I read plenty of excellent, inspiring, connect-the-dots commentary but this is the most important piece I've read in weeks. Some people I know and respect are already erasing the immense achievements of the Biden administration, on a theory that seems to go something like "over the hill now, over the hill from the beginning." Recovery from the Trump administration -- and from the decades of Reaganomics that preceded it -- has to incorporate an awareness of just how bad things got before the Biden administration started turning it around. Denial, as the old saying goes, is not just a river in Egypt.
I am energized. In fact, I notice how upbeat the music is too. I know Beyoncé's Freedom is a theme song, but also I am hearing more Aretha, Chaka Khan, and Stevie Wonder playing music that is uplifting in an almost religious experience. I am going to dedicate this song to the campaign as well, because it reflects what it is doing to bring people together. Black women for Kamala, White Women for Kamala, Black Men for Kamala, White Dudes for Kamala, Comedians for Kamala, Old People for Kamala, Republicans for Kamala, Mormons for Kamala, etc.... https://youtu.be/-W-hH1r7n5k?si=cd9z_hG0xmqzoLYK
Susanna, according to this post I just read, it does include White Evangelicals. This is the party of inclusion, which is why I posted the Ode to Joy Flash Mob because everyone is joining in, Uplifted by the music.
Those Evangels4Harris tweets are wonderful! But my favorite part of this column might be the news that Nikki Haley ordered "Haley Voters for Harris" to "cease and desist" and they basically said "go stuff it."
Yes. I loved that part too. Especially since I am skeptical that she is really for Trump now. He has offended and insulted so many people and she is one of them. Voting is private. She can say she voted for him even if she votes for the Harris-Walz ticket. In fact, there should be a Zoom fundraiser for those who are Harris voters who are pretending they are voting for Trump, and everyone can have their screens blocked. However, they cannot donate anonymously, so there we have it.
The timing of recent events plays a large part of why we're all so excited.
So much has happened since 2016. The trauma of TFGs administration was real; not to mention just having to listen to his voice all the time (I had to go to 100% print news). We don't talk about this enough.
Since then, red state legislatures have tested the limits of our sanity. Between book bans, abortion bans, traveling across state lines for medical care bans, saying gay bans, (the City of Murfreesboro Tn tried to ban 'being gay in public' last year), drag show bans, transgender sports bans, transgender lawmaker bans (Montana), mask bans, immigrant bans, CRT bans, vaccine mandate bans, no signs in the gallery bans (Tn), mothers getting hauled out of the gallery by State Troopers, -- I mean we're back to the Ten Commandments already!!!! Combine this with their INACTION on guns, school shootings, climate change, healthcare, funding for state colleges and public schools, labor unions, Nazis in the streets .... There's only so much anybody can take and believes is reasonable. These things have finally pushed the right number of people to a critical mass of toleration and we want our leaders to get out there and DO SOMETHING about it.
Add to this the Supreme Court decisions and the behavior of the Justices. The raw power grabbing and bullied head-thumping that is SCOTUS has lifted everyone to their high water mark. Calling MAGAs weird is fine, but subconsciously, the Supreme Court has really given us a preview of what another MAGA presidency would be like. All of a sudden the real world has collided with ideology; it's YOUR wife in the ER, now The President is immune from criminal prosecution, Civil Rights don't exist in schools or businesses. The in-your-face smugness of Justices like Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch (sigh) ... I mean, they might as well wear shirts that say "Off with their heads!" in lieu of robes. TFG is the dancing monkey and yeah, he's weird - but The Heritage Foundation (via SCOTUS) is back there cranking the grinder, not even breaking a sweat.
The timing of Biden dropping out is good. It gives Dems a 100 days to coalesce around a message/candidate, engage the young people in America - with the added advantage that it throws MAGA in disarray. What always worked for MAGA - rigid conformity to message - has been wrecked. They have no other message. Dems only have to conform long enough to get to the White House and win some down ballot races. There's a Zoom call every day this week raising money and finding volunteers.
