President Joe Biden: “This is a moment for the United States to come together to grieve with those who are mourning. Let’s be clear: There’s no place for hate in America, not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody. What we reject is terrorism.” ; “This is not about party or politics. This is about the security of our world, the security of the United States of America.”
We must reject terrorism, domestic and abroad, despite the inescapable reality of defeating evil.
Thank you, Steve Schmidt, for your powerful presentation of history and how it applies to what is going on currently. We must root out evil, crimes against humanity, and protect the vulnerable.
And we must use the 2024 election to put serious, careful, intelligent, empathetic people in charge to respond to what is happening, not another group of self-centered, egotistical, money-grubbing mouthpieces with nothing productive to offer to anyone but themselves.
The parallels of pre-World War II and today are unmistakable. Thanks for another history lesson Steve and for keeping this comparison front and center.
Americans in general are weaklings . The GQP wants to fight to be fascist . It’s easier that way to be sheep to a dictator . I am fuming at the GOP for they are do- nothings by design. The are mostly radical rascists . The midstream Republicans could have removed the menace at impeachment . Instead they and the MSSm allow this 4 time indicted monster reak more havoc . Isn’t 8 years enough? The GOp want to decimate the government and quickly . Making us more weak for Putin to take over America . Don’t be naive. The GOP are regressive waiting to act only if they must. Progressives problem solve. They are public servants . GOP
Is party of no .
Pro birth
Pro wall
Pro no.
Dangerous times are HERE. History tends to repeat itself . Hitler was elected in a democratic society. Drumpf needs to go to jail . And all magats ( domestic terroists) need to be ousted.
I was a student in college when Kent State happened. I protested the war on campus and traveled to Washington DC when buses encircled Nixon’s White House. I also served in Vietnam with the Army Security Agency as the conflict was drawing down. I saw the wars’ futility firsthand. I remember a conversation with my dad, who had served in WWII: “When we landed at Normandy, we were not there to win the hearts and minds of the Germans, we were there to kill them before they killed us.” We talked about how the Allies fought to win. There was no talk about “collateral damage”. We firebombed Dresden and nuked two cities off the face of the earth. It was women and children that were killed - the men were off fighting the war. His lesson was clear: Vietnam was a war fought by politicians. It made a lot of money for a lot of people. It cost the lives of over 50K Americans and countless Vietnamese. For what? After 10 years of conflict the image of the helicopter leaving the roof of the embassy was burned into my brain. The calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, after 20 years of engagement, with absolutely no plan to win, reminded me of the continuous failures of our political leadership. Your message today is clear: there are battles that must be fought. History has its eyes on us now. Hard decisions will have to be made. Will we have the courage to step into the breach and the tenacity to defeat this threat? One thing is clear to me: If we fight, we must fight to win.
Strange, or is it? That Trumps son in law steps into a role he knows nothing about and brokers a “peace” between Israel and Hamas. Then somehow walks away with a couple of billion paid by the Arabs. Could he have slipped them the information concerning Israeli intelligence?
Netanyahu, another narcissistic bully, is riding high on his "strong man" persona. Although he is completely corrupt and self-serving, his popularity will grow as people claim to respect his judgement in times of war (let's not forget he has been accused of wanting this war and ignoring various warnings of an impending attack). Biden discussed “the laws of war,” with Netanyahu. These "laws" require “protection of civilian populations and civilian objects” and impose the limitations of “proportionality” and “military necessity” in responding to aggression (i.e., don't target and kill civilians). The odds of him being respectful of these laws are near zero.
It’s quite something for us to be able to observe the broad swaths of history in motion- this one being the attack (yet again) of fascism against democracy in many locations worldwide. I just visited Würzburg, Germany, a city fire bombed by the Allies in 1945. Seeing the photos of the devastation and looking at the rebuilding of Würzburg that’s taken place since then, you can’t helped but be amazed by the level of death and destruction brought on that city’s citizens then by fascism. A family member who grew up in Nazi Germany and witnessed the impacts of WWII told me this about fascism- in the end, the only thing fascism can be counted on is to create wars. We Americans best be mindful of what this 95 year old German is telling us from firsthand experience. Non-democratic leaders can only take a nation to one destination.
