Today, Facebook whistle-blower Frances Haugen testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security. Haugen noted that Facebook co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg controls about 58% of Facebook’s voting shares, meaning he sets the terms of the company’s behavior. Her documents, illustrating that Facebook addressed only about 1% of hate violent speech and that its own algorithms pushed disinformation, supported her general observations about the need for government regulation of the social media giant.
Some thoughts on Hillary Clinton's comment: when I was in the military and stationed at USCENTCOM, we dealt, long-term, with the wily tactics of the Iranians in the Persian Gulf. One thing the IRGC Navy (yes, IRGC have a naval component too) did was, intermittently but with deliberateness, violate how close they came to our larger vessels. They were seemingly reckless behaviors that weren't. After a while, the reason became obvious: to desensitize us to their actions, so when the day came to REALLY try something audacious, we'd have our guard down, let them too close, while thinking, "Oh, it's just those Iranians acting crazy again." Well, Trump has done the same. To us. There's been SO much craziness, "unprecedented," and outright stupidity the past five years, we too have let our guard down. Things are said or done, sometimes daily, that 20 years ago would have everyone on full-alert. Now? The frog is nearly boiled. The media doesn't help, because THEY often can't see the forest for the trees either, STILL focus on the most outlandish, click-baity or visible moments, and have told us quite a few times how "disastrous" this or that thing is...and 24 or 48 hrs later, we move on; after a while it's just a big Boy Who Cried Wolf job...while the real wolf's been there all along. And, frankly, too few of us understand the pieces (or want to) of what's involved enough to accurately assess it for ourselves. Lastly, of course, we're also dealing with COVID and all that entails for closing in on two years as well--that part is understandable--so, we're worn out, den-sensitized, and partially ignorant...while the scared, desperate 1/3 of our population keeps trying to steal a march on us and steal the flag. Yes, we absolutely are in this moment--something that's existed and been swelling for nearly 11 months now--yet seem half-awake, and largely-incognizant of what's really happening or at stake. Unfortunately, it might take something Pearl Harbor/Fort Sumter-like in scale (I mean, we already had an INSURRECTION, and barely put down our cell phones) to change this.
What we are seeing with the actions of the Senate Republicans is proof that there are no "good Republicans" left. Rmoney came out and declared himself in favor of filibustering the debt vote. Murkowski dithers but does nothing. And that @#$%#$#!! Susan Collins has the gall to say that if the Democrats dropped the reconciliation BBB bill, that they could have a debt ceiling vote. There isn't one of them who isn't The Enemy of this country.
"The documents I have provided to Congress prove that Facebook has repeatedly misled the public about what it's own research reveals about the safety of children, the efficacy of its artificial intelligence systems and its role in spreading divisive and extreme messages. I came forward because I believe that every human being deserves the dignity of truth." - Seems Francis Haugen is a candidate for the Nobel Peace Price.
“I will flatly say that the bulk of this country’s white population impresses me, and has so impressed me for a very long time, as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation. They have been white, if I may so put it, too long: the effect on their personalities, their lives, their grasp of reality, has been as devastating as the lava which so memorably immobilized the citizens of Pompeii. They are unable to conceive that their version of reality, which they want me to accept, is an insult to my history and a parody of theirs and an intolerable violation of myself. James Baldwin, “The Price May Be Too High,” The New York Times, February 2, 1969.”
I saved HCR’s 10/4 post for this evening, followed immediately by reading this evening’s post. And…
I’m a musician, not a political scientist, and, given the current state of our union, my soul’s stuck in a spin cycle with a lopsided load. Thanks to Heather’s research and posts, I’m grateful to be learning more about who we are as a nation - irrespective of our troubling past and present. I can only hope more of US awake from our sociopolitical slumbers before it’s too late.
Zuckerberg seems to have learned at the knee of McConnell. That is to lie and obfuscate without shame to maintain power. As for the debt ceiling, I hope the Democrats don't blink. Biden needs to address the nation now on the looming catastrophe and who's causing it.
