Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it. I've already been to hell and back many times over. I can do this. And I feel my anger turning into resolve as I type. Thank you for the unvarnished truth.
Virginia...you're the best. History...however the story gets written...if it's got a shred of truth in it...will say (about us): They. Never. Gave. Up.
Chin is up, shoulders square, heading forward, not quite sure where, nevertheless, determined, and together, we will get there! These are the uplifting beliefs we hold dear. There are many of us who care, and there are many people who need us, as we also need to count on ourselves. Thank you, Jack. Each in our own ways we shall remain strong, and yes, our memories hold fast to the history of wrongs which must remain guiding maps for our future steps.
Earlier I wrote to thank my bravely staunch senator for sticking to the plan, standing up to the wrongs and the bullies we know not to trust, as we are continually shown. My question was how we would go forward from here, but your strength and the goodness of a number of senators remind me that forward is the direction, and united is the form.
Your statement that we “…must go through it,” reminded me of the song about the wall of Jericho. I think that’s the song. I only remember “So high, you can’t get over it, so low, you can’t get under it, so wide so I can’t get around it, you gotta go through the door.”
Whatever is ahead, we’ve got lots of good people with memories, determination, genuine caring, and the willingness to see goodness defeat evil. As we pay attention, more answers should come. My concern today was the lack of an answer, and you have restored my confidence in faith that answers will come. Thank you!
What a powerful message! And you’re exactly right...sometimes the direction isn’t clear... but the posture has to be. Chin up. Shoulders square. Step forward anyway. That’s how every hard era in history has been walked through: not with certainty...but with conviction.
And you nailed something most people overlook…
memory is a map.
The things we’ve seen...the betrayals we’ve clocked...the moments that punched us in the gut...those become the markers that keep us from walking blind into the same traps again.
Your senator showed spine. A handful did. And that matters more than people think. It’s proof that not everyone folds under pressure...and that “forward” doesn’t always mean fast...sometimes it just means through...exactly like that song you quoted.
When the wall’s too high...too low...too wide… you take the door and you keep moving.
And you’re right about this too: good people are everywhere. Watching. Remembering. Refusing to let the worst voices define the moment. Answers come from that kind of vigilance. Confidence...comes from knowing you’re not alone in it.
Thank you for holding the line in your own way. That’s what gets us through the long haul!
Yes. I yelled at the top of my lungs, in my house, alone. Then I called the traitors, and my purportedly non-traitor senators. Feeling my disappointment deeply. Major suspicion that money found its way through to these senators like water finds its way through granite rock. I’m also feeling like I’ve got Zombies for friends, pardon my judgment. They suggest I am reading too much news. Probably true, but the idea that they “skipped over” this weekend’s events feels incredible to me. Hard to see so many folks asleep to what’s creeping up.
Amazingly, so many of my friends’ eyes just glaze over and start to wander when I begin to talk to them about current affairs and their importance. “Oh, I choose to not think about that. I just want to enjoy my . . . “. What unmitigated, self-centered PRIVILEGE have ya got goin’ on there, cupcake???? SERIOUSLY??
Fuck that and the horse it rode in on!!!
Ok, well, if you can’t even spare me a few minutes for MY concern, why are we even in the same room?
Talk about betrayal - of all we love and hold dear about our democracy. Sweet baby Jesus! I’d apologize about my coarse language if I were sorry. I can be a graceful butterfly of a lady, too, and you never know which one of me could pop out at any time.
I love this post like I love most of your posts, Jack. ("most of them" only because I haven't had time to read all of them!). But I get to the end of it, having recognized my stubborn self in it, and here I sit saying "OK BUT WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO?" I know, you've had great posts about what to do, so I try every day to do *something*: to write someone in office, call someone in office, donate a bit, post some good resources as widely as I can (including you my friend :), meet neighbors, grow my community.... What else?? Keep giving us tasks please?
