Democratic “leadership” appears to muzzle the Dems most inspiring figures. The Schumers and Clyburns and Pelosis, etc., seem threatened by the AOCs and Crockets and Raskins and Whitehouses (Sheldon) and dedicate their efforts to marginalizing them. If we are to topple the fascists, we must first displace internal impediments to success. The interests of major donors may conflict with this approach.
I’m with you 100%. The Democrats cannot lead us while also being in the pockets of the rich. Chuck Schumer is known as Wall Street’s favorite senator for a reason. I would like to see Elizabeth Warren become the new Senate minority leader.
Right on! The failure is compounded by the constant default back to policy. Although policy is absolutely critical to governing, it is often an obstacle to communicating. If Reagan's time taught anything, it should be to pick three things, focus, and relentlessly communicate themes around them.
I agree with your three things approach… Constantly repeated… But I believe one of those three must be the kind of societal transformation people like Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria, Ocasio Cortez talk about. We need a bottom up evolution that takes the power away from the oligarchs and gives it back to the people. I do not think Chuck Schumer is capable of leading that charge because he is known as Wall Street’s favorite Senator. And despite the fact that I like Chuck who I got to know when he was my congressman, many many years ago. I think it’s time for him to be replaced. If I could wave a magic wand, Senator Elizabeth Warren would take over as Senste minority leader. She also knows what Bernie and AOC know. And the phrase I would have the Democrats hammer away at is “societal transformation.”.
Steve, I love Warren, AOC, and Bernie. All three have inspired me and energize. However, it seems most of middle America are frightened of giving power to women, and quite possibly too lazy or stupid to demand change and honest representatives.
That being said, obviously, charisma is the name of the game, and now, unfortunately, damage control cause now we need someone to overcome the fear that Trump instills and radiates. This is how he keeps people in line. Bernie could easily go toe to toe with him, but I’m afraid running again for president is no longer an option.
We need Bernie’s courage, audacity, and message packaged in a young, honest statesman who won’t get run over by the crud in the Whitehouse, and who has the ability to lead the charge to end the necessity of being a billionaire or being backed by billionaires in order to be elected and heard.
G P here is the situation that the Republicans are aware of and have addressed and solved, and the Democrats have, totheir peril ignored.
This Trump government is not of his making, it has been put together, packaged, by right wing think tanks, with the Heritage Foundation and Federalist society inthe lead.
YehTrump has made some inputs, of course,if it isn't his idea or he thinks it is, then it is a no go.
His cabinet choices are "suggestions" and as you know he is eaily manipulated by flattery and transactions.
Compare that to the Clinton and Obama administation, both entered the Whitehouse as political naifs, no connection inside the bubble of the beltway, they were prey and the predators were the likes of Larry Summers and Jerry Rubin, twas they that picked the Whiehouse staff and cabinet members or rather "suggested",The same thing happened to Trump in 2016, Nobody thought he would win and he caught the establishment elite flat footed they have had four years to self correct and boy have they ever.
This time they have dotted the i's and crossed the ti's. Project 2025 ,study it, this is the document that guides the regime, and a regime it is. Democracy died Nov th,024 and the sooner we face that unpleasant fact,the better able we will be to mount a resistance.
Reagan was a union destroyer plus his policies were the destroyer of the middle class! Trickle down economics was the biggest farce of his administration! The money didn’t trickle down but was kept by corporations and billionaires. That was the beginning of the Republican oligarchy that we are living with now lead by felon, grifter, conman, traitor trump!
Yes, we always have lost on the trite phrases. We need for example, Trickle UP to replace trickle down.
I was hoping that AOC would run for president. She fills Bernie's shoes, but the old, failed guard like Shumer and Pelosi committed fratricide (circular firing squad) in criticizing her constantly as out of touch and wrong. In fact she is in touch which is why she was such a threat to the neoliberals, nytimes, CNN, washington post and their pseudo-neutrality. And Biden and Harris's refusal to deal with Genocide was horrendous, especially in the Dems National Convention.
"If Democrats don’t start using political theater and fielding candidates talented enough to capture a social media audience, our country is doomed."
Thom is correct. It may seem uncouth to some dusty old traditionalists in promoting the theater side of politics, but it is without question a necessary element of communicating to a broad audience - and gaining their support.
