Just like with the Epstein files, the fact that Delaney Hall officials don't want anyone to see what's inside is pretty much an admission that they have a lot to hide.
One does not HIDE the truth if the truth is favorable to them.
Not to mention the trumpist nonstop and so far mostly successful efforts to prevent audits of his, his family’s, and his businesses’ taxes. And the endless coverups about his health. Transparent? Transparently devious and dishonest about everything in sight!
Here's wishing that the whole 60 Minutes team reassembles itself and sells its show to a new outlet where journalistic independence is respected. I'm sure they'd be a hot commodity.
My thought is that the program should move “lock, stock and barrel” to PBS. It would have a much larger audience than on Substack. I like the name suggestion New Hour Countdown!
I am truly pleased that politicians are showing up to Delaney Hall to shine a spotlight. However, the problem not getting as much attention is lack of "real" due process. I have someone who as of today is in Delaney for 1 full year for following the law. Once detained the judge accelerated his asylum hearing before he could get legal counsel so he had to represent himself pro-se. He couldn't refute the judge's legal errors. Habeas got him a bond hearing which was a sham. Yes, I would welcome better conditions. However, locking people away for following the law is shameful.
we must also remember that immigration courts are not criminal courts. locking people up in conditions that are worse than those that hold serial killers, bank robbers, rapists, etc., is insane and unconscionable. these concentration camps for people who crossed into our country without permission reminds me of the gulags of stalin's russia.
I love these examples. Resistance and activism take so many forms; our only way out of this mess is with a mass activation of the population doing the same.
And yet, the Republican Congressional "groupies" still stand with enough votes to kill anything that would counter their boy's desires (according to recent online news from NPR, ProPublica, Truthout, and others, including the CBS/60 Minutes "murder." (So much for women in power . . . kerplunk.) (Who wants to bet against the January 6th people somehow getting their money for what we all watched them do?)
And to top it off, we have Rubio outright denying that he has ever seen the President nap during meetings. I cringe at the thought of having a President Rubio, just another truth-denying psycho-mental guy running the show who wouldn't know True North if it bit in the face. Then there's the headlines about John Bolton keeping classified documents--possibly facing jail time--with the background of Trump's escapades with government files at Maro Lago going unaccounted for. I used to feel sorry for Maga voters thinking they just don't understand what they are doing. Now? not so much, in spades. I've never hated anyone in my life, never really knew what hate felt like, . . . until now.
Rubio is keeping up appearances as another MAGA lackey. His 'deer in the headlights' look is fooling nobody. It is a requirement for those of this ilk to lie, and he does it as well as any. Winning a general election bid for president is exceptionally unlikely. Of ccourse we said the same thing about Donald Trump.
Steve 218: FYI there was an in-depth article about Rubio in the NYTimes last week charting all of the "first this, then that" Rubio conflicts over a long period of time. It left me thinking that he is, as you say, just another groupie, power wannabe and has no true-north principles to keep his spine from turning into a pretzel. Oh, gee, we all expected him to follow his oath (and not need to read it as Orwellian double-speak).
On the other hand, I'll put your idea about the general election in my folder for "famous last words."
MORE: I saw on a newsfeed this morning (from MSNOW) that one of the Capitol Police said the GOP rejection of the bills to stop the funding of payments to those who were offended
by being stopped (from killing people at the Capitol). . . felt like it was that day all over again.
Well, folks, we have a new meaning for the term "crime bill." Some of those senators were actually running for their lives. WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?
Let us not forget that in 1969, CBS canceled the highly rated The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The network was fearful of losing its broadcast license from the FCC due to Tom and Dick's anti-Vietnam War stance, political satire and jokes about the Nixon administration. After they were axed, the brothers sued for breach of contract and won a $776,300 settlement in 1973.
As The Who proclaimed in their iconic We Won't Be Fooled Again, "Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss."
