“I No Longer Recognize My Country…”

abuse of power, civil rights, current events, democracy, hope, Supreme Court, Ukraine 6 Minutes

I have increasingly come across the sad expression: “I no longer recognize my country.”

I not only understand that expression; I also share it. We are being buffeted by a series of events that are searing to live through. We used to be so proud to be Americans. How did things go so terribly wrong?

Then “I no longer recognize my country” evokes other thoughts. For one, I think of the incredible Ukrainians, who have been fighting an existential battle for their very existence since February and have lived with active war in parts of their country for years–and threats for most of their national life. They’ve also long fought valiantly against internal corruption.

They put their bodies on the line every day—fighting to keep their hard-won democracy and their autonomy against mammoth odds.

Structurally, they can no longer recognize their country because their country as they remember it no longer exists. But I heard an interview with a young editor for the Kyiv Independent, who speaks of Ukraine’s revitalization once they win the war. Defeat is not an option. Her views are widespread and fuel their extraordinary war effort.

“I no longer recognize my country.” I think of Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, two Black women election workers in Georgia who were vilified by Trumpian thugs. Giuliani et al wove these women’s patriotic efforts to do their civic work into a Big Lie conspiracy theory that has endangered their safety and upended their lives.

And still they had the courage to come before the January 6th Committee to testify about the wrongs they suffered. They have also turned to the courts to sue their attackers for defamation—and they are winning.

I am old enough to have experienced exhilaration when the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed. Finally, we were seeing progress. I remember the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, when a youthful John Lewis was mercilessly beaten, prompting the passage of that confirmative democratic legislation.

Several years ago, I came close to meeting John Lewis, a personal hero, and heard him speak about his journey, which involved the “good trouble” he was drawn to despite his parents’ concerns. The post I wrote after his death in 2020 about being “In the Presence of John Lewis” included tributes from former President Obama. They had last spoken shortly after the massive demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd.

Obama said:

“I told him that all those young people — of every race, from every background and gender and sexual orientation — they were his children. They had learned from his example, even if they didn’t know it. They had understood through him what American citizenship requires, even if they had heard of his courage only through history books.

“Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way. John Lewis did. And thanks to him, we now all have our marching orders — to keep believing in the possibility of remaking this country we love until it lives up to its full promise.”

Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss did their election work because they felt reverence for their right to vote. They knew all the blood that’s been shed to get them that basic American right.

And they know, more viscerally than I ever can, how awful it is that the highest court in the land, legislators in many states, and an entire political party are trying to deny them that right once again.

So when I’m tempted to think “I no longer recognize my country,” I realize that that country has really never existed for far too many Americans. “American exceptionalism” has always been built on a wonderful, thrilling ideal. It was the ideal we thought we had when Barack Obama became President: a multiracial, multiethnic democracy “with liberty and justice for all.”

The thirty percent of our population who are perpetuating the Big Lie has been a constant part of Americana. It was startling to watch participants in what became the January 6 mob, so convinced that their votes had been stolen, screaming that they were being deprived of their rights.

The radical Supreme Court majority who are, in fact, in the process of dismantling our rights have sorry precedents. Notably, there was Plessy v. Ferguson, the notorious “separate but equal” ruling in 1898. It was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, beginning—at long last—our reckoning with the evils of segregation.

And rulings upholding eugenics, the incarceration of Japanese Americans, child labor, and the like do not show our nation at its finest. The Supreme Court has too often been a validator of fear and special interests, rather than a beacon of justice.

I have been thinking a lot about our newest Justice: Ketanji Brown Jackson. This gifted jurist, renowned for her true judicial temperament and ability to forge consensus, will be joining a court whose majority have demonstrated not only the absence of those qualities, but also intellectual dishonesty and a disregard for precedent, the law, the Constitution, and the American people.

Nevertheless, I am willing to bet that Justice Jackson has never spent a second thinking “I no longer recognize my country.” I am looking to her to write dazzling dissents in the near future.

My point is not to diminish the dreadful concatenation of backsliding that we’re seeing these days. The fact that our imperfect democracy survived them all in the past does not guarantee we’ll survive them now.

I worry a great deal that the people who say “I no longer recognize my country” have given up on democracy. The irony is that we have just seen what the voices of outraged Americans can do: we actually made Mitch McConnell and fourteen other Republicans cross the NRA and vote for modest gun safety legislation. That is a huge validation of the power of our votes.

All around us are people who have not given up on democracy. The brilliant civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has said:

“I don’t know of anything in the history of Black people in this country in which I’ve read some account in which it ended with, ‘and then they gave up.’ That’s just not what we do. I know we work for the future of our children and our grandchildren and their children.”

The January 6th Committee hearings have, in shining a light on the darkest time we’ve experienced since the Civil War, made me feel that the country I no longer recognize is there, battered and bruised, ready to reassert its civility, its commitment to the rule of law, its promise.

We owe a huge debt to this Committee, including the two courageous Republicans who put country above party, to the staffers, and to the witnesses, many of whom are being threatened.

I think about Cassidy Hutchinson: this 26-year-old ardent Republican functionary worked to make the Trump administration look good. But when the president she served acted in a way that rightly “disgusted” her—actions she felt were “unpatriotic and un-American”—she provided testimony that may materially help bring down Donald Trump.

Cassidy Hutchinson found herself in a situation in which she no longer recognized her country. And in publicly telling that story, she is sacrificing her privacy and knowingly endangering her personal safety.

Her extraordinary bravery in testifying moved the image of the former President from one of a passive bystander to the Seditious Conspirator and Riot Inciter-in-Chief.

She may well have eased the path for Attorney General Merrick Garland. I have great empathy for Garland, who finds himself in an unprecedented situation.

It is perhaps instructive to remember that Garland was the one who prosecuted Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing—an act of white supremacy that was shocking at the time but serves to remind us that this violent white extremist element has been a permanent fixture of our nation.

Garland showed courage then, and I expect him to do so now. He has a veritable menu of potential crimes with which to charge Trump. I think there’s no longer a question of whether the former president will be charged—but on which charges, and when.

In view of all the above, I feel the need to focus less on the America I no longer recognize—and more on the America that so many brave people continue to try to push forward: the democracy of our ideals; the democracy that Ukrainians have emulated by looking to us, and now depend upon us to help them retain their own.

The surest way I know how to do that is through the ballot box: it’s such a threat to anti-Americans that they want to make it increasingly inaccessible to as many of us as they can.

I regularly write postcards to Democratic voters encouraging them to vote. On each handwritten card, I write: “Your vote equals your voice.” I like that direct phrase, which holds so much potential power.

The reactionary forces are in the minority. If only those who no longer recognize their country join those who continue, year after year, trying to build the country that has yet to fully recognize them, we can move that poor old tattered arc of justice in the right direction once again.

Please take a few moments to watch the video below to its conclusion. It’s a gift to us from the Ukrainian people.

Annie

Published by annieasksyou

I've been a nonfiction writer for many years, exploring diverse topics that pique my curiosity, as noted in my first blog posting (Greetings!). I'm seeking dialogue with others committed to joining me in this exploration, sharing my conviction that different views can be exchanged in a respectful, civil discourse where we can learn from one another and be agreeable, even when we disagree. These postings depend for their enrichment on your participation: your ideas, insights, knowledge, opinions, and personal stories.

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65 thoughts on ““I No Longer Recognize My Country…””

  1. At this point in our history, I’m beyond frustration when I see the many issues stated in Annie’s article. As I read and digested the words, the one thing that came to mind related to the belief that Barack Obama’s election was a watershed moment in our history. At that moment, I, too, believed it. Events have convinced me that I was very wrong.
    Donald Trump’s election and all that has followed is proof enough that so many of us were deluded. I believe that Obama’s election was more the result that millions of trump supporters never participated in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. In fact, I believe that this group rarely participated in most elections. Trump gave these people a voice that made them change their views about participating in the electoral process. Luckily, it also brought out millions of others in the 2020 election.
    The question now is will the latter group come out again in the 2022 congressional elections and in 2024 because I have no doubt that the MAGA crowd will be there for both.

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    1. A surprisingly large number of voters voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then voted for Trump in 2016. We need to get away from the idea that everybody is unalterably committed to one “camp” or the other, or votes according to rigid ideology. There are a lot of people for whom this is not true, and whose voting patterns are shaped by other factors.

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    2. I agree with your question, Steve, and that is my hope. Though I know you taught history, I’m puzzled by your conclusion about the vote for trump, which we know was more complicated. There were, for example, blue-collar Dems who voted for Obama—twice—and then trump. Care to elaborate?

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      1. There were, for example, blue-collar Dems who voted for Obama—twice—and then trump

        This is a good example. Voters shift between parties all the time, in both directions, for a variety of reasons — it is simply not true that every voter is locked immutably into one bloc and the only way to win elections is to boost turnout among one’s own bloc.

        The left has been steadily losing the blue-collar working class for years, and this has been happening in the UK and France as well as the US, so there’s clearly something fairly fundamental at work. Conversely, the wave of draconian anti-abortion laws triggered by the recent Supreme Court ruling seems to be driving some voters who were trending Republican back to the Democrats. I’m guessing many of these are suburban women, another group the Democrats have more recently been losing but may now be getting driven back by the Republicans’ extremism. How strong this trend is will probably determine the outcome of the elections this year.

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      2. Biden has also offered full-throated support for unions and has visited a number of work sites. Whether or not that pays off in votes, the difference from the Republicans’ faux-populist appeals is stark.

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      3. Biden has also offered full-throated support for unions and has visited a number of work sites

        If so (I hadn’t heard about this, but most of the media no longer emphasize such issues), it’s very significant. Things really started going to hell in this country when the corporations were allowed to destroy the unions. The most vigorous middle-class and egalitarian societies existing now are places like Germany where the unions are still very strong. If Biden can help revitalize them in the US, he’ll deserve a lot of credit.

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      4. It’s really distressing to learn that someone as attuned to events as you hasn’t heard anything of this sort. Politico, no fan of the President’s, carried this story:

        https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2022/05/11/biden-working-class-unions-00031759

        And here’s one from a union:

        https://bctgm.org/2022/03/09/president-biden-is-the-most-pro-union-president-in-american-history-delivering-for-bctgm-members/

        Here’s something from today:

        https://www.npr.org/2022/07/07/1110222259/in-ohio-biden-addressed-a-friendly-crowd-of-labor-leaders-and-union-workers

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  2. I too once imagined an idealized America. Experience, reading, and marrying a Sociologist broadened my perspective. I am still learning. Thanks for the suggestion about postcards, Annie; I may try that.

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  3. I realize that that country has really never existed for far too many Americans

    This is an important point to keep in mind. It is always tempting to overstate the depth of the problems of the period in which one happens to live, because we are experiencing them directly, while the much more serious problems of the past exist, for us, only in history books. Through the great majority of American history the overall situation was astronomically worse than it is now. We had slavery until 1865, and got rid of it only via a horrendous war that killed one out of every fifty Americans alive at the time. Massacres and forced relocations of Indians continued several decades after that. Lynchings and terrorization of black Americans, sometimes involving torture and murder as horrific as anything seen during the Dark Ages, continued well into the twentieth century. Women couldn’t vote until 1920 and didn’t get fully equal civil rights until several decades later. The right to abortion wasn’t nationally guaranteed until 1972. Just a few decades ago, same-sex marriage, or a black president, seemed unthinkable. Gay people could still be arrested and imprisoned in some states for consenting-adult sexual activity up through the early years of this century.

    What we’re seeing now is a roll-back of one or two elements of the immense progress we’ve made away from all those things. It is not “our country”, as such, that is doing this. It’s a roll-back engineered by a shrinking fundamentalist minority which has managed, by skilled exploitation of weaknesses and oddities of our political system, to thwart the will of the majority and seize control of certain strategic centers of power such as the Supreme Court. It’s a jerry-rigged, gimmicky strategy which can’t sustain itself in the long run. Post-Roe abortion bans, for example, will just generate an endless stream of horror stories which will mobilize voters against the party imposing them. It’s already starting to happen (see Congressional generic ballot polling).

    The country is not as polarized as we are constantly told it is. What we have is a pair of ultra-politicized fringe elements dedicated to a scorched-earth, dead-end demonization of “the other side” in each case. They make a lot of noise, but they don’t represent the majority of the people. Over time, one party or the other (or hopefully both) will repudiate the apocalyptic hysteria and start inching toward the sensible center. That’s where the votes are. I already see signs of it.

    There’s no denying that some bad things are happening. But I am nowhere near feeling that I don’t recognize the country any more. Almost every previous generation of Americans faced much worse problems under less favorable conditions for solving them, than we do now. They persevered and won out. So will the Americans of today.

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    1. I always strive for the long view, Infidel, and there is, of course, validity in what you write. Yet I do feel your reference to the “one or two elements” tends to minimize the seriousness of the present moment. Contemporary historians are raising alarum bells that are distinctly different from any I recall in my lifetime.

      I see working to energize Democrats and engaging previous non-voters at this juncture as our best hope of protecting our democracy.

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  4. You are a bad pessimist. quotes Annie
    …once they win the war. Defeat is not an option. Her views are widespread and fuel their extraordinary war
    effort.
    And still they had the courage to come before the January 6th Committee
    Her extraordinary bravery in testifying
    Garland showed courage then, and I expect him to do so now
    ‘and then they gave up.’ That’s just not what we do.
    Optimism is a light you can’t hide yours.
    How does an ordinary person find out who voted and more importantly who didn’t? Time to fish new waters

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    1. I plead guilty, Richard. I have adopted my self-assessment from the late Madeleine Albright: “I am an optimist who worries a lot.”

      I know of groups of young people working to enlist new voters in droves—and Michelle Obama’s coalition is doing the same. Such efforts give me hope.

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      1. The world is a dangerous place, so a level of caution/fear is not irrational. I lived with an agoraphobic for 30 years. I watched helplessly as her world would shrink until it comprised of her comfy chair until it would expand a little. She never set foot in the detached garage. Fear is quite debilitating and is often out of rational control. One cannot drown without first panicking.
        I have thought that this video actually encompasses the position the USA finds itself in this moment.

        For the first time this weekend and dozens of viewing I just noticed that there are four participants not three. The girls saw it coming knew it was bad and then did nothing but run away. There is a decreasing window for action and no more time to run. There is only one way to keep the vote and that is for everyone to use it for themselves. We don’t need everyone to shout “lion” but we won’t pull it off if we don’t motivate some in the peanut gallery.

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      2. Quite true, Richard: “There is only one way to keep the vote and that is for everyone to use it for themselves.”

        Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis wrote about how vulnerable our country becomes when we are fearful. She was speaking of guns, specifically. And then I got an email from Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action. They’re mobilizing to elect gun safety-minded legislators. We must fight back—at the ballot box!

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  5. I am one of those who often says, “I no longer recognize this country.” That doesn’t mean I’ve given up hope, but only that this nation has taken a wrong turn by my standards and we need to demand changes! Yes, we do that with our vote, but the U.S. seems to have the largest amount of voter apathy in the world. In 2020, we had historic voter turnout higher than at any time in the past century, yet it was still only 60%! Barely over half the eligible voters turn out in the average presidential election, and far fewer in mid-term years. Between that and the restrictive voting laws being pushed through by Republicans (who can only win if they can suppress the vote and lie, cheat, and steal) … the next two elections are going to require us to work harder than ever before to convince people that their very lives depend on their vote.

    This was a great post, Annie! I teared up at President Obama’s words about John Lewis, who is also one of my heroes. Thank you for your thoughtful words.

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    1. Thank you, Jill. All true, which is why we must fight harder than ever before. The young people’s vote is critical, and I know of many groups working to register voters and educate them about how to circumvent the changes in their state laws. I’m hoping that the SC’s excesses—mirrored by Republican officials—will be motivators.

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      1. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up the fight, but then I think of the fight for Civil Rights in the 1960s when I came of age … Dr. Martin Luther King didn’t quit, John Lewis and Malcolm X didn’t give up … and eventually, they turned things around. Yes, the same fight is being fought again today, along with so many others, but no, we CANNOT give up. Step back, recharge, lick our wounds, and then it’s back into the fray!

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  6. You didn’t mention two issues in the 2016 election, Joseph: the vote for Jill Stein, and James Comey’s inexcusable Oct. 28 letter to Congress about FBI investigation into Hillary’s emails—subsequently corrected, but, as Kellyanne Conway observed at the time (never thought I’d be quoting her!), “the damage is done.” I cite two articles in my previous post about the Supreme Court. FiveThirtyEight “credits” Comey for the loss.

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  7. This is a splendid post Annie. At one, a moving appeal to people not to give up and a cry from the heart at depths sections of the USA has sunk.
    People from minority groups might well now turn to those of the majority horrified at what is happening and say ‘Welcome to our world,’
    It may be so that the majority of people want to just live their lives in ordinary ways and let others do likewise. The problem is there are a minority who wish to impose their views, irrespective of the costs.
    Time and room for manoeuvre are running out. It is not too late though, but it needs a massive mobilisation of the Ordinary.

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      1. Sorry I didn’t add right away, Dennis; this has been on my mind. It must be hard enough to grapple with hate at all, but especially difficult to grapple with all the hatred that’s perpetrated by people claiming to be acting under “God’s will.”

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  9. Annie, I recently read a book called The Personal Librarian, about JP Morgan’s personal assistant who acquired most of the items for his famous library in the early 1900’s – she was a young black woman who passed as white but was always anxious about being discovered. In the book it was mentioned that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was overturned in 1883 by the Supreme Court and in doing so undermined much of the 13th and 14th amendments which banned slavery and guaranteed equal protection under the law respectively. I made note of this, as not being an American, I was not aware of this fact. So perhaps it has always been a history of one step forward, two steps back, as someone above alluded to. Still it is depressing that it took 70 years to correct that mistake!

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    1. Joni, I have been missing some of your posts due to tech problems: I can only reach them via Reader on my computer. I must look for that one—and the book.

      Yes; progress is never linear. We must keep pushing forward!

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      1. I haven’t blogged about that book yet, Annie, and probably won’t as it wasn’t a very good book although she was probably a fascinating woman. It was written in first person and by two different authors so didn’t quite read right. The part about the Supreme Court overturning the act caught my eye though as I was not aware of that precedent.

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      3. Annie, if you click on my icon picture above or my name on any of my comments it will take you to my home page, then hit blog on the menu and there’s a sidebar on the left with the latest entries. I did one recently on the Roaring Twenties Jun 30, and then two previously on Agatha Christie, June 9 and 16th. Fun, frivolous stuff as I am in need of distraction at the moment, in this world of tragedy, and we are getting out a bit. Tomorrow I will do a Garden Party which I attended in June. I usually post on Thursdays.

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      4. I read the second Christie one. I’ll check out the Roaring Twenties one soon. Tech issue complicated but boring. I need to reach you through Reader to be able to comment. Knowing about Thursdays helps. Thx!

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      6. I didn’t even notice, so I must be dyslexic too….or it’s late and I should go to bed. I’m thinking of switching my publishing day to Wednesdays, as Thursdays are too busy for me, and it’s always late by the time I get around to comments. I hope you get your tech problems solved.

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  10. Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
    “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” depending on your set of (or lack of) values, the colour of your skin, your religious beliefs (or non-beliefs), and your views of what a nation should be. Our friend Annie sums up our times with a clear-eyed view that is both realistic, but also gives us a bit of hope that perhaps we can overcome today’s chaos and come out a better country than before. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read her piece and give it some thought. And do the one thing we can ALL do — VOTE! Thank you, Annie!

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      1. This is one of the things that gives us a larger voice than we might otherwise have. We never know who reads and shares our work, thus amplifying our voice. The more people we can reach, the better chance we have of making a positive difference. You are most welcome, my dear friend.

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      3. The sadz can be deadly. The sadz are deadly. Half (roughly) of gunshot deaths are self inflicted. Depression is not simple and everyone’s depression is different but I had to quit drinking two years ago because I could not answer the Emergency Room physician’s question, “Why are you not dead?”.
        The dog told me walking is good, running is great! I cover 2.5-3 miles everyday while he runs 10 and he’s eleven yrs old. I had no knowledge of the depth of my depression but it had brought me to deaths door once again. Walking with the Master and his constant attention to the Creator’s beautiful living room he led me to the shallows. His prance to mom for a treat upon returning home puts a coat of happiness on the day like a coat of paint. Basically get a dog, take a walk, be happy. Then vote the FFers out!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Thank you, Richard. I’m so glad the Master helps you through rough times. I am doggie-deprived, so I live vicariously through others’ dogs. I do walk, however. And I work on fulfilling your directive to voters.

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  11. I join you in not recognizing this country. I think we are going to be strung along the coals with the 5-4 votes in SCOTUS, and it’s going to make us sick as a nation. My worry is that after we are so sick from the civil and domestic wars in this country that we will be picked off by a more powerful country (like the war in Ukraine). This world is scary, and I can only put my faith in the fact that there are people like you and Jill that will fight until we are blue in the face against authoritarianism. The judicial branch was never meant to be this strong 😦

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    1. It is a legitimate worry, amyspeaks—one that I wish were taken more seriously by would-be voters who throw their hands up in disgust and a goodly portion of the media who treat democracy as a game to be scored.

      I am grateful you found my post supportive (and grateful to Jill for reblogging). We must keep working for the country we believe we can and must be. We need it —and the world needs us!

      PS: I wrote about the Supreme Court that’s literally killing us in my previous post.

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      1. I will definitely go check it out. Right now I am taking ConLaw in pursuing my paralegal degree, I was just telling someone else that SCOTUS was never meant to be this powerful. If they were knocked back down to size, with say…impeachment of one or more…we can possibly have a chance. I am going to grow very tired of these radical 5-4 decisions for sure.

        I am grateful that you wrote the post 🙂 One word at a time can maybe change opinions and voting mindsets to our side, I hope.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thank you, Amy. Good for you, getting a paralegal degree! Interesting time to be studying ConLaw, when we have a bunch of lawless characters shamelessly and shamefully running the show. Radical 5-4 decisions? I think you have more faith in Roberts than I do!

        Liked by 1 person

  12. When Ruby Freeman said, “ The President of the United States is supposed to represent American, not to target one”, it brought me to tears. It sure has become a challenge to practice my Mindfulness through these sad days for our country. ☮️🇺🇸

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  13. Sorry Annie.. I lack your editing skills and left out the most important word. Lady Ruby said, “EVERY American”.. EVERY.. with liberty and justice for ALL. 💕

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  14. Hi, I’m doing a series on America at the Crossroads and in connection with the current problems we are having. I found your piece really great and would like to know if I could share it on my blog. Please let me know if this is ok with you. Thanks! 🙂

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  15. Annie,

    Our history has been one of a very imperfect union, where occasionally we get it right as we move the ball forward. Those are the moments we should exalt, while we learn from the many mistakes we have made ranging from slavery to Jim Crow to the communist witch hunts to the delay in addressing women’s suffrage to Watergate to WMD to Trumpism to the Lavender Scare, et al.

    We have had to overcome a great deal and we should highlight those efforts. The Watergate Committee, Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, and House Select Committee are when we get it right. We must applaud the courageous among us and share our concerns with the untruthful folks. And, we must vote, march, picket and use our economic power to share our concerns. One thing that gets people’s attention in is not spending money to make a statement.

    Finally, we must have dialogue with folks. Only then, can they listen to your points of view. I am reminded of Daryl Davis, a black man, who has talked over 200 KKK members into quitting thar organization. He did it by asking them questions. He noted that people just want to be asked what they think. Ask people to tell us why they support what you and I would consider indefensible.

    I realize some of this may be Pollyannish, but the alternative to doing nothing, is accepting the outcome. We have learned that over time. Keith

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    1. I’m beginning to wonder if the force that bends the moral universe (long live Dr King) towards Justice might be optimism? Ms Annie, you might be a collector.

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  16. So passionately written, Annie, and a great read. There’s a wonderful line in The West Wing about the ‘unwritten commandment that says “We shall give our children better than we ourselves had.”’. That, for me, is the ‘recognisable’ factor that is no longer present in sections of both US and UK politics. I’m not sure my generation will succeed in doing that – what an awful indictment that would be.

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    1. Thanks so much, Matthew. I worry a lot about the twin dangers of apathy and despair.

      That is a wonderful line. We are clearly failing to honor that commandment here, led by a Supreme Court that is astonishing in its arrogance, intellectual dishonesty, and —it now appears—willingness to destroy our democratic foundation.

      Any thoughts about what’s likely to happen in the immediate post-Johnson time?

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      1. Conflicting reports at the moment, and a range of candidates from across the party. It’ll be a wild few months I think, but we’ve no clear path to a progressive government. Thinking of you all over the water, Annie.

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