Today is my 63rd birthday. I had shoulder surgery last week & am in a sling for 6 weeks. I was feeling despair over being a senior, possibly in my last days with the prospect of 🇺🇸 going off a cliff. Until I read your Substack. You give me hope. Your energy, your passion, your fight for this country keep me going. I’ll resume the fight as soon as I’m able. Until then, much 💙to you for fighting for all of us. From the bottom of my heart, respect & gratitude from this boomer👏🏼👏🏾👏🏿🙏🏼💙
Happy Birthday you young thing. Perspective is everything, I turned 74 last month. At only 63, you should have a lot of life left. The feelings of despair may arise from consuming too much "news" from big media. Jess is doing a phenomenal job for all of us who believe in true Democracy. For a good, accurate perspective of the current political events and other important items, try Heather Cox Richardson, Letters From An American. She is a professor of history and gives the back stories of how we have come to this point since becoming a nation. If I'm not mistaken, Jess follows her. Correct if that is inaccurate.
Hi Linda, I also strongly recommend Joyce Vance's Civil Discourse. She's a law professor, with a knack for making complicated legal stuff understandable to us ordinary mortals. Plus, she raises backyard chickens and will share occasional stories or pictures, just to keep life in balance. We all love her chickens!
Kinzinger is from my state, Illinois! Does he have a Substack or what? Along with Liz Cheney, I also give him credit for guts in defying Trumpet, even tho I probably wouldn't agree with his policy positions. But I'd be willing to give him a look, just on GPs (General Principles).
Highly recommend. I subscribe so get his weekly video wrap up. He was a speaker at the DNC, came on shortly before Kamala Harris. You would be amazed at what he said.
another shoutout for Heather Cox Richardson. Her historical backfills are fascinating, and well worth learning. And Jess gives me, a former Blue Iowan, living in wonderful Blue California, great home that the midwest I knew will return to its senses.
Hey Lynn, neighbor and fellow exMidwesterner! I love living here In our northern CA Blue bubble, and am proud of the work so many of us here are doing to help the rest of the country turn blue.
Thank you for your kind words, Linda. And I love Heather Cox Richardson! We shall overcome, or shall I say, we shall overcomb in honor of the Ferret on trump’s bloated head💙😂
Love this post and getting more hopeful! Bad Faith was great and I viewed it for free here: https://tubitv.com/movies/100020971/bad-faith . I live in France and used a VPN to watch it because we are not able to see it here, until they add French subtitles. FYI, I manage a group of over 11,000 Americans Living In France and have been promoting Democrats for this election. Best source of information across the country I am promoting most at present is https://bluevoterguide.org because they offer endorsements for candidates from the top of the ballot to the bottom including local initiatives. When I looked up Missouri, and specifically Tecumseh where my sister lives, many initiatives and some candidates were lacking endorsements. Any way the Democratic groups you speak to could get on those, review them, and advise who and what to vote for and against? Merci beaucoup! from Cecile Marie in France
As someone who came from sparsely populated deep red western Kansas, your work and descriptions of it give me hope. In my high school class there are only a few of us who are progressives. I'm pretty sure we would all fit in a toilet stall at the high school. No one would have to stand on the toilet. A staunchly Republican classmate found out how lonely it became after he publicly disavowed Trump. So it's important to find out that you are not alone. It's hard to understand the loyalty to Trump and the ugly, awful ideas. I can only surmise that a steady diet of vilification of Democrats and whitewashing of Trump and MAGA is responsible.
Bless you, Jess, for making it clearer and clearer that MO is really a swing state and only red when blue and like-minded independents don’t go to the polls.
Never forget WE MISSOURIANS put Reproductive Rights on the ballot for amendment of Our State Constitution, voted to expand Medicaid and block Right to Work(for less). And with consistent effort will eventually break the GOP’s grasp on the governance of OUR STATE!
I feel so encouraged and inspired reading your posts - moreso than reading or listening to literally anything else . I love your spirit, your storytelling, your hopefulness, your willingness to work. I live in Bubble Boulder CO, a wealthy small town not know (anymore) for generosity. I am a(n) (exhausted) RN working at a very large dysfunctional hospital in Aurora, CO (right beside Denver. ....I want so much to participate in keeping folks like you going........ and my days off are most often just spent recovering from my own job (a 30 minute lunch break for a 12 hour shift, and I have to catch up when I return from said break)
I have learned that teachers and healthcare workers are nearly the same: women taken advantage of for centuries in this country, being told what to do without questioning, having to work behind the scenes to get what we need, and crying in bathrooms for the moral distress we suffer.
WE POSSESS IMMENSE STRENGTH. We will rest only when we have pulled every last one of our beloved vulnerable compatriots up to a better life. ❤️🙏🏻 Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Thank you for spreading the truth. Only by calling out the lies and hatred and getting out a massive vote that can’t be questioned can we move toward a multiracial pluralistic democracy.
