The American people are told constantly that we have nothing in common, and share nothing together. We are told that we are hopelessly, permanently and utterly divided. It’s not true. Here is one thing we all share. Any one of us, at any time, can become a victim of gun violence. The evil can manifest itself anywhere at anytime in America. There is no place that is safe. Nowhere.
The new Speaker of the House from the fascist wing of Congress blames the "human heart", its failure, for Lewiston. What exactly that means I am unsure, since it was an addled, poisoned brain and not a heart that killed and mauled those victims. Those inhumane monsters who speak so glibly about these horrific life moments should experience them at least once on a personal level. Let us see how quickly they run to decry the human heart as the villain. Worse than Republican stupidity is their toxic inhumanity. Johnson is a white supremacist Xtian nationalist. FACT: There is NO JESUS in Johnson's universe. He lifts up Scripture as his guide book. WHICH part of Scripture? WHICH testament of Scripture? He is phony to his core, a fallow, shallow and hollow servant to his orange puppet master.
He is an answered prayer for evangelicals, the arm of Xtian fealty that parses passages of Holy Scripture like so much Halloween candy. Their apostacy is toxic brew for a bitter and more coarse society. Their soulless darkness looms heavy. It is a death knell for our constitutional democracy. They would destroy all that is good simply to validate their heresy.
I have commented elsewhere about the abridged Bible these so-called Christian nationalists must have. All the verses on abortion, but nothing about Jesus, his life, teachings or sacrifice.
I hope Mike Johnson has a dream where he visits the scene of the Lewiston massacre with, oh say, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin.
The only things that would bring Jefferson and Franklin to Johnson's mind would be the legal tender on which their faces appear. He likely would say the victims in Lewiston simply were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Steve Scalise was shot at a baseball game a few years ago and this is his position on gun controls, in 2022:
"I voted against the gun control bill on the House Floor because it undermines the Second Amendment and infringes on the right of law-abiding Americans to defend themselves at a time when crime is skyrocketing across the country.’
"at a time when crime is skyrocketing across this country" . . . From the web: "Is crime going up in the US 2023? A report released in July by nonpartisan think tank the Council on Criminal Justice used data from 37 surveyed cities. It found that murders dropped 9.4% in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022, but vehicle thefts rose a whopping 33.5%."
So, how exactly, Mr. Scalise is having a gun going to stop vehicle thefts? There are other stats available that also do not support Scalise's posit. But, hey, he was denied the Republican House Speakership. Just one more loathsome, hysterical liar sucking at the siphon of hyperbole. Emotion-driven bullshit is just that: emotion-driven bullshot.
The easy access and all the NRA hype also has made it stylish for young men in this country to own — and carry with them—not only hunting rifles but handguns. I lost a 28 year- old nephew in a small town in Montana last spring because he was having an argument with a childhood friend. In the heat of the moment that friend took his pistol out of his car to cope with what should have been no more than a shouting match or a fistfight. There was no one else at the scene and that was the only weapon. He ended up on his knees in the driveway trying to perform CPR on my nephew, the life-long friend he had just killed.
Mary, I'm so sorry to hear about this tragic loss of your nephew due to how 'stylish' is is for these young men to carry guns. I live in rural MT. My younger brother is a big gun importer in this state. He turned the family farm into a 'shooting range' and we lost 'MT state park' status of having a sod roof homesteaders cabin on the property because of this shooting range. One of my brothers nearly killed the other one already. It is a mess. Also, guns and alcohol are a toxic and sometimes lethal mix. So Sorry! Best to you, Lisa
I live in Whitby, a small community just east of Toronto. Many of my father's family are Americans. When my mom and dad broke up, my mother moved to Florida and married an American, a former air force pilot and FBI agent (retired). Over the years of visits and gatherings, I came to love the American sense of wonder and adventure, things would always be better tomorrow. I came to love my mother's new partner; he was a wonderful man. Sadly, they both have passed away, so I don't go to Florida any longer. All of my Aunts and Uncles have also passed away, and I have lost touch with cousins (to the best of my knowledge live in Texas.)
I have also worked in the US as a technical consultant for Canadian companies that had contracts in the US for various projects. Amazingly, once at NASA in Coco Beach where I was part of a crew installing Canadian made launch control consoles at the Technical Operations Command Centre.
Also a project at the USDA near Beltsville Maryland, a Chrysler stamping plant in Sterling Heights in Michigan and a pharmaceutical company Abbot Labs in North Chicago. among many others.
My work also included several stints in Europe, and in Mexico. I am telling all of this because of that experience I have a pretty good feel for what Western civilization has to offer, and what sometimes, just doesn't deliver.
All of this long winded history is to say how, from my perspective, the US has fallen in delivering one of the key reasons for the counties promises. The pursuit of happiness.
What has replaced that? Paranoia and fear. Truth no longer matters so long as there is someone to blame. If only we could keep the southern border secure. I am always amazed and how I am questioned when entering the US as though I am trying to sneak in to live there instead of being in Canada! There were times I seriously considered moving to the US, but I always put the thought away after careful thought. I never liked the thought of rugged individualism. I always thought that we should care for one another, and take care of those who could not care for themselves.
Humans seem to be different than other animals, in that we contemplate our reason for being. Who we are, and why we are. Maybe other animals do that, but I don't know how they do, because we are the only animals with writing. I can read about other peoples lives. Dolphins can't do that, nor can dogs or cats, or crows, perhaps the most intelligent of birds. Other animals can communicate with each other, be we are the only ones with written and recorded history, philosophy and scientific principles. At least that is the way it seems. But what do I see some (it is important to say some here) Americans doing? Burning books, banning them from libraries, and refusing to allow some thinkers from speaking at universities!! Political leaders (are they, or do they just think they are?) lying in ways that would have been so scandalous as to make an honest person ill.
