Whew! Y’all that was a rough week. I don’t know about all of you, but the onslaught of despicable behavior is exhausting. Those people are the WORST.
Today, I looked to the amazing Maya Angelou for encouragement, and she gave more than enough:
In addition, I always find solace in the good news and reasons for hope and the size of our movement and the number of our allies.
This week I also found solace in stories that put our current situation in perspective.
Hopefully they will help you too.
So let’s start there:
There is so much reason for hope
This article from Vox is amazing. I’ll share some of my favorite parts, but it is really worth reading the whole thing if you can → American democracy has faced worse threats than Donald Trump
first some historical context about our times:
Has American politics ever been this bad? The answer, clearly, is that it has been much worse. We had a Civil War, after all. Congress worked out proposals to eradicate and subjugate Native American tribes. We interned families of Japanese descent. We pitched into the Iraq War based on lies.
Just a few decades ago, political assassinations were routine. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was murdered on the streets of Dallas. In 1965, Malcolm X was shot to death in a crowded New York City ballroom. In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, as was Robert F. Kennedy. In 1975, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, standing about arm’s length from President Gerald Ford, aimed her gun and fired; the bullet failed to discharge. Harvey Milk, the pioneering gay San Francisco city supervisor, was killed in 1978. President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981; the bullet shattered a rib and punctured a lung.
For much of the 20th century, the right to vote was, for African Americans, no right at all. Lynchings were common. Freedom Riders were brutally beaten across the American South. National Guard members fired on, and killed, student protesters at Kent State. Police had to escort young African-American children into schools as jeering crowds shouted racial epithets and threatened to attack.
During this era, there were regions of America that arguably weren’t democratic at all. In his book Paths Out of Dixie, Robert Mickey argues convincingly that much of the American South was under one-party authoritarian rule until the mid-20th century.
Why don’t we think of these times in relation to those? Well part of it is that we came from such a high — the presidency of Obama — that the comparison of that to this is so, so difficult.
Believing in a mythical past makes it hard to assess a grim present. The head-snapping transition from Barack Obama’s presidency to Donald Trump’s can seem like a betrayal of the American story, evidence that something has gone radically and unexpectedly awry
but, as the article points out, we should remember that America has often had difficult, disturbing, and scary times. AND it is important to remember that often those times come as backlash to periods of real progress (just like we just had)
Thinking back on those eras is a reminder that, in America, periods of racial progress have always triggered periods of political instability. The Civil War is the most profound and bloody example but far from the only one. Richard Nixon, the last president to evince so little respect for constitutional norms, was also a “law and order” candidate who promised to represent a silent majority frustrated by rapid racial advancement and unnerved by black anger.
Viewed from this perspective, it is not surprising that the first African-American president was followed by a candidate like Trump, who promised to put the restoration of America’s dominant political majority above the niceties of normal politics, who is visibly enraged by Black Lives Matter protests and kneeling NFL players.
and despite the very real and very scary rise in support for fascists type strongmen, this is not the only story:
In a new survey for the Democracy Fund’s Voter Survey Group, Lee Drutman, Larry Diamond, and Joe Goldman find that support for democracy is holding steady and young Americans do not show a rising preference for authoritarian political systems. Optimistically, they find “support for a strong leader declining for the first time in 2017 and returning to levels last seen in 1995.” It’s possible that Trump’s example is reminding Americans what they like about more traditional political leaders.
again, this doesn’t mean the current times are not scary and bad:
This is to take nothing away from the very real injuries Trump has inflicted upon immigrants, the way his rhetoric has empowered neo-Nazis and racists, the chilling rise in hate crimes, the refugees who will suffer or die because America has closed its doors to them. And the policy problems we worried about before Trump — from rising inequality to Super PACs to climate change — are worsening.
and yet….
But I often find myself perversely appreciative that Trump’s rage manifests itself so visibly — a leader mounting a more subtle racial backlash would mount a more effective one. Trump’s eccentric behavior has flipped what feels abnormal about the past decade in American politics. It’s now Obama, America’s first black president, who is young America’s model of what a president should look and act like, whose approval rating is above 60 percent. It is Trump, the septuagenarian white billionaire governing atop a standard Republican agenda, who seems like as a reckless detour from tradition. That is remarkable given what America was even a few decades ago.
