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| Benjamin Franklin, by Joseph Siffred Duplessis (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution) |
And since that day in 1787, the United States of America has continued to be a representative republic, its leaders chosen by democratic ballot, despite a number of existential threats.
Sometimes, the enemy was foreign. The British, trying to claw their rebellious colony back, burned the White House in 1814. The Japanese destroyed our fleet at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Soviets aimed their nuclear missiles at us from 150 miles away in Cuba 20 years later.
Though the gravest threats were always from within. It was the United States, not Japan, that rounded up blameless American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II and put them in internment camps. It was the United States, not the Soviet Union, that imposed loyalty oaths and restricted freedom of expression during the years of McCarthyism in the 1950s. It was the United States, not some foreign oppressor, that let the voting rights of Black citizens be voided by terror in the South for a century.
Some of these lapses were uncharacteristic. Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, was also the man who suspended habeas corpus. Under his watch, federal troops occupied the Chicago Times — no relation, alas — because a local general didn't like the tone of its editorials.
But that was a time of extreme crisis. The ultimate self-inflicted wound to our republic was the Civil War, cracking the country in half for four full years of bloody conflict. More Americans died in the Civil War than in any other war.
What can we expect in a Trump presidency? Where to begin?
Goodbye, Ukraine — they're toast, their resistance to Russia in vain. Open season on immigrants — Trump said he'd begin deporting them on Day One, though he also said he'd build a wall, and Mexico would pay for it, and that didn't happen.
In a weird way, Trump's proven proclivity for untruth now becomes a source of comfort: Is this policy or just palaver to entertain the base?
To continue reading, click here.
this article from the guardian indicates its fluoride in drinking water that would be banned and not vaccines which had been suggested in a previous iteration of this article which is maybe what you've seen.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find any information indicating that rfk would recommend banning vaccines. his position seems to be that they should not be mandated. either way fact checking crazy seems like a waste of time. your job not mine.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/04/election-trump-rfk-jr-vaccines-fluoride
No, RFK Jr has been quoted many times that absolutely no vaccine is safe. So this 70 year old nutcase, is also against the smallpox vaccine he got as an infant, that vaccine did something that had never been done before, it wiped out a disease from the entire planet & no one today has to worry about getting that fatal & often disfiguring disease.
Deletehe also got the polio vaccine as a child, we have almost wiped that disease out, except for some utterly lunatic Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, who believe it's not kosher & a bunch of equally insane Muslims in Pakistan & Afghanistan who have the insane belief it will sterilize them!
Get all of those crackpots vaccinated against polio & it too will be gone from the planet!
Junior is without a doubt, the single most dangerous appointment he could make, even worse than Musk & his idiotic ideas of "Government Efficiency"!
Clark, I think especially in these times that accuracy is very important. I'm no fan of RFK Jr. But scouring the internet I failed to find the many times that he has been quoted as saying no vaccine is safe. As far as I can tell, there was one time during a podcast when he was cut off mid-sentence where he said no vaccine is safe...
DeleteGiven the opportunity to respond to this, he has said many times. That, what he had meant to say was that like most medical procedures, interventions and prophylactics vaccines had certain dangers, he went on to say he is not anti-vaccine and that the media paints him in that way when what he is looking for is assurance that vaccines have been properly tested and transparency about when they injure people.
That being said, God forbid he's put in charge of any kind of government agency let alone one where the health of Americans is at stake .
He has engaged in behavior that is abhorrent put forth conspiracy series that are unproven and said many times that vaccine causes cancer and autism. The things he has actually said are pretty out there
Let's refrain from hyperbole and counter the policies of this administration with actual factual information backed up by proof unlike them, let's just not be like them
Oddly, I have not seen a comment from griz over the last couple of days which is not comforting. I hope he's okay and that he hasn't been submitted. Comments that you refused to publish and lost his mind. Have you heard from him?
ReplyDeleteNo, I wouldn't fail to publish one of his remarks.
DeleteI've been keeping busy, to stave off the anger and the despair. Physical labor can work wonders at a time like this...for maybe an hour or so, tops. I am working at the Habitat Re-Store, same as I have been doing for a decade now. Hard to believe it's been that long.