Please do your best Steve to promote critical thinking, to scour your country of evil propaganda, of ridiculous intolerance, of grifter politicians, of purchased judges and senators, of religious zealots and criminal racist conspirators. Are you a modern Man of Lemancha? I hope for more, so much more. More effective with bigger game in sight, and instead of windmills, tilting at odorous windbags.
As a Canadian, I want the America that was dreamed of by the founders, in spite of the problems with race and constitutional problems. I can see that the second amendment is causing turmoil and to a certain extent a loss of freedom to be secure. Why can't things change? It is an amendment. Doesn't that mean change? The very definition of the work amendment? Things can be changed. It just takes the will to do it, and more people like Steve.
Did you admire our genocide of Indians, slaughter of buffalo, and our phony wars in Vietnam, Kuwait and Iraq? Our pop culture and ridicule of great art?
Of course I didn't admire any of those issues. Canada has some similar issues in our past as well, What I did admire were the great authors, playwrights, artists, scientists, philosophers, and some politicians as well. Most of the people that I met on the streets were easy going and pretty good conversationalists as well. America, was, in general, a friendly place to visit. I had no fear of being accosted or shot back then.
It seems that things have changed with a greater focus on blaming minorities, and the right to bear arms, and to extend the boundary "my rights over everyone else's rights." I have the right to carry, and to "stand my ground" over your right to remain unharmed and to live. To me, it just seems unbalanced. I never claimed America was perfect, the civil rights movement clearly illustrates that it was not. But there was a general feeling of let's get things improved. A striving for a better way to live and to help the country.
JFK's famous inaugural speech, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” pretty much sums up what I saw and what I thought was so great about America.
I think you are correct and your reply was well said
I cant detach myself from the need to certify the balance needed to assess this nation....
It is close to the edge of insanity
exactly like what happened in Athens in 404BC, when the Thirty Tyrants ( oligarchs,) ruined the 96 years of democracy in Athens. The
Athenians were destroyed in heart and mind forever...
No such Periclean.Age of Enlightenment has ever existed on Earth again.
We certainly never had one here but at least it has not been a slaughter of wars between ideologically separate classes (as yet): Feudalism and serfdom is what the billionaires want here and globally.
"I always thought that we should care for one another, and take care of those who could not care for themselves." I've always thought that, too, Doug. I'm so disappointed in the USA.
Thank you for your beautiful and caring commentary here. Perspective! We need change.
I’ve followed you since 2011 on MSNBC, The Circus & on Twitter. I would seek out any articles you authored even though I was a Democrat. Imagine my delight when in June of 2018 you left the GOP & became a cofounder of The Lincoln Project. Even though my only income is from being permanently disabled, I donated whatever I could to the fight. I’m a subscriber to your Substack, podcast and if you’re doing anybody else’s I listen. When you announced your support for Phillips, I gave you the benefit of the doubt and even though I never heard of this man, I did a deep dive to try to find what you saw in this person. I’m sorry to say I’m purely dumbfounded. If it was Congressman Dan Goldman or Governor Newsom, I would’ve agreed to follow your recommendation. If you hadn’t disparaged President Biden on anything he’s accomplished and simply said you’re doing this out of concern for his age, I would’ve understood your effort, Democrats might’ve listened. Isn’t it our priority as Democrats to stand by all the amazing policies President Biden has fought for the American people & to knock on doors to change the hearts and minds of the American people as to why he’s the best choice we have to save our democracy? I do not see what you see in this Congressman to become the leader of the free world. He’s not eloquent, Earth shattering or hasn’t done anything meaningful to me. He’s a rich white man who seems no more enriched than a piece of white bread. Yet, even if you tried to make the point that Phillips is in awe of all Biden’s accomplishments instead of saying you’re going to hit Biden hard for all his problems on the regular, I may have understood. Yet I find myself thinking what the ef is Schmidt doing?!? I remember your blind faith about Schultz, this doesn’t seem much different. My entire family has believed in you for years, but this is too unbelievable for us. Your eloquence with the English language & your knowledge of our American History is beyond measure, the beauty of our country as your travels has told is amazing and your steps to a life of Judaism is precious and profound. Yet I feel heartbroken, abandoned by one of America’s greatest voices. Please make me understand why this shouldn’t seem simply self centered or only to enriching your coffers. I have never once in all the years following you have ever even heard you ever mention this Congressman Phillips, I believe that speaks volumes.
I’ve been a steadfast supporter of you, until now. I will miss your presence, eloquence, compassion, command of the English language & fellow New Jerseyan brashness. I wish you only to stop this madness, but I have a feeling this will be the hill you die on. Be well.
Amanda, thank you for expressing how I feel about Steve. Such eloquence , historical knowledge of our country, appreciation of beauty are some of the reasons I have followed Steve for so many years.
But what he is doing in this campaign for Dean Phillips , at this time, I will never understand.
I feel like I didn't really know him after all. Maybe that's because all I needed to know was that he left the Republican Party and was working against Trump. Nobody is that one dimensional so shame on me for not realizing that there was more to Steve. The one doesn't take away from the other and I will continue to support his Substack for the eloquence, and his reverence for our beautiful country.
Isn’t there a simple solution for the 80%? With as many who want some form of gun control, why would they not vote up and down the ticket for those whose election platforms respond to the needs of the majority. Alas, not in your country because big money from the NRA and others in elections is what keeps the likes of Jim Jordan, Elise Stephanik, Rand Paul, McConnell et al in power. The same is true with a universal health care plan - big pharma and private hospitals all stand in its way to being achieved. Money seems to be at the root of a lot of your ills. Enough said.