So prescient and accurate. Yet they didn’t listen to Churchill for another few years. And today our FlimFlam former “pres” uses the same playbook to gaslight and lie. He calls the Dems “war mongers” “fascists and communists “. His projections have always been transparent and absurd: until you turn on crazy Sean on the Fox and you hear him” report “ the same talking points. It’s coordinated, its dangerous, and I just don’t get it. Why is the love of money and power greater than love of country for these guys. The world is on fire and they supply the gasoline.
“After all, my friends, only a few hours away by air there dwell a nation of nearly seventy million of the most educated, industrious, scientific, disciplined people in the world, who are being taught from childhood to think of war as a glorious exercise and death in battle as the noblest fate for man.
There is a nation which has abandoned all its liberties in order to augment its collective strength. There is a nation which, with all its strength and virtue, is in the grip of a group of ruthless men, preaching a gospel of intolerance and racial pride, unrestrained by law, by parliament, or by public opinion. In that country all pacifist speeches, all morbid war books are forbidden or suppressed, and their authors rigorously imprisoned. From their new table of commandments they have omitted "thou shall not kill." --Steve Schmidt
We did not learn from Pericles and did not learn from Churchill. Why not ?
That is the lesson. The lesson is; Never Forget! Never Forget! Never forget what? Never forget that it is impossible for humanity to live in peace, and with each new advance in weaponry, we know that each new weapon must be "tried out", just as Truman tried it out. Lttle boys must try out the latest new toy. Now we have a toy that can only be tried out once more, only just once more, ever since Nagasake proved it definitely works, every time. It works too well this time, and we all had better practice resignation to dying from it, all because ...of our species' love of toys that vaporize..
Churchill was the leader the world needed for that moment in history. None of us might be here today without him, or my pretty much comfortable and easy life for my 70 years, could have been much different and so much more difficult without him. I pray there is someone like him ready for this moment. We need such leaders who will look to the future with resolve and courage, not like the shallow and vacuous weaklings and charlatans, looking for the next camera and sound bite we see everywhere. It is still amazing to me there are not 3 or 4 R members of Congress who will place country over party and choose sanity today.
I am still in shock over the last 8 years in particular. Virtually no R’s, of any stripe, whether leader or follower, have stepped up and said, how will history judge me? Am I Winston Churchill or Neville Chamberlain? Am I Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis? Future generations may well say---and I fear more every day---WILL say, that was the generation, those Americans in 2023 and 2024, who willingly close to participate in the decline and fall of the American empire and experiment. Just like Rome and all the others, we will decline and fall from the rot and depravity within. I fear we are getting close to there...........
In the late 60s Stephen Sills wrote a song, For What It's Worth for Buffalo Springfield which begins with:
"There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware…"
Reminds me of what our future may look like if we cannot stop and crush this MAGA movement. Now, Stills didn't write this for our current political situation, but somehow his words sure do fit today's predicament for me and maybe you. Over in Israel, they thought they had the situation well in hand and maybe got a little too easy going. I have no doubt they will rectify that in short order.
Here in the US, we have a different problem. House members who back Trump and MAGA have to be removed. If you are in a district with one of these YOU have to do something about it, and that is get out the vote. Volunteer for your Democratic Party to knock on doors, do mailings do anything to help. If you just sit there and do nothing yourself, it's just not enough. Otherwise, you may just be staring down at what Stills talks about.
I follow Rabbi Mike Harvey on Substack. I am not Jewish, not Christian, really not sure what I am , but read a few tweets of his several months ago and started following him. He lives here in Indiana, is progressive and offers learning for me, a different perspective.
Have been thinking about him these last few days and so this morning decided to send him a short message of support. This is what I found. No credit for this was given.
“Your silence is so loud my ears won’t stop ringing. Your indifference has made me open my eyes to the devastating truth. I get it now. I see how it all happened the last time”.
