The Village News & Views June 21, 2017
Wednesday Get Over the Hump Free for All
Greetings, Village Meese. It’s Day 153 of the Resistance and time for another Get Over the Hump post and discussion thread.
The general theme of the day is Justice.
She is said to be blind, not able to see whether those who are brought before her are rich or poor, of what skin color, sect or sex, but I think most of us are present to the reality of our American system.
In Trumpland, the courts have helped us Resist the Muslim Ban, and other RW agenda items, but at the same time, the news is filled almost daily with verdicts that render no justice for the victims.
Yet justice is one of the things we strive towards, and one of the things we as Democrats believe should be accorded equally to all.
My depiction in our banner seems to be weeping beneath her blindfold. Tears are sadness and pain, but they are also compassion, and sometimes, mercy.
The victims of injustice are among those we fight for.
Remember them today.
WTFJH yesterday… Day 152: Spicey.
Wonkette… Count The Gunshots In Philando Castile’s Dashcam Murder
Bustle.com… Who Was Charleena Lyles? She Was Shot & Killed After Calling 911
Rantt.com… The 7 Women In The Senate Leading The Resistance
On Juneteenth, we reflect on the injustice that keeps our country’s promise out of reach for too many, & recommit to fight for civil rights. pic.twitter.com/EO98GMzd0P
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) June 19, 2017
.@SenKamalaHarris and I represent 40 million people. We have a bill to make insurance more affordable. We've been shut out. #HoldTheFloor
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) June 20, 2017
Jean-Marc Nattier – Allegory of Justice Punishing Injustice, 1737
Spent Juneteenth rereading ads taken out by formerly enslaved ppl searching for their family. Freedom was often accompanied by so much grief pic.twitter.com/bpvxAN74bu
— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) June 19, 2017
A very strong effort by Jon @Ossoff in #GA06 today. #TeamOssoff and all the voters and activists there should be proud. Onward to 2018.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) June 21, 2017
To use a nascar analogy…. you dont always win, but finishing 10 or under is outstanding. Went from 23 to 5 in ga. 20 to 3 in sc.
— New democrat….. unless dems act like wimps😎 (@reesetheone1) June 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/IfHillaryHad/status/876484331278966784
https://twitter.com/EmrgencyKittens/status/875741010617356288
Thank you for your patience. Love and peace, Village! Enjoy your Wednesday gathering.
We are #StrongerTogether
We are #TheResistance and #WePersist
All are welcome!
……..
Good morning, Pond Dwellers. Thanks for the humpday diary, MomentaryGrace. Absolutely the perfect focus for the day. I used to work for the District Attorney in the juvenile division. So many times people would think that they were denied justice because they didn’t get what they wanted. It took me awhile to change my perceptions. I don’t always like it, but I try to understand why. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any justice for those who have been “shot while black”. Until that wrong is righted, we cannot rest.
I am up early to get out the door for my walk (so will read the links later).
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As Democrats it is in our platform, unofficially or otherwise, to seek justice for those who are not treated equally under the law.
Our current White House occupant encourages violence and bigotry, and some have responded by brandishing their hate proudly.
We will stand with those who are denied justice.
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The “seeking husband and son” ad is so heart-rending and precisely the sorts of things we should have been seeing in our history books, rather than the emphasis on Great Battles. It also points to another truth of the post-Civil War era that gets lost in the shuffle. Freedmen and women often did not move on from their plantations, becoming (poorly) paid workers instead. Even the push for 40 acres and a mule did not receive universal support from freed slaves, because of the fear of where that land might be located. The urge to stay put was not some romantic notion of “home;” it was a practical response to the hope that they might be reunited with the families that had been torn from them. Moving could mean their loved ones might never be able to find them.
But hey, the war was all about states’ rights, and we are routinely reminded of the sadness we should feel about brother fighting against brother.
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I feel sadness for all who were caught up in those times and circumstances. The unnoticed message in brother against brother is that some were willing to break with their families to seek justice for others.
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We’re in another Civil War right now. The same forces of Hate on one side, at least inclusion if not Love on the other. (And yes, i just put the Extreme Left on the side with the Haters. When they stop hating, I’ll be happy to welcome them here.) And the same issue of family member against family member.
