The sundown town tour observation made by that alert journalist stopped my brain for a moment. I thought back to when, as a young teen, I read Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin, and understood the terror ordinary people had to experience every damn day.
I fucking hate that this is a battle we need to keep fighting.
I agree Neal. It will not be acceptable for Harris to move on despite the constant law-breaking and terrorizing these people do. It is exceptionally important to turn the House & Senate a deep shade of BLUE. We have big expectations and I will not stop demanding accountability for the domestic terrorist cult. When we have that safe majority, equality and equity cannot be pushed aside.
DEMs will def need the Trifecta (WH, Senate, House). I’m no hero but will be phone banking for Jon Tester this afternoon, trying not to sound like a city-slicker!? (heard that Montana folk are a little annoyed that their race is getting National-ized due to its strategic importance :/)
Maybe they could take themselves out of the limelight by supporting more equitable representation based on number of representees? E.g., 1 senator per million. Would give Montana 1. Would give California 39.
All the more reason to propose it! JK, but not: this is my primary grievance. This and the church/state boundaries having been unconstitutioned (e.g., Dobbs). Half the population's bodily autonomy stripped for one religion's view of when life starts. A microscopic clump of cells literally has more value than women's lives. Our maternal (and infant) mortality rates are a shame I'd never have thought this country was capable of inviting and bearing. One that would never have been advanced without inequitable representation.
It's even worse than that. You can't force someone to donate a kidney to save an adult, sentient human life; you can't even take organs from a corpse without prior approval from the person. But they want to force a woman to donate her entire body to a 9-month pregnancy, with all the attendant risks, childbirth, with even more risks, and then be solely responsible for another human being for 18 years, with no help, no aid, no support--in the service of saving a nonsentient clump of cells the size of your thumbnail. THEY WANT WOMEN TO HAVE FEWER RIGHTS THAN A CORPSE.
They want us to be inanimate objects that they can use and abuse as they wish, like soil to fertilize or leave fallow or do whatever they want with. Women who stand up to it, step "out of line,"--they want freedom to harm and even kill us. It's never been about babies or life. Everything they do, every law they pass, every action they take, makes it crystal clear it's ONLY about brutal, primitive, 9th century "burn the witch" misogyny.
And both rates - quelle surprise! have exploded post Dobbs. It takes a special level of ghoul to force women to carry a baby to term that has no chance of survival. I can't begin to fathom how you'd pull yourself back together after that - especially with our fab mental health systems.
Even a parody proposal would keep highlighting that there is a scandalous imbalance in how skewed our representation is. DC and PR status is a particularly bald steal -- they pay taxes, no? And I joke here, one per million would be an unruly Senate, but the numbers of Senators and Reps are highly skewed, even before we address the abomination that is the electoral college.
I think the only realistic way to accomplish it is to pass meaningful voting rights legislation & blow up the Supreme Court. And either is a heavy lift (though it shouldn't be if Ds would actually engage in politics). If Ds eke out a trifecta and don't drag this country into the future I fear we may not even have a future.
Hey Joe’s got a get outa jail card from the S Court ,he’s 82 years old a lame duck Prez and one pissed off ☘️ American 🇺🇸 …..he might not be afraid to give the I’m a king and untouchable ruling a little bit of a spin around the block !🙏🏻🤔🤫 Never know who an older gentleman who’s not quite right might inadvertently crush….😻 I-mean run into …?! I mean ….ah! Fuck it you knowww ! 🤣🙏🏻
Lawrence O’Donnell just jogged my memory of how 5 of the 6 republican justices …...all but Traitor Thomas were appointed by Presidents who did not win the Popular vote …..now our way of life is threatened by an illegitimate Supreme Kourt…..kurtesy of the Electoral Kolledge ! Hey all them K words …..seem to describe that Korrupt Kourts KinKy outlook on how to interpret that pesky Konstitution !🤪😵💫
P123, Every little action helps. I have been sending donations to Blue candidates in red states. I especially took up the cause for Missouri because of a Sub stack writer named Jess Piper. These people really need help. It’s not some spectacular amount..$50 here and there but even $10 to these people can add up if they get a lot of people donating. They need all the encouragement they can get!
Why are my prayers not fucking being answered?!!!!!!
I continue to pray for lying fraudulent scumbag piece of shit Trump to suffer either a MASSIVE heart attack or MASSIVE debilitation stroke…..and I’m going to continue to pray until one of those death events happens!
Joel, 😂 How about a Super Max Prison term instead. After the giant loss he’ll probably self destruct. I want to see him humiliated and his terrorist cult crushed
I’m so pissed no more prayers for me! I’m going to the logical entity for vengeance and doing a deal made in Hell ahhh haaa ha ! Look 👀 out you Orange 🍊 💩 shithead you getting No Sympathy from the DEVIL 😈 mo fo !
I was wondering how that is going? I have family history in Montana-I wonder if that family ranch-cred would help me change minds or win support? I guess I should get busy and find out!
Yes, that sounds like the elderly trump lady on facebook, who said there couldn't be racism, because she had never seen it. I then asked if there were any persons of color in her town, "no", she said. I then asked if she had ever left said town. "No", she said...
Uh, 30 years ago!? It’s from 1961. And I’m not sure what I think about that book. It’s old and most likely comes nowhere near the truth of what actual black people have actually been through since 1865. What I do know is that we cannot allow the country to go back to pre Civ War times. Which is what these white Christian republican motherfuckers want!
I don't think Black Like Me was necessarily the whole picture. But for someone who grew up with no black children in my school until I was 11, and with none in my neighborhood, it told me that a) they WERE people just as I was, even if they looked different, and b) they were not being viewed or treated fairly, by the same standard that white people were. For me, it was life-altering.
I read it when I was a young adult too. That book should be required reading in high school for about eleventy-billion reasons, but of course it won’t be - too threatening to the MAGAts and Moms for Liberty, those types who could really learn something from it.
Red states will never allow that book to be read. Snowflake conservative children can't handle it. It's being pulled from school library shelves as we speak.
