Hi Cat, I wrote a lengthy post on my iPhone this morning, but it disappeared before it posted. Will try again later today. It's about what I'm doing by way of helping to educate folks about our situation in the US.
This came into my email this morning and I thought it pithy and worth a share:
(*This reflection refers to violence. Please take note and be gentle with your heart.)
I have a terrible, miserable cold. It struck a day before some kind of chemical rained down on children and other innocent beings in Syria. At first, I thought God wasn’t coming by because of my germs. Who can blame him? This is one bad virus. But then suddenly I saw him on the news, dark hair matted, eyes glazed, legs peppered with red eruptions of flesh, curled around the pain of human depravity. A film crew had caught his image, there among the least of them, burned and screaming. I touched the TV screen, sending God what I could send, which felt like nothing. “God,” I said to the image. “God, I see you. I see you.” But then I turned away. I went to bed disoriented, waiting, my soul as congested as my lungs. I couldn’t let myself cry. I was too sick.
The next day, I glimpsed God in Egypt, standing among corpses and mutilated bodies, directing emergency workers to the injured. I didn’t turn away this time. Mesmerized, I watched the dead moving toward burial, the keening of those bereaved washing over me as I stood inert, depleted. What an effed up, dreadful world. And what am I to make of God, always down in the thick of it? Hungry, imprisoned, bereft, tortured, excluded, persecuted, hated, ugly, alone.
I used to think I knew how to join, how to be of use. I used to have firm white bones and clear ideas. I used to be young and impudent. Now I listen more. My steps are slower. Now I raise my eyes to the hills, watch the sand hill cranes float by, and wait. I’m a bruised reed, a smolder candle. Waiting. Grateful for the grasses and willows whispering sweet nothings in the wind.
About the Author
Rita Sommers-Flanagan is a guest writer at Spiritual Wanderlust. She lives somewhere between acceptance and agency on a busy farm by a beautiful river just outside a host of questionable realities. She is an avid repurposer, rock collector, and scavenger. People she trusts have proclaimed her to be a fantastic psychologist, professor, and mentor. Her writing has been called honest, wrenching, hilarious, whacky, and troubling. She’s quite pleased with those descriptors. Her first book, Godblogs: The Vernacular of Grace written in The Mother Tongue can be found here. Her second book is forthcoming.
From the local news: Rob Hirschfield, the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, has asked his clergy “to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.”
There are people who take their Christianity this seriously, and we're going to every single one of them, and also millions more, and that includes you and me.
If you are on the side of this administration, and of ICE, then god help you. But if you're against them, we need you. Speak. Give. Boycott. Find an organizer and follow them. Find a way to help.
If you voted for this, and now realize you're against this, you have a particular obligation to help. Give. Boycott. Find an organizer and follow them. Find a way to help.
You can follow and subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson, Rebecca Solnit, Timothy Snyder, and (from there) writers they mention.
I'll put a link in the comments to an article in the Nation magazine, which outlines how to pressure corporations and peel their support away from authoritarian regimes. You can subscribe, too.
If you feel lost and hopeless, so does everyone. We are lost but we are not helpless. We have to fight. We have to win this fight.
A very good human in Denmark railed against DT’s plan to take Greenland, saying:
Maybe it’s time to put things into perspective.
The U.S. already has access to Greenland. American forces can operate freely, militarily and strategically, as part of a cooperation that has existed for decades between Greenland, Denmark, and the United States. This is nothing new. It’s not something we have denied. Quite the opposite.
Cooperation in the Arctic has been built on trust, shared security, and common interests. And Denmark has always acknowledged the enormous historical role the U.S. has played in creating peace, stability, and prosperity in the Western world after World War II. That deserves respect and gratitude.
That’s why it also hurts when the debate is reduced to ownership and power politics, as if Greenland were simply something you plant a flag on to get an extra feather in your cap.
And most importantly: Greenlanders are not a commodity. They are not a people you can buy or sell.
We are allies. We are partners. Not enemies!!! And we are not for sale, no matter how much helicopter money is on the table.
My response initially was:
We are working on it. Our laws and Constitution are being ignored and our other branches of government have been failing in their job of check and balance. We the People stand with the Rule of Law and the honouring of treaties! Good people are trying hard to push against the insanity. Remember…rats always sow the seeds of their own destruction.
Then someone else in Denmark said it was 146 million of us that elected DT.
My response:
Not 146 million. Trump 77,303,568 Harris 75,019,230 And in his first term, H R Clinton had more votes than he did, but he still won. That’s because the popular vote doesn’t decide the election. Instead we have the archaic Electoral College, so it’s largely winner-take-all, state by state.
