Always eager to stay in the news, former president Trump issued statements today insulting former secretary of state and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell, who passed at 84 yesterday after suffering complications from Covid-19. Trump also complained about the removal of a statue of Thomas Jefferson from the New York City Council Chamber. Unfortunately, he undermined his claim to be defending American history when he misidentified Jefferson as “a principal writer of the Constitution of the United States.”
(1) We are in the middle of a critical, and vulnerable, moment of crisis and urgency in US history. Do we allow the social relics to renew our nation’s contract with racist sexist society for the umpteenth time. Or do we shut it down and finally establish, once and for all, the new contract that is imo the true destiny of this nation.
The Washington Post has this motto, “Democracy dies in darkness.” I prefer the corollary, “Democracy is refreshed and revitalized in the light,“ but hey, their marketing people didn’t consult me on that choice of slogan.
McConnell is dirty. Our dear Dr. Heather spelled it out as beautifully and simply as I have ever seen: favors exchanged with Deripaska, meaning with Putin. Quid pro quo.
Keep in mind, many many of the Republicans in power are playing for somebody else, not their constituents. They are not supporting democracy, they are lining their own pockets and feathering their own nests, because they are in power and they can. The Democratic Party is about public service. The Republican Party is about self service.
Call me naïve, call me Pollyanna, call me a clueless idealist, but I am firmly convinced that democracy will prevail over corruption in this country. In other countries as well, but man it’s gonna take a lot longer for some of them.
(2) Deripaska’s money-laundering property purchases, acquired with money stolen from the Russian people, getting close attention from the FBI is my favorite news of the day.
Trump is back to his old tricks and media is still snapping up the ‘treats’ he’s tossing them. That’s all his comments about Powell was.
Do you think Americans know their history? Most of us don’t, I’m sad to say, and wouldn’t blink at Trump’s error.
And why on earth would America allow Russian oligarchs to live here??? I don’t even want American oligarchs! Ah, okay. He paid off McConnell by dumping some Oligarchy version chump change into his territory. I’m going to watch a video of Drawing & Quartering to help me relax.
Good luck bringing wealthy/well-connected white people to justice in America. They’ve been allowed to get away with all manner of vile things forever. They can act under the guise of corporations (who are people according to the Supreme Court) and get away with more - neat trick.
Excellent statements from members of Congress in defense of Democracy and rule of law. I have no doubt it fell on deaf ears though. The Trump Republicans want a one-party system with an extremist running the show and they don’t care about the cost.
As much as I appreciated their words, I just don’t have much faith they’ll make a dent.
I’ve slid from middle to low income since graduating college in 1990 while seeing countless injustices committed against Americans through the legal system and corporations, most of them under our noses.
I had hope with the Obama Administration, but in the end, little changed for the better at least in my world. Thanks to Dr Richardson’s Letters, I understand the roadblocks in place which inhibited ability for changes necessary to help the middle class.
In 2015, I didn’t think it could get worse, but then Trump came along. So many of us have been traumatized and outright harmed by more than four years of Trump et al’s & supporter’s beyond nasty talk and actions.
The stress and despair alone has been significant. Add in the the Covid cases, permanent damage from Covid, all the deaths directly and indirectly related to Covid, the increased murder rate and rise in hate crimes, the damage of reduced or canceled regulations by the Trump Administration, and you have a nightmare.
So when you see comments from Negative Nancy’s like me here or in social media, try not to be angry at our lack of faith. No amount of positivity will fix us. Only years of actual improvements in our lives and of others, a change in the media for the better, and in the behaviors of our neighbors for the better will ‘fix’ us.
Mr. King doesn't say a whole lot or speak very often as a primary advocate but, when he does, it's well worth listening to. He's as straight to the point as this newsletter.
Thank you for highlighting the brilliance of Liz Cheney & Angus King. Cheney’s voice & leadership continues to strengthen and inspire, providing a lighthouse for conservatives if they will just lift their eyes to see it. Angus King’s speech is epic! Can someone just give this man the microphone every day for the rest of the year? Seriously.
I admit to wondering if King's eloquence was being directed toward one particular Maine senator, whose lockstep marching with Moscow Mitch shows who she really is. I do wish that Mainers had done the right thing by Susan Collins and kicked her can down the street.
Does anyone remember shortly after the 2016 election, how there were a bunch of Russians suddenly dropping dead? Even one in NYC. How about the fact that once Obama came out with the knowledge that the Russians were actively trying to influence and undermine that election in late summer of 2016, what did Moscow Mitch do? Stonewalled any investigation prior to the election.
Heather's daily sessions are indispensable in keeping up with all the insanity that is American politics these days, but I'm just about ready for a blockbuster film that dives into the machinations of what we already know about the mammoth corruption behind the radical right these days. Something like a crime thriller, only completely factual. So much has happened in the past 5-6 years, it's hard to hold onto the thread sometimes.
