the life of a woman. If it could not live or grow outside of her womb, has no brain or even heartbeat, it should not be considered an autonomous, fully formed and viable human. It should not determine the fate of the woman.
Fay Reid ; the abortion issue is just another way to keep women down. The Equal Rights Amendment still has not passed for the majority of humans in this country : that is for the millions of women who represent every race in this 'melting pot' Democratic experiment. The implications for the world are evident. Equal rights for women will enhance dignity and improve life for every human, every child, regardless of race.
Well civics which is liberal Democratic in nature that altered civics as the right would teach! School board elections are the new battleground!
I beg to differ, Mr. Blackburn. Civics is neither liberal, progressive, conservative, nor authoritarian. It is important for teachers to leave their personal biases out, but study of the Constitution, as written, and the history of times in which it was written are facts, not someone's mythology.
WHEN CONGRESS AND PRES. CLINTON PASSED LEGISLATION TO BAN ASSAULT RIFLES
IN 1994, MASS SHOOTING DROPPED BY 43%.
AFTER REPUBICANS LET THE BAN EXPIRE IN 2004, THEY INCREASED BY 243%.
DON’T TELL ME BANS DON’T WORK…. I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOUR LIES..
On issue after issue, there is widespread popular and majority support for reform. Yet, time and time again the Republican Party has been able to keep a minority or majority in POWER in Washington, and have used that power to block anything and everything significant Democrats try to do (plus those two DINOs in the Senate of course). They have used that power to appoint more SCOTUS justices than Democrats. Despite this I cannot fathom why so many people vote for these craven, greedy, spineless, sleazy weasels that are perfectly willing to let children be murdered in exchange for NRA checks. The NYT asked all 50 Republican senators about gun reform, and also listed their lifetime NRA blood money. Mitt Romney. MITT frigging ROMNEY has taken over $13M!!!
The sad and pathetic truth is that more people and children will have to die from guns, covid, climate change, air pollution, food contamination, PFAS, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and so on because our regulations are pro-business and not pro-consumer. Plus a slow creep erosion of voting rights, reproductive rights, and other rights we have taken for granted will be stripped away by the billionaire funded forces out there, to a point where we will have to collectively snap out of our streaming entertainment distraction bubbles, get off the couch, walk out of our jobs, shut down everything, and throw the bums out of Washington! Human history does repeat itself, and it always seems like things have to get really ugly, scary, and terrible before the masses say enough is enough.
Oh and we need more than two political parties. This two party system ain't working very good. One is completely bonkers, and the other is ineffectual and sucks at messaging. Some Dems believe what they say, others say things in public, but take the influence money in private and vote or water down accordingly, and then we have DINOs on the rubbery end of the backbone spectrum.
p.s. I just watched the HBO documentary on George Carlin, so I'm feeling very cynical about my country and fellow citizens given everything that's happened since 2016....
Got up this morning a bit too early and put coffee on. And now, as I pour my first cup, I find your invitation in my Inbox. (I saw Mr. Friedman's post and I know I'll be thinking about it too, as I listen.)
[podcast reaches the end...}
I want to add that I'm writing from Cobb County, north of Atlanta, where we've lived for nearly 40 years now. I come from a blue-collar family in Detroit, served during Vietnam, and lived for about 8 years in Seattle before moving to Georgia. I've been involved in politics, and it's been a long, patient effort to help move Georgia in the direction it's been going. I cried tears of joy when the returns came in from the run-off election on January 5, 2021 -- to learn our state had elected two Democrats to the US Senate. (And then came the shock and horror of January 6.)
That's what it seems like life has been serving up: a brief moment of victory followed by a terrible feeling of loss. I want to comment on the gun thing in a separate post, as I pour my second cup. Really enjoyed coffee with you and Heather this morning.
Thank you, Robert and Heather. Very cogent, as usual.
