You site, “In forceful condemnation of Trump, Biden warns that ‘MAGA’ backers pose grave threat to democracy.” Have you read Project 2025 yet? The “backers” of Trump, Heritage Foundation, does pose a grave threat to our democracy.
I post occasionally on this blog. If you look back over my comments, I almost always include the statement, “We are a deeply divided country.” I have written those words probably a dozen times. I am right. And it’s only gonna get worse. Both sides are digging in hard. Neither is going to give up. If you read everyone from John Mersheimer to David Brooks, they are as pessimistic as I am. We can have unity or diversity. We can’t have both.
Come hear a reading of my new musical, Drag Queen Story Hour, which satirizes our polarization, at Crandall Library this Thursday at 6:30.for free. It dramatized how a spark can lead to a flame. More art, less war!
Political violence is insidious. It doesn’t infect just part of a country’s politics — it infects all of it. Stealthily.
Consider the violent storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6. Only some people participated in the storming. But many more support it. Twenty-two percent of Americans approve the actions of those who forced their way into the Capitol, according to a January 2024 CBS News/YouGov poll. Twenty-two percent.
And there it is — political violence approved by a large part of our population. A wound to our political body. Quietly festering. Ready to return.
Return it did this past Saturday.
Did those who approve of the violence on Jan. 6. think it wouldn’t resurface? Did it return in a way they didn’t expect? And most important: Don’t they understand that the political violence they condone touches us all? It solves nothing and only results in more violence.
You knew it was possible, likely even. And yet it is still shocking and sickening. I usually dilute my cynicism with a dash of idealism and hope. That’s not gonna work this year. The monsters are out among us…we cannot ignore them any longer or wish them away.
I agree. There was no good outcome from this weekend. I remember my mother hating Obama so much she couldn’t see his face on a magazine cover in my home without turning it over. Trump told everyone at his initial rallies to “ beat the hell out of the” and he would pay for their lawyers. It kept escalating as the tears went on until Jan 6 th when people came to their senses for a day or two. Then it was twisted and turned into “ heroes” attacking our capital and threatening to hang Pence. This could have been stopped those inpower have chosen to allow the lies and rhetoric to take over and continue to plant the seeds every single day through the Big Lie #2. The election won’t be fare unless trump wins. It’s all mapped out. I’m so proud of how our president handled this weekend. He suspended his campaign ads during the initial coverage, call trump immediately and put out a statement against violence. There has been no promotion of violence despite how FOX tries to spin it. Guns- well we all see what happens when crazy people have them. They kill babies and our families while shopping, going to concerts, movies and celebrations. We all know who support these high powered guns. They wear them on their lapels and take Christmas card photos with them.
you touch on, but don't quite say it, what I came here to say after reading the column in my email.
"we know" and we do, and yet we don't. From what I have read, those who support hmpy TRMpedoPHILE and pos_tfnKKK do so as they are voiting against their own best interests
If they vote for those two again and they gain ever more power, there will be a liar back in office and the Project 2025 he pretends to not know about, will strip rights away from most Americans... Sadly that will be a bi-partisan stripping of rights.
When hmpy gave the rich a tax break, it was the poor and the middle class that made up for it... I could almost understand it if it was just poor and middle class democrats, but it is both supporters. From what I have seen (in real life), there are more republicans losing out.
///example: more guns = more deaths, and since it seems to be the republicans who need more guns in their homes (where most the violence happens) it is their families, their children and wives... and males sometimes, that are often at the wrong end of the second amendment////
But it is the ignorant, the ones who ignore facts and statistics that never change, never call for change
Multiple circumstances have contributed to the horrific dilemma we face today. From the first day Trump descended the escalator and began spewing hatred and vitriol, animosity and resented has ensued . He gave permission to extremists to emerge from the shadows and encouraged it. This combined with social media, the absolute refusal of the Republicans to address gun violence and the lack of mental heath facilities and treatment have created the horrors that we face today. Will the violence and animosity ever be curtailed.? Without change, I fear not. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, I fear , it is almost impossible to put it back.
My heart broke a little bit reading your post today. I'm so sorry for you. I'm so sorry for us.