Tired of so many Democratic politicians believing the American public are a classy group of institutionalists with an unquenchable thirst for procedure and tradition. Have you been out of your bubble ONCE in the past 40 years?
I'll say it over and over: Democratic leadership - it's time to get pissed, or piss right off..
Thank you. I’ve been saying the same thing since November. It’s the messaging. Biden was awful at it. He got elected, went to work, did the hard task of governing, and forgot about communicating and selling. Our shallow culture, dominated by celebrities, demands more from leadership than competence and integrity.
The other day Thom said that if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes.
Biden made mistakes...but anybody made a better candidate than Trump.
I know for a fact, the numbers tell it, that Kamala lost Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennyslvania because of Muslim stupidity.
They just had to show the Democrats the finger for Biden's support of Israel, Trump visited a halal deli, and got endorsement from Imams. There Democrats take that, we showed you. and they now reap their rewards
Huckabee as ambassador to Israel who set there is no such thing as a Palestinian.
The Mideast envoy Witikoff is a Zionist.
Trump has told defense to continue selling 2,000 lb bombs
He is trying to evict the Gazansto Egypt to Jordan so his son in law and the Israelis can build beach side condo's
Trump's pro-Israel Cabinet Picks Upset Muslims Who Voted for Him
'Trump won because of us,' said one of the founders of Muslims for Trump, 'and we're not happy with his Secretary of State pick and others'
Fucking ummah idiots, They sure did show the Democrats didn't they, and to cap it off, they are trying to blame Biden. It wasn't Biden that elected Trump though, it was the fools who voted or failed to vote.
Blaming Biden is like the scenes you see on TV. It isn't my fault, you made me kill you.
That doesn't mean that Thom, Palast, the Russians and Trump when he said Musk did it are wrong.
Meanwhile re Gaza urban renewal.
“It’s literally a demolition site right now,” Trump said, referring to the vast destruction caused by Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas, now paused by a fragile ceasefire.
“I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” Trump said.
In no way am I arguing that Thom, Palast, are wrong about the Russians.
I am as sure as I am breathing that the Russian psy ups and meddling elected Trump.
What I am questioning is the ability to reverse the election.I am saying is that even if plaintiffs came forth and prevailed, and at present the only instance we have heard of is Pennsylvania, nothing is going to dislodge Trump, so why waste money, energy and time on a vain pursuit. I say again if someone is successful in filing suit in Pennsylvania, Trump still has 293 Electoral votes.
And given the cowardness exhibited by judges (albeit not all) I doubt that the electoral votes of Wi, MI, PA will be reversed. Don't even need to introduce Georgia.
I am well aware that the Muslims slit their own throats when they flipped Biden and Harris the finger. They are sure full of regrets, stupid assholes.
It may be possible to fund the Treasury because Musk, perhaps the richest man in the world, exposed himself civilly (if not criminally). It could also be that many Trump supporters will flip, including a few public officials who do not want to be implicated.
Thom - You remind me of an expression I heard years ago: "The medium is the message" … coined by communication theorist Marshall McLuhan in his 1964 book “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man”. But I differ with McLuhan, thanks to my studies of innovation and creativity (which I citrate at the Route 66 Spirit of America Museum here in Stroud, Oklahoma).
It is not just how we say what we say, and where we say it that matters. It is what we say!
There are massively important, innovations in how the larger whole of society can be organized that were developed starting back in World War II by (in that case) organizational development Philosopher, Dr. W Edwards Deming. Parallel insights developed by Dr. R Buckminster Fuller in the 1960s paved the way to a world based on cooperation, love and continuous learning and improvement that could quite literally take us to a future in which war is declared an obsolete form of human problem solving.
The fact that these innovations have never been in the news to the extent necessary to flip the global developmental paradigm is one of the truly huge failures of reporting by those who claim to care about American history. Perhaps I shouldn’t say claim to care, because I don’t even think historian Heather Cox Richardson knows what Dr. Deming did during World War II or what Buckminster Fuller did starting in the 1960s with his book operating manual for spaceship Earth. If the Democrats are going to beat the Republican authoritarian movement, they need to not just be better at communicating and I agree Chuck Schumer is one of the worst. They also need to communicate the story of what kind of future we are capable of having thanks to people like Deming and Fuller. They need to explain that democracy alone can give us the future that those Pioneers offered us. The Democrats cannot just say fascism is bad. They must say only democracy contains the potential for a society wide transformation. Here’s a 2 1/2 minute video of Buckminster Fuller explaining what he knew was possible. Thanks for listening.
