Reassuring to see this spelled out how Graham’s work led to many deaths of innocents. Let’s light the candles for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Alex Pretti, Renee Good and many others. When I shed tears for a stranger, it is for someone who lived a good life.
Laura...yes. Let's say their names...because that's the one thing power can't redact.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, driving his crew to work.
Alex Pretti...who spent his life saving others as a nurse.
Renee Good...a mother. Not statistics. Not "collateral."
People who got up that morning with plans.
That last line of yours stopped me: you shed tears for a stranger who lived a good life. That's it exactly. The REFUSAL to let a life become a line item...to insist a stranger MATTERED is its own quiet act of defiance in a moment built to make us numb.
Keep lighting the candles. I'll keep writing the names. Between us...we make sure they're not forgotten on schedule.
Deborah...that sick-to-your-stomach feeling was a LOT of us this weekend...and Fanone's NEVER been one to sand the edges off the truth...so I get why he resonated.
By the way, I had Michael as a podcast guest some months ago...and he and I clicked right away...for that same reason. He's the real deal.
Just as the case, with me...he's not everyone's cup of tea, but you'll NEVER have to wonder what his stance on something is.
Gretchen...sharpest question I've gotten all week.
Here's my answer: the "speak no ill of the dead" instinct exists...to protect something real...the private grief of the people left behind. A widow, a sister, a child. Honor that.
BUT...somewhere...we stretched it into a demand that death erase the RECORD...and that's the sleight of hand. Dying is the one thing every human does equally; it can't be what earns respect...or respect would mean NOTHING.
What we respect is a LIFE...the choices, the harm, the good...and those do NOT reset at the last breath. So: compassion for the grieving...sometimes...and...HONESTY about the DEEDS.
James...while it wasn't intentional...at least not for the "AIPAC" banner on the podium...as it turns out...it was the EXACT photo I should have used, as it DID say a whole LOT.
They just killed another one in Maine as I was reading this at 3:11pm set. He was left to die in the middle of the street after his car lost control from what I could understand. They "ICE" are lying about the circumstances as usual and there are videos as receipts that they are lying because of course people had been videoing the whole thing. It was very upsetting when he was left lying in the road. I am right there with you Jack which is why when drumpf came along I switched to independent voter status.
Teri...I hear how shaken you are...and that's a completely human response to watching something like that unfold in real time.
The Maine killing is real...a person is dead, ICE WAS involved...and it's the second in a week. Those facts are confirmed.
My personal opinion? He was murdered. But...because I hold this newsletter tighter to the facts than my social posts...that hasn't been determined in any LEGAL sense...and I have to say so...to keep the two separate.
There. Said it.
That said, rest assured: the PATTERN is UNDENIABLE...an agency run amok...without responsible oversight...and almost certainly some agents eager for another notch in the weapon. I've seen more than enough to point there!
From wha tI read he was shot while driving his car and of course lost control according to a witness and the car was going in a circle in the intersection and then the witness stated other ICE arrived and one ran into the vehicle to stop it from moving and they drug the guy out of the car and left him there. The witness was horrified when she saw him stop moving his legs and go still...The moment he died. It sounded like they shot him several times ... like Rene...It is heartbreaking to read and see what is happening. This guy was even given a social security number. Wrong person once again
Teri...I think a lot of it is the ATTITUDE of the man in the White House. They feel like they have his permission...and...from what we are seeing, I feel certain...they DO.
His death is full of contradictions. I heard him speak in 2015 in a run-up to our First in the Nation Primary here in NH. I was prepared to not consider him at all as a candidate, but as he spoke, I thought, "Wow, this guy has given this a lot of thought." He identified key issues that Rs and Ds could solve if they could agree on some basic tenets, and he listed the issues one by one identifying what each party wanted and what they would be willing to compromise on. It was a thoughtful, comprehensive approach. Then he played golf. What he became bore no resemblance to the man who was on that stage in 2015.
Roberta...that's a remarkable thing to have witnessed...and it complicates the easy story...which the true ones usually do.
That you witnessed such behavior...is exactly what makes what came after so hard to swallow. It's one thing to watch a fool fall short; it's another to watch a man...who clearly had the CAPACITY for principled work...trade it away when the wind shifted.
"Then he played golf"...that's a hell of a line...because it names the pivot exactly. Remembering who he could've BEEN...doesn't excuse who he BECAME.
Absolutely, that is what makes it all the worse, HE KNEW BETTER. I will never forget the event where I heard him speak. It was hosted by No Labels, and they had invited all (or most of) the 2016 hopefuls to speak either by video or in person, both sides of the aisle. It was very interesting to hear directly from each of them, and then all of a sudden, the press and the audience started to murmur and move around a bit. I wondered what was going on, and then I saw, Trump had arrived. It was like he sucked all the oxygen right out of the arena, and literally the press contingent raced to the lobby where he was. Then he made a point of walking around the perimeter of the arena so everyone could see him. There was a large group of college students seated near where I was, and they all whipped out their phones and took photos and videos of him as he walked by. Of course, living in NH, we see lots of candidates up close. Never have I seen a commotion like that. It was unsettling, and although I was certain he had NO chance, it really was a lesson in the power of celebrity.