There are a lot of people waving the bloody flag right now and much fewer people offering the contextual analysis that Steve is offering during this increasingly dangerous period in the history of the world. Where some people see the unfolding events in the Middle East as a precursor of the impending world wide catastrophe at our doorstep, others see a chance for political and personal gain by capitalizing on the current climate of fear without regard to the very real possibility of massive death and destruction that a Third World War will unleash upon all humanity.
The existence of religions in this country prepared to die for their moment with Christ is terrifying. Not even God can reconcile prayers for peace with their quest for world destruction.
The Republicans have morphed into an extremist cult embracing and using terrorist tactics. Tommy and his military blockade is domestic terrorism. Matt Gaetz, et. al. continue to hold us hostages to their demands. The Senate's refusal to confirm Ambassadors severed communication between Nations.
The through-line is more than coincidence, happenstance or a confluence of events. The cycle of violence has been weaponized and we are all its victims, including the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Zelensky is in Brussels for Ukraine Contact Group led by US and NATO to support the fight against Russia. Here he talks about how to support Israel. https://youtu.be/72ALlYUNHy0?si=ggMXZkDbQ7Oh594z
Thank you for posting. Pres. Zelensky said in his comments that the world's supporting Ukraine in unity and standing together with the people was critical for Ukraine when the Russian terror attacks started, and it will be important for Israel for the world to show unity with its people. Powerful words by both men, and as always, am impressed by the delivery of these words in a language (English) that is not their first.
President Joe Biden: “This is a moment for the United States to come together to grieve with those who are mourning. Let’s be clear: There’s no place for hate in America, not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody. What we reject is terrorism.” ; “This is not about party or politics. This is about the security of our world, the security of the United States of America.”
We must reject terrorism, domestic and abroad, despite the inescapable reality of defeating evil.
Thank you, Steve Schmidt, for your powerful presentation of history and how it applies to what is going on currently. We must root out evil, crimes against humanity, and protect the vulnerable.
And we must use the 2024 election to put serious, careful, intelligent, empathetic people in charge to respond to what is happening, not another group of self-centered, egotistical, money-grubbing mouthpieces with nothing productive to offer to anyone but themselves.
Right On!! Thanks.
To quote you Lisa ~ right on!! :)
Diane, I got a chuckle out of this today and I appreciate your friendship here :-)
Likewise Lisa!! :)
The parallels of pre-World War II and today are unmistakable. Thanks for another history lesson Steve and for keeping this comparison front and center.
Americans in general are weaklings . The GQP wants to fight to be fascist . It’s easier that way to be sheep to a dictator . I am fuming at the GOP for they are do- nothings by design. The are mostly radical rascists . The midstream Republicans could have removed the menace at impeachment . Instead they and the MSSm allow this 4 time indicted monster reak more havoc . Isn’t 8 years enough? The GOp want to decimate the government and quickly . Making us more weak for Putin to take over America . Don’t be naive. The GOP are regressive waiting to act only if they must. Progressives problem solve. They are public servants . GOP
Is party of no .
Pro birth
Pro wall
Pro no.
Dangerous times are HERE. History tends to repeat itself . Hitler was elected in a democratic society. Drumpf needs to go to jail . And all magats ( domestic terroists) need to be ousted.
Sick of this s&*t!
It’s about time someone said this. Loudly and clearly!
Thank you!!!
I was a student in college when Kent State happened. I protested the war on campus and traveled to Washington DC when buses encircled Nixon’s White House. I also served in Vietnam with the Army Security Agency as the conflict was drawing down. I saw the wars’ futility firsthand. I remember a conversation with my dad, who had served in WWII: “When we landed at Normandy, we were not there to win the hearts and minds of the Germans, we were there to kill them before they killed us.” We talked about how the Allies fought to win. There was no talk about “collateral damage”. We firebombed Dresden and nuked two cities off the face of the earth. It was women and children that were killed - the men were off fighting the war. His lesson was clear: Vietnam was a war fought by politicians. It made a lot of money for a lot of people. It cost the lives of over 50K Americans and countless Vietnamese. For what? After 10 years of conflict the image of the helicopter leaving the roof of the embassy was burned into my brain. The calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, after 20 years of engagement, with absolutely no plan to win, reminded me of the continuous failures of our political leadership. Your message today is clear: there are battles that must be fought. History has its eyes on us now. Hard decisions will have to be made. Will we have the courage to step into the breach and the tenacity to defeat this threat? One thing is clear to me: If we fight, we must fight to win.
