I wrote 200 GOTV postcards, to be mailed on 28 Oct, and I may volunteer as a poll watcher. My spouse and I have also made some campaign contributions. Other than that, I am mostly keeping busy doing the things I normally do, and not reading too much about the polls, which are simply short term barometers of possible outcomes. I'm hoping all who can vote will vote for Democratic candidates...
I agree with you. I wrote letters to be mailed on Oct. 28 or 29 and have also made campaign and other contributions to Democrats and groups who support them. I will definitely vote for Democrats even though, sadly, in Alabama, where I live, Democrats don’t have much of a chance.
What really matters is that democracy is at stake, for those who can’t comprehend the outcome of that choice had better buckle up for a ride through hell. Something this nation only reads about could become reality if voters don’t step up and stop it. We must vote blue to save our way of life, it’s now or never. If you vote Republican, you will never vote for a president again after 2024. Mark my words
I don't think many people realize there is no more 'Republican' party like before.It's a cover name for 'Rump;s party,all MAGA extremists who care nothing about civil rights,the planet or the folks.
I'm writing letters for the Indivisible group to the voters,it's a grand old flag and even w/ our flaws we love this nation.
Here DeSantis/Rubio dominate the media. Not just ads - most are borderline defamation- but the reporting is horrible.
I subscribe to the Miami Herald.- little or no reporting how Republican local House members, Rubio and the criminal Rick Scott vote against Florida interests like FEMA and infrastructure, baby formula, prosecution of price fixers and price gougers. We get a lot of stuff like "Mom threatens to blow up school and beat up principal over child pickup, Florida cops say." I want them to report that Rick Scott wants to tax poor people, sunset Social Security, Medicare VA benefits and the other Republicans agree. But I am always disappointed. Most other Florida papers and TV are worse. I want them to report how our local COVID rates are still high, courtesy of the DeSantis herd immunity experiment. I want them to track the arrests and convictions of local insurrectionists. I want them to say which candidates oppose Ukraine funding. Oppose the legitimacy of our government,
In order to get the real news I subscribe to many other sources, including Robert.
Daniel.....I feel you Bro. I am on SSA and I get 100% VA benefits. I think we should sunset Rick Scott. Only in Florida does a criminal get elected governor and then US senator. Florida has been hijacked by republican money gotten via the developers, and all the other corrupt capitalist entities here. I am 72 years old. My wife and I can't stand cold weather. We thought about New Mexico, but I think we are just too old and broken down to make that move. Most of the sunbelt is ruled by republican scum. Where to go since the next hurricane will probably hit Miami or Tampa where I live.
I would invite you to California but between the drought and the earthquakes you probably wouldn’t like it. However it’s definitely warm here (read “hot”) and we do have a lot to offer. Also it’s blue(ish).
I would like to live in California but I could not afford it I think. Big cities in Florida are sitting ducks and there will be blood when one of them hits Miami or Tampa. Florida is completely unprepared for a Cat. 4-5 storm that hits major population center. Plus it is just hot as hell for 5 months out of the year here. Winters are great but summer is a living hell.
Well, I have to admit that summers have gotten pretty hot here too. It’s nowhere near as humid as the southeast but it’s more so than it used to be. It’s still hot now, although bearable. I’d say high eighties, as opposed to the higher than 100 temperatures we had a few weeks ago. It is expensive, there’s no denying that. It never used to be so bad that way either. I’ve lived in the LA area all my life and only in the last 15 years or so has it gotten ridiculous. Of course that’s down to the low interest rates, which have fueled rampant speculation. Before that it was much more affordable. I’m not saying it’s perfect—far from it—but it’s not cold and it’s not unlivable like, say, Phoenix. (Sorry to anyone who lives there but I couldn’t. It’s too hot.) Wedo have lovely scenery too, which I would show you if I could paste in some images.
I live in this very RED state also and couldn't agree with you more, Daniel. You express exactly what I experience everyday. It is very hard to find honest news. I seriously do not know how I would manage to stay centered without Robert Reich and Heather Cox Richardson. I also find it impossible to talk with misinformed Republicans, who seem to be everywhere and think they are right about everything.