I posted this on my FB page late last night:
Imagine being a kid who doesn't fit in. Imagine being a kid without friends. Imagine being a teenager who is incessantly bullied and taunted by classmates. Imagine being isolated and angry. Then imagine a man who wants to lead this country constantly shouting hateful and demeaning rhetoric. Imagine a man who wants to lead this country displaying the most egregious bullying behavior towards decent people. Imagine a man who wants to lead this country exhibiting the very behavior that encouraged you to contemplate and ruminate on revenge. Not so hard to imagine anymore, is it?
Deborah, I think that you have hit the nail on the head. The increase in violence started escalating when Trump announced his first bid for the presidency. He is the classic narcissistic bully. He has given permission for violence and anti-social behavior. Apparently there are more Americans that are of the same mindset. I guess I have given too much credit to society for being honorable citizens. It pains me immensely to think of what is to become of our country if he is re-elected. I pray that my children, grandchildren, and all citizens of rational thought and actions are spared what Trump and Project 2025 will do.
I too am sickened by the news and just had to turn it off and stop reading anything generated by Newspapers or Substack. Other than Chop Wood, Carry Water because I needed something positive.
But I still think there is more that unites us then divides us if we get out of our silos and talk to each other. Talk about things that our neighbors can agree upon and work together to get those things in the spotlight like childcare, there is a scarcity of providers that is limiting women and families from staying in the workforce. Talk about the lack of workers for plumbing, electrical and HVAC because we do not have trade schools spread out around our area. Talk about the high cost of rentals, and lack of affordable housing where more than 30% percent of their wages is going for their living expenses. There are plenty of topics that we can agree on if we talk about local things.
There are some great points here. The amount of oxygen wasted on cable television news channels talking about the politics is totally out of touch. If each of us took the time we spend watching that news and donated that time to some charitable cause, helping other people as Rene suggests above, maybe we could come together again.
So true about the "cable" and commercial news outlets. They constantly delve into the shock and titillating effect of violence and hatred as oppose to positive outcomes and credible solutions.
Amee Vanderpool’s substack Shero tracks gun violence, specifically mass shootings, every week. The Butler PA shooting is put in perspective. It is number 13 on a list of 15 mass shootings last week.
It wasn’t even the only listing for Saturday. The other was in Birmingham Alabama where 4 people were killed and 9 others wounded.
Maybe we are thinking about this incorrectly as a sign of political division in a diverse society. Maybe it is just the natural result of a mass consumption, throw-away, free market society where everything is expendable. Even people.
We all clutch our pearls at every new mass shooting that tops the news while dozens go essentially unnoticed.
Ken, let me relieve you of any concern that we have reached bottom. I’m an Afghan, I can assure you we are nowhere near bottom. In fact bottom may not even exist. Things can always get worse.
Well, Donald Trump is calling for unity. If every one of his supporters who has a banner saying “FJB” or “Fuck Joe Biden” or “Fuck Your Feelings” took those highly divisive, disunifying signs down it would be a start. If they do not then we will know the calls for unity to be a sham.
And remember when Elise Stefanik stopped on a rural road to have her picture taken with a billboard saying something like FJB? Will she now apologize for that sort of divisiveness?
Media needs to stop calling this an attempted assassination, factually they cannot know that unless the shooter left some note. It could be just a regular old mass shooting.
Political figures calling for unity and a halt to violence need to provide a list of concrete steps for people to take to reduce violent rhetoric.
I don't thing calling it an attempted assassination is jumping to a conclusion. If he wanted to take out a lot of people, he would have been shooting into the crowd.
I think it’s reasonable for ordinary people to call it an assassination attempt, but in fairness journalists should seek a higher standard. The shooter was killed very quickly by a highly professional Secret Service sniper. There is no way of knowing if he would have continued to fire more randomly if he had 30 seconds more.
This morning Judge Canon dismissed the Trump documents case on the legal theory that the justice department investigation wasn’t legally arranged.
I can assert that Trump stole document from the US government and that it is a crime. But that is not a legally ascertained fact.