That is beyond disgusting. I guess to them, Knowledge is a dangerous thing. Better keep the population dumbed down so they don’t ask pertinent questions …. I clearly remember Trump saying how much he loves the poorly educated - which of course he is Exhibit #1 for!!!
Like so many things, a hyper focused dumbing down of this already deeply stupid country really took off under Reagan w eviserating & villifying public education.
Absolutely. Moving to shut down public education so the rural kids and those who aren't wealthy will become the working caste. They will not need any education--they won't get to advance their station in life.
I also read Baldwin and Richard Wright in HS. Should be required also. I found Griffin, Baldwin and Wright in my HS library. Among others. Did independent study. Today I don't think that would be allowed.
My high school had Wright and Baldwin, too -- and Solzhenitsyn and Vonnegut and Joseph Heller and much, much more. I read Catch-22 over and over -- it explained my world, in a way. For me, reading wasn't independent study (although it did keep me more engaged in school) -- it was using books to create a world I could live in.
My family was breaking into the upper middle class, I guess, when I read it. But I had never met a Republican, or at least anyone who admitted it. For that matter, raised as a Reform Jew, I was unaware that Jews were even permitted to vote Republican. Met my first Republicans when I switched schools in HS, ninth grade, and it was the Goldwater campaign against LBJ. Some classmates were distributing John Birch Society pamphlets and propaganda, “A Choice Not an Echo” and other Schlafly screeds, vicious racist flyers… I was shocked. They all knew how dirty this was, how demeaning it was, what a pack of vile lies, but they didn’t care because they wanted to win. They didn’t care who they injured. This level of selfishness still makes me boil.
My family is still like that, all staunch Republicans, and my mother made a special effort before she passed to let me know no one could figure out how I turned out “this way”. I guess that makes me the official black sheep of the family. Ask me if I care. My dad is so bigoted and misogynistic that it makes me ashamed. I try to visit as little as possible. It is what it is.
The 1964 election is when I think my dad openly broke from his all-Republican family. He voted for Kennedy, but don't think he ever told his dad. I remember some of the 1964 campaign, but was still in grade school and don't think I was exposed to just how ugly it was. I do remember how unhappy my grandfather was about my dad's defection, though. Knowing what I know now, Grandad would have been fine with even the ugliest of it.
Dad made sure we knew how crazy the right wing was at the time, but by making fun of how stupid it all was. Bircher billboards were everwhere, so he told us the joke about how you could tell just how rabid they were by whether they wanted to hang Earl Warren or just impeach him.
marginalized because the advances of the blacks latinos,& Asians….never thinking that the Whites are still the privileged class. Its ridiculous when these numbskulls talk of how great
But belonging to a privileged class isn't the same as having privilege: We know that an enormous number of Americans have been screwed financially over the past 43 years. They're struggling. They're anxious / hopeless / depressed / angry -- with good reason.
To be clear, I'm not condoning their anger at The Other, when in fact they should be angry at the CEO class, the GOP (with its union busting, allergy to regulations, and regressive tax code), and all of its wealthy donors. Unfortunately, people in despair are easy to manipulate, and the GOP has long taken advantage of that.
Despite my privilege (white, middle-class, educated), I've been destroyed -- financially, and my health -- by GOP economic policies; for various reasons, I see who's responsible and I don't hate / fear / blame Others. But I understand what it is to feel despondent most of the time, so I'm asking everyone to have some compassion -- not least bc compassion is the foundation for devising policies that make life better for those in pain, and a better life usually translates into far less fear / hatred / blame. Thanks.
Good point. I was, I thought, safely able to afford retirement. Then a chronic medical issue started to chip away. Medicare doesn't cover expensive procedures and medication I need.
I'm not privileged at all, and don't need to be. Life kicks ass here in our little slice of Heaven, southeast Idaho. We still smile and wave at our neighbors, keep an eye on the kids and put our own worms on hooks. I was never made to be race "conscious ", it never mattered or occurred to me. Every man and woman on this Earth is equal, period. Makes things much easier when you look at it like that.
Same here. Jeff's post that includes sundown towns was a real eye opener and another valuable piece of info that needs to be put out there. As the felonious flag humper continues his make America hate again tour, he keeps throwing more of his usual shit at the press but yet, they continue to enable him and kiss his ass. They continue to fail us daily with no redeeming qualities in site.
I don't know why the press would even want to continue trailing him around the country saying the same shit over and over and over and now they have to worry about getting maimed.
And now, one of his MAGA devotees just tried to attack the press after Demento Donny started his “ enemies of the people” bs again. The man was arrested & now faces misdemeanor charges. Think Donny will help out with his legal bills??
When my family traveled in Virginia it was common to see Whites Only signs at restaurants and gas station water fountains and bathrooms. I'm from VA and nothing has changed. The anger at these same places has taken the place of these signs. I moved to Florida after I got back from Vietnam in 70 and it's just as fucked up here.
One consolation…Not much longer before Sunny Fla is going under the Atlantic waves …it’s flooding faster each day …they gonna be in Aquaman’s realm soon …the heavier it gets the better ."the more overfed obese Lard ass morons just hasten the day ! I hope the Keys can float haven’t seen them yet 🤪 GLUB ! GLUB ! 🌨️💨💧💦🫧☔️🌊🌊 going down Lardo’s next floor eternal hell …your floor scumbags 🤪🤣😂☔️guess that climate change talk had some truth to it ..think we should have read a bit more about it?How much are Sea fro…..Floor properties going for these days ?
Chris, thank you for serving in the one of the worst US made-wars imaginable. Wife of a Vietnam Vet here who just got a 90% rating after 50+ years! Thank you, Joe for the PACT Act.
I am 71 years old, white guy from Texas. I cannot, no matter how hard I try, fully understand what black people went through, and often still do. I will say Black Like Me was the most impactful book I ever read. I read it in the late 60’s when I was high school. I will never forget it, never……What Griffin did was epic and important, to speak to the hearts of all of us on the other side of Jim Crow.
Neal— about 1/3 of my therapy cases are black women. I cannot help but be amazed that living in this racist country, they do not hate it, but manage to live their lives. Huge cost to their self image tho.