Maybe you already know this, but there is now a network of nonprofit news outlets in 29 states under the umbrella of statesnewsroom.com. The Florida Phoenix is one of them. Some of it is original reporting and some is gleaned from other news sources, but as far as I can tell it is factually accurate. They focus on state government, but that's important, too.
Substack won't let me Like this comment so just here to second it. I look at it almost daily (though I live in MA where the billionaire who owns the major paper is at least a Democrat--an interfering corporate centrist though).
I started reading it after the push for war in Iraq and Afghanistan began. A really excellent paper--do subscribe if you can afford it as one of their excellencies is to have no firewall. Especially serious on climate change, which they actually cover, unlike all (as far as I know) US papers.
Getting really good local news is a big challenge. A few weeks ago, I was digging out information on the Jackson (MS) water crisis, and came across The Mississippi Free Press (MFP) online -- which I'm guessing is a smaller online journal. The journalism on the roots of the crises by one Nick Judin -- from March of 2021 -- is nothing short of excellent reporting and writing. I have been searching for a Georgia journal that's anything like MFP.
The problem's 'solution' isn't that smart people like Daniel can find other sources, it's finding ways to get news that matters to all the people who aren't inspired to search further. Please see my other post about trying to encourage musicians to write inspirational songs that will reach more people.
You don't have to be very well informed to know you are getting screwed! Everybody knows it and yet feel helpless to really do anything about it. If we all voted the republicans would find a way to steal the elections.
I suggest subbing to Farron Cousin's "The Ring of Fire" and/or "Farron Balanced." I have watched EVERY video since around 2017 or so. He is roughly my age and BRILLIANT.
I am in the wishful thinking mode, I wish very hard that Herschel Walker, Mehmet Oz and JD Vance LOSE big time. I hope Mark Kelly and Katie Porter win....., Hard to get overly worried about my home state (California) we mostly vote for the people (except for a few numbskulls in the mountains) My biggest concern here is voter turnout. I'd be happy if we even got to 60% turnout. I should get my ballot this coming week. I've read my copy of the Official Voter Information Guide and decided how I'll vote on the propositions. Grumbled because, once again, they have nothing about local candidates for Congress or State Senate and Assembly. Guess I'll have to write to the Secretary of State and lodge my complaint.
Don't be too cosy about "a few numbskulls in the mountains"--there are at least 7 incumbent election deniers running in CA districts, several of them very powerful--including the terrifying liar and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who will be Speaker of the House if we don't all get to work! Could you do a little phonebanking for their opponents? The deniers are Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes, Darrell Issa, Doug LaMalfa, Jay Obernolte, Mike Garcia and Ken Calvert.
Thank you Mary. I am only too aware of these greedy "trumpsters" you can add Tom McClintock to the list. As to phone banking, I quit driving in 2017, because I have severe neuropathy in both feet and lower legs and no longer consider myself to be a safe driver. I gave my Prius to my granddaughter. For the last four years of employment (2017 to 2021) I Ubered or carpooled (in California) As I am now on a very limited income I really can't afford to Uber or Lyft unless it is essential. Plus my voice sounds like the very old lady that I am. (:-)
Hello Fay, I too have neuropathy (10 years or so) and have had double knee replacement (2 years ago) followed by strokes (leaving me with impaired eyesight, but I swear I still drive SAFER than way too many & younger drivers), which have left me impaired so I don't drive very far. My recent weekend trip to visit family in OR was like driving in a "Mad Max" movie - speeding, tailgating, swerving in and out of traffic =
real bedlam - almost. So I empathasize with you. I'm also on limited income but do still
work a few days a month. Luckily I moved into a little rental house here in Seattle, at the back of my landlord's property and we've become good friends & he's 'bound and
determined' to do whatever it takes to make sure I get to stay in this house. He's given me carte blanche to do what I want with & in the gardens here : ))). He also took care of my cat and plants for 5 weeks while I was in the hosp & rehab. AWESOME and a true
rarity amongst - landlords... I wish you well ! It's a joy to follow your comments on
R.R.'s amazing and very valuable - substack (whatever the hell that is - LOL)))...
