It’s not denial, it’s a wider view of things. Perhaps these bad things are happening because of the policies, perhaps because our increasingly fratricidal politics of the past few decades mean we have taken our collective eyes off the ball and allowed bad players on the world stage an opening, perhaps something else, or all or none of these things. Maybe they operate on their own timetable, for their own reasons. Perhaps Trump was just lucky. Perhaps Putin (who I suspect is behind much of the mischief in the world these days) didn’t invade anything During Trump’s presidency because it suited him to have Trump in place fomenting trouble internally in the US, tearing us apart from within and didn’t want to distract from that. I don’t know and neither do you. I do know that global events are terrifically complex and unpredictable and it’s too simplistic to just blame everything on who happens to be sitting in the oval office at any moment.
Carl, I don’t know where you get your ideas. Your understanding and opinions of how and why our country was founded stand in opposition to the reality of our history. The very purpose of the Constitution was to centralize government … in order to form a more perfect Union. Personal responsibility is great and all but the power of our government is vested in the collective, “…governments are created by (people) deriving their just powers from consent of the governed.” It is a 2 part equation, government = justice + consent. The current SCOTUS is willing to throw out precedent (historical consent given to provide just government) on technicalities of law rather than reinforcing the justice they are supposed to represent.
I also noticed that she posted a photo of her and Scalise when he was nominated, then a photo of her and Jordan after he was nominated. She seems to constantly be playing all sides
I’ll give her some credit just to ease my derangement symptoms. At least I haven’t seen her putting out that stupidity that McCarthy is, that Democrats are to blame for not coming to the rescue. You know, because Republicans definitely would’ve given Pelosi some votes for speaker if she’d needed them.
Let's not forget that Gym, who is the current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has never passed a bar exam. He, has consistently voted against Farm Bill and agriculture legislation that his Ohio district farmers depend upon, along with our lying, traitorous representative. It's beyond time to change his status from unindicted.
The unqualified Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who has never written a bill to be penned into law, is once again chasing his tail, trying to create a scandal where there is none. Just as he did with Benghazi, millions of dollars and hundreds of congressional hours are being wasted again, with zero result.
The possibility that Jordan is the next Speaker scares the crap out of me. Where are the moderate Republicans? They must speak up and defeat him. I truly fear for the future of this country if he becomes Speaker.
I’m beginning to understand all those old bluegrass country songs about death. Their lives were so full of weariness and toil and suffering. How comforting it must have been to be sure in the knowledge that something better awaited them!
I just called her Washington office and said my PIECE about wanting nothing more to be sent to me by email, letter, etc. I left my name and address but I doubt if anything will happen....we're all stuck in her LIST of people who live in the 21st district ---I just have to immediately delete or dump whatever appears. Who is supporting her??? What do the people in the 21st district want? I just don't understand what they see in her but supposedly she is in a "safe" district....impossible to remove????
I always thought that Stefanik's goal was to become Speaker. I think even she realizes that it would be a disastrous job dealing with the likes of the current members of the House. For such a young person, she has developed into a deeply deceptive and self-serving politician with only power on her mind. She's really a terrible human.
It’s sad. While most Americans are longing for political leadership to pass to a younger generation unencumbered by old ideas and willing to work together in the interests of all of us.
Instead our young representative is Stefanik.
The irony that Stefanik would point to Book of Esther, basically a historical novella, a fiction using historical characters to spin a story of sex and intrigue around the powerful Trumpian figure of the Persian king should not be lost on folks. Perhaps Trump would be flattered to be asked to portray the Persian King of Kings in a Hollywood blockbuster. He would relish the opportunity to ogle lithe young women on display for his pleasure and the ability to select the most beautiful among them to bed.
Yes, maybe he’ll have better luck getting Mexico to pay for it, too. President Biden seems to have enough sense to maintain good relations with our allies and not spend his capital praising dictators like Putin, Xi and Kim and the vicious terrorists in Hamas and Hezbollah.
So, the derangement thing is a fact? I thought it was hyperbole. I guess it’s truthy. Also, I didn’t “attack” you as I recall. You’re the one who came here with accusations of derangement.
