I'm only a couple of months older than the Veep, and one thing that heartens me is that she knows - from decades of hard experience - how to handle the Brett Kavanaughs of society (He's also in our cohort).
The GOP is overflowing with his ilk and if she's in charge of Justice next January I have a feeling there's not going to be the same foot dragging over whatever election related fuckery gets pulled this time around.
I love this! The Uncommitted movement is a major reason why we’re here today. They stuck with their principles to not back Biden’s atrocious policies against Palestinians, and now our country seems to have a better shock of getting on the right track again. It nice to see something look up for once again, as you said. And I hope Harris heeds their pleas for better policies.
Yes! The Uncommitted movement should be given far more credit than they are. I suspect Biden's resignation from the race was in large part due to health issues, but the movement articulated the stakes clearly and stuck to their morals -- and showed the danger of pissing off the voters of Michigan and elsewhere.
I agree that Kamala Harris is not going to save us (the lesson I learned from Barack Obama, when he transferred his Organizing for America - sometimes called Obama for America - organization to the DNC, which promptly shut it down)... but I do believe by energizing millions of Americans to believe they can set the country on a better course (and the stump speech she rolled out in Wisconsin today talks about being a government "for the people"... so, that will get people energized to hold her to that promise) that she will enable a whole lot of us to finally become "the heroes we've been waiting for". My dream is that she wins election... replaces Garland with someone who prosecutes the seditious members of Congress (the one campaign promise I am going to look for a way to champion)... and organizes the governmemt in such a way that it supports We the People in being part of the solution... ending the "Elect me and I will save you" belief system that every presidential candidate has campaigned on (not just Trump).
Yes! I hope she also announces in advance that she's getting rid of Garland. I heard she's getting rid of Blinken and that's already given her points with me.
Thanks for responding. Wow... getting rid of Blinken? That's awesome if true! Imagine a Secretary of State who's actually anti-the giant war machine and puts real world peace first!
Like always, I drop what I’m doing the second I get the “Sarah notification.” And just as last time, and the time before, and the time before that- it’s a masterclass in writing, capturing the moment in eloquent accessible prose. Somehow hope has crept back into the forecast, even if it may be fleeting once again. What a year, what a week, what an insane time for the historians to furiously document. They surely have to skim for just the highlights, or lowlights, as it often is. I often wonder what the outbreak of art and films will resemble in a few years.
This is all happening so fast, so it’s nice to take a second to enjoy old classics like the BK Chicken
Hahaha, I also drop everything when a newsletter drops! She really captured how I feel about this moment, too and it's hope. Hope that we can have a future somewhat better then we had in front of us before Biden dropped out if only because Americans are energized and maybe, just maybe, the "sleeping dragon" has finally been aroused.
I was and still no fan of Biden. The best thing he did was step aside. Let’s see what Kamala Harris does. I did see something on Twitter she refused to attend Netanyahu’s speech before congress, so it’s a start. Agree actions speak louder than words!
Your Burger King chicken sandwich is my Dairy Queen dip cone. So we have full American royalty here. Obama also was a cult. As Jon Stewart said, we have to consider building an American democracy our day job from now until forever. I will be picketing tomorrow against Netanyahu. Picketing in a red area is 10% fear, 90% boredom. (Maybe a lot more fear in some areas.) But it’s a job that needs to be done. I too felt relief that Biden was gone, and also hope. That hope will take a lot of work. Take care of yourselves, everybody. Stay strong.
Dropping everything for these too, the only notification I ❤️ to get! If wife is in range I’ll read it to her, and if I not I read it right away then again to her later. I get such a rush of calm and a shared sense of hopefulness that have been missing in my days for a very long time.
Thank you, Sarah. A great perspective. The energy Kamala has generated gives me hope. It's difficult to be hopeful and realistic at the same time, but I'll take it.
"We are in for hard times. But there is a sense of a burden being lifted, of options emerging. I don’t know how long this feeling will last." Yes, indeed. A great burden has been lifted, at least for a while, and the fact that so many of us who had forgotten how to breathe, let alone feel even a drop of hope, are feeling that burden lift and are breathing and hoping again, is a source of joyful amazement.
As the kooky lady says, we are not going back. It's up to US--not as a cult, but as thoughtful, determined people--to go forward and, with her help, repair the damage that has been done. And if we can sustain this momentum, for the first time in I don't know how long, I think we may be able to do it.