One would think that would be the answer, voting for change. I live in a red state, full GOP from the Governor down and a super majority in the Legislature. The Republicans in this state and I assume other red states, will continue to vote Republican. Various reasons. Generational voting, being a “Christian” abortion and the well played messaging that Democrats are evil. Hahaha. Seriously I have had heard those words used. So many, many will continue to vote against themselves.
I approached Steve's site with no small amount of dread this morning. Not because of his opinion about Dean Phillips. No. About what the nastiness level would be today. Didn't take long to find out.
I totally disagree with Steve about Dean Phillips.
I also believe it's possible to disagree without being plug ugly.
Am I better than the nasties? Absolutely not!! But I do think I and others here could make a case for having better boundaries and manners on someone else's page. Without abandoning our differing opinion(s).
Yes, Democrats need to welcome new candidates of their own party...and be civil. If President Biden is the best candidate, he will win the primary contests. This is a democracy! We should all be happy that new blood is in the race. Steve is a smart political tactician. He can read the current mood and numbers. Biden is very vulnerable to a Republican defeat a year from now simply because he is too old and looks that way agains Trump and the Republican field. Open your eyes, folks...winning is what we are after here. Biden should bow out gracefully.
I totally agree that it is possible to disagree without being ugly about it. As I have trying to say, this is what democracy is all about. And I am glad to see that many of us are still here on Steve Schmidt’s platform, even if we sometimes disagree with him.
I also want to add that as a Canadian I agree with Steve that here in Canada we largely are free from fears about mass shootings happening here. We do have lots of people with mental health problems here, and a lot of terrible and sometimes deadly domestic assaults.
But what Canadians don’t have is easy access to guns --- let alone to military-style weapons. We do have strong gun control laws. And I think that is by far the major reason why we have very few mass shootings.
It is very difficult indeed for many of us Canadians to understand why so many Americans seem addicted to guns.
So many Americans don't understand that either. And in particular, do not understand the passion for military grade weapons. The radical right and NRA (one and the same?) keep promoting their twisted take on the Second Amendment, and repeat, repeat, repeat that owning guns is good. Necessary. Essential. Legal. Etc.
NRA is not the only gun group with clout that we need to be tracking. The National Shoot Sports Foundation (NSSF). Here's a link to an older story in The Guardian that provides a good overview of this group and its board of directors. And, as Ms. Bullington has also pointed out, SCOTUS is a true enemy of our former democracy.
One bright, shiny moment (if not undermined by enemies foreign and domestic): Our right to vote. Which may be called into question if our very own fascist half+ of congress claws its way into a majority in the Senate and into the Oval Office. I think failure to vote should be fined. {snark}
I really don’t get the level of vitriol Steve is getting for supporting Dean Phillips, especially here on his site and from the Lincoln Project. Sure, it may be a loser of a move but we do have a democracy here. If someone wants to run for President they should be free to do it. I felt the same way when Bloomberg announced his run in 2020. We have one party rallying behind a fascist felon, while the other demands it’s candidates fill the needs of an endless list of causes and interests that most people don’t care about. There is this large void in between without representation, which I thought was the target audience this Substack. Why are we so afraid of someone pointing out the obvious and offering a different choice?
Maybe because I feel it’s a scam that will help the fascist felon. I read of Steve’s plan for Phillips campaign: to contract talent across 6 time zones seizing on all opportunity to put Biden on the defense all day every day…this is a pro Trump effort described as a primary campaign.
I do agree I do not want to be ugly but I also think it is fair to let subscribers say their peace in the way that works for them. Sometimes I go off the rails, too.
Thank you for renewing your promise to highlight the gun violence that has plagued our nation. It is an abomination and it should be everyone's primary concern. Ever since Republicans refused to continue the ban on assult weapons there has been an explosion of mass shooting events. I am of a certain age when locking the doors of your home and auto was unheard of. It was a time when children were safe from gun violence in their schools.
We need comprehensive gun legislation from our elected officials. We demand that gun ownership be as highly regulated as drivers licenses and pilot licenses. We demand that background checks be universal and that they ban ghost guns. We further demand that assult weapons are banned from the private sector. They have no function in society other than for mass shootings. If they must be allowed then they need to be kept at secure rifle ranges and stored there behind vaulted locations. Gun safety is everyone's business. It is about time our elected officials made it their business too.
And as for Dean Phillips, I would vote for Biden even if he was dead before I would vote for Phillips or Trump (which is what a vote for Phillips is). It’s not about one person-it’s about the people they surround themselves with.
Phillips is running against Biden in a primary. If Biden wins, he will be running against a Republican...perhaps Trump. So a vote for Phillips is far from a vote for Trump.
Yes, but to campaign against Biden is most likely to rant on and on about how OLD he is. There isn't much else, since Biden is already going down in history as our most effective POTUS since FDR. To campaign against Biden using the age-factor is to give more power to MAGA/GOP. Democracy vs. Autocracy. This is what 2024 boils down to. Thx.
Nice distraction. Mr Schmidt, no one who can effect this policy change will hear you now. You are working to usher in an Authoritarian government. If you are too blind, motivated by money, or a true believer, it’s all a tragic end to your arc of redemption. Please seek a good friend, or better yet, someone who has no skin in the game. You are advocating wrecking America as you wreck your career.
Oh, come on! Steve is working for Dean Phillips, a good man, a Democrat who has a total right to run for the presidency at a time when polls show that our current President, a Democrat, may very well lose against Donald Trump. If President Biden can beat Dean Phillips, then the primary will have done America well by showing that we actually elect people, not coronate them. Give Steve a break...he is smart enough to know that Biden is too old to run again.
Everyone has opinions. I have no idea what this other person has ever done for the causes I'm interested in. If we are looking at mass shooting, who worked with the first mass shooting group of parents and the community groups in the nation? I think you already know I know who did.
