I will never normalize these behaviors & neither should anyone else. I have much higher standards not only for myself but for others also. A sad sad day indeed & even worse some who were involved are still supposed representatives of are country in office. Nothing having been done about it is beyond complicit imo lowering standards & norms. If one has nothing higher to reach for or aspire to these behaviors continue. Really unforgivable to me, definitely not the standards I want to set.
It's interesting to me that as someone who is an independent voter and mostly interacts with other independents, most of my social circle felt that the outcry about January 6th was blown out of proportion. Nonetheless, the fact that the people chiefly responsible for it ended up not facing any consequences whatsoever is still shocking. It wasn't inconsequential, and people died. Many laws were broken, and the intent was to interfere with the results of an election. This country is dysfunctional in too many ways to count.
Republicans in congress who go against the Constitution,
specifically the 14th Amendment section 3, disqualifying them from serving, especially refusing to charge the incoming president, who was found guilty of the 2021 insurrection.
Why is our Constitution ignored by our Government and specific Supreme Court Justices? Greed can not rule our country. What happened to the Justice system not following thexrule of law?
It is unbearable watching this play out on real time.
Thank you for giving us continued hope with your four steps of what we can do now. I’ve been voting for over 50 years, and I often took my young son to the polls with me. I taught him that local elections are the most important, as they affect us most directly, and should never be skipped. Local and state elections are the training ground for knowledgeable, competent Congresspeople and Governors. These are the leaders who will do their best to maintain our democracy and prevent our country falling into fascism. They will protect us from damage at the state and local level. Never give up hope.
Well, I can still look at myself in the mirror and know I am working to create a better future for my children and your children. If you have a different standard, perhaps one in which you capitulate to fascism for short term gain, good luck to you. My standard will remain absolute justice.
There exists an almost infinite middle ground between “absolute justice” and “capitulate to fascism.” But I guess in the current era such nuances don’t get obsequious praise for every word written plus dopamine clicks.
I’m not sure that’s true. I think there’s a fair argument to be made that bringing the New York case (Alvin Bragg’s work, pursuing a direction that DOJ elected not to) animated Trump himself and galvanized support for him. Polls seem to suggest that, anyway. Having a fixed mindset—I.e. “Trump is a criminal”—and pursuing that at any cost seems to me to have been a failed strategy.
Resisting whatever authoritarianism or fascism is coming is the right thing to do, but that shouldn’t blind us to considering better choices that might have helped in the past.
I'll NEVER forget the horror of January 6th and people I do NOT want to hear from today are feckless, COWARD Democrats who are rolling over and handing the keys of the last of our democracy over to a fascist tyrant and I do NOT want to hear from ANY corporate owned mainstream news networks, journalists or pundits who normalized and both-sided us into fascism. I really appreciate you and your wonderful straight to the point journalism.
Today is one of the saddest dates in American history. We all watched what transpired four years ago, and it is unfathomable that we have allowed that POS, convicted felon to reenter the scene of the crime. We will soon be entering a hitleresque hell, allowed by the MAGAT cultist lunatics, and others. Also responsible are the Democrats who were too lazy to vote Blue, as they thought Kamala had it in the bag, or for whatever reason they did not commit to vote. Over 6 million of you dropped the ball. This date will go down in infamy. Will we survive as a Democracy?
Thank you, Qasim, for laying out the history so accurately, and the steps to take to make a difference. Democracy ain't easy but so far, it seems to be the best way to live -- it takes a lot of personal WORK, better in groups, time out of other things we may want to do, but if we have learned anything in these bitter years of trump and trump-squawking, it's that being a citizen is not just voting every 4 years, but continual surveillance and tweaking, when we see illiberal policies rear their heads.
Thank you Martha, and well said. We need to be continually engaged. I hope we see a massive increase in citizen engagement these next 4 years and beyond.
Cowardice is the right word and it is rampant when integrity cannot be found. We need true moral courage from our leaders. Regular principles of leadership expressed in action would be nice. We have too many in leadership roles who are not leaders or thinkers or even caring people of average IQ. Too many are anti everything instead of being pro-human, pro-earth, pro- truth, pro- education.
I watch with interest to see how these republicans in power will draft complex legislation when they have no experience at it and we won’t be drafting it for them. They only oppose what democrats propose and drafting legislation requires real skill to be good. The courts will be very busy but then this isn’t about doing good for this branch of conservatives who don’t conserve anything but truth. what a shame. We will be busy!
