This standout piece shouldn’t be locked to the public, in my opinion, especially given the urgent message that one hopes will reach as many voters as possible. Mr. Schmidt, why not make this link accessible?
Excellent essay with one caveat. Please don’t call her MTG. Reserve initials for those we venerate. JFK, RBG. Everyone knows who they are. Go with the full three names like we do with serial killers. John Wayne Gacy. Or try eMpTyG. I don’t remember who came up with that one but I like it.
We heard Jamie Raskin quote Thomas Paine extensively yesterday in a lecture about his son Tommy, who was his namesake. We are at the Chautauqua Institution where last Friday we witnessed the horrific attack on Salman Rushdie, one of the great proponents of free speech. I hope you will write about Rushdie and Raskin, two great defenders of democracy.
Thank you Steve, for raising voice once again in defense of freedom. Our great country is under attack by a black hearted hustler who has no soul. Trump deceives and twists reality to where it is unrecognizable. He tells anyone who will listen to not believe what you see or hear unless it spews from his diseased mouth.
I see him and know him for the coward he is. He has no honor, no love of country. He loves nothing, not even his bloated self. He wants to rule not to govern. That is not freedom, It is enslavement and I refuse to be a slave to any man. Keep your prose coming. You speak truth and only truth can counter the Queens hustler.
I love reading your words of our history and the leaders who fought to give us our freedoms,our Democracy. We must remember that there has always been those among us who did not appreciate what our forefathers fought for. The GOP has put party over the well-being of our country for years. Trump normalized the hatred of those who are different and thus allowed the maga crowd to unleash their fear of being a minority on all of us. Two brave people in the GOP stood with our democracy against their party which they had supported in the past. Only two. We must vote the GOP cowards out of every office at every level if we want sanity to prevail. At any time during the trump administration the GOP could have put a stop to his lawlessness but they choose not to. Not even when he lead a coup against the very government and The Constitution they took an oath to defend. A foreign threat will would have united us but this internal threat has divided us. We are no longer the United States ready to protect our freedoms from the authoritarian powers driven by greed and religious bigotry. False religion in my opinion. Our forefathers came to America for a better life and freedom from autocratic rulers. They have succeeded in giving us a better life (even with our past mistakes). Are we willing to do the hard work to keep it or have we become to lazy and complacent to care? This democracy was passed down to us to keep and improve for future generations. We must stop the maga movement before this goes any further. We must speak up against the lies loudly.
Thank you Mr Schmidt for another reminder of our history, who we are and how we got here.
OH BOY - these words have invigorated me into action - they have enchanted my mind to do more - we cannot let MAGA win in November, no way no how! I wish this were dispensed to all in the country to read - can it be a NYT OP-ED - it's glorious - Steve, they just keep getting better and better
I don't like this. I love this. Kathy F said it should be required reading. I couldn't agree more. We are at a turning point. If as a nation we vote to turn right, we will put in charge people who care so much more about themselves and their careers than they care about their country and the oath they swore to defend the constitution. That will undoubtedly put us on the road to a Fascist future. I believe we are not afraid. We need democrats who speak well, are also not afraid. We need republicans to not be afraid. To join together to beat back MAGA, white nationalism, fascists. To put their jobs and careers second and their country first. Not so long ago, that is what we had in leaders, county first. This cancer can be eradicated.
Wonderful writing and an inspiring message. Thank you once again, Steve. You are a clear voice in what can seem at times like a wilderness of vapid nonsense.
This is a brilliant and inspiring essay. I will share it as widely as possible and hope that it can be read by many. Thank you for your clarity and wisdom.
Having worked on the Hill for a few years, I can remember the excitement every other January 3, as the newly elected or re-elected Members had their swearing-in parties. I wonder how many new Members and their guests realized what their oaths require. How many others, myself included, when sworn into Federal service, realized what our oaths require.
For the last few months I have assisted newly-naturalized citizens registering to vote. This occurs directly after they swear their Oath, and are proclaimed citizens. The Oath used, is much more extensive than any I can remember taking:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
Are we ready to perform work of national importance to secure our freedoms under the Constitution, against all enemies, foreign and domestic? The answer should be yes. Will it be easy to work against the darkness as we are seeing it, no. It is never easy, but it must be done.