I could also say that Judge Canon seems to be in the bag to prevent Trump from getting the legal accountability he deserves, but that wouldn’t be something a responsible journalist could report.
but I go back to a quote I saw a while ago, one I can't stop thinking about
"
Dan Hodges -- his profile describes him as a British political commentator -- stood out.
"In retrospect," wrote Dan Hodges, "Sandy Hook marked the end of the U.S. gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over."
"
We (and it is both democrats and republicans) have accepted death and violence to be part of our life. Every mass shooting, every assassination attempt is followed by an election where we vote the problem back into office.
Most of us are represented by pos_tfnKKK, as well as Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
all will be re-elected and we will be more violent
I don't think Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand want violence, but they do nothing to change it.
I can remember when many politicians lost their seat, but not our respect, because they voted with a conscious and not how they were paid to vote by the lobbyist.
pos_tfnKKK can talk of little more than the israel/palestine crisis. She sends more money and more weapons and more trouble to israel... not because anyone in ny21 wants her to represent israel
but because she gets close to a million dollars from the lobbyists
just as most representatives get money from the gun lobby and don't change the paradigm of death in America
Sometimes I feel like Starbuck in Melville’s “Moby Dick”—“…holding up an imbecile candle in that almighty forloreness. Hopelessly holding up hope in the midst of despair.”
Many of us are feeling what you are feeling, Ken, and others are not feeling. Perhaps that’s part of the problem. The sense of feeling has been lost…feeling for others…caring for others.
Pathos is caring. Em-pathos, empathy, is caring for and with others. A-pathos, apathy, is not caring…not feeling.
Political violence has no place in a democracy. Hate breeds hate. Violent talk leads to violent actions. Violence breeds violence. Love breeds love. Kindness breeds kindness.
“I will never let another man drag me so low as to make me hate him” (Booker T Washington, I think).
At 40, while in graduate school, one of my texts on leadership drummed in how leaders make or break an organization. As I looked over my supervisors, I could see how the type of supervisor weakened or strengthened my professional demeanor. With poor leadership I had to work very hard to keep my attitude positive. With positive leadership, I could focus on my clients and accomplishments in the career I loved. It wasn’t until a narcissistic egomaniac was placed as a leader of the free world that I realized how on target that course in graduate school was.
Strong leadership - moral leadership - makes a big difference in any business and it certainly can make a difference for a country. We have been lucky enough to have many great leaders. And survived many not so great leaders.
Ken, we can stop this insanity at the ballot box....when "Blue" wins the day, the prosecutions of tRump will continue, and he'll be squashed. Democracy has always won the day...and we must never forget...the majority of the citizens of this country are "Moderate" people, and they vote moderate positions...tRump will NEVER see the inside of the White House again...it's all "noise" out there right now, and we must remember, the "noise" only represents 30% of our voters. Keep the Faith...
I believe it is very clear that Trump's style - if you want to call it that - encourages violence. That trickles down to many others who support him. You just have to look at Elise Stefanik's impersonation to see that. There are bad examples on both sides but Trump certainly is the master of it.
And it’s a constant drumming. I don’t know of anyone on the left that is constantly repeating vitriol against the right, especially anyone with a significant following. The drumming on the left now is Project 2025 - it’s about policy, not people. While the right is constantly framing the people of the left as the enemy & evil, not policy. I always find myself joking with folks on the right: I don’t hate you - I want you to have healthcare for g-d’s sake!
You site, “In forceful condemnation of Trump, Biden warns that ‘MAGA’ backers pose grave threat to democracy.” Have you read Project 2025 yet? The “backers” of Trump, Heritage Foundation, does pose a grave threat to our democracy.
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/08/trump-project-2025
You do not want Federal dollars going to local education?
I post occasionally on this blog. If you look back over my comments, I almost always include the statement, “We are a deeply divided country.” I have written those words probably a dozen times. I am right. And it’s only gonna get worse. Both sides are digging in hard. Neither is going to give up. If you read everyone from John Mersheimer to David Brooks, they are as pessimistic as I am. We can have unity or diversity. We can’t have both.
We can have diversity as long as people’s idea of unity is one of love and tolerance rather than my way or the highway!