I liked hearing that Secretary of Treasury Yellen is doing everything she can to gain more time before the US would have to default on its debt. I bet she is also talking to the Federal Reserve and World Bank about other temporary stays to buy more time. That might give Democrats the time to get the BBB bill ready so the debt ceiling and the BBB could be done together by reconciliation. The world must think we've gone mad and are getting quite anxious. It is hard to believe that even insane Republicans would allow default! I wrote to my two senators each twice today on this asking them not to take the country over an economic cliff. United States would never recover any standing in the world. I hope Secretary Yellen can pull something out of the hat. She certainly is the right person at the right time.
As long as Facebook continues to make money, the business model will not change. Their model is not based on being purveyors of truth or moral righteousness or even doing the right thing. They couldn't give a rats ass. They are no more than social deviates that get paid well. I'm hoping this public airing will give a couple of College kids a gameplan to start their own Social Media platform.
I live in racist Central New York. It's a historic hotbed of the KKK. The Museum which I am the Director , has archived plenty of KKK material. Including a full women's Klan gown. I assure you none of these items will ever go on exhibit as long as I'm there.
Yesterday morning on a local news page which posts to Facebook was an article regarding Black Nascar driver Bubba Wallace winning the first Nascar Cup Series race since 1963. I'm not a Nascar fan, but happy for him and I gave it a "like". I then noticed I was the only person that gave the story affirmation. Every other person gave it either a laughing or mad emoji. I noticed the first comment was a canned meme of Bubba Wallace with the line " Best Race Card Driver of All Time". This comment, ofcourse was wildly popular. I reported it to Facebook as Hate Speech/ Racist. Within minutes I received the canned "This does not go against Community Standards ....". I asked for it to be reviewed. 5 minutes later, the same line of " After reviewing, it does not go against Community Standards". So, here we are.
I had a conversation with a software designer who said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Facebook implemented its own racist and knowingly incorrect memes just to stoke the fires". I'm starting to think that isn't outlandish.
As the days go by, it appears the GOP smoke and mirrors plan of diversion and division to gain sole control of the Whitehouse in 2022/2024 is coming to fruition.
How did we win the Whitehouse, but lose the Country in less than 2 years?
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! Nothing really akin to a silver bullet here, but some feel good thoughts as we trudge through this mess!
Yesterday Hubbell wrote: "Last week, the Senate Parliamentarian confirmed that Democrats could increase the debt ceiling by majority vote on a reconciliation bill. Importantly, the use of the reconciliation process to increase the debt ceiling would not preclude Democrats from using the reconciliation process to also pass the 'Build Back Better' bill." He goes on to explain why Democrats are resisting this path: https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-democrats-have-a-path/comments
Zuckerberg is lying about his company's business model. Dr. R quoted him: "He says ... it is 'deeply illogical' that they 'deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit.' 'It’s very important' to him, he says, 'that everything we build is safe and good for kids.'"
This isn't true, and Zuckerberg knows it. It is, in fact, the heart of their business model. His first outside investor, Peter Thiel, studied philosophy at Stanford, partly under the tutelate of René Girard. Girard was an anthropologist turned theologian then at Stanford. Girard's understanding of human nature is that we're wired for envy: for craving what others have. That may have been adaptive in early hominid history when we lived in small tribes competing for resources with one another.
Thiel saw the potential for a business to exploit that Girardian human wiring, and so kicked half a million bucks to Zuckerberg to get them started.
By making it easy for people to compare themselves with one another, the business uses our craving tendency to keep us on their app for a long time each day (they call that "engagement"). That lets them sell more ads. We all know they've automated the process of deciding what to show each of us in order to pump up their engagement numbers. We all know envy and indignation keep us engaged, and Zuckerberg's algorithms know it too.
