The next Democratic president of the United States will be the person who can reassemble a coalition of Americans that has completely fallen apart and turned to dust.
Steve: when are you going to realize that the only hope this country has for survival is for some of the Republicans to regain their sanity and side with the Democratic Party and get rid of Trump? You have a fine time attacking Democrats for this or that failing. Republicans have brought us to this sorry state of affairs. Particularly Republicans in the Senate who are supposed to know better. They did not impeach Trump when they had the chance. we can still survive as a country if Republicans can bring themselves to impeach Trump now. Why don’t you suggest that to them instead of continuing to berate Democrats for their inaction? Are there no Republicans that want to save this country?
Martin Thank You .....yesterday I was beside myself. So many of the comments were about how horrible the democrats are. I started to think that maybe the WARNING is made up of all republicans. I am upset with the dems to, but not to the point that I want to see a third party.. Because they never work..That is what I have seen over these last fifty years or so. They end up being spoilers .. However yesterday they were screaming for a third party....
I think you have made an excellent point .. I don't know how we can put pressure on the gop in the Senate to do the right thing. If it can be done that would help get us out of this nightmare. You are right they got us into this nightmare ..I like many moderate dems Schiff, Raskin to name two. But they can't do this by themselves.
Yes, it seems the ONLY way to salvage some semblance of Justice in this country is to IMPEACH AND CONVICT. What Senator can say that Trump's pardoning of the proud boys and oath keepers and others who violently assaulted the officers protecting the Capitol and the congresspeople is not an utterly CORRUPT use of the pardon power?
It is folly to put our hope in Republicans after all we've seen. Of course, they should stand up for our democracy in the remaining short time we have left to save it, but they won't. They are all in. J6 was akin to Caesar crossing the Rubicon. Trump was not stopped after that, and there is no going back to what it was like before that date. Everything changed. We have to think ahead about what is coming, and it is most certainly not a West Wing episode where Republicans look at their grandkids and finally develop a spine and moral compass.
I never thought highly of Musk, but was not aware until now that he was a Nazi. My uncle served in the United States 3rd Army in World War 2, service of which included the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of Buchenwald.
The only thing people need to know about Mars is that, it is a vision of what the earth will look like if we are not constant caretakers of our own planet, oceans and atmosphere.
Given the comic book mind of Musk, his assignment on the spectrum will lead to questionable and possibly dangerous decisions.
I mean he's been supporting Nazi parties in Europe for ages, his Dad is a Nazi, and tRump invited young German aFD (Nazis) to join him for election day at Turd a Lardo. How is anyone surprised by yesterday's events????
I was not surprised by anything and expected all of it except I did not think it would involve the removal of General Miley’s portrait at the Pentagon. I should have expected that as well.
I had to turn off the news yesterday, so this is the first I've heard. How disgraceful, and how dare he, a draft dodging pussy, do such a thing. It's difficult to wrap one's head around the reality that such a pathetic, sniveling, petty man was reelected president of this country. I am so beyond disgusted.
Biden saw Musk’s Dark Side, but was only able to muster feeble resistance with the equivalence of ‘traffic tickets’ while Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX burgeoned.
The greed of Wall Street sees these two companies returning huge stock gains for them. So Musk’s personal capital can only grow, unfettered by Trump, into $Trillions!
The GOP, flush with power and backed by CASH, and not equipped with democratic virtues, will sit on their hands and watch Democracy burn.
Anger won’t stop them. The AR-15s outnumber Democrats’ spit balls.
Resistance by Governors, lawyers and outraged citizens might slow the eroding forces until Steve can take over and do the FDR thing.
As I read Steve's commentary today, all I could think about is that the role of government in saving the best of capitalism by legislation curtailing its worse outcomes, is exactly what the progressive wing of the Democratic party is calling for. Why can't Steve and former Republicans who share his views openly ally with people like Jamie Raskin, Katie Porter, A.O.C., and Elizabeth Warren. A coalition of former Republicans and progressive Democrats could block Trump and bring this nine year nightmare to an end.
