Jess, I feel for you. I hope we can all remember this: Just because old institutions fail (and fall) doesn't mean that new institutions can't (and won't) rise to replace them. We may be witnessing the dissolution of the country we knew. But that doesn't mean we can't organize to build a better future. The light may dim in the places we're used to looking...but we can build a new collection of fires, around which we gather, and link them together...
Yesterday, the lovely Latina woman who cleans our house came for the first time since before Thanksgiving. I asked her if she and her family would be safe under the new president. She winced and shrugged her shoulders. Then I told her we could help her ($$$) if they needed it and that she should text me if anything happened. Then we both started to cry.
Your framing here is such skillful writing - the news items interspersed with vignettes from your daily life. It really makes those news items a gut punch.
I especially want to thank you for "It's precedented. It just looks different." That's important to remember, and I'll use it.
Yes. Life doesn't stop just because your country has become a Nazi regime. We have to resist, but we still need to carry on. I think every day about all the women who went before me and lived this same reality.
Did you know that the U.S. Constitution has been scrubbed from Whitehouse.gov? Gizmodo said they had reports of 404 errors. I checked a few house ago and it's just a list of Mango Mussolini's "Executive Orders."
I wonder how MAGA is taking that and the release of 1,600 violent criminals from 1/6? I know police organizations are furious. So much for the party of law and order.
Gregg, many police organizations are filled with people who consume a steady diet of biased "news" reports and feed on disinformation. As a retired cop, it pains me to say it, but don't count on rank and file police to be on our side.
In 1981 my husband, a police commanding officer, went to federal court to defend his firing of an officer distributing KKK information while on duty. The police have been infiltrated by white supremacists for many years now.
Exactly! I have a brother in law who's a retired state trooper and he's the biggest fox watching, Trump loving fascist you ever saw. I have zero faith in law enforcement.
I have no pity for the police being furious. They voted for him overwhelmingly. He's been talking for 2 years how he would pardon the January 6th insurrectionists. Should not have been a surprise for them.
My 28 year old has autism. He's in community college for computers. He's always been interested in the news (we're a political household, it's a common topic). Lately he has been just ANGRY. I want to tell him that it will all work out (the 'It will all be OK' signs people painted and posted in the yards back in 2020), but at the same time, I'm angry, too. I know there are good people who worked their a$$e$ off in the last election to turn this tide, but I also know it feels like none of it mattered. I, too, have tended to my sourdough, bought tomato seeds and a seed starter kit, cleaned my basement, donated to Habitat for Humanity Restore all the old screws and nails my late husband collected over the years. I also joined the ACLU, and wrote my Congresscritters and unsubscribed to Facebook and Twitter (F. him, it will always be Twitter) and joined Blue Sky. But I'm still angry and sad and I just don't know how to channel that anymore.
But thank you, Jess, for reminding me that my son and I are not alone.
Thank you for all you do, and the truths you courageously tell. I wrote today about some of the executive orders, particularly the one about refugees, which impacts dear friends directly. We must continue to live, and continue to fight.
I just love your mixture of deadly serious event along with your personal delights - grandkids, animals (I want to meet your donkey!!!), flower garden. It seems like a powerful use of female energy and I love it.
This post is full of things I could comment on, but I’ll pick out the thing about the seeds. Because it reminded me of something (it might be a bit long winded, but please bear with me):
In the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War and when the world had more nuclear weapons than was sensible. When there had been a bunch of nuclear disasters and the first signs of environmental degradation were everywhere, someone wrote a book about all of that and he called it ‘Let us go and plant an apple tree. The time has come’.
This was a direct reference to Martin Luther, who had written something along the lines of ‘if I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would still go and plant an apple tree today.’
You planting seeds is a sign of hope. You cooking good food is a sign of joy. You planning your next organising actions is a sign of confidence: Things might be bleak right now, but there will be good days ahead!
Earlier today I wrote a reference to the ‘rubble ladies’ after WW2. That was when a whole continent had been shot to pieces, when millions of refugees were on the move and the economy had turned to shit. And look at us now - we managed to crawl out of that whole and now we are doing well!
Please don’t be despondent. You are building a community of friends. We will be there with you, to offer you support and encouragement. And cups of tea - how do you take yours?
I will be driving a friend to the Portland, OR VA hospital which has an excellent Women's Health Center today. Later, I will play my tuba with friends.