When every word written by you is the most important over every other near and afar, my common sense tries to clarify the whole. In our moment of peril, what must speak to our collective commonality is when you honor, in your writings time and again, that "[t]he American graves that lie above those beaches all face home towards land, across an ocean, to which none of them returned in a fight for human freedom against human slavery. [Thomas Paine] would have understood the cause, and he would have understood the sacrifice. And he would not have understood the lassitude of their grandchildren and a generation of privileged Americans who would surrender a birthright paid in blood to a Queens hustler and a cast of paw-licking ne’er do wells who want to establish a tyranny in place of the rule of law." Because Thomas Paine wrote with common-sense clarity what you quoted early on in your essay here and is what touched me the most, and because you live it in your own body and soul as a father as you repeated the same sentence once more towards the end, we must echo "If there must be trouble, let it be in my time, so that my children will know peace.” "Be not afraid" is what titled all. We must not, even when the world seems to come crashing down upon us with the force of tyranny. "Steely" is your word and is what will save us. Thomas Paine would smile with the force of light overwhelming us.
“There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come – the readiness is all.” Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Onward!
I thought I knew words, but in reading Steve’s essays I know I do not. In every paragraph I look up a word and relish discovering a new flavor, a new meaning. I never thought incandescent could mean more than light, but in Steve’s pen it means “shining hot with passion, luminous with intense heat, strikingly bright, radiant or clear”.
The first paragraph describes ‘the immortal words of mortals rising in defense of freedom, liberty and equality. Their greatness combined an incandescent moral clarity at great moments of testing’.
Wonderful Steve. Yes, I agree w/Kathy; this should be required reading. I feel empowered and uplifted after reading it, but now I don't know what to do with that. I will, however, order the Atkinson books. For those who haven't seen it, I also recommend the excellent HBO series: John Adams.
Very inspiring words and a necessary reminder of the sacrifices and grit at the foundation of our freedoms, but it seems the current struggle has a quality that requires more than grit and determination; it requires a strategy directed more toward psychological warfare rather than physical conflict. How do we overcome the seeming inability of half the county to see the danger we are facing? I guess we start with Steve’s message and pass it on. Stop avoiding confronting the Trumpers. Go ahead and get unpleasant!
Can’t tell you how much these words touched me. Thank you. This post today should be required reading for everyone.
This standout piece shouldn’t be locked to the public, in my opinion, especially given the urgent message that one hopes will reach as many voters as possible. Mr. Schmidt, why not make this link accessible?
Excellent essay with one caveat. Please don’t call her MTG. Reserve initials for those we venerate. JFK, RBG. Everyone knows who they are. Go with the full three names like we do with serial killers. John Wayne Gacy. Or try eMpTyG. I don’t remember who came up with that one but I like it.
We heard Jamie Raskin quote Thomas Paine extensively yesterday in a lecture about his son Tommy, who was his namesake. We are at the Chautauqua Institution where last Friday we witnessed the horrific attack on Salman Rushdie, one of the great proponents of free speech. I hope you will write about Rushdie and Raskin, two great defenders of democracy.
Thank you Steve, for raising voice once again in defense of freedom. Our great country is under attack by a black hearted hustler who has no soul. Trump deceives and twists reality to where it is unrecognizable. He tells anyone who will listen to not believe what you see or hear unless it spews from his diseased mouth.
I see him and know him for the coward he is. He has no honor, no love of country. He loves nothing, not even his bloated self. He wants to rule not to govern. That is not freedom, It is enslavement and I refuse to be a slave to any man. Keep your prose coming. You speak truth and only truth can counter the Queens hustler.
I love reading your words of our history and the leaders who fought to give us our freedoms,our Democracy. We must remember that there has always been those among us who did not appreciate what our forefathers fought for. The GOP has put party over the well-being of our country for years. Trump normalized the hatred of those who are different and thus allowed the maga crowd to unleash their fear of being a minority on all of us. Two brave people in the GOP stood with our democracy against their party which they had supported in the past. Only two. We must vote the GOP cowards out of every office at every level if we want sanity to prevail. At any time during the trump administration the GOP could have put a stop to his lawlessness but they choose not to. Not even when he lead a coup against the very government and The Constitution they took an oath to defend. A foreign threat will would have united us but this internal threat has divided us. We are no longer the United States ready to protect our freedoms from the authoritarian powers driven by greed and religious bigotry. False religion in my opinion. Our forefathers came to America for a better life and freedom from autocratic rulers. They have succeeded in giving us a better life (even with our past mistakes). Are we willing to do the hard work to keep it or have we become to lazy and complacent to care? This democracy was passed down to us to keep and improve for future generations. We must stop the maga movement before this goes any further. We must speak up against the lies loudly.