I hate to keep preaching it, but I have to quote Thomas Paine again: "To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Assuming there are a few people who might still be capable of reason, here are a couple of very recent scholarly editorials (with links) on gun violence and the politics, in case anyone needs talking points. PLEASE pass them on.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add1854?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=ebab02254b-briefing-dy-20220527&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-ebab02254b-43746085
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-is-clear-gun-control-saves-lives/?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=ebab02254b-briefing-dy-20220527&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-ebab02254b-43746085
In the past few months when abortion has been in the news I had a sense (hope?) that this issue alone might do the gop in. Then when Uvalde happened I thought, "THIS should finally put an end to the gop". They have been determined to ignore major national public opinion concerning both abortion rights and gun control. They have angered the majority of women and now they have angered the majority of EVERYONE. Especially with Uvalde, they show how insensitive, how tone deaf, and how married to the NRA they are. They have expressed absolutely no remorse, and the total bungling by LEO is the last straw. I agree with the Professor. The "eleventh hour" timing of these things could not be more perfect in terms of elections. I hope our predictions are shared by voters who will RACE to the polls.
Unfortunately we have 5 1/2 months for people to lose their passion and the far right to put their spin lies onto something else…come on Jan 6th hearings! And hopefully the DOJ will finally charge tfg.
The issue is how it will affect the midterms. Do not want to offend gun owners per se.
The NRA has been devolving internally, attempting bankruptcy. IMHO they do not represent their membership. Ollie North and Wayne Lapierre accused each other of outright theft. It is tied to the Russian/Trump allegations. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/03/nra-maria-butina-ukraine-putin-war-crimea-republicans-trump-guns/
"[Wayne] LaPierre, the CEO who has been in charge of the NRA’s day-to-day operations since 1991, is accused in the lawsuit of spending millions on private travel and personal security and accepting expensive gifts — such as African safaris and use of a 107-foot yacht — from vendors.
"He is also accused of setting himself up with a $17 million contract with the NRA if he were to exit the organization, spending NRA money on travel consultants, luxury car services, and private jet flights for himself and his family — including more than $500,000 on eight trips to the Bahamas over a three-year span.
"Some of the NRA’s excess spending was kept secret, the lawsuit said, under an arrangement with the organization’s former advertising agency, Ackerman McQueen. The advertising firm would pick up the tab for expenses for LaPierre and other NRA executives and then send a lump sum bill to the organization for “out-of-pocket expenses,” the lawsuit said.
"Though headquartered in Virginia, the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state. James is the state’s chief law enforcement officer and has regulatory power over nonprofit organizations incorporated in the state, such as the NRA. In the lawsuit, James’ office argued that one way to remedy the alleged misspending at the organization was by closing it down.
"In January 2021, the NRA declared bankruptcy and sought to move its state of incorporation from New York to Texas, but a judge blocked the move, saying the NRA’s bankruptcy was not filed in good faith. In the process, the NRA had made clear it sought to escape regulatory oversight in New York, in part because of the lawsuit’s threat to its existence.
"In a court filing last year, lawyers for the organization called the lawsuit filed by James, a Democrat, “a blatant and malicious retaliation campaign against the NRA and its constituents based on her disagreement with the content of their speech.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bid-shutter-nra-rejected-judge-lawsuit-group-can-proceed-rcna18500
Millions of gun owners agree that we need extensive background checks and that military weapons should not be protected.
The NRA is clearly not really 'non profit'. It's all about boosting profits for the makers of deadly weapons.
The problem with background checks is that most if not all of the most recent shooters would pass! No criminal record or history of mental illness. Maybe if a background check included is internet rants.
Not the cursory checks now used. Would have to get a release. Get school records. Gendron and Ramos would have had hostile personality profiles in their IEPs.
From what I have seen, both of the sellers should be investigated. Possibly liable. Reminds me of dram shops -- selling booze to drunks. I remember when Pa passed handgun background checks. Our sheriff denied a high proportion.
That would make sense. Thanks.
The United States of America has a culture that embraces guns and a culture that does not. The people with weapons are repugnant and despicable to me, but can kill me. Therefore I should leave them. I live in Massachusetts, a state with relatively sane gun laws. But the culture of weaponry is here. Laws don't matter to the people of the gun culture. Wayne La Pierre just announced that owning a gun is a god given right. Well, let's see. I don't do gods, or rights given by gods. I guess Wayne and I aren't in the same culture. We can vote the monsters out of office over abortion and murdering children, but that won't stop the hateful ignorance spread by Fox and lousy public education, christian churches and plutocrats. Here is one thing that will work: If the rest of the world boycotts the USA.