Morley Safer (who also was an early part of the 60 Minutes team) had some harsh words for CBS management long ago. As he said then, "what are they going to do, fire me?" They didn't then, but would have today, as they did to Scott Pelley. It would be great to see him assemble a team to appear on a more honest and resistant media outlet.
Those gentlemen are still around and were on PBS the other evening. Meanwhile, Nixon is basically forgotten. I think Trump is afraid of being forgotten the moment he leaves office, which is why he tries to put his name on everything stationary.
thank you! i was going to post about the smothers brothers comedy hour, however, you beat me to it. kudos! and WE WON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN plays over and over in my head. where are townsend and daltry when we need them?
Yes, JS. It's called history repeating itself. Of course, all of the shit stirred up by Nixon seems quaint compared to the actions of the current regime/junta. At least Tricky Dickie didn't have the audacious vanity projects of the sociopathic narcissist who is hellbent on destroying the White House and adding a garish, tacky gilded gallroom, hanging banners all over over DC with his mug on them, desecrating the WH grounds with construction of the UFC fighting cage on the South Lawn, threatening to build the faux arch, ad infinitum. All of this as we are on the verge of celebrating our 250th year of government of, by and for the people. The Founders must be rolling over in their graves.
I am very glad that detention centers and Ukraine are both getting some much missed attention. I would like to read the specific manipulations Mr. Pelley is alleging against CBS/Weiss. So far it has been a very general denunciation. I hope that detention centers continue to be reported on until every one of them either shuts down or becomes humane as is the law in the United States of America.
This in from UPFIRST/NPR this morning: "After weeks of delays, the Senate passed a $70 billion bill early this morning to fund immigration enforcement for the next three years. It took lawmakers 18 hours to pass the bill. Senators voted along party lines, with only one Republican opposing the funding package. The bill was delayed over concerns about the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund. Despite outrage from Democrats and many Republicans, GOP lawmakers ultimately voted overnight to block many amendments that would displease the president."
retiring traitors tillis, cassidy, and most of the rest said maintaining the repube control of the senate is number one...so lets stop hoping they might do the right thing ! they passed the funding without killing the J6 money. this is depressing and a real crash and burn for The United States of America.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time". (Maya Angelou) Expecting ANY Republican to do the right thing will always lead to disappointment.
Note the wording of the headline, which is how most outlets said it, "the Senate," when in fact, and more accurately:
Senate Republicans pass bill authorizing $70bn for immigration enforcement in vote-a-rama - The Guardian
Senate GOP passes immigration enforcement bill - Politico
Senate Republicans fall in line with Trump and pass reconciliation bill - MSN
The former majority of news outlets reinforces the belief that one party is no different than the other, while the latter emphasizes that this action was the Republicans flexing their majority muscle. Putting the blame where it belongs!
Jen Rubin is still is writing even greater stuff on Substack - not censored! Under her name and the umbrella group: The Contrarians (with Norm Eisen and others).
patricia: Of course, neither of us know. Here's my guess: that even their dumbness can backfire and so manifest in "follow the crowd" mentality . . . where there ARE lots of indications of a pretty big crowd of "informed" people finally making "NO MORE" sounds for the followers to follow.
I also think that deep-down at the core of things, most have a built-in sense of justice. If so, then it's a matter of how much anti-democratic sxxt has been shoveled onto it to deny it's influence in how they live their lives.
Regarding Pelley, an email from The Guardian quoted a post he made after his firing: "[N]ew management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I've been told to include assertions that are unverified ... Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast."
I had seen that wording but there has, so far, not been anything specific to describe the "falsehoods and bias" nor naming of politicians and correspondents to choose for interviews.