I really thought it would all be gone sometime during my lifetime. After all, somewhere in the range of 80-100 years should be enough, right? I will be 79 this year. We really need to hurry this along....
Me too. I didn't even have a black classmate until I was in 7th grade, which was about the time I read Black Like Me. It completely transformed how I thought and looked at the school and the university town where I lived.
Didn't prevent me from doing stupid shit -- my grandfather sent me a t-shirt from Atlanta with a picture of a guy with an ax (can't remember the saying, but of course it was Lester Maddox chasing black people out of his restaurant; now I know that it's perfectly in character that my ordained-minister grandfather would have thought that was funny.) Fortunately a black friend was one of the first to see me -- she stopped me and said, "WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?" -- and explained when she realized I had no clue. A true friend... :)
The lies have become more brazen yet none of it penetrates the media news bubble while keyboards were worn out over Biden's orthopedic shoes and the height of the staircase he uses to board AF1. Mt. Rushmore level of journalistic malpractice on par w/Hillary's emails 🤡- @scarylawyerguy
I really hate that for all the references to the anniversary of the pullout from Afghanistan, there is scant mention of trump releasing 5,000 taliban fighters. That should be tv ad material.
There's also nothing being said about how President Biden had to pull out from Afghanistan the way they did because of the order signed by Diaper Don before he left the white house. Joe was under federal law, or whatever, to pull out the troops out the way he did.
I’ve been saying that since 2016…who has gotten more free press than any one….ever? The orange shit bag! If they just stop accepting every invitation to make tons of money off of…..oh wait, now I get it! Corporate media doesn’t want to stop making tons of money off of the orange shit bag…🤦♀️duh! And I’m still royally pissed that the whole ear boo boo bullshit got swept under the fucking rug…..
Give the DNC CREDIT for inviting Content Creators / Influencers to the Convention!!! These ppl post facts and data re: DEMOCRACY - ! MSM was furious (people are saying:). Their posts (independent media) alone have gained 400M impressions (!!!)
For my sins, I’m watching ABC This Week and just watched Trump Toadie #1 Lindsay Graham say that the real issue wasn’t whether rallying on Arlington was bad, it was the matter of how the soldiers were killed by Biden. You should have seen his eyes shift, he looked like a Christian Scientist with appendicitis.
I guess he forgot who made the deal with the Taliban, who tried to withdraw all of the troops before he left office and gave them the Taliban prisoners. But here's something for the INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS out there. Why did he tell a reporter at Mar-a-Lago during an interview in the spring of 2021 that he had to make a phone call because he was "still dealing with Afghanistan"??????? Was that another delusion, another bullshit story, or was he actually continuing to sabotage Biden? Because that was his aim after he lost, and part of the reason that Esper was fired.
I wish I could take the tombstones of 241 mostly Marines killed in Beirut in 1983 because of Reagan’s stupidity and shove them up the asses of all these shitheads who like to blame Democrats for Afghanistan and Benghazi. Politicizing can go both ways, you know? All those dead civilians on 9/11 because Bush couldn’t be bothered to take Clinton’s advice and keep an eye on Al Qaeda.
OMG - it's up next where we live but I won't be able to watch that segment without that image in my head!! Why oh why must they continue to have this "Toadie" on the talk shows! He makes me just as ill as tRump himself.
I’d say, by comparison. A bag of hammers has quite a bit worth. At least with a hammer you can fix things, protect yourself, can even smash your finger. What at all can you do with Ms Lindsey?
Everyone should call LG's office and tell him that we want him to stop lying. In this case, he's lying by not stating that SCUMP negotiated the withdrawal (just for a different date) and that SCUMP -- who negotiated w the Taliban but not the then-prez of Afghanistan, despite being told that was a bad idea -- is equally responsible if not more so.
Every time a GOP pol lies, we need to call their office and tell them that we, as an American citizen, are their constituent and therefore we insist that they stop lying. Differences of opinion on policy matters is acceptable; lies are not.
To find any senator's DC office ph. no., search: contact surname 202-224-
"why is the press continuing to give the fascist leader of a violent mob every benefit of the doubt and whitewashing his lawless behavior?" THAT'S the thousand dollar question right here. This whole thing is like a bad dream. Trump is insane and the press pretends he isn't.
And Theil, being gay, and Musk being neurodivergent, they will be taken down and their money taken, by the very monster they fed to kill everyone else. Zuck is Jewish, so they'll get him too.
Trump is a moron but when it comes to sadistic racism, he knows what he's doing. Those rallies held in sundown towns is NO coincidence. He IS rallying the troops of fascist knuckledraggers. This is infuriating!
I've noticed a couple of times when the stupid bastard Trump refers to Harris (and other persons of color) as "that one", or "this one", not Vice president, not Harris, not even a mangled pronunciation of Kamala. "I am going to debate this one." I know what he meant to say [Nword or Cword, maybe both] and so do his idiot racist fans. But our masters of journalism don't seem to see or hear anything that their corporate owners don't want them to.
On February 20, 1939, the pro-Nazi German American Bund drew more than 20,000 people to a rally in Madison Square Garden. Racist idiots and their enablers have, unfortunately, always lived among us. It ticked me off in 2015 when the media actively promoted his nonsense. Now that he's having full-blown bund rallies, it's become important and serious that the MSM address this. As Friday proved, they'll be the first to go. But "serious" is not how I would describe today's journalist. They're unserious people who would light the fuse to the dynamite strapped to their own chests by this felon just to show how "fair" they are to "both sides."
I say again and will continue to say that my old journalism professor is spinning in his grave.
Mark—I am residing Philip Roth’s A Plot Against America, hadn’t come across it before. If Lindbergh had won — gives you shivers..But then, if tfg wins… Back to that scenario.