Zuckerberg said it's "deeply illogical" they would do this. It's actually "deeply immoral," and obviously so. For a world-dominating business it's also deeply logical. His rhetoric is sneaky: he hopes legislators, and the rest of us, will believe his company would never do something like that by claiming it's not logical to be so profoundly immoral. I hope legislators aren't taken in by that.
I am a tech Neanderthal who has never tweeted nor used Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snap, or other ‘essential’ social media. E-mail suits me just fine. Still, I am concerned by the affect these instant communication vehicles have on our body politic and on the shallowness of any dialogue on matters that should be important to Americans. I relish that Heather’s Letters provide a staccato counterpoint to this hurricane of ‘stuff.’
My personal concern was sparked by how Trump and his sycophants used Twitter as their springboard to national demagoguery. The credo of ‘false facts’ (Trump’s statement ‘don’t believe in what you see or hear, believe in me’) reminds me of Goebbels and George Orwell’s 1984. I was heartened when Twitter finally blocked Trump’s access, though this is only a small finger in the dike that should represent a balance between public interest and crass hucksterism.
Even my technical ignorance has not blocked my disgust for and fear of Zuckerberg. His supreme arrogance, his distance from truthfulness, and his profit-over-all-monopolistic-megalomania render him a public menace. I have no precise idea how modern social media should be constrained by what I consider to be the public interest. However, the excessive crassness of Zuckerberg and Facebook may provide the spark that launches a serious discussion and, perhaps, legislation leading to dome government oversight.
I recall how, more than 60 years ago, televised hearings of Mafia big wigs led to a public awareness of the scope and sordidness of the mafioso octopus. Those Mafia dons gave a personal face to their skullduggery. I hope that flushing Zuckerberg out of his cave and into the glare of public scrutiny might have a similar affect today. Something is amiss with our unfettered modern social media. We have a vacillating history of anti-trustism since Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft took up an anti-trust cudgel more than a century ago. I hope that this cudgel might be used better ‘regulate’ modern social media monopolies.
"The fall of the Republican Party into the hands of extremists who are willing to destroy it" is not really very new though is it?
Remember Newt Gingrich?
Extremism has been part of America since its beginning as your book: To Make Men Free ably outlines.
Remember burning teenage girls alive after convicting them based on hearsay from a local man or local male preacher or respected woman married to a respected man in Salem? The poor teenage girl may have done as little as rebuffing a man on a walking path. Or as much as shown some intelligence.
Remember Sunday hangings down in North Carolina, Alabama and (a bunch of other states) where the whole family came to the town square for some fun and games and to socialize with neighbors?
Remember John Wilkes Booth, as you note in your book, who heard Lincoln speak in ways that angered him because Lincoln recognized black folks as human?
Remember "Red Lining" under FDR no less? That system that still today fosters white segregation in the north?
Remember Reagan? "There he goes again" to Jimmy Carter who had run a balanced budget, avoided any unnecessary wars, and reasonably managed the tough situation of the post embargo America?
Republican Radical Fascism has migrated from Party to Party and currently resides in the Radical Fascist Right Republican party.
But, the philosophy has always been here. Somebody always wants to feel superior to somebody else, somebody always wants power, somebody always feels like violence is the way to power.
Once in a while, a John Adams comes along, and writes a Massachusetts Constitution with a pen sitting alone at a desk in his childhood home in Braintree, MA. Once in a while, those concepts find their way into a US Constitution.
And, once in a while there is a George Washington to recognize the value of such a document, and, step back from being King.
But, a lot of times? Somebody wants to be King.
Especially now that Corporations, which did not exist in John Adams time, pay off the King to do his bidding. Being King will make you rich.
If Mr. Blount is right, why not have a cloture vote on the debt ceiling bill, let the 5 or 6 go on the record in opposition, pass the bill and move on. This looks more dilatory all the time and much less like there is a principle involved.
The Lewis Act and reform of the Electoral Count Act should be priorities in both houses.