Thank you for the inspiring response. I sold my home last year, and I, and my two cats, moved into a small senior apartment which fits our needs. Unfortunately my knees didn't completely crash until after I was 88, and the doctors decided I was too old for surgery. So I get around with the help of a walker. I also have a grandson, his wife, and another granddaughter who drive me around. When that fails there is always uber or Lyft. I too, love Substack and, no, I have no idea what it means.
Hi Fay, sorry, by "numbskulls in the mountains" I thought you meant something else! (My extended family lives in CA but I don't, so geographic metaphors escape me.) But phonebanking has no relation to driving in recent years. You do it at home via laptop or iPad (which can become a phone)--and it's a much more relaxed process than when I gave it up after 2014, when it was so harried and phone connections were crummy. It's still done with others--you're in a Zoom so you can turn the audio back on to check in with each other or the group leader with questions, and we do a debriefing at the end. I've gotten fond of my group! Like you I'm retired and live in a Blue state: I do it with SwingBlue Alliance, calling people in states I have a little familiarity with like Ohio and PA. I've actually come to like it, plus we only call Democrats now, to interest them in voting or canvassing, or help them re-register or find their poll. If mailing letters or postcards interests you more, Vote Forward is doing "the Big Send" this week: https://votefwd.org/bigsend/swingleft But I have an "old lady voice" too and have had many good talks with my fellow oldsters when I phonebank!
I love to dance, too, Robert, but unfortunately live in Florida. Too far to come and dance with you! I've taken to jitterbugging with the handle of my refrigerator! Works pretty well. Dancing does take my mind off my worries.
Bob and Heather ; Another great klatch! You nailed it with the call for a monthly Profits report from the Corporations! And it is maddening how the tv pundits never talk about the obscene profit margins that keep going up and up. It does look like the Saudis are jacking up oil prices as we head towards the elections (and winter). They certainly do not want Biden at the helm of the Ship of State. Their greedy friends who sell us all out don't either. 'We' don't want controversy, and better not tell the real story of inflation though! I wish we could just fire them all for misinforming us!
What is this stay calm of which you speak? If you ain't scared, you ain't right. Per fivethirtyeight, the Democrats retain the Senate, but lose the House.
I'm trying to stay positive and motivated, but it's so difficult with the numerous obstacles our nation faces. It's kind of like the game "whack-a-mole".
Noam Chomsky has said that he is heartened by the struggles of impoverished peoples around the world, who organize and fight against indomitable forces. Why would this be heartening? Because in the face of Death, whose chariot is drawn by more and more horses, the only thing for humans to do is to live moral, ethical lives, protecting our mother the Earth, our fellow species in the web of life, and one another. We will perish. The questions are when and how.
Yes, Robert, you do need a new keyboard. I recognize a fellow violent typist when I see one. My first "keyboard" was a Royal, my father's, from the 1940s. As such I was never a touch typist but an assault typist. The first time I used an electric typewriter I hated it because it seemed to have a life and will of its own. It wrote without me. Later, an Apple "Genius" had to gently chide me for pounding the living hell out of an Apple iPad display model: "You don't hit it, sir, you lift off it," he said. I'm on my fourth external keyboard in six years. Still have that Royal. Still works, too.
I love the "Cool Beans" music and vote for that to be the permanent Klatch theme song. On more serious matters, as the November 8 midterms approach, I wonder if this is going to be one of the most momentous days of my life, a day that I will always remember, as I do the day JFK died. Will it be the day Democracy dies in this country? Will it be in the hands of the criminal Republicans, who, more than just being MAGAts, have long been working to take over our government and put it in the hands of the oligarchs? It seems all too possible, like a train wreck in slow motion that we can do nothing about. Many of us have been working hard to prevent this, of course, and may yet succeed. For most of my life I took our Democracy for granted, a solid rock that would always be there in spite of it's flaws. Now we see it may not be so. To quote Wallace Stevens, "Death is the mother of beauty..." Perhaps in nearly losing our country we can rededicate ourselves to it, see the real value of it, and continue to fight for it, whatever 11/8 brings. EDIT: My comments today were a little dark even for me (a glass-is-entirely-empty kind of person) so I have gone back to writing post cards and planning for a giant Champaign zoom party WHEN we win in November.