Meanwhile:
I am confronting my cohort of retired cop former coworkers (moving away from calling them friends at this point) who are feeding an utter line of garbage from saying Ashleigh Babbitt was murdered by Capitol Police to Biden storing classified documents in his bathroom to it was OK to pardon Daniel Rodriguez (he of the "tazzing the blue" fame).
I will come home and fix dinner, and feed my family.
Great article, Jess. This was in the news yesterday from Associate Press. "Within hours of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the new administration took down the Spanish-language version of the official White House website." Here in New Mexico, we are pretty much bilingual. This may be a major problem with our residents.
Re hite House.gov site and dup reply above: "Re site: All just pics now of Dear Leader, nothing else, no Constitution, no ex. orders, just Dtrump doing something or just standing."
"Trump-proofing" at the state level is a good example of doing our best where we can, but it will not stop, and may scarcely impede, the progress of federal neofascist control. States rights were a fine rallying cry for them when it suited them...
I will keep writing about a topic on which I have expertise (like you do for local politics - that's not my forte, but the science of transgender physiology is), in hopes that a few people can be swayed.
About two hundred years ago Leo Tolstoy advanced the opinion that a single soldier could change the entire course of a battle. He was, in my opinion, simply anticipating the so-called "butterfly effect" more formally known as deterministic chaos. And he had a good point, even if it doesn't always work. We should believe in that power.
I really like the Butterfly as a symbol for our power. It's final form is only made possible through transformation. The "butterfly effect" with it's focus on the ripple effects of one small gesture on the entire quantum realm represents that even the things we do that we think are not making a difference are still going out into the world and affecting it in ways we may never fully see or comprehend, but which are still of utmost importance in delivering the outcome we desire.
Thank you, Jess, for all that you continue to do. Sending support from CA, which people think is immune from fascism, but it’s not.
Sending support from from NY. Hugs. Your pot roast sounds great!
Jess, I feel for you. I hope we can all remember this: Just because old institutions fail (and fall) doesn't mean that new institutions can't (and won't) rise to replace them. We may be witnessing the dissolution of the country we knew. But that doesn't mean we can't organize to build a better future. The light may dim in the places we're used to looking...but we can build a new collection of fires, around which we gather, and link them together...
Yesterday, the lovely Latina woman who cleans our house came for the first time since before Thanksgiving. I asked her if she and her family would be safe under the new president. She winced and shrugged her shoulders. Then I told her we could help her ($$$) if they needed it and that she should text me if anything happened. Then we both started to cry.
I'm so angry.
Oh dear. So scary. I'm glad you can help one person. So can I. So can each one of Jess's followers. One by one, we can help as beat we are able.
Your framing here is such skillful writing - the news items interspersed with vignettes from your daily life. It really makes those news items a gut punch.
I especially want to thank you for "It's precedented. It just looks different." That's important to remember, and I'll use it.
Yes. Life doesn't stop just because your country has become a Nazi regime. We have to resist, but we still need to carry on. I think every day about all the women who went before me and lived this same reality.
Did you know that the U.S. Constitution has been scrubbed from Whitehouse.gov? Gizmodo said they had reports of 404 errors. I checked a few house ago and it's just a list of Mango Mussolini's "Executive Orders."
I wonder how MAGA is taking that and the release of 1,600 violent criminals from 1/6? I know police organizations are furious. So much for the party of law and order.
Gregg, many police organizations are filled with people who consume a steady diet of biased "news" reports and feed on disinformation. As a retired cop, it pains me to say it, but don't count on rank and file police to be on our side.
In 1981 my husband, a police commanding officer, went to federal court to defend his firing of an officer distributing KKK information while on duty. The police have been infiltrated by white supremacists for many years now.
Exactly! I have a brother in law who's a retired state trooper and he's the biggest fox watching, Trump loving fascist you ever saw. I have zero faith in law enforcement.
Thank you: This is *so important* to realize for those of us who were raised with "Officer Friendly."
There's a split there. A lot of officers are looking at the release of a bunch of violent prisoners as a threat to them on the streets.
Good. Let those cops be brave and call it out.
I have no pity for the police being furious. They voted for him overwhelmingly. He's been talking for 2 years how he would pardon the January 6th insurrectionists. Should not have been a surprise for them.
Re site: All just pics now of Dear Leader, nothing else, no Constitution, no ex. orders, just Dtrump doing someting or just standing.
My family started a “beautiful photo of the day” thread. We’re going to need it.