Also: the fact that you came back to flowers blooming in your yard made my eyes fill with happy tears. You so deserve ALL the flowers!!!
Aha, a far out, far leftist writer, I thought we didn't have any in view! Thanks for the polemics and poetic insights. Yes, the good, hopeful, energy is here; let's hope it translates into actions good for all of us.
The period of years leading up to the illegal installation of Trump, his 4 years in office, Biden's victory, the insurrection, its aftermath, and Biden's presidency all seemed like a series of tolerance tests.
Every crime, incident of corruption, erosion of institutional efficacy, miscarriage of justice, judicial misconduct, police brutality, private paramilitary mobilization, gerrymander, statehouse misconduct, unconstitutional rejections of citizen-led voter initatives, disaster capitalism..
All seems to be testing citizens' tolerance and whether moderates in the political class would do anything but moneyize our outrage.
The social, legal, and political groundwork for letting states and SCOTUS overturn a legally decided election has been laid and tested.
And - as they've proven under Biden - they don't need to fulfill their powermad lust for the presidency. Everything is in place for them to roll out their plans.
It's up to us to use all this energy we have and oppose it.
Yes, agree. They were marketing MAGA policies to liberals under a Dem guise and seeing what they could get away with, and the answer was a lot. Lots of articles on this in my archives.
I think thats how I found you, initially, before your substack. I was looking on Twitter for someone doing something than perforative outrage. Found a few sources like yours, noted some of your interviews, and thought, 'huh. I wonder how long Dr. K is gonna be a commentator, dropping knowledge bombs like that..' LOL
I cried within the first couple paragraphs, Sarah. Wish I could pinpoint why -- I think it was just that you are sharing in this moment of relief and happiness too --- no matter how brief it may be.
This message from Umairh on Twitter has been sticking with me the last couple days, "Don't forget this feeling. A democracy coming together is an incredibly powerful thing, and you are feeling exactly that sense of power. That's why the fascists are flailing. Hold onto it over the coming months."
I’m getting on in years and have seen a lot over time. As a high school senior I voted for Peter Camejo in the 1976 presidential primary, in the college town where I grew up, down the road a piece from Ab-normal. (I lived in the more progressive of those small Twin Cities; IYKYK). I, too, saved Umairh’s post about that strange feeling we have after events of this week. I live one suburb over from where Harris held her first campaign event and the energy in Wisconsin on Tuesday was palpable.
My peculiar hope-y, change-y feelings are strengthening after the interest group organizing and fundraising calls of the past several evenings. I want to believe my fellow white women will deliver on promises made on those calls at the polls come November. We just have to.
And now, I’m going to head out in search of a BK chicken sandwich, no mayo. Wishing I had some
surprise lilies in my yard. Thanks for keeping it real and keeping us going, Sarah.
Once again, you articulate precisely this moment. From north of the 49th, I'm hoping against hope that, this time, it's okay to hope change is possible. I'm holding my breath for November, and the times after.
I've been past that Normal, Illinois sign many times traveling from Ohio to Wisconsin and vice versa. And a few miles down the road there was an Antiques, Liquor, Cheese, and paint ball supply store 🤷♀️🤣
When I was a kid, my favorite show was "Eerie, Indiana" and I had no idea that Normal, Illinois was a real place because it was a running gag on the show that the dad would always go on business trips there. I was in my 20s and driving by it when I discovered it was real!
I remember that show. Don't recall if I ever watched it though. Lol. That's awesome. I had no idea Normal, Illinois even existed until we passed that sign. I'd never heard of it before. I also lived near an Electric Avenue🤣 I was out for a walk in a different part of my neighborhood and discovered it. And now that song is stuck in my head🤣
We used to call it Bloomington/Ab-Normal when I lived there. Home of State Farm Insurance Corporation. Need I say more about conservative Normal, Illinois?
I'm only a couple of months older than the Veep, and one thing that heartens me is that she knows - from decades of hard experience - how to handle the Brett Kavanaughs of society (He's also in our cohort).
The GOP is overflowing with his ilk and if she's in charge of Justice next January I have a feeling there's not going to be the same foot dragging over whatever election related fuckery gets pulled this time around.