Sadly I agree… like children who have everything and still it’s not enough
Come hear a reading of my new musical, Drag Queen Story Hour, which satirizes our polarization, at Crandall Library this Thursday at 6:30.for free. It dramatized how a spark can lead to a flame. More art, less war!
Political violence is insidious. It doesn’t infect just part of a country’s politics — it infects all of it. Stealthily.
Consider the violent storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6. Only some people participated in the storming. But many more support it. Twenty-two percent of Americans approve the actions of those who forced their way into the Capitol, according to a January 2024 CBS News/YouGov poll. Twenty-two percent.
And there it is — political violence approved by a large part of our population. A wound to our political body. Quietly festering. Ready to return.
Return it did this past Saturday.
Did those who approve of the violence on Jan. 6. think it wouldn’t resurface? Did it return in a way they didn’t expect? And most important: Don’t they understand that the political violence they condone touches us all? It solves nothing and only results in more violence.
You knew it was possible, likely even. And yet it is still shocking and sickening. I usually dilute my cynicism with a dash of idealism and hope. That’s not gonna work this year. The monsters are out among us…we cannot ignore them any longer or wish them away.
I agree. There was no good outcome from this weekend. I remember my mother hating Obama so much she couldn’t see his face on a magazine cover in my home without turning it over. Trump told everyone at his initial rallies to “ beat the hell out of the” and he would pay for their lawyers. It kept escalating as the tears went on until Jan 6 th when people came to their senses for a day or two. Then it was twisted and turned into “ heroes” attacking our capital and threatening to hang Pence. This could have been stopped those inpower have chosen to allow the lies and rhetoric to take over and continue to plant the seeds every single day through the Big Lie #2. The election won’t be fare unless trump wins. It’s all mapped out. I’m so proud of how our president handled this weekend. He suspended his campaign ads during the initial coverage, call trump immediately and put out a statement against violence. There has been no promotion of violence despite how FOX tries to spin it. Guns- well we all see what happens when crazy people have them. They kill babies and our families while shopping, going to concerts, movies and celebrations. We all know who support these high powered guns. They wear them on their lapels and take Christmas card photos with them.
you touch on, but don't quite say it, what I came here to say after reading the column in my email.
"we know" and we do, and yet we don't. From what I have read, those who support hmpy TRMpedoPHILE and pos_tfnKKK do so as they are voiting against their own best interests
If they vote for those two again and they gain ever more power, there will be a liar back in office and the Project 2025 he pretends to not know about, will strip rights away from most Americans... Sadly that will be a bi-partisan stripping of rights.
When hmpy gave the rich a tax break, it was the poor and the middle class that made up for it... I could almost understand it if it was just poor and middle class democrats, but it is both supporters. From what I have seen (in real life), there are more republicans losing out.
///example: more guns = more deaths, and since it seems to be the republicans who need more guns in their homes (where most the violence happens) it is their families, their children and wives... and males sometimes, that are often at the wrong end of the second amendment////
But it is the ignorant, the ones who ignore facts and statistics that never change, never call for change
Multiple circumstances have contributed to the horrific dilemma we face today. From the first day Trump descended the escalator and began spewing hatred and vitriol, animosity and resented has ensued . He gave permission to extremists to emerge from the shadows and encouraged it. This combined with social media, the absolute refusal of the Republicans to address gun violence and the lack of mental heath facilities and treatment have created the horrors that we face today. Will the violence and animosity ever be curtailed.? Without change, I fear not. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, I fear , it is almost impossible to put it back.
My heart broke a little bit reading your post today. I'm so sorry for you. I'm so sorry for us.
I posted this on my FB page late last night:
Imagine being a kid who doesn't fit in. Imagine being a kid without friends. Imagine being a teenager who is incessantly bullied and taunted by classmates. Imagine being isolated and angry. Then imagine a man who wants to lead this country constantly shouting hateful and demeaning rhetoric. Imagine a man who wants to lead this country displaying the most egregious bullying behavior towards decent people. Imagine a man who wants to lead this country exhibiting the very behavior that encouraged you to contemplate and ruminate on revenge. Not so hard to imagine anymore, is it?
