There are many reasons why the country is divided and I believe the main culprits are in leadership positions! We should never forget this man’s bravery to protect his country.
Michael Fanone joined the United States Capitol Police during the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. A few years later, he joined the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, remaining a member for approximately 20 years. During the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, Fanone was assaulted by rioters—dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, and threatened with his own gun. Fanone suffered burns, a heart attack, and traumatic brain injuries. As a result he was forced into early retirement. On June 21, 2023 he said to the judge:
"Your honor, we must all join in the fight against Donald Trump and the destructive, divisive movement he has come to represent, we must offer him no safe harbor and to his enablers — whether in business, in politics and the media — give no quarter. In the fight to preserve our Republic, there can be no spectators. Any compassion or empathy I felt toward those who laid siege to our Capitol, whose actions I felt were at least in part influenced by their leader, Donald Trump, and his lies, has been eroded — eroded by the attacks directed at me and my family by supporters of Donald Trump and the right-wing media."
Professor Reich failed to mention the most important accomplishment passed by Minnesota’s legislature and signed into law. As part of their sweeping Democracy for the People Act, it will now be illegal for partially or wholly foreign owned corporations from being ably to fund elections!!!! This means that 98% of the S&P 500 will be disqualified from polluting Minnesota’s politics with corporate money! It will greatly reduce big money in politics and help restore good government.
We are working to pass AB83 in California. It is identical legislation to what Minnesota just passed and it has become a 2 year bill. Help us pass it at moneyoutvotersin.org
And help end corporate rule with movetoamend.org We can stop the Fascists from dividing the USA. Please check out these two organizations and consider helping. We need democracy now to be able to save our planet!
The reason why I submitted this comment about Michael Fanone is because if not for his bravery and the bravery of many others these so called Republican leaders who took the oath to protect and defend our Constitution and our country might have lost their lives that day. Yet they continue to stoke division instead of working with their fellow Democrats in Congress to make a more perfect America!
My governor and all of the Republican representatives of my home state have lied, cheated and manipulated its people in the name of religion for years and it’s still working. Children have died because of their ignorance and control of the gun laws. Citizens die daily because they won’t provide them medical care. They won’t allow abortions yet they don’t want to feed or educate the children. I love my home state. It is beautiful, but it gets uglier every year I watch the gerrymandering and the evil that continues for money and power. I hate Republicans because of this. It gets worse every year. I’m a Democrat living in a red state, but I don’t want to move. It’s my home and I was born here. It is so sad because it didn’t use to be this way and it shouldn’t be this way now.
I reside in a Republican trifecta state (Utah)...Democrats here have taken to joining the Republican party in order to be able to vote in Republican primaries for moderate Republican candidates...We then vote Democrat in the general elections...
Arsekansas would like you to know that our return to the stone age is not desirable for anyone with all their teeth and/or not named Huckabee. Why 78% or so of the state wanted a bigoted Neanderthal from a crime family running it I can't guess.
My family moves to Europe next summer. I am taking no chances of Drumpf ever having say in our lives again.
Put significant leashes on corporations and Very Big Money. Pass a law that corporations are not people. Adequately fund the IRS so they are empowered to counter the manufacture of tax avoidances created by the tsunami of attorney (gangs) intent on screwing the public by enabling corporations to be tax free. Break apart all monopolies. Break apart Big Banks. Establish public banking in US Post Offices.Put a cap on wealth accumulation and a ratio of CEO - worker pay. Make the internet a federal utility. Do everything possible to inhibit the occurrence of obscene wealth gaps. Reinstate the draft.
Thank you for this and more importantly for you work on behalf of part of my chosen family,
As often happens, I wake up in what is the middle of the night to me, read your thoughts, and end up spending sometime responding. Since I don't like a state that has a republican trifecta perhaps you don't want me to comment, ... so I will keep my comments brief.
It seems to me that a civil war happens when people are willing to kill other people living in their country over ideology. The "Civil War" in the United States of America happened not because a majority of people living in the "confederate" states believed that the Election of Lincoln as president was wrong or somehow illegitimate but because people who commanded people with weapons, ordered those people to use those weapons.
My work takes me into many more homes than the average. When the household members are FOX news watchers, I've noticed that they tend to leave the TV on in the background, many, all day long. To my simple mind, this equates out to a subtle or steady brainwashing.The divisiveness and bias created by a biased, corporately controlled media tends to be a subject relegated to secondary conversation. It truely needs to be seriously dealt with. The fomenting of the lies, the bias, the hatred of the scary 'other' is their product. As with monies in our political process, this topic will never be seriously dealt with. Why? Because those latched on to those MONIES and that POWER ain't letting go of that big juicy tittie ! A society is a macrocosm of the individual. And we as individuals, with any degree of a decent upbringing are warned of the pitfalls of the human paradigm. Conversely, the corporate citizen holds them near and dear as a closely held set of instructions. Without serious attention to the root causes of our national divisiveness ; those free flowing monies, that corrupted media, the systemic, fomenting of that fear and loathing, the barrage of the mis and dis information resulting in a dumbed down, controllable electorate, the divide will deepen and worsen. Without a conscious and concerted effort to deal with the root causes, nothing will change.