Steve, can you tell us whether or not and why you support or do not support Progressives in the Democratic party?
If One needed a reason to feel good about a trump win, it would be that Biden advisors are gone and unable to further damage our democracy. Insuring damage has a new king.
Biden did some great things to bring health, sanity, industry and climate sense back into America. But sadly the things he did not address alienated enough of the electorate to get Trump re-elected.
Kamala’s foreshortened campaign was a thing of beauty. It not only spoke to open arms and benevolence toward all, there was an enthusiasm in her audiences was infectious and beautiful to behold.
What then were the reasons for losing to the absolutely worst candidate ever offered the Presidency?
1. Trepidation of provoking a violent civil war? This was an undercurrent throughout the government as well as a page-two theme in all mainstream media. It got to me; I saw no FBI interest in domestic terrorism, which is its role.
2. Maybe Kamala’s apparent blindness to deficiencies in the Biden administration; most specifically his not defusing disinformation, the rise of oligarchs and election denial in his Federal Government.
3. (Kamala had no control of the fact that she is a woman and mixed-race; reasons offered by some.)
But all. in all, Kamala should have won in a landslide!
When we could do nothing but sit back as we saw a billionaire actually buy this election, brag about it and now smash our face in it, it is more than obvious that this felon of the USA has sold his soul and our country to the devil. We are watching a coup. It's all about the money and power.
I don't like the Debbie Downers. I'm a Democrat, and have never stopped being a Democrat or fighting for this democratic nation I love. It was particularly egregious, yet in a sense, enlightening, that trumps inauguration was the same day as Martin Luther King day, because it caused us to remember American VALUES. I tried to email trump to tell him that We The People, with the help of ACLU lawyers & others, will not let him illegally cancel out birthright citizenship, nor deport our immigrant neighbors, who have been living & working & paying taxes for years here ..... something he and his tech bros have NOT been doing ..... but surprise, surprise!!, tho the new WH site was up, there was nowhere an email to the WH. Will write him a regular snail-mail letter, WITH MY ADDRESS, so his Nazi bros can find the Resistance. There are many of us who CARE & fight, HAVEN'T STOPPED FIGHTING. I'm 80, with a lifetime of working for our Democracy, back to Montgomery. Glad to still be doing it, my life's work.
If ever there was the perfect moment to stress it, Citizens United MUST end. It has allowed our country to be purchased. We'll be lucky if we ever get it back.
Scores of millions of Americans don't care about food, housing, education as long as they have TikTok and supposed retribution against the 'elites' who actually vote against their own financial interests to try to help them. GAME OVER. Other than a few pundits, there is no voice of opposition and certainly no organized plan to resist. Always amazed that as dangerous as I knew tRump to be, he's always 100x more evil.
By the people, for the people. Not by the algorithm for the algorithm. Come on people, turn off those screens and see what’s around you. Don’t be ruled. Rule.
I do take some comfort in the FDR history Steve brings forth. FDR’s words show it was dire then as it is now, and we came back from it. I pity the person with an empty soul who can stomach all of the Day 1 executive actions without exception.
We are much worse off in our day than an FDR‘s time. The combination of fewer people voting in the population and Billionaire supported disinformation is a combination hard to beat. It is especially hard to beat when people like Steve Schmidt are not able to understand how Trump was able to win. He thinks Hunter Biden was responsible and not Fox News, the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell, and Elon Musk.
I made the prediction to friends that he would pardon the people convicted of insurrection (actually it wasn't much of a prediction as it was exactly what he said he would do). This decision by him, IMHO, has blown a hole in our justice system and every attorney, judge, clerk, etc. should be terrified of what is next. Their work, decisions, etc. have no meaning if they can be reversed with the swipe of a sharpie. Law and its practice is what keeps society and international agreements grounded.
Tell me who can trust our courts now?
Republicans and "the rule of law" is a sick fucking joke.
> "...every attorney, judge, clerk, etc. should be terrified of what is next."
