July 11, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

Yesterday, Raw Story reported that Ivan Raiklin, Trump’s self-declared “Secretary of Retribution” has compiled a “Deep State target list” of 350 people he wants to see arrested and punished for “treason” if Trump is reelected. The list includes Democratic and Republican elected officials, journalists he considers to be Trump’s enemies, U.S. Capitol Police officers, and witnesses against Trump in his impeachment trials and the hearings concerning the events of January 6, 2021.

Will the hubris of Joe Biden and Ruth Bader Ginsburg combine to become the downfall of Democracy?

From yesterday’s walk…

Closeup of tropical plant leaf.

Closeup of tropical plant leaf.

Morning sky with pebble fair weather clouds.

Since we live in a society that promotes fads and temporary superficial adaptation of different values, we are easily convinced that changes have occurred in arenas where there has been little or no change. (bell hooks, Feminist Theory)

However, emotion is a critical part of our capacity to comprehend the world at all, the ability to understand and interact with other living beings. Without it we are foolish, however much we may know, and we are only alive in a diminished sense of the word. (Iain McGilchrist, The Matter With Things)

From this morning’s walk…

Plastic toy prize balls in the window of a vending machine.

Water stain patch in lower left corner of frame with rivulet running to the top right center of the frame and terminating at a cross shaped intersection of joints in the concrete pavement.

Early morning sky with ethereal, wispy clouds running horizontally across the frame from middle to the bottom of the frame.

One shiny metallic silver fake nail lying in the expansion joint of a concrete sidewalk. Expansion joint runs horizontally across the frame at the middle. The nail is a little left of center.

Abstract composition of wall, floor and outlet cover plate. Wall and floor intersection makes a diagonal line from upper right to lower left. The cover plate is just above the end of the diagonal intersection line bottom left of frame.

… last year i planted cardoon… it did not flower… it did overwinter and this year is throwing up these six foot tall blossoms… cardoon leaves are edible and taste a bit like artichoke… i am curious to see what happens when blossoms are done…

Two cardoon blossoms, one of them opening with vibrant purple brush head.

From the weekend…

Detail of a storefront window with wooden panel detail on the left, vertical blinds seen through the window, one of the vertical blind slats has fallen down and cuts diagonally across the remaining slats from lower right to the center of the frame.

Sidewalk and street crossing markings making an interesting composition with the sidewalk curb arcing from upper left corner to middle bottom of frame, white crossing stripes running from upper right corner to middle of frame.

Empty shop window with black and white diamond pattern floor inside and reflection of street seen and photographer overlaid.

Clothing boutique shop window with furnishings and clothing displayed.

Vintage store window with pink dress on a mannequin to the left and table and shelves with green uranium glassware displayed.

From the weekend…

Grassy landscape with wooden deck and the backside of a billboard. Hudson River in the distance.

Hudson Rive with silhouette of shore line and wooden piers in the lower right corner and bridge in the distance. Early morning.

Tree and utility pole on the shore of the Hudson River.

Hudson River and distant shore line, trees and grassy area to the left, framed by the roof, deck and wall of a structure.

Early morning landscape with trees on the left, grass in the foreground, cinder path moving from the lower right to the left center of the frame. Mist and trees in the distance.

From July 03…

Empty “Jack Links: Beef Tender Bites” package on the edge of a public trash bin.

Brown paper napkin on the grass, folded and wrinkled in an interesting way.

Pacifier and beaded chain on concrete in the early morning sun.

Empty clear plastic pill packaging lying on concrete. A crack in the concrete passing under the packaging.