If you have school age children you can do something, you can attend school board meetings, which, by law, are open to the public. There is usually a time for comments from the audience. Come prepared, make notes, don't lose your cool but be adamant about what changes you want. Then keep attending those meeting until the board agrees to consider your requests. Trust me, it works. When I was a teacher the air conditioning broke in my building and the indoor temperature was 110 to 112 degrees F. Neither my Principal nor Vice-Principal were able to get any action from District maintenance. So I went to the Board meeting, explained what was happening, what the temperatures were in my science classroom/lab. The next day the maintenance people came and fixed the system..
What on earth has gone so badly awry that one must go to such lengths?
Just read or listen to the real news, if that was not a rhetorical question,
Interesting concept, but one that I think would escape notice / understanding by those who most need to be impacted. They would probably only blame Biden!
It's a joke, it would never happen. Besides, the power is in the hands of the transnational corporations. See "The Carbon Bankroll - the climate impact and untapped power of corporate cash."
I agree! Hun culture is a culture of fear!
Stephen, more realistically, we could vote in Republican primaries.
Like every other horrendous mass shooting, this should be a teachable moment. Advocates of sensible gun regulation should be bombarding the media, the general public, and especially elected officials, with the obvious message that SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE. The voice and money of the NRA and its' followers has to be drowned out by the voice of the people. To succeed in 2024 will take a concerted effort by Dems, Progressives, Leftists, and all people of conscience. Gun control can be a wedge issue for that coalition, but the other pieces of a Democracy Platform also must be in place to give the voters a real contrast with the oligarchy and crypto-fascist agenda that the Trump wing is pushing.
And The Equal Rights Amendment should be passed, because it affects more than half the population and all races in this country ; All women and girls! IT IS TIME!
I fully agree with you. This should be part of the True Democracy agenda: no group should be discriminated against in any aspect of society.
It has to be put back out there again because it did finally get enough states to ratify it a few years ago and the official response was that it took too long to ratify so it didn’t count.
Krissy Wilcox ; It's maddening that the whole country can't see this injustice as it is. More than half of our population do not officially have equal rights! Women and girls make up more than half of our country, and include all races, faiths and walks of life (classes). We are the majority! Majority rules in our Democracy, we were taught in school when I was young. We need to get the word out and cannot wait for the Corporate owned 'news' media or the privately held 'news' (Fox and enemies) (Musk owned Twitter),to keep us updated.
How else would they have the temerity to tell us when and under what circumstances we MUST give birth?!!? Our Constitution clearly states there is a separation of church and state!
The party itself HAS TO GET ITS MARKETING ACT TOGETHER. So far, doesn't look good. If they miss THESE golden opportunities.......
Seems like they don't know who their base is anymore: Middle-class suburbans college grads or working-class factory and trades people. They shouldn't be mutually exclusive because we're all losing ground to the financial elites. I see the culture wars as a tool to divide people who should have a common interest.
The culture wars keep us from focusing on the obscenely wealthy and their control of everything we see, and our legislators/ 'representatives ; the whole enchilada! They write/ buy laws that keep them in untaxed generational wealth, while they want to keep us barefoot and pregnant, have poor schooling and poverty. Money is speech and they make sure we can't speak!
Thomas has the right idea. Despite all the breathless and tearful reporting the American public is protected from the actual horror and the news is sanitized. If the public were actually shown the battlefields with arms and legs and pieces of heads and blood, I think it would loosen the tolerance of republicans who year after year refuse to control firearms and prohibit citizens from walking around with assault rifles.
Given the violent video games some people play, I fear this would only increase their fascination with "going real". The networks do a reasonable job of humanizing the victims with their on-air bios. Getting their manifestos and on-line rants off the Web would also help reduce the spread of the sick ideas behind their actions.
"A determination..." If it is an abiding determination there is, finally, hope.
"Hope" that people get involved. Register/ get out the vote.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
I've done Pennsylvania voter registration and Get Out The Vote work for a number of years. With the governor's race there critical I am planning to head up there again. Keep the faith.
Great. At least two of the incumbent Republicans in Congress were active participants in the insurrection. Pennsylvania -- 595,734 unregistered likely Democratic women. Also hoping that Shapiro and Fetterman have coattails.
Turn PA Blue
Run for Something has data showing that the reverse coattail effect is more powerful - are blue local candidates strong?