The history is interesting. Cyrus, I believe, ended the exile of Jews in Babylon and sent them to Jerusalem with instruction and funding to re-build the Temple. One of his successors set Ezra and Nehemiah the task of consolidating the Hebrew texts and laws. Persian kings provided funding to outfit the temple with items necessary for religious rituals to be performed and enough to provide for a continuing priesthood. This from the King of Kings, a Zoroastrian. The Achaemenid empire was expansive and open to including all faiths and ethnicities, Zoroastrians, Jews, the numerous religions of Mesopotamia and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the gods of Egypt, and the gods of the Greeks, the gods of the steppe peoples, Manichaeans, Hindus, Buddhists, and more.
We tend to think the 3 Abrahamic religions, a faith in one particular god, are a spectrum.
Interestingly, the time the Hebrew tribes spent under the Achaemenid Zoroastrians introduced them to the concept of monotheism. Before that the god they worshipped was one of many, and we see the evidence of it in the Old Testament, like when the god of Moses proclaimed “you shall have no have no other gods before me.” I mean, there it is, right? Who better than God to let you know that there are other gods but he doesn’t want you to worship them?
And yet, still, with just one god the people who worship him can’t stop fighting.
Yes, sort of, about 2,500 hundred years ago when the world had a tiny fraction of the present population and vast areas were open for habitation Cyrus encouraged a small tribe numbering likely in some number of thousands to move to a region which was part of his empire and under his stern control. There were other tribes living in the region and Cyrus enforced peace within his empire. After Cyrus, Darius the Great instituted a strong centralized administrative state that served the empire well until a narcissistic advisor had one of the final Achaemenids poisoned and setting himself as regent to the minor king. His rule weakened the empire to the extent that Alexander the Macedon was able to defeat it.
I think there may be some lessons for us today in that history, but I’m certain you will draw very different lessons than I.
Diabolical Sedition Stefanik does nothing that doesn’t support her self interest agenda. The very idea that our so called representatives is quoting from the Bible is blasphemous.
If we are going to get biblical… let’s cast Thrump as the devil… the devil in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”… who’s goal is to corrupt humanity as payback to being tossed out of heaven after attempting an overthrow… sound familiar? That would make Jordan and Stefanik and others his minions. And by the way… what passage in the Bible did Trump say was his favorite?… Perhaps that question should also be asked of pious Elise and her brothers and sisters in the republican caucus.
Thank you, again, Ken, for your voice--the facts, the reality and the complete overturning of truth, ethics, integrity...the endorsement of Stefanik and the truth about Jordan and Maga and their lies and actions that could and would overturn truth and democracy. Baldwin wrote "not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed unless it is faced." I think of history that must be seen and known--and how some do not want us to know, to see--of US complicity in overthrowing elected leaders in Africa and Central America when our corporate interests are threatened, of our violence against the native indigenous people, ofslavery and the Jim Crow South, and the continual injustices, of voter suppression, I think of our earth and those who do not care to protect and preserve life....I think of that now with the violence in the middle east, the importance of speaking what is true and acting for what is right, not just being "loyal" to our "side" . If Stefanik wants to quote the bible, i think of the Hebrew text where "God" says to humans "I give you a choice, life or death. Choose life"--life not death, peace not violence, integrity and truth, not lies...
Jordan represents everything evil in the new Republican Party. He also voted against aid for 911, the victims of 911 illnesses and hurricane relief in NY. I’m sure God just shakes his/her head when listening to Stefanik and any of the Republicans using religion as a prop. It makes me think of all of those Fox reporters wearing crucifixes ( along with their short, short skirts and 6 inch heels.) As for the NDEs- there is amazing information out there and much of it is written by physicians. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on since I was a young girl. There is so much more than we know and it always inspires hope.
Carl Tucker, remember that correlation is not necessarily causation!
It’s not denial, it’s a wider view of things. Perhaps these bad things are happening because of the policies, perhaps because our increasingly fratricidal politics of the past few decades mean we have taken our collective eyes off the ball and allowed bad players on the world stage an opening, perhaps something else, or all or none of these things. Maybe they operate on their own timetable, for their own reasons. Perhaps Trump was just lucky. Perhaps Putin (who I suspect is behind much of the mischief in the world these days) didn’t invade anything During Trump’s presidency because it suited him to have Trump in place fomenting trouble internally in the US, tearing us apart from within and didn’t want to distract from that. I don’t know and neither do you. I do know that global events are terrifically complex and unpredictable and it’s too simplistic to just blame everything on who happens to be sitting in the oval office at any moment.
You sound increasingly desperate, as if you are fully aware that your rantings are unfounded.