Here's what I replied to Cynthia Jo Glozier in an early post today: "Yes, but to campaign against Biden is most likely to rant on and on about how OLD he is. There isn't much else, since Biden is already going down in history as our most effective POTUS since FDR. To campaign against Biden using the age-factor is to give more power to MAGA/GOP. Democracy vs. Autocracy. This is what 2024 boils down to. Thx." Just an fyi. Thanks :-)
Yes, he has been effective and we are all thankful that he basically saved democracy during the last election. If he bows out now he will be lauded as a successful president. But his age makes him very vulnerable and he is not going to get younger voters to the polls. He could name his successor. I welcome that, too! Kamala doesn’t poll well, either. Thus, Democrats need new blood if they want to win next November. If they are too fearful to tell the truth about Biden’s age and convince him to mentor a new White House resident, then a Republican will win. I do not want that to happen, but we are on course for that, I am afraid.
I hope so, too! I have the strong feeling that neither Biden nor Trump will be the candidates by the time next November rolls around. Politics is all about perception and the baby boomers need to leave the stage…I am one…by the way!
A lot can and probably will happen in a year. DJT appears to be physically imploding or exploding. I really hope Biden has something up his sleeve! I, though, am pro-elders and wisdom for 2024.
There is a lot more to the 24 election than Biden-Trump or D? -R? For president. There’s Congress, which is huge!! There’s local races. Biden (or snybody) cant do it all-what are we doing to clarify the issues and the choices and to support those who do.
Have you noticed that young voters are more tuned in to gun control (the Post - Columbine and uvalde and pulse and Sandy Hook and MSD and (too many to list) generation) and reproductive rights and are working to enter the elected class. Something happening here... can we help David Hogg, Maxwell Frost, hakeem Jeffries, [insertbyour favorite candidate here!]
Inflation is not Biden's fault. Biden is being blocked by MAGA on everything he tries to do. He is smarter than they are and he is the master of diplomacy so he gets historic legislation passed anyway. False propaganda amplified by social media algorithms are a huge problem. Biden is consistently bringing inflation down. MAGA will smear any candidate any way they can. Russia will assist.
We Canadians are feeling for you all. Our families are following closely all that is unsettling in American politics and around the world now. Your dedication is necessary, Steve
Thanks Steve. Unfortunately for us Americans, we have way too many guns. At one time, becoming a “civil society” meant NOT needing to have a gun to protect oneself. Having to carry a gun was characteristic of the “old west”. But that’s the way the GOP seems to want it to be again. The answer to gun violence is: more guns. Teachers, ushers in movie theaters, we should ALL have guns so that gun violence subsides: that’s total bullshit and completely insane. I’m happy you have a wife in Canada- that’s a nice place to escape to when things start to get really ugly here. The “table is set” for that to happen.
Our country for being so free is an embarrassment to the world that we can’t come up with or reinstate a ban on military style rifles/guns! We have licenses for our pets, driving all types of vehicles, businesses and oMG gotta have my guns. Stop the stupidity about guns folks should have permits training, insurance and never be able to carry where alchohol is available or sold! Let’s stop the STUPID getting their way !
I was also fortunate enough to drive north into Canada from Glacier National Park through Calgary, The Icefields Parkway, Prince George and Prince Rupert. It was just after you and your son's driving trip.
I experienced the same easing of anxiety while visiting our wonderful neighbor as you describe.
I have 9 grandchildren attending public schools in Iowa. The anxiety of knowing this could be the day, never leaves me.
Meanwhile, we have the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Yesterday. We must vote them out to begin to have real, honest discussions of solutions. The lies must stop. Solutions exist.
I'm sorry for veering off-track, for me it always comes down to the lies and the Liars.
Little children in their schools where they should be safe are at risk for gun violence?! They have no choice and no voice. We must all stand up for change. Ban assault weapons!
Ten people, including an armed police officer, were killed in our local King Soopers in March 2021. The store was closed and remodeled over several months. The door the killer entered through is gone. Some days I’m okay going in there, then I remember and I’m overwhelmed with sadness. Government has no way to keep us safe from this.
Put gun control on the ballot in every state. Ban assault weapons from use by anyone not in the military and defending our country. Ban high capacity magazines and armor piercing ammo. The majority of Americans want sensible gun control but our NRA bought and paid for politicians refuse to represent the majority. Put gun control on the ballot and let the majority of Americans have their say. Stop letting a minority run roughshod over us.
Thank you for this article calling attention to our country’s gun violence epidemic. We must not be silent on this issue until we get change.
The new Speaker of the House from the fascist wing of Congress blames the "human heart", its failure, for Lewiston. What exactly that means I am unsure, since it was an addled, poisoned brain and not a heart that killed and mauled those victims. Those inhumane monsters who speak so glibly about these horrific life moments should experience them at least once on a personal level. Let us see how quickly they run to decry the human heart as the villain. Worse than Republican stupidity is their toxic inhumanity. Johnson is a white supremacist Xtian nationalist. FACT: There is NO JESUS in Johnson's universe. He lifts up Scripture as his guide book. WHICH part of Scripture? WHICH testament of Scripture? He is phony to his core, a fallow, shallow and hollow servant to his orange puppet master.
He is an answered prayer for evangelicals, the arm of Xtian fealty that parses passages of Holy Scripture like so much Halloween candy. Their apostacy is toxic brew for a bitter and more coarse society. Their soulless darkness looms heavy. It is a death knell for our constitutional democracy. They would destroy all that is good simply to validate their heresy.
I have commented elsewhere about the abridged Bible these so-called Christian nationalists must have. All the verses on abortion, but nothing about Jesus, his life, teachings or sacrifice.
I hope Mike Johnson has a dream where he visits the scene of the Lewiston massacre with, oh say, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin.
TJ( seeing AR): What’s THAT?
MJ: YOU know--second amendment.