Those kinds of wars are the worst kind – simply because those who Love “stay their hand” long after they should have struck when it comes to family members. And those who Hate play on that loyalty. But Love still wins in the end. We who Love cry over the hurt and dead. They who Hate chortle over the hurt and dead. Ultimately – which is a lot longer off than we who Love would like it to be – Love wins. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Because I’m [still!] reading Eric Foner’s 900+ page history of Reconstruction, I’ve come to the opinion that what’s happening now is the same Civil War. It’s uncanny how similar the language and issues are. It’s caused me to ponder a lot of “what ifs.” Would the North have been better off crushing the South, rather than trying to find a middle ground? Would a full-blown Marshall Plan have been more effective? Given the racism of both sides, would anything have made a difference? If anything, it’s convinced me even more deeply that if we don’t address the sin of slavery fully, honestly, and effectively, we’re going to be fighting these battles over and over and over again.
{{{DoReMI}}} – It is the same Civil War. Sort of like the European “100 Years War” that was fought on a variety of lands (including North America – our “French and Indian War” was at the tag end of that and over here) and had more intense and less intense phases. And you are correct that until we address the racism that made chattel slavery possible as well as the slavery itself we will keep fighting this war.
I agree. And I don’t think any tactic could have moved the needle very much further, again, given the combination of racism and economics at the root of the struggle.
The history of America is a history of pushing out, killing and taking from the indigenous people land and resources, then setting up an agrarian empire based on slave labor, and then an industrial megalith to process the fruit of the fields.
The legal end of slavery did not end exploitation, nor the need for the wealthy to have a near subsistence level work force.
Bigotry and racism were and are the means to that end.
The ideals we love about this country are worth fighting to achieve, but not based on any fantasy that they could have come about decades or centuries ago.
Humans are evolving… and it is a race to evolve enough to outrun self destruction.
Sorry for the distopian recital there.
It’s truth. So we do our best to bring the Higher side of humanity into the system under which we all live. We can do no more – and shouldn’t settle for less. moar {{{HUGS}}}
{{{MomentaryGrace}}} – justice denied any is justice denied all. As with rights, if not equal, then non-existent – just privilege for some and victimization for the rest. Thank you for the Justice Wednesday focus.
And thank you for doing the double-duty. It’s nice to have a calm place like the Moose Village. Both DK and Squirrel have their good points, but calm they ain’t. :) {{{Moose Villagers}}}
I tend to think of DK Village as Resistance Central; Squirrel is where I let my snark flag fly; and Moose is where I find myself being the most thoughtful. I’m not sure why I have such different reactions to each site, since there’s so much overlap in Villagers.
True. Neither squirrel or ????can be confused with the Moose. It recharges me to come here and read/write.
That actually encourages me in an unexpected way. I had started wondering if we were spreading ourselves too thin, but there really is room for all three.
I love Moose Pond, even though I end up spending more energy over at the Orange. Today we have been blessed with another poor soul who is in so much pain they have to come after others just to distract and ease the itch.
Dude is ruffling my doilies.
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Me, too. Moose Pond is a place of refuge and of sanctuary. It’s a place where we actually can be thoughtful and recharge our batteries – without worrying about coming under attack.
He’s either monitoring us or monitoring any mention of his name (AdamB, amongst others, does that, so it’s not unprecedented or necessarily weird and creepy). But it’s just as obvious that he’s so obsessed with going for the jugular that he dilutes his effectiveness. Once I understood his point, I actually agreed with it; PG did conflate Kos’ comment in such a way that it could be interpreted the way BJ chose. But because he chose vitriol first, it took me multiple attempts at reading his comments to reach that conclusion.
Nor do I disagree with him about Mensch, Palmer Reports, or Claude Taylor. I’m on the fence about Dworkin; yes, I think there’s an element of grifting to his work, but he’s also on AMJoy as a guest often enough to cause me to hesitate at discounting him totally. But as regards the first three, they burst onto the Resistance Twitter scene fairly recently, and it takes time to assess whether they’re a good source or not. I think most of us now realize that they played on our hopes and fears and have back-burnered them. That, however, will never be good enough for the BJs of the world. In his mind, a sin (as defined by him) once committed can never be forgiven or forgotten. I think that’s what bugs me the most; he keeps beating the same dead horse.
I thought if I spoke respectfully and wished him a good morning, that it would deflect his trolling. sigh It did not.
I appreciate the effort but in order to get what he was getting out of PG’s comment you had to be looking, searching for something to fixate on.
I thought hard before engaging. But I kind of feel like the hostess on my post day and I don’t want my guests being attacked pointlessly.
His repeated mentions of those who “frequent these diaries” was utterly creepy and stalker.
He is also careful NOT to name others, since he knows his own tactics.
So tiring. :P
Well, I did have to squint and tilt my head before I could see the point he was trying to make!
