Ranked choice voting is not why Cuomo lost. Mamdani had an insurmountable lead on election night and moved way above 50% after the ranked choices were tabulated.
Trump is full of hatred for humanity and American voters have made him powerful so he can manifest his hatred-at-large against, ie., Palestinians, immigrants and Ukrainians,exacting a pound flesh in his every transaction
The Original Sin of America that continues as our shadow is the belief by many that some people are better than others and more fit to rule. They deserve liberty and equality that the rest of us don’t take for granted.
Yes, I think there is truth to this. But I would say the Original Sin of America was slavery, and then to justify it, slave owners or former slave owners had to make up the fiction that some people are better than others. Millions of slaves were brought from Africa in the most horrific of conditions (I only recently learned that the number was in the millions and I was shocked at how many people were taken from Africa and enslaved). And that was back when the population probably wasn't all that large, so millions was a very large percentage of the overall population. Southern plantation owners were terrified of slave revolts because they were so outnumbered by slaves.
Reading about 'Jim Crow' and the civil rights movement, Trump/MAGA/Project 2025 are for a large part repeating the playbook (of Jim Crow). I have been reading 'Lost Prophet' about Bayard Rustin who was an organizer for peace and civil rights in the 50s and 60s. He was the master mind behind the March on Washington in 1963. He was very focused on economic justice. Trump/MAGA/Project 2025 have vastly expanded the number of people who are now fighting for economic justice with the Big BAD bill.
I have to agree with everything you wrote here. If I slice it another way, though, and include women, I think the belief that only certain classes of men are fit to rule comes from the Divine Right o Kings history. Both were deep in the psyche of the founders
I will always remember, as a girl of about 10 years old, visiting the Lincoln Memorial and looking up at my mom. Tears running down her cheeks as she read the words engraved on the wall. I didn't understand but she explained it to me. Very moving place.
Yesterday I watched your interview with Mikie Sherrill. I donated to her campaign. I will also donate to Abigail Spanberger. So important to get the states in order.
it's not about trust, it's about how much time a person has to follow links. People post wonderful links in these comments, but give detail re: what they cover - if they don't give detail ordinarily someone asks for detail.
Thanks for your comments. As I was posting on Hopium, I assumed most would be familiar with the concept of Resistance self-sabotage. And my post is distinctly and specifically that - my first experience with it being directed at me personally.
Once the news media began labeling judges liberal, conservative, appointed by…. That seemingly small thing helped us get to where we are today. We all do it now. We can’t help ourselves.
I grew up in a predominantly Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York and was the only (quarter German) WASP in my home room from fourth through ninth grades in the boomer days. I carried then, and still do, an ocean liner sized boatload of ethnic guilt. So this whole resurrection of demographically targeted deportations and the establishment of concentration camps on USAmerican soil resonates extremely unpleasantly with me.
I want to concentrate my Hopium fueled oppositional activities on the immigration-related actions and issues. If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate hearing them. I currently live in a Christian nationalist but almost on the purple side of red MAGAt enclave of CA about 150 miles up in the mountains outside of the Bay Area.
McClintock. Whom we sincerely hope, and are working to dethrone. He wrote me a disgusting reply, yesterday, to my email to him in which I objected to the roughing up of Sen Padilla.
Hasn’t shown up in person for something like seventeen years. He sent a minion back in March or so. A hundred or so folks showed up and expressed ourselves loudly and politely. The next month on Good Friday we videotaped an empty chair Town Hall and sent it to him. Every now and then he runs a teleconference which he announces maybe four hours ahead. I’ve never managed to get into one.
Emily -- you got me laughing. Seventeen years... Wow.
I'm in a blue area here in Georgia that's gerrymandered and split between Loudermilk (my district) and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Loudermilk hasn't held a live town hall in ages either.
Greene held a town hall recently where everyone was a vetted constituent and yet three were jailed for speaking out -- two of them tased. 'I am NOT here to listen to you; you will listen to ME."
We've lived here over 40 years now. Larry McDonald (D) was the rep back then -- killed when the Soviets shot down KAL-007. He was one of the last of the "John Birch Democrats."
