Has anyone red this article by Mary Trump? I’m wondering what folks think given the predictions many have stated for this year and next.
https://newrepublic.com/article/163115/donald-trump-plot-against-america
Excellent share - thank you!
I very much enjoyed her book, too.
@tybin thanks for posting that Mary Trump article on the insurrection. Powerful. I hadn’t realized what a good writer she is too even though I read her first book on T. I share her sentiments, as I believe, do most people in this community, that the insurrection and the days following it were the most dangerous moments in the history of our democracy. Even though the insurrectionists didn't get away with it, the overall reaction to the insurrection has been too mild given what they tried to do and given that they could have toppled our democracy for good. I can no longer be mute when someone says it was just a protest and overblown by liberals. (I tend to avoid engaging with right wing neighbors and friends on political subjects because I find their thinking too toxic for me, but on the issue of the insurrection, I push back hard and follow with "End of discussion. Period.") Mary Trump's article sets the record straight for anyone who wants to respond to those spurious ill-informed right wing arguments.
@dannyboy The answer to that laddie.. is... it is no longer wired.. the motherboard circuit has fried.
@lynnventura I was a Republican before Ronald Reagan took office. The racist policies of Reagan and North Carolina’s Jesse Helms awakened me to the fact that I no longer wanted to be associated with that party. I’ve never looked back or regretted it, much like I’ve never regretted leaving Facebook. The toxicity has been there for a long, long time.
He was toxic, and in many ways we're still living in his world. Here's a link to an interesting article that discusses Reagan's dog-whistle politics:
https://www.salon.com/2014/01/11/the_racism_at_the_heart_of_the_reagan_presidency/
Reagan's campaign was given a huge assist by the vile Lee Atwater, who renounced his ways on his deathbed. Atwater had a consulting firm with Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. Together these four men are responsible for a lot of what we're seeing and living today.
Stone, btw, is a huge Trump buddy, and Trump because famous in the 80's. It feels like we're still living that decade. I'm ready for it to be over.
I am a registered independent and I vote almost exclusively blue (I'll vote green on occasion if the race dictates it).
I was a Democrat for a long time, but I find the "rah team" dynamics of party membership abhorrent, even when one team is clearly right and one is clearly wrong. January 6th happened because of the "rah team" dynamic grown cancerous. I want nothing to do with that.
So, I'll continue to vote blue without being blue, and putting the Dems on notice that I'll abandon them at the first sign of putting party over principle.
@walden-ponderer I think that is important to remember. We need to be voting for the individual and not just the party. I know many who vote for the party even when they do not fully support that candidate or realize the agenda of that candidate.
Hey community! Can you believe what the progressives have accomplished in seven months? Now Don’t turn away and look for some dark news instead of what I’m saying here.
I know that we tend to focus on what isn’t working, what we/they are doing wrong because we were born to make things better. But let’s look at what has been accompanied in just seven months.
Look at the infrastructure bill.
This is from this morning’s Washington post and it is worth a read: “Here we are. Nineteen Republicans — including McConnell — joined every Senate Democrat in approving $1 trillion worth of desperately needed infrastructure spending. Included are not just funds to fix roads and bridges, but also big money to provide broadband Internet to Americans who can’t afford it; upgrade the power grid in ways that facilitate the switch to renewable energy; and create a coast-to-coast network of electric-vehicle charging.”
Damn. A coast to coast network of electric vehicle charging. I am so ready for electric so this is excellent news. And the switch to renewable energy. How’d they get that past the Republicans?
We are going to need our positive energy to keep moving forward. If we only look at the mess we could become too discouraged to clean up the house. If in 2019 we had believed our predictions that the President and the Congress would have turned back so many Trumpian policies in just seven months. if we’d imagined that the state of Georgia would turn blue; and that the senate, the Senate! would pass a trillion dollar bill with real money for sustainability, well then we can now believe that we are going to see much more good news ahead.
If you hit a paywall let me know and I’ll share more of this article: it’s today’s WAPO and it’s entitled “hey democrats, your team is doing a great job!”
