The MAGA jingoes are deeply detached from the ideas and ideals of the United States. Their philosophy is antithetical to the American creed, and is oppositional to the concept of freedom as an individual birthright. They prefer it be apportioned by race, birthright, gender and religion at the discretion of a political cadre that rules by decree and whim. They have become unmoored from the concept of America and the idea that sustains it.
Surely the opening words that precede your quote in the Declaration matter, too "We hold these truths to be self-evident..."
Self-evident. As if, once a reasonable person sees or hears, then thinks about, the great truth that all people are created equal, it would be obvious to all.
The MAGA world rejects such universal rights. Instead, they offer a Hobbesian universe of misery, struggle, and death, one where ordinary citizens walk the streets of everyday heavily armed with killing weaponry, and political power is once again found in the barrel of those guns.
In MAGA world, the Creator's gifts only belong to those who can win or steal power. George Santos can serve in Congress after lying his way to election. But drag queens can no longer sing and dance, because a state government says, "No.".
I don’t anticipate this will be solved in a few years. This battle will go for a decade at least. Time goes slow whilst your in it. History won’t be kind to the extremist.
Thank you Steve for your profound yet easy to understand piece. We have taken too many fruits of our nation for granted without thinking. While a painful process now, what we’re going through at this time will deepen the appreciation of our country and what it stands for since as we can plainly see, none of it is guaranteed and we have to work at it. Persistence and hard work even with setbacks are extremely important. But we can do this if we want.
At the core of this is religious extremism, mainly fundamentalist Christianity. Like all extremist religions and thought systems, it's cult like in many ways. Adherents are told they are special and saved because they've seen the light and are carrying forth God's will by being anti abortion and lgbtq. Others that don't think this way are controlled by Satan and going to hell. If you vote for the DEM candidate, you'll go to hell. I've heard this directly from a woman who had a minister tell her this.
I am not sure where i heard it or read it, it could have been here, but American is not in DNA - when DNA is taken and you find out where you are "from" there is no American. There is no American DNA - we are from where our forebears came. I thought it an interesting fact. Everyone is from somewhere else, maybe some time in the future there will be American DNA but as of now, we are all immigrants, as Mr. Roosevelt said when addressing the DAR - My Fellow Immigrants - not sure it has anything to do with this essay, but I thought it an interesting fact.
It is really cool that your video is a separate and spontaneous speech aside from your essay today. Watching your commentary is reassuring and inspiring. May God bless you for your service and may we live in the country that continues to lead the world to a better place.
We are hovering, teetering, balancing, standing on one leg at a crossroads so profound that we barely dare peek down either path.
The thing is, it will not likely be years in the evolution, in the culmination, the denouement, if you will, but, rather, a significantly more condensed time frame. The reason for this prognostication is that our present condition, of both-sidesism, of false equivalencies and attributions of qualities that confer and connote substance and merit to things distinctly lacking in substance and merit, is not sustainable. For example, these sham hearings presided over by sham legislators who manufacture sham grievances, sham accusations, under the guise of faux religiosity, faux constitutionality, faux legitimacy, are not sustainable and will either dissipate into dust or evolve into something for uglier.
Words to keep our courage up in these dispiriting times. It boggles the mind that the extreme right has twisted these profound words. Hucksbee’s “rebuttal” to President Biden’s SOTU is a prime example. Upon reading your words I thought, “ And then they built a framework to carry out this “idea” that has lifted up so many”.
Excellent. I didn’t know that about Lafayette. Somehow the gathering of men such as him produced a vibration of genius for the creation of this new world.
I appreciate that you believe that this will be solved in a few years with a great reckoning, however what frightens me is a statement that I heard from one of the younger MAGA members. I believe it was Matt Gaetz but don’t quote me on it. He is 40 years old, so that’s around two generations and whoever it was, said “this is the way I was raised.” So that’s two generations of being raised with this set of ideals. This person either has children or is going to have children. Marjorie Taylor Greene has children.Many of them have children. They are going to raise their children with the same set of ideals. How are we going to come back from that kind of generational ideals mindset? I don’t think it’s going to be an easy feat.
I heard yesterday from a reformed neo-Nazi who’s now trying to sell a book on how we must find middle ground with our fellow Americans—those who have taken the dark road to perdition. I disagree. These crazy mother effers are fueled by the hateful rhetoric from the likes of Jones, Carlson, and Bannon. The stuff that insights unhappy people to violence. They are not going to change. Their efforts need to be countered with the vote, by law enforcement when they cross the line. This isn’t the first time extremists have resored to violence. Immediately before, during and after the Civil War, for example, it was commonplace. Here we are again.
Steve, love every word. Love the statement you deliver on camera. We’re at a point where we Americans are called... to the truth. You speak the truth. Thank you, Steve... please continue to speak.. and bring us along with you. Sandy Lewis, aka Salim Bonnor Lewis, born Friday, January 27th, 1939... committed January 9th, 1950... born again several times... Louis Nizer learned at The Algonquin table where I come out, and his napkin is framed in the back hall here at Lewis Family Farm, without family... www.Lewisfamilyfarm.com and you might take a look at sblewis.net and sblewis.com...
Thank you Mr Schmidt for speaking the truth consistently. Your words are powerful,both written and spoken and need to be shouted from the mountain tops daily. We, the American people, must regain our sanity sooner rather than later.
