Thank-you for a very potent article and I am so very sorry that all of this is going on across our nation. All of our pro Trump/Vance think they are following them are God living and followers. I cannot believe that they are reading the same New Testament that I am and believe as they do. The bombings, he KKK, white supremacy, it goes on and on and on! Many of these are my longtime friends, working regular jobs and were military, or schoolteachers, living and worshiping in the same area. I just do not understand. All I can say is get out and vote!! That is so very important.
"But I believe, and the polls suggest, that most Americans reject this vision. Violence may have shaped large parts of our past, but it doesn’t need to define who we are or the future we want to build. We must be vigilant, because even if Trump loses, and maybe especially if he does, violence may ensue. Yet, defeating the violent vision he represents would mark a significant historical turning point as we still grapple with the legacies of our founding sins.
The story of America has been one of a winding journey—increasingly away from political violence and toward justice and equality. We have a ways to go. But I strongly suspect we’re not going back."
Well said, as usual, Elliot. VERY well said. And no, we are not!
What could I say? You said it all! Thank God for you and those who speak the truth! Seems as if they are getting farther and few between! You are the beloved light through the darkness AND the fog!
Thank you for this insightful post and for remembering the little girls who just wanted to go to Sunday School. I was 12 when the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama killed 4 little girls. “ As a bomb exploded under the steps of the church, they sought safety under the pews and shielded each other from falling debris. In the basement, four little girls were killed—14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley.” The Life magazine images and articles are burned in my memory as I, a little girl imagined their terror. This helped to shape my world view, there is no place in a civil society for violence and we should all have equal protection and opportunity under the law. Trump and Vance believe they should run a kingdom and deny equal protection and opportunity to the majority. Vance admitted on CNN that they will tell what ever story (lie). They rely heavily in the tactic of gaslighting, “ Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse or manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim's mind. Typically, gaslighters are seeking to gain power and control over the other person, by distorting reality and forcing them to question their own judgment and intuition”. I hope Democrats sweep the election and that we can develop regulations and laws that differentiate between free speech and the violence of lies, slander, and defamation that has no place in a civil society .
"Not going back" a hope that burns within me. Trump and crew are not alone is sharing the view of Hobbes and Machiavelli that humans are fearful, selfish, and driven by "the hope of personal gain." He seems to want for us all a life that is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Many of us see humanity is a more kindly light. Vote blue.
Sadly, so true. I do think that this is true of any large, powerful nation's history. It seems that at the very heart of the obsession with ultimate power is a need for violent suppression to achieve and hold on to it. Here, instead of trying to break the pattern, we see not just acceptance of violence as a means to an end, but deliberately inciting it. Will the U.S. just become one of the gang, or will we somehow manage to install leadership that tries to buck the trend?
Humans have a mind that can make choices. Violence and self-above others, are choices people make beyond humanity's cooperative nature required for our evolution. Violence is learned behavior... action of the lazy mind. Violence is the easy way if one is the biggest, but damaging to the whole of society. We can choose to stop teaching and being violent... let's work at this. Where do we start?
Hope you are right and majority of voters choose to move forward to a better future for everyone with Harris/Waltz instead of going back. Still fear election outcone because of unfairness of Electoral College and expected Republican shenanigins. November can’t come soon enough.
It’s so hard to remain optimistic, so I am grateful for this post, Elliot. Yesterday I read in the NYT about Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski of Portage County, Ohio, who urged residents to write down the addresses of people posting lawn signs for Harris and Walz. This is the violence that MAGA has wrought. I have a lawn sign out for Harris and Walz, and it will stay there, but I seriously considered not posting it due to what it might bring. What a bully, intimidating people because of who they choose to vote for. Obviously, with a last name of Zuchowski, his family were immigrants. But he is blind to that — all he sees are people of dark skin who are others, an infestation in his town. I hope I live long enough to see Trump in prison, the MAGA movement totally collapsed, and its high ranking supporters in orange suits. I hope Sheriff Zuchowski is fired for his voter intimidation.
Thank you Elliot (and Joyce Vance) of reminding us of the horrible act of terrorism in Birmingham, AL that killed 4 young black girls a little over 61 years ago.
What JD Vance and Trump are perpetrating with their lies about legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH fits the definition of stochastic terrorism and must be recognized for what it is and called out as wrong by everyone especially those in the media. Everyone must understand that these lies foment fear and decisiveness that is a substitute for a positive vision with policies to benefit Americans espoused by the Harris-Walz campaign. Let us hope that Americans don’t succumb to these fear tactics meant to subjugate them under an authoritarian candidate that does not have the best interests of those receiving these messages of hatred and decisiveness. Fill your hearts with compassion for the lives of everyone disrupted in Springfield, OH that are the result of this cruel form of terrorism perpetrated by Vance and Trump.