Great piece Jack as always. I have been to hell and back and I do not give up. Losing my dad at 16 and having been sexually assaulted while he was in the hoslpital by a 21 y/o cousin we were staying at his mom's house. My mom spent most of the time at the VA hospital where he wanted to go when our local hospitals did not know what was wrong. this was 1968 and a lot of the tech today was not available. I never told anyone about it until I was 40 because back then no one talked about it. My first marriage after graduating high school...I now know I was running from everything but too young to realize it. 9 1/2 yrs later I got divorced and had 2 sons to raise. I had lost my full ride to college and my VA full coverage because dad was 100% disabled and I had 5 years fully paid for. I was in no shape to do that. so I went to JR College and the USA in tampa and got my BA and MA taught school for a while until they had shooting the late 80's and I did not like that. I went back to school for my RN and retired in 2018. I have a very strong will and will not let this get me down..too much is at stake. I believe we can defeat this orange menace and his band of thugs. I also believe if the epstein files are ever released there will be a lot of big wigs that will go down.He , the orange menace does not have 3 more years in my opinion and no one has his carney ability to keep his cult going for themselves.
Thanks for reminding me I am so much more than I think I am. I’m in. Way in. And I feel kinda macho with my bruises showing. Now I need a great tattoo to memorialize the commitment. If you have any ideas, would love to hear them. Have one Tatoo: a phoenix rising.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We will not let them win! I will not let them win. Thanks for keeping us clear eyed, focused, and attentive to the truth. I won’t let the idiots win! This is not their country. They have betrayed it. It is ours and we have work to do. As Yogi Berra used to say, “When you see a fork in the road, take it.’ Your message used the phrase of a fork in the road. I’m old, but it’s a Yogi-ism. He was wise, even if he didn’t realize it.
This post is amazing! You are so on point in what I felt today. I even helped one of their campaigns. DIS-A-F@#$%ING-PPOINTED and betrayed. That stated, tomorrow, at 8 am, our weekly, rowdy group will protest on main street again. Go Democracy!❤️
I caught your first post barely into O'Donnell's monologue. I was astonished by him and not surprised at all at what you said.
Thanks for this Ted pep talk. I am the point 'man' in my group of various ages and now I know what I will be saying and how I will be saying it. This is a big pile of stupid the democrats pulled, and not for the first time, and that requires that we be smarter, resilient, loud and persistent. If I didn't have my dog on my lap I would probably be pacing the house. Cheers Jack 🐸(I live in the PNW so …)
As always, thanks Jack for the thoughts and feelings. “Get up. We’re not done.” you're damn right we're not! We have a midterm to protect and win, and a country's future to save. You're right I'm angry. I'm beyond angry I'm furious. But I will channel that anger into energy that will help me redouble my efforts to resist and end this trum[pian nightmare. Thanks again.
Having Schumer and the despicable eight turn their backs on the rest of us is as you say a gut punch. But I have survived worse. NS² Never submit. Never surrender.
You know me too well. I don't give up, I get up. I have spent an hour reposting with comments, asking people to read about the sh#t that is going on with ICE targeting disabled brown people. Asking (as a warning) if all disabled no matter their color will be the next target for what I consider genocide of the disabled! EVIL is still rampant! We need to pay attention damn it. Never be in a position to say you didn't know! Stay in the fight! When they punch, throw an upper cut or kick their cowardly asses and ideas with your words of truth. Johnson says he will swear in the new Rep as first item if business. Don't get too excited, we get her signature, but the question is when will he allow it to go to the floor for a vote when he has 60 days of unfinished business to take care of. Keep the heat up by pushing him about it! It just ain't over by winning a battle, we have to win the next battle and then the next. Take a breath, take a day, but get back in the game. Stay loud, stay focused and stay here where we support each other. I have to wait until night to do most of mischief as I am a caretaker for my twin sister who has 4 kinds of cancer! She is in the battle of her life and mine. Things aren't going very well, but we will give it all we have for as long as she chooses. I will support her through whatever she has to do. If you pray, pls send one up for the twins. God will know who it is for.
This substack is a life line to keep me informed. Jack is an inspiration, but so are the rest of you. I read everything you write. It is my fuel. ⛽ Thank you all for being here! 💙🇺🇲
Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it. I've already been to hell and back many times over. I can do this. And I feel my anger turning into resolve as I type. Thank you for the unvarnished truth.
You're welcome, Sandi. You brought a smile to my face...and a damn good warm feeling in my chest.
-Jack
Thanks, Jack; I needed this.
Helen...you're welcome. I SEE you.
-Jack
I feel better Jack. Ready to go again.