We have lost the gift of imagination.
Well said!
Deborah, I think that you have hit the nail on the head. The increase in violence started escalating when Trump announced his first bid for the presidency. He is the classic narcissistic bully. He has given permission for violence and anti-social behavior. Apparently there are more Americans that are of the same mindset. I guess I have given too much credit to society for being honorable citizens. It pains me immensely to think of what is to become of our country if he is re-elected. I pray that my children, grandchildren, and all citizens of rational thought and actions are spared what Trump and Project 2025 will do.
I too like the idea of pursuing some small, seemingly unimportant task to completion.
Sometimes, I think, that persistence will make that problem disappear for someone else.
And, it can be quite satisfying to find that we can push through obstacles and achieve a good result.
I am on the porch because I cannot handle the coverage on every station again on Monday morning.
I too am sickened by the news and just had to turn it off and stop reading anything generated by Newspapers or Substack. Other than Chop Wood, Carry Water because I needed something positive.
But I still think there is more that unites us then divides us if we get out of our silos and talk to each other. Talk about things that our neighbors can agree upon and work together to get those things in the spotlight like childcare, there is a scarcity of providers that is limiting women and families from staying in the workforce. Talk about the lack of workers for plumbing, electrical and HVAC because we do not have trade schools spread out around our area. Talk about the high cost of rentals, and lack of affordable housing where more than 30% percent of their wages is going for their living expenses. There are plenty of topics that we can agree on if we talk about local things.
There are some great points here. The amount of oxygen wasted on cable television news channels talking about the politics is totally out of touch. If each of us took the time we spend watching that news and donated that time to some charitable cause, helping other people as Rene suggests above, maybe we could come together again.
So true about the "cable" and commercial news outlets. They constantly delve into the shock and titillating effect of violence and hatred as oppose to positive outcomes and credible solutions.
Amee Vanderpool’s substack Shero tracks gun violence, specifically mass shootings, every week. The Butler PA shooting is put in perspective. It is number 13 on a list of 15 mass shootings last week.
It wasn’t even the only listing for Saturday. The other was in Birmingham Alabama where 4 people were killed and 9 others wounded.
Maybe we are thinking about this incorrectly as a sign of political division in a diverse society. Maybe it is just the natural result of a mass consumption, throw-away, free market society where everything is expendable. Even people.
We all clutch our pearls at every new mass shooting that tops the news while dozens go essentially unnoticed.
Ken, let me relieve you of any concern that we have reached bottom. I’m an Afghan, I can assure you we are nowhere near bottom. In fact bottom may not even exist. Things can always get worse.
https://shero.substack.com/p/shero-on-sunday-a34?utm_campaign=email-post&r=hgxg1&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Thank you for the perspective, but it’s cold comfort to think about how much worse things can be. I wish I knew how to stop our slide!
Well, Donald Trump is calling for unity. If every one of his supporters who has a banner saying “FJB” or “Fuck Joe Biden” or “Fuck Your Feelings” took those highly divisive, disunifying signs down it would be a start. If they do not then we will know the calls for unity to be a sham.
And remember when Elise Stefanik stopped on a rural road to have her picture taken with a billboard saying something like FJB? Will she now apologize for that sort of divisiveness?
A beginning would at least give us a sliver of hope.
Sad, but essentially true.
Media needs to stop calling this an attempted assassination, factually they cannot know that unless the shooter left some note. It could be just a regular old mass shooting.
Political figures calling for unity and a halt to violence need to provide a list of concrete steps for people to take to reduce violent rhetoric.
I don't thing calling it an attempted assassination is jumping to a conclusion. If he wanted to take out a lot of people, he would have been shooting into the crowd.
I think it’s reasonable for ordinary people to call it an assassination attempt, but in fairness journalists should seek a higher standard. The shooter was killed very quickly by a highly professional Secret Service sniper. There is no way of knowing if he would have continued to fire more randomly if he had 30 seconds more.
This morning Judge Canon dismissed the Trump documents case on the legal theory that the justice department investigation wasn’t legally arranged.