Also please know that as the climate , the pandemic and the Repubs get worse then the progressives come out of the woodwork. It’s physics. It’s the change we are now going through. The great unraveling charges the great turning.
@lynnventura, @lovendures @bluebelle
I've mentioned before on this forum that I'm an immigration lawyer (public interest). The 45 years were dark times. The cruelty was astounding. I've practiced law for over 30 years, during good and bad administrations, but nothing could have prepared me for what the past administration did to the rule of law as it applied to immigration. Something as simple as leaving a line blank on an immigration form instead of writing N/A resulted in a rejected application and sometimes blowing a filing deadline. Those kind of mind-games, not to mention that larger changes that took place, were hard to absorb. It was like a daily firehouse in your face. It was not only changes in law and policy, but psy-ops meant to demoralize immigrants and their advocates. Knowing it was intentional (it couldn't have been anything else) was sickening.
Well, well, well, what a difference a few months can make! As methodical as the past administration was in its cruelty, the Biden administration has been equally as methodical in restoring what was lost. So I completely agree with Jeanne. The gains have been many, and there are probably many more we don't know about because so much of it is inside-baseball stuff.
I'm on "team blue" because, at least for for the foreseeable future, it is team democracy, team rule of law, team decency. It's doing pretty well. So much reason to hope.
On a sadder note, many prayers for our friends in Afghanistan. Their plight is dire. Let's all send them love and light.
You know what is a positive difference for me in the last 7 months?
Going to bed at night with peace of mind knowing we have competent people in charge. Knowing I don't need to worry that an angry tweet could start WW3 or ruin bonds we have built with our allies for generations. Knowing compassion is flowing from the top down.
Afghanistan appears to have be absolute horrific disaster and while Bush began the invasion and Obama continued it, Trump appears to have set things in motion at the end of his regime to make it a very difficult quagmire for Biden. I am not sure the best choices were made by Biden in the end but he was left with few alternatives it seems. Did the Afghanistan experts know it would fall apart like a house of cards?
My heart is very heavy for the people of Afghanistan, especially the women and young girls. It appears bleak and is heartbreaking.
As you likely have noticed, I tend to look for light in dark situations and I have found some in this one. We have now helped educate a generation of young women. An entire generation of young women have tasted freedom, been allowed to create and dream, learn new ways of thinking and understand what is possible. Their minds have been filled with science and math, reading, writing and technology. You can't take their education away from them. The younger men will now also understand women are capable of great things and some of those men will raise their daughters differently. My hope is that these beautiful young women will find a way to create a better Afghanistan. The world needs to continue to tell their stories and make their presence felt and known. They must not be forgotten as the globe shifts their focus to other matters. I believe now that if Afghanistan is to change in a positive direction in the future, it will in some way start with the women there this time.
@walden-ponderer This is me also. I always encourage people to do their homework, research and make the best decision based on the person running. As an Independent, I found I was registered as a Republican by the college aged voter registration person... because when I was asked and said "Independent" one lady was gonna shoo me on through.. while the young man said... register as a Republican so you can see all of your choices.. if you go as an Independent ... your choices may get limited... I did not understand that? But my quick read of his Energy and sincerity made me say ok. I have not regretted it at all... because it lets me see all the bs the GQP is up to.... and I took great delight in going in and voting in long lines at our little town hall to cast my vote for Stacey Abrams against Pretty boy Kemp as well as other Democrats and one Libertarian...and then.. for Joe Biden and VP Harris.
@lynnventura I'm so happy you shared this. My heart thanks you.
In Florida election 2000, friends of mine, one registered Independent and wife a Democrat, found her vote didn’t count due to technicality, but his did, same technicality. All this crap needs to stop. Since then I stayed Independent, until I needed to be a part of primaries. It doesn’t mean I am blind. Many democrats voted for an R governor in Hawaii twice because there was not a good D choice. There are less and less McCain thumbs down moments though. The powers that donate are very great in current circumstances.