I wonder often about how this period in American life will look to future historians. One possibility that has been much discussed is that it will be seen as the dawn of America’s descent into illiberalism. But another possibility — one that’s less often considered — is that it will eventually look like the turbulence that has always accompanied racial progress in this country, and it will eventually be seen as modest compared to the upheavals of our past.
GREAT article!
And here is another one that has a similar message of hope, but from a worldwide prospective → Democracy doomsday prophets are missing this critical shift
The new conventional wisdom seems to be that electoral democracy is in decline. But this ignores another widespread trend: direct democracy at the local and regional level is booming, even as disillusion with representative government at the national level grows.
Today, 113 of the world’s 117 democratic countries offer their citizens legally or constitutionally established rights to bring forward a citizens’ initiative, referendum or both.
Of all the nationwide popular votes in the history of the world, more than half have taken place in the past 30 years. As of May 2018, almost 2,000 nationwide popular votes on substantive issues have taken place, with 1,059 in Europe, 191 in Africa, 189 in Asia, 181 in the Americas and 115 in Oceania, based on our research.
That is just at the national level. Other major democracies — Germany, the United States and India — do not permit popular votes on substantive issues nationally but support robust direct democracy at the local and regional levels. The number of local votes on issues has so far defied all attempts to count them — they run into the tens of thousands.
how can this be the case when we the dominant story seems to be the slip into authoritarianism? well….
This robust democratization, at least when it comes to direct legislation, provides a context that’s generally missing when doomsday prophets suggest that democracy is dying by pointing to authoritarian-leaning leaders like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Indeed, the two trends — the rise of populist authoritarianism in some nations and the rise of local and direct democracy in some areas — are related. Frustration is growing with democratic systems at national levels, and yes, some people become more attracted to populism. But some of that frustration is channeled into positive energy — into making local democracy more democratic and direct.
And that push is very real and, the article points out, very strong as well! Let’s do all we can to channel people’s frustration into local action! I feel like we, as democrats, are doing a good job at that!
And finally, some hope from the very smart Norm Eisen (who, frankly, is not usually a source of great hope in his perspective on these times). Some words on Trump:
On issues like Iran deal he does have wide power. He has driven some dissenters out. But on Syria, Mattis & dissenters won the day. In the meantime, the rule of law is closing in on him. America is much more than Trump, and we are resilient.
Yes!! These are dark days indeed, but America is more than Trump and the rule of law is closing in! Words worth repeating!
Speaking of the rule of law:
Russia Cohen Daniels News
Michael Cohen's legal woes keep getting worse and signs don't point to a Trump pardon
The most explosive revelation was that $500,000 was paid to Cohen via the shell company by Columbus Nova, a New York investment firm linked to a Russian oligarch. (Columbus Nova confirmed the payment but denied wrongdoing.) The timing of the payments to the shell company — which began about three months after the $130,000 payment to Daniels — create potential liability for Cohen under campaign finance law.
On its face, there are many reasons unrelated to an election why someone might try to hide an extramarital affair. But another Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, recently said that Cohen "did his job" by ensuring that the Daniels affair was not revealed "in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton." The timing of the payment supports the argument that it was campaign-related.
That isn't the biggest legal problem for Cohen raised by this week's news. The Avenatti summary listed several alleged false statements made by Cohen to First Republic Bank when he created the bank account for the shell company. While there are not enough facts in the summary to determine whether Avenatti's allegation that Cohen committed "bank fraud" is accurate, knowingly making false statements to a financial institution is usually an element of bank fraud.
It is unusual, to say the least, that Cohen received millions from those companies after Trump's election. It is hard to believe that he was paid due to his skill as a lawyer, and it is odd that he used the shell company he set up to pay Daniels to receive the money.
Still, if Cohen is charged by federal prosecutors, all of that would matter far less than the strength of the government's evidence and whether Cohen could expect a pardon from Trump. Given how carefully Trump has sought to distance himself from Cohen and his activities, it does not appear a pardon is forthcoming — which may mean a long and difficult road ahead for Cohen.
And all this stuff that is trickling out? Mueller knows about all of it and has been examining it for quite a while — > Special counsel probing donations with foreign connections to Trump inauguration
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has questioned several witnesses about millions of dollars in donations to President Donald Trump’s inauguration committee last year, including questions about donors with connections to Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, sources with direct knowledge told ABC News.