Excellent piece as usual. January 6th was a truly terrifying day. The problem is that half of America was (and still is) on board with it. Might I see the destruction of democracy and the United States of America in my lifetime? Yes. I never thought I'd say that, but it's looming. My sister actually said she was thankful my parents passed away because seeing Trump become President would have killed them. (That is true, it would have.) The old trope about moving to Canada is off the table, too, because they are under threat from Trump as well. As horrible as the weather and the crime rate has gotten in New York, I'm glad I'm here, although I'm afraid for my native Philadelphia. I think we just have to hold our breath and hope -- like a bad gas pain -- this too shall pass.
Thank you, Sam. Yes I have hope in the American experiment but in total transparency there are days where I wonder what tomorrow brings, because this current trajectory of injustice is unsustainable.
Thank you for your continuing truth telling. I want to make sure you and your readers have seen Peter Beinart's powerful video this morning about outgoing Sec'y of State Blinken's moral bankruptcy that surely fed many people's willingness to vote for Trump:
And also this important conversation between two Jewish teachers facing nationalism head on and opening the depth of conversation needed as we consider how democracy can emerge from today's ashes:
Zionism and the Diaspora: A Conversation between Larry Bush and Rabbi Jonathan Kligler
We are not worse off than we were 4 years ago, but in 2 weeks we will be infinitely worse off as a dictatorial regime takes over and starts to destroy our democracy.
Jan 6, 2021 was a day of horror as we watched a vile evil man direct thousands to attack our Capitol. Soon he will be directing his forces to arrest his opponents, cut the social safety net in favor of tax cuts for billionaires, fire experienced civil servants in favor of people loyal to him, and I could continue this litany of destruction but I think I have to go vomit now.
Keep telling the truth. We must.
Always. ❤️✊🏽
I hate feeling this deep rage and hatred against Trumpers. But there's no other way to feel.
I also feel it against powerful Dems who did nothing to hold Trump accountable. Just indefensible failure.
Those people should be regarded as Trumpers, since they enabled him.
I will never normalize these behaviors & neither should anyone else. I have much higher standards not only for myself but for others also. A sad sad day indeed & even worse some who were involved are still supposed representatives of are country in office. Nothing having been done about it is beyond complicit imo lowering standards & norms. If one has nothing higher to reach for or aspire to these behaviors continue. Really unforgivable to me, definitely not the standards I want to set.
Yep. Truly indefensible. And our entire republic is now at risk.
It's interesting to me that as someone who is an independent voter and mostly interacts with other independents, most of my social circle felt that the outcry about January 6th was blown out of proportion. Nonetheless, the fact that the people chiefly responsible for it ended up not facing any consequences whatsoever is still shocking. It wasn't inconsequential, and people died. Many laws were broken, and the intent was to interfere with the results of an election. This country is dysfunctional in too many ways to count.
I cannot understand how every person with at least normal cognitive functioning wasn't outraged. I still can't believe what has happened.
Republicans in congress who go against the Constitution,
specifically the 14th Amendment section 3, disqualifying them from serving, especially refusing to charge the incoming president, who was found guilty of the 2021 insurrection.
Why is our Constitution ignored by our Government and specific Supreme Court Justices? Greed can not rule our country. What happened to the Justice system not following thexrule of law?
It is unbearable watching this play out on real time.
All great questions for Merrick Garland...sadly he never actually cared.
Nailed it.
Thank you for giving us continued hope with your four steps of what we can do now. I’ve been voting for over 50 years, and I often took my young son to the polls with me. I taught him that local elections are the most important, as they affect us most directly, and should never be skipped. Local and state elections are the training ground for knowledgeable, competent Congresspeople and Governors. These are the leaders who will do their best to maintain our democracy and prevent our country falling into fascism. They will protect us from damage at the state and local level. Never give up hope.
“Our standard is absolute justice?” How’s that working out so far?
Well, I can still look at myself in the mirror and know I am working to create a better future for my children and your children. If you have a different standard, perhaps one in which you capitulate to fascism for short term gain, good luck to you. My standard will remain absolute justice.
There exists an almost infinite middle ground between “absolute justice” and “capitulate to fascism.” But I guess in the current era such nuances don’t get obsequious praise for every word written plus dopamine clicks.
There may be much middle ground, but I would prefer to be as close to Qasim's end of that as possible.
I think I am too, but I’ll still object to the word “absolute” whenever I see it—not least because the evidence is clear that that’s not happening.
Just because it's not happening doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive for it.
I’m not sure that’s true. I think there’s a fair argument to be made that bringing the New York case (Alvin Bragg’s work, pursuing a direction that DOJ elected not to) animated Trump himself and galvanized support for him. Polls seem to suggest that, anyway. Having a fixed mindset—I.e. “Trump is a criminal”—and pursuing that at any cost seems to me to have been a failed strategy.