In 2016 he was elected despite losing the popular vote. In 2024 he was elected and we wonder if he truly won Pennsylvania. He nearly admitted fraud there in this clip: He said on camera: "Elon Musk knows those vote counting computers." Here's a link with the clip of him saying it: YouTube link
Another person from Denmark added: People of United States: please, draw conclusions and change the election rules. Do everything you can to prevent a situation like this from happening again.
My response:
Ending the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, and so far, no constitutional amendment to end the Electoral College has been ratified; because proposals have stalled in Congress. But 17 states plus DC have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, requiring 270 electoral votes for activation, with 209 currently pledged. While this compact is active in law in several states, it doesn't eliminate the Electoral College but rather ensures the presidency goes to the popular vote winner once the compact reaches the 270-vote threshold.
How it Works: Once states with 270 electoral votes join, the compact takes effect, effectively guaranteeing the popular vote winner becomes President.
As of early 2026: 18 jurisdictions have enacted the NPVIC, with 209 electoral votes: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA, and DC.
The NPVIC has passed in legislative chambers but is not yet law in AR, AZ, MI, NC, NV, OK, and VA.
We’ve been working on this for awhile, actually. States with Enacted Laws (listed by year of enactment/joining): 2007: Maryland, New Jersey 2008: Hawaii, Illinois, Washington 2010: District of Columbia, Massachusetts 2011: California, Vermont 2013: Rhode Island 2014: New York 2018: Connecticut 2019: Colorado, Delaware, New Mexico, Oregon 2023: Minnesota 2024: Maine
Someone in Denmark asked us to hurry up and impeach DT.
My response:
Ah, how I wish it were that simple. Impeachment begins in the House of Representatives, and currently we have a Republican majority and House Speaker who are his enablers. So, first we will need to vote in a majority of non-Republicans (Democrats, Progressives and Independents), and the elections aren't until November. Even if the House were to impeach him (as happened in his first term), the Senate would have to concur (they didn't before). So we also need to have more Senators who are not Republicans for that to be possible. November feels a very long way away and there is concern that the President and his enablers will find some way to keep the election from happening or to interfere with it being done fairly (by gerrymandering, intimidation, making it harder to vote, and maybe even messing with the election machines).
So we are protesting, calling our Representatives and Senators to remind them that they are supposed to serve We the People. We are writing letters and postcards to fellow Americans, and letters to the editors of newspapers. And some are running for office locally and making sure that those in charge of elections are trustworthy. We are boycotting companies that enable this Administration and supporting good people everywhere we find them. There are funds being raised to help most of these efforts, too. We are also open to more ideas, so please post if you have an idea for something that might help. We need the creative minds of the world for this.
We definitely do not want what is happening, and care deeply about our allies!! We do not want to invade or interfere and think it's lunacy to be bothering other nations with all these cruel threats! I am fortunate to live in wonderful little Vermont, with Bernie Sanders as my Senator, and another great Senator and solid Representative who are doing all they can. So, I keep trying to encourage the good.
One thing I can offer as hope is that of the 611 lawsuits against the President last year, 76% were ruled against him! The courts and judges are doing their job, generally, despite immense pressure and death threats. Unfortunately, he has lost only 12% of cases before the Supreme Court. So we are being stymied by the Legislative Branch (Congress) and the Judicial Branch (Supreme Court), the two branches of government that were designed to be a check and balance on the Executive Branch (the Presidency)!
We are counting on our wonderful allies to stand strong together against this menace. We do not fault you for planning to fight against this horrid fascism. We are relying on NATO and all our alliances to stand with us against the horrors that are harming so many. Thank you so much for being good, decent humans. You are our light.
So, basically, what I've been trying to do is offer information so our allies can begin to understand why we haven't been able to fix this already. I've received lots of likes, some thanks, and some encouragement.
Hi everybody.
ReplyDeleteHi Cat, I wrote a lengthy post on my iPhone this morning, but it disappeared before it posted. Will try again later today. It's about what I'm doing by way of helping to educate folks about our situation in the US.
DeleteThis came into my email this morning and I thought it pithy and worth a share:
ReplyDelete(*This reflection refers to violence. Please take note and be gentle with your heart.)