According to a source who has sat with the Mueller team for interviews in recent weeks, the special counsel is examining donors who have either business or personal connections in Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Several donors with those ties contributed large sums to the non-profit fundraising entity – gifts that topped out at $1 million dollars, according to public records.
Vekselberg, a Russian national, was questioned by the Mueller team after stepping off his private jet at a New York-area airport, The New York Times reported earlier this month. Vekselberg has also been in the headlines this week after the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti, alleged that Veksleberg directed payments to a company formed by Cohen’s totaling $500,000.
Also some good polling news for Mueller. Despite huge effort from the WH and it’s allies, Mueller gains credibility among swing voters
Firehouse Strategies, a Republican firm, partnered with the data analytics team at Optimus to interview 2,486 likely midterm voters in four swing states (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin), and found:
- "[T]he Mueller investigation is gaining credibility among independent voters."
- The survey finds independents in the states trust Mueller over Trump by 19 points.
- In a February survey by the two firms, swing-state independents picked Mueller over Trump by 4 points
And some good guys are joining forces to help us! Former Western leaders join forces to fight Russian meddling
Right now the fight against foreign influence in democratic societies is a fragmented, partisan and poorly understood endeavor. That, however, must change. To counter Russian interference of all kinds, Democrats, Republicans and like-minded Europeans must work together to see past the politics and coordinate our actions. Former vice president Joe Biden, former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff and former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen are teaming up to do just that.
Good Election News
Despite all the worrying and stressing out about changing poll numbers this last week, it is important to remember that Cook still has Democrats with a very good chance of taking the house and a shot at the Senate. Their diagnosis has not changed. So deep breaths.
This is what I try and remind myself when I worry about November:
What if we are really way behind? Well, then it is time to donate time and money and do all we can for November.
What if we things are neck in neck? Well, then it is time to donate time and money and do all we can for November.
What if we are far ahead? Well, then it is time to donate time and money and do all we can for November.
In other words, no matter what the polls and pundits look like, we work like heck to win in November. So honestly, it doesn’t much matter. I know it *feels* better when the outcome seems like a sure thing. But no matter what, we fight and we fight hard.
What can we do to win in November and save our democracy? Here are some ideas!
Donate to ActBlue
Donate to Swing Left
Send postcards to voters in other districts
Sign up to go door to door in your district
Sign up to drive people to the polls
back to the good news 😄
It is always distressing to hear about all the donors on the right spending big bucks to ensure their own tax breaks. The good news is that we have wealthy people on our side too and they are also donating.
Major Democratic donors in New York have discreetly formed a new political alliance to raise roughly $10 million that would be injected into as many as two dozen key House battlegrounds in an effort to wrest control of Congress from Republicans.
Admission to be an official partner in what’s being called the House Victory Project comes with a $108,000 price tag. More than 80 people have each committed that sum, according to a half-dozen donors familiar with the group, whose existence has not previously been reported.
The group continues to solicit new partners to grow those sums even more, but has consciously tried to keep a low profile, aware that the idea of New York donors pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into races in Arizona, Nebraska and Michigan may not play well locally.
It would be much better if we got big money out of politics, but until we do, we need to have those funds too if we are going to win this November.
Here are a few articles with some more thoughts on good fallout from this week’s primaries:
Don Blankenship tanks in W.Va., but the GOP has a new problem
Blankenship wound up in third place. Republicans should take note, however: Democratic turnout for an uncompetitive primary exceeded turnout for the hotly contested GOP nomination by more than 23,000 — continuing a pattern of high voter enthusiasm among Democrats.
In Indiana, candidate Mike Braun, who clung tightly to Trump, won his race over two better-known congressmen, giving some comfort to Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) once thought to be vulnerable.
Republicans’ selection of Braun, an inexperienced candidate with a dicey business record, may give Donnelly enough ammunition to hold on to his seat.
Perhaps Trump fever is dissipating, if only a little.
Primary results confirm 2018 is a terrible year to be a House Republican
Republican members of the House fared especially poorly Tuesday in primaries across four states, offering fresh evidence that this fall will bring another change election and a new batch of outsiders promising to shake up Washington.