While some may see the Tя☭mp statement misidentifying Thomas Jefferson as “a principal writer” of our Constitution as a minor mistake, this shows the careless nature of both Tя☭mp and those around him in dealing with facts and truth. It would not have required much intellectual diligence to check this statement before releasing it. However, even that minimal effort was too steep a climb for Tя☭mp or his minions.
His statement regarding the passing of Colin Powell likewise lacked any semblance of class or decency. When people who have made significant contributions to our history die, their passing is commonly mourned and commented upon by many in a favorable manner. Tя☭mp’s statement kicking dirt on the grave of this soon to be interred hero is an ugly reminder of what a small man he truly is. Even in this moment he has to find a way to make the statement about himself rather than the departed Powell. When Tя☭mp one day passes he will likely be unmourned and his death unremarked upon other than a recounting of his moral failures and litany of corruption and incompetence.
Is it not essential now that Senator King's speech be plastered across the media? HEADLINED.
After all, it is a call, not only to the Senate, especially to Republican Senators, but to the whole country.
Any reader here present who is able in any way, at any level, to publish or enable publication of this speech must do so, if only to insure that citizens can never claim "I DID NOT KNOW".
If said media are still capable of distinguishing what matters from what does not.
The fact that King is an independent is crucial here.
I tip my cap to Senator Angus King for speaking his truth out loud. Praying some folks can hear him. Thank you Heather for illuminating these struggles.
Whoa! There it is, the voice of Abraham Lincoln in the person of Senator King, a stalwart Mainer and a true man of the people, an American surrounded by partisan pretenders and much worse. Now we will see if "we will lose our identity as a people" and whether or not the forces of "erosion from within," namely the Trump Republicans, what Berry M. (ME) calls "the prevailing rats nest of evil," will indeed prevail. This is a revolutionary moment if ever there was one. Will it be the spark that releases the spirit of democracy from the radical evil that holds America in its grip?
Angus King is SO on the right side of history in the mind of this Mainer. No surprise. I am going to take his current remarks, incorporate them into a brief cover letter and send them to every paper I can think of. These specific words of his will be chiseled into the history of our (great but flawed) experiment in democracy while the collective sewage emanating from ALL the low lifers parroting trump will be noted, documented (and hopefully prosecuted, if appropriate) and ultimately evaporate like the swamp gas it is. Thank you for this Letter, Heather and Angus.
Thanks Heather for calling this eloquent, inspiring speech to our attention- it is also available on Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yxkD_5G24E. I hope it goes viral.
Dear God, please let there be a paper trail showing bribes going from Deripaska straight to McConnell.
(1) We are in the middle of a critical, and vulnerable, moment of crisis and urgency in US history. Do we allow the social relics to renew our nation’s contract with racist sexist society for the umpteenth time. Or do we shut it down and finally establish, once and for all, the new contract that is imo the true destiny of this nation.
The Washington Post has this motto, “Democracy dies in darkness.” I prefer the corollary, “Democracy is refreshed and revitalized in the light,“ but hey, their marketing people didn’t consult me on that choice of slogan.
McConnell is dirty. Our dear Dr. Heather spelled it out as beautifully and simply as I have ever seen: favors exchanged with Deripaska, meaning with Putin. Quid pro quo.
Keep in mind, many many of the Republicans in power are playing for somebody else, not their constituents. They are not supporting democracy, they are lining their own pockets and feathering their own nests, because they are in power and they can. The Democratic Party is about public service. The Republican Party is about self service.
Call me naïve, call me Pollyanna, call me a clueless idealist, but I am firmly convinced that democracy will prevail over corruption in this country. In other countries as well, but man it’s gonna take a lot longer for some of them.
(2) Deripaska’s money-laundering property purchases, acquired with money stolen from the Russian people, getting close attention from the FBI is my favorite news of the day.
Some commentary as I read today’s Letter:
Trump is back to his old tricks and media is still snapping up the ‘treats’ he’s tossing them. That’s all his comments about Powell was.
Do you think Americans know their history? Most of us don’t, I’m sad to say, and wouldn’t blink at Trump’s error.
And why on earth would America allow Russian oligarchs to live here??? I don’t even want American oligarchs! Ah, okay. He paid off McConnell by dumping some Oligarchy version chump change into his territory. I’m going to watch a video of Drawing & Quartering to help me relax.
Good luck bringing wealthy/well-connected white people to justice in America. They’ve been allowed to get away with all manner of vile things forever. They can act under the guise of corporations (who are people according to the Supreme Court) and get away with more - neat trick.
Excellent statements from members of Congress in defense of Democracy and rule of law. I have no doubt it fell on deaf ears though. The Trump Republicans want a one-party system with an extremist running the show and they don’t care about the cost.
As much as I appreciated their words, I just don’t have much faith they’ll make a dent.
I’ve slid from middle to low income since graduating college in 1990 while seeing countless injustices committed against Americans through the legal system and corporations, most of them under our noses.
I had hope with the Obama Administration, but in the end, little changed for the better at least in my world. Thanks to Dr Richardson’s Letters, I understand the roadblocks in place which inhibited ability for changes necessary to help the middle class.