Not to mention every law enforcement officer who was engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the violent J6 insurrectionists, along with any law enforcement officer sympathetic to those who fought to protect our Senators and Representatives.
You can say that again. All he cares about is that he's freed his army of brutes so that they can reorganize and recruit, and be ready to "stand back and stand by" when he refuses to leave office in four years, if not before then.
It has never escaped me that these fools are nazis. I've been shouting about it for a long time. It really hurts to know that so many people who voted for the orange traitor had relatives who fought to rid Germany and the world of them. They have desecrated the memory of their own ancestors instead of working intelligently to solve the problems of this country, choosing instead to follow a blowhard and lay blame where it doesn't lie. This will hurt and haunt all of America in ways we can't yet fathom.
I admire General Francis Marion of the Revolutionary War. Thinking outside the box and irregular warfare is what is needed. Though he never commanded a field army or served as a commander in a major engagement, Marion's use of irregular warfare against the British has led him to be considered one of the fathers of guerrilla warfare, and his tactics form a part of modern-day military doctrine.
Yes we need truth and a FDR and the people have to be ready for it too. I am disgusted at the fact the 45/47 has a personal Nazi, who knew that Musksputin is a Nazi.
It looks to me like "the people" want Elons and Donalds. The people are too brainwashed and dumb to see how they will suffer. Will we have another election? The Dems have to find a figure-head who can excite and lead the cause. Sad situation.
Steve, you are too optimistic about rebuilding a democracy from the ashes of the Trumpster fire. You forget, today people are too lazy to do the investigation into politicians who promise the moon and steal everything while you are looking at the moon. The laziness of expecting someone else to do the work for them has gotten us into this mess. We are not made of the same cloth as our Fathers and Forefathers. We have lost that fortitude of spine, in favor of the easiest path forward which will lead us backwards. I have no illusions anymore after hearing our new king's speech. King Farts a Lot has spoken out of his ass and his followers follow him like ants following a scent trail back to their anthills. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road there is no Wizard waiting in an Emerald City to save us.
Here is an excerpt from Hitler's first speech as chancellor:
"Since those days of treachery, the Almighty has withheld His blessing from our Volk. Dissension and hatred have made their way into our midst. In the most profound distress, millions of the best German men and women from all walks of life watch as the unity of the nation vanishes and dissolves in a muddle of political and egotistical opinions, economic interests and differences…"
We heard echos of these same sentiments spoken from the Capitol rotunda yesterday.
I hope it is ok to share my own Inauguration Day post here.
In the mid to late ‘90s, as a 13 - 17 year old, I had the privilege of shoveling snow for a WWII US Army officer and veteran, combatant of The Battle of the Bulge, and POW. His name: Alex Bloom.
When I met him Mr. Bloom must have been in his late 80s if not early 90s and was frail… but sharp of mind and with an irrepressible spirit and a gleam in his eye. Oh the gleam in his eye! What a man, what a great and kind and funny man.
One day he took me downstairs into his basement to show me something special. I sat in his basement study while he recounted his story: went off to war as an artillery officer, came ashore mere days after D-Day in France, helped liberate France, and marched east with Allied forces. He was wounded twice and captured during the German’s initial onslaught in The BotB. He was force-marched back to a POW camp where he gave his rank, name and SN during interrogation. Being Nazis of course they recognized that my friend, Mr. Bloom, was Jewish. Of particular note was the fact he was born on Dec 25th; he was a “Christmas Jew”! Because of this he was “spared” regular forced labor and instead was given the role of personal servant to the commandant of the camp. He would serve the commandant all his meals, coffee when requested, and empty his chamber pot. Upon liberation Mr. Bloom took one thing with him from the camp: a spoon, saucer and coffee cup that he so often served his captors from.