His obsessiveness actually makes me sad. It probably holds him in good stead at a site dedicated to debate, but in face-to-face interactions, he must lose more friends than he makes. And he could gain so much if learned some manners. Instead of instantly going on the attack, he could have toned it down just enough to have a civil discussion with PG (and everyone else), but his approach is to get everyone’s hackles raised and then cry victim. Think what an ally he could be if only he used his powers for good. ;)
And FFS, get over it about the Village existing already! We’re not going anywhere…although in a perverse sort of way, the constant attacks probably strengthened our commitment to Resistance. We could all still be in deep mourning and pie-fighting with the Berners, but because we knew they’d continue to attack us if we did, we consciously focused on resistance until it became second nature and our reason for continuing. Well, that and cat memes…
Yes, I sort of think, lately, we might have begun to regenerate a little over on the orange grove. It’s still hostile and stressful outside our thread and we still get stalked and buzzed on it, but I almost imagine a bit of reviving there.
I absolutely agree; it’s one of the reasons I had started pondering if three neighborhoods was too many (until you guys reminded me that each neighborhood has its own unique characteristics).
And at the risk of exposing myself as a total bitch, does anyone else ever have moments where they feel like hpg is overdoing the tweets? I feel as if there’s a person there who really wants to be a part of the community and has chosen sharing tweets as his/her path. But so little actual conversation happens when there are so many tweets…I just haven’t figured out a way to engage and get to know him/her. Maybe s/he’s shy or neuro-atypical? Or am I overthinking this (it wouldn’t be the first time!)?
No, I had a similar reaction at first, I came very close a few days ago to posting and asking him or her to limit the number of tweets to allow others to comment, but I held off and I’m not sorry. I’m thinking it is either someone young, or as you say, neuro-atypical, possibly English not first language who is excited to have found a welcoming place that isn’t full of snark and arguments.
I’m pretty sure hpg is one of those BJ was targeting who like to post tweets from Mensch & Palmer.
Hopefully he or she will settle down and become more interactive as opposed to just blasting tweets.
Says the person who tends to throw multiple tweets in her own post thread. :)
Weird. MG, your last comment doesn’t have a reply button, so I hope you see this. I’m thinking it may be time for an icebreaker game of some sort at the DK Village, e.g. name your favorite politician that’s not Hillary and why, or tell us the best thing about your state and why someone should visit. For a lot of us, the icebreaker will seem unnecessary, but it may be a way to draw noobs out and acquaint them with long-time residents.
OMG, yes. I thought it was just me. I put together mine in a grouping (so I figured I shouldn’t be the one to talk). Last night I did comment that I was hoping we wouldn’t get a running tweet storm of results, because they had already started, but it wasn’t addressed to them. I do believe that English is not their first language from the grammatical errors and syntax in some of the comments. I agree that a tweet is a good conversation starter, but not the way it’s being done by hpg. Again, though, let he who is without sin cast the first stone (and I do tweet a lot).
I can’t reply to yours either, DoReMI, but I think your icebreaker idea is great!
You can only “nest” replies 5 deep. After that, you have to reply to the last replyable comment to continue posting in the thread.
I did not want to have unlimited reply nesting because it makes the right-most ones unreadable (think “one letter per line) so I chose “5”.
Thanks, Jan. I figured that out once I got on my phone and tried to read the nested replies; even at a limit of 5, when I’m on my phone, I’m into a line of single letters. It makes things…challenging!
Yup. We don’t have a lot of meese but it feels like a neighborhood cafe or book club meeting. Restful. Calming, if that’s what is needed. No projections. No disruptions. No need to defend our space and watch our words (which is one thing I like about squirrel is that it’s closed. Nobody can see what we say now. No having to watch our backs.)
Hi everyone. I’ve been at the Orange today and don’t know which one you’re talking about so I think that’s a win for me. Been gobsmacked by the kerfuffle on the help desk.
Listen folks, I live in Georgia 07 and I think Ossoff did a great job. Karen Handel is very dirty and I expected she would find a slimy way to win, but it should never have been so close. So I think we should feel encouraged and start looking ahead.
Yes, consider yourself blessed! And yes, I don’t think there’s any reason to be ashamed/worried/angry about Ossoff’s efforts. He obviously got a boost from DK and elsewhere, but he handled himself well throughout and looked to have a very sound ground game. Those are all important elements for GA-06 in the future, whether Ossoff runs again or someone else.
Hi kathy from pa! I think a lot of folks got expectations raised but you are right, Ossoff has nothing to be ashamed of. It was a remarkable showing and if Repubs don’t recognize that it’s fine. They’ll be blindsided later.
Crazy stuff at DK. I missed most of it. Something made me amend the end of my welcome greeting at the end of my post today, though. Sure enough. ;P
I think – when I get a minute – I’m going to add your “amendment” or something similar to mine as well – although it’s higher on the page and they may not notice. :)
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