Thank you Jennifer for such a precise summary of three of the major fights we see against authoritarianism. In New Jersey, the Democrats are fighting ICE et al while the Republicans in the Senate just passed a $70 billion border enforcement bill and you can be sure that much of that money will go to companies like the GEO Group to create 21st century concentration camps against not the worst of the worst immigrants but regular people, including children who just want to come here to live the now so-called American dream. I also pray that Ukraine, as well as the rest of Europe, will hold on and continue to fight against Putin since the orange wannabe emperor has so diminished the US supply of its weapons by fighting a war that hasn't achieved any of his objectives, we may not be able to aid Ukraine for some time to come. And my sincere hope is that Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim finally do the right thing and leave "60 Minutes" and CBS with their legacy and integrity in tact. Let Barr Weiss try to build a new program to take its place - she and CBS will fail miserably.
It’s great that Scott Pelley exposed an incompetent liar in Bari Weiss. We need more who will do the same. I applaud Senator Kim and Governor Sherrill for looking into the situation at Delaney Hall. The GEO group deserves to be sued for allowing such a shitshow to occur on the premises. Abuses by the federal government must be reported and followed up on. If GEO isn’t in compliance then they need to go but should also be prosecuted for allowing spoiled food to be served to detainees. Thankfully Ukraine is outsmarting Russia on the war of aggression.
Newark pushed back on a private prison. Ukraine is still fighting. Scott Pelley got fired and called his boss a liar. These are real things. None of them constitute democracy “on the rebound.”
Delaney Hall is one facility. GEO Group operates 100. The lawsuit is welcome; the system that made it necessary is intact and expanding. Calling this accountability is like praising someone for mopping while the pipe is still burst.
The Ukraine section is genuinely encouraging, but Rubin buries the actual insight. The Foreign Affairs quote about Russia’s war trap is the sharpest thing in the piece and she moves past it in two sentences to get back to calling Trump a Putin stooge. The interesting question isn’t whether Putin is losing. It’s whether a regime can lose a war it has made structurally impossible to exit.
That’s the story.
The problem with perpetual saluting is that it substitutes affect for analysis. It tells the reader how to feel without telling them what is actually happening or what would need to happen for any of this to matter structurally. It is comfort food dressed up as journalism.
. . . as America seems to be handcuffed, walking towards the scaffolding surrounded by hooded guards.
This kind of commentary on my part doesn't IN ANY WAY disregard what Norm, Jen, and all are actually doing, e.g., in the courts. "We" still need to do what we CAN do. If there is a silver lining, that's it. I am filled with appreciation for it, every day.
Privately owned prisons are like other corporate entities that maximise profit while short-changing their clientelle. Their size helps to insulate them from scrutiny, inspection and regulations. They should be outlawed as there is no place in the system of justice for them.
Those who stand up to and challenge the current regime in any of its amoebic spread are worthy of cheers of support. They are doing for us what our congress and government refuses to do.
Steve: If my memory serves me, there was a legislative push in Congress some years back to make all prisons for-profit. But it was quashed, whereupon I thought: "Oh, good." (hahahah).
Now I'm thinking the hyper-capitalist "prison-for-profit" corporate lowlifes are like the slave-holder genetics that are embodied in "our" racists today--they just won't quit and only come back harder as opportunists after they have regrouped, never having had a self-reflective moment in their entire lifetime.
This observation relates to all sorts of splinter groups that become a minority majority. Those intent on 'free guns for all', stifling free speech (unless it's their own) and groups active in banning books and protests are just examples. There are more.
Carol Gamm: I think those MAGA voters have to actually find Trump's excrement on their dining room table before they even think about their support of him and the Trump Machine.
Relatively good living for several generations under the umbrella of democratic institutions--without understanding how that happens in the first place, or what it's like without it--is the turd in the punchbowl of political understanding.
Bring back more emphasis on classes in Civics & Government. Like shop classes, they have pretty much disappeared from the curriculum of our schools. Better and broader education is needed.
maybe we have a fighting chance since they are FINALLY banning cell phones in class !! I shudder to think what the nuns would have done to us if they saw us on the phone in class !!!