Virginia...you're the best. History...however the story gets written...if it's got a shred of truth in it...will say (about us): They. Never. Gave. Up.
-Jack
Chin is up, shoulders square, heading forward, not quite sure where, nevertheless, determined, and together, we will get there! These are the uplifting beliefs we hold dear. There are many of us who care, and there are many people who need us, as we also need to count on ourselves. Thank you, Jack. Each in our own ways we shall remain strong, and yes, our memories hold fast to the history of wrongs which must remain guiding maps for our future steps.
Earlier I wrote to thank my bravely staunch senator for sticking to the plan, standing up to the wrongs and the bullies we know not to trust, as we are continually shown. My question was how we would go forward from here, but your strength and the goodness of a number of senators remind me that forward is the direction, and united is the form.
Your statement that we “…must go through it,” reminded me of the song about the wall of Jericho. I think that’s the song. I only remember “So high, you can’t get over it, so low, you can’t get under it, so wide so I can’t get around it, you gotta go through the door.”
Whatever is ahead, we’ve got lots of good people with memories, determination, genuine caring, and the willingness to see goodness defeat evil. As we pay attention, more answers should come. My concern today was the lack of an answer, and you have restored my confidence in faith that answers will come. Thank you!
What a powerful message! And you’re exactly right...sometimes the direction isn’t clear... but the posture has to be. Chin up. Shoulders square. Step forward anyway. That’s how every hard era in history has been walked through: not with certainty...but with conviction.
And you nailed something most people overlook…
memory is a map.
The things we’ve seen...the betrayals we’ve clocked...the moments that punched us in the gut...those become the markers that keep us from walking blind into the same traps again.
Your senator showed spine. A handful did. And that matters more than people think. It’s proof that not everyone folds under pressure...and that “forward” doesn’t always mean fast...sometimes it just means through...exactly like that song you quoted.
When the wall’s too high...too low...too wide… you take the door and you keep moving.
And you’re right about this too: good people are everywhere. Watching. Remembering. Refusing to let the worst voices define the moment. Answers come from that kind of vigilance. Confidence...comes from knowing you’re not alone in it.
Thank you for holding the line in your own way. That’s what gets us through the long haul!
-Jack
Yes. I yelled at the top of my lungs, in my house, alone. Then I called the traitors, and my purportedly non-traitor senators. Feeling my disappointment deeply. Major suspicion that money found its way through to these senators like water finds its way through granite rock. I’m also feeling like I’ve got Zombies for friends, pardon my judgment. They suggest I am reading too much news. Probably true, but the idea that they “skipped over” this weekend’s events feels incredible to me. Hard to see so many folks asleep to what’s creeping up.
Sometimes I feel like the only one fighting! At least SOME of us care and will save this nation!
Yes, some of us care deeply and we WILL save this nation!
Amazingly, so many of my friends’ eyes just glaze over and start to wander when I begin to talk to them about current affairs and their importance. “Oh, I choose to not think about that. I just want to enjoy my . . . “. What unmitigated, self-centered PRIVILEGE have ya got goin’ on there, cupcake???? SERIOUSLY??
Fuck that and the horse it rode in on!!!
Ok, well, if you can’t even spare me a few minutes for MY concern, why are we even in the same room?
Talk about betrayal - of all we love and hold dear about our democracy. Sweet baby Jesus! I’d apologize about my coarse language if I were sorry. I can be a graceful butterfly of a lady, too, and you never know which one of me could pop out at any time.
So, try to keep up.
Or not. 😘
Bye, Felicia.
I love this post like I love most of your posts, Jack. ("most of them" only because I haven't had time to read all of them!). But I get to the end of it, having recognized my stubborn self in it, and here I sit saying "OK BUT WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO?" I know, you've had great posts about what to do, so I try every day to do *something*: to write someone in office, call someone in office, donate a bit, post some good resources as widely as I can (including you my friend :), meet neighbors, grow my community.... What else?? Keep giving us tasks please?