Everyone should be reading A Plot Against America these days. Not only because of the imagined possibilities that we may be actually living now, but also because Philip Roth is/was a literary fiction giant and a proud and patriotic American. His novel Operation Shylock should be in great demand during these times as well. America, Israel, Palestine, the Shoah, crazy and brilliant Jews, crazy and brilliant Arabs, crazy and brilliant Americans, and some of the best rants ever composed, plus humor, tragedy, and because it is Roth, interestingly odd sexy things. "Operation Shylock" should be widely read, probably forever. Because humans never learn a goddamn thing. It seems . . .
And I'm sure you've probably read that older classic "It Can't Happen Here " of Sinclair Lewis'. But a couple histories I've read in the last few years about Hitler's rise to power using the existing (if new) German constitution and parliamentary processes really unnerved me. 'The Weimar Years 1918-1933' by Frank McDonough and William Shirer's old "Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich". The parallels of a complacent majority just going along with the loudest extremists in actual democratic elections and the propaganda of Goebbels finding a willing press to what's been going on here since trump surfaced are pretty eerie.
The only thing that gives me hope is how many less people have been raising hell on his behalf since several insurrectionists went to prison for it. He is doing his best to rile the MAGA masses but I can only hope they learn from other people’s mistakes; that while they are supporting him, there’s a limit to what they will do.
The sundown town tour observation made by that alert journalist stopped my brain for a moment. I thought back to when, as a young teen, I read Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin, and understood the terror ordinary people had to experience every damn day.
I fucking hate that this is a battle we need to keep fighting.
I agree Neal. It will not be acceptable for Harris to move on despite the constant law-breaking and terrorizing these people do. It is exceptionally important to turn the House & Senate a deep shade of BLUE. We have big expectations and I will not stop demanding accountability for the domestic terrorist cult. When we have that safe majority, equality and equity cannot be pushed aside.
DEMs will def need the Trifecta (WH, Senate, House). I’m no hero but will be phone banking for Jon Tester this afternoon, trying not to sound like a city-slicker!? (heard that Montana folk are a little annoyed that their race is getting National-ized due to its strategic importance :/)
Maybe they could take themselves out of the limelight by supporting more equitable representation based on number of representees? E.g., 1 senator per million. Would give Montana 1. Would give California 39.
That'd give the white grievance babies from the Dakotas on down a massive coronary. I'm here for it.
All the more reason to propose it! JK, but not: this is my primary grievance. This and the church/state boundaries having been unconstitutioned (e.g., Dobbs). Half the population's bodily autonomy stripped for one religion's view of when life starts. A microscopic clump of cells literally has more value than women's lives. Our maternal (and infant) mortality rates are a shame I'd never have thought this country was capable of inviting and bearing. One that would never have been advanced without inequitable representation.
It's even worse than that. You can't force someone to donate a kidney to save an adult, sentient human life; you can't even take organs from a corpse without prior approval from the person. But they want to force a woman to donate her entire body to a 9-month pregnancy, with all the attendant risks, childbirth, with even more risks, and then be solely responsible for another human being for 18 years, with no help, no aid, no support--in the service of saving a nonsentient clump of cells the size of your thumbnail. THEY WANT WOMEN TO HAVE FEWER RIGHTS THAN A CORPSE.
They want us to be inanimate objects that they can use and abuse as they wish, like soil to fertilize or leave fallow or do whatever they want with. Women who stand up to it, step "out of line,"--they want freedom to harm and even kill us. It's never been about babies or life. Everything they do, every law they pass, every action they take, makes it crystal clear it's ONLY about brutal, primitive, 9th century "burn the witch" misogyny.
And both rates - quelle surprise! have exploded post Dobbs. It takes a special level of ghoul to force women to carry a baby to term that has no chance of survival. I can't begin to fathom how you'd pull yourself back together after that - especially with our fab mental health systems.
Even a parody proposal would keep highlighting that there is a scandalous imbalance in how skewed our representation is. DC and PR status is a particularly bald steal -- they pay taxes, no? And I joke here, one per million would be an unruly Senate, but the numbers of Senators and Reps are highly skewed, even before we address the abomination that is the electoral college.
Or at least find SOME measure to equalize the unfairness of Wyoming having something like 70 times the representation of California
I think the only realistic way to accomplish it is to pass meaningful voting rights legislation & blow up the Supreme Court. And either is a heavy lift (though it shouldn't be if Ds would actually engage in politics). If Ds eke out a trifecta and don't drag this country into the future I fear we may not even have a future.
Hey Joe’s got a get outa jail card from the S Court ,he’s 82 years old a lame duck Prez and one pissed off ☘️ American 🇺🇸 …..he might not be afraid to give the I’m a king and untouchable ruling a little bit of a spin around the block !🙏🏻🤔🤫 Never know who an older gentleman who’s not quite right might inadvertently crush….😻 I-mean run into …?! I mean ….ah! Fuck it you knowww ! 🤣🙏🏻
It's insupportable.
Lawrence O’Donnell just jogged my memory of how 5 of the 6 republican justices …...all but Traitor Thomas were appointed by Presidents who did not win the Popular vote …..now our way of life is threatened by an illegitimate Supreme Kourt…..kurtesy of the Electoral Kolledge ! Hey all them K words …..seem to describe that Korrupt Kourts KinKy outlook on how to interpret that pesky Konstitution !🤪😵💫
That's a fact,jack.
‘Voluntarily’ ;)
P123, Every little action helps. I have been sending donations to Blue candidates in red states. I especially took up the cause for Missouri because of a Sub stack writer named Jess Piper. These people really need help. It’s not some spectacular amount..$50 here and there but even $10 to these people can add up if they get a lot of people donating. They need all the encouragement they can get!
Jess is wonderful!
💯‼️
Ditto
Why are my prayers not fucking being answered?!!!!!!
I continue to pray for lying fraudulent scumbag piece of shit Trump to suffer either a MASSIVE heart attack or MASSIVE debilitation stroke…..and I’m going to continue to pray until one of those death events happens!
Join me in prayer!
Joel, 😂 How about a Super Max Prison term instead. After the giant loss he’ll probably self destruct. I want to see him humiliated and his terrorist cult crushed
My prayers every night before bed
I’m so pissed no more prayers for me! I’m going to the logical entity for vengeance and doing a deal made in Hell ahhh haaa ha ! Look 👀 out you Orange 🍊 💩 shithead you getting No Sympathy from the DEVIL 😈 mo fo !