We live in a world of authoritarian plague. I find encouragement there are still people like Dr. Bernard Rieux, from Camus’ book, “The Plague,” who persist is doing whatever they can to arrest and kill this authoritarian plague. In fact, the book is a microcosm of what we see now: some try to capitalize on the suffering, some try to escape the suffering or ignore it, some are taken by it, but others fight it. A life of meaning is meeting life where it is and not avoiding what one can do to make it better for oneself and others.
Just like with the Epstein files, the fact that Delaney Hall officials don't want anyone to see what's inside is pretty much an admission that they have a lot to hide.
One does not HIDE the truth if the truth is favorable to them.
Open the doors.
Release the files.
Not to mention the trumpist nonstop and so far mostly successful efforts to prevent audits of his, his family’s, and his businesses’ taxes. And the endless coverups about his health. Transparent? Transparently devious and dishonest about everything in sight!
Agree.
It is utterly gob smacking that his core cultists are so profoundly, willfully ignorant.
Here's wishing that the whole 60 Minutes team reassembles itself and sells its show to a new outlet where journalistic independence is respected. I'm sure they'd be a hot commodity.
I agree, would love to seei this! They could call it News Hour Countdown, each segment accompanied by the iconic tick, tick, tic....
That ticking clock is now a countdown for CBS!
Like, for instance, a weekly broadcast here on Substack video. I'd watch, probably subscribe, and might even buy merchandise.
My thought is that the program should move “lock, stock and barrel” to PBS. It would have a much larger audience than on Substack. I like the name suggestion New Hour Countdown!
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/60-minutes-lesley-stahl-bill-whitaker-jon-wertheim-stay-rcna348676
I am truly pleased that politicians are showing up to Delaney Hall to shine a spotlight. However, the problem not getting as much attention is lack of "real" due process. I have someone who as of today is in Delaney for 1 full year for following the law. Once detained the judge accelerated his asylum hearing before he could get legal counsel so he had to represent himself pro-se. He couldn't refute the judge's legal errors. Habeas got him a bond hearing which was a sham. Yes, I would welcome better conditions. However, locking people away for following the law is shameful.
we must also remember that immigration courts are not criminal courts. locking people up in conditions that are worse than those that hold serial killers, bank robbers, rapists, etc., is insane and unconscionable. these concentration camps for people who crossed into our country without permission reminds me of the gulags of stalin's russia.
What our government is doing is right out of the Nazi playbook. Thank you for calling them what they really are: concentration camps.
Many of them are here WITH permission!
you are absolutely right! so sorry i neglected to say that! thank you catharine.
It is inhumane to our very core!
Thank you for starting my day off with intelligent observations. You're on the mark, always.
I love these examples. Resistance and activism take so many forms; our only way out of this mess is with a mass activation of the population doing the same.
And yet, the Republican Congressional "groupies" still stand with enough votes to kill anything that would counter their boy's desires (according to recent online news from NPR, ProPublica, Truthout, and others, including the CBS/60 Minutes "murder." (So much for women in power . . . kerplunk.) (Who wants to bet against the January 6th people somehow getting their money for what we all watched them do?)
And to top it off, we have Rubio outright denying that he has ever seen the President nap during meetings. I cringe at the thought of having a President Rubio, just another truth-denying psycho-mental guy running the show who wouldn't know True North if it bit in the face. Then there's the headlines about John Bolton keeping classified documents--possibly facing jail time--with the background of Trump's escapades with government files at Maro Lago going unaccounted for. I used to feel sorry for Maga voters thinking they just don't understand what they are doing. Now? not so much, in spades. I've never hated anyone in my life, never really knew what hate felt like, . . . until now.
Rubio is keeping up appearances as another MAGA lackey. His 'deer in the headlights' look is fooling nobody. It is a requirement for those of this ilk to lie, and he does it as well as any. Winning a general election bid for president is exceptionally unlikely. Of ccourse we said the same thing about Donald Trump.
It’s out of fear of retribution. Just like Hitler’s lackey’s. Hitler and his thugs eventually went down and so will Dementia Don and his cronies.