Well said, Pete.
Powerful comment here, Pete. Thank you.
Strange, or is it? That Trumps son in law steps into a role he knows nothing about and brokers a “peace” between Israel and Hamas. Then somehow walks away with a couple of billion paid by the Arabs. Could he have slipped them the information concerning Israeli intelligence?
You think? The Trump family crime syndicate is definitely in bed with the Russians. I wonder why?
Donald always wanted a hotel in Moscow.
But...but...but...but...Hunter's laptop!!!
What my husband just said!
Wow! That’s a concept worth exploring, I hadn’t thought of it. That would be a perfect example of long term planning and executing.
Netanyahu, another narcissistic bully, is riding high on his "strong man" persona. Although he is completely corrupt and self-serving, his popularity will grow as people claim to respect his judgement in times of war (let's not forget he has been accused of wanting this war and ignoring various warnings of an impending attack). Biden discussed “the laws of war,” with Netanyahu. These "laws" require “protection of civilian populations and civilian objects” and impose the limitations of “proportionality” and “military necessity” in responding to aggression (i.e., don't target and kill civilians). The odds of him being respectful of these laws are near zero.
It’s quite something for us to be able to observe the broad swaths of history in motion- this one being the attack (yet again) of fascism against democracy in many locations worldwide. I just visited Würzburg, Germany, a city fire bombed by the Allies in 1945. Seeing the photos of the devastation and looking at the rebuilding of Würzburg that’s taken place since then, you can’t helped but be amazed by the level of death and destruction brought on that city’s citizens then by fascism. A family member who grew up in Nazi Germany and witnessed the impacts of WWII told me this about fascism- in the end, the only thing fascism can be counted on is to create wars. We Americans best be mindful of what this 95 year old German is telling us from firsthand experience. Non-democratic leaders can only take a nation to one destination.
www.tomthedemocratist.com
This pressurized, fraught near insurmountable centuries-old, deeply embedded conflict will not only engulf tbe region, but the world.
From the ashes, may we all eventually wake to a sun that shines light upon a new dawn.
For now, stand together in your humanity.
So prescient and accurate. Yet they didn’t listen to Churchill for another few years. And today our FlimFlam former “pres” uses the same playbook to gaslight and lie. He calls the Dems “war mongers” “fascists and communists “. His projections have always been transparent and absurd: until you turn on crazy Sean on the Fox and you hear him” report “ the same talking points. It’s coordinated, its dangerous, and I just don’t get it. Why is the love of money and power greater than love of country for these guys. The world is on fire and they supply the gasoline.
“After all, my friends, only a few hours away by air there dwell a nation of nearly seventy million of the most educated, industrious, scientific, disciplined people in the world, who are being taught from childhood to think of war as a glorious exercise and death in battle as the noblest fate for man.
There is a nation which has abandoned all its liberties in order to augment its collective strength. There is a nation which, with all its strength and virtue, is in the grip of a group of ruthless men, preaching a gospel of intolerance and racial pride, unrestrained by law, by parliament, or by public opinion. In that country all pacifist speeches, all morbid war books are forbidden or suppressed, and their authors rigorously imprisoned. From their new table of commandments they have omitted "thou shall not kill." --Steve Schmidt
Well said, Steve!
We did not learn from Pericles and did not learn from Churchill. Why not ?
That is the lesson. The lesson is; Never Forget! Never Forget! Never forget what? Never forget that it is impossible for humanity to live in peace, and with each new advance in weaponry, we know that each new weapon must be "tried out", just as Truman tried it out. Lttle boys must try out the latest new toy. Now we have a toy that can only be tried out once more, only just once more, ever since Nagasake proved it definitely works, every time. It works too well this time, and we all had better practice resignation to dying from it, all because ...of our species' love of toys that vaporize..