Mr. Brant, we might be of similar age. I remember the three men you speak of: Marshall McCluhan, W Edward Deming , and Buckminster Fuller.
McCluhan almost founded a new school of communication with his insight that "the medium is the message." We should have looked more closely at his stuff. We still can.
Deming came up with at least on good idea: his 96-4 rule. As a sociologist I must and do take this rule seriously.
Fuller was in my opinion, mostly foam, but little beer. His one apparently lasting contribution the geodesic dome, he purloined from another man. Everything else Fuller turned his mind to was a failure at the worst, or unimportant nonsense at best. I saw him give a presentation and, the one thing that struck me as most obvious, was that he could talk nonstop for several hours, and at the end I felt as though he had said nothing worth recalling. He had absolutely no understanding of human behavior or social organization. Nor did he really care. His politics, to the extent he had any, were a modified form of the luny, extreme Ann Randian type.
All three of these men of ideas were part of the wave of innovation, experimentation and social upheaval which swept the country in the two decades of the 1950s and especially the 1960s. I like to think that period began with the Beatniks in Manhattan and ended with the appearance of Nixon-Kissinger in the White House. It is no surprise that the most important poet of that period was Allen Ginsburg while the most popular and rewarded poet was the Nobel laureate Robert Zimmerman[a beautiful example of poetic messaging and creative packaging]. Nor is it a surprise that Hunter S. Thompson birthed Gonzo journalism at this time.
I have known three other men who were of the same cloth in that period. But not famous as are the three you mention. I think of that 1950-1970 period's wave of innovation as a continuum. It stretched from the truly sublime to the truly luny and, various combinations of sublime and luny.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a lengthy response to my comment. I appreciate the effort you put into writing that.
While I do not agree with your assessment of both Deming and Fuller‘s contributions, I’m not here to change your mind. You feel the way you feel and my only suggestion is that you take all of those feelings … and all the knowledge you’ve gained over the years from various big thinkers… and write a book. That’s my project for 2025.
Oh, and just a point of information, I was friends with Buckminster Fuller‘s daughter, Allegra, for more than 25 years.
Mr. Brant, thank you for the diplomatic, tolerant response to my comments. I often irritate others but I do not intend to offend. It is my clumsiness.
As to your comment about writing: I have been slowly working on three manuscripts for some years now.
One is an historical account of the only man to be crowned "Emperor" on the North American continent: James Jesse Strang. A Mormon who established a colony on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan.
One is about a WW2 combat-award-winning veteran who was the most unusual man I have ever met....sui generis. His name was Loren Lirones. He joined the army in 1945, Company C, 246th Engr Btn. Loren fought in every major battle from Omaha Beach, through The Bulge, to Berlin; he survived the massacre at Malmedy. Loren was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and two Presidential Citations. He was awarded a battle-field commission and subsequently demoted because his playfully bizarre sense of humor was not appreciated by officers of greater rank in the hierarchy. Loren was like a gentle, informative older brother to me. I loved him and wept when he died at 93 years on October 29, 2014, buried with military honors.
One is about the only example of the reversal of the second law of thermodynamics in the universe; which was hinted at by the cultural anthropologists Beth Dillingham [one of my teachers] and the true founder of American cultural anthropology, Leslie White at the Univ. of Michigan. I have argued with biologists and physical anthropologists about this theme for years.
My wife and I had this exact discussion last night and were excited to read many of our thoughts in your email.
We also watched Jon Stewart’s recent interview of AOC. Outstanding! She is so bright and clear headed. Listening to her speak gave us hope for the future. Highly recommend everyone to watch and feel better.
Conservatives own 95% of the mainstream media outlets. Progressives have no such infrastructure. At all. It just shows you how misguided the Dems have been with regard to messaging and communicating.