The sooner the better.
Steve 218: FYI there was an in-depth article about Rubio in the NYTimes last week charting all of the "first this, then that" Rubio conflicts over a long period of time. It left me thinking that he is, as you say, just another groupie, power wannabe and has no true-north principles to keep his spine from turning into a pretzel. Oh, gee, we all expected him to follow his oath (and not need to read it as Orwellian double-speak).
On the other hand, I'll put your idea about the general election in my folder for "famous last words."
MORE: I saw on a newsfeed this morning (from MSNOW) that one of the Capitol Police said the GOP rejection of the bills to stop the funding of payments to those who were offended
by being stopped (from killing people at the Capitol). . . felt like it was that day all over again.
Well, folks, we have a new meaning for the term "crime bill." Some of those senators were actually running for their lives. WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?
I wonder what would happen to Rubio (and Ted Cruz) if the Supreme Court kills birthright citizenship. Would he be declared a non-citizen?
Karen Kennedy Weber: . . . . hmmmmm . . . What a thought. But then, if their past behavior is any indication, if they want it, they'll find a way.
Of course there would be a loophole found to allow them continued residence.
Let us not forget that in 1969, CBS canceled the highly rated The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The network was fearful of losing its broadcast license from the FCC due to Tom and Dick's anti-Vietnam War stance, political satire and jokes about the Nixon administration. After they were axed, the brothers sued for breach of contract and won a $776,300 settlement in 1973.
As The Who proclaimed in their iconic We Won't Be Fooled Again, "Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss."
Morley Safer (who also was an early part of the 60 Minutes team) had some harsh words for CBS management long ago. As he said then, "what are they going to do, fire me?" They didn't then, but would have today, as they did to Scott Pelley. It would be great to see him assemble a team to appear on a more honest and resistant media outlet.
Those gentlemen are still around and were on PBS the other evening. Meanwhile, Nixon is basically forgotten. I think Trump is afraid of being forgotten the moment he leaves office, which is why he tries to put his name on everything stationary.
thank you! i was going to post about the smothers brothers comedy hour, however, you beat me to it. kudos! and WE WON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN plays over and over in my head. where are townsend and daltry when we need them?
Knowing about the Smothers Brothers is giving away our ages, isn't it? BTW I am a crazy cat gentleman. Long live the feline.
absolutely we have told everyone we are not 40 any more! long live the feline and all the crazy cat ladies and gentlemen!
Fear of Nixon was what pushed CBS to fire Tom and Dick. Sounds familiar to today doesn’t it?
Yes, JS. It's called history repeating itself. Of course, all of the shit stirred up by Nixon seems quaint compared to the actions of the current regime/junta. At least Tricky Dickie didn't have the audacious vanity projects of the sociopathic narcissist who is hellbent on destroying the White House and adding a garish, tacky gilded gallroom, hanging banners all over over DC with his mug on them, desecrating the WH grounds with construction of the UFC fighting cage on the South Lawn, threatening to build the faux arch, ad infinitum. All of this as we are on the verge of celebrating our 250th year of government of, by and for the people. The Founders must be rolling over in their graves.
well said!
I am very glad that detention centers and Ukraine are both getting some much missed attention. I would like to read the specific manipulations Mr. Pelley is alleging against CBS/Weiss. So far it has been a very general denunciation. I hope that detention centers continue to be reported on until every one of them either shuts down or becomes humane as is the law in the United States of America.
This in from UPFIRST/NPR this morning: "After weeks of delays, the Senate passed a $70 billion bill early this morning to fund immigration enforcement for the next three years. It took lawmakers 18 hours to pass the bill. Senators voted along party lines, with only one Republican opposing the funding package. The bill was delayed over concerns about the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund. Despite outrage from Democrats and many Republicans, GOP lawmakers ultimately voted overnight to block many amendments that would displease the president."
retiring traitors tillis, cassidy, and most of the rest said maintaining the repube control of the senate is number one...so lets stop hoping they might do the right thing ! they passed the funding without killing the J6 money. this is depressing and a real crash and burn for The United States of America.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time". (Maya Angelou) Expecting ANY Republican to do the right thing will always lead to disappointment.
thank you for reminding...