I’m so glad to have found you! I’m an ex-pat, born and raised in Missouri but now a Tennessean. It breaks my heart to see how red my beloved home has become, but you’re right, this is how we do it! I know of some very blue Missourians trying their best to change things, and I thank you for what you do! (I’m doing my best to change my adopted state, we will get there!)
I think Missouri, like my state of NC, might not be as red as the Republicans want everyone to think. The gerrymandering has created safe seats that the entitled folks think they don’t have to listen to voters. I applaud the work you do, Jess, to inform people about state politics and how it impacts people’s lives. I think your run for Congress created success in ways you didn’t expect. You are reaching people in rural areas all over the country.
Well, that was an inspiring way to start a Monday. Thanks to you, Jess, and to all the folks out there doing the necessary work. There actually is hope for better times ahead.
Your work is so hopeful and uplifting and exciting! I am so proud to be one of hundreds, perhaps by now thousands of us, following your every word w joy in our reading !
Makes me SO happy to be one of your family of distant cheerleaders and delighted Substack Piper’s People!
PS when you decide to run for the Senate or House of Reps let us know w as much advance warning as possible so we can stop purchasing ‘little extras’ for ourselves & put a Jess Piper for ______________ on our kitchen counter or table to capture every bit of ‘change’ to go directly to your political career for your home, Missouri!
And for our whole country, United States of America, an ‘experiment’ in democracy that YOU are living with/for ALL of us!
Breaks my heart to see what Missouri has become. We most all grew up Roosevelt Democrats; now toxic leadership and right-wing media preying on gullible conservatives has made it unrecognizable. Keep up the good work, you're awesome !
Today is my 63rd birthday. I had shoulder surgery last week & am in a sling for 6 weeks. I was feeling despair over being a senior, possibly in my last days with the prospect of 🇺🇸 going off a cliff. Until I read your Substack. You give me hope. Your energy, your passion, your fight for this country keep me going. I’ll resume the fight as soon as I’m able. Until then, much 💙to you for fighting for all of us. From the bottom of my heart, respect & gratitude from this boomer👏🏼👏🏾👏🏿🙏🏼💙
Thank you, and we share a birthday, friend!
Happy Birthday to you 🎶
and Lisa
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🎉🥳🎊🎁
Happy Birthday to both of you.
Happy Birthday you young thing. Perspective is everything, I turned 74 last month. At only 63, you should have a lot of life left. The feelings of despair may arise from consuming too much "news" from big media. Jess is doing a phenomenal job for all of us who believe in true Democracy. For a good, accurate perspective of the current political events and other important items, try Heather Cox Richardson, Letters From An American. She is a professor of history and gives the back stories of how we have come to this point since becoming a nation. If I'm not mistaken, Jess follows her. Correct if that is inaccurate.
Hi Linda, I also strongly recommend Joyce Vance's Civil Discourse. She's a law professor, with a knack for making complicated legal stuff understandable to us ordinary mortals. Plus, she raises backyard chickens and will share occasional stories or pictures, just to keep life in balance. We all love her chickens!
And she knits! She was just a main speaker on the very successful “Makers for Kamala” virtual fundraiser. You can see it here https://www.youtube.com/live/xPUeR8DAD9o?si=pwzATEmd2GFQmSdj
Thank you, Barbara. I also follow Joyce Vance. She’s fabulous 💙
Thanks, I follow Joyce too. Love the chickens. And I follow Adam Kinzinger for a different perspective.
Kinzinger is from my state, Illinois! Does he have a Substack or what? Along with Liz Cheney, I also give him credit for guts in defying Trumpet, even tho I probably wouldn't agree with his policy positions. But I'd be willing to give him a look, just on GPs (General Principles).
Oops, and then I clicked on your personal icon, to see where you might be from, and found his link there. So, thanks and never mind.
Highly recommend. I subscribe so get his weekly video wrap up. He was a speaker at the DNC, came on shortly before Kamala Harris. You would be amazed at what he said.
Yes, Adam is on Substack.
another shoutout for Heather Cox Richardson. Her historical backfills are fascinating, and well worth learning. And Jess gives me, a former Blue Iowan, living in wonderful Blue California, great home that the midwest I knew will return to its senses.
hope, not home
Hey Lynn, neighbor and fellow exMidwesterner! I love living here In our northern CA Blue bubble, and am proud of the work so many of us here are doing to help the rest of the country turn blue.
Thank you for your kind words, Linda. And I love Heather Cox Richardson! We shall overcome, or shall I say, we shall overcomb in honor of the Ferret on trump’s bloated head💙😂
Good one!! And happy birthday again.
I get her blog daily, and have read many of her books. I have learned so much about our country and government from her.
Happy birthday, Shero🎂🇺🇸
Keep up the good work, Jess. Supporting Lucas Kunce from far away Indiana. Speaking is hard work. Writing is hard work. Please keep at it.