I have a terrible, miserable cold. It struck a day before some kind of chemical rained down on children and other innocent beings in Syria. At first, I thought God wasn’t coming by because of my germs. Who can blame him? This is one bad virus. But then suddenly I saw him on the news, dark hair matted, eyes glazed, legs peppered with red eruptions of flesh, curled around the pain of human depravity. A film crew had caught his image, there among the least of them, burned and screaming. I touched the TV screen, sending God what I could send, which felt like nothing. “God,” I said to the image. “God, I see you. I see you.” But then I turned away. I went to bed disoriented, waiting, my soul as congested as my lungs. I couldn’t let myself cry. I was too sick.
The next day, I glimpsed God in Egypt, standing among corpses and mutilated bodies, directing emergency workers to the injured. I didn’t turn away this time. Mesmerized, I watched the dead moving toward burial, the keening of those bereaved washing over me as I stood inert, depleted. What an effed up, dreadful world. And what am I to make of God, always down in the thick of it? Hungry, imprisoned, bereft, tortured, excluded, persecuted, hated, ugly, alone.
I used to think I knew how to join, how to be of use. I used to have firm white bones and clear ideas. I used to be young and impudent. Now I listen more. My steps are slower. Now I raise my eyes to the hills, watch the sand hill cranes float by, and wait. I’m a bruised reed, a smolder candle. Waiting. Grateful for the grasses and willows whispering sweet nothings in the wind.
About the Author
Rita Sommers-Flanagan is a guest writer at Spiritual Wanderlust. She lives somewhere between acceptance and agency on a busy farm by a beautiful river just outside a host of questionable realities. She is an avid repurposer, rock collector, and scavenger. People she trusts have proclaimed her to be a fantastic psychologist, professor, and mentor. Her writing has been called honest, wrenching, hilarious, whacky, and troubling. She’s quite pleased with those descriptors. Her first book, Godblogs: The Vernacular of Grace written in The Mother Tongue can be found here. Her second book is forthcoming.
Thanks for sharing that, Listener.
DeleteArticles of impeachment have been introduced against Kristi Noam.
ReplyDeleteAbout time too!
DeleteMy Rep., Becca Balint, signed on. 👍
Full list of sponsors
🚨 Jasmine Crockett and a Group of Democrats Just Joined Republicans to do One of the Ugliest Things Congress Has Ever Done to Palestinians. It's Unforgivable. - Click
ReplyDeleteVermont's Representative, Becca Balint, voted NAY.
DeleteTo check how your Congress folk voted click here
Video: What do you think of the bishop who told priests to get ready to stand against ICE? - Click
ReplyDeleteIt's real Christianity and true humanity!
DeleteI meant to post abouit this a few days ago!
From the local news:
Rob Hirschfield, the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, has asked his clergy “to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.”
There are people who take their Christianity this seriously, and we're going to every single one of them, and also millions more, and that includes you and me.
If you are on the side of this administration, and of ICE, then god help you. But if you're against them, we need you. Speak. Give. Boycott. Find an organizer and follow them. Find a way to help.
If you voted for this, and now realize you're against this, you have a particular obligation to help. Give. Boycott. Find an organizer and follow them. Find a way to help.
You can follow and subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson, Rebecca Solnit, Timothy Snyder, and (from there) writers they mention.
I'll put a link in the comments to an article in the Nation magazine, which outlines how to pressure corporations and peel their support away from authoritarian regimes. You can subscribe, too.
If you feel lost and hopeless, so does everyone. We are lost but we are not helpless. We have to fight. We have to win this fight.
Wait, that wasn't from the local news. It was from Peter Mulvey.
DeleteAnd here's the link he posted in Comments:
The Nation: Want to Stop ICE?
A very good human in Denmark railed against DT’s plan to take Greenland, saying:
ReplyDeleteMaybe it’s time to put things into perspective.
The U.S. already has access to Greenland. American forces can operate freely, militarily and strategically, as part of a cooperation that has existed for decades between Greenland, Denmark, and the United States. This is nothing new. It’s not something we have denied. Quite the opposite.
Cooperation in the Arctic has been built on trust, shared security, and common interests. And Denmark has always acknowledged the enormous historical role the U.S. has played in creating peace, stability, and prosperity in the Western world after World War II. That deserves respect and gratitude.
That’s why it also hurts when the debate is reduced to ownership and power politics, as if Greenland were simply something you plant a flag on to get an extra feather in your cap.
And most importantly: Greenlanders are not a commodity. They are not a people you can buy or sell.
We are allies. We are partners. Not enemies!!! And we are not for sale, no matter how much helicopter money is on the table.