Surely the opening words that precede your quote in the Declaration matter, too "We hold these truths to be self-evident..."
Self-evident. As if, once a reasonable person sees or hears, then thinks about, the great truth that all people are created equal, it would be obvious to all.
The MAGA world rejects such universal rights. Instead, they offer a Hobbesian universe of misery, struggle, and death, one where ordinary citizens walk the streets of everyday heavily armed with killing weaponry, and political power is once again found in the barrel of those guns.
In MAGA world, the Creator's gifts only belong to those who can win or steal power. George Santos can serve in Congress after lying his way to election. But drag queens can no longer sing and dance, because a state government says, "No.".
We need to work on the "self-evident" part.
I don’t anticipate this will be solved in a few years. This battle will go for a decade at least. Time goes slow whilst your in it. History won’t be kind to the extremist.
The world is watching.
Thank you Steve for your profound yet easy to understand piece. We have taken too many fruits of our nation for granted without thinking. While a painful process now, what we’re going through at this time will deepen the appreciation of our country and what it stands for since as we can plainly see, none of it is guaranteed and we have to work at it. Persistence and hard work even with setbacks are extremely important. But we can do this if we want.
At the core of this is religious extremism, mainly fundamentalist Christianity. Like all extremist religions and thought systems, it's cult like in many ways. Adherents are told they are special and saved because they've seen the light and are carrying forth God's will by being anti abortion and lgbtq. Others that don't think this way are controlled by Satan and going to hell. If you vote for the DEM candidate, you'll go to hell. I've heard this directly from a woman who had a minister tell her this.
You are a great patriot--filled with love and service--a True Champion! Thank You!
I am not sure where i heard it or read it, it could have been here, but American is not in DNA - when DNA is taken and you find out where you are "from" there is no American. There is no American DNA - we are from where our forebears came. I thought it an interesting fact. Everyone is from somewhere else, maybe some time in the future there will be American DNA but as of now, we are all immigrants, as Mr. Roosevelt said when addressing the DAR - My Fellow Immigrants - not sure it has anything to do with this essay, but I thought it an interesting fact.
It is really cool that your video is a separate and spontaneous speech aside from your essay today. Watching your commentary is reassuring and inspiring. May God bless you for your service and may we live in the country that continues to lead the world to a better place.
We are hovering, teetering, balancing, standing on one leg at a crossroads so profound that we barely dare peek down either path.
The thing is, it will not likely be years in the evolution, in the culmination, the denouement, if you will, but, rather, a significantly more condensed time frame. The reason for this prognostication is that our present condition, of both-sidesism, of false equivalencies and attributions of qualities that confer and connote substance and merit to things distinctly lacking in substance and merit, is not sustainable. For example, these sham hearings presided over by sham legislators who manufacture sham grievances, sham accusations, under the guise of faux religiosity, faux constitutionality, faux legitimacy, are not sustainable and will either dissipate into dust or evolve into something for uglier.
“The beauty of its mosaic” - perfect!
Words to keep our courage up in these dispiriting times. It boggles the mind that the extreme right has twisted these profound words. Hucksbee’s “rebuttal” to President Biden’s SOTU is a prime example. Upon reading your words I thought, “ And then they built a framework to carry out this “idea” that has lifted up so many”.
Excellent. I didn’t know that about Lafayette. Somehow the gathering of men such as him produced a vibration of genius for the creation of this new world.
I appreciate that you believe that this will be solved in a few years with a great reckoning, however what frightens me is a statement that I heard from one of the younger MAGA members. I believe it was Matt Gaetz but don’t quote me on it. He is 40 years old, so that’s around two generations and whoever it was, said “this is the way I was raised.” So that’s two generations of being raised with this set of ideals. This person either has children or is going to have children. Marjorie Taylor Greene has children.Many of them have children. They are going to raise their children with the same set of ideals. How are we going to come back from that kind of generational ideals mindset? I don’t think it’s going to be an easy feat.
I heard yesterday from a reformed neo-Nazi who’s now trying to sell a book on how we must find middle ground with our fellow Americans—those who have taken the dark road to perdition. I disagree. These crazy mother effers are fueled by the hateful rhetoric from the likes of Jones, Carlson, and Bannon. The stuff that insights unhappy people to violence. They are not going to change. Their efforts need to be countered with the vote, by law enforcement when they cross the line. This isn’t the first time extremists have resored to violence. Immediately before, during and after the Civil War, for example, it was commonplace. Here we are again.
It dawned on me last night what the contemporary Republican party stands for, and what their slogan should be instead of the Party of Lincoln:
The Party of Entropy.
Steve, love every word. Love the statement you deliver on camera. We’re at a point where we Americans are called... to the truth. You speak the truth. Thank you, Steve... please continue to speak.. and bring us along with you. Sandy Lewis, aka Salim Bonnor Lewis, born Friday, January 27th, 1939... committed January 9th, 1950... born again several times... Louis Nizer learned at The Algonquin table where I come out, and his napkin is framed in the back hall here at Lewis Family Farm, without family... www.Lewisfamilyfarm.com and you might take a look at sblewis.net and sblewis.com...
Thank you Mr Schmidt for speaking the truth consistently. Your words are powerful,both written and spoken and need to be shouted from the mountain tops daily. We, the American people, must regain our sanity sooner rather than later.