Mary...there's real wisdom in that...and I sit with the tension of it often; knowing when silence is respect...and when it's just letting the RECORD GET BURIED.
Where I land: PRIVATE grief earns silence; a public record earns TRUTH...whatever that might be. Holding that line is the self-respect part.
Thank you for the kind words...and for thinking it through alongside me!
I’m not just thinking it along side you, Jack, I’m feeling it. I wish the public personalities (Schiff, Shumer, Warren, etc) would have just said nothing or if asked, simply acknowledged their awareness of the unexpected death of an elected Congress person. To sing his praises and this may be small-minded in my part, is a bad reflection on the one saying/writing it.
A problem I have with the Senate. It’s a country club where members cannot be critical of each other. The Senate has done irreparable harm to the American people. Look at the cabinet approvals, the Supreme Court approvals. Their advice and consent has become only consent to glorify each other. But I’ll make an exception for Bernie.
Pamela...the country club framing is sharp...and you put your finger on the mechanism:
"advice and consent" was SUPPOSED to be a check...and it's decayed into mutual GLORIFICATION.
Rubber stamps...and reciprocal courtesies...while the HARM piles up. The collegiality is NOT the virtue they sell it as; too often...it's the very thing that greases the WORST confirmations through. As for your Bernie exception...plenty here would sign onto that one. Well said.
And among other votes that undermined the well being of Americans, let's not forget that he allowed ACA tax credits expire, yanking the ability to afford medical care from millions. How many people die because they cannot get treatment or wait before getting a timely diagnosis?
Evil people can have a sense of humor. It just puts them in the class of “The Joker”. It doesn’t erase the evil.
Reassuring to see this spelled out how Graham’s work led to many deaths of innocents. Let’s light the candles for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Alex Pretti, Renee Good and many others. When I shed tears for a stranger, it is for someone who lived a good life.
Laura...yes. Let's say their names...because that's the one thing power can't redact.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, driving his crew to work.
Alex Pretti...who spent his life saving others as a nurse.
Renee Good...a mother. Not statistics. Not "collateral."
People who got up that morning with plans.
That last line of yours stopped me: you shed tears for a stranger who lived a good life. That's it exactly. The REFUSAL to let a life become a line item...to insist a stranger MATTERED is its own quiet act of defiance in a moment built to make us numb.
Keep lighting the candles. I'll keep writing the names. Between us...we make sure they're not forgotten on schedule.
-Jack
This past weekend made me sick to my stomach. He was a disgusting disgrace. Michael Fatone said it best.
Deborah...that sick-to-your-stomach feeling was a LOT of us this weekend...and Fanone's NEVER been one to sand the edges off the truth...so I get why he resonated.
By the way, I had Michael as a podcast guest some months ago...and he and I clicked right away...for that same reason. He's the real deal.
Just as the case, with me...he's not everyone's cup of tea, but you'll NEVER have to wonder what his stance on something is.
-Jack
What is it about the act of dying - the universal ending of us all - that should command respect if the life preceding it did not earn or deserve it?
Gretchen...sharpest question I've gotten all week.
Here's my answer: the "speak no ill of the dead" instinct exists...to protect something real...the private grief of the people left behind. A widow, a sister, a child. Honor that.
BUT...somewhere...we stretched it into a demand that death erase the RECORD...and that's the sleight of hand. Dying is the one thing every human does equally; it can't be what earns respect...or respect would mean NOTHING.
What we respect is a LIFE...the choices, the harm, the good...and those do NOT reset at the last breath. So: compassion for the grieving...sometimes...and...HONESTY about the DEEDS.
That's my take.
-Jack
100% fact. I wondered the same thing.
Exactly
“The evil that men do lives after them”
Jack, the posted photo sez it all...AIPAC...the Israeli screworm infecting America...
ABSOLUTELY, James Aldridge...
I will restack this article WITH your comment!
James...while it wasn't intentional...at least not for the "AIPAC" banner on the podium...as it turns out...it was the EXACT photo I should have used, as it DID say a whole LOT.
-Jack
Hear hear.
They just killed another one in Maine as I was reading this at 3:11pm set. He was left to die in the middle of the street after his car lost control from what I could understand. They "ICE" are lying about the circumstances as usual and there are videos as receipts that they are lying because of course people had been videoing the whole thing. It was very upsetting when he was left lying in the road. I am right there with you Jack which is why when drumpf came along I switched to independent voter status.
#HOLDFAST
Teri
Teri...I hear how shaken you are...and that's a completely human response to watching something like that unfold in real time.
The Maine killing is real...a person is dead, ICE WAS involved...and it's the second in a week. Those facts are confirmed.