My response initially was:
We are working on it. Our laws and Constitution are being ignored and our other branches of government have been failing in their job of check and balance. We the People stand with the Rule of Law and the honouring of treaties! Good people are trying hard to push against the insanity. Remember…rats always sow the seeds of their own destruction.
Then someone else in Denmark said it was 146 million of us that elected DT.
My response:
Not 146 million.
Trump 77,303,568
Harris 75,019,230
And in his first term, H R Clinton had more votes than he did, but he still won.
That’s because the popular vote doesn’t decide the election. Instead we have the archaic Electoral College, so it’s largely winner-take-all, state by state.
In 2016 he was elected despite losing the popular vote.
In 2024 he was elected and we wonder if he truly won Pennsylvania. He nearly admitted fraud there in this clip:
He said on camera:
"Elon Musk knows those vote counting computers."
Here's a link with the clip of him saying it:
YouTube link
Another person from Denmark added:
ReplyDeletePeople of United States: please, draw conclusions and change the election rules. Do everything you can to prevent a situation like this from happening again.
My response:
Ending the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, and so far, no constitutional amendment to end the Electoral College has been ratified; because proposals have stalled in Congress. But 17 states plus DC have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, requiring 270 electoral votes for activation, with 209 currently pledged.
While this compact is active in law in several states, it doesn't eliminate the Electoral College but rather ensures the presidency goes to the popular vote winner once the compact reaches the 270-vote threshold.
How it Works: Once states with 270 electoral votes join, the compact takes effect, effectively guaranteeing the popular vote winner becomes President.
As of early 2026:
18 jurisdictions have enacted the NPVIC, with 209 electoral votes: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA, and DC.
The NPVIC has passed in legislative chambers but is not yet law in AR, AZ, MI, NC, NV, OK, and VA.
We’ve been working on this for awhile, actually.
States with Enacted Laws (listed by year of enactment/joining):
2007: Maryland, New Jersey
2008: Hawaii, Illinois, Washington
2010: District of Columbia, Massachusetts
2011: California, Vermont
2013: Rhode Island
2014: New York
2018: Connecticut
2019: Colorado, Delaware, New Mexico, Oregon
2023: Minnesota
2024: Maine
Someone in Denmark asked us to hurry up and impeach DT.
ReplyDeleteMy response:
Ah, how I wish it were that simple. Impeachment begins in the House of Representatives, and currently we have a Republican majority and House Speaker who are his enablers. So, first we will need to vote in a majority of non-Republicans (Democrats, Progressives and Independents), and the elections aren't until November. Even if the House were to impeach him (as happened in his first term), the Senate would have to concur (they didn't before). So we also need to have more Senators who are not Republicans for that to be possible.
November feels a very long way away and there is concern that the President and his enablers will find some way to keep the election from happening or to interfere with it being done fairly (by gerrymandering, intimidation, making it harder to vote, and maybe even messing with the election machines).
So we are protesting, calling our Representatives and Senators to remind them that they are supposed to serve We the People. We are writing letters and postcards to fellow Americans, and letters to the editors of newspapers. And some are running for office locally and making sure that those in charge of elections are trustworthy. We are boycotting companies that enable this Administration and supporting good people everywhere we find them. There are funds being raised to help most of these efforts, too.
We are also open to more ideas, so please post if you have an idea for something that might help. We need the creative minds of the world for this.
We definitely do not want what is happening, and care deeply about our allies!! We do not want to invade or interfere and think it's lunacy to be bothering other nations with all these cruel threats! I am fortunate to live in wonderful little Vermont, with Bernie Sanders as my Senator, and another great Senator and solid Representative who are doing all they can. So, I keep trying to encourage the good.
One thing I can offer as hope is that of the 611 lawsuits against the President last year, 76% were ruled against him! The courts and judges are doing their job, generally, despite immense pressure and death threats. Unfortunately, he has lost only 12% of cases before the Supreme Court. So we are being stymied by the Legislative Branch (Congress) and the Judicial Branch (Supreme Court), the two branches of government that were designed to be a check and balance on the Executive Branch (the Presidency)!
We are counting on our wonderful allies to stand strong together against this menace. We do not fault you for planning to fight against this horrid fascism. We are relying on NATO and all our alliances to stand with us against the horrors that are harming so many.
Thank you so much for being good, decent humans. You are our light.
So, basically, what I've been trying to do is offer information so our allies can begin to understand why we haven't been able to fix this already. I've received lots of likes, some thanks, and some encouragement.
DeleteLet's end the day on a sweet note...
ReplyDeleteFour generations keep Jericho chocolate business sweet after 40 years