At issue here seems to be how one group can impose its will over others without causing disaster. This has been the conundrum of human societies since time immemorial. For the past 245 years, the American Experiment has attempted to solve this problem by holding free and fair elections. This requires most of us to put the rights of others on an equal footing to our own (hence the rule of law). It seems a great many of us have trouble doing that. For a sizeable minority, the American Experiment ended on 11/8/16. For the majority, I believe, the American Experiment was revived on 1/6/21. That is the watershed.
How do Democrats and a few Republicans preserve the rule of law and our time honored decision making process without causing disaster?
1. Stop blaming and complaining (at least not as much), it keeps our attitudes negative and thinking small.
2. Ask "What is the highest purpose that can be served by my actions?"
3. Ask "Are the tools I have at hand useful/effective to enhance this purpose?" If not, pick up new ones.
4. Ask "Who will be helped by my actions?" If the answer isn't "everyone", it's probably not serving the highest purpose.
5. Set firm boundaries and stick to them. Rest, fun, and freedom from nonsense are necessary when doing any great work. The upcoming efforts over the next few years will be your Magnum Opus.
Power is never given. It is either transferred or taken.
Anyone calling for a "civil war" has obviously never been exposed to one. Such an war now would be a sad, spotty affair, that would take hundreds or even thousands of lives, and ruin millions more. Its effects would persist for generations.
I left FB years ago for a number of reasons. Never liked that they were creating bubbles around people and only reinforcing what they already thought. I would never give my gender or right age because I did not want to have what they thought would be a great experience for an old lady.
To my mind, it looks as if Congress is playing "Russian Roulette" with a revolver that has 5 chambers loaded rather than empty.
I cannot help but think that History (assuming there is history left after the game of Russian Roulette mentioned above) will not be kind to the Republiqan extremists, nor the Movement Conservatives that spawned them and have let them have their way.
Some thoughts on Hillary Clinton's comment: when I was in the military and stationed at USCENTCOM, we dealt, long-term, with the wily tactics of the Iranians in the Persian Gulf. One thing the IRGC Navy (yes, IRGC have a naval component too) did was, intermittently but with deliberateness, violate how close they came to our larger vessels. They were seemingly reckless behaviors that weren't. After a while, the reason became obvious: to desensitize us to their actions, so when the day came to REALLY try something audacious, we'd have our guard down, let them too close, while thinking, "Oh, it's just those Iranians acting crazy again." Well, Trump has done the same. To us. There's been SO much craziness, "unprecedented," and outright stupidity the past five years, we too have let our guard down. Things are said or done, sometimes daily, that 20 years ago would have everyone on full-alert. Now? The frog is nearly boiled. The media doesn't help, because THEY often can't see the forest for the trees either, STILL focus on the most outlandish, click-baity or visible moments, and have told us quite a few times how "disastrous" this or that thing is...and 24 or 48 hrs later, we move on; after a while it's just a big Boy Who Cried Wolf job...while the real wolf's been there all along. And, frankly, too few of us understand the pieces (or want to) of what's involved enough to accurately assess it for ourselves. Lastly, of course, we're also dealing with COVID and all that entails for closing in on two years as well--that part is understandable--so, we're worn out, den-sensitized, and partially ignorant...while the scared, desperate 1/3 of our population keeps trying to steal a march on us and steal the flag. Yes, we absolutely are in this moment--something that's existed and been swelling for nearly 11 months now--yet seem half-awake, and largely-incognizant of what's really happening or at stake. Unfortunately, it might take something Pearl Harbor/Fort Sumter-like in scale (I mean, we already had an INSURRECTION, and barely put down our cell phones) to change this.
What we are seeing with the actions of the Senate Republicans is proof that there are no "good Republicans" left. Rmoney came out and declared himself in favor of filibustering the debt vote. Murkowski dithers but does nothing. And that @#$%#$#!! Susan Collins has the gall to say that if the Democrats dropped the reconciliation BBB bill, that they could have a debt ceiling vote. There isn't one of them who isn't The Enemy of this country.