Newt also "served" the district. It's been a long steady process of moving our community more blue. Hillary beat Trump by a few points in 2016; Biden by a bigger margin ... and Kamala by an even bigger margin.
I’ve been here about ten years, married into the community from the east during the Obama administration. I’m an academic nerd and only realized I should get serous about politics when Biden ran into trouble…. So I’m an old newbie with a serious “crush” on Padilla.
As for an "idea" -- and I would not offer one if I didn't better know your situation -- it sounds like the Community's "Resolutions Project" may be a great match for the purple-ing areas nearby. Combined with a press release, it seems like a great way to get folks on board with our Constitution. Be grateful you've got an anti-MAGA governor. There are possibilities there. Our situation in Georgia is MUCH different.
PS: The last Democratic candidate to seriously challenge Loudermilk was Antonio Daza in 2022 -- and he did quite well for an openly gay immigrant from Venezuela.
Abraham Lincoln, as far back as 1858, advocated the need to re-adopt the Declaration of Independence. In 1863, that is what he effectively did with the Gettysburg Address. And it is what we must do: re-adopt the Declaration, in word and in deed. We must make it manifest, as Robert Hayden said Frederick Douglass did in his poem about him. Freedom--we must be as Frederick Douglass "fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing."
Messages sent this morning to Senator Duckworth and Governor Pritzer thanking them for outstanding work in standing up to Trump. I woke up thinking about all the undocumented people I met living in Dallas for 30 years, ashamed that they are likely now living in fear or perhaps already being held in a cage somewhere. This repulsive inhumanity toward our neighbors - we must stop it somehow. Keep fighting friends.
I, too, live in Illinois and have sent thanks to Senator Duckworth, Governor Pritzker, attorney general Kwame Raoul, and my retiring House representative Jan "I haven't been in jail for a awhile, maybe it's time to be thrown in there again!" Schakowsky, as well as to Joe and Jill Biden for their wonderful work in the face of attacks and false information. My senators and Jan also hear from me about issues, but thanks are SO important as well!
Hi Shelley - I saw Jan was retiring, but haven’t see who the Dems are putting forth for a candidate to replace her. I’m hoping it’s a strong leader! I’m downstate in Peoria but know Jan from webinars I’ve attended.
Hi, Kent, I went to college in Peoria at Bradley. I helped organize a demonstration after the Kent State killings, so I've been an activist for a LONG time. So far the 3 people that I know are running are Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss (who also served in state government) Laura Fine, my 9th district state senator, and Kat Abughazaleh, a 26 year old, progressive candidate with a huge Tiktok presence. I supported Biss when he was running against Pritzker (although Pritzker has been a fantastic governor) but Fine has deep knowledge of our district, unlike Aughzaleh, who doesn't even live in the district, and is, frankly, too progressive for me (progressive Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been a disaster, a wonderful campaigner, but abysmal at getting things done.) I'll probably end up working for Fine. More people will run, too, so it should be interesting!
Primary all Republicans and support Democrats who will take care of the middle class and the working class of America.
It’s to get rid of all republican office holders all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom
that are loyal to Trump that are not loyal to the American people and their best interests.
It’s about forcing billionaires to pay their taxes
It’s about creating a wealth tax that is significant enough on billionaires to pay for United States infrastructure as well as Medicare for all and free college for all
it is About finding all the hidden money in the Caribbean etc for taxation to support America
I have started responding to anyone who says that "both parties are the same" or "both sides do it" with:
Did women lose their right to choose under a Democratic administration?
Was the Supreme Court majority that gave a president immunity one that was put there by a Democratic President?
Did a Republican president put Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court?
Did a Democratic President put an anti vaxxer nut job, who claimed to have had a dead worm in his brain at one point but supposedly is fine now, in charge of HHS?
Did a Democratic President put Dr Oz in charge of Medicare & Medicaid?
Is it a Democratic President who is gleefully allowing agencies to illegally grab people off the street, demean them, dehumanize them, place them in unmarked cars and be sent to detention centers with most being deported without due process?