In 2015, I didn’t think it could get worse, but then Trump came along. So many of us have been traumatized and outright harmed by more than four years of Trump et al’s & supporter’s beyond nasty talk and actions.
The stress and despair alone has been significant. Add in the the Covid cases, permanent damage from Covid, all the deaths directly and indirectly related to Covid, the increased murder rate and rise in hate crimes, the damage of reduced or canceled regulations by the Trump Administration, and you have a nightmare.
So when you see comments from Negative Nancy’s like me here or in social media, try not to be angry at our lack of faith. No amount of positivity will fix us. Only years of actual improvements in our lives and of others, a change in the media for the better, and in the behaviors of our neighbors for the better will ‘fix’ us.
Sen. Angus King (ME) is an exemplary political representative. May his voice of reason penetrate and dissolve the prevailing rats nest of evil.
Mr. King doesn't say a whole lot or speak very often as a primary advocate but, when he does, it's well worth listening to. He's as straight to the point as this newsletter.
Thank you for highlighting the brilliance of Liz Cheney & Angus King. Cheney’s voice & leadership continues to strengthen and inspire, providing a lighthouse for conservatives if they will just lift their eyes to see it. Angus King’s speech is epic! Can someone just give this man the microphone every day for the rest of the year? Seriously.
I admit to wondering if King's eloquence was being directed toward one particular Maine senator, whose lockstep marching with Moscow Mitch shows who she really is. I do wish that Mainers had done the right thing by Susan Collins and kicked her can down the street.
Thank you, as always, for this letter. You are so fortunate in having Angus King as one of your senators: an eloquent, just man.
So well written items so crucial and perfectly selected to shine your light on today Thank you Heather our beacon for democracy
Does anyone remember shortly after the 2016 election, how there were a bunch of Russians suddenly dropping dead? Even one in NYC. How about the fact that once Obama came out with the knowledge that the Russians were actively trying to influence and undermine that election in late summer of 2016, what did Moscow Mitch do? Stonewalled any investigation prior to the election.
Heather's daily sessions are indispensable in keeping up with all the insanity that is American politics these days, but I'm just about ready for a blockbuster film that dives into the machinations of what we already know about the mammoth corruption behind the radical right these days. Something like a crime thriller, only completely factual. So much has happened in the past 5-6 years, it's hard to hold onto the thread sometimes.
https://www.mic.com/articles/169564/at-least-7-russian-officials-have-turned-up-dead-since-election-day-here-s-what-we-know
https://crooksandliars.com/2018/07/mcconnell-affirms-truth-russian-hacks
While some may see the Tя☭mp statement misidentifying Thomas Jefferson as “a principal writer” of our Constitution as a minor mistake, this shows the careless nature of both Tя☭mp and those around him in dealing with facts and truth. It would not have required much intellectual diligence to check this statement before releasing it. However, even that minimal effort was too steep a climb for Tя☭mp or his minions.
His statement regarding the passing of Colin Powell likewise lacked any semblance of class or decency. When people who have made significant contributions to our history die, their passing is commonly mourned and commented upon by many in a favorable manner. Tя☭mp’s statement kicking dirt on the grave of this soon to be interred hero is an ugly reminder of what a small man he truly is. Even in this moment he has to find a way to make the statement about himself rather than the departed Powell. When Tя☭mp one day passes he will likely be unmourned and his death unremarked upon other than a recounting of his moral failures and litany of corruption and incompetence.
What a small, small man he is.
Is it not essential now that Senator King's speech be plastered across the media? HEADLINED.
After all, it is a call, not only to the Senate, especially to Republican Senators, but to the whole country.
Any reader here present who is able in any way, at any level, to publish or enable publication of this speech must do so, if only to insure that citizens can never claim "I DID NOT KNOW".
If said media are still capable of distinguishing what matters from what does not.
The fact that King is an independent is crucial here.
I tip my cap to Senator Angus King for speaking his truth out loud. Praying some folks can hear him. Thank you Heather for illuminating these struggles.
Whoa! There it is, the voice of Abraham Lincoln in the person of Senator King, a stalwart Mainer and a true man of the people, an American surrounded by partisan pretenders and much worse. Now we will see if "we will lose our identity as a people" and whether or not the forces of "erosion from within," namely the Trump Republicans, what Berry M. (ME) calls "the prevailing rats nest of evil," will indeed prevail. This is a revolutionary moment if ever there was one. Will it be the spark that releases the spirit of democracy from the radical evil that holds America in its grip?
Angus King is SO on the right side of history in the mind of this Mainer. No surprise. I am going to take his current remarks, incorporate them into a brief cover letter and send them to every paper I can think of. These specific words of his will be chiseled into the history of our (great but flawed) experiment in democracy while the collective sewage emanating from ALL the low lifers parroting trump will be noted, documented (and hopefully prosecuted, if appropriate) and ultimately evaporate like the swamp gas it is. Thank you for this Letter, Heather and Angus.
Thanks Heather for calling this eloquent, inspiring speech to our attention- it is also available on Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yxkD_5G24E. I hope it goes viral.