Readers, Welcome to my blog (formerly Birds, Blooms, Books, etc). I'm entering a new decade taking on the challenge of moving from Maryland after living there 46 years and learning about my new home here in New England in the Live Free or Die state - New Hampshire. Join me as a write this new chapter of my life.
Winter Storm Fern has dumped a lot of snow on us. It's a foot and growing as I write this on Monday late morning.
Here's the view along our road as we came down into the Flat on Sunday at 1:00 pm after being in church in Hanover. Snow had started just after noontime.
Later on Sunday I took this video.
Monday views, from my desk,
out the kitchen window,
from the slider,
the pile below is from the snow plowing. He may have done this twice already.
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Observations on what's happening.
1. At church our pastor shared what she'd learned from a fellow pastor in Maine. She said that to help children get to school they are given rides in the backs of cars hidden under blankets. People purchasing groceries are warned not to deliver them to houses because ICE is tailing people with large shopping orders. I'm not sure how the groceries are being delivered to those in need.
We received these large signs to hold up in church for a photo which our pastor sent to Maine pastors.
I've taped the sign to my front storm door for those passing by to see.
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2. Excerpts from Episcopal Bishop Rob's Reflection. See entire HERE
We are now engaged in a horrible battle that is eternal, that has gone on for millennia. As soon as the Christian church became linked to the empire by Constantine in the year 325 or so, the church immediately became corrupt. And the message of Jesus's love, compassion, and commitment to the poor, the outcast, was immediately compromised. And we have lost that voice, and we are now, I believe, entering a time, a new era of martyrdom.
I have told the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness. And I've asked them 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.
Videos analyzed by The New York Times contradict the accounts of Homeland Security officials, who said that the man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and the intent to “massacre” them. Footage of the encounter shows the man was holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, when federal agents took him to the ground and shot him.
Other video angles seem to show Pretti’s gun was taken before he was repeatedly shot dead.Eyewitnesses’ declarationsconfirmed the gruesome details and utter lack of provocation.
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A sheriff in Maine had harsh words about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city of Portland.
Cellphone video shows ICE agents detain a corrections officer recruit in the middle of the street.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed it was one of his corrections recruits who was detained by ICE in Portland’s Bayside neighborhood on Wednesday evening.
“They all took off leaving his car with the windows down, the lights on, unsecured and unoccupied,” Joyce said. “They left it right on the side of the street. Folks, that’s bush league policing.”
The sheriff said the individual passed the rigorous application process to qualify as a Cumberland County corrections officer and was cleared to work in the U.S. until April 2029.
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Yesterday granddaughter #2 who is 9, asked about the We Stand With sign. I told her what was happening in Maine and Minnesota with ICE arresting people with dark skins. She wanted to know what's wrong with having a dark skin? We agreed there was nothing wrong. She asked can't the police stop ICE and I told her no because they are following the President's direction. She responded that it's time to do something about the President. (I won't be more specific than that.)
Two women governors, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, took their oaths of office over the last seven days. Coming off massive victories, both showed remarkable modesty, magnanimity, and restraint — starkly different from the triumphalism, meanness, and vindictiveness that defines Donald Trump’s reign of horror.
At her inauguration, Sherrilldelivered powerful oratory to meet the moment of maximum threat from a wannabe dictator. Recalling the founding of our nation, she recalled the “list of grievances in our Declaration of Independence,” including [King George III’s] refusal to assent to laws, obstruction of justice, domination of judges, and maintaining “in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.” She noted that New Jerseyans grasped the similarities to the current mad king:
[W]e see a president illegally usurping power. He has unconstitutionally enacted a tariff regime to make billions for himself and his family, while everyone else sees costs go higher and higher. Here, we demand people in public service actually serve the public instead of extorting money to benefit themselves and their cronies.
Sherrill pledged that — in contrast to Trump — she would be fighting for the people and working to do things such as keeping energy prices under control, and would not be wasting taxpayer money on a ballroom.
Governor Mikie Sherrill and Governor Abigail Spanberger
Spanberger, just three days earlier, demonstrated her political deftness as she reached across the aisle, practically daring Republicans to obstruct her. She offered the prospect of an endurable governing coalition that would reach well beyond the core base of Democratic activists.