I love this! The Uncommitted movement is a major reason why we’re here today. They stuck with their principles to not back Biden’s atrocious policies against Palestinians, and now our country seems to have a better shock of getting on the right track again. It nice to see something look up for once again, as you said. And I hope Harris heeds their pleas for better policies.
Yes! The Uncommitted movement should be given far more credit than they are. I suspect Biden's resignation from the race was in large part due to health issues, but the movement articulated the stakes clearly and stuck to their morals -- and showed the danger of pissing off the voters of Michigan and elsewhere.
*better shot (excuse the typo)
I agree that Kamala Harris is not going to save us (the lesson I learned from Barack Obama, when he transferred his Organizing for America - sometimes called Obama for America - organization to the DNC, which promptly shut it down)... but I do believe by energizing millions of Americans to believe they can set the country on a better course (and the stump speech she rolled out in Wisconsin today talks about being a government "for the people"... so, that will get people energized to hold her to that promise) that she will enable a whole lot of us to finally become "the heroes we've been waiting for". My dream is that she wins election... replaces Garland with someone who prosecutes the seditious members of Congress (the one campaign promise I am going to look for a way to champion)... and organizes the governmemt in such a way that it supports We the People in being part of the solution... ending the "Elect me and I will save you" belief system that every presidential candidate has campaigned on (not just Trump).
Yes! I hope she also announces in advance that she's getting rid of Garland. I heard she's getting rid of Blinken and that's already given her points with me.
Thanks for responding. Wow... getting rid of Blinken? That's awesome if true! Imagine a Secretary of State who's actually anti-the giant war machine and puts real world peace first!
Maybe she will make Buttigieg SOS. He would be great and doesn’t seem to be in the running for VP.
Like always, I drop what I’m doing the second I get the “Sarah notification.” And just as last time, and the time before, and the time before that- it’s a masterclass in writing, capturing the moment in eloquent accessible prose. Somehow hope has crept back into the forecast, even if it may be fleeting once again. What a year, what a week, what an insane time for the historians to furiously document. They surely have to skim for just the highlights, or lowlights, as it often is. I often wonder what the outbreak of art and films will resemble in a few years.
This is all happening so fast, so it’s nice to take a second to enjoy old classics like the BK Chicken
Hahaha, I also drop everything when a newsletter drops! She really captured how I feel about this moment, too and it's hope. Hope that we can have a future somewhat better then we had in front of us before Biden dropped out if only because Americans are energized and maybe, just maybe, the "sleeping dragon" has finally been aroused.
Lol, I noticed myself doing it.
The “kooky lady who laughs a lot,” killed me😂🤣😂.
It used to feel out so of place, but now it feels all right.
The new energy is intoxicating, but will Harris make sure elite criminals and seditionists are purged and prosecuted?
Will Harris pledge to expand the SCOTUS to neuter its corrupt members and return that institution into respectability and legitimacy?
Only with such actions will the future hold promise again.
Let’s see if Kamala Harris has what it takes.
Wouldn’t it be great if she does…
I was and still no fan of Biden. The best thing he did was step aside. Let’s see what Kamala Harris does. I did see something on Twitter she refused to attend Netanyahu’s speech before congress, so it’s a start. Agree actions speak louder than words!
*was not and still no fan of Biden
Your Burger King chicken sandwich is my Dairy Queen dip cone. So we have full American royalty here. Obama also was a cult. As Jon Stewart said, we have to consider building an American democracy our day job from now until forever. I will be picketing tomorrow against Netanyahu. Picketing in a red area is 10% fear, 90% boredom. (Maybe a lot more fear in some areas.) But it’s a job that needs to be done. I too felt relief that Biden was gone, and also hope. That hope will take a lot of work. Take care of yourselves, everybody. Stay strong.
Dropping everything for these too, the only notification I ❤️ to get! If wife is in range I’ll read it to her, and if I not I read it right away then again to her later. I get such a rush of calm and a shared sense of hopefulness that have been missing in my days for a very long time.
Thank you
Thank you Sarah—subscribing in the morning
Thank you, Sarah. A great perspective. The energy Kamala has generated gives me hope. It's difficult to be hopeful and realistic at the same time, but I'll take it.
"We are in for hard times. But there is a sense of a burden being lifted, of options emerging. I don’t know how long this feeling will last." Yes, indeed. A great burden has been lifted, at least for a while, and the fact that so many of us who had forgotten how to breathe, let alone feel even a drop of hope, are feeling that burden lift and are breathing and hoping again, is a source of joyful amazement.
