Great reflections which will hopefully be read by those of us who understand all that we are losing to the deranged street opera that sometimes seems to be the only show in town. If a third of us put ourselves on the front line we can stop it, but that has to happen this month. And just as in December 7th, the villains must pay for their treason and viscous assault.
Yes, I too am deeply saddened about all we have lost and will continue to lose. I fear for this country’s future. If we survive the current attack on our democracy I only hope the coming generation will build a stronger, better republic.
We thought, a group of friends I had at the time, that it was laughable Reagan could get national traction but this was in a college context. We thought he was a Bircher, an imbecile and a prop. But it wasn't until Gingrich and then Bush's second term I really began to worry we might be doomed. By then I'd moved to a college town in the south and saw, in rural southern areas near me, another America entirely and a kind of resentful, vindictive conservatism that was unfamiliar where I grew up, among families like yours, James, for whom the country lived up to its reputation for opportunity and decency.
I think the turning point was Bush, when we succumbed to the worst of our exceptionalist side and penchant for denial and repression. I plead guilty to never taking McCarthyism and similar strains of politics as seriously as I should have. We couldn't comprehend it, that this stuff could really take over, and Democrats have failed to this day by not getting it. Reoublicans want us dead, in some sense. I caught onto the mechanisms at-work, at least, a long time ago. Again I refer everyone to Lakoff, who's never got his due in seeing his recommendations properly implemented, though it's a forensic matter now.
Thanks for your insights and for sharing the article on George Lakoff. Others have been making the same points as well over the years. The Dems are flailing, unsure what direction to take and without the new younger generational leadership they need. I always think back to the Democrats of my youth and earlier, muscular Democrats much more attuned to average working Americans and not afraid to duke it out on values as well as progressive ideas. I've thought for a long time that that kind of scrappy Democratic politician close to ordinary people is what we need.
I don’t know what “us” you mean in your statement that “democrats want us dead,” but I think it’s quite alarmist and inappropriate.
Thanks for the Lakoff article. It’s a bit sad to think that one academic entirely blames himself for the failure of progressivism in the US, though it’s certainly interesting to read his theories.
Personally I see the current government as a serious setback,but not fatal. The US has had an unearned advantage in international politics for pretty much my entire 72 years of life. A reset in the direction opposite to that taken so far by DJT and his cronies is past due. May it be the “opposite but equal” reaction I dream of.
Sorry, I meant Democrats weren't seeing that Republicans want us dead, mostly politically, but it's becoming clearer that killing Democrats (and anybody else) is fine if done at arm's-length by depriving them of healthcare or whatever. Clinton didn't see it, or until it was too late, nor did Obama. The level of animosity is foreign to people with reasonable emotional health and well-being, but threats against physical safety are being normalized and justified more on a daily basis, by the right-wing demonization of Democrats, which is terrifying.
I feel JFK would approve of my altering his famous phrase for this moment: Ask not, what Trump can do to you; ask what you can do to stop Trump. Yes, this is a sad and sobering moment. Doubly sad, as we prepare to celebrate our nation’s founding 250 years ago.
Great reflections which will hopefully be read by those of us who understand all that we are losing to the deranged street opera that sometimes seems to be the only show in town. If a third of us put ourselves on the front line we can stop it, but that has to happen this month. And just as in December 7th, the villains must pay for their treason and viscous assault.
This hurts my heart so much…I was so proud to be American, now only feel sadness and embarrassment
Yes, I too am deeply saddened about all we have lost and will continue to lose. I fear for this country’s future. If we survive the current attack on our democracy I only hope the coming generation will build a stronger, better republic.
We thought, a group of friends I had at the time, that it was laughable Reagan could get national traction but this was in a college context. We thought he was a Bircher, an imbecile and a prop. But it wasn't until Gingrich and then Bush's second term I really began to worry we might be doomed. By then I'd moved to a college town in the south and saw, in rural southern areas near me, another America entirely and a kind of resentful, vindictive conservatism that was unfamiliar where I grew up, among families like yours, James, for whom the country lived up to its reputation for opportunity and decency.
I think the turning point was Bush, when we succumbed to the worst of our exceptionalist side and penchant for denial and repression. I plead guilty to never taking McCarthyism and similar strains of politics as seriously as I should have. We couldn't comprehend it, that this stuff could really take over, and Democrats have failed to this day by not getting it. Reoublicans want us dead, in some sense. I caught onto the mechanisms at-work, at least, a long time ago. Again I refer everyone to Lakoff, who's never got his due in seeing his recommendations properly implemented, though it's a forensic matter now.
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2017/05/02/berkeley-author-george-lakoff-says-dont-underestimate-trump
Thanks for your insights and for sharing the article on George Lakoff. Others have been making the same points as well over the years. The Dems are flailing, unsure what direction to take and without the new younger generational leadership they need. I always think back to the Democrats of my youth and earlier, muscular Democrats much more attuned to average working Americans and not afraid to duke it out on values as well as progressive ideas. I've thought for a long time that that kind of scrappy Democratic politician close to ordinary people is what we need.
I don’t know what “us” you mean in your statement that “democrats want us dead,” but I think it’s quite alarmist and inappropriate.
Thanks for the Lakoff article. It’s a bit sad to think that one academic entirely blames himself for the failure of progressivism in the US, though it’s certainly interesting to read his theories.
Personally I see the current government as a serious setback,but not fatal. The US has had an unearned advantage in international politics for pretty much my entire 72 years of life. A reset in the direction opposite to that taken so far by DJT and his cronies is past due. May it be the “opposite but equal” reaction I dream of.
Sorry, I meant Democrats weren't seeing that Republicans want us dead, mostly politically, but it's becoming clearer that killing Democrats (and anybody else) is fine if done at arm's-length by depriving them of healthcare or whatever. Clinton didn't see it, or until it was too late, nor did Obama. The level of animosity is foreign to people with reasonable emotional health and well-being, but threats against physical safety are being normalized and justified more on a daily basis, by the right-wing demonization of Democrats, which is terrifying.
I feel JFK would approve of my altering his famous phrase for this moment: Ask not, what Trump can do to you; ask what you can do to stop Trump. Yes, this is a sad and sobering moment. Doubly sad, as we prepare to celebrate our nation’s founding 250 years ago.
I just wrote a letter to my deceased Dad, a WWII veteran, about this here on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/aimonephotosound/p/letter-to-dad?r=1eprx9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false