BF: You all must be crazy!!
The only things that would bring Jefferson and Franklin to Johnson's mind would be the legal tender on which their faces appear. He likely would say the victims in Lewiston simply were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Or maybe with Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
Steve Scalise was shot at a baseball game a few years ago and this is his position on gun controls, in 2022:
"I voted against the gun control bill on the House Floor because it undermines the Second Amendment and infringes on the right of law-abiding Americans to defend themselves at a time when crime is skyrocketing across the country.’
He’s an idiot maybe that’s why
It is madness.
"at a time when crime is skyrocketing across this country" . . . From the web: "Is crime going up in the US 2023? A report released in July by nonpartisan think tank the Council on Criminal Justice used data from 37 surveyed cities. It found that murders dropped 9.4% in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022, but vehicle thefts rose a whopping 33.5%."
So, how exactly, Mr. Scalise is having a gun going to stop vehicle thefts? There are other stats available that also do not support Scalise's posit. But, hey, he was denied the Republican House Speakership. Just one more loathsome, hysterical liar sucking at the siphon of hyperbole. Emotion-driven bullshit is just that: emotion-driven bullshot.
On that awful day, Scalise’s life was saved because one of the Republican Congressmen on the field was a combat trauma surgeon.
There was @ least one armed security officer there. That did not save Scalise’s life (may have saved others)
But he still voted against gun controls, even after it sounds like he could have died in that shooting. I will never understand.
That was then. He needs $$$$$ now!
Crime is skyrocketing in part because of the easy access to guns.
The easy access and all the NRA hype also has made it stylish for young men in this country to own — and carry with them—not only hunting rifles but handguns. I lost a 28 year- old nephew in a small town in Montana last spring because he was having an argument with a childhood friend. In the heat of the moment that friend took his pistol out of his car to cope with what should have been no more than a shouting match or a fistfight. There was no one else at the scene and that was the only weapon. He ended up on his knees in the driveway trying to perform CPR on my nephew, the life-long friend he had just killed.
So incredibly sad
Yes, thank you.
Mary, I'm so sorry to hear about this tragic loss of your nephew due to how 'stylish' is is for these young men to carry guns. I live in rural MT. My younger brother is a big gun importer in this state. He turned the family farm into a 'shooting range' and we lost 'MT state park' status of having a sod roof homesteaders cabin on the property because of this shooting range. One of my brothers nearly killed the other one already. It is a mess. Also, guns and alcohol are a toxic and sometimes lethal mix. So Sorry! Best to you, Lisa
that is heart breaking
the young man who died
and the other's living death
Hi Steve.
I live in Whitby, a small community just east of Toronto. Many of my father's family are Americans. When my mom and dad broke up, my mother moved to Florida and married an American, a former air force pilot and FBI agent (retired). Over the years of visits and gatherings, I came to love the American sense of wonder and adventure, things would always be better tomorrow. I came to love my mother's new partner; he was a wonderful man. Sadly, they both have passed away, so I don't go to Florida any longer. All of my Aunts and Uncles have also passed away, and I have lost touch with cousins (to the best of my knowledge live in Texas.)
I have also worked in the US as a technical consultant for Canadian companies that had contracts in the US for various projects. Amazingly, once at NASA in Coco Beach where I was part of a crew installing Canadian made launch control consoles at the Technical Operations Command Centre.
Also a project at the USDA near Beltsville Maryland, a Chrysler stamping plant in Sterling Heights in Michigan and a pharmaceutical company Abbot Labs in North Chicago. among many others.
My work also included several stints in Europe, and in Mexico. I am telling all of this because of that experience I have a pretty good feel for what Western civilization has to offer, and what sometimes, just doesn't deliver.
All of this long winded history is to say how, from my perspective, the US has fallen in delivering one of the key reasons for the counties promises. The pursuit of happiness.
What has replaced that? Paranoia and fear. Truth no longer matters so long as there is someone to blame. If only we could keep the southern border secure. I am always amazed and how I am questioned when entering the US as though I am trying to sneak in to live there instead of being in Canada! There were times I seriously considered moving to the US, but I always put the thought away after careful thought. I never liked the thought of rugged individualism. I always thought that we should care for one another, and take care of those who could not care for themselves.
Humans seem to be different than other animals, in that we contemplate our reason for being. Who we are, and why we are. Maybe other animals do that, but I don't know how they do, because we are the only animals with writing. I can read about other peoples lives. Dolphins can't do that, nor can dogs or cats, or crows, perhaps the most intelligent of birds. Other animals can communicate with each other, be we are the only ones with written and recorded history, philosophy and scientific principles. At least that is the way it seems. But what do I see some (it is important to say some here) Americans doing? Burning books, banning them from libraries, and refusing to allow some thinkers from speaking at universities!! Political leaders (are they, or do they just think they are?) lying in ways that would have been so scandalous as to make an honest person ill.
Please do your best Steve to promote critical thinking, to scour your country of evil propaganda, of ridiculous intolerance, of grifter politicians, of purchased judges and senators, of religious zealots and criminal racist conspirators. Are you a modern Man of Lemancha? I hope for more, so much more. More effective with bigger game in sight, and instead of windmills, tilting at odorous windbags.
As a Canadian, I want the America that was dreamed of by the founders, in spite of the problems with race and constitutional problems. I can see that the second amendment is causing turmoil and to a certain extent a loss of freedom to be secure. Why can't things change? It is an amendment. Doesn't that mean change? The very definition of the work amendment? Things can be changed. It just takes the will to do it, and more people like Steve.
Thank you so much, Doug, for your beautiful love letter from Canada.
I know your town Whitby well and love it.
Lived there for five years 1995-2000.
(Lived 30 years in Canada 1970-2000)
My beloved husband is a Canadian
so all you speak of here is part of our ongoing exploration and collaboration.