I can assert that Trump stole document from the US government and that it is a crime. But that is not a legally ascertained fact.
I could also say that Judge Canon seems to be in the bag to prevent Trump from getting the legal accountability he deserves, but that wouldn’t be something a responsible journalist could report.
Being an organized crime boss comes with known risks, two of which Trump has suffered recently.
The beginning of the end
but I go back to a quote I saw a while ago, one I can't stop thinking about
"
Dan Hodges -- his profile describes him as a British political commentator -- stood out.
"In retrospect," wrote Dan Hodges, "Sandy Hook marked the end of the U.S. gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over."
"
We (and it is both democrats and republicans) have accepted death and violence to be part of our life. Every mass shooting, every assassination attempt is followed by an election where we vote the problem back into office.
Most of us are represented by pos_tfnKKK, as well as Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
all will be re-elected and we will be more violent
I don't think Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand want violence, but they do nothing to change it.
I can remember when many politicians lost their seat, but not our respect, because they voted with a conscious and not how they were paid to vote by the lobbyist.
pos_tfnKKK can talk of little more than the israel/palestine crisis. She sends more money and more weapons and more trouble to israel... not because anyone in ny21 wants her to represent israel
but because she gets close to a million dollars from the lobbyists
just as most representatives get money from the gun lobby and don't change the paradigm of death in America
Random thoughts from Planet Fitness:
Sometimes I feel like Starbuck in Melville’s “Moby Dick”—“…holding up an imbecile candle in that almighty forloreness. Hopelessly holding up hope in the midst of despair.”
Many of us are feeling what you are feeling, Ken, and others are not feeling. Perhaps that’s part of the problem. The sense of feeling has been lost…feeling for others…caring for others.
Pathos is caring. Em-pathos, empathy, is caring for and with others. A-pathos, apathy, is not caring…not feeling.
Political violence has no place in a democracy. Hate breeds hate. Violent talk leads to violent actions. Violence breeds violence. Love breeds love. Kindness breeds kindness.
“I will never let another man drag me so low as to make me hate him” (Booker T Washington, I think).
At 40, while in graduate school, one of my texts on leadership drummed in how leaders make or break an organization. As I looked over my supervisors, I could see how the type of supervisor weakened or strengthened my professional demeanor. With poor leadership I had to work very hard to keep my attitude positive. With positive leadership, I could focus on my clients and accomplishments in the career I loved. It wasn’t until a narcissistic egomaniac was placed as a leader of the free world that I realized how on target that course in graduate school was.
Strong leadership - moral leadership - makes a big difference in any business and it certainly can make a difference for a country. We have been lucky enough to have many great leaders. And survived many not so great leaders.
Just like in jobs!
Ken, we can stop this insanity at the ballot box....when "Blue" wins the day, the prosecutions of tRump will continue, and he'll be squashed. Democracy has always won the day...and we must never forget...the majority of the citizens of this country are "Moderate" people, and they vote moderate positions...tRump will NEVER see the inside of the White House again...it's all "noise" out there right now, and we must remember, the "noise" only represents 30% of our voters. Keep the Faith...
For what? Are any of those people or networks spouting a constant stream of hate and vitriol everyday like the Right does?
I challenge you to watch this documentary and get back to us about who is really driving the anger & divisiveness in this country.
Edit, full video here:
https://youtu.be/FS52QdHNTh8?si=eyBbSTTvPjOhpaUh
I believe it is very clear that Trump's style - if you want to call it that - encourages violence. That trickles down to many others who support him. You just have to look at Elise Stefanik's impersonation to see that. There are bad examples on both sides but Trump certainly is the master of it.
And it’s a constant drumming. I don’t know of anyone on the left that is constantly repeating vitriol against the right, especially anyone with a significant following. The drumming on the left now is Project 2025 - it’s about policy, not people. While the right is constantly framing the people of the left as the enemy & evil, not policy. I always find myself joking with folks on the right: I don’t hate you - I want you to have healthcare for g-d’s sake!
Well, to be fair, there is a lot of vitriol directed at Trump and his cronies. But also to be fair (and to be as childish as he is), he started it.
💙💙💙🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