Yes, whoa!!
Churchill was the leader the world needed for that moment in history. None of us might be here today without him, or my pretty much comfortable and easy life for my 70 years, could have been much different and so much more difficult without him. I pray there is someone like him ready for this moment. We need such leaders who will look to the future with resolve and courage, not like the shallow and vacuous weaklings and charlatans, looking for the next camera and sound bite we see everywhere. It is still amazing to me there are not 3 or 4 R members of Congress who will place country over party and choose sanity today.
I am still in shock over the last 8 years in particular. Virtually no R’s, of any stripe, whether leader or follower, have stepped up and said, how will history judge me? Am I Winston Churchill or Neville Chamberlain? Am I Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis? Future generations may well say---and I fear more every day---WILL say, that was the generation, those Americans in 2023 and 2024, who willingly close to participate in the decline and fall of the American empire and experiment. Just like Rome and all the others, we will decline and fall from the rot and depravity within. I fear we are getting close to there...........
In the late 60s Stephen Sills wrote a song, For What It's Worth for Buffalo Springfield which begins with:
"There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware…"
Reminds me of what our future may look like if we cannot stop and crush this MAGA movement. Now, Stills didn't write this for our current political situation, but somehow his words sure do fit today's predicament for me and maybe you. Over in Israel, they thought they had the situation well in hand and maybe got a little too easy going. I have no doubt they will rectify that in short order.
Here in the US, we have a different problem. House members who back Trump and MAGA have to be removed. If you are in a district with one of these YOU have to do something about it, and that is get out the vote. Volunteer for your Democratic Party to knock on doors, do mailings do anything to help. If you just sit there and do nothing yourself, it's just not enough. Otherwise, you may just be staring down at what Stills talks about.
I follow Rabbi Mike Harvey on Substack. I am not Jewish, not Christian, really not sure what I am , but read a few tweets of his several months ago and started following him. He lives here in Indiana, is progressive and offers learning for me, a different perspective.
Have been thinking about him these last few days and so this morning decided to send him a short message of support. This is what I found. No credit for this was given.
“Your silence is so loud my ears won’t stop ringing. Your indifference has made me open my eyes to the devastating truth. I get it now. I see how it all happened the last time”.
I think a lesson for us all.
So Powerful! Yes, a lesson for us all beyond party or religion. Humanity.
There are a lot of people waving the bloody flag right now and much fewer people offering the contextual analysis that Steve is offering during this increasingly dangerous period in the history of the world. Where some people see the unfolding events in the Middle East as a precursor of the impending world wide catastrophe at our doorstep, others see a chance for political and personal gain by capitalizing on the current climate of fear without regard to the very real possibility of massive death and destruction that a Third World War will unleash upon all humanity.
The existence of religions in this country prepared to die for their moment with Christ is terrifying. Not even God can reconcile prayers for peace with their quest for world destruction.
The Republicans have morphed into an extremist cult embracing and using terrorist tactics. Tommy and his military blockade is domestic terrorism. Matt Gaetz, et. al. continue to hold us hostages to their demands. The Senate's refusal to confirm Ambassadors severed communication between Nations.
The through-line is more than coincidence, happenstance or a confluence of events. The cycle of violence has been weaponized and we are all its victims, including the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Zelensky is in Brussels for Ukraine Contact Group led by US and NATO to support the fight against Russia. Here he talks about how to support Israel. https://youtu.be/72ALlYUNHy0?si=ggMXZkDbQ7Oh594z
Thanks for this link. “Your fight is our fight, your values are our values, your security is our security,” this says it all.
Thank you for posting. Pres. Zelensky said in his comments that the world's supporting Ukraine in unity and standing together with the people was critical for Ukraine when the Russian terror attacks started, and it will be important for Israel for the world to show unity with its people. Powerful words by both men, and as always, am impressed by the delivery of these words in a language (English) that is not their first.