Mr. Bloom carefully removed from a box, wrapped delicately with cloth, that very same spoon, saucer and cup. He set them out before me and then gently turned over the cup to reveal the swastika printed underneath. I vividly remember the hairs on my neck standing up and my breath catching for the slightest pause. I had taken AP Euro the year prior and we had spent about 3-4 weeks covering the period of Interwar to 1945, with a special stop on William Shirer’s magnum opus. I was aware of the industrial scale murder and horror perpetrated by the Nazi regime… as much as a 15 year old could, anyway. But I had never seen a real swastika originating from the Third Reich. It was the most evil I had ever seen in the flesh and my own body knew it for what it was.
Mr. Bloom died many years ago and his lovely wife Helen as well. My mother sat Shiva for Alex with Helen. I can’t wait to see him again. I do not understand how this country forgot the lessons of The Great War, the Interwar march to tyranny and fascism, the horror and monumental sacrifices of WWII, or the epic struggle between freedom and democracy and oppression and communism, but we have.
Today I remember Alex and Helen Bloom and another WWII veteran I helped, Robert Elfers. I remember Dorothy and Ida Wildove, sisters who survived the death camps but lost their entire families, and then made their way to America and one day became friends of my family. They and my children are my reasons why.
Thank you for the spine-stiffening message this morning, Mr. Schmidt. I know I need to knuckle down, tighten my belt, and steel my resolve.
Steve: when are you going to realize that the only hope this country has for survival is for some of the Republicans to regain their sanity and side with the Democratic Party and get rid of Trump? You have a fine time attacking Democrats for this or that failing. Republicans have brought us to this sorry state of affairs. Particularly Republicans in the Senate who are supposed to know better. They did not impeach Trump when they had the chance. we can still survive as a country if Republicans can bring themselves to impeach Trump now. Why don’t you suggest that to them instead of continuing to berate Democrats for their inaction? Are there no Republicans that want to save this country?
Martin Thank You .....yesterday I was beside myself. So many of the comments were about how horrible the democrats are. I started to think that maybe the WARNING is made up of all republicans. I am upset with the dems to, but not to the point that I want to see a third party.. Because they never work..That is what I have seen over these last fifty years or so. They end up being spoilers .. However yesterday they were screaming for a third party....
I think you have made an excellent point .. I don't know how we can put pressure on the gop in the Senate to do the right thing. If it can be done that would help get us out of this nightmare. You are right they got us into this nightmare ..I like many moderate dems Schiff, Raskin to name two. But they can't do this by themselves.
Yes, it seems the ONLY way to salvage some semblance of Justice in this country is to IMPEACH AND CONVICT. What Senator can say that Trump's pardoning of the proud boys and oath keepers and others who violently assaulted the officers protecting the Capitol and the congresspeople is not an utterly CORRUPT use of the pardon power?
> "...an utterly CORRUPT use of the pardon power..."
And a blatant violation of the oath of office he just took.
It is folly to put our hope in Republicans after all we've seen. Of course, they should stand up for our democracy in the remaining short time we have left to save it, but they won't. They are all in. J6 was akin to Caesar crossing the Rubicon. Trump was not stopped after that, and there is no going back to what it was like before that date. Everything changed. We have to think ahead about what is coming, and it is most certainly not a West Wing episode where Republicans look at their grandkids and finally develop a spine and moral compass.
Agree. From a man that begged George W Bush to invade Iraq.
Not any more. All heil the new Fuhrer or. die.
I never thought highly of Musk, but was not aware until now that he was a Nazi. My uncle served in the United States 3rd Army in World War 2, service of which included the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of Buchenwald.
Musk never struck me as decent. There’s a profound ugliness about him that dulls joy and restrains liberty
The only thing people need to know about Mars is that, it is a vision of what the earth will look like if we are not constant caretakers of our own planet, oceans and atmosphere.
Given the comic book mind of Musk, his assignment on the spectrum will lead to questionable and possibly dangerous decisions.
Whether he is truly on the spectrum or if that is said about him as an excuse of sorts, he is undoubtedly an evil piece of shit
The comic book mind of Musk. The perfect description of whatever it is that's knocking around in his head. Thank you for that.