Isn’t that just too bad for them.
I was wondering how that is going? I have family history in Montana-I wonder if that family ranch-cred would help me change minds or win support? I guess I should get busy and find out!
And the scotus MUST be dealt with swiftly
SUPERMAJORITIES!!!!! VOTE,.PEOPLE!!!!
I am originally from Orange County, Ca., raised in a staunch Republcan family.
As a young adult I read Griffin's book and was shocked to my core. I think that's when I became a liberal.
I tried to describe that book to a white person, and they dismissed it saying, “That was 30 years ago."
Check out this cartoon: https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/44649c70-faed-4fb8-801e-e7c0cc342061_3000x2595.jpeg
Reminds me of the Bible, “They have eyes, but they cannot see, they have ears, but they cannot hear."
I truly love Micahel de Adder cartoons and he has a Substack newsletter so you can follow him here: https://substack.com/@deadder
Yes, that sounds like the elderly trump lady on facebook, who said there couldn't be racism, because she had never seen it. I then asked if there were any persons of color in her town, "no", she said. I then asked if she had ever left said town. "No", she said...
Uh, 30 years ago!? It’s from 1961. And I’m not sure what I think about that book. It’s old and most likely comes nowhere near the truth of what actual black people have actually been through since 1865. What I do know is that we cannot allow the country to go back to pre Civ War times. Which is what these white Christian republican motherfuckers want!
I don't think Black Like Me was necessarily the whole picture. But for someone who grew up with no black children in my school until I was 11, and with none in my neighborhood, it told me that a) they WERE people just as I was, even if they looked different, and b) they were not being viewed or treated fairly, by the same standard that white people were. For me, it was life-altering.
Scary apt unfortunately.
True.
I read it when I was a young adult too. That book should be required reading in high school for about eleventy-billion reasons, but of course it won’t be - too threatening to the MAGAts and Moms for Liberty, those types who could really learn something from it.
Ugh, Moms for Liberty - the preening ghost of Phyllis Schlafley lives on and on and on.
Until just now, I'd forgotten all about her. Dammit.
The founder who had threesomes with her (FL GOP Chairman) husband and a woman who later accused the husband of rape? That one?
Yes, Brigit and "Christian" that is his actual name. (the rapist dude).
Red states will never allow that book to be read. Snowflake conservative children can't handle it. It's being pulled from school library shelves as we speak.
That is beyond disgusting. I guess to them, Knowledge is a dangerous thing. Better keep the population dumbed down so they don’t ask pertinent questions …. I clearly remember Trump saying how much he loves the poorly educated - which of course he is Exhibit #1 for!!!
Like so many things, a hyper focused dumbing down of this already deeply stupid country really took off under Reagan w eviserating & villifying public education.
Absolutely. Moving to shut down public education so the rural kids and those who aren't wealthy will become the working caste. They will not need any education--they won't get to advance their station in life.
Ironic ay ?
I also read Baldwin and Richard Wright in HS. Should be required also. I found Griffin, Baldwin and Wright in my HS library. Among others. Did independent study. Today I don't think that would be allowed.
My high school had Wright and Baldwin, too -- and Solzhenitsyn and Vonnegut and Joseph Heller and much, much more. I read Catch-22 over and over -- it explained my world, in a way. For me, reading wasn't independent study (although it did keep me more engaged in school) -- it was using books to create a world I could live in.
I read everything Vonnegut published. Catch-22 was one of the funniest books I ever read. Can still quote from it after more than 50 years.
I did a lot of independent study because I could go read. Otherwise didn't have much use for HS.
Becky, I read that book as well when I was in high school, and I agree it should be required reading. Btw, nice to see another Steph-head on here!
It’s a miracle that it hasn’t been banned..or maybe it has and I just don’t know.
My family was breaking into the upper middle class, I guess, when I read it. But I had never met a Republican, or at least anyone who admitted it. For that matter, raised as a Reform Jew, I was unaware that Jews were even permitted to vote Republican. Met my first Republicans when I switched schools in HS, ninth grade, and it was the Goldwater campaign against LBJ. Some classmates were distributing John Birch Society pamphlets and propaganda, “A Choice Not an Echo” and other Schlafly screeds, vicious racist flyers… I was shocked. They all knew how dirty this was, how demeaning it was, what a pack of vile lies, but they didn’t care because they wanted to win. They didn’t care who they injured. This level of selfishness still makes me boil.
My family is still like that, all staunch Republicans, and my mother made a special effort before she passed to let me know no one could figure out how I turned out “this way”. I guess that makes me the official black sheep of the family. Ask me if I care. My dad is so bigoted and misogynistic that it makes me ashamed. I try to visit as little as possible. It is what it is.
Sorry. Has to be rough. Hang in there.
The 1964 election is when I think my dad openly broke from his all-Republican family. He voted for Kennedy, but don't think he ever told his dad. I remember some of the 1964 campaign, but was still in grade school and don't think I was exposed to just how ugly it was. I do remember how unhappy my grandfather was about my dad's defection, though. Knowing what I know now, Grandad would have been fine with even the ugliest of it.
Dad made sure we knew how crazy the right wing was at the time, but by making fun of how stupid it all was. Bircher billboards were everwhere, so he told us the joke about how you could tell just how rabid they were by whether they wanted to hang Earl Warren or just impeach him.
It was a fantastic book. And it is so tragic that he died of poisoning from the chemicals he used to make his skin look black.
I had forgotten about that. Sad indeed. His legacy will live on, knowing he opened up many eyes and hearts.
See why fascists ban books?
I remember that feeling from reading the book.
The whites think they have been
marginalized because the advances of the blacks latinos,& Asians….never thinking that the Whites are still the privileged class. Its ridiculous when these numbskulls talk of how great
Ahmerica is.
As the saying goes, more rights for others doesn't equal fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
🎯
But belonging to a privileged class isn't the same as having privilege: We know that an enormous number of Americans have been screwed financially over the past 43 years. They're struggling. They're anxious / hopeless / depressed / angry -- with good reason.