Did they shout, "I love you, Sir!" while voting our money away?
probably !
Note the wording of the headline, which is how most outlets said it, "the Senate," when in fact, and more accurately:
Senate Republicans pass bill authorizing $70bn for immigration enforcement in vote-a-rama - The Guardian
Senate GOP passes immigration enforcement bill - Politico
Senate Republicans fall in line with Trump and pass reconciliation bill - MSN
The former majority of news outlets reinforces the belief that one party is no different than the other, while the latter emphasizes that this action was the Republicans flexing their majority muscle. Putting the blame where it belongs!
JL West: Sigh . . . I thought perhaps they were trying to leave the political judgments up the reader. Great big silly me.
I try to notice oh-so-subtle media manipulations like that. (I miss the critiques of the media that Jennifer Rubin used to write at WaPo!)
I think that, if such "noticing" is all we have, we have a lot.
Jen Rubin is still is writing even greater stuff on Substack - not censored! Under her name and the umbrella group: The Contrarians (with Norm Eisen and others).
Yes, this is where we are right now! :)
Profiles In Cowardice.
May thousands upon thousands of locusts bombard these fuckers! Excuse my language but I am so ANGRY!
Marlene Learner-Bigley: Point taken.
But I also think your locusts are a good metaphor for what can occur when the sleeping giant of an informed democracy finally wakes up.
do you think it will wake up ? I fear the dumbness and racism of these people will win EVERY time.
patricia: Of course, neither of us know. Here's my guess: that even their dumbness can backfire and so manifest in "follow the crowd" mentality . . . where there ARE lots of indications of a pretty big crowd of "informed" people finally making "NO MORE" sounds for the followers to follow.
I also think that deep-down at the core of things, most have a built-in sense of justice. If so, then it's a matter of how much anti-democratic sxxt has been shoveled onto it to deny it's influence in how they live their lives.
Regarding Pelley, an email from The Guardian quoted a post he made after his firing: "[N]ew management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I've been told to include assertions that are unverified ... Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast."
I had seen that wording but there has, so far, not been anything specific to describe the "falsehoods and bias" nor naming of politicians and correspondents to choose for interviews.
Thank you Jennifer for such a precise summary of three of the major fights we see against authoritarianism. In New Jersey, the Democrats are fighting ICE et al while the Republicans in the Senate just passed a $70 billion border enforcement bill and you can be sure that much of that money will go to companies like the GEO Group to create 21st century concentration camps against not the worst of the worst immigrants but regular people, including children who just want to come here to live the now so-called American dream. I also pray that Ukraine, as well as the rest of Europe, will hold on and continue to fight against Putin since the orange wannabe emperor has so diminished the US supply of its weapons by fighting a war that hasn't achieved any of his objectives, we may not be able to aid Ukraine for some time to come. And my sincere hope is that Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim finally do the right thing and leave "60 Minutes" and CBS with their legacy and integrity in tact. Let Barr Weiss try to build a new program to take its place - she and CBS will fail miserably.
I want to throw up. People are starving. No economic growth. Climate crisis. We better come out swinging in November.
It’s great that Scott Pelley exposed an incompetent liar in Bari Weiss. We need more who will do the same. I applaud Senator Kim and Governor Sherrill for looking into the situation at Delaney Hall. The GEO group deserves to be sued for allowing such a shitshow to occur on the premises. Abuses by the federal government must be reported and followed up on. If GEO isn’t in compliance then they need to go but should also be prosecuted for allowing spoiled food to be served to detainees. Thankfully Ukraine is outsmarting Russia on the war of aggression.