I just returned from the post office, where I have been mailing handmade gifts to friends who are in need of light. I think this is part of what we also do right now—take care of each other while we prepare for the Summer of Accountability, as they are calling it. Also, I know I'm a weird voice here (actually, a weird voice anywhere), but as a writer/reader/teacher, I think that Grace Paley—the great activist-writer who did not give up—has much to teach us at this time. And so I share her here: https://thehushandthehowl.substack.com/p/grace-paley-and-faith
During a recent conversation with Sean Wilentz and Sidney Blumenthal, Judge Michael Luttig gave vent to a harsh criticism of Justice Roberts, despite their friendship. Judge Luttig said the Chief Justice knows exactly how lawless Trump's actions are and his failure to respond adequately is reckless. I've heard Sherilynn Ifill express exactly the same sentiments. The comments confirm what many of us have thought and is deeply worrying.
Ranked choice voting is not why Cuomo lost. Mamdani had an insurmountable lead on election night and moved way above 50% after the ranked choices were tabulated.
Oh, my mistake! That how I saw it reported, but easy to believe it was wrong. Or perhaps I mis-remembered. Sorry about that!
I believe that the basic truth is that Donald Trump just really, really hates America. He has never been able to get the ‘respect’ he thinks he deserves. He’s not out to make America great again. He’s out to make America grovel at his feet. https://open.substack.com/pub/jonthinks/p/donald-trump-hates-america?r=mrvx1&utm_medium=ios
Trump is full of hatred for humanity and American voters have made him powerful so he can manifest his hatred-at-large against, ie., Palestinians, immigrants and Ukrainians,exacting a pound flesh in his every transaction
Trump hates everything. It's not limited to America. He is a distillation of hate.
The Original Sin of America that continues as our shadow is the belief by many that some people are better than others and more fit to rule. They deserve liberty and equality that the rest of us don’t take for granted.
Yes, I think there is truth to this. But I would say the Original Sin of America was slavery, and then to justify it, slave owners or former slave owners had to make up the fiction that some people are better than others. Millions of slaves were brought from Africa in the most horrific of conditions (I only recently learned that the number was in the millions and I was shocked at how many people were taken from Africa and enslaved). And that was back when the population probably wasn't all that large, so millions was a very large percentage of the overall population. Southern plantation owners were terrified of slave revolts because they were so outnumbered by slaves.
Reading about 'Jim Crow' and the civil rights movement, Trump/MAGA/Project 2025 are for a large part repeating the playbook (of Jim Crow). I have been reading 'Lost Prophet' about Bayard Rustin who was an organizer for peace and civil rights in the 50s and 60s. He was the master mind behind the March on Washington in 1963. He was very focused on economic justice. Trump/MAGA/Project 2025 have vastly expanded the number of people who are now fighting for economic justice with the Big BAD bill.
I have to agree with everything you wrote here. If I slice it another way, though, and include women, I think the belief that only certain classes of men are fit to rule comes from the Divine Right o Kings history. Both were deep in the psyche of the founders
I will always remember, as a girl of about 10 years old, visiting the Lincoln Memorial and looking up at my mom. Tears running down her cheeks as she read the words engraved on the wall. I didn't understand but she explained it to me. Very moving place.
Yesterday I watched your interview with Mikie Sherrill. I donated to her campaign. I will also donate to Abigail Spanberger. So important to get the states in order.
I had my first experience with the Resistance self-sabotage. It drove me to write my 1st Substack article.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ronniereelz/p/my-first-substack?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2w2fkz
Please give more detail re: what link covers.
It is exactly what I stated. MY first Substack post.
Simon talks about the Resistance fighting within itself quite frequently. Self-sabotage is not what we need right now.
If you don't trust links in SubStack, then just go to my SubStack Dashboard
it's not about trust, it's about how much time a person has to follow links. People post wonderful links in these comments, but give detail re: what they cover - if they don't give detail ordinarily someone asks for detail.
Thanks for your comments. As I was posting on Hopium, I assumed most would be familiar with the concept of Resistance self-sabotage. And my post is distinctly and specifically that - my first experience with it being directed at me personally.