To be clear, I'm not condoning their anger at The Other, when in fact they should be angry at the CEO class, the GOP (with its union busting, allergy to regulations, and regressive tax code), and all of its wealthy donors. Unfortunately, people in despair are easy to manipulate, and the GOP has long taken advantage of that.
Despite my privilege (white, middle-class, educated), I've been destroyed -- financially, and my health -- by GOP economic policies; for various reasons, I see who's responsible and I don't hate / fear / blame Others. But I understand what it is to feel despondent most of the time, so I'm asking everyone to have some compassion -- not least bc compassion is the foundation for devising policies that make life better for those in pain, and a better life usually translates into far less fear / hatred / blame. Thanks.
Good point. I was, I thought, safely able to afford retirement. Then a chronic medical issue started to chip away. Medicare doesn't cover expensive procedures and medication I need.
Oh well.
Its miss placed rage.
When you've always taken for granted that you have 100% of the power, someone suddenly having 1% of it feels like oppression, if you're an asshole.
And assholes, like oxygen, are ubiquitous.
Indeed they are !
We have an extremely high asshole quotient here.
I'm not privileged at all, and don't need to be. Life kicks ass here in our little slice of Heaven, southeast Idaho. We still smile and wave at our neighbors, keep an eye on the kids and put our own worms on hooks. I was never made to be race "conscious ", it never mattered or occurred to me. Every man and woman on this Earth is equal, period. Makes things much easier when you look at it like that.
Same here. Jeff's post that includes sundown towns was a real eye opener and another valuable piece of info that needs to be put out there. As the felonious flag humper continues his make America hate again tour, he keeps throwing more of his usual shit at the press but yet, they continue to enable him and kiss his ass. They continue to fail us daily with no redeeming qualities in site.
Make America Hate again? I have not heard that one yet..perfect! I hate these fuckers…
It's sometimes Make America White Again too.
I don't know why the press would even want to continue trailing him around the country saying the same shit over and over and over and now they have to worry about getting maimed.
The bosses require it.
Exactly. The 🍊💩 makes them money. That is the one and only reason. Corporate greed= Corporate media.
💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲
I know how you feel. Why do they grovel? It's because of the people who own them and they need their job to pay the bills.
And now, one of his MAGA devotees just tried to attack the press after Demento Donny started his “ enemies of the people” bs again. The man was arrested & now faces misdemeanor charges. Think Donny will help out with his legal bills??
He had on sunglasses, and looked like he was disguised, so maybe a paid actor, knowing the trump bunch.
When my family traveled in Virginia it was common to see Whites Only signs at restaurants and gas station water fountains and bathrooms. I'm from VA and nothing has changed. The anger at these same places has taken the place of these signs. I moved to Florida after I got back from Vietnam in 70 and it's just as fucked up here.
That's because we have so many home-grown racists, joined by DeathSantis putting out the MAGAT bat-signal to the rest of them to retire here.
One consolation…Not much longer before Sunny Fla is going under the Atlantic waves …it’s flooding faster each day …they gonna be in Aquaman’s realm soon …the heavier it gets the better ."the more overfed obese Lard ass morons just hasten the day ! I hope the Keys can float haven’t seen them yet 🤪 GLUB ! GLUB ! 🌨️💨💧💦🫧☔️🌊🌊 going down Lardo’s next floor eternal hell …your floor scumbags 🤪🤣😂☔️guess that climate change talk had some truth to it ..think we should have read a bit more about it?How much are Sea fro…..Floor properties going for these days ?
It’s not a consolation to me, I live there. Although the projected map of how much of FL will be underwater stops well before my location.
So true
Chris, thank you for serving in the one of the worst US made-wars imaginable. Wife of a Vietnam Vet here who just got a 90% rating after 50+ years! Thank you, Joe for the PACT Act.
Thanks. Am glad your husband is finally getting some assistance. We are the lucky ones. Best to you both.
Saw a 'sundown' sign in northern Alabama in 1980.
I saw a Sundowner tattoo on Trumps forehead in an Alzheimer’s for Magats cartoon !
I am 71 years old, white guy from Texas. I cannot, no matter how hard I try, fully understand what black people went through, and often still do. I will say Black Like Me was the most impactful book I ever read. I read it in the late 60’s when I was high school. I will never forget it, never……What Griffin did was epic and important, to speak to the hearts of all of us on the other side of Jim Crow.
Agree. Sad to say that I live in a former sundown town in WI. I really hope he does not come here.
Neal— about 1/3 of my therapy cases are black women. I cannot help but be amazed that living in this racist country, they do not hate it, but manage to live their lives. Huge cost to their self image tho.
Neal, that wasn't a journalist. It was a not-so-average Joe.
I really thought it would all be gone sometime during my lifetime. After all, somewhere in the range of 80-100 years should be enough, right? I will be 79 this year. We really need to hurry this along....
80 years is enough time to forget the lessons of WWll, but somehow never to remember.
The "Black Like Me" book I found on my mom's book shelf, then read, and the movie "Rosewood" both left indelible impressions on me.
I saw one these signs in 1980 in northern Alabama,my Army buddies and I were in a van traveling to Chattanooga,TN,we burned it to the ground.
❤️
I read that book too and so did my mom. It should be required reading! Horrifying!
Civil War rematch.
Heather Cox Richardson summed it up in her book "how the South won the Civil War."
Me too. I didn't even have a black classmate until I was in 7th grade, which was about the time I read Black Like Me. It completely transformed how I thought and looked at the school and the university town where I lived.
Didn't prevent me from doing stupid shit -- my grandfather sent me a t-shirt from Atlanta with a picture of a guy with an ax (can't remember the saying, but of course it was Lester Maddox chasing black people out of his restaurant; now I know that it's perfectly in character that my ordained-minister grandfather would have thought that was funny.) Fortunately a black friend was one of the first to see me -- she stopped me and said, "WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?" -- and explained when she realized I had no clue. A true friend... :)
Book was a life changer for me.