… aligns with The Matter With Things by McGilchrist…

thinking has, of course, changed a great deal relative to the ancient one, the two have had one key feature in common: i.e. they are both generally ‘blinkered’ by the notion that theories give true knowledge about ‘reality as it is’. (David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order)

… i’ve no direct experience with this, but if mothering and nurturing are the same thing, then we can all be mothers…

Even feminist theorists who have emphasized the need for men to share equally in child-rearing are reluctant to cease attaching special value to mothering. (bell hooks, Feminist Theory)

… yup…

For the skilful propagandist knows that while you must start with a plausible analysis, you must not keep on analyzing, because the tedium of real political accomplishment will soon destroy interest. So the propagandist exhausts the interest in reality by a tolerably plausible beginning, and then stokes up energy for a long voyage by brandishing a passport to heaven. (Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion)

… yes!…

In her notes, she coins new words: ‘womanman’ and ‘manwoman’ and observes: ‘Many who fight in this drama are dressed in the wrong clothing. Many female costumes conceal a man. Many male costumes conceal the woman.’ (Jennifer Higgie, The Other Side)

… i need to read more poetry…

This is why poetry (which arose historically before prose) is so vital to an understanding of the world. Its new conjunctions, its metaphors, its tone, its musical aspects, are all – like music, for most of us – appreciated by the right hemisphere. (Iain McGilchrist, The Matter With Things)

Why does the attractive woman anchor smile pleasantly all the way through a segment on the implications of the SCOTUS immunity decision. Seems like a grave situation to me. Smiling charmingly makes it seem like fluff… it isn’t. It’s deadly serious.

I have been an author in two iterations of this program. This time I am the featured artist. Very excited.

A poster for “Twice Told” listing the artists involved.

If women who work against militarism continue to imply, however directly or indirectly, that there is an inherent predisposition in women to oppose war, they risk reinforcing the very biological determinism that is the philosophical foundation of notions of male supremacy. They also run the risk of covering up the reality that masses of women in the United States are not anti-imperialist, are not against militarism, and do not oppose the use of violence as a form of social control. Until these women change their values, they must be seen as clinging, like their male counterparts, to a perspective on human relationships that embraces social domination in all its various forms, and they must be held accountable for their actions. (bell hooks, Feminist Theory)

… that family member’s response to me…

It seems the best we can do for now is agree to disagree. The one thing we likely can agree on is that we want this country to be strong and the best that it can possibly be for our citizens. For what it’s worth, I’m less interested in the party in office, more in upholding the constitution and honesty in our leadership. We have to do better.

… a response to a family member’s pro Trump comment on my FB page…

Much as I would like to have a conversation with you about our choices, I don’t know how we do it in a way that will be meaningful and satisfying to us both. You are terrified by the thought of Biden being elected. I am terrified of a Trump presidency. I don’t love the choices we have but I am very clear that Trump should never be allowed back in the Oval office. It sounds like you feel the opposite. So we are at an impasse unless we find another angle to approach it from and I don’t know what that is.

Word Are Deeds: Rebecca Solnit the Power of Speech to Shape the Future ‹ Literary Hub

When the soul wants to experience something she throws out an image in front of her and steps into it. –Meister Eckhart

We make something more likely, more widely believed, by saying and repeating it. Our rhetoric encourages or discourages. Which is why sports teams chant a version of “I believe we will win.” A whole sector of the progressive/left/whatever, however, seems to be eternally chanting “I believe we will lose.” This is not something sports teams do, incidentally. —Rebecca Solnit

… i have begun to spend more time with the women i know… we get coffee, go for walks, chat about each other’s past, present and hopes for the future… i feel that my feminine shift has admitted me to the space of feminine friendships… i’ve rarely had friends like this before… men or women…

Joe Biden or Kamala Harris: Which Risk Is the Better Risk? – Mother Jones

A sober assessment of a bad situation. I agree with everything David Corn says in this opinion piece.

Whatever happens, there is no perfect or even close-to-perfect avenue for the Democrats. It ends up being a question of which risk you want to live with: Biden further showing decline; Harris poorly campaigning; or the convention becoming a circus that spits out a not-well-known candidate with his or her own faults.

You know the break your heart commercials for the ASPCA? I think we need similar commercials featuring Lady Liberty.

Rehearsing a litany of whats wrong with Biden and the Dems encourages those around you to stay home or vote third party. I don’t know who the right candidate is, but, If you care about democracy, drop the negativity and tell as many people as you can that voting democratic is the only option.