Once the news media began labeling judges liberal, conservative, appointed by…. That seemingly small thing helped us get to where we are today. We all do it now. We can’t help ourselves.
I grew up in a predominantly Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York and was the only (quarter German) WASP in my home room from fourth through ninth grades in the boomer days. I carried then, and still do, an ocean liner sized boatload of ethnic guilt. So this whole resurrection of demographically targeted deportations and the establishment of concentration camps on USAmerican soil resonates extremely unpleasantly with me.
I want to concentrate my Hopium fueled oppositional activities on the immigration-related actions and issues. If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate hearing them. I currently live in a Christian nationalist but almost on the purple side of red MAGAt enclave of CA about 150 miles up in the mountains outside of the Bay Area.
Is your Rep in the House, LaMalfa, Kiley, or McClintock?
McClintock. Whom we sincerely hope, and are working to dethrone. He wrote me a disgusting reply, yesterday, to my email to him in which I objected to the roughing up of Sen Padilla.
Side note: Kiley is in a +2 R district -- like Calvert -- but in different columns.
Thank you. How is McClintock handling town halls?
Hasn’t shown up in person for something like seventeen years. He sent a minion back in March or so. A hundred or so folks showed up and expressed ourselves loudly and politely. The next month on Good Friday we videotaped an empty chair Town Hall and sent it to him. Every now and then he runs a teleconference which he announces maybe four hours ahead. I’ve never managed to get into one.
Emily -- you got me laughing. Seventeen years... Wow.
I'm in a blue area here in Georgia that's gerrymandered and split between Loudermilk (my district) and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Loudermilk hasn't held a live town hall in ages either.
Greene held a town hall recently where everyone was a vetted constituent and yet three were jailed for speaking out -- two of them tased. 'I am NOT here to listen to you; you will listen to ME."
We've lived here over 40 years now. Larry McDonald (D) was the rep back then -- killed when the Soviets shot down KAL-007. He was one of the last of the "John Birch Democrats."
Newt also "served" the district. It's been a long steady process of moving our community more blue. Hillary beat Trump by a few points in 2016; Biden by a bigger margin ... and Kamala by an even bigger margin.
I’ve been here about ten years, married into the community from the east during the Obama administration. I’m an academic nerd and only realized I should get serous about politics when Biden ran into trouble…. So I’m an old newbie with a serious “crush” on Padilla.
Wow she actually said that? I am not here to listen to you, you will listen to me? OMG
As for an "idea" -- and I would not offer one if I didn't better know your situation -- it sounds like the Community's "Resolutions Project" may be a great match for the purple-ing areas nearby. Combined with a press release, it seems like a great way to get folks on board with our Constitution. Be grateful you've got an anti-MAGA governor. There are possibilities there. Our situation in Georgia is MUCH different.
PS: The last Democratic candidate to seriously challenge Loudermilk was Antonio Daza in 2022 -- and he did quite well for an openly gay immigrant from Venezuela.
Thank you. I had some communication with Dr. Potter last week. I will carry on.
I also want to focus on those issues. I have some ideas, but I need to learn more.
Abraham Lincoln, as far back as 1858, advocated the need to re-adopt the Declaration of Independence. In 1863, that is what he effectively did with the Gettysburg Address. And it is what we must do: re-adopt the Declaration, in word and in deed. We must make it manifest, as Robert Hayden said Frederick Douglass did in his poem about him. Freedom--we must be as Frederick Douglass "fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing."
Messages sent this morning to Senator Duckworth and Governor Pritzer thanking them for outstanding work in standing up to Trump. I woke up thinking about all the undocumented people I met living in Dallas for 30 years, ashamed that they are likely now living in fear or perhaps already being held in a cage somewhere. This repulsive inhumanity toward our neighbors - we must stop it somehow. Keep fighting friends.