Love this post and getting more hopeful! Bad Faith was great and I viewed it for free here: https://tubitv.com/movies/100020971/bad-faith . I live in France and used a VPN to watch it because we are not able to see it here, until they add French subtitles. FYI, I manage a group of over 11,000 Americans Living In France and have been promoting Democrats for this election. Best source of information across the country I am promoting most at present is https://bluevoterguide.org because they offer endorsements for candidates from the top of the ballot to the bottom including local initiatives. When I looked up Missouri, and specifically Tecumseh where my sister lives, many initiatives and some candidates were lacking endorsements. Any way the Democratic groups you speak to could get on those, review them, and advise who and what to vote for and against? Merci beaucoup! from Cecile Marie in France
As someone who came from sparsely populated deep red western Kansas, your work and descriptions of it give me hope. In my high school class there are only a few of us who are progressives. I'm pretty sure we would all fit in a toilet stall at the high school. No one would have to stand on the toilet. A staunchly Republican classmate found out how lonely it became after he publicly disavowed Trump. So it's important to find out that you are not alone. It's hard to understand the loyalty to Trump and the ugly, awful ideas. I can only surmise that a steady diet of vilification of Democrats and whitewashing of Trump and MAGA is responsible.
Bless you, Jess, for making it clearer and clearer that MO is really a swing state and only red when blue and like-minded independents don’t go to the polls.
Never forget WE MISSOURIANS put Reproductive Rights on the ballot for amendment of Our State Constitution, voted to expand Medicaid and block Right to Work(for less). And with consistent effort will eventually break the GOP’s grasp on the governance of OUR STATE!
Thank you for this work.
Saluting all the ways you are serving as a Teacher At Large! Teaching & learning matter as never before and always!
I feel so encouraged and inspired reading your posts - moreso than reading or listening to literally anything else . I love your spirit, your storytelling, your hopefulness, your willingness to work. I live in Bubble Boulder CO, a wealthy small town not know (anymore) for generosity. I am a(n) (exhausted) RN working at a very large dysfunctional hospital in Aurora, CO (right beside Denver. ....I want so much to participate in keeping folks like you going........ and my days off are most often just spent recovering from my own job (a 30 minute lunch break for a 12 hour shift, and I have to catch up when I return from said break)
I have learned that teachers and healthcare workers are nearly the same: women taken advantage of for centuries in this country, being told what to do without questioning, having to work behind the scenes to get what we need, and crying in bathrooms for the moral distress we suffer.
WE POSSESS IMMENSE STRENGTH. We will rest only when we have pulled every last one of our beloved vulnerable compatriots up to a better life. ❤️🙏🏻 Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Thank you for spreading the truth. Only by calling out the lies and hatred and getting out a massive vote that can’t be questioned can we move toward a multiracial pluralistic democracy.
So proud of you, Jess!
All you good people, build on your Dem MOmentum with your admirable perseverance 💙
We see you. We support you. We cheer you 👏👏
From a former MO resident
I’m so glad to have found you! I’m an ex-pat, born and raised in Missouri but now a Tennessean. It breaks my heart to see how red my beloved home has become, but you’re right, this is how we do it! I know of some very blue Missourians trying their best to change things, and I thank you for what you do! (I’m doing my best to change my adopted state, we will get there!)
I think Missouri, like my state of NC, might not be as red as the Republicans want everyone to think. The gerrymandering has created safe seats that the entitled folks think they don’t have to listen to voters. I applaud the work you do, Jess, to inform people about state politics and how it impacts people’s lives. I think your run for Congress created success in ways you didn’t expect. You are reaching people in rural areas all over the country.
Well, that was an inspiring way to start a Monday. Thanks to you, Jess, and to all the folks out there doing the necessary work. There actually is hope for better times ahead.
Your chance encounter mentioned how excited she was to meet you on her SWEEP page!!!
Yaaaaay!!!
Your work is so hopeful and uplifting and exciting! I am so proud to be one of hundreds, perhaps by now thousands of us, following your every word w joy in our reading !
Makes me SO happy to be one of your family of distant cheerleaders and delighted Substack Piper’s People!
PS when you decide to run for the Senate or House of Reps let us know w as much advance warning as possible so we can stop purchasing ‘little extras’ for ourselves & put a Jess Piper for ______________ on our kitchen counter or table to capture every bit of ‘change’ to go directly to your political career for your home, Missouri!
And for our whole country, United States of America, an ‘experiment’ in democracy that YOU are living with/for ALL of us!
Breaks my heart to see what Missouri has become. We most all grew up Roosevelt Democrats; now toxic leadership and right-wing media preying on gullible conservatives has made it unrecognizable. Keep up the good work, you're awesome !
God bless you Jess. Harry S Truman is smiling down on you. “Give ‘em hell!”
The greatest of blessings for Hess!