We need a mix of younger spokespeople. Right now there is no point person. Definitely not Schumer, and not Bernie, who still speaks truth to power. I like AOC. I like Jasmine Crockett. I like Chris Murphy. There needs to be a color and gender mix. There is no new head of the DNC until February, to even coordinate any counter attack. Trump is not going to be stopped in the near term, no mater what any Dem says. Maybe the courts, but I have less faith in them. It has to come from the masses, and the masses need some new voices.
We Democrats better figure out exactly what and who it takes to be an effective truth teller or we are truly doomed.
We’ve spent so much time fighting the lies of MAGA but it needs to be more specific.
I do believe there is definitely a place for savvy tech to step in and please help. We definitely also need real communicators to speak out on behalf of Democrats.
Some of the best may have been effective at one time but no longer ( Schumer ) comes to mind.
Stick to the more dynamic messaging of some of the younger of our representatives as mentioned. Jasmine Crocket comes to mind , Raskin usually reasonable .
Laying low is not a valid option .
AOC , Chris Murphy.
I have another idea , Democrats like Fetterman , (whose stroke has created some confusion ) and the seven who recently voted to confirm Kristi Neom.
Tell them to stop confirming known chaos . They’re just playing into the hands of Maga.
Fireside chats! A la social media. I was wishing Biden would do this from the beginning. What a forum for truth-telling and maybe even getting out ahead of the lies, for once. Thanks for the clear-eyed look at this important issue along with the serious lack of leadership. What I believe is critical is connecting that leadership to a real ground game and coalescing of communities, communicating ways that we feel connected with each other and finding power in that.
Democratic “leadership” appears to muzzle the Dems most inspiring figures. The Schumers and Clyburns and Pelosis, etc., seem threatened by the AOCs and Crockets and Raskins and Whitehouses (Sheldon) and dedicate their efforts to marginalizing them. If we are to topple the fascists, we must first displace internal impediments to success. The interests of major donors may conflict with this approach.
I’m with you 100%. The Democrats cannot lead us while also being in the pockets of the rich. Chuck Schumer is known as Wall Street’s favorite senator for a reason. I would like to see Elizabeth Warren become the new Senate minority leader.
Americans don’t realize that no tax on tips is mainly for “no tax” on bonuses for Wall Street and executives!
DRAFT JOHN STEWART for president he has the charisma to get elected and the integrity to follow through on his promises.
Right, plus hate Trumps logic.
the crumbs bum, the foot on the neck the rich are not going to give it up quick
Right on! The failure is compounded by the constant default back to policy. Although policy is absolutely critical to governing, it is often an obstacle to communicating. If Reagan's time taught anything, it should be to pick three things, focus, and relentlessly communicate themes around them.
We have three themes
Healthcare
Workers' rights
Economic fairness
I agree with your three things approach… Constantly repeated… But I believe one of those three must be the kind of societal transformation people like Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria, Ocasio Cortez talk about. We need a bottom up evolution that takes the power away from the oligarchs and gives it back to the people. I do not think Chuck Schumer is capable of leading that charge because he is known as Wall Street’s favorite Senator. And despite the fact that I like Chuck who I got to know when he was my congressman, many many years ago. I think it’s time for him to be replaced. If I could wave a magic wand, Senator Elizabeth Warren would take over as Senste minority leader. She also knows what Bernie and AOC know. And the phrase I would have the Democrats hammer away at is “societal transformation.”.
Steve, I love Warren, AOC, and Bernie. All three have inspired me and energize. However, it seems most of middle America are frightened of giving power to women, and quite possibly too lazy or stupid to demand change and honest representatives.
That being said, obviously, charisma is the name of the game, and now, unfortunately, damage control cause now we need someone to overcome the fear that Trump instills and radiates. This is how he keeps people in line. Bernie could easily go toe to toe with him, but I’m afraid running again for president is no longer an option.
We need Bernie’s courage, audacity, and message packaged in a young, honest statesman who won’t get run over by the crud in the Whitehouse, and who has the ability to lead the charge to end the necessity of being a billionaire or being backed by billionaires in order to be elected and heard.
G P here is the situation that the Republicans are aware of and have addressed and solved, and the Democrats have, totheir peril ignored.
This Trump government is not of his making, it has been put together, packaged, by right wing think tanks, with the Heritage Foundation and Federalist society inthe lead.
YehTrump has made some inputs, of course,if it isn't his idea or he thinks it is, then it is a no go.