Thank you...well said and well received. You are right - we are not going back. It may well be an ongoing battle to maintain the freedoms that are being assaulted for one man's ego and a few others who are in line to benefit from his dissonance to so many of us and our values. His love of attention and, frankly, of money has caused a great rift in our lives. It's time for that to end because we are not going back.
Superb column, Elliot. You are correct, we were founded on violence and the magats continue to use violence to try to control all of us. But you are also correct in saying it doesn't have to be this way. We can suppress violence by voting in Harris/Walz who promise and America for all its citizens, not just wealth white males.
We can enforce the Constitution and place those who would destroy it in prison for a sufficiently long time to nullify their voices. Trump will die soon anyway gagging on his own gluttony. We can have laws forbidding media from patronizing violent political parties in hope of cling to more of their wealth.
We can impeach Alito and Thomas and find them guilty in a responsible Senate. Then replace them with real justices sworn to uphold the Constitution as it is written, not as they dream it could be. Including all 25 amendments (18 and 21 cancel each other so there are only 25 active Amendments.
We can get around the Electoral College peaceably by getting a couple more States to sign on or we can float a new Amendment repealing it. After the chaos we have observed and the redistribution of wealth to the hands of an unworthy handful I think the people may be ready to get rid of this weapon of control.
Great read as always. Saw where his followers think he has survived due to Devine interference more like satan doesn’t want him as not enough room for him and his ego
It is a very much white problem even today the predominantly white western nations seem to believe in a sort of superiority based purely on the colour of the skin.
You only have to look at what the English thought of Indians in the sub-continent, likewise the treatment of Aborgines in Australia, the treatment of the natives in North American continent, like wise in Africa and also in South America!!!!
Even before he was elected in 2016, trump was advocating for and praising violence at his rallies. He offered to pay the legal bills of those who beat up dissenters at the rallies.
He took out a full-page ad in the NY Times to advocate for the death penalty for the Central Park Five - youths accused of a crime for which they were not guilty.
His nomination of three Supremes who he knew would overturn Roe (despite their protestations it was "settled law") were three discrete acts of political violence that have directly harmed women.
His inaction and disparaging remarks minimizing the corona virus as a "flu" resulted in many deaths - a form of passive, but deadly, violence.
I'm glad he survived his second assassination attempt - the world has enough martyrs. He deserves to be peacefully "fired" by voters.
Elliot,
Thank-you for a very potent article and I am so very sorry that all of this is going on across our nation. All of our pro Trump/Vance think they are following them are God living and followers. I cannot believe that they are reading the same New Testament that I am and believe as they do. The bombings, he KKK, white supremacy, it goes on and on and on! Many of these are my longtime friends, working regular jobs and were military, or schoolteachers, living and worshiping in the same area. I just do not understand. All I can say is get out and vote!! That is so very important.
Thank-you, Irene Shields
"But I believe, and the polls suggest, that most Americans reject this vision. Violence may have shaped large parts of our past, but it doesn’t need to define who we are or the future we want to build. We must be vigilant, because even if Trump loses, and maybe especially if he does, violence may ensue. Yet, defeating the violent vision he represents would mark a significant historical turning point as we still grapple with the legacies of our founding sins.
The story of America has been one of a winding journey—increasingly away from political violence and toward justice and equality. We have a ways to go. But I strongly suspect we’re not going back."
Well said, as usual, Elliot. VERY well said. And no, we are not!
They may reject it, BUT it hasn’t changed much.
How often do you read of a White person being shot for a traffic infringement, yet happens regularly to people of colour.
What could I say? You said it all! Thank God for you and those who speak the truth! Seems as if they are getting farther and few between! You are the beloved light through the darkness AND the fog!
Marge, thankyou so much for this lovely note. It is wonderful having you here.
Thank you for this insightful post and for remembering the little girls who just wanted to go to Sunday School. I was 12 when the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama killed 4 little girls. “ As a bomb exploded under the steps of the church, they sought safety under the pews and shielded each other from falling debris. In the basement, four little girls were killed—14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley.” The Life magazine images and articles are burned in my memory as I, a little girl imagined their terror. This helped to shape my world view, there is no place in a civil society for violence and we should all have equal protection and opportunity under the law. Trump and Vance believe they should run a kingdom and deny equal protection and opportunity to the majority. Vance admitted on CNN that they will tell what ever story (lie). They rely heavily in the tactic of gaslighting, “ Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse or manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim's mind. Typically, gaslighters are seeking to gain power and control over the other person, by distorting reality and forcing them to question their own judgment and intuition”. I hope Democrats sweep the election and that we can develop regulations and laws that differentiate between free speech and the violence of lies, slander, and defamation that has no place in a civil society .
"Not going back" a hope that burns within me. Trump and crew are not alone is sharing the view of Hobbes and Machiavelli that humans are fearful, selfish, and driven by "the hope of personal gain." He seems to want for us all a life that is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Many of us see humanity is a more kindly light. Vote blue.