@jeanne-mayell We need a LOVE button!!!! What we focus on we create more of! I have been focusing on seeing more and more people wake up and vaccinate and take precautions to help get this surge under control. Here in NW Ga ? We need all the Love, Light and Focus to shine Healing on it we can get!
Regarding what I wrote about Afghanistan, I wanted to add that while I am trying to find some light, I am not being naive. It is Biden's watch that this horrible collapse happened under. Many feel betrayed and understandably so. It is a dark and horrible unraveling which is occurring. This will weigh heavily on Biden. It will weigh heavily on all our troops who have served in Afghanistan and lost so much. It is a colossal failure for the US, our allies, the nation of Afghanistan, the NGO's and non-profits who have tirelessly devoted themselves to help lift up a nation and make a positive change, the educators and aid workers.
My prayer and hope right now is that we can get every one of our civilians, diplomats and troops home safely. That we can get as many people and their families who have helped the US and her allies over the last 20 years safely out.
May positive seeds created from the past 20 years be safeguarded until such time the highest and greatest good can take root and grow into a bountiful garden of healing and love. May love, hope and light find a way to stay with the youth and those young girls who had such dreams...and all who gave dearly over so many years.
May there be blessings which manifest one day, ones we simply are incapable of comprehending right now.
May positive seeds created from the past 20 years be safeguarded until such time the highest and greatest good can take root and grow into a bountiful garden of healing and love. May love, hope and light find a way to stay with the youth and those young girls who had such dreams...and all who gave dearly over so many years.
This. All of this.
This will not be a popular opinion, but I would like to remind everyone that the order for the complete withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan by Q2 2021 was given by the Orange One, not Mr. Biden. Granted, Mr. Biden could have rescinded that order, but after 20 years of little to no progress in liberating the country save for a few pockets around Kabul (after both the former USSR and UK failed in their (also decades-long) attempts to do the same), it seems to me that this was the right move. Did we waste 20 years, hundreds of lives and billions of dollars? Yes, but we did the same thing in Viet Nam and Korea. Do we continue to "throw good money (and soldiers) after bad"? In my opinion, no. At 20+ years, the Afghan conflict has been the longest war that the US has been involved in. It began under Bush 43; it was wrong headed then, and would be even moreso to continue. Do I feel badly for those who will suffer under the Taliban? Of course, but given that Kabul fell literally within hours of our troops' withdrawal, how much progress did we really make?
@lovendures As much as I would like your visions to come true for Afghanistan it will never happen. These tribal wars have been going on for centuries and will continue for centuries to come. Other countries can't change things. It didn't help that Trump had 5000 Taliban prisoners released last year and many of those are now it's top leaders. This is not Biden's fault and after as many people are rescued as possible, our attention needs to focus on saving our own democracy.
The collapse of Afghanistan happened under Biden's watch, but it wasn't necessarily his fault. Perhaps miscalculating that the entire country could fall to the Taliban in ONE WEEK, but honestly, I'm not sure anyone, even experts, could have anticipated that.
45 tied Biden's hands. Either leave (and remember the agreement was to leave in May, Biden pushed past that) or increase troops and send more. Biden wasn't willing to do that.
It was going to be messy no matter what. To add insult to the suffering of the Afghans, the GOP is already scrubbing its website (the RNC, specifically) of all traces of praise it heaped on 45 for his "deal" with the Taliban. Because facts don't matter to them they are now engaged in a quicky revisionism so they can start to blame Biden. But that's who they are. No surprise there.
If we learn anything, it is, hopefully, that we suck at foreign involvements. We just make things worse. And most of them are really about money -- who profits. What good could we have done with a trillion $$ wasted, and as someone on my Twitter feed pointed out to me, what good could the 2500+ who died have done with their lives. Hopefully wiser use of of our valuable resources, financial and human, will be part of The Great Turning. Afghanistan has certainly been an unraveling.
If you want a super interesting take on the Afghanistan situation, reading Josh Marshall's Twitter feed, or his articles on TPM.com.
Peace and love everyone. Prayers for the Afghan people. xoxo