The cats are FINALLY in the mood to be herded! (Will it last into the midterms?)
I think we'll end up discovering that a majority of people have finally just reached their limit and given each other permission to come out and say so.
Subscribe to selena’s Substack
Looking for more Blue Dots in Tennessee and in America. I write about what I see; in the news, out and about and at home.
I keep saying to my friends in Europe that the Democratic Party is having a political orgasm right now. I used to say the same thing when Obama was running, you can feel the positive energy, the infatuation everyone has for the candidate, it’s exciting, joyful and invigorating!
Great points David. Those of us with morals and ethics suffered collective PTSD after his administration. As they try to fault Walz and others for facing the threat of Covid seriously, I keep reminding everyone what life was under the psychopath in chief. Here is a video refresher from Scott Dworkin I respond with:
This is a great summation of the differences between the two campaigns. But Kamala and the DNC have to do several things:
1) define specifically the differences between 4 yrs ago and NOW, actually drawing up a comparison chart, highlighting crime, the economy, border crossings, how the campaigns view present day America, etc, etc. make two side by side columns and compare.
2) define/describe specifically how Cheeto skin‘a presidency damaged and continues to damage America, the pandemic, ability to vote, standing of the US on the world stage, and how KH/TW is repairing and can continue to repair it.
The two are somewhat related but getting specific makes it crystal clear why a KH presidency is far more beneficial for America.
Harris’ campaign can send me a bill for the consultation fee (LOL)!
This is a great summation of the differences between the two campaigns. But Kamala and the DNC have to do several things:
1) define specifically the differences between 4 yrs ago and NOW, actually drawing up a comparison chart, highlighting crime, the economy, border crossings, how the campaigns view present day America, etc, etc. make two side by side columns and compare.
2) define/describe specifically how Cheeto skin‘a presidency damaged and continues to damage America, the pandemic, ability to vote, standing of the US on the world stage, and how KH/TW is repairing and can continue to repair it.
The two are somewhat related but getting specific makes it crystal clear why a KH presidency is far more beneficial for America.
Harris’ campaign can send me a bill for the consultation fee (LOL)!
Love this idea. Demos have to spell it out, draw a picture, convey in all possible ways to all types of learners the differences between the two parties and candidates. For too long they have had their collective lunch eaten by the crooked, duplicitous, hypocritical, disingenuous, unkind, and beholden to the “filthy lucre” of their billionaire benefiting MAGA party. Time to fight fire with fire.
She is indeed a joyful warrior. But we can't de-emphasize the warrior part. She is strong (and smart) as hell and doesn't suffer fools. She will need that quality more than ever as a woman in the White House.
As everybody is saying, this is a fascinating and important column. If we had journalism anymore, it would be a major story in all the nations newspapers. My only caveat is to remember that many people continue to suffer and have very little joy in their lives. Kamala and Tim have been blessed with happy marriages and adequate incomes. The gig economy continues to doom many people to multiple jobs, unhappy relationships, and reliance on alcohol and drugs. The only thing Trump got right is that America is very dystopian for many people and a song written by a billionaire about freedom rings pretty hollow.
For several years I sang in a chorus that specialized in songs sung by Black slaves in the U.S. before 1865. You might be surprised at how much joy and hope there is in many of those songs, although their singers had good reason to feel doomed.
Oh wow... I just realized, when Trump's campaign and his surrogates try to remind people if they were "better" 4 years ago, are they actually saying "remember 4 years ago, when you could dive into conspiracy theories about your wildest hateful dreams, and even the President of the United States would support your self-indulgent paranoia?" Is that it? Because otherwise I don't know what they could be pointing to. Most people were getting laid off or dealing with trying not to die in a virulent pandemic and POTUS was yelling about who had bribed him enough to get a ventilator.