Let's all of us yanks and canucks
always seek to learn from each other
and combine our best gifts/dimensions
as we build higher levels of freedom
on both sides of the border.
Thank you Doug for your letter and for caring about us folks in the US.
Did you admire our genocide of Indians, slaughter of buffalo, and our phony wars in Vietnam, Kuwait and Iraq? Our pop culture and ridicule of great art?
Of course I didn't admire any of those issues. Canada has some similar issues in our past as well, What I did admire were the great authors, playwrights, artists, scientists, philosophers, and some politicians as well. Most of the people that I met on the streets were easy going and pretty good conversationalists as well. America, was, in general, a friendly place to visit. I had no fear of being accosted or shot back then.
It seems that things have changed with a greater focus on blaming minorities, and the right to bear arms, and to extend the boundary "my rights over everyone else's rights." I have the right to carry, and to "stand my ground" over your right to remain unharmed and to live. To me, it just seems unbalanced. I never claimed America was perfect, the civil rights movement clearly illustrates that it was not. But there was a general feeling of let's get things improved. A striving for a better way to live and to help the country.
JFK's famous inaugural speech, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” pretty much sums up what I saw and what I thought was so great about America.
I think you are correct and your reply was well said
I cant detach myself from the need to certify the balance needed to assess this nation....
It is close to the edge of insanity
exactly like what happened in Athens in 404BC, when the Thirty Tyrants ( oligarchs,) ruined the 96 years of democracy in Athens. The
Athenians were destroyed in heart and mind forever...
No such Periclean.Age of Enlightenment has ever existed on Earth again.
We certainly never had one here but at least it has not been a slaughter of wars between ideologically separate classes (as yet): Feudalism and serfdom is what the billionaires want here and globally.
"I always thought that we should care for one another, and take care of those who could not care for themselves." I've always thought that, too, Doug. I'm so disappointed in the USA.
Thank you for your beautiful and caring commentary here. Perspective! We need change.
We’re still here. Don’t give up on us yet
I’ve followed you since 2011 on MSNBC, The Circus & on Twitter. I would seek out any articles you authored even though I was a Democrat. Imagine my delight when in June of 2018 you left the GOP & became a cofounder of The Lincoln Project. Even though my only income is from being permanently disabled, I donated whatever I could to the fight. I’m a subscriber to your Substack, podcast and if you’re doing anybody else’s I listen. When you announced your support for Phillips, I gave you the benefit of the doubt and even though I never heard of this man, I did a deep dive to try to find what you saw in this person. I’m sorry to say I’m purely dumbfounded. If it was Congressman Dan Goldman or Governor Newsom, I would’ve agreed to follow your recommendation. If you hadn’t disparaged President Biden on anything he’s accomplished and simply said you’re doing this out of concern for his age, I would’ve understood your effort, Democrats might’ve listened. Isn’t it our priority as Democrats to stand by all the amazing policies President Biden has fought for the American people & to knock on doors to change the hearts and minds of the American people as to why he’s the best choice we have to save our democracy? I do not see what you see in this Congressman to become the leader of the free world. He’s not eloquent, Earth shattering or hasn’t done anything meaningful to me. He’s a rich white man who seems no more enriched than a piece of white bread. Yet, even if you tried to make the point that Phillips is in awe of all Biden’s accomplishments instead of saying you’re going to hit Biden hard for all his problems on the regular, I may have understood. Yet I find myself thinking what the ef is Schmidt doing?!? I remember your blind faith about Schultz, this doesn’t seem much different. My entire family has believed in you for years, but this is too unbelievable for us. Your eloquence with the English language & your knowledge of our American History is beyond measure, the beauty of our country as your travels has told is amazing and your steps to a life of Judaism is precious and profound. Yet I feel heartbroken, abandoned by one of America’s greatest voices. Please make me understand why this shouldn’t seem simply self centered or only to enriching your coffers. I have never once in all the years following you have ever even heard you ever mention this Congressman Phillips, I believe that speaks volumes.
I’ve been a steadfast supporter of you, until now. I will miss your presence, eloquence, compassion, command of the English language & fellow New Jerseyan brashness. I wish you only to stop this madness, but I have a feeling this will be the hill you die on. Be well.
Amanda, thank you for expressing how I feel about Steve. Such eloquence , historical knowledge of our country, appreciation of beauty are some of the reasons I have followed Steve for so many years.
But what he is doing in this campaign for Dean Phillips , at this time, I will never understand.
I can’t get past how let down, heartbroken and almost betrayed I feel about this. I feel like I lost a mentor and friend.
I feel the same Amanda. Another thing to mourn about.
I feel like I didn't really know him after all. Maybe that's because all I needed to know was that he left the Republican Party and was working against Trump. Nobody is that one dimensional so shame on me for not realizing that there was more to Steve. The one doesn't take away from the other and I will continue to support his Substack for the eloquence, and his reverence for our beautiful country.
I feel the same way, Amanda :-(
I'm sure it's quite as simple as a Yuge paycheck. Too large to refuse.
Powerful, Amanda.
A powerful and beautiful call to us.
Thank you, Steve.
We are here.
Here is the tell that our Legislators don’t care about what the people want. 80% + want some form of gun control. Congress is not about the people
Isn’t there a simple solution for the 80%? With as many who want some form of gun control, why would they not vote up and down the ticket for those whose election platforms respond to the needs of the majority. Alas, not in your country because big money from the NRA and others in elections is what keeps the likes of Jim Jordan, Elise Stephanik, Rand Paul, McConnell et al in power. The same is true with a universal health care plan - big pharma and private hospitals all stand in its way to being achieved. Money seems to be at the root of a lot of your ills. Enough said.