Reading the comments of everyone gives me hope. Listening to Rachel Maddows 10/3 report and reading Lady Justice by Dahlia Lithwick has informed me of just how threatened democracy is by no less than the .supreme Court. Please watch/read and let me know what you think. I really respect this group
At almost 78, I have come to realize that all I can do is vote, talk to others and encourage them to vote and stay hopeful that the majority of Americans will wake up starting with this election and start voting for people who have the best interests in our democratic republic at heart.
Actually that's not quite true. I have friends older than you are who are phonebanking and writing postcards and letters to get people registered, remind them to send their mail-in ballots, get them out to vote. The latter is really easy, but we have only a little time left to do it in. Go to Vote Forward: https://votefwd.org/bigsend/swingleft --or Swing Blue Alliance, today!
Working hard in PA as the televised ads for Mastriano and Oz Man continue to sully John Fetterman and cast their insanity upon our airwaves. When will these two get a clue that we don’t want radical racists in our state? Not now, not ever.
I wrote 200 GOTV postcards, to be mailed on 28 Oct, and I may volunteer as a poll watcher. My spouse and I have also made some campaign contributions. Other than that, I am mostly keeping busy doing the things I normally do, and not reading too much about the polls, which are simply short term barometers of possible outcomes. I'm hoping all who can vote will vote for Democratic candidates...
I am VERY hopeful about these elections! That said, a NATIONAL POLLING DAY would GUARANTEE the demise of the facist _rumplican party.
I agree with you. I wrote letters to be mailed on Oct. 28 or 29 and have also made campaign and other contributions to Democrats and groups who support them. I will definitely vote for Democrats even though, sadly, in Alabama, where I live, Democrats don’t have much of a chance.
What really matters is that democracy is at stake, for those who can’t comprehend the outcome of that choice had better buckle up for a ride through hell. Something this nation only reads about could become reality if voters don’t step up and stop it. We must vote blue to save our way of life, it’s now or never. If you vote Republican, you will never vote for a president again after 2024. Mark my words
this is my fear as well.
I don't think many people realize there is no more 'Republican' party like before.It's a cover name for 'Rump;s party,all MAGA extremists who care nothing about civil rights,the planet or the folks.
I'm writing letters for the Indivisible group to the voters,it's a grand old flag and even w/ our flaws we love this nation.
Also working to register 350,000 Florida unregistered women voters.
October 11 is last day!
Please make some calls! You don’t have to live in Florida!
Database of unregistered women. Mervis Reissig
merv4peace@gmail.com
Curiousity, Do you know what Florida is doing to help displaced citizens and flooded areas get access to vote in the upcoming elections?
80% in those areas are MAGA.
A potential case for a recount?
Hard at work.
In Florida we have to COB Tuesday Oct. 11 to register more Democrats.
Database of unregistered women. Mervis Reissig
merv4peace@gmail.com
Everything is local.
Here DeSantis/Rubio dominate the media. Not just ads - most are borderline defamation- but the reporting is horrible.
I subscribe to the Miami Herald.- little or no reporting how Republican local House members, Rubio and the criminal Rick Scott vote against Florida interests like FEMA and infrastructure, baby formula, prosecution of price fixers and price gougers. We get a lot of stuff like "Mom threatens to blow up school and beat up principal over child pickup, Florida cops say." I want them to report that Rick Scott wants to tax poor people, sunset Social Security, Medicare VA benefits and the other Republicans agree. But I am always disappointed. Most other Florida papers and TV are worse. I want them to report how our local COVID rates are still high, courtesy of the DeSantis herd immunity experiment. I want them to track the arrests and convictions of local insurrectionists. I want them to say which candidates oppose Ukraine funding. Oppose the legitimacy of our government,
In order to get the real news I subscribe to many other sources, including Robert.
Daniel.....I feel you Bro. I am on SSA and I get 100% VA benefits. I think we should sunset Rick Scott. Only in Florida does a criminal get elected governor and then US senator. Florida has been hijacked by republican money gotten via the developers, and all the other corrupt capitalist entities here. I am 72 years old. My wife and I can't stand cold weather. We thought about New Mexico, but I think we are just too old and broken down to make that move. Most of the sunbelt is ruled by republican scum. Where to go since the next hurricane will probably hit Miami or Tampa where I live.