I read plenty of excellent, inspiring, connect-the-dots commentary but this is the most important piece I've read in weeks. Some people I know and respect are already erasing the immense achievements of the Biden administration, on a theory that seems to go something like "over the hill now, over the hill from the beginning." Recovery from the Trump administration -- and from the decades of Reaganomics that preceded it -- has to incorporate an awareness of just how bad things got before the Biden administration started turning it around. Denial, as the old saying goes, is not just a river in Egypt.
I am energized. In fact, I notice how upbeat the music is too. I know Beyoncé's Freedom is a theme song, but also I am hearing more Aretha, Chaka Khan, and Stevie Wonder playing music that is uplifting in an almost religious experience. I am going to dedicate this song to the campaign as well, because it reflects what it is doing to bring people together. Black women for Kamala, White Women for Kamala, Black Men for Kamala, White Dudes for Kamala, Comedians for Kamala, Old People for Kamala, Republicans for Kamala, Mormons for Kamala, etc.... https://youtu.be/-W-hH1r7n5k?si=cd9z_hG0xmqzoLYK
The latest is Evangelicals for Harris!
If it's *white* Evangelicals, I'm impressed. ;-)
Susanna, according to this post I just read, it does include White Evangelicals. This is the party of inclusion, which is why I posted the Ode to Joy Flash Mob because everyone is joining in, Uplifted by the music.
https://charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/wait-evangelicals-for-harris
Those Evangels4Harris tweets are wonderful! But my favorite part of this column might be the news that Nikki Haley ordered "Haley Voters for Harris" to "cease and desist" and they basically said "go stuff it."
Yes. I loved that part too. Especially since I am skeptical that she is really for Trump now. He has offended and insulted so many people and she is one of them. Voting is private. She can say she voted for him even if she votes for the Harris-Walz ticket. In fact, there should be a Zoom fundraiser for those who are Harris voters who are pretending they are voting for Trump, and everyone can have their screens blocked. However, they cannot donate anonymously, so there we have it.
The timing of recent events plays a large part of why we're all so excited.
So much has happened since 2016. The trauma of TFGs administration was real; not to mention just having to listen to his voice all the time (I had to go to 100% print news). We don't talk about this enough.
Since then, red state legislatures have tested the limits of our sanity. Between book bans, abortion bans, traveling across state lines for medical care bans, saying gay bans, (the City of Murfreesboro Tn tried to ban 'being gay in public' last year), drag show bans, transgender sports bans, transgender lawmaker bans (Montana), mask bans, immigrant bans, CRT bans, vaccine mandate bans, no signs in the gallery bans (Tn), mothers getting hauled out of the gallery by State Troopers, -- I mean we're back to the Ten Commandments already!!!! Combine this with their INACTION on guns, school shootings, climate change, healthcare, funding for state colleges and public schools, labor unions, Nazis in the streets .... There's only so much anybody can take and believes is reasonable. These things have finally pushed the right number of people to a critical mass of toleration and we want our leaders to get out there and DO SOMETHING about it.
Add to this the Supreme Court decisions and the behavior of the Justices. The raw power grabbing and bullied head-thumping that is SCOTUS has lifted everyone to their high water mark. Calling MAGAs weird is fine, but subconsciously, the Supreme Court has really given us a preview of what another MAGA presidency would be like. All of a sudden the real world has collided with ideology; it's YOUR wife in the ER, now The President is immune from criminal prosecution, Civil Rights don't exist in schools or businesses. The in-your-face smugness of Justices like Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch (sigh) ... I mean, they might as well wear shirts that say "Off with their heads!" in lieu of robes. TFG is the dancing monkey and yeah, he's weird - but The Heritage Foundation (via SCOTUS) is back there cranking the grinder, not even breaking a sweat.
The timing of Biden dropping out is good. It gives Dems a 100 days to coalesce around a message/candidate, engage the young people in America - with the added advantage that it throws MAGA in disarray. What always worked for MAGA - rigid conformity to message - has been wrecked. They have no other message. Dems only have to conform long enough to get to the White House and win some down ballot races. There's a Zoom call every day this week raising money and finding volunteers.