One would think that would be the answer, voting for change. I live in a red state, full GOP from the Governor down and a super majority in the Legislature. The Republicans in this state and I assume other red states, will continue to vote Republican. Various reasons. Generational voting, being a “Christian” abortion and the well played messaging that Democrats are evil. Hahaha. Seriously I have had heard those words used. So many, many will continue to vote against themselves.
I responded to your tweet, it was sent twice, so I deleted it. Here it is again. This was my fear, but thank you for putting words around it.
I approached Steve's site with no small amount of dread this morning. Not because of his opinion about Dean Phillips. No. About what the nastiness level would be today. Didn't take long to find out.
I totally disagree with Steve about Dean Phillips.
I also believe it's possible to disagree without being plug ugly.
Am I better than the nasties? Absolutely not!! But I do think I and others here could make a case for having better boundaries and manners on someone else's page. Without abandoning our differing opinion(s).
Yes, Democrats need to welcome new candidates of their own party...and be civil. If President Biden is the best candidate, he will win the primary contests. This is a democracy! We should all be happy that new blood is in the race. Steve is a smart political tactician. He can read the current mood and numbers. Biden is very vulnerable to a Republican defeat a year from now simply because he is too old and looks that way agains Trump and the Republican field. Open your eyes, folks...winning is what we are after here. Biden should bow out gracefully.
"...winning is what we are after here." Absolutely! My hope is that this is a place that isn't into chronic shit-shaming!
Amen!
Agree
I totally agree that it is possible to disagree without being ugly about it. As I have trying to say, this is what democracy is all about. And I am glad to see that many of us are still here on Steve Schmidt’s platform, even if we sometimes disagree with him.
I also want to add that as a Canadian I agree with Steve that here in Canada we largely are free from fears about mass shootings happening here. We do have lots of people with mental health problems here, and a lot of terrible and sometimes deadly domestic assaults.
But what Canadians don’t have is easy access to guns --- let alone to military-style weapons. We do have strong gun control laws. And I think that is by far the major reason why we have very few mass shootings.
It is very difficult indeed for many of us Canadians to understand why so many Americans seem addicted to guns.
So many Americans don't understand that either. And in particular, do not understand the passion for military grade weapons. The radical right and NRA (one and the same?) keep promoting their twisted take on the Second Amendment, and repeat, repeat, repeat that owning guns is good. Necessary. Essential. Legal. Etc.
NRA is not the only gun group with clout that we need to be tracking. The National Shoot Sports Foundation (NSSF). Here's a link to an older story in The Guardian that provides a good overview of this group and its board of directors. And, as Ms. Bullington has also pointed out, SCOTUS is a true enemy of our former democracy.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/01/gun-lobby-nra-national-shooting-sports-foundation
And the U.S. Supreme Court seems to agree.
Politics and Religion, makes people deranged. Never understood it, WE don't control Anything, Perception of control is all we have. Humans.
One bright, shiny moment (if not undermined by enemies foreign and domestic): Our right to vote. Which may be called into question if our very own fascist half+ of congress claws its way into a majority in the Senate and into the Oval Office. I think failure to vote should be fined. {snark}
I really don’t get the level of vitriol Steve is getting for supporting Dean Phillips, especially here on his site and from the Lincoln Project. Sure, it may be a loser of a move but we do have a democracy here. If someone wants to run for President they should be free to do it. I felt the same way when Bloomberg announced his run in 2020. We have one party rallying behind a fascist felon, while the other demands it’s candidates fill the needs of an endless list of causes and interests that most people don’t care about. There is this large void in between without representation, which I thought was the target audience this Substack. Why are we so afraid of someone pointing out the obvious and offering a different choice?
Maybe because I feel it’s a scam that will help the fascist felon. I read of Steve’s plan for Phillips campaign: to contract talent across 6 time zones seizing on all opportunity to put Biden on the defense all day every day…this is a pro Trump effort described as a primary campaign.
Amen!
I do agree I do not want to be ugly but I also think it is fair to let subscribers say their peace in the way that works for them. Sometimes I go off the rails, too.
Thank you for renewing your promise to highlight the gun violence that has plagued our nation. It is an abomination and it should be everyone's primary concern. Ever since Republicans refused to continue the ban on assult weapons there has been an explosion of mass shooting events. I am of a certain age when locking the doors of your home and auto was unheard of. It was a time when children were safe from gun violence in their schools.
We need comprehensive gun legislation from our elected officials. We demand that gun ownership be as highly regulated as drivers licenses and pilot licenses. We demand that background checks be universal and that they ban ghost guns. We further demand that assult weapons are banned from the private sector. They have no function in society other than for mass shootings. If they must be allowed then they need to be kept at secure rifle ranges and stored there behind vaulted locations. Gun safety is everyone's business. It is about time our elected officials made it their business too.
Right On, Patrick! Thanks.
And as for Dean Phillips, I would vote for Biden even if he was dead before I would vote for Phillips or Trump (which is what a vote for Phillips is). It’s not about one person-it’s about the people they surround themselves with.
Phillips is running against Biden in a primary. If Biden wins, he will be running against a Republican...perhaps Trump. So a vote for Phillips is far from a vote for Trump.
Yes, but to campaign against Biden is most likely to rant on and on about how OLD he is. There isn't much else, since Biden is already going down in history as our most effective POTUS since FDR. To campaign against Biden using the age-factor is to give more power to MAGA/GOP. Democracy vs. Autocracy. This is what 2024 boils down to. Thx.
Nice distraction. Mr Schmidt, no one who can effect this policy change will hear you now. You are working to usher in an Authoritarian government. If you are too blind, motivated by money, or a true believer, it’s all a tragic end to your arc of redemption. Please seek a good friend, or better yet, someone who has no skin in the game. You are advocating wrecking America as you wreck your career.