My personal opinion? He was murdered. But...because I hold this newsletter tighter to the facts than my social posts...that hasn't been determined in any LEGAL sense...and I have to say so...to keep the two separate.
There. Said it.
That said, rest assured: the PATTERN is UNDENIABLE...an agency run amok...without responsible oversight...and almost certainly some agents eager for another notch in the weapon. I've seen more than enough to point there!
-Jack
From wha tI read he was shot while driving his car and of course lost control according to a witness and the car was going in a circle in the intersection and then the witness stated other ICE arrived and one ran into the vehicle to stop it from moving and they drug the guy out of the car and left him there. The witness was horrified when she saw him stop moving his legs and go still...The moment he died. It sounded like they shot him several times ... like Rene...It is heartbreaking to read and see what is happening. This guy was even given a social security number. Wrong person once again
Teri...I think a lot of it is the ATTITUDE of the man in the White House. They feel like they have his permission...and...from what we are seeing, I feel certain...they DO.
-Jack
His death is full of contradictions. I heard him speak in 2015 in a run-up to our First in the Nation Primary here in NH. I was prepared to not consider him at all as a candidate, but as he spoke, I thought, "Wow, this guy has given this a lot of thought." He identified key issues that Rs and Ds could solve if they could agree on some basic tenets, and he listed the issues one by one identifying what each party wanted and what they would be willing to compromise on. It was a thoughtful, comprehensive approach. Then he played golf. What he became bore no resemblance to the man who was on that stage in 2015.
Roberta...that's a remarkable thing to have witnessed...and it complicates the easy story...which the true ones usually do.
That you witnessed such behavior...is exactly what makes what came after so hard to swallow. It's one thing to watch a fool fall short; it's another to watch a man...who clearly had the CAPACITY for principled work...trade it away when the wind shifted.
"Then he played golf"...that's a hell of a line...because it names the pivot exactly. Remembering who he could've BEEN...doesn't excuse who he BECAME.
It indicts it harder. He KNEW better.
-Jack
Absolutely, that is what makes it all the worse, HE KNEW BETTER. I will never forget the event where I heard him speak. It was hosted by No Labels, and they had invited all (or most of) the 2016 hopefuls to speak either by video or in person, both sides of the aisle. It was very interesting to hear directly from each of them, and then all of a sudden, the press and the audience started to murmur and move around a bit. I wondered what was going on, and then I saw, Trump had arrived. It was like he sucked all the oxygen right out of the arena, and literally the press contingent raced to the lobby where he was. Then he made a point of walking around the perimeter of the arena so everyone could see him. There was a large group of college students seated near where I was, and they all whipped out their phones and took photos and videos of him as he walked by. Of course, living in NH, we see lots of candidates up close. Never have I seen a commotion like that. It was unsettling, and although I was certain he had NO chance, it really was a lesson in the power of celebrity.
Keep speaking up, Jack, and pointing out the discrepancies in actually who deserves to be mourned.
Patty...I will...as long as there are names being erased and records being buried...I'll keep pointing.
And...you keep doing the same: mourning the ones who actually EARNED it. That's not cynicism...it's CLARITY.
Grateful you're in this with me!
-Jack
Respect is maintaining silence when there is little or nothing nice to say. It includes self-respect.
GREAT POST, Jack, thank you.
Mary...there's real wisdom in that...and I sit with the tension of it often; knowing when silence is respect...and when it's just letting the RECORD GET BURIED.
Where I land: PRIVATE grief earns silence; a public record earns TRUTH...whatever that might be. Holding that line is the self-respect part.
Thank you for the kind words...and for thinking it through alongside me!
-Jack
I’m not just thinking it along side you, Jack, I’m feeling it. I wish the public personalities (Schiff, Shumer, Warren, etc) would have just said nothing or if asked, simply acknowledged their awareness of the unexpected death of an elected Congress person. To sing his praises and this may be small-minded in my part, is a bad reflection on the one saying/writing it.
A problem I have with the Senate. It’s a country club where members cannot be critical of each other. The Senate has done irreparable harm to the American people. Look at the cabinet approvals, the Supreme Court approvals. Their advice and consent has become only consent to glorify each other. But I’ll make an exception for Bernie.
Pamela...the country club framing is sharp...and you put your finger on the mechanism:
"advice and consent" was SUPPOSED to be a check...and it's decayed into mutual GLORIFICATION.
Rubber stamps...and reciprocal courtesies...while the HARM piles up. The collegiality is NOT the virtue they sell it as; too often...it's the very thing that greases the WORST confirmations through. As for your Bernie exception...plenty here would sign onto that one. Well said.
-Jack
And among other votes that undermined the well being of Americans, let's not forget that he allowed ACA tax credits expire, yanking the ability to afford medical care from millions. How many people die because they cannot get treatment or wait before getting a timely diagnosis?
You said it!