It’s never been more clear that, each of us a dot in the larger picture is actually more powerful than we could have imagined. Maybe it is the failure of leadership that has forced us to find our saviors in ourselves.
Thanks again, Elliot, for your cogent description of the insanity and the recognition of our responsibility to join with one another to move “through the fog” to the clarity of the sane.
I continue to be impressed by your ability to capture and distill this moment in time. I too feel like it's hard for us all to grasp how badly our country has sunk into the morass, how despicableble and low our president and his willing fools have become.
We get inerred to how only five or ten years ago we would have bet the farm that our government would never stoop so low as to routinely pull off the the atrocious behaviors we are currently witnessing. Our norms have deteriorated so badly that I fear the younger generation will be begin to see this all as normal. God help us!
"I fear the younger generation will be begin to see this all as normal."
No, I don't think so. Most of them are smarter than that. They're just biding their time and gathering for when they come into their own. That is my greatest hope. What we have to do is clear the way for them so they can clearly see the road they want to take.
And then, we have to get out of the way. Our job right now is to remove the road-blockheads.
Lots of news lately about many in our “younger generation” who are so disgusted with the current big picture — all sides of it, and what the outcomes might mean for their kids/grandkids — that they just want to disappear from the grid and/or tear everything down and start all over. Not sure how all that would work, but I kinda get it.
Very well stated - and on target - Elliot, thanks. What I also continue to struggle with is the ludicrous ‘love-fest’ lavished on Trump by his cabinet, department heads, etc. Sure, they were handpicked by Trump and have pledged their loyalty to him rather than our country, but ….. really???
Honestly, given everything that has transpired as well as the all too predictable venalities to come, how can / do they live with themselves? Do they really have no integrity, moral compass, courage or conscience? Have they allowed Trump to effectively give them the Dementor’s Kiss?
Their, along with Congress’, complicity is something that I don’t think I’ll ever really understand ….. or forgive them for.
Their jobs and proximity to power and riches depend on their loyalty to Trump and not on their merit. Therefore they must support Trump no matter what, otherwise they are out of a job and out of power and riches.
Although I understand that, it’s just hard for me to believe that their love of money & thirst for power can only be satiated via Trump and betraying the country. I admit that, at this point, it may be the quickest way to achieving those ends but it’s certainly not the only one.
Having said that, I guess the other approaches would require / preserve at least a modicum of principle, civics, morality, etc. so, given what they’ve clearly demonstrated, perhaps they’re just not capable.
Whoever said that money was the root of all evil surely must've known how "it" (not a human being) would manipulate people for "its" own riches, and those that buy into "its" rhetoric are doomed to get what they ALL deserve - permanent residence in the depths of Hell for eternity and beyond!
I love your alliterative, descriptive choices, Elliot: “petulance, pettiness, puerility, and perversity” and I agree with the importance of trying to keep a full-frame picture. One of the ways I try to do that is to catch Rachel Maddow’s show when she presents multi-screen views of protests across the country. I also appreciate your care in choosing the correct language to name what is happening. Too many pundits, and even Democrats, play a part in the use of normalizing language such as “administration” instead of “regime” - which I would always link to the adjective “criminal”.
Yes. Definitely yes to every word you wrote today. Once every few days, I emerge from the dark and hear a story that gives me hope, hope that from the depths of Trump et al, WE will be united in sufficient numbers and across barriers to save America. Seurat. The perfect choice, too, of a post-modernistic artistic style to catch the rays and pixels of a brighter tomorrow. Merci.
Thank you again (many times actually) for your soulful inspiration🙂. It’s the courage and leadership you express and that we all need to be reminded of, that exists within all of us, and like a lit candle, lights all of us when our faith in ourselves is so challenged.
Thanks again, Elliot, for your clear and thoughtful perspective on where we stand vis-a-vis the impact on this country and the world of all the actions and words the current occupant of the White House. I do take some comfort from reading that more elected Republican officials are speaking out against certain actions and attitudes of the current administration. What troubles me, though, and keeps me from a greater optimistic outlook is that so many MAGA voters get their information from various media sources that continue to present lies and AI generated photos that “ prove“ those lies. With a significant proportion of the American public that seems incapable of critical thinking/reading, it may take a much longer period of time for the groundswell of resistance and speaking out against the administration to reach a critical mass to be in time for the midterm elections. I don’t quite recognize myself in this somewhat pessimistic attitude, yet I think it is realistic. All that being said however, I do appreciate having your view through this fog of current events as a balance to my anxieties about the future of our country. I look to your Substack as a valuable resource and even when I don’t comment on a particular post of yours, I’m glad to have them to think about.