Great piece Jack as always. I have been to hell and back and I do not give up. Losing my dad at 16 and having been sexually assaulted while he was in the hoslpital by a 21 y/o cousin we were staying at his mom's house. My mom spent most of the time at the VA hospital where he wanted to go when our local hospitals did not know what was wrong. this was 1968 and a lot of the tech today was not available. I never told anyone about it until I was 40 because back then no one talked about it. My first marriage after graduating high school...I now know I was running from everything but too young to realize it. 9 1/2 yrs later I got divorced and had 2 sons to raise. I had lost my full ride to college and my VA full coverage because dad was 100% disabled and I had 5 years fully paid for. I was in no shape to do that. so I went to JR College and the USA in tampa and got my BA and MA taught school for a while until they had shooting the late 80's and I did not like that. I went back to school for my RN and retired in 2018. I have a very strong will and will not let this get me down..too much is at stake. I believe we can defeat this orange menace and his band of thugs. I also believe if the epstein files are ever released there will be a lot of big wigs that will go down.He , the orange menace does not have 3 more years in my opinion and no one has his carney ability to keep his cult going for themselves.
Thanks for reminding me I am so much more than I think I am. I’m in. Way in. And I feel kinda macho with my bruises showing. Now I need a great tattoo to memorialize the commitment. If you have any ideas, would love to hear them. Have one Tatoo: a phoenix rising.
I have Mighty Mouse tattooed just above my knee.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We will not let them win! I will not let them win. Thanks for keeping us clear eyed, focused, and attentive to the truth. I won’t let the idiots win! This is not their country. They have betrayed it. It is ours and we have work to do. As Yogi Berra used to say, “When you see a fork in the road, take it.’ Your message used the phrase of a fork in the road. I’m old, but it’s a Yogi-ism. He was wise, even if he didn’t realize it.
Get up.
We’re not done.
That’s going on the mirror Jack.
Abso-fucking-lutely.
This post is amazing! You are so on point in what I felt today. I even helped one of their campaigns. DIS-A-F@#$%ING-PPOINTED and betrayed. That stated, tomorrow, at 8 am, our weekly, rowdy group will protest on main street again. Go Democracy!❤️
I caught your first post barely into O'Donnell's monologue. I was astonished by him and not surprised at all at what you said.
Thanks for this Ted pep talk. I am the point 'man' in my group of various ages and now I know what I will be saying and how I will be saying it. This is a big pile of stupid the democrats pulled, and not for the first time, and that requires that we be smarter, resilient, loud and persistent. If I didn't have my dog on my lap I would probably be pacing the house. Cheers Jack 🐸(I live in the PNW so …)
As always, thanks Jack for the thoughts and feelings. “Get up. We’re not done.” you're damn right we're not! We have a midterm to protect and win, and a country's future to save. You're right I'm angry. I'm beyond angry I'm furious. But I will channel that anger into energy that will help me redouble my efforts to resist and end this trum[pian nightmare. Thanks again.
To be clear, I’m not swearing at them! I’m getting a message across that I feel very strongly about!
Having Schumer and the despicable eight turn their backs on the rest of us is as you say a gut punch. But I have survived worse. NS² Never submit. Never surrender.
Thank you for speaking the unvarnished truth.
Sue
You know me too well. I don't give up, I get up. I have spent an hour reposting with comments, asking people to read about the sh#t that is going on with ICE targeting disabled brown people. Asking (as a warning) if all disabled no matter their color will be the next target for what I consider genocide of the disabled! EVIL is still rampant! We need to pay attention damn it. Never be in a position to say you didn't know! Stay in the fight! When they punch, throw an upper cut or kick their cowardly asses and ideas with your words of truth. Johnson says he will swear in the new Rep as first item if business. Don't get too excited, we get her signature, but the question is when will he allow it to go to the floor for a vote when he has 60 days of unfinished business to take care of. Keep the heat up by pushing him about it! It just ain't over by winning a battle, we have to win the next battle and then the next. Take a breath, take a day, but get back in the game. Stay loud, stay focused and stay here where we support each other. I have to wait until night to do most of mischief as I am a caretaker for my twin sister who has 4 kinds of cancer! She is in the battle of her life and mine. Things aren't going very well, but we will give it all we have for as long as she chooses. I will support her through whatever she has to do. If you pray, pls send one up for the twins. God will know who it is for.
This substack is a life line to keep me informed. Jack is an inspiration, but so are the rest of you. I read everything you write. It is my fuel. ⛽ Thank you all for being here! 💙🇺🇲