I, too, live in Illinois and have sent thanks to Senator Duckworth, Governor Pritzker, attorney general Kwame Raoul, and my retiring House representative Jan "I haven't been in jail for a awhile, maybe it's time to be thrown in there again!" Schakowsky, as well as to Joe and Jill Biden for their wonderful work in the face of attacks and false information. My senators and Jan also hear from me about issues, but thanks are SO important as well!
Hi Shelley - I saw Jan was retiring, but haven’t see who the Dems are putting forth for a candidate to replace her. I’m hoping it’s a strong leader! I’m downstate in Peoria but know Jan from webinars I’ve attended.
Hi, Kent, I went to college in Peoria at Bradley. I helped organize a demonstration after the Kent State killings, so I've been an activist for a LONG time. So far the 3 people that I know are running are Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss (who also served in state government) Laura Fine, my 9th district state senator, and Kat Abughazaleh, a 26 year old, progressive candidate with a huge Tiktok presence. I supported Biss when he was running against Pritzker (although Pritzker has been a fantastic governor) but Fine has deep knowledge of our district, unlike Aughzaleh, who doesn't even live in the district, and is, frankly, too progressive for me (progressive Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been a disaster, a wonderful campaigner, but abysmal at getting things done.) I'll probably end up working for Fine. More people will run, too, so it should be interesting!
Simon and all
I think we need to create a powerful pac called
vote you out.
Primary all Republicans and support Democrats who will take care of the middle class and the working class of America.
It’s to get rid of all republican office holders all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom
that are loyal to Trump that are not loyal to the American people and their best interests.
It’s about forcing billionaires to pay their taxes
It’s about creating a wealth tax that is significant enough on billionaires to pay for United States infrastructure as well as Medicare for all and free college for all
it is About finding all the hidden money in the Caribbean etc for taxation to support America
It’s about taking back America
Your thoughts?
Jeff Wincentsen.
I think you are describing the Democratic Party
has to say vote republicans out. because we dont want to vote dems out.
I have started responding to anyone who says that "both parties are the same" or "both sides do it" with:
Did women lose their right to choose under a Democratic administration?
Was the Supreme Court majority that gave a president immunity one that was put there by a Democratic President?
Did a Republican president put Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court?
Did a Democratic President put an anti vaxxer nut job, who claimed to have had a dead worm in his brain at one point but supposedly is fine now, in charge of HHS?
Did a Democratic President put Dr Oz in charge of Medicare & Medicaid?
Is it a Democratic President who is gleefully allowing agencies to illegally grab people off the street, demean them, dehumanize them, place them in unmarked cars and be sent to detention centers with most being deported without due process?
So, no, I don't think the parties are the same.
Hello everyone,
Check out my own take on the Declaration of Independence to celebrate the 4th: https://davidsalzillo.substack.com/p/notes-from-underground-10-no-kings.
I think you will all like it, but let me know whatever feedback you have. I appreciate any advice you can give.
I just returned from the post office, where I have been mailing handmade gifts to friends who are in need of light. I think this is part of what we also do right now—take care of each other while we prepare for the Summer of Accountability, as they are calling it. Also, I know I'm a weird voice here (actually, a weird voice anywhere), but as a writer/reader/teacher, I think that Grace Paley—the great activist-writer who did not give up—has much to teach us at this time. And so I share her here: https://thehushandthehowl.substack.com/p/grace-paley-and-faith
Blessed are the weird people
The poets and misfits
The artists
The writers and music makers
The dreamers and the outsiders
For they help us
to see the world differently
(author unknown)
I love this. Thank you.
Let's add librarians! (suggests this librarian....)
Definitely librarians! God bless you all ❤️❤️
During a recent conversation with Sean Wilentz and Sidney Blumenthal, Judge Michael Luttig gave vent to a harsh criticism of Justice Roberts, despite their friendship. Judge Luttig said the Chief Justice knows exactly how lawless Trump's actions are and his failure to respond adequately is reckless. I've heard Sherilynn Ifill express exactly the same sentiments. The comments confirm what many of us have thought and is deeply worrying.
Going forward, term limits for Supreme Court justices, could help. Some justice!
Thank you Simon. I needed this!
Thank you Simon! At an Elbows Up rally now in Buffalo on the Niagara River.