Love the Seurat picture and the analogy. And don't forget the shakedown on transit projects is illegal-it has to be as the money was already approved-wasn't it?
Trump and his goons are doing what the want because the rest of us are letting them. With all of the crimes being committed the slimy bastard should be jerked into their prisons for migrants and enemies and left to rot like the garbage they are.
I appreciate your word pictures & alliteration, calling a spade a spade. ♠️
Looking for a lens large enough to take it all in, I refer to the Good Book. I realize it isn’t everyone’s choice for interpreting the world, but apparently 62% Americans identify as Christians, so here are a couple scriptures for consideration as we barrel along under the weight of this ‘despotic regime’.
2 Tim. 2:3:1 — But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here.
Rev. 12:12 — … Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.” (He’s eventually going to be done away with, just like Trump).
Mercifully, Rev. 21:4 promises that ‘every tear will be wiped from every eye’ …eventually, and in accord with divine justice. These prophecies are meant to inform & strengthen us, as in ‘forewarned & forearmed’. 🌿
Thinking of you and all the other Bay Area residents and visiting fans this weekend, the weather appears to be holding. I'm sure the energy and excitement in the air is very exciting. Hope it's a good intense game for both sides.
A funny thing about democracy and human rights is that the people don't want them taken away after they fought to attain them. And trump supporters may make up a large part of the pro wrestling fan base, but they are human beings, not empathy-deprived psychopaths like their shame-free "leader."
It’s never been more clear that, each of us a dot in the larger picture is actually more powerful than we could have imagined. Maybe it is the failure of leadership that has forced us to find our saviors in ourselves.
Thanks again, Elliot, for your cogent description of the insanity and the recognition of our responsibility to join with one another to move “through the fog” to the clarity of the sane.
Love !!!!
Thank you, Joan.
I continue to be impressed by your ability to capture and distill this moment in time. I too feel like it's hard for us all to grasp how badly our country has sunk into the morass, how despicableble and low our president and his willing fools have become.
We get inerred to how only five or ten years ago we would have bet the farm that our government would never stoop so low as to routinely pull off the the atrocious behaviors we are currently witnessing. Our norms have deteriorated so badly that I fear the younger generation will be begin to see this all as normal. God help us!
"I fear the younger generation will be begin to see this all as normal."
No, I don't think so. Most of them are smarter than that. They're just biding their time and gathering for when they come into their own. That is my greatest hope. What we have to do is clear the way for them so they can clearly see the road they want to take.
And then, we have to get out of the way. Our job right now is to remove the road-blockheads.
Lots of news lately about many in our “younger generation” who are so disgusted with the current big picture — all sides of it, and what the outcomes might mean for their kids/grandkids — that they just want to disappear from the grid and/or tear everything down and start all over. Not sure how all that would work, but I kinda get it.
Very well stated - and on target - Elliot, thanks. What I also continue to struggle with is the ludicrous ‘love-fest’ lavished on Trump by his cabinet, department heads, etc. Sure, they were handpicked by Trump and have pledged their loyalty to him rather than our country, but ….. really???
Honestly, given everything that has transpired as well as the all too predictable venalities to come, how can / do they live with themselves? Do they really have no integrity, moral compass, courage or conscience? Have they allowed Trump to effectively give them the Dementor’s Kiss?
Their, along with Congress’, complicity is something that I don’t think I’ll ever really understand ….. or forgive them for.
Their jobs and proximity to power and riches depend on their loyalty to Trump and not on their merit. Therefore they must support Trump no matter what, otherwise they are out of a job and out of power and riches.
Although I understand that, it’s just hard for me to believe that their love of money & thirst for power can only be satiated via Trump and betraying the country. I admit that, at this point, it may be the quickest way to achieving those ends but it’s certainly not the only one.