The cats are FINALLY in the mood to be herded! (Will it last into the midterms?)
I think we'll end up discovering that a majority of people have finally just reached their limit and given each other permission to come out and say so.
Subscribe to selena’s Substack
Looking for more Blue Dots in Tennessee and in America. I write about what I see; in the news, out and about and at home.
I keep saying to my friends in Europe that the Democratic Party is having a political orgasm right now. I used to say the same thing when Obama was running, you can feel the positive energy, the infatuation everyone has for the candidate, it’s exciting, joyful and invigorating!
Trump years were so negative, so tiring…
Great points David. Those of us with morals and ethics suffered collective PTSD after his administration. As they try to fault Walz and others for facing the threat of Covid seriously, I keep reminding everyone what life was under the psychopath in chief. Here is a video refresher from Scott Dworkin I respond with:
https://x.com/funder/status/1258742453441617920?s=46&t=eDPz9VNLSgNwLMJ-55TQTg
This is a great summation of the differences between the two campaigns. But Kamala and the DNC have to do several things:
1) define specifically the differences between 4 yrs ago and NOW, actually drawing up a comparison chart, highlighting crime, the economy, border crossings, how the campaigns view present day America, etc, etc. make two side by side columns and compare.
2) define/describe specifically how Cheeto skin‘a presidency damaged and continues to damage America, the pandemic, ability to vote, standing of the US on the world stage, and how KH/TW is repairing and can continue to repair it.
The two are somewhat related but getting specific makes it crystal clear why a KH presidency is far more beneficial for America.
Harris’ campaign can send me a bill for the consultation fee (LOL)!
This is a great summation of the differences between the two campaigns. But Kamala and the DNC have to do several things:
1) define specifically the differences between 4 yrs ago and NOW, actually drawing up a comparison chart, highlighting crime, the economy, border crossings, how the campaigns view present day America, etc, etc. make two side by side columns and compare.
2) define/describe specifically how Cheeto skin‘a presidency damaged and continues to damage America, the pandemic, ability to vote, standing of the US on the world stage, and how KH/TW is repairing and can continue to repair it.
The two are somewhat related but getting specific makes it crystal clear why a KH presidency is far more beneficial for America.
Harris’ campaign can send me a bill for the consultation fee (LOL)!
Love this idea. Demos have to spell it out, draw a picture, convey in all possible ways to all types of learners the differences between the two parties and candidates. For too long they have had their collective lunch eaten by the crooked, duplicitous, hypocritical, disingenuous, unkind, and beholden to the “filthy lucre” of their billionaire benefiting MAGA party. Time to fight fire with fire.
She is indeed a joyful warrior. But we can't de-emphasize the warrior part. She is strong (and smart) as hell and doesn't suffer fools. She will need that quality more than ever as a woman in the White House.
As everybody is saying, this is a fascinating and important column. If we had journalism anymore, it would be a major story in all the nations newspapers. My only caveat is to remember that many people continue to suffer and have very little joy in their lives. Kamala and Tim have been blessed with happy marriages and adequate incomes. The gig economy continues to doom many people to multiple jobs, unhappy relationships, and reliance on alcohol and drugs. The only thing Trump got right is that America is very dystopian for many people and a song written by a billionaire about freedom rings pretty hollow.
For several years I sang in a chorus that specialized in songs sung by Black slaves in the U.S. before 1865. You might be surprised at how much joy and hope there is in many of those songs, although their singers had good reason to feel doomed.
Oh wow... I just realized, when Trump's campaign and his surrogates try to remind people if they were "better" 4 years ago, are they actually saying "remember 4 years ago, when you could dive into conspiracy theories about your wildest hateful dreams, and even the President of the United States would support your self-indulgent paranoia?" Is that it? Because otherwise I don't know what they could be pointing to. Most people were getting laid off or dealing with trying not to die in a virulent pandemic and POTUS was yelling about who had bribed him enough to get a ventilator.
I can’t think of anything left out—supremely written. Thank you.
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🤗🤗🤗