Sadly, so true. I do think that this is true of any large, powerful nation's history. It seems that at the very heart of the obsession with ultimate power is a need for violent suppression to achieve and hold on to it. Here, instead of trying to break the pattern, we see not just acceptance of violence as a means to an end, but deliberately inciting it. Will the U.S. just become one of the gang, or will we somehow manage to install leadership that tries to buck the trend?
Humans have a mind that can make choices. Violence and self-above others, are choices people make beyond humanity's cooperative nature required for our evolution. Violence is learned behavior... action of the lazy mind. Violence is the easy way if one is the biggest, but damaging to the whole of society. We can choose to stop teaching and being violent... let's work at this. Where do we start?
Hope you are right and majority of voters choose to move forward to a better future for everyone with Harris/Waltz instead of going back. Still fear election outcone because of unfairness of Electoral College and expected Republican shenanigins. November can’t come soon enough.
It’s so hard to remain optimistic, so I am grateful for this post, Elliot. Yesterday I read in the NYT about Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski of Portage County, Ohio, who urged residents to write down the addresses of people posting lawn signs for Harris and Walz. This is the violence that MAGA has wrought. I have a lawn sign out for Harris and Walz, and it will stay there, but I seriously considered not posting it due to what it might bring. What a bully, intimidating people because of who they choose to vote for. Obviously, with a last name of Zuchowski, his family were immigrants. But he is blind to that — all he sees are people of dark skin who are others, an infestation in his town. I hope I live long enough to see Trump in prison, the MAGA movement totally collapsed, and its high ranking supporters in orange suits. I hope Sheriff Zuchowski is fired for his voter intimidation.
Thank you Elliot (and Joyce Vance) of reminding us of the horrible act of terrorism in Birmingham, AL that killed 4 young black girls a little over 61 years ago.
What JD Vance and Trump are perpetrating with their lies about legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH fits the definition of stochastic terrorism and must be recognized for what it is and called out as wrong by everyone especially those in the media. Everyone must understand that these lies foment fear and decisiveness that is a substitute for a positive vision with policies to benefit Americans espoused by the Harris-Walz campaign. Let us hope that Americans don’t succumb to these fear tactics meant to subjugate them under an authoritarian candidate that does not have the best interests of those receiving these messages of hatred and decisiveness. Fill your hearts with compassion for the lives of everyone disrupted in Springfield, OH that are the result of this cruel form of terrorism perpetrated by Vance and Trump.
Thank you...well said and well received. You are right - we are not going back. It may well be an ongoing battle to maintain the freedoms that are being assaulted for one man's ego and a few others who are in line to benefit from his dissonance to so many of us and our values. His love of attention and, frankly, of money has caused a great rift in our lives. It's time for that to end because we are not going back.
Superb column, Elliot. You are correct, we were founded on violence and the magats continue to use violence to try to control all of us. But you are also correct in saying it doesn't have to be this way. We can suppress violence by voting in Harris/Walz who promise and America for all its citizens, not just wealth white males.
We can enforce the Constitution and place those who would destroy it in prison for a sufficiently long time to nullify their voices. Trump will die soon anyway gagging on his own gluttony. We can have laws forbidding media from patronizing violent political parties in hope of cling to more of their wealth.
We can impeach Alito and Thomas and find them guilty in a responsible Senate. Then replace them with real justices sworn to uphold the Constitution as it is written, not as they dream it could be. Including all 25 amendments (18 and 21 cancel each other so there are only 25 active Amendments.
We can get around the Electoral College peaceably by getting a couple more States to sign on or we can float a new Amendment repealing it. After the chaos we have observed and the redistribution of wealth to the hands of an unworthy handful I think the people may be ready to get rid of this weapon of control.
Great read as always. Saw where his followers think he has survived due to Devine interference more like satan doesn’t want him as not enough room for him and his ego
It is a very much white problem even today the predominantly white western nations seem to believe in a sort of superiority based purely on the colour of the skin.
You only have to look at what the English thought of Indians in the sub-continent, likewise the treatment of Aborgines in Australia, the treatment of the natives in North American continent, like wise in Africa and also in South America!!!!
Trump is now reaping what he has sown, although his and the words and actions of his facist followers will impact others to a much greater extent.
We are facing a grave danger. Vote! Encourage others to vote!
Even before he was elected in 2016, trump was advocating for and praising violence at his rallies. He offered to pay the legal bills of those who beat up dissenters at the rallies.
He took out a full-page ad in the NY Times to advocate for the death penalty for the Central Park Five - youths accused of a crime for which they were not guilty.
His nomination of three Supremes who he knew would overturn Roe (despite their protestations it was "settled law") were three discrete acts of political violence that have directly harmed women.
His inaction and disparaging remarks minimizing the corona virus as a "flu" resulted in many deaths - a form of passive, but deadly, violence.
I'm glad he survived his second assassination attempt - the world has enough martyrs. He deserves to be peacefully "fired" by voters.