The lies have become more brazen yet none of it penetrates the media news bubble while keyboards were worn out over Biden's orthopedic shoes and the height of the staircase he uses to board AF1. Mt. Rushmore level of journalistic malpractice on par w/Hillary's emails 🤡- @scarylawyerguy
Hey, did anyone notice there's 1 flag 🏴in the crazy lady from Georgia story and there are two flags in Donnie Dipschit's version? 🎌🎌
MORE MAGA MATH? 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
Expect it to worsen.
It's hard to imagine the MAGAs getting anymore obnoxious,but they probably will.
They seem to take it as a challenge.
I really hate that for all the references to the anniversary of the pullout from Afghanistan, there is scant mention of trump releasing 5,000 taliban fighters. That should be tv ad material.
Or how about when he wanted to invite the fucking Taliban to camp David?!?!
On the anniversary of 9/11 I think it was.
Ahhh yes, I knew it was something like that, like the most reprehensible, evil time one could think up!!!
He’s so stoooopid - like Taliban coming here would ever pass security clearance.
And really, Taliban know anyone coming on our soil would not be allowed to leave-
Most Western religions have one thing in common,domination and control of women.
One of those 5,000 was the bomber at the airport.
Yes, he is so fucking brazen!
Yep.
Wow!
There's also nothing being said about how President Biden had to pull out from Afghanistan the way they did because of the order signed by Diaper Don before he left the white house. Joe was under federal law, or whatever, to pull out the troops out the way he did.
Pompeo had the same stupid grin on his face standing with the Taliban.
A podcaster I listen to thinks that Joe’s evacuation (of 100k!?) was the f’n highlight of his presidency…🇺🇸✨
And that the treaty that Biden was trying to honor was written under the tRump term
That was the first thing that came to mind, his actions killed those people.
Geez. Was it 5000? From Gitmo? Was there ANY legitimacy attached? Like maybe they were held too long without charges? Or SOMETHING ???
No, wait. Who are we talking about? Mr. Lying. Scum.
How dare you suggest adding context.
And Bagram Airport was closed so people couldn't get out.
The press, the "legitimate" press should stop attending the hate rallies.
Exactly. This gives a valid reason for the press to decline attending his rallies. If they all stopped attending he’d lose his mind. Oh,….wait……
I’ve been saying that since 2016…who has gotten more free press than any one….ever? The orange shit bag! If they just stop accepting every invitation to make tons of money off of…..oh wait, now I get it! Corporate media doesn’t want to stop making tons of money off of the orange shit bag…🤦♀️duh! And I’m still royally pissed that the whole ear boo boo bullshit got swept under the fucking rug…..
I’m sure it was blood splatter from the man who was actually shot and killed.
Fat Boy was never struck by any bullet or fragment. The ear mini pad was a bogus attempt to get the rubes to believe he was some kind of a hero.
A Fraudster and Con man all the way!
And of course there were those really cool folks who adorned the ear pillows as well as the diapers! 🤦♀️ Who are these people? 😳
If only we could be that lucky. Lack of cameras and coverage would finally cause that corroded gasket to blow.
😂😂
Serious question: how could we tell?
Good luck finding the "legitimate press".
Give the DNC CREDIT for inviting Content Creators / Influencers to the Convention!!! These ppl post facts and data re: DEMOCRACY - ! MSM was furious (people are saying:). Their posts (independent media) alone have gained 400M impressions (!!!)
They've been offering Trump free campaigning for 9 years now.
Millions of dollars of free campaign coverage.
Yes! Free campaign ads via networks.
For my sins, I’m watching ABC This Week and just watched Trump Toadie #1 Lindsay Graham say that the real issue wasn’t whether rallying on Arlington was bad, it was the matter of how the soldiers were killed by Biden. You should have seen his eyes shift, he looked like a Christian Scientist with appendicitis.
I guess he forgot who made the deal with the Taliban, who tried to withdraw all of the troops before he left office and gave them the Taliban prisoners. But here's something for the INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS out there. Why did he tell a reporter at Mar-a-Lago during an interview in the spring of 2021 that he had to make a phone call because he was "still dealing with Afghanistan"??????? Was that another delusion, another bullshit story, or was he actually continuing to sabotage Biden? Because that was his aim after he lost, and part of the reason that Esper was fired.
It’s like we’ve been subconsciously programmed to give this guy a Participation Trophy at every f’n TURN…😠😡🤬
They never mention it
I wish I could take the tombstones of 241 mostly Marines killed in Beirut in 1983 because of Reagan’s stupidity and shove them up the asses of all these shitheads who like to blame Democrats for Afghanistan and Benghazi. Politicizing can go both ways, you know? All those dead civilians on 9/11 because Bush couldn’t be bothered to take Clinton’s advice and keep an eye on Al Qaeda.
Maybe it's time to start reminding them. Trump is blaming Harris for the hostages, even though he's been talking Netanyahu into keeping the war going.
OMG - it's up next where we live but I won't be able to watch that segment without that image in my head!! Why oh why must they continue to have this "Toadie" on the talk shows! He makes me just as ill as tRump himself.
How would you like it if -- drum roll -- he were your SENATOR?! (Yep. He is. Gag.)
Hang on Kathy. The train is coming.
😡and we have Ron Johnson 😡
Eeeww. We have to get rid of that slug!
That guy looks like a corpse of a vampire victim!
BIG GAG!
My condolences.
We’ve got a Double whammy of douche bags in Florida- Marquito Rubio and skinhead alien Rivk Scott. Match that!
Maybe you can get rid of Skeletor this election. Could happen.
Mine too
Mr.Graham is eagerly waitin' fo da Sout tuh rize agin. Gotta git da famly propity bak.
As he reclines on his Chaise Lounge, sipping a mint julep.
There was a comment on another substack that the reason why Graham is always on the Sunday shows is that he has no friends or family.
That's mean. But I really like it.
He is as worthless as a bag o’ hammers.
And also a flip-flopping flim-flam ass.
I’d say, by comparison. A bag of hammers has quite a bit worth. At least with a hammer you can fix things, protect yourself, can even smash your finger. What at all can you do with Ms Lindsey?