Having said that, I guess the other approaches would require / preserve at least a modicum of principle, civics, morality, etc. so, given what they’ve clearly demonstrated, perhaps they’re just not capable.
Whoever said that money was the root of all evil surely must've known how "it" (not a human being) would manipulate people for "its" own riches, and those that buy into "its" rhetoric are doomed to get what they ALL deserve - permanent residence in the depths of Hell for eternity and beyond!
Amen to ALL that, sir! Well-put! I agree 110%!
I love your alliterative, descriptive choices, Elliot: “petulance, pettiness, puerility, and perversity” and I agree with the importance of trying to keep a full-frame picture. One of the ways I try to do that is to catch Rachel Maddow’s show when she presents multi-screen views of protests across the country. I also appreciate your care in choosing the correct language to name what is happening. Too many pundits, and even Democrats, play a part in the use of normalizing language such as “administration” instead of “regime” - which I would always link to the adjective “criminal”.
Yes. Definitely yes to every word you wrote today. Once every few days, I emerge from the dark and hear a story that gives me hope, hope that from the depths of Trump et al, WE will be united in sufficient numbers and across barriers to save America. Seurat. The perfect choice, too, of a post-modernistic artistic style to catch the rays and pixels of a brighter tomorrow. Merci.
Dear Elliot,
Thank you again (many times actually) for your soulful inspiration🙂. It’s the courage and leadership you express and that we all need to be reminded of, that exists within all of us, and like a lit candle, lights all of us when our faith in ourselves is so challenged.
Thanks again, Elliot, for your clear and thoughtful perspective on where we stand vis-a-vis the impact on this country and the world of all the actions and words the current occupant of the White House. I do take some comfort from reading that more elected Republican officials are speaking out against certain actions and attitudes of the current administration. What troubles me, though, and keeps me from a greater optimistic outlook is that so many MAGA voters get their information from various media sources that continue to present lies and AI generated photos that “ prove“ those lies. With a significant proportion of the American public that seems incapable of critical thinking/reading, it may take a much longer period of time for the groundswell of resistance and speaking out against the administration to reach a critical mass to be in time for the midterm elections. I don’t quite recognize myself in this somewhat pessimistic attitude, yet I think it is realistic. All that being said however, I do appreciate having your view through this fog of current events as a balance to my anxieties about the future of our country. I look to your Substack as a valuable resource and even when I don’t comment on a particular post of yours, I’m glad to have them to think about.
Love the Seurat picture and the analogy. And don't forget the shakedown on transit projects is illegal-it has to be as the money was already approved-wasn't it?
We have never seen in a president such a toxic mixture of petulance, pettiness, puerility, and perversity.
Couldn’t agree more. The 4 P’s of djt.
Trump and his goons are doing what the want because the rest of us are letting them. With all of the crimes being committed the slimy bastard should be jerked into their prisons for migrants and enemies and left to rot like the garbage they are.
What comes around goes around and then comes back again in the pattern of a wheel going around.
I certainly hope so.
Thank you, Judith. Best wishes.
I appreciate your word pictures & alliteration, calling a spade a spade. ♠️
Looking for a lens large enough to take it all in, I refer to the Good Book. I realize it isn’t everyone’s choice for interpreting the world, but apparently 62% Americans identify as Christians, so here are a couple scriptures for consideration as we barrel along under the weight of this ‘despotic regime’.
2 Tim. 2:3:1 — But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here.
Rev. 12:12 — … Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.” (He’s eventually going to be done away with, just like Trump).
Mercifully, Rev. 21:4 promises that ‘every tear will be wiped from every eye’ …eventually, and in accord with divine justice. These prophecies are meant to inform & strengthen us, as in ‘forewarned & forearmed’. 🌿
Thinking of you and all the other Bay Area residents and visiting fans this weekend, the weather appears to be holding. I'm sure the energy and excitement in the air is very exciting. Hope it's a good intense game for both sides.
👏
A funny thing about democracy and human rights is that the people don't want them taken away after they fought to attain them. And trump supporters may make up a large part of the pro wrestling fan base, but they are human beings, not empathy-deprived psychopaths like their shame-free "leader."