DeleteAnd I have been busting my ass in my yard and falling into bed at eight o'clock.. November is leaf-shlepping time for me. That doesn't change from year to year,, no matter who takes office. Thirty, forty, fifty bags a year, for the last 32 years. The Germans had it right. Work makes you free...temporarily, anyway.
Truth is, I am still in a state of numbness. I am seeing a number of people online saying that the numbers don't add up...that twelve or thirteen million votes were somehow "disappeared'...and that we have just witnessed the biggest scam in American history. My wife is one of those doubters, and she is the smartest person I know.
Is something on such a vast scale even possible, from an orange clown who couldn't orchestrate a two-car funeral? The mind boggles. perhaps his minions actually pulled it off.
The CIA claims everything was on the square. I want to hear it from Joe. He's the only one I trust...now more than ever. I am going to miss that man...very, very much. The dash between 45 -47 may turn out to be, like Truman, one of greatest presidents of all time. Me loved you long time, Joe.
Mr S, you remind me of Doremus Jessup in this piece. May you keep on writing through the the next presidential administration and beyond! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThings will certainly suck. Many good people will suffer. But as you say, America has been through upheavals and stretches of awfulness before, let's not write the obituary just yet.
ReplyDeleteAlso as you mention, Trump says a lot of things. The wall on Mexico's dime, he's promised to repeal Obamacare for 9 years now, etc. Who knows what he'll try and where he'll succeed. I think blue states will offer some refuge and keep some of their citizens from some of the harm. JB Pritzker already said something to that effect. I'm in VA, where the gubernatorial elections are the year after presidential ones and we always pick the candidate from the party opposite the president. The filibuster in the Senate will stop some awfulness, some of the courts may at least delay other things. Some of the nightmare will come true, but who knows which parts, no need suffer preemptively.
I'll also say from experience of living under totalitarian rule. There is a kind of freedom that comes with oppression. It frees you from the responsibility of trying to prevent it. Every little act or expression of resilience is already more than expected, there is no pressure to change the world and make everyone happy, we just need to outlast and survive.
Lastly, but more importantly, to your line: "I’ll still be writing. I have my job to do — until the bitter end. But really, what good will it do? What good has any of it done?" Your work is the most important one there is in these times. It provides a voice and a reflection and solace to myriads like me who don't have the talent or the platform. We need every writer like you to make sense of things, to see hope and a way forward, to not let despair seep in. The end of the dark medieval ages was ushered in by the printing press and a resurgence of arts.
Thank you, Mark K. Appreciate and align with everything you are saying, especially the difference Mr. Steinberg makes with his keen intellect and exceptional ability to share his thoughts so eloquently with his writing.
DeleteWell said.
DeleteNot when there ate no checks and balances. The far right now owns the wbite house, senatem house of representatives and the supreme court . Add in the same for right wing states. And good, god fearing Americans did this.
DeleteAgreed. There is good work that can still be done. Among other things, we need to shine a light on the hypocrisy of people who have been complaining about government interfering in people's lives as they now push for *their* particular beliefs to rule *everyone's* lives.
DeleteDon't count on the filibuster Mark, unlike Democrats, republicans won't hesitate to change Senate rules to achieve their agenda.
Deleteas the man once said: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” (James Waterman Wise, not, as often thought sinclair lewis)
ReplyDeleteBacked by misogyny, racism, and a healthy dose of stupidity.
DeleteClarity, maybe. We no longer have the luxury of illusion, or even of optimism. Things will, overall, get worse. People we know and love will be harmed, maybe even die. And the society we live in will, I suspect, be OK with much of that, so long as it's happening to others.
ReplyDeleteWho we know and trust will be ever more important.
Thanks again for a great read to start my day; I also love all the comments. MAKes me know I am not alone. I read that "when fascism comes to America..." awhile ago but sure is true these days.