I would invite you to California but between the drought and the earthquakes you probably wouldn’t like it. However it’s definitely warm here (read “hot”) and we do have a lot to offer. Also it’s blue(ish).
I would like to live in California but I could not afford it I think. Big cities in Florida are sitting ducks and there will be blood when one of them hits Miami or Tampa. Florida is completely unprepared for a Cat. 4-5 storm that hits major population center. Plus it is just hot as hell for 5 months out of the year here. Winters are great but summer is a living hell.
Gulf stream brings trade winds, organic air conditioning from Key West to Sebastian Inlet.
Well, I have to admit that summers have gotten pretty hot here too. It’s nowhere near as humid as the southeast but it’s more so than it used to be. It’s still hot now, although bearable. I’d say high eighties, as opposed to the higher than 100 temperatures we had a few weeks ago. It is expensive, there’s no denying that. It never used to be so bad that way either. I’ve lived in the LA area all my life and only in the last 15 years or so has it gotten ridiculous. Of course that’s down to the low interest rates, which have fueled rampant speculation. Before that it was much more affordable. I’m not saying it’s perfect—far from it—but it’s not cold and it’s not unlivable like, say, Phoenix. (Sorry to anyone who lives there but I couldn’t. It’s too hot.) Wedo have lovely scenery too, which I would show you if I could paste in some images.
Used to have deadly smog most of the time.
I lived in California. Fresno. Literally and figuratively the armpit of the state. I have cousins by the dozens there.
No thanks. Fault lines run the length and breadth. Drought. Fires. Mud slides. Where do you go when there's no San Diego?
I live in this very RED state also and couldn't agree with you more, Daniel. You express exactly what I experience everyday. It is very hard to find honest news. I seriously do not know how I would manage to stay centered without Robert Reich and Heather Cox Richardson. I also find it impossible to talk with misinformed Republicans, who seem to be everywhere and think they are right about everything.
Maybe you already know this, but there is now a network of nonprofit news outlets in 29 states under the umbrella of statesnewsroom.com. The Florida Phoenix is one of them. Some of it is original reporting and some is gleaned from other news sources, but as far as I can tell it is factually accurate. They focus on state government, but that's important, too.
Substack won't let me Like this comment so just here to second it. I look at it almost daily (though I live in MA where the billionaire who owns the major paper is at least a Democrat--an interfering corporate centrist though).
texastribune.com in Texas, though not listed on the site you linked.
Hey Daniel. Try the Guardian. (Free online with donations accepted). Excellent and very broad coverage.
I started reading it after the push for war in Iraq and Afghanistan began. A really excellent paper--do subscribe if you can afford it as one of their excellencies is to have no firewall. Especially serious on climate change, which they actually cover, unlike all (as far as I know) US papers.
I personally have no problem fining the news.
The point is the voters in Florida do not get the facts. In fact, the media are cheerleaders for insurrection.
https://floridaphoenix.com/politics-and-law/
for other states
https://statesnewsroom.com/
they deserve support. publicize them to others.
Getting really good local news is a big challenge. A few weeks ago, I was digging out information on the Jackson (MS) water crisis, and came across The Mississippi Free Press (MFP) online -- which I'm guessing is a smaller online journal. The journalism on the roots of the crises by one Nick Judin -- from March of 2021 -- is nothing short of excellent reporting and writing. I have been searching for a Georgia journal that's anything like MFP.
A current nyTimes piece describes some attempts to remedy the urgent nationwide local news coverage crisis. Though far from comprehensive, it deserves a look: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/business/media/pluribus-news-statehouses.html
It's exacerbated here, especially in Spanish language media.
The problem's 'solution' isn't that smart people like Daniel can find other sources, it's finding ways to get news that matters to all the people who aren't inspired to search further. Please see my other post about trying to encourage musicians to write inspirational songs that will reach more people.
You don't have to be very well informed to know you are getting screwed! Everybody knows it and yet feel helpless to really do anything about it. If we all voted the republicans would find a way to steal the elections.
I suggest subbing to Farron Cousin's "The Ring of Fire" and/or "Farron Balanced." I have watched EVERY video since around 2017 or so. He is roughly my age and BRILLIANT.