(Sweden)
"The documents I have provided to Congress prove that Facebook has repeatedly misled the public about what it's own research reveals about the safety of children, the efficacy of its artificial intelligence systems and its role in spreading divisive and extreme messages. I came forward because I believe that every human being deserves the dignity of truth." - Seems Francis Haugen is a candidate for the Nobel Peace Price.
“I will flatly say that the bulk of this country’s white population impresses me, and has so impressed me for a very long time, as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation. They have been white, if I may so put it, too long: the effect on their personalities, their lives, their grasp of reality, has been as devastating as the lava which so memorably immobilized the citizens of Pompeii. They are unable to conceive that their version of reality, which they want me to accept, is an insult to my history and a parody of theirs and an intolerable violation of myself. James Baldwin, “The Price May Be Too High,” The New York Times, February 2, 1969.”
I saved HCR’s 10/4 post for this evening, followed immediately by reading this evening’s post. And…
I’m a musician, not a political scientist, and, given the current state of our union, my soul’s stuck in a spin cycle with a lopsided load. Thanks to Heather’s research and posts, I’m grateful to be learning more about who we are as a nation - irrespective of our troubling past and present. I can only hope more of US awake from our sociopolitical slumbers before it’s too late.
Zuckerberg seems to have learned at the knee of McConnell. That is to lie and obfuscate without shame to maintain power. As for the debt ceiling, I hope the Democrats don't blink. Biden needs to address the nation now on the looming catastrophe and who's causing it.
I liked hearing that Secretary of Treasury Yellen is doing everything she can to gain more time before the US would have to default on its debt. I bet she is also talking to the Federal Reserve and World Bank about other temporary stays to buy more time. That might give Democrats the time to get the BBB bill ready so the debt ceiling and the BBB could be done together by reconciliation. The world must think we've gone mad and are getting quite anxious. It is hard to believe that even insane Republicans would allow default! I wrote to my two senators each twice today on this asking them not to take the country over an economic cliff. United States would never recover any standing in the world. I hope Secretary Yellen can pull something out of the hat. She certainly is the right person at the right time.
Thanks Heather.
As long as Facebook continues to make money, the business model will not change. Their model is not based on being purveyors of truth or moral righteousness or even doing the right thing. They couldn't give a rats ass. They are no more than social deviates that get paid well. I'm hoping this public airing will give a couple of College kids a gameplan to start their own Social Media platform.
I live in racist Central New York. It's a historic hotbed of the KKK. The Museum which I am the Director , has archived plenty of KKK material. Including a full women's Klan gown. I assure you none of these items will ever go on exhibit as long as I'm there.
Yesterday morning on a local news page which posts to Facebook was an article regarding Black Nascar driver Bubba Wallace winning the first Nascar Cup Series race since 1963. I'm not a Nascar fan, but happy for him and I gave it a "like". I then noticed I was the only person that gave the story affirmation. Every other person gave it either a laughing or mad emoji. I noticed the first comment was a canned meme of Bubba Wallace with the line " Best Race Card Driver of All Time". This comment, ofcourse was wildly popular. I reported it to Facebook as Hate Speech/ Racist. Within minutes I received the canned "This does not go against Community Standards ....". I asked for it to be reviewed. 5 minutes later, the same line of " After reviewing, it does not go against Community Standards". So, here we are.
I had a conversation with a software designer who said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Facebook implemented its own racist and knowingly incorrect memes just to stoke the fires". I'm starting to think that isn't outlandish.
As the days go by, it appears the GOP smoke and mirrors plan of diversion and division to gain sole control of the Whitehouse in 2022/2024 is coming to fruition.
How did we win the Whitehouse, but lose the Country in less than 2 years?
Be safe, be well.