County sheriff races in 2018 might be the key to resisting Trump’s immigration plans
The biggest setback the Trump administration has suffered so far in the 2018 primaries might have come in a sheriff’s race in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina — where the victorious challenger has promised to reduce his office’s cooperation with federal agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Alternatively, it might have been in a sheriff’s race in the state’s Durham County, where another incumbent got swept out by a challenger who promised to end local cooperation with ICE requests entirely.
Progressive victories in local criminal justice races — including prosecutors as well as sheriffs — have been a trend in the early stages of the 2018 cycle. Unlike most criminal justice policy, though, immigration policy is set by the federal government; the only choices local officials can make are how easy to make the jobs of ICE agents in identifying and apprehending deportable immigrants.
But new data suggests that under President Trump, the decisions that local officials make about cooperating with ICE — or refusing to cooperate — actually matter a lot for ICE’s ability to ramp up arrests and deportations.
and finally, the Cut Cut Cut bill remains a political loser → Good economic vibes fail to make GOP tax law popular
Americans are feeling upbeat about the economy and the state of the country, but that doesn’t appear to be translating into support for the tax bill — a worrying trend for Republicans seeking to keep the House.
Other Good News
Acting state Attorney General Barbara Underwood picks up Schneiderman’s legal battle vs. Trump environmental regs
New York's new top lawyer is picking up where disgraced ex-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman left off when it comes to challenging the Trump administration.
Acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced Wednesday that her office had filed new legal objections in an ongoing court battle to stop the rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations.
Bail-bond industry suffers another blow as Facebook and Google ban ads
Google and Facebook, the world's most dominant online-advertising companies, will no longer take money from America's for-profit bail bond agencies, siding with a growing national movement to eliminate cash bail from the criminal justice system.
Pompeo’s Hiring Moves Soothe Diplomats
Not a Pompeo fan, but this is good news!
In staffing and internal policies, he seems to be reversing trends of the Tillerson era that dispirited many diplomats.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is eyeing a veteran civil servant with decades of diplomatic experience to fill a top post overseeing the foreign service, in one of several moves that seem to be injecting a new sense of optimism into the State Department after 14 difficult months under Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson.
Pompeo has also met with top career officials who were forced out or retired during Tillerson’s tenure, in part to seek advice and in some instances to offer them jobs. Two former officials say Pompeo reached out to Kristie Kenney and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, both respected senior diplomats who left the State Department under a cloud during Tillerson’s tenure. Pompeo sought advice on how to manage and staff the department. Thomas-Greenfield, who is now at Georgetown University, turned down a job offer from Pompeo, according to a former official familiar with the matter.
In another positive sign for U.S. diplomats, Pompeo also fully lifted a freeze on U.S. embassies hiring diplomats’ family member
Finally, just in case you are panicking about another diary that has been popular (suggesting that republicans in California like a nazi), I want to let you know that it is total BS. Despite inflammatory stories suggesting otherwise, polling in California does NOT suggest that a nazi is preferred by the majority of Republicans.
I saw the diary on DailyKos. I saw the article in Newsweek. They are both based on a poorly done, outlier poll. Bad science is worthless, folks. If you go to the link above and actually read through the available good polls (polls worthy of being listed by realclealpolitics), you will see that this guy isn’t even a blip in any other poll. He doesn’t even get to the 1% necessary for them to list his name in the results.
The garbage poll only listed two Rs in the poll even though there are over a dozen running AND it put that guy first AND the other guy had an unusual name. This was a case of Rs picking the guy who was listed first and had the more traditional name because they didn’t know either name and wanted to pick an R. That is it. That is all. NO OTHER POLL SHOWS THIS!
We have enough real things to worry about without worrying that the state of California is suddenly turning into the third reich.
If you see that headline, ignore it. If you already read it, stop worrying about it. It is inflammatory and B.S.
******
That is it for today.
Before I go, thanks so much for all the other GNR writers! I get such a boost from reading what everyone writes my “off” days.
Special love to OldHippieDude who is under the weather but working his way back to health.
And thanks to all the amazing folks who comment in the comment section and share good news and fellowship.
If you don’t usually do so, stop down in the comments and say hello or just read the comments. This really is the most amazing group of people on the internet. People pop in down there all day with more good news and cheer and support. The comments section on the GNR posts is my favorite place to be.
Have a great weekend, friends. I remain so proud and lucky to be in this with all of you! ❤️ ✊ ❤️