Newark pushed back on a private prison. Ukraine is still fighting. Scott Pelley got fired and called his boss a liar. These are real things. None of them constitute democracy “on the rebound.”
Delaney Hall is one facility. GEO Group operates 100. The lawsuit is welcome; the system that made it necessary is intact and expanding. Calling this accountability is like praising someone for mopping while the pipe is still burst.
The Ukraine section is genuinely encouraging, but Rubin buries the actual insight. The Foreign Affairs quote about Russia’s war trap is the sharpest thing in the piece and she moves past it in two sentences to get back to calling Trump a Putin stooge. The interesting question isn’t whether Putin is losing. It’s whether a regime can lose a war it has made structurally impossible to exit.
That’s the story.
The problem with perpetual saluting is that it substitutes affect for analysis. It tells the reader how to feel without telling them what is actually happening or what would need to happen for any of this to matter structurally. It is comfort food dressed up as journalism.
Democracy doesn’t rebound from vibes.
🐌Johan
. . . as America seems to be handcuffed, walking towards the scaffolding surrounded by hooded guards.
This kind of commentary on my part doesn't IN ANY WAY disregard what Norm, Jen, and all are actually doing, e.g., in the courts. "We" still need to do what we CAN do. If there is a silver lining, that's it. I am filled with appreciation for it, every day.
Privately owned prisons are like other corporate entities that maximise profit while short-changing their clientelle. Their size helps to insulate them from scrutiny, inspection and regulations. They should be outlawed as there is no place in the system of justice for them.
Those who stand up to and challenge the current regime in any of its amoebic spread are worthy of cheers of support. They are doing for us what our congress and government refuses to do.
Steve: If my memory serves me, there was a legislative push in Congress some years back to make all prisons for-profit. But it was quashed, whereupon I thought: "Oh, good." (hahahah).
Now I'm thinking the hyper-capitalist "prison-for-profit" corporate lowlifes are like the slave-holder genetics that are embodied in "our" racists today--they just won't quit and only come back harder as opportunists after they have regrouped, never having had a self-reflective moment in their entire lifetime.
This observation relates to all sorts of splinter groups that become a minority majority. Those intent on 'free guns for all', stifling free speech (unless it's their own) and groups active in banning books and protests are just examples. There are more.
Anyone have $ to run ads in states where senators will vote against help for Ukraine? The stories of kidnapped children might reach some people.
Carol Gamm: I think those MAGA voters have to actually find Trump's excrement on their dining room table before they even think about their support of him and the Trump Machine.
ha ha are you kidding ? they would encase it in glass and make it the centerpiece...
They would blame Biden.
Catherine, that’s probably correct.
Relatively good living for several generations under the umbrella of democratic institutions--without understanding how that happens in the first place, or what it's like without it--is the turd in the punchbowl of political understanding.
We need to do a better job of teaching our children about our democracy, as well.
Bring back more emphasis on classes in Civics & Government. Like shop classes, they have pretty much disappeared from the curriculum of our schools. Better and broader education is needed.
Thanks for the shop reminder! I used to take “metal shop” at my NYC junior high school.
maybe we have a fighting chance since they are FINALLY banning cell phones in class !! I shudder to think what the nuns would have done to us if they saw us on the phone in class !!!
those stories surfaced repeatedly in the past, and nothing good came of them.
We live in a world of authoritarian plague. I find encouragement there are still people like Dr. Bernard Rieux, from Camus’ book, “The Plague,” who persist is doing whatever they can to arrest and kill this authoritarian plague. In fact, the book is a microcosm of what we see now: some try to capitalize on the suffering, some try to escape the suffering or ignore it, some are taken by it, but others fight it. A life of meaning is meeting life where it is and not avoiding what one can do to make it better for oneself and others.
Perhaps you could add Tom Malinowski to the team at least while you are resting your voice. He is certainly a voice of reason and a pleasure to hear.
Thank you Jen. A great morning column.