Everyone should call LG's office and tell him that we want him to stop lying. In this case, he's lying by not stating that SCUMP negotiated the withdrawal (just for a different date) and that SCUMP -- who negotiated w the Taliban but not the then-prez of Afghanistan, despite being told that was a bad idea -- is equally responsible if not more so.
Every time a GOP pol lies, we need to call their office and tell them that we, as an American citizen, are their constituent and therefore we insist that they stop lying. Differences of opinion on policy matters is acceptable; lies are not.
To find any senator's DC office ph. no., search: contact surname 202-224-
For any rep., search: contact surname 202-225-
Trump's lackeys have had free reign on all the networks too.
Wowwwwww 😞
"why is the press continuing to give the fascist leader of a violent mob every benefit of the doubt and whitewashing his lawless behavior?" THAT'S the thousand dollar question right here. This whole thing is like a bad dream. Trump is insane and the press pretends he isn't.
I hate everybody except you guys.
It’s crazy but I think it’s all about ratings, money, careers. They are playing their part in the “how to become a fascist country” handbook.
Yes. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Corporate media’s relationship to trump is the same as the two cowpokes in the movie Brokeback Mountain, “I can't quit you!”
It seems to involve the same physical act, too!
😂😂😂😂
And Theil, being gay, and Musk being neurodivergent, they will be taken down and their money taken, by the very monster they fed to kill everyone else. Zuck is Jewish, so they'll get him too.
The press is clearly in the tank for Trump and not even bothering to hide it. I hate this sick and evil country.
The country is not sick and evil. The billionaire owners of the MSM are.
Hopefully we are finding that out with the wonderful KH/TW acceptance.
Nailed it !
Thanks!
Musk,Murdoch,Zuck and Thiel,getting rich on hate.
They should have all been neutered long ago. Metaphorically, that is.
I have no problem with it being done physically. (How many offspring does muskrat have now? he, with the exceptional genes + ASD?)
Absolulu !
So do i.
He’s losing it more each day, soon he will gibber like a monkey, that will be all the brain power he will have left.
It won't matter. He has created a death cult and they will follow him to the Kool-Aide drinking stage.
If only.
And his cultists will finish the complete slide into Trumpanzeeism, and "ape" his behavior.
Me too, but maybe not ALL of " you guys ". I had the temerity to respond nastily to being criticized " nastily ".
Story of my life, as a petit blonde woman, it seems I've always been a target. Should I " keep my mouth closed & my legs together " ? FUCK THAT
I agree. Crazy ass. So many outlets have gone over to the “sell out our country, and your soul” side of the room. It’s really disturbing.
Can we add my mom & my sister to your circle? Bc they're pretty cool & my mom is a VERY isolated D in a ridiculously red part of Iowa.
Lawrence O'Donnell is with us.
Remarkable how successful tRump has been at revealing America to itself. Not a very flattering look!
Yes, he’s brought out the very worst in all of us, unfortunately.
Trump is a moron but when it comes to sadistic racism, he knows what he's doing. Those rallies held in sundown towns is NO coincidence. He IS rallying the troops of fascist knuckledraggers. This is infuriating!
Infuriating. Also horrifying.
I've noticed a couple of times when the stupid bastard Trump refers to Harris (and other persons of color) as "that one", or "this one", not Vice president, not Harris, not even a mangled pronunciation of Kamala. "I am going to debate this one." I know what he meant to say [Nword or Cword, maybe both] and so do his idiot racist fans. But our masters of journalism don't seem to see or hear anything that their corporate owners don't want them to.
On February 20, 1939, the pro-Nazi German American Bund drew more than 20,000 people to a rally in Madison Square Garden. Racist idiots and their enablers have, unfortunately, always lived among us. It ticked me off in 2015 when the media actively promoted his nonsense. Now that he's having full-blown bund rallies, it's become important and serious that the MSM address this. As Friday proved, they'll be the first to go. But "serious" is not how I would describe today's journalist. They're unserious people who would light the fuse to the dynamite strapped to their own chests by this felon just to show how "fair" they are to "both sides."
I say again and will continue to say that my old journalism professor is spinning in his grave.
Mark—I am residing Philip Roth’s A Plot Against America, hadn’t come across it before. If Lindbergh had won — gives you shivers..But then, if tfg wins… Back to that scenario.
Everyone should be reading A Plot Against America these days. Not only because of the imagined possibilities that we may be actually living now, but also because Philip Roth is/was a literary fiction giant and a proud and patriotic American. His novel Operation Shylock should be in great demand during these times as well. America, Israel, Palestine, the Shoah, crazy and brilliant Jews, crazy and brilliant Arabs, crazy and brilliant Americans, and some of the best rants ever composed, plus humor, tragedy, and because it is Roth, interestingly odd sexy things. "Operation Shylock" should be widely read, probably forever. Because humans never learn a goddamn thing. It seems . . .
And I'm sure you've probably read that older classic "It Can't Happen Here " of Sinclair Lewis'. But a couple histories I've read in the last few years about Hitler's rise to power using the existing (if new) German constitution and parliamentary processes really unnerved me. 'The Weimar Years 1918-1933' by Frank McDonough and William Shirer's old "Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich". The parallels of a complacent majority just going along with the loudest extremists in actual democratic elections and the propaganda of Goebbels finding a willing press to what's been going on here since trump surfaced are pretty eerie.
The only thing that gives me hope is how many less people have been raising hell on his behalf since several insurrectionists went to prison for it. He is doing his best to rile the MAGA masses but I can only hope they learn from other people’s mistakes; that while they are supporting him, there’s a limit to what they will do.
Reagan didn't kick off his campaign in Philadelphia MS for nothing.
GMTA.
He kicked off his campaign in Waco,TX.
Wished they'd kept him there. With that weird-faced HGTV lady, who has the barn-board as decoration fetish.
I stand corrected; he just gave an infamous 'state's rights' speech there.
Just like Reagan, announcing his campaign in that horrible town in Mississippi Where the KKK killed the Civil Rights workers.