I see him sometimes on the David Packman show. Packman calls it out as a social democrat. His videos of Trumpers are funny.
I am in the wishful thinking mode, I wish very hard that Herschel Walker, Mehmet Oz and JD Vance LOSE big time. I hope Mark Kelly and Katie Porter win....., Hard to get overly worried about my home state (California) we mostly vote for the people (except for a few numbskulls in the mountains) My biggest concern here is voter turnout. I'd be happy if we even got to 60% turnout. I should get my ballot this coming week. I've read my copy of the Official Voter Information Guide and decided how I'll vote on the propositions. Grumbled because, once again, they have nothing about local candidates for Congress or State Senate and Assembly. Guess I'll have to write to the Secretary of State and lodge my complaint.
I agree on Cool Beans, it's pleasant listening
Don't be too cosy about "a few numbskulls in the mountains"--there are at least 7 incumbent election deniers running in CA districts, several of them very powerful--including the terrifying liar and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who will be Speaker of the House if we don't all get to work! Could you do a little phonebanking for their opponents? The deniers are Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes, Darrell Issa, Doug LaMalfa, Jay Obernolte, Mike Garcia and Ken Calvert.
Thank you Mary. I am only too aware of these greedy "trumpsters" you can add Tom McClintock to the list. As to phone banking, I quit driving in 2017, because I have severe neuropathy in both feet and lower legs and no longer consider myself to be a safe driver. I gave my Prius to my granddaughter. For the last four years of employment (2017 to 2021) I Ubered or carpooled (in California) As I am now on a very limited income I really can't afford to Uber or Lyft unless it is essential. Plus my voice sounds like the very old lady that I am. (:-)
Hello Fay, I too have neuropathy (10 years or so) and have had double knee replacement (2 years ago) followed by strokes (leaving me with impaired eyesight, but I swear I still drive SAFER than way too many & younger drivers), which have left me impaired so I don't drive very far. My recent weekend trip to visit family in OR was like driving in a "Mad Max" movie - speeding, tailgating, swerving in and out of traffic =
real bedlam - almost. So I empathasize with you. I'm also on limited income but do still
work a few days a month. Luckily I moved into a little rental house here in Seattle, at the back of my landlord's property and we've become good friends & he's 'bound and
determined' to do whatever it takes to make sure I get to stay in this house. He's given me carte blanche to do what I want with & in the gardens here : ))). He also took care of my cat and plants for 5 weeks while I was in the hosp & rehab. AWESOME and a true
rarity amongst - landlords... I wish you well ! It's a joy to follow your comments on
R.R.'s amazing and very valuable - substack (whatever the hell that is - LOL)))...
Thank you for the inspiring response. I sold my home last year, and I, and my two cats, moved into a small senior apartment which fits our needs. Unfortunately my knees didn't completely crash until after I was 88, and the doctors decided I was too old for surgery. So I get around with the help of a walker. I also have a grandson, his wife, and another granddaughter who drive me around. When that fails there is always uber or Lyft. I too, love Substack and, no, I have no idea what it means.
thank YOU Fay for your own 'inspiration' for me to "keep on trucking" in this - increasingly
difficult world to live in (and allow every other life form in this world a space for each to - call home!)
Hi Fay, sorry, by "numbskulls in the mountains" I thought you meant something else! (My extended family lives in CA but I don't, so geographic metaphors escape me.) But phonebanking has no relation to driving in recent years. You do it at home via laptop or iPad (which can become a phone)--and it's a much more relaxed process than when I gave it up after 2014, when it was so harried and phone connections were crummy. It's still done with others--you're in a Zoom so you can turn the audio back on to check in with each other or the group leader with questions, and we do a debriefing at the end. I've gotten fond of my group! Like you I'm retired and live in a Blue state: I do it with SwingBlue Alliance, calling people in states I have a little familiarity with like Ohio and PA. I've actually come to like it, plus we only call Democrats now, to interest them in voting or canvassing, or help them re-register or find their poll. If mailing letters or postcards interests you more, Vote Forward is doing "the Big Send" this week: https://votefwd.org/bigsend/swingleft But I have an "old lady voice" too and have had many good talks with my fellow oldsters when I phonebank!
I will certainly consider it.
I love to dance, too, Robert, but unfortunately live in Florida. Too far to come and dance with you! I've taken to jitterbugging with the handle of my refrigerator! Works pretty well. Dancing does take my mind off my worries.
Bob and Heather ; Another great klatch! You nailed it with the call for a monthly Profits report from the Corporations! And it is maddening how the tv pundits never talk about the obscene profit margins that keep going up and up. It does look like the Saudis are jacking up oil prices as we head towards the elections (and winter). They certainly do not want Biden at the helm of the Ship of State. Their greedy friends who sell us all out don't either. 'We' don't want controversy, and better not tell the real story of inflation though! I wish we could just fire them all for misinforming us!
What is this stay calm of which you speak? If you ain't scared, you ain't right. Per fivethirtyeight, the Democrats retain the Senate, but lose the House.
I'm trying to stay positive and motivated, but it's so difficult with the numerous obstacles our nation faces. It's kind of like the game "whack-a-mole".
Noam Chomsky has said that he is heartened by the struggles of impoverished peoples around the world, who organize and fight against indomitable forces. Why would this be heartening? Because in the face of Death, whose chariot is drawn by more and more horses, the only thing for humans to do is to live moral, ethical lives, protecting our mother the Earth, our fellow species in the web of life, and one another. We will perish. The questions are when and how.
Yes, Robert, you do need a new keyboard. I recognize a fellow violent typist when I see one. My first "keyboard" was a Royal, my father's, from the 1940s. As such I was never a touch typist but an assault typist. The first time I used an electric typewriter I hated it because it seemed to have a life and will of its own. It wrote without me. Later, an Apple "Genius" had to gently chide me for pounding the living hell out of an Apple iPad display model: "You don't hit it, sir, you lift off it," he said. I'm on my fourth external keyboard in six years. Still have that Royal. Still works, too.
Saturday coffee klatch gets my vote as theme song
I love the "Cool Beans" music and vote for that to be the permanent Klatch theme song. On more serious matters, as the November 8 midterms approach, I wonder if this is going to be one of the most momentous days of my life, a day that I will always remember, as I do the day JFK died. Will it be the day Democracy dies in this country? Will it be in the hands of the criminal Republicans, who, more than just being MAGAts, have long been working to take over our government and put it in the hands of the oligarchs? It seems all too possible, like a train wreck in slow motion that we can do nothing about. Many of us have been working hard to prevent this, of course, and may yet succeed. For most of my life I took our Democracy for granted, a solid rock that would always be there in spite of it's flaws. Now we see it may not be so. To quote Wallace Stevens, "Death is the mother of beauty..." Perhaps in nearly losing our country we can rededicate ourselves to it, see the real value of it, and continue to fight for it, whatever 11/8 brings. EDIT: My comments today were a little dark even for me (a glass-is-entirely-empty kind of person) so I have gone back to writing post cards and planning for a giant Champaign zoom party WHEN we win in November.
Reading the comments of everyone gives me hope. Listening to Rachel Maddows 10/3 report and reading Lady Justice by Dahlia Lithwick has informed me of just how threatened democracy is by no less than the .supreme Court. Please watch/read and let me know what you think. I really respect this group
At almost 78, I have come to realize that all I can do is vote, talk to others and encourage them to vote and stay hopeful that the majority of Americans will wake up starting with this election and start voting for people who have the best interests in our democratic republic at heart.
Actually that's not quite true. I have friends older than you are who are phonebanking and writing postcards and letters to get people registered, remind them to send their mail-in ballots, get them out to vote. The latter is really easy, but we have only a little time left to do it in. Go to Vote Forward: https://votefwd.org/bigsend/swingleft --or Swing Blue Alliance, today!
Thanks, Mary.
Trying to find a way to drive voters to the polls.
Contact RideShare2Vote--if they aren't operating in your state yet, they'll help you find out who is. https://rideshare2vote.com/
Thanks!
Working hard in PA as the televised ads for Mastriano and Oz Man continue to sully John Fetterman and cast their insanity upon our airwaves. When will these two get a clue that we don’t want radical racists in our state? Not now, not ever.
WHO'S CALM????? MY COUNTRY IS AT RISK !!!