Carl, I don’t know where you get your ideas. Your understanding and opinions of how and why our country was founded stand in opposition to the reality of our history. The very purpose of the Constitution was to centralize government … in order to form a more perfect Union. Personal responsibility is great and all but the power of our government is vested in the collective, “…governments are created by (people) deriving their just powers from consent of the governed.” It is a 2 part equation, government = justice + consent. The current SCOTUS is willing to throw out precedent (historical consent given to provide just government) on technicalities of law rather than reinforcing the justice they are supposed to represent.
Any criticism of Stefanik or Trump is because the critic is deranged?
Brilliant.
That’s a big, fancy word for lie.
If you don’t have an argument based on facts, turn to ad hom attacks. Got it!
Considering how well everyone else’s lives turn out who enter Trump’s orbit I look forward to seeing how Elise’s goes.
I also noticed that she posted a photo of her and Scalise when he was nominated, then a photo of her and Jordan after he was nominated. She seems to constantly be playing all sides
She's a chameleon. Winning is not the main thing.
It's the only thing.
I’ll give her some credit just to ease my derangement symptoms. At least I haven’t seen her putting out that stupidity that McCarthy is, that Democrats are to blame for not coming to the rescue. You know, because Republicans definitely would’ve given Pelosi some votes for speaker if she’d needed them.
Yes, some of those 20 Republicans voting against Jordan should’ve voted for Hakeem Jeffries and the House would have a speaker today.
The career outcomes of so, so many Trump administration notables give me many opportunities for Schadenfreude.
Let's not forget that Gym, who is the current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has never passed a bar exam. He, has consistently voted against Farm Bill and agriculture legislation that his Ohio district farmers depend upon, along with our lying, traitorous representative. It's beyond time to change his status from unindicted.
The unqualified Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who has never written a bill to be penned into law, is once again chasing his tail, trying to create a scandal where there is none. Just as he did with Benghazi, millions of dollars and hundreds of congressional hours are being wasted again, with zero result.
It would be good if our leaders understood the Constitution though, wouldn’t it?
"An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes." - Sun Tzu. And apparently an evil woman also.
The possibility that Jordan is the next Speaker scares the crap out of me. Where are the moderate Republicans? They must speak up and defeat him. I truly fear for the future of this country if he becomes Speaker.
I’m beginning to understand all those old bluegrass country songs about death. Their lives were so full of weariness and toil and suffering. How comforting it must have been to be sure in the knowledge that something better awaited them!
On evidence of an afterlife:
We're all gonna find out. Make the best of what we have!
Thank you, Will, for providing such good reading in your newsletter.
Aha. Good point.
I guess my questions are
1. Is he related to Trump or is Trump his god, as Trump is Elise's god.
2. Did he only turn a blind eye to the abuse or was he involved behind the scenes?
3. What church or religion does Elise belong to?
4. Does anyone know how I stop getting unsolicited emails from Stefanik and her cronies. It is giving me anxiety.
I just called her Washington office and said my PIECE about wanting nothing more to be sent to me by email, letter, etc. I left my name and address but I doubt if anything will happen....we're all stuck in her LIST of people who live in the 21st district ---I just have to immediately delete or dump whatever appears. Who is supporting her??? What do the people in the 21st district want? I just don't understand what they see in her but supposedly she is in a "safe" district....impossible to remove????
I always thought that Stefanik's goal was to become Speaker. I think even she realizes that it would be a disastrous job dealing with the likes of the current members of the House. For such a young person, she has developed into a deeply deceptive and self-serving politician with only power on her mind. She's really a terrible human.
I think she wants to be president.
GAG!
"Birds of a feather flock together" since we are voicing quotes today, eh?
It’s sad. While most Americans are longing for political leadership to pass to a younger generation unencumbered by old ideas and willing to work together in the interests of all of us.
Instead our young representative is Stefanik.
The irony that Stefanik would point to Book of Esther, basically a historical novella, a fiction using historical characters to spin a story of sex and intrigue around the powerful Trumpian figure of the Persian king should not be lost on folks. Perhaps Trump would be flattered to be asked to portray the Persian King of Kings in a Hollywood blockbuster. He would relish the opportunity to ogle lithe young women on display for his pleasure and the ability to select the most beautiful among them to bed.
Book of Job, anyone?
Trump is no Cyrus the Great. He couldn’t even build a wall.