He entered our country illegally. Was to attend college and didn't. He just stayed here. He should have been deported.
I mean he's been supporting Nazi parties in Europe for ages, his Dad is a Nazi, and tRump invited young German aFD (Nazis) to join him for election day at Turd a Lardo. How is anyone surprised by yesterday's events????
I was not surprised by anything and expected all of it except I did not think it would involve the removal of General Miley’s portrait at the Pentagon. I should have expected that as well.
I had to turn off the news yesterday, so this is the first I've heard. How disgraceful, and how dare he, a draft dodging pussy, do such a thing. It's difficult to wrap one's head around the reality that such a pathetic, sniveling, petty man was reelected president of this country. I am so beyond disgusted.
Thank you John D. In my quest to stay away from any news yesterday, this one eclipsed me. But I’m still happy that I stayed in my cocoon all day.
Two days of concern now about this MAGA catastrophe on us has left me very drained, so I need to figure out a way forward.
Musk is a player! He plays the “save humanity” game for general audiences, and plays the “Hate the Races” game in his heart.
He is an utter disappointment.
Biden saw Musk’s Dark Side, but was only able to muster feeble resistance with the equivalence of ‘traffic tickets’ while Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX burgeoned.
The greed of Wall Street sees these two companies returning huge stock gains for them. So Musk’s personal capital can only grow, unfettered by Trump, into $Trillions!
The GOP, flush with power and backed by CASH, and not equipped with democratic virtues, will sit on their hands and watch Democracy burn.
Anger won’t stop them. The AR-15s outnumber Democrats’ spit balls.
Resistance by Governors, lawyers and outraged citizens might slow the eroding forces until Steve can take over and do the FDR thing.
As I read Steve's commentary today, all I could think about is that the role of government in saving the best of capitalism by legislation curtailing its worse outcomes, is exactly what the progressive wing of the Democratic party is calling for. Why can't Steve and former Republicans who share his views openly ally with people like Jamie Raskin, Katie Porter, A.O.C., and Elizabeth Warren. A coalition of former Republicans and progressive Democrats could block Trump and bring this nine year nightmare to an end.
Steve, can you tell us whether or not and why you support or do not support Progressives in the Democratic party?
If One needed a reason to feel good about a trump win, it would be that Biden advisors are gone and unable to further damage our democracy. Insuring damage has a new king.
Biden did some great things to bring health, sanity, industry and climate sense back into America. But sadly the things he did not address alienated enough of the electorate to get Trump re-elected.
- Merrick Garland
- SCOTUS corruption
- FDA malfeasance
- Age decline
- Rampant Disinformation
- Burgeoning Media Oligarchy
- Burgeoning Industrial Oligarchy
- GOP election deniers
It was also very difficult to suddenly in mid July begin a Presidential campaign.
Kamala’s foreshortened campaign was a thing of beauty. It not only spoke to open arms and benevolence toward all, there was an enthusiasm in her audiences was infectious and beautiful to behold.
What then were the reasons for losing to the absolutely worst candidate ever offered the Presidency?
1. Trepidation of provoking a violent civil war? This was an undercurrent throughout the government as well as a page-two theme in all mainstream media. It got to me; I saw no FBI interest in domestic terrorism, which is its role.
2. Maybe Kamala’s apparent blindness to deficiencies in the Biden administration; most specifically his not defusing disinformation, the rise of oligarchs and election denial in his Federal Government.
3. (Kamala had no control of the fact that she is a woman and mixed-race; reasons offered by some.)
But all. in all, Kamala should have won in a landslide!
Accurate and well spoken
When we could do nothing but sit back as we saw a billionaire actually buy this election, brag about it and now smash our face in it, it is more than obvious that this felon of the USA has sold his soul and our country to the devil. We are watching a coup. It's all about the money and power.
I don't like the Debbie Downers. I'm a Democrat, and have never stopped being a Democrat or fighting for this democratic nation I love. It was particularly egregious, yet in a sense, enlightening, that trumps inauguration was the same day as Martin Luther King day, because it caused us to remember American VALUES. I tried to email trump to tell him that We The People, with the help of ACLU lawyers & others, will not let him illegally cancel out birthright citizenship, nor deport our immigrant neighbors, who have been living & working & paying taxes for years here ..... something he and his tech bros have NOT been doing ..... but surprise, surprise!!, tho the new WH site was up, there was nowhere an email to the WH. Will write him a regular snail-mail letter, WITH MY ADDRESS, so his Nazi bros can find the Resistance. There are many of us who CARE & fight, HAVEN'T STOPPED FIGHTING. I'm 80, with a lifetime of working for our Democracy, back to Montgomery. Glad to still be doing it, my life's work.
Dismissal of the $B Lords has to begin with restoring the House to Democratic leadership. It has to include sanitizing the SCOTUS with 3 impeachments
And putting limits back on campaign donations to get the dark money out of politics.
If ever there was the perfect moment to stress it, Citizens United MUST end. It has allowed our country to be purchased. We'll be lucky if we ever get it back.
Scores of millions of Americans don't care about food, housing, education as long as they have TikTok and supposed retribution against the 'elites' who actually vote against their own financial interests to try to help them. GAME OVER. Other than a few pundits, there is no voice of opposition and certainly no organized plan to resist. Always amazed that as dangerous as I knew tRump to be, he's always 100x more evil.
Yup. It was never about the price of eggs.
That picture is disgusting. Hate him more than Trump if that's possible.
By the people, for the people. Not by the algorithm for the algorithm. Come on people, turn off those screens and see what’s around you. Don’t be ruled. Rule.
I do take some comfort in the FDR history Steve brings forth. FDR’s words show it was dire then as it is now, and we came back from it. I pity the person with an empty soul who can stomach all of the Day 1 executive actions without exception.
We are much worse off in our day than an FDR‘s time. The combination of fewer people voting in the population and Billionaire supported disinformation is a combination hard to beat. It is especially hard to beat when people like Steve Schmidt are not able to understand how Trump was able to win. He thinks Hunter Biden was responsible and not Fox News, the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell, and Elon Musk.
And Mitch McConnell well before and facilitating the final nails in the coffin.
I made the prediction to friends that he would pardon the people convicted of insurrection (actually it wasn't much of a prediction as it was exactly what he said he would do). This decision by him, IMHO, has blown a hole in our justice system and every attorney, judge, clerk, etc. should be terrified of what is next. Their work, decisions, etc. have no meaning if they can be reversed with the swipe of a sharpie. Law and its practice is what keeps society and international agreements grounded.
Tell me who can trust our courts now?
Republicans and "the rule of law" is a sick fucking joke.
> "...every attorney, judge, clerk, etc. should be terrified of what is next."
Not to mention every law enforcement officer who was engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the violent J6 insurrectionists, along with any law enforcement officer sympathetic to those who fought to protect our Senators and Representatives.
You can say that again. All he cares about is that he's freed his army of brutes so that they can reorganize and recruit, and be ready to "stand back and stand by" when he refuses to leave office in four years, if not before then.
Hear, hear!
It has never escaped me that these fools are nazis. I've been shouting about it for a long time. It really hurts to know that so many people who voted for the orange traitor had relatives who fought to rid Germany and the world of them. They have desecrated the memory of their own ancestors instead of working intelligently to solve the problems of this country, choosing instead to follow a blowhard and lay blame where it doesn't lie. This will hurt and haunt all of America in ways we can't yet fathom.
I admire General Francis Marion of the Revolutionary War. Thinking outside the box and irregular warfare is what is needed. Though he never commanded a field army or served as a commander in a major engagement, Marion's use of irregular warfare against the British has led him to be considered one of the fathers of guerrilla warfare, and his tactics form a part of modern-day military doctrine.
Yes we need truth and a FDR and the people have to be ready for it too. I am disgusted at the fact the 45/47 has a personal Nazi, who knew that Musksputin is a Nazi.
✋
It looks to me like "the people" want Elons and Donalds. The people are too brainwashed and dumb to see how they will suffer. Will we have another election? The Dems have to find a figure-head who can excite and lead the cause. Sad situation.
Steve, you are too optimistic about rebuilding a democracy from the ashes of the Trumpster fire. You forget, today people are too lazy to do the investigation into politicians who promise the moon and steal everything while you are looking at the moon. The laziness of expecting someone else to do the work for them has gotten us into this mess. We are not made of the same cloth as our Fathers and Forefathers. We have lost that fortitude of spine, in favor of the easiest path forward which will lead us backwards. I have no illusions anymore after hearing our new king's speech. King Farts a Lot has spoken out of his ass and his followers follow him like ants following a scent trail back to their anthills. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road there is no Wizard waiting in an Emerald City to save us.
Here is an excerpt from Hitler's first speech as chancellor:
"Since those days of treachery, the Almighty has withheld His blessing from our Volk. Dissension and hatred have made their way into our midst. In the most profound distress, millions of the best German men and women from all walks of life watch as the unity of the nation vanishes and dissolves in a muddle of political and egotistical opinions, economic interests and differences…"
We heard echos of these same sentiments spoken from the Capitol rotunda yesterday.
I hope it is ok to share my own Inauguration Day post here.
https://jill699.substack.com/p/a-presidents-lust-for-loose-fish
In the mid to late ‘90s, as a 13 - 17 year old, I had the privilege of shoveling snow for a WWII US Army officer and veteran, combatant of The Battle of the Bulge, and POW. His name: Alex Bloom.
When I met him Mr. Bloom must have been in his late 80s if not early 90s and was frail… but sharp of mind and with an irrepressible spirit and a gleam in his eye. Oh the gleam in his eye! What a man, what a great and kind and funny man.
One day he took me downstairs into his basement to show me something special. I sat in his basement study while he recounted his story: went off to war as an artillery officer, came ashore mere days after D-Day in France, helped liberate France, and marched east with Allied forces. He was wounded twice and captured during the German’s initial onslaught in The BotB. He was force-marched back to a POW camp where he gave his rank, name and SN during interrogation. Being Nazis of course they recognized that my friend, Mr. Bloom, was Jewish. Of particular note was the fact he was born on Dec 25th; he was a “Christmas Jew”! Because of this he was “spared” regular forced labor and instead was given the role of personal servant to the commandant of the camp. He would serve the commandant all his meals, coffee when requested, and empty his chamber pot. Upon liberation Mr. Bloom took one thing with him from the camp: a spoon, saucer and coffee cup that he so often served his captors from.
Mr. Bloom carefully removed from a box, wrapped delicately with cloth, that very same spoon, saucer and cup. He set them out before me and then gently turned over the cup to reveal the swastika printed underneath. I vividly remember the hairs on my neck standing up and my breath catching for the slightest pause. I had taken AP Euro the year prior and we had spent about 3-4 weeks covering the period of Interwar to 1945, with a special stop on William Shirer’s magnum opus. I was aware of the industrial scale murder and horror perpetrated by the Nazi regime… as much as a 15 year old could, anyway. But I had never seen a real swastika originating from the Third Reich. It was the most evil I had ever seen in the flesh and my own body knew it for what it was.
Mr. Bloom died many years ago and his lovely wife Helen as well. My mother sat Shiva for Alex with Helen. I can’t wait to see him again. I do not understand how this country forgot the lessons of The Great War, the Interwar march to tyranny and fascism, the horror and monumental sacrifices of WWII, or the epic struggle between freedom and democracy and oppression and communism, but we have.
Today I remember Alex and Helen Bloom and another WWII veteran I helped, Robert Elfers. I remember Dorothy and Ida Wildove, sisters who survived the death camps but lost their entire families, and then made their way to America and one day became friends of my family. They and my children are my reasons why.
Thank you for the spine-stiffening message this morning, Mr. Schmidt. I know I need to knuckle down, tighten my belt, and steel my resolve.