ReplyDeleteAre we truly surprised by this? This election loudly proclaims the majority of Americans reflected in their definitively chosen leader; I needn't remind you of the man's character, you know him well enough. The American character is that of a weak, arrogant, cowardly, cruel, lying, selfish bully
ReplyDeleteAlthough not realistically possible, it would help me if all mainstream media and radio/tv would NOT publish anything Trump SAYS or TEXTS for the next 4 years. Please only publish laws he signs, people he appoints, and executive orders. Nothing else. It just might help me settle my stomach, until this nightmare passes us.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be easier for you to just ignore the news?
DeleteTrump is "good copy"--the best they could ever hope for...like a 9/11 every goddamn day. He generates hits and clicks and watching eyeballs and listening ears and print media copies sold and he's a godsend to the news media.
DeleteHe has helped their bottom line enormously, for almost a decade now, and that's all they really give a damn about, like any other business entity. The sad truth is, they're all tickled to death that he won. Four more years of covering the circus...at least until the orange clown shuts them down.
Except for the local weather, I’m going to try to do just that. I’m sure I’ll cave after the first hour or so.
DeleteGrizz: I know you're a popular regular, Grizz, but why not go hang around medical websites, telling doctors what a godsend cancer is to them? Because they'd hoot you down. Maybe YOU'RE "tickled to death that he won," so you can join him in airing your ignorance and maligning others you're unfamiliar with. This is classic ad hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy — he's good for the media, therefore they must want him. You know what's really good for the media: freedom and democracy. Really: how would you know what people in the media feel? Short answer: you don't.
DeleteThe lines between news/ opinion/ entertainment grow more difficult to discern each day. News for profit is certainly a thing . Generating clicks through salacious sensationalism happens. I doubt grizz is accusing serious responsible professional journalists such as your self of being tickled, but there are some devious characters in your industry who are.
DeleteI know your the proprietor but drawing a line from journalists to surgeons seems , well im sure theres some way to say it in latin . im just not that smart
Sorry. I really meant the suits...the corporate bean-counters...not the responsible journalists themselves. If I had to guess, I'd say more of the ink-stained wretches are blue, rather than red. But I've been out of the game for a long, long time, so who the hell knows?
DeleteI messed that up, Mr. S...big-time. I meant the corporate echelons at the top of the food chain...NOT the folks in the trenches, like you. I should have been more clear about that. I was not. I meant the owners and the publishers who lean right...not the scribes themselves.
DeleteThat was probably the biggest fuck-up I've ever typed here, and I am heartily sorry. Apologies for that. Sometimes, it isn't what one says that is such an egregious mistake, but what one leaves out.
I totally understand why you are pissed off. It certainly wasn't you and your colleagues I was referring to about being "tickled"...it wasn't even your bosses. It was the bosses of your bosses, and their bosses, and so on up the ladder.
I'm still extremely upset about what has transpired this week, and my brain is still foggy over the enormity and the gravity of it. Again, I meant the brass...the top brass...not the folks like you who do the soldiering. And I'm extremely sorry for the misunderstanding.
Neil, there are definitely scores of journalists exceedingly overjoyed at Drumpf's election. Yes, they were supporters who would feel the same if they'd taken up plumbing instead of the pen. The ones I watch are obviously upset and have painfully expressed their duty to carry on. Grizz made a generalization, which makes him a little like the right wing pols and pundits fouling the airwaves and my phone. Good to stand up for your comrades, but they're not all deserving of praise.
DeleteAccepted, Grizz, and I didn't want to jump down your throat. But "media" can be either singular or plural, and to say they're this way or that, it's like saying "white guys voted for Trump." True in a rough majoritarian sense. But a stick in the eye to all of us white guys who vigorously did not vote for him, and will oppose him with every fibre of our being.
DeleteMedia owners make big bucks and solidify power which compells and sustains
ReplyDeletetheir actions. Like any elite-controlled system, employees will tow the company line if they want to keep there jobs. They will grudgingly promote almost any lie for comfort and security. The more ambitious or emotionally needy will throw in whole-heartedly no matter the damage to mankind. This is a human trait. Historically verifiable.
I thought of HL Mencken's quote "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." Problem is twofold: His army of acolytes will never believe how badly Trump will fail them, and countless will suffer for generations based on his actions and policies.
ReplyDelete