As the kooky lady says, we are not going back. It's up to US--not as a cult, but as thoughtful, determined people--to go forward and, with her help, repair the damage that has been done. And if we can sustain this momentum, for the first time in I don't know how long, I think we may be able to do it.
Also: the fact that you came back to flowers blooming in your yard made my eyes fill with happy tears. You so deserve ALL the flowers!!!
Aha, a far out, far leftist writer, I thought we didn't have any in view! Thanks for the polemics and poetic insights. Yes, the good, hopeful, energy is here; let's hope it translates into actions good for all of us.
The period of years leading up to the illegal installation of Trump, his 4 years in office, Biden's victory, the insurrection, its aftermath, and Biden's presidency all seemed like a series of tolerance tests.
Every crime, incident of corruption, erosion of institutional efficacy, miscarriage of justice, judicial misconduct, police brutality, private paramilitary mobilization, gerrymander, statehouse misconduct, unconstitutional rejections of citizen-led voter initatives, disaster capitalism..
All seems to be testing citizens' tolerance and whether moderates in the political class would do anything but moneyize our outrage.
The social, legal, and political groundwork for letting states and SCOTUS overturn a legally decided election has been laid and tested.
And - as they've proven under Biden - they don't need to fulfill their powermad lust for the presidency. Everything is in place for them to roll out their plans.
It's up to us to use all this energy we have and oppose it.
Yes, agree. They were marketing MAGA policies to liberals under a Dem guise and seeing what they could get away with, and the answer was a lot. Lots of articles on this in my archives.
I think thats how I found you, initially, before your substack. I was looking on Twitter for someone doing something than perforative outrage. Found a few sources like yours, noted some of your interviews, and thought, 'huh. I wonder how long Dr. K is gonna be a commentator, dropping knowledge bombs like that..' LOL
Too much hope will mess you up. Count me messed up today. And ready to vote for Harris.
"Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have..."
I get it.
i have listened to that song wayyyy too many times this year
I cried within the first couple paragraphs, Sarah. Wish I could pinpoint why -- I think it was just that you are sharing in this moment of relief and happiness too --- no matter how brief it may be.
This message from Umairh on Twitter has been sticking with me the last couple days, "Don't forget this feeling. A democracy coming together is an incredibly powerful thing, and you are feeling exactly that sense of power. That's why the fascists are flailing. Hold onto it over the coming months."
I’m getting on in years and have seen a lot over time. As a high school senior I voted for Peter Camejo in the 1976 presidential primary, in the college town where I grew up, down the road a piece from Ab-normal. (I lived in the more progressive of those small Twin Cities; IYKYK). I, too, saved Umairh’s post about that strange feeling we have after events of this week. I live one suburb over from where Harris held her first campaign event and the energy in Wisconsin on Tuesday was palpable.
My peculiar hope-y, change-y feelings are strengthening after the interest group organizing and fundraising calls of the past several evenings. I want to believe my fellow white women will deliver on promises made on those calls at the polls come November. We just have to.
And now, I’m going to head out in search of a BK chicken sandwich, no mayo. Wishing I had some
surprise lilies in my yard. Thanks for keeping it real and keeping us going, Sarah.
Once again, you articulate precisely this moment. From north of the 49th, I'm hoping against hope that, this time, it's okay to hope change is possible. I'm holding my breath for November, and the times after.
I've been past that Normal, Illinois sign many times traveling from Ohio to Wisconsin and vice versa. And a few miles down the road there was an Antiques, Liquor, Cheese, and paint ball supply store 🤷♀️🤣
When I was a kid, my favorite show was "Eerie, Indiana" and I had no idea that Normal, Illinois was a real place because it was a running gag on the show that the dad would always go on business trips there. I was in my 20s and driving by it when I discovered it was real!
I remember that show. Don't recall if I ever watched it though. Lol. That's awesome. I had no idea Normal, Illinois even existed until we passed that sign. I'd never heard of it before. I also lived near an Electric Avenue🤣 I was out for a walk in a different part of my neighborhood and discovered it. And now that song is stuck in my head🤣
We used to call it Bloomington/Ab-Normal when I lived there. Home of State Farm Insurance Corporation. Need I say more about conservative Normal, Illinois?
Interesting. Nope.