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! Nothing really akin to a silver bullet here, but some feel good thoughts as we trudge through this mess!
Yesterday Hubbell wrote: "Last week, the Senate Parliamentarian confirmed that Democrats could increase the debt ceiling by majority vote on a reconciliation bill. Importantly, the use of the reconciliation process to increase the debt ceiling would not preclude Democrats from using the reconciliation process to also pass the 'Build Back Better' bill." He goes on to explain why Democrats are resisting this path: https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-democrats-have-a-path/comments
Then there's one member of the Patriotic Millionaires Club (Nick Hanauer) who tweeted his frustration with Democrats: "Democrats in Congress who know me and ask me for money continually," he says: "Pass the Biden infrastructure plan or never ask again. Ever." https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/04/megarich-democratic-donor-says-tax-rich-people-me-or-hes-done-party?
Zuckerberg is lying about his company's business model. Dr. R quoted him: "He says ... it is 'deeply illogical' that they 'deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit.' 'It’s very important' to him, he says, 'that everything we build is safe and good for kids.'"
This isn't true, and Zuckerberg knows it. It is, in fact, the heart of their business model. His first outside investor, Peter Thiel, studied philosophy at Stanford, partly under the tutelate of René Girard. Girard was an anthropologist turned theologian then at Stanford. Girard's understanding of human nature is that we're wired for envy: for craving what others have. That may have been adaptive in early hominid history when we lived in small tribes competing for resources with one another.
Thiel saw the potential for a business to exploit that Girardian human wiring, and so kicked half a million bucks to Zuckerberg to get them started.
By making it easy for people to compare themselves with one another, the business uses our craving tendency to keep us on their app for a long time each day (they call that "engagement"). That lets them sell more ads. We all know they've automated the process of deciding what to show each of us in order to pump up their engagement numbers. We all know envy and indignation keep us engaged, and Zuckerberg's algorithms know it too.
Here's a piece in the London Review of Books by John Lanchester on this subject. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n16/john-lanchester/you-are-the-product
Zuckerberg said it's "deeply illogical" they would do this. It's actually "deeply immoral," and obviously so. For a world-dominating business it's also deeply logical. His rhetoric is sneaky: he hopes legislators, and the rest of us, will believe his company would never do something like that by claiming it's not logical to be so profoundly immoral. I hope legislators aren't taken in by that.
I am a tech Neanderthal who has never tweeted nor used Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snap, or other ‘essential’ social media. E-mail suits me just fine. Still, I am concerned by the affect these instant communication vehicles have on our body politic and on the shallowness of any dialogue on matters that should be important to Americans. I relish that Heather’s Letters provide a staccato counterpoint to this hurricane of ‘stuff.’
My personal concern was sparked by how Trump and his sycophants used Twitter as their springboard to national demagoguery. The credo of ‘false facts’ (Trump’s statement ‘don’t believe in what you see or hear, believe in me’) reminds me of Goebbels and George Orwell’s 1984. I was heartened when Twitter finally blocked Trump’s access, though this is only a small finger in the dike that should represent a balance between public interest and crass hucksterism.
Even my technical ignorance has not blocked my disgust for and fear of Zuckerberg. His supreme arrogance, his distance from truthfulness, and his profit-over-all-monopolistic-megalomania render him a public menace. I have no precise idea how modern social media should be constrained by what I consider to be the public interest. However, the excessive crassness of Zuckerberg and Facebook may provide the spark that launches a serious discussion and, perhaps, legislation leading to dome government oversight.
I recall how, more than 60 years ago, televised hearings of Mafia big wigs led to a public awareness of the scope and sordidness of the mafioso octopus. Those Mafia dons gave a personal face to their skullduggery. I hope that flushing Zuckerberg out of his cave and into the glare of public scrutiny might have a similar affect today. Something is amiss with our unfettered modern social media. We have a vacillating history of anti-trustism since Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft took up an anti-trust cudgel more than a century ago. I hope that this cudgel might be used better ‘regulate’ modern social media monopolies.