My 28 year old has autism. He's in community college for computers. He's always been interested in the news (we're a political household, it's a common topic). Lately he has been just ANGRY. I want to tell him that it will all work out (the 'It will all be OK' signs people painted and posted in the yards back in 2020), but at the same time, I'm angry, too. I know there are good people who worked their a$$e$ off in the last election to turn this tide, but I also know it feels like none of it mattered. I, too, have tended to my sourdough, bought tomato seeds and a seed starter kit, cleaned my basement, donated to Habitat for Humanity Restore all the old screws and nails my late husband collected over the years. I also joined the ACLU, and wrote my Congresscritters and unsubscribed to Facebook and Twitter (F. him, it will always be Twitter) and joined Blue Sky. But I'm still angry and sad and I just don't know how to channel that anymore.
But thank you, Jess, for reminding me that my son and I are not alone.
You are not alone, friend.
Vickie, you sound like a really cool person. I'm sorry you lost your husband. Good for you for writing your Congresscritters.
Thank you for all you do, and the truths you courageously tell. I wrote today about some of the executive orders, particularly the one about refugees, which impacts dear friends directly. We must continue to live, and continue to fight.
Solidarity, friend
I just love your mixture of deadly serious event along with your personal delights - grandkids, animals (I want to meet your donkey!!!), flower garden. It seems like a powerful use of female energy and I love it.
This post is full of things I could comment on, but I’ll pick out the thing about the seeds. Because it reminded me of something (it might be a bit long winded, but please bear with me):
In the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War and when the world had more nuclear weapons than was sensible. When there had been a bunch of nuclear disasters and the first signs of environmental degradation were everywhere, someone wrote a book about all of that and he called it ‘Let us go and plant an apple tree. The time has come’.
This was a direct reference to Martin Luther, who had written something along the lines of ‘if I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would still go and plant an apple tree today.’
You planting seeds is a sign of hope. You cooking good food is a sign of joy. You planning your next organising actions is a sign of confidence: Things might be bleak right now, but there will be good days ahead!
Earlier today I wrote a reference to the ‘rubble ladies’ after WW2. That was when a whole continent had been shot to pieces, when millions of refugees were on the move and the economy had turned to shit. And look at us now - we managed to crawl out of that whole and now we are doing well!
Please don’t be despondent. You are building a community of friends. We will be there with you, to offer you support and encouragement. And cups of tea - how do you take yours?
Thank you, friend. I am in fact so hopeful that I plant trees as well.
Great! What type? Apple trees?
I love this post.
I will be driving a friend to the Portland, OR VA hospital which has an excellent Women's Health Center today. Later, I will play my tuba with friends.
Meanwhile:
I am confronting my cohort of retired cop former coworkers (moving away from calling them friends at this point) who are feeding an utter line of garbage from saying Ashleigh Babbitt was murdered by Capitol Police to Biden storing classified documents in his bathroom to it was OK to pardon Daniel Rodriguez (he of the "tazzing the blue" fame).
I will come home and fix dinner, and feed my family.
Solidarity
Great article, Jess. This was in the news yesterday from Associate Press. "Within hours of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the new administration took down the Spanish-language version of the official White House website." Here in New Mexico, we are pretty much bilingual. This may be a major problem with our residents.
From what I can see, they should just rename it 'House of Trump'. It no longer bears any resemblance to a site worthy of the White House.
Re hite House.gov site and dup reply above: "Re site: All just pics now of Dear Leader, nothing else, no Constitution, no ex. orders, just Dtrump doing something or just standing."
Reproductiverights.gov can now be accessed at reproductiverights.org.
Thank you, friend. I’m glad it is back up.
"Trump-proofing" at the state level is a good example of doing our best where we can, but it will not stop, and may scarcely impede, the progress of federal neofascist control. States rights were a fine rallying cry for them when it suited them...
I will keep writing about a topic on which I have expertise (like you do for local politics - that's not my forte, but the science of transgender physiology is), in hopes that a few people can be swayed.
About two hundred years ago Leo Tolstoy advanced the opinion that a single soldier could change the entire course of a battle. He was, in my opinion, simply anticipating the so-called "butterfly effect" more formally known as deterministic chaos. And he had a good point, even if it doesn't always work. We should believe in that power.
I really like the Butterfly as a symbol for our power. It's final form is only made possible through transformation. The "butterfly effect" with it's focus on the ripple effects of one small gesture on the entire quantum realm represents that even the things we do that we think are not making a difference are still going out into the world and affecting it in ways we may never fully see or comprehend, but which are still of utmost importance in delivering the outcome we desire.
I agree that this is the year for cut flower gardens.