Yes, maybe he’ll have better luck getting Mexico to pay for it, too. President Biden seems to have enough sense to maintain good relations with our allies and not spend his capital praising dictators like Putin, Xi and Kim and the vicious terrorists in Hamas and Hezbollah.
Also, why shouldn’t I just accuse you of Biden derangement? Then, it wouldn’t matter what you say.
So, the derangement thing is a fact? I thought it was hyperbole. I guess it’s truthy. Also, I didn’t “attack” you as I recall. You’re the one who came here with accusations of derangement.
“Mexico is going to pay for it.”
Sorry, that was just hyperbole.
The history is interesting. Cyrus, I believe, ended the exile of Jews in Babylon and sent them to Jerusalem with instruction and funding to re-build the Temple. One of his successors set Ezra and Nehemiah the task of consolidating the Hebrew texts and laws. Persian kings provided funding to outfit the temple with items necessary for religious rituals to be performed and enough to provide for a continuing priesthood. This from the King of Kings, a Zoroastrian. The Achaemenid empire was expansive and open to including all faiths and ethnicities, Zoroastrians, Jews, the numerous religions of Mesopotamia and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the gods of Egypt, and the gods of the Greeks, the gods of the steppe peoples, Manichaeans, Hindus, Buddhists, and more.
We tend to think the 3 Abrahamic religions, a faith in one particular god, are a spectrum.
Interestingly, the time the Hebrew tribes spent under the Achaemenid Zoroastrians introduced them to the concept of monotheism. Before that the god they worshipped was one of many, and we see the evidence of it in the Old Testament, like when the god of Moses proclaimed “you shall have no have no other gods before me.” I mean, there it is, right? Who better than God to let you know that there are other gods but he doesn’t want you to worship them?
And yet, still, with just one god the people who worship him can’t stop fighting.
Yes, sort of, about 2,500 hundred years ago when the world had a tiny fraction of the present population and vast areas were open for habitation Cyrus encouraged a small tribe numbering likely in some number of thousands to move to a region which was part of his empire and under his stern control. There were other tribes living in the region and Cyrus enforced peace within his empire. After Cyrus, Darius the Great instituted a strong centralized administrative state that served the empire well until a narcissistic advisor had one of the final Achaemenids poisoned and setting himself as regent to the minor king. His rule weakened the empire to the extent that Alexander the Macedon was able to defeat it.
I think there may be some lessons for us today in that history, but I’m certain you will draw very different lessons than I.
Thanks for that. Much I knew, much I didn’t.
Diabolical Sedition Stefanik does nothing that doesn’t support her self interest agenda. The very idea that our so called representatives is quoting from the Bible is blasphemous.
Agreed.
If we are going to get biblical… let’s cast Thrump as the devil… the devil in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”… who’s goal is to corrupt humanity as payback to being tossed out of heaven after attempting an overthrow… sound familiar? That would make Jordan and Stefanik and others his minions. And by the way… what passage in the Bible did Trump say was his favorite?… Perhaps that question should also be asked of pious Elise and her brothers and sisters in the republican caucus.
Trump would have to make certain his Bible is right side up in order to read it.
Thank you, again, Ken, for your voice--the facts, the reality and the complete overturning of truth, ethics, integrity...the endorsement of Stefanik and the truth about Jordan and Maga and their lies and actions that could and would overturn truth and democracy. Baldwin wrote "not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed unless it is faced." I think of history that must be seen and known--and how some do not want us to know, to see--of US complicity in overthrowing elected leaders in Africa and Central America when our corporate interests are threatened, of our violence against the native indigenous people, ofslavery and the Jim Crow South, and the continual injustices, of voter suppression, I think of our earth and those who do not care to protect and preserve life....I think of that now with the violence in the middle east, the importance of speaking what is true and acting for what is right, not just being "loyal" to our "side" . If Stefanik wants to quote the bible, i think of the Hebrew text where "God" says to humans "I give you a choice, life or death. Choose life"--life not death, peace not violence, integrity and truth, not lies...
Jordan represents everything evil in the new Republican Party. He also voted against aid for 911, the victims of 911 illnesses and hurricane relief in NY. I’m sure God just shakes his/her head when listening to Stefanik and any of the Republicans using religion as a prop. It makes me think of all of those Fox reporters wearing crucifixes ( along with their short, short skirts and 6 inch heels.) As for the NDEs- there is amazing information out there and much of it is written by physicians. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on since I was a young girl. There is so much more than we know and it always inspires hope.