Resisting whatever authoritarianism or fascism is coming is the right thing to do, but that shouldn’t blind us to considering better choices that might have helped in the past.
I'll NEVER forget the horror of January 6th and people I do NOT want to hear from today are feckless, COWARD Democrats who are rolling over and handing the keys of the last of our democracy over to a fascist tyrant and I do NOT want to hear from ANY corporate owned mainstream news networks, journalists or pundits who normalized and both-sided us into fascism. I really appreciate you and your wonderful straight to the point journalism.
Thank you, Sharron. I share your anger and frustration. We cannot capitulate to fascism. Never will.
Today is one of the saddest dates in American history. We all watched what transpired four years ago, and it is unfathomable that we have allowed that POS, convicted felon to reenter the scene of the crime. We will soon be entering a hitleresque hell, allowed by the MAGAT cultist lunatics, and others. Also responsible are the Democrats who were too lazy to vote Blue, as they thought Kamala had it in the bag, or for whatever reason they did not commit to vote. Over 6 million of you dropped the ball. This date will go down in infamy. Will we survive as a Democracy?
Thank you, Qasim, for laying out the history so accurately, and the steps to take to make a difference. Democracy ain't easy but so far, it seems to be the best way to live -- it takes a lot of personal WORK, better in groups, time out of other things we may want to do, but if we have learned anything in these bitter years of trump and trump-squawking, it's that being a citizen is not just voting every 4 years, but continual surveillance and tweaking, when we see illiberal policies rear their heads.
Thank you Martha, and well said. We need to be continually engaged. I hope we see a massive increase in citizen engagement these next 4 years and beyond.
Cowardice is the right word and it is rampant when integrity cannot be found. We need true moral courage from our leaders. Regular principles of leadership expressed in action would be nice. We have too many in leadership roles who are not leaders or thinkers or even caring people of average IQ. Too many are anti everything instead of being pro-human, pro-earth, pro- truth, pro- education.
I watch with interest to see how these republicans in power will draft complex legislation when they have no experience at it and we won’t be drafting it for them. They only oppose what democrats propose and drafting legislation requires real skill to be good. The courts will be very busy but then this isn’t about doing good for this branch of conservatives who don’t conserve anything but truth. what a shame. We will be busy!
Excellent piece as usual. January 6th was a truly terrifying day. The problem is that half of America was (and still is) on board with it. Might I see the destruction of democracy and the United States of America in my lifetime? Yes. I never thought I'd say that, but it's looming. My sister actually said she was thankful my parents passed away because seeing Trump become President would have killed them. (That is true, it would have.) The old trope about moving to Canada is off the table, too, because they are under threat from Trump as well. As horrible as the weather and the crime rate has gotten in New York, I'm glad I'm here, although I'm afraid for my native Philadelphia. I think we just have to hold our breath and hope -- like a bad gas pain -- this too shall pass.
Thank you, Sam. Yes I have hope in the American experiment but in total transparency there are days where I wonder what tomorrow brings, because this current trajectory of injustice is unsustainable.
Thank you for your continuing truth telling. I want to make sure you and your readers have seen Peter Beinart's powerful video this morning about outgoing Sec'y of State Blinken's moral bankruptcy that surely fed many people's willingness to vote for Trump:
https://peterbeinart.substack.com/p/antony-blinkens-mental-prison?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
And also this important conversation between two Jewish teachers facing nationalism head on and opening the depth of conversation needed as we consider how democracy can emerge from today's ashes:
Zionism and the Diaspora: A Conversation between Larry Bush and Rabbi Jonathan Kligler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0J18VLQQKM&t=32s
Much as I admire Peter Beinart, I simply cannot afford another subscription. Could you say a little more about his message?
Thanks, Roberta. And thanks for sharing these links on Beinart. I've found his work to be well researched and well argued.
We are not worse off than we were 4 years ago, but in 2 weeks we will be infinitely worse off as a dictatorial regime takes over and starts to destroy our democracy.
Jan 6, 2021 was a day of horror as we watched a vile evil man direct thousands to attack our Capitol. Soon he will be directing his forces to arrest his opponents, cut the social safety net in favor of tax cuts for billionaires, fire experienced civil servants in favor of people loyal to him, and I could continue this litany of destruction but I think I have to go vomit now.
YES. There isn’t anything we can do; the dumbass has “killer” followers now. Sure, it was planned…
And virtually endless money. Trump is nothing. Elon's puppet. And Elon will be emperor of the world. (UNLESS Putin decides otherwise.)