"The fall of the Republican Party into the hands of extremists who are willing to destroy it" is not really very new though is it?
Remember Newt Gingrich?
Extremism has been part of America since its beginning as your book: To Make Men Free ably outlines.
Remember burning teenage girls alive after convicting them based on hearsay from a local man or local male preacher or respected woman married to a respected man in Salem? The poor teenage girl may have done as little as rebuffing a man on a walking path. Or as much as shown some intelligence.
Remember Sunday hangings down in North Carolina, Alabama and (a bunch of other states) where the whole family came to the town square for some fun and games and to socialize with neighbors?
Remember John Wilkes Booth, as you note in your book, who heard Lincoln speak in ways that angered him because Lincoln recognized black folks as human?
Remember "Red Lining" under FDR no less? That system that still today fosters white segregation in the north?
Remember Reagan? "There he goes again" to Jimmy Carter who had run a balanced budget, avoided any unnecessary wars, and reasonably managed the tough situation of the post embargo America?
Republican Radical Fascism has migrated from Party to Party and currently resides in the Radical Fascist Right Republican party.
But, the philosophy has always been here. Somebody always wants to feel superior to somebody else, somebody always wants power, somebody always feels like violence is the way to power.
Once in a while, a John Adams comes along, and writes a Massachusetts Constitution with a pen sitting alone at a desk in his childhood home in Braintree, MA. Once in a while, those concepts find their way into a US Constitution.
And, once in a while there is a George Washington to recognize the value of such a document, and, step back from being King.
But, a lot of times? Somebody wants to be King.
Especially now that Corporations, which did not exist in John Adams time, pay off the King to do his bidding. Being King will make you rich.
Nothing new.
If Mr. Blount is right, why not have a cloture vote on the debt ceiling bill, let the 5 or 6 go on the record in opposition, pass the bill and move on. This looks more dilatory all the time and much less like there is a principle involved.
The Lewis Act and reform of the Electoral Count Act should be priorities in both houses.
At issue here seems to be how one group can impose its will over others without causing disaster. This has been the conundrum of human societies since time immemorial. For the past 245 years, the American Experiment has attempted to solve this problem by holding free and fair elections. This requires most of us to put the rights of others on an equal footing to our own (hence the rule of law). It seems a great many of us have trouble doing that. For a sizeable minority, the American Experiment ended on 11/8/16. For the majority, I believe, the American Experiment was revived on 1/6/21. That is the watershed.
How do Democrats and a few Republicans preserve the rule of law and our time honored decision making process without causing disaster?
1. Stop blaming and complaining (at least not as much), it keeps our attitudes negative and thinking small.
2. Ask "What is the highest purpose that can be served by my actions?"
3. Ask "Are the tools I have at hand useful/effective to enhance this purpose?" If not, pick up new ones.
4. Ask "Who will be helped by my actions?" If the answer isn't "everyone", it's probably not serving the highest purpose.
5. Set firm boundaries and stick to them. Rest, fun, and freedom from nonsense are necessary when doing any great work. The upcoming efforts over the next few years will be your Magnum Opus.
Power is never given. It is either transferred or taken.
Anyone calling for a "civil war" has obviously never been exposed to one. Such an war now would be a sad, spotty affair, that would take hundreds or even thousands of lives, and ruin millions more. Its effects would persist for generations.
I left FB years ago for a number of reasons. Never liked that they were creating bubbles around people and only reinforcing what they already thought. I would never give my gender or right age because I did not want to have what they thought would be a great experience for an old lady.
To my mind, it looks as if Congress is playing "Russian Roulette" with a revolver that has 5 chambers loaded rather than empty.
I cannot help but think that History (assuming there is history left after the game of Russian Roulette mentioned above) will not be kind to the Republiqan extremists, nor the Movement Conservatives that spawned them and have let them have their way.