His cabinet choices are "suggestions" and as you know he is eaily manipulated by flattery and transactions.
Compare that to the Clinton and Obama administation, both entered the Whitehouse as political naifs, no connection inside the bubble of the beltway, they were prey and the predators were the likes of Larry Summers and Jerry Rubin, twas they that picked the Whiehouse staff and cabinet members or rather "suggested",The same thing happened to Trump in 2016, Nobody thought he would win and he caught the establishment elite flat footed they have had four years to self correct and boy have they ever.
This time they have dotted the i's and crossed the ti's. Project 2025 ,study it, this is the document that guides the regime, and a regime it is. Democracy died Nov th,024 and the sooner we face that unpleasant fact,the better able we will be to mount a resistance.
Three things, in three words or less, repeated three times a day, for three years! Or else the Donald will have three terms.
Reagan was a union destroyer plus his policies were the destroyer of the middle class! Trickle down economics was the biggest farce of his administration! The money didn’t trickle down but was kept by corporations and billionaires. That was the beginning of the Republican oligarchy that we are living with now lead by felon, grifter, conman, traitor trump!
Yes, we always have lost on the trite phrases. We need for example, Trickle UP to replace trickle down.
I was hoping that AOC would run for president. She fills Bernie's shoes, but the old, failed guard like Shumer and Pelosi committed fratricide (circular firing squad) in criticizing her constantly as out of touch and wrong. In fact she is in touch which is why she was such a threat to the neoliberals, nytimes, CNN, washington post and their pseudo-neutrality. And Biden and Harris's refusal to deal with Genocide was horrendous, especially in the Dems National Convention.
"If Democrats don’t start using political theater and fielding candidates talented enough to capture a social media audience, our country is doomed."
Thom is correct. It may seem uncouth to some dusty old traditionalists in promoting the theater side of politics, but it is without question a necessary element of communicating to a broad audience - and gaining their support.
Tired of so many Democratic politicians believing the American public are a classy group of institutionalists with an unquenchable thirst for procedure and tradition. Have you been out of your bubble ONCE in the past 40 years?
I'll say it over and over: Democratic leadership - it's time to get pissed, or piss right off..
Thank you. I’ve been saying the same thing since November. It’s the messaging. Biden was awful at it. He got elected, went to work, did the hard task of governing, and forgot about communicating and selling. Our shallow culture, dominated by celebrities, demands more from leadership than competence and integrity.
The other day Thom said that if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes.
Biden made mistakes...but anybody made a better candidate than Trump.
I know for a fact, the numbers tell it, that Kamala lost Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennyslvania because of Muslim stupidity.
They just had to show the Democrats the finger for Biden's support of Israel, Trump visited a halal deli, and got endorsement from Imams. There Democrats take that, we showed you. and they now reap their rewards
Huckabee as ambassador to Israel who set there is no such thing as a Palestinian.
The Mideast envoy Witikoff is a Zionist.
Trump has told defense to continue selling 2,000 lb bombs
He is trying to evict the Gazansto Egypt to Jordan so his son in law and the Israelis can build beach side condo's
Trump's pro-Israel Cabinet Picks Upset Muslims Who Voted for Him
'Trump won because of us,' said one of the founders of Muslims for Trump, 'and we're not happy with his Secretary of State pick and others'
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-11-17/ty-article/trumps-pro-israel-cabinet-picks-upset-muslims-who-voted-for-him/00000193-39b4-dcd3-a3b7-bdbfa2250000?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=Content&utm_campaign=daily-brief&utm_content=ef36d27152
Fucking ummah idiots, They sure did show the Democrats didn't they, and to cap it off, they are trying to blame Biden. It wasn't Biden that elected Trump though, it was the fools who voted or failed to vote.
Blaming Biden is like the scenes you see on TV. It isn't my fault, you made me kill you.
That doesn't mean that Thom, Palast, the Russians and Trump when he said Musk did it are wrong.
Meanwhile re Gaza urban renewal.
“It’s literally a demolition site right now,” Trump said, referring to the vast destruction caused by Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas, now paused by a fragile ceasefire.
“I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” Trump said.
Not to mention potential golf resorts.
As # 45 Trump threatened to deport Moslems.......