Oh, come on! Steve is working for Dean Phillips, a good man, a Democrat who has a total right to run for the presidency at a time when polls show that our current President, a Democrat, may very well lose against Donald Trump. If President Biden can beat Dean Phillips, then the primary will have done America well by showing that we actually elect people, not coronate them. Give Steve a break...he is smart enough to know that Biden is too old to run again.
Everyone has opinions. I have no idea what this other person has ever done for the causes I'm interested in. If we are looking at mass shooting, who worked with the first mass shooting group of parents and the community groups in the nation? I think you already know I know who did.
OMG..WHAT???
I believe Ms. Hoag is referring to Mr. Schmidt's work with Dean Phillips.
Yes I’m sure she is..
Here's what I replied to Cynthia Jo Glozier in an early post today: "Yes, but to campaign against Biden is most likely to rant on and on about how OLD he is. There isn't much else, since Biden is already going down in history as our most effective POTUS since FDR. To campaign against Biden using the age-factor is to give more power to MAGA/GOP. Democracy vs. Autocracy. This is what 2024 boils down to. Thx." Just an fyi. Thanks :-)
Yes, he has been effective and we are all thankful that he basically saved democracy during the last election. If he bows out now he will be lauded as a successful president. But his age makes him very vulnerable and he is not going to get younger voters to the polls. He could name his successor. I welcome that, too! Kamala doesn’t poll well, either. Thus, Democrats need new blood if they want to win next November. If they are too fearful to tell the truth about Biden’s age and convince him to mentor a new White House resident, then a Republican will win. I do not want that to happen, but we are on course for that, I am afraid.
I hope Biden has a plan A, B, C and D! I appreciate the debate here.
I hope so, too! I have the strong feeling that neither Biden nor Trump will be the candidates by the time next November rolls around. Politics is all about perception and the baby boomers need to leave the stage…I am one…by the way!
A lot can and probably will happen in a year. DJT appears to be physically imploding or exploding. I really hope Biden has something up his sleeve! I, though, am pro-elders and wisdom for 2024.
There is a lot more to the 24 election than Biden-Trump or D? -R? For president. There’s Congress, which is huge!! There’s local races. Biden (or snybody) cant do it all-what are we doing to clarify the issues and the choices and to support those who do.
Have you noticed that young voters are more tuned in to gun control (the Post - Columbine and uvalde and pulse and Sandy Hook and MSD and (too many to list) generation) and reproductive rights and are working to enter the elected class. Something happening here... can we help David Hogg, Maxwell Frost, hakeem Jeffries, [insertbyour favorite candidate here!]
And people blame Biden for inflation. That is a REAL problem!
Inflation is not Biden's fault. Biden is being blocked by MAGA on everything he tries to do. He is smarter than they are and he is the master of diplomacy so he gets historic legislation passed anyway. False propaganda amplified by social media algorithms are a huge problem. Biden is consistently bringing inflation down. MAGA will smear any candidate any way they can. Russia will assist.
The public does not see that at the grocery store and in regard to home and car sales…so they blame Biden.
Yes, the Dems are weak on messaging and defending themselves against false propaganda. The media is a multi-trillion dollar infotainment gambit.
Until changes are made at the cause level, we'll see the same effects.
I don’t understand your viewpoint. But thank you for subscribing.
We Canadians are feeling for you all. Our families are following closely all that is unsettling in American politics and around the world now. Your dedication is necessary, Steve
I am hoping that the Canadians will be welcoming to us who would like to flee from this nightmare in America!
Thanks Steve. Unfortunately for us Americans, we have way too many guns. At one time, becoming a “civil society” meant NOT needing to have a gun to protect oneself. Having to carry a gun was characteristic of the “old west”. But that’s the way the GOP seems to want it to be again. The answer to gun violence is: more guns. Teachers, ushers in movie theaters, we should ALL have guns so that gun violence subsides: that’s total bullshit and completely insane. I’m happy you have a wife in Canada- that’s a nice place to escape to when things start to get really ugly here. The “table is set” for that to happen.
Our country for being so free is an embarrassment to the world that we can’t come up with or reinstate a ban on military style rifles/guns! We have licenses for our pets, driving all types of vehicles, businesses and oMG gotta have my guns. Stop the stupidity about guns folks should have permits training, insurance and never be able to carry where alchohol is available or sold! Let’s stop the STUPID getting their way !
I was also fortunate enough to drive north into Canada from Glacier National Park through Calgary, The Icefields Parkway, Prince George and Prince Rupert. It was just after you and your son's driving trip.
I experienced the same easing of anxiety while visiting our wonderful neighbor as you describe.
I have 9 grandchildren attending public schools in Iowa. The anxiety of knowing this could be the day, never leaves me.
Meanwhile, we have the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Yesterday. We must vote them out to begin to have real, honest discussions of solutions. The lies must stop. Solutions exist.
I'm sorry for veering off-track, for me it always comes down to the lies and the Liars.
Little children in their schools where they should be safe are at risk for gun violence?! They have no choice and no voice. We must all stand up for change. Ban assault weapons!
Ten people, including an armed police officer, were killed in our local King Soopers in March 2021. The store was closed and remodeled over several months. The door the killer entered through is gone. Some days I’m okay going in there, then I remember and I’m overwhelmed with sadness. Government has no way to keep us safe from this.
Yes Government does. A great need is to ban assault weapons
Put gun control on the ballot in every state. Ban assault weapons from use by anyone not in the military and defending our country. Ban high capacity magazines and armor piercing ammo. The majority of Americans want sensible gun control but our NRA bought and paid for politicians refuse to represent the majority. Put gun control on the ballot and let the majority of Americans have their say. Stop letting a minority run roughshod over us.
Thank you for this article calling attention to our country’s gun violence epidemic. We must not be silent on this issue until we get change.