Spanberger’s speech also drew on history, in her case from former Virginia governors such as Patrick Henry and civil rights heroes, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Shedeclaredthat “our leaders and our fellow Virginians should join in common cause, find common ground, and pursue common purpose — this is the concept at the heart of what it means to be a Commonwealth.”
Spanberger posited a governing model starkly different from the reign of chaos, cruelty, and corruption across the Potomac. “I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington. You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting healthcare access, imperiling rural hospitals, and driving up costs,”she declared. “You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”
Sherrill and Spanberger wound up in the same place: a commitment to tackle real problems (e.g., high housing, energy, and healthcare costs). They both vowed that while they expected disagreements with opponents, they would seek to avoid rancor. As Spanbergerput it, “we do not have to see eye-to-eye on every issue in order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on others.” And while they spoke about their own life experiences and states’ unique challenges, both sought to recapture a sense of shared purpose and destiny. Sherrill’svision: “Protecting liberty, ensuring that power is not placed in the hands of a few, but rather that the universal rights of all New Jerseyans are protected.”
All of this sounds like politics from another planet — pollyannaish or even naïve — if viewed from the vantage point of Washington, D.C., where MAGA fascists have an iron grip on Congress, and a megalomaniacal president reels from one crisis to another. But we should aspire to reclaim the sort of politics that we used to take for granted: normal and rational rhetoric, responsible governance, and personal decency.
Spanberger and Sherrill will provide a vivid contrast over the next three years between functional democracy (i.e., how Democrats would govern if the MAGA clown car were pushed to the side of the road) and MAGA authoritarianism. Imagine, they implore us, if Trump did not hold his party in line with fear and threats, and a true two-party system (both pro-democracy, sometimes even cooperative) could be restored. (Whether Republicans are capable of such a transformation remains an open question.)
Cynicism is easy. Too many Americans throw up their hands, declare all politicians are crooks and demagogues, and check out of politics. In fact, there is a world of difference between, on one hand, MAGA careerists engaged in nonstop lies, performative politics, and conspiratorial shenanigans, and, on the other, Democrats who trust voters can handle the truth, try to do right by their constituents, and focus on problem-solving.
Sherrill faces a different political environment than Spanberger. Each will need to craft policies attuned to their states. And Democrats, let alone independents and Republicans, will not agree with every decision or every compromise made by the new Democratic governors. But what matters is that they provide a model of earnest, clean, and competent governance.
Sherrill and Spanberger deserve immense credit for landslide elections that defied polls and pundits’ predictions. Their extensive preparation in advance of the inauguration and their polished speeches (ah,thatis what a coherent executive leader sounds like!) remind us how diligent public servants conduct themselves. We honor their undaunted, unwavering, and unapologetic belief in the ideals of democracy and the potential for responsible politics. We are grateful for the much-needed reminder that our politics do not have to be defined by Trump and his mad courtiers.
Virginia and New Jersey residents should be proud of their picks, and hold them accountable for their promises. Collectively, as Spanberger and Sherrill promised, the public and elected leaders of these states might set a powerful example for the rest of the country, which is in dire need of adult, decent leadership and engaged, rational citizens.
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Great piece on two new governors.
I didn't listen to their inaugural addresses but this comment from above struck me.
"their polished speeches (ah,thatis what a coherent executive leader sounds like!)"
Prime Minister Carney of Canada had an incredible cogent speech at Davos this week. I listened to the entire speech and question/answer period. Then I wondered how tRump's speech went. I couldn't listen to it past the opening. He is becoming more and more incoherent.
Brett Stephens of NY Times described the tRump speech like this:
Wrapped in self-aggrandizing boasts and exaggerations, along with ugly jibes, meandering asides and shopworn grievances, lay a premeditated threat worthy of a padrino: “You can say ‘yes’ and we will be very appreciative,” the president said, in reference to his demand for Greenland. “Or you can say ‘no’ and we will remember.”
[Padrino means Godfather]
Nicholas Kristoff of NY TImes heard this about tRump:
“You’re listening to those rambling mendacities,” he said, “of the demented leader of the free world.” Those are the words of a temperate British conservative who has been an outspoken fan of America throughout his career, yet who is today aghast at the sight of the United States destroying its soft power worldwide. Patten hopes European leaders will be willing to stand up to Trump because, “sooner or later, he has to be stopped.”
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There is more and more on the internet about tRump and dementia. Let's hope it stops him before he gets us into a full blown war.
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