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-creates-section-dedicated-denaturalization-cases
In no way am I arguing that Thom, Palast, are wrong about the Russians.
I am as sure as I am breathing that the Russian psy ups and meddling elected Trump.
What I am questioning is the ability to reverse the election.I am saying is that even if plaintiffs came forth and prevailed, and at present the only instance we have heard of is Pennsylvania, nothing is going to dislodge Trump, so why waste money, energy and time on a vain pursuit. I say again if someone is successful in filing suit in Pennsylvania, Trump still has 293 Electoral votes.
And given the cowardness exhibited by judges (albeit not all) I doubt that the electoral votes of Wi, MI, PA will be reversed. Don't even need to introduce Georgia.
I am well aware that the Muslims slit their own throats when they flipped Biden and Harris the finger. They are sure full of regrets, stupid assholes.
Nobody's going to reverse the election.
It may be possible to fund the Treasury because Musk, perhaps the richest man in the world, exposed himself civilly (if not criminally). It could also be that many Trump supporters will flip, including a few public officials who do not want to be implicated.
Thom - You remind me of an expression I heard years ago: "The medium is the message" … coined by communication theorist Marshall McLuhan in his 1964 book “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man”. But I differ with McLuhan, thanks to my studies of innovation and creativity (which I citrate at the Route 66 Spirit of America Museum here in Stroud, Oklahoma).
It is not just how we say what we say, and where we say it that matters. It is what we say!
There are massively important, innovations in how the larger whole of society can be organized that were developed starting back in World War II by (in that case) organizational development Philosopher, Dr. W Edwards Deming. Parallel insights developed by Dr. R Buckminster Fuller in the 1960s paved the way to a world based on cooperation, love and continuous learning and improvement that could quite literally take us to a future in which war is declared an obsolete form of human problem solving.
The fact that these innovations have never been in the news to the extent necessary to flip the global developmental paradigm is one of the truly huge failures of reporting by those who claim to care about American history. Perhaps I shouldn’t say claim to care, because I don’t even think historian Heather Cox Richardson knows what Dr. Deming did during World War II or what Buckminster Fuller did starting in the 1960s with his book operating manual for spaceship Earth. If the Democrats are going to beat the Republican authoritarian movement, they need to not just be better at communicating and I agree Chuck Schumer is one of the worst. They also need to communicate the story of what kind of future we are capable of having thanks to people like Deming and Fuller. They need to explain that democracy alone can give us the future that those Pioneers offered us. The Democrats cannot just say fascism is bad. They must say only democracy contains the potential for a society wide transformation. Here’s a 2 1/2 minute video of Buckminster Fuller explaining what he knew was possible. Thanks for listening.
https://youtu.be/LQ3DXDONKmQ
Mr. Brant, we might be of similar age. I remember the three men you speak of: Marshall McCluhan, W Edward Deming , and Buckminster Fuller.
McCluhan almost founded a new school of communication with his insight that "the medium is the message." We should have looked more closely at his stuff. We still can.
Deming came up with at least on good idea: his 96-4 rule. As a sociologist I must and do take this rule seriously.
Fuller was in my opinion, mostly foam, but little beer. His one apparently lasting contribution the geodesic dome, he purloined from another man. Everything else Fuller turned his mind to was a failure at the worst, or unimportant nonsense at best. I saw him give a presentation and, the one thing that struck me as most obvious, was that he could talk nonstop for several hours, and at the end I felt as though he had said nothing worth recalling. He had absolutely no understanding of human behavior or social organization. Nor did he really care. His politics, to the extent he had any, were a modified form of the luny, extreme Ann Randian type.
All three of these men of ideas were part of the wave of innovation, experimentation and social upheaval which swept the country in the two decades of the 1950s and especially the 1960s. I like to think that period began with the Beatniks in Manhattan and ended with the appearance of Nixon-Kissinger in the White House. It is no surprise that the most important poet of that period was Allen Ginsburg while the most popular and rewarded poet was the Nobel laureate Robert Zimmerman[a beautiful example of poetic messaging and creative packaging]. Nor is it a surprise that Hunter S. Thompson birthed Gonzo journalism at this time.
I have known three other men who were of the same cloth in that period. But not famous as are the three you mention. I think of that 1950-1970 period's wave of innovation as a continuum. It stretched from the truly sublime to the truly luny and, various combinations of sublime and luny.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a lengthy response to my comment. I appreciate the effort you put into writing that.