While Democratic states are generally better, they are far from ideal. For example: it sucks to be poor in America regardless of which state you are in. Perhaps less sucky in Democratic states. In other words, the US has poor social infrastructure compared to other wealthy countries regardless of political party.
Moreover, I'm not sure that Democratic states are better in terms of policing either. The tough on crime nonsense is bipartisan. The location of a police department has impact on the quality of police, e.g. Oakland, CA police department, Atlanta cop city, ....
How long nowadays do you think the young will put up with the restraints and bans imposed by old, incapable of moving forward and adapting individuals?
The way I see the "hard-core" Republicans is like a dying breed... they are about to disappear and they know it ! That's why they are trying sooo oh so hard to hold onto the reigns of power... It's almost sad what is happening to them 😊
As I said...the Future belongs to the young people (and I am not talking about the ones "young at heart" ) ......
I live in Mini-Me Ohio. We are following in lock step with Florida. 20 years ago the voters approved discontinuing property taxes to fund our schools. The Republicans ignored the voters wishes AND the Ohio Supreme Court orders.. .4X over the last 20 years. And the Courts do nothing about being ignored. They've gerrymandered us so that a Democrat can't win any election- the exception being Sherrod Brown who was elected in 2006...but the Republicans have targeted his demise for the next election. Jim Jordan is from Ohio and can act like the idiot he is because his district was custom made (gerrymandered) for his guaranteed lifetime appointment. Ohio is working on book banning and not allowing gender affirmed care but the worst of it is the abortion issue. We currently are under court order to continue to allow abortions, however the Republicans have decided to raise the citizen approved bills to require a 60% approval instead of the 50% we've had forever and to get the votes to do so they recreated a Special Election in August that will cost the tax payers $20 million dollars. They had just removed allowing August elections in December, 2022 because of low turnout and cost ; but because an abortion bill similar to Kansas was going to be on our November elections and polls indicated we had 59% approval they decided they had to try for voter approval of 60%. You should also understand that the Ohio House and Senate would still be held to 50% +1 approval. One legislator said that they should be determining all bill approval anyway, because "Ohioans don't know what they want". Our legislature has been taken over by extremists on the right, and even though our population is purple. our State representation is bright, bright red and our courts ineffective.
Professor Reich, thank you for writing this insightful commentary.
I am isolated politically as a far left progressive living in Florida. DeSantis is fascistic, a culture warrior exploiting fear and hatred.
Non-binary are vilified and excluded from societal protections.
Since we have no international boarder he used public money to send his supporters airplane to Texas to kidnap by trickery some refugees whom he had flown to Martha’s Vineyard and dumped.
He is creating his own State National Guard under his control.
He had passed a six week abortion ban.
He has empowered self-selected individuals power to ban books in schools and public libraries. He has intimidated librarians.
He redistributed to eliminate a black predominant safe Democratic congressional seat.
He attacked the Disney Corporation in a vendetta to kill “WOKE”!
He has never defined woke but it appears to be descriptive of the concept of sensitivity to social injustice.
Although by referendum the electorate restored voting rights to liberated felons he passed legislation requiring payment of judicially imposed monetary penalties to become eligible. Voter registration offices issued identification cards to ineligible, unsuspecting felons. When they voted he had them arrested with much fanfare and public notice. Courts have regularly dismissed these cases with no governmental notice to the public.
My district elected Anna Paulina Luna to congress. One of her campaign posters features her holding aloft two military firearms. She is a well down stream replacement to long-time Republican C. W. (Bill) Young. He was a person with some credibility and gravitas. She is devoid of such virtues.
This screed is entirely factual and far from complete. Sigh.
My only disagreement is your conclusion, Professor. You can not change their minds by talking. The only way they change is if something in their life slaps them across the face- an illness that insurance won’t pay for, causes bankruptcy; a beloved child/grandchild comes out; involvement in a shooting; a young woman dies from complications related to a pregnancy that cannot be terminated…..I’m in the trifecta of NJ. I often feel that my national votes don’t count for shit- but I keep doing it anyway!
There are many reasons why the country is divided and I believe the main culprits are in leadership positions! We should never forget this man’s bravery to protect his country.
Michael Fanone joined the United States Capitol Police during the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. A few years later, he joined the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, remaining a member for approximately 20 years. During the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, Fanone was assaulted by rioters—dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, and threatened with his own gun. Fanone suffered burns, a heart attack, and traumatic brain injuries. As a result he was forced into early retirement. On June 21, 2023 he said to the judge:
"Your honor, we must all join in the fight against Donald Trump and the destructive, divisive movement he has come to represent, we must offer him no safe harbor and to his enablers — whether in business, in politics and the media — give no quarter. In the fight to preserve our Republic, there can be no spectators. Any compassion or empathy I felt toward those who laid siege to our Capitol, whose actions I felt were at least in part influenced by their leader, Donald Trump, and his lies, has been eroded — eroded by the attacks directed at me and my family by supporters of Donald Trump and the right-wing media."
These are the words of a True American Patriot!
Professor Reich failed to mention the most important accomplishment passed by Minnesota’s legislature and signed into law. As part of their sweeping Democracy for the People Act, it will now be illegal for partially or wholly foreign owned corporations from being ably to fund elections!!!! This means that 98% of the S&P 500 will be disqualified from polluting Minnesota’s politics with corporate money! It will greatly reduce big money in politics and help restore good government.
We are working to pass AB83 in California. It is identical legislation to what Minnesota just passed and it has become a 2 year bill. Help us pass it at moneyoutvotersin.org
And help end corporate rule with movetoamend.org We can stop the Fascists from dividing the USA. Please check out these two organizations and consider helping. We need democracy now to be able to save our planet!
The reason why I submitted this comment about Michael Fanone is because if not for his bravery and the bravery of many others these so called Republican leaders who took the oath to protect and defend our Constitution and our country might have lost their lives that day. Yet they continue to stoke division instead of working with their fellow Democrats in Congress to make a more perfect America!
My governor and all of the Republican representatives of my home state have lied, cheated and manipulated its people in the name of religion for years and it’s still working. Children have died because of their ignorance and control of the gun laws. Citizens die daily because they won’t provide them medical care. They won’t allow abortions yet they don’t want to feed or educate the children. I love my home state. It is beautiful, but it gets uglier every year I watch the gerrymandering and the evil that continues for money and power. I hate Republicans because of this. It gets worse every year. I’m a Democrat living in a red state, but I don’t want to move. It’s my home and I was born here. It is so sad because it didn’t use to be this way and it shouldn’t be this way now.
I reside in a Republican trifecta state (Utah)...Democrats here have taken to joining the Republican party in order to be able to vote in Republican primaries for moderate Republican candidates...We then vote Democrat in the general elections...
I live in Florida. My shame is nearly unbearable.
Proud to be a Minnesotan! Those pesky mosquitoes don’t look so bad when you see what our blue trifecta has accomplished up here in Lake Wobegon.
Arsekansas would like you to know that our return to the stone age is not desirable for anyone with all their teeth and/or not named Huckabee. Why 78% or so of the state wanted a bigoted Neanderthal from a crime family running it I can't guess.
My family moves to Europe next summer. I am taking no chances of Drumpf ever having say in our lives again.
Put significant leashes on corporations and Very Big Money. Pass a law that corporations are not people. Adequately fund the IRS so they are empowered to counter the manufacture of tax avoidances created by the tsunami of attorney (gangs) intent on screwing the public by enabling corporations to be tax free. Break apart all monopolies. Break apart Big Banks. Establish public banking in US Post Offices.Put a cap on wealth accumulation and a ratio of CEO - worker pay. Make the internet a federal utility. Do everything possible to inhibit the occurrence of obscene wealth gaps. Reinstate the draft.
Professor
Thank you for this and more importantly for you work on behalf of part of my chosen family,
As often happens, I wake up in what is the middle of the night to me, read your thoughts, and end up spending sometime responding. Since I don't like a state that has a republican trifecta perhaps you don't want me to comment, ... so I will keep my comments brief.
It seems to me that a civil war happens when people are willing to kill other people living in their country over ideology. The "Civil War" in the United States of America happened not because a majority of people living in the "confederate" states believed that the Election of Lincoln as president was wrong or somehow illegitimate but because people who commanded people with weapons, ordered those people to use those weapons.
I am afraid that is happening now.
It hurts my heart.
My work takes me into many more homes than the average. When the household members are FOX news watchers, I've noticed that they tend to leave the TV on in the background, many, all day long. To my simple mind, this equates out to a subtle or steady brainwashing.The divisiveness and bias created by a biased, corporately controlled media tends to be a subject relegated to secondary conversation. It truely needs to be seriously dealt with. The fomenting of the lies, the bias, the hatred of the scary 'other' is their product. As with monies in our political process, this topic will never be seriously dealt with. Why? Because those latched on to those MONIES and that POWER ain't letting go of that big juicy tittie ! A society is a macrocosm of the individual. And we as individuals, with any degree of a decent upbringing are warned of the pitfalls of the human paradigm. Conversely, the corporate citizen holds them near and dear as a closely held set of instructions. Without serious attention to the root causes of our national divisiveness ; those free flowing monies, that corrupted media, the systemic, fomenting of that fear and loathing, the barrage of the mis and dis information resulting in a dumbed down, controllable electorate, the divide will deepen and worsen. Without a conscious and concerted effort to deal with the root causes, nothing will change.
While Democratic states are generally better, they are far from ideal. For example: it sucks to be poor in America regardless of which state you are in. Perhaps less sucky in Democratic states. In other words, the US has poor social infrastructure compared to other wealthy countries regardless of political party.
Moreover, I'm not sure that Democratic states are better in terms of policing either. The tough on crime nonsense is bipartisan. The location of a police department has impact on the quality of police, e.g. Oakland, CA police department, Atlanta cop city, ....
The Future belongs to the young people!!
How long nowadays do you think the young will put up with the restraints and bans imposed by old, incapable of moving forward and adapting individuals?
The way I see the "hard-core" Republicans is like a dying breed... they are about to disappear and they know it ! That's why they are trying sooo oh so hard to hold onto the reigns of power... It's almost sad what is happening to them 😊
As I said...the Future belongs to the young people (and I am not talking about the ones "young at heart" ) ......
I live in Mini-Me Ohio. We are following in lock step with Florida. 20 years ago the voters approved discontinuing property taxes to fund our schools. The Republicans ignored the voters wishes AND the Ohio Supreme Court orders.. .4X over the last 20 years. And the Courts do nothing about being ignored. They've gerrymandered us so that a Democrat can't win any election- the exception being Sherrod Brown who was elected in 2006...but the Republicans have targeted his demise for the next election. Jim Jordan is from Ohio and can act like the idiot he is because his district was custom made (gerrymandered) for his guaranteed lifetime appointment. Ohio is working on book banning and not allowing gender affirmed care but the worst of it is the abortion issue. We currently are under court order to continue to allow abortions, however the Republicans have decided to raise the citizen approved bills to require a 60% approval instead of the 50% we've had forever and to get the votes to do so they recreated a Special Election in August that will cost the tax payers $20 million dollars. They had just removed allowing August elections in December, 2022 because of low turnout and cost ; but because an abortion bill similar to Kansas was going to be on our November elections and polls indicated we had 59% approval they decided they had to try for voter approval of 60%. You should also understand that the Ohio House and Senate would still be held to 50% +1 approval. One legislator said that they should be determining all bill approval anyway, because "Ohioans don't know what they want". Our legislature has been taken over by extremists on the right, and even though our population is purple. our State representation is bright, bright red and our courts ineffective.
Professor Reich, thank you for writing this insightful commentary.
I am isolated politically as a far left progressive living in Florida. DeSantis is fascistic, a culture warrior exploiting fear and hatred.
Non-binary are vilified and excluded from societal protections.
Since we have no international boarder he used public money to send his supporters airplane to Texas to kidnap by trickery some refugees whom he had flown to Martha’s Vineyard and dumped.
He is creating his own State National Guard under his control.
He had passed a six week abortion ban.
He has empowered self-selected individuals power to ban books in schools and public libraries. He has intimidated librarians.
He redistributed to eliminate a black predominant safe Democratic congressional seat.
He attacked the Disney Corporation in a vendetta to kill “WOKE”!
He has never defined woke but it appears to be descriptive of the concept of sensitivity to social injustice.
Although by referendum the electorate restored voting rights to liberated felons he passed legislation requiring payment of judicially imposed monetary penalties to become eligible. Voter registration offices issued identification cards to ineligible, unsuspecting felons. When they voted he had them arrested with much fanfare and public notice. Courts have regularly dismissed these cases with no governmental notice to the public.
My district elected Anna Paulina Luna to congress. One of her campaign posters features her holding aloft two military firearms. She is a well down stream replacement to long-time Republican C. W. (Bill) Young. He was a person with some credibility and gravitas. She is devoid of such virtues.
This screed is entirely factual and far from complete. Sigh.
I lament.
My only disagreement is your conclusion, Professor. You can not change their minds by talking. The only way they change is if something in their life slaps them across the face- an illness that insurance won’t pay for, causes bankruptcy; a beloved child/grandchild comes out; involvement in a shooting; a young woman dies from complications related to a pregnancy that cannot be terminated…..I’m in the trifecta of NJ. I often feel that my national votes don’t count for shit- but I keep doing it anyway!