Thank you Mr Schmidt for another reminder of our history, who we are and how we got here.
OH BOY - these words have invigorated me into action - they have enchanted my mind to do more - we cannot let MAGA win in November, no way no how! I wish this were dispensed to all in the country to read - can it be a NYT OP-ED - it's glorious - Steve, they just keep getting better and better
I don't like this. I love this. Kathy F said it should be required reading. I couldn't agree more. We are at a turning point. If as a nation we vote to turn right, we will put in charge people who care so much more about themselves and their careers than they care about their country and the oath they swore to defend the constitution. That will undoubtedly put us on the road to a Fascist future. I believe we are not afraid. We need democrats who speak well, are also not afraid. We need republicans to not be afraid. To join together to beat back MAGA, white nationalism, fascists. To put their jobs and careers second and their country first. Not so long ago, that is what we had in leaders, county first. This cancer can be eradicated.
Wonderful writing and an inspiring message. Thank you once again, Steve. You are a clear voice in what can seem at times like a wilderness of vapid nonsense.
This is a brilliant and inspiring essay. I will share it as widely as possible and hope that it can be read by many. Thank you for your clarity and wisdom.
Having worked on the Hill for a few years, I can remember the excitement every other January 3, as the newly elected or re-elected Members had their swearing-in parties. I wonder how many new Members and their guests realized what their oaths require. How many others, myself included, when sworn into Federal service, realized what our oaths require.
For the last few months I have assisted newly-naturalized citizens registering to vote. This occurs directly after they swear their Oath, and are proclaimed citizens. The Oath used, is much more extensive than any I can remember taking:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
Are we ready to perform work of national importance to secure our freedoms under the Constitution, against all enemies, foreign and domestic? The answer should be yes. Will it be easy to work against the darkness as we are seeing it, no. It is never easy, but it must be done.
When every word written by you is the most important over every other near and afar, my common sense tries to clarify the whole. In our moment of peril, what must speak to our collective commonality is when you honor, in your writings time and again, that "[t]he American graves that lie above those beaches all face home towards land, across an ocean, to which none of them returned in a fight for human freedom against human slavery. [Thomas Paine] would have understood the cause, and he would have understood the sacrifice. And he would not have understood the lassitude of their grandchildren and a generation of privileged Americans who would surrender a birthright paid in blood to a Queens hustler and a cast of paw-licking ne’er do wells who want to establish a tyranny in place of the rule of law." Because Thomas Paine wrote with common-sense clarity what you quoted early on in your essay here and is what touched me the most, and because you live it in your own body and soul as a father as you repeated the same sentence once more towards the end, we must echo "If there must be trouble, let it be in my time, so that my children will know peace.” "Be not afraid" is what titled all. We must not, even when the world seems to come crashing down upon us with the force of tyranny. "Steely" is your word and is what will save us. Thomas Paine would smile with the force of light overwhelming us.
“There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come – the readiness is all.” Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Onward!
I thought I knew words, but in reading Steve’s essays I know I do not. In every paragraph I look up a word and relish discovering a new flavor, a new meaning. I never thought incandescent could mean more than light, but in Steve’s pen it means “shining hot with passion, luminous with intense heat, strikingly bright, radiant or clear”.
The first paragraph describes ‘the immortal words of mortals rising in defense of freedom, liberty and equality. Their greatness combined an incandescent moral clarity at great moments of testing’.
Thank you for truth and poetry!
Wonderful Steve. Yes, I agree w/Kathy; this should be required reading. I feel empowered and uplifted after reading it, but now I don't know what to do with that. I will, however, order the Atkinson books. For those who haven't seen it, I also recommend the excellent HBO series: John Adams.
Very inspiring words and a necessary reminder of the sacrifices and grit at the foundation of our freedoms, but it seems the current struggle has a quality that requires more than grit and determination; it requires a strategy directed more toward psychological warfare rather than physical conflict. How do we overcome the seeming inability of half the county to see the danger we are facing? I guess we start with Steve’s message and pass it on. Stop avoiding confronting the Trumpers. Go ahead and get unpleasant!