While I do not agree with your assessment of both Deming and Fuller‘s contributions, I’m not here to change your mind. You feel the way you feel and my only suggestion is that you take all of those feelings … and all the knowledge you’ve gained over the years from various big thinkers… and write a book. That’s my project for 2025.
Oh, and just a point of information, I was friends with Buckminster Fuller‘s daughter, Allegra, for more than 25 years.
Have a nice evening.
Mr. Brant, thank you for the diplomatic, tolerant response to my comments. I often irritate others but I do not intend to offend. It is my clumsiness.
As to your comment about writing: I have been slowly working on three manuscripts for some years now.
One is an historical account of the only man to be crowned "Emperor" on the North American continent: James Jesse Strang. A Mormon who established a colony on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan.
One is about a WW2 combat-award-winning veteran who was the most unusual man I have ever met....sui generis. His name was Loren Lirones. He joined the army in 1945, Company C, 246th Engr Btn. Loren fought in every major battle from Omaha Beach, through The Bulge, to Berlin; he survived the massacre at Malmedy. Loren was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and two Presidential Citations. He was awarded a battle-field commission and subsequently demoted because his playfully bizarre sense of humor was not appreciated by officers of greater rank in the hierarchy. Loren was like a gentle, informative older brother to me. I loved him and wept when he died at 93 years on October 29, 2014, buried with military honors.
One is about the only example of the reversal of the second law of thermodynamics in the universe; which was hinted at by the cultural anthropologists Beth Dillingham [one of my teachers] and the true founder of American cultural anthropology, Leslie White at the Univ. of Michigan. I have argued with biologists and physical anthropologists about this theme for years.
My wife and I had this exact discussion last night and were excited to read many of our thoughts in your email.
We also watched Jon Stewart’s recent interview of AOC. Outstanding! She is so bright and clear headed. Listening to her speak gave us hope for the future. Highly recommend everyone to watch and feel better.
Well said but remember the Democrats don't have a Fox News, OAN, etc to push the message. We could be doing better in the podcast side of things.
Conservatives own 95% of the mainstream media outlets. Progressives have no such infrastructure. At all. It just shows you how misguided the Dems have been with regard to messaging and communicating.
We need a mix of younger spokespeople. Right now there is no point person. Definitely not Schumer, and not Bernie, who still speaks truth to power. I like AOC. I like Jasmine Crockett. I like Chris Murphy. There needs to be a color and gender mix. There is no new head of the DNC until February, to even coordinate any counter attack. Trump is not going to be stopped in the near term, no mater what any Dem says. Maybe the courts, but I have less faith in them. It has to come from the masses, and the masses need some new voices.
The Ds seem desperate to play by rules which no longer exist.
AOC and Crocket have the stuff!
We Democrats better figure out exactly what and who it takes to be an effective truth teller or we are truly doomed.
We’ve spent so much time fighting the lies of MAGA but it needs to be more specific.
I do believe there is definitely a place for savvy tech to step in and please help. We definitely also need real communicators to speak out on behalf of Democrats.
Some of the best may have been effective at one time but no longer ( Schumer ) comes to mind.
Stick to the more dynamic messaging of some of the younger of our representatives as mentioned. Jasmine Crocket comes to mind , Raskin usually reasonable .
Laying low is not a valid option .
AOC , Chris Murphy.
I have another idea , Democrats like Fetterman , (whose stroke has created some confusion ) and the seven who recently voted to confirm Kristi Neom.
Tell them to stop confirming known chaos . They’re just playing into the hands of Maga.
Fireside chats! A la social media. I was wishing Biden would do this from the beginning. What a forum for truth-telling and maybe even getting out ahead of the lies, for once. Thanks for the clear-eyed look at this important issue along with the serious lack of leadership. What I believe is critical is connecting that leadership to a real ground game and coalescing of communities, communicating ways that we feel connected with each other and finding power in that.
Shitler now runs the country. Where is Roosevelt when you need him? Come on Newsom
get your game ready and stand up for America. You have the votes if you have the guts. Let's Go Blue.
"The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king”. Hamlet.
He dies. Enter Fortinbras. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortinbras