Standing . Crying . In the land of the free

I can't rest, because

My neighbor

My friend

My sister

My brother

Can't breathe.

The Last Bridge You Will Cross | for John Lewis

Julie Miller wrote + w/ Buddy Miller recorded a lovely tribute to Representative John Lewis. 

On a man’s god-given right to mistreat women...

It would be easy to say, “‘Stupid is as stupid does,’ Representative Yoho.”

But it’s almost certainly not just that you behaved stupidly, is it....

I Know My Rights

How did come to this?

https://buff.ly/3fGR2n1

What a Difference Two Years Makes ... or Not

Two years ago, today, I posted:

Are all the president’s loved-ones accounted for? Surely there must be a stress-induced explanation for what he did, and failed to do, standing next to Vladimir Putin today in Helsinki....

The gag was an implication that the Russians must have kidnapped a member of the president's family as leverage. How else to explain the events reported, also two years ago today, by the BBC in a summary of the strange behavior of the President of the United States at a summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

In addition to the 12 indicted Russians mentioned briefly in the July 16, 2018 BBC story, the Mueller Investigation would go on to secure confessions or trial convictions against eight US citizens (plus federal charges against another dozen Russian individuals and entities.

Later, after reading the redacted report of that investigation, I concluded that, were I seated on a grand jury presented with the volume and specificity of the evidence in the report, I would be compelled to vote for indictment in most, if not all, the instances the report detailed.

Roger Stone, whose sentence was commuted last week — was prosecuted and convicted by a jury of seven felony crimes. Commuted - not pardoned - Roger Stone remains a convicted felon who will do no jail time or reparation for his offenses.

Today, the American president continues taking the side of Vladimir Putin against the investigative findings of the US Intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the president continues taking the side of confessed and convicted criminals working against US interests in and in parallel with his administration.

Other than that, I imagine the president's first instinct every day is to put America first; unless it isn't.

Donald J. Trump Presidential Apology Database

Bubba Wallace by Zach Catanzareti Photo /
CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

The president of the United States this week asked NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace to apologize for something Mr. Wallace did not do.

This reminds me of something I have not done, which is to build a database of all this president's public apologies.

Related to that, I mean to build a database of everything he has said or written that includes the words, "I was wrong."

If you would like to contribute to this database, I welcome your involvement as I feel sure there will be many instances, each of which will have been reported by multiple news outlets. We'll need to cross-reference all those so as not to make it appear that the president has been overly contrite.

Our work is cut out for us. If you'd like to pitch in, let me know! 

Come On — You Know What I Mean.

The question behind the question...

 F. C. Yohn, in Lowell Thomas, The Hero of Vincennes: The Story of George Rogers Clark, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1929), facing p. 116.
https://www.in.gov/history/2988.htm

Waking Up White in America | a 3Practice Circle

June 12, 2020 . A Circle of people, most of whom don’t know each other, gathered in a 3Practice Zoom Circle for a remarkable exchange on the question:

"Are there unearned privileges that come with waking up white in America?"

++++

About 3Practice Circles

The purpose of 3Practice Circles is to help us get clarity and, maybe, understanding about our ideological opponents. We use the 3Practices to explore the difference divide between us and our ideological opponents. The 3Practices
1. I’ll be unusually interested in others — this is about genuine curiosity 2. I’ll stay in the room with difference — this is a pledge to get in the room and do our best to stay in the room, even if we’re triggered 3. I’ll stop comparing my best with your worst — this is about replacing pretentious certainty with honest exploration A 3Practice Circle is not a discussion, debate, or dialog group … it’s a workout designed to prepare us for real-life encounters at home, school and work. Practicing the 3Practices exercises and strengthens emotional muscles that are underdeveloped or atrophied. We don’t often change anybody's mind in a 3Practice Circle. But we frequently influence people whose minds aren't already made up by giving them a chance to hear why we disagree. From there — with greater clarity and understanding — they can decide for themselves. The Rules  
Anyone can take up two minutes to share their opinion on the Framing Question — without interruption or dispute. Then, anyone in the Circle can take 20 seconds to ask a clarifying question that begins with the phrase “I’d be curious to know…” The person who started the round may take up to one minute responding to each clarifying question. The questioner may ask one followup question — beginning with "I’d be curious to know…" The 3Practice Circle Referee focuses the process on time, on topic, and civil. Each 3Practice Circle ends with Thank-yous to others who have been clear, open, generous, though-provoking, courageous, or otherwise 3Practicey.

Now You Go | Unearned Privilege + Just Responsibility

As the week ends, I want to say that I’m moved by what people posted the first few days at Now You Go.

They … we … are trying to acknowledge the unearned privilege and just responsibilities that come with waking up white in America.

Maybe you know one of these folks.
Maybe you’d like to read their words or watch their video and say Thanks for speaking up.
Maybe you’d like to add your voice too.

George Baum
Jeff Behan
Noel Becchetti
Joe Boris
Brent Bromstrup
Steve Case
Dave Curtiss
Mike Deal
Lanny Donoho
Jim Henderson

Jonathan Hobbs

Eric Kelly
David Libby
Charlie Lowell
David Lynn
Brock Morgan
Jeff Nagel
Jonny Radcliff
Dave Rahn
Martin Saunders
Robert Shipley
Dave Showalter
Dick Staub
Ted Swartz
Paul Turner

OKNowYouGo

This is My Confession | @OKNowYouGo

This week, I joined friends and friends of friends trying to acknowledge our unearned privilege and just responsibilities as people who wake up white in America every day.

https://www.facebook.com/OKNOWYOUGO/

I add my confession — first offered at a gathering convened by Michelle Lang-Raymond as "A Chat w/ White Folks" two days after the murder of George Floyd [https://youtu.be/qylb2dEsuIA] — to confessions and laments offered by people from all over.

OK, Now You Go.

Watch It Yourself | Joe Biden Responds to 100K US COVID-19 Deaths

About Biden's response, the Conservative writer Jennifer Rubin said: 

It just so happens that the politician arguably the least like Trump — that is, conscientious, kind, empathetic, respectful, inclusive, loyal, teachable — is his opponent. One need look no further than Joe Biden’s video consoling those who lost loved ones in the pandemic. 

That is a mensch. That is a person who will at least try to earn our admiration and trust — and who does not believe he is the greatest victim of them all.

why are you surprised?

[Brought up from the vault — May 04, 2020 — in the final months of president 47’s first administration when he seemed pretty whiney that people didn’t take his every word at face value. In the history, poetry, novelist, and playwright trades, some practioners might use a word like *foreshadowing* to describe how what happened in those years relates to what’s happening in these years.]

Seriously: Why are you surprised? 

Didn’t you set the rules of engagement?

When you set the dial to
historic
unprecedented
like nobody's ever seen
biggest
greatest
perfect
best
...
but then deliver less[?]

Why are you surprised
that people want an explanation?


When you double down
dehumanize questioners
with insults and juvenile namecalling
when you
kill the messenger
change the subject
play the victim
...
Why are you surprised
when the questions
pull focus to
your honesty
your integrity
your wit and wisdom
your essential grip on reality?

Why, honestly, having set the rules of engagement, are you surprised by any of this?