It's a little late, but this post highlighted for me the Republican disgrace that is Donald (Bone-Spurs) Trump, especially in his contempt for and mockery of military service and personnel. And Rick's article inspired my to remind voters that in November they will be voting for Commander-in-Chief, and to think twice before putting that coward back in office.
President Bone-Spurs was and continues to be a Republican Disgrace, so I felt the need to write another post:
Very well put, Rick. My 92-year-old mother, whose late older brother flew gliders during the war (and one on D-Day), keeps asking me if things have ever been as bad in this country as they are right now, and I am hard-pressed to think of an example.
I often think that if it came down to it, even as a 60ish woman, I’d pick up a rifle if called to do it. I have to believe that I’m not alone. Otherwise despair sinks it.
I found myself in tears yesterday watching the D-Day ceremony. It seems like things were so clear in 1944. Of course they weren’t. There were prominent Americans, and Brits, who were supportive of Hitler. And today we have Americans who openly call for a dictatorship. Who admire Putin in spite of his murderous ways.
I don’t know what it will take. Maybe a trip to Auschwitz to see the horror in person?
I feel like they hate us more than they love this country. Hillary was right. They are deplorable.
I often think that if it came down to it, even as a 60ish woman, I’d pick up a rifle if called to do it. I have to believe that I’m not alone. Otherwise despair sinks it.
I found myself in tears yesterday watching the D-Day ceremony. It seems like things were so clear in 1944. Of course they weren’t. There were prominent Americans, and Brits, who were supportive of Hitler. And today we have Americans who openly call for a dictatorship. Who admire Putin in spite of his murderous ways.
I don’t know what it will take. Maybe a trip to Auschwitz to see the horror in person?
I feel like they hate us more than they love this country. Hillary was right. They are deplorable.
Thanks for this beautiful tribute, Rick. I am definitely with you in the WWII history, not BBQ, category.
“Never forget” seems to have had an 80 year expiration date. I am still in shock(as you and so many of us are) about these past 9 years. I cannot believe we are where we are in this country.
My father in law was a 19 year old PFC in the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima. He was set to be part of the first wave of the invasion of Japan, and did serve in the occupation on the island where Nagasaki is located. He died 40 years ago, and would have been 99 this summer. He saw things and did things none of us should ever have to see or do, and because of him and the millions of others, we did not have to. Now look at our fellow countrymen who follow a person and an ideology antithetical to everything this country stands for.
The WWII folks really were the Greatest Generation. I believe that with all my heart. Charlie Sykes yesterday also called them the “unentitled generation.” That is SO true. The ones who survived just came back and lived their lives expecting nothing in return. We owe them a debt of gratitude. The least we can do is do our best to repel the fascists and Putin friends in our midst.
I never thought we would be in such a horrible place as a country. Rick, with your platform, keep up the good fight. Thank you.
Beautifully written. I believe that we can still do big things. It just takes so much energy to overcome the inertia created by everyday comforts and challenges. But once we're 'awake' Americans are very capable of accepting the hardest tasks and rising to master them.
So glad to see the effort made by Biden and others to pay homage to those who lost their lives at Normandy, acknowledging the sadness of their families back then, and now. Genuine heroes doing the right thing as best they could. Never forget!
I'm not saying I like it, or that he won't win, or that it won't be destructive if he does, or that shitty people aren't being shitty, or that we don't need to push against it.
But the fact that I'm needing to make the point not once but twice - that none of this is akin to taking Omaha Beach amid massive machine gun fire, and that Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler, and, really, you don't need to "pray for it" to be thus - is highly disconcerting.
We Americans are so rich and comfortable and complacent that we've lost all sense of perspective. Mere suboptimality for us feels like Kristallnacht felt for our grandparents.
Some of us remember the Left saying the same at the prospect of Reagan and GWB as presidents. And the Right says the same about another Biden term. Americans need to stop allowing themselves to be spun into irrational DEFCON 1 level fear by parties with a financial stake in their attentive terror. I'd suggest turning off the cable news and Twitter.
I'm keenly aware of what Trump presents. I'm not missing an iota of it. But "end of life and our world as we once knew it" makes you sound like a Fox News viewer. It's over the top by a factor of 10,000.
A Trump presidency would suck. You will survive. Citizens of Turkey and Hungary and China live normal lives. Most Russians (if they're not drafted) do likewise. It's not optimal. By all means, let's aim for (and fight for) optimality, but while keeping a sane perspective.
Your great-grandparents, who seethe in jealousy at the way you live - your freedom and comfort and ease and security - wince at your lack of gratitude for living in utopia.
I voted for Reagan and GWB. I don't watch cable news, or do Twitter. I read extensively, people like Rick , Anne Applebaum and Ruth Ben Ghiat. I don't know how you know that people in Turkey and Hungary and China live "normal" lives. How is "normal" judged by you? I'm not going to assume anything about you based on your name but I've had male colleagues who tell me "Iife won't change much for them under Trump". It will change for me though and for the poor and for people in marginalized communities and more importantly for my children. Having lived and traveled abroad, I am grateful every day for living in "utopia" and I'd like to keep the hard fought freedoms we have. Americans have never lived under facism and the rest of the world has not experienced an America under facism, so yes it would be the end of a way of life as we once knew them. Of course losing your head with worry over it doesn't help, action does.
Remember what Trump did when he went to France for WWI - 100th anniversary marking the end of that war, at the war memorial he called the fallen "losers and suckers." Don't know how anyone could cast a vote for this man. He is not only despicable, he is a man without a soul, without empathy for those who sacrificed the ultimate, without basic care and compassion. He is a disgrace to this nation. I hope the families of those who served in all military since realize the despicable person he is, and vote accordingly. Whether you agree with the policies of Joe Biden or not - he is a decent man, a man whose son actually served, whose family actually sacrificed. Unlike Golden Spoon Don and His Family. The memory of those veterans who served this country deserve better.
I know it's too late now to do so, but I think the first 10 minutes of Saving Private Ryan should be played in both houses of Congress. Make it a mandatory meeting. Force people like Tommy Tuberville, Ronny Jackson, Scot Perry, Margery Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, Mike Johnson, and so many more to sit and watch the carnage of Omaha Beach, of Utah Beach. Then ask them if supporting the criminal running for the highest office is worthy of our attention much less following him. It's days like this that reminds us of what our parents and grandparents sacrificed when asked to. Tom Brokaw popurlized the term The Greatest Generation, and it is true.
My generation was asked to sacrifice for Viet Nam and we lost many of our young men and women to a war that was sold to us as necessary. The idea that Nixon and Kissinger would go to the North Vietnamese leaders and ask them to extend the war until after Nixon was elected was a turning point for a whole generation. We turned away from trusting our government. We changed the way we thought about our government and it serving us. We became disillusioned with the America our parent's generation sacrificed for.
My heart breaks when I read about D-Day. It breaks when I read about Eisenhower's agonizing over decisions about the D-Day invasion. And it breaks even more when I hear the MAGA caucus sharing Russian talking points on the floor of our congress. We have become fatigued by the chaos of Trump. We have become complacent and lazy about our democracy because of the easy life our parents sacrificed to give us. We've taught our children that they are the most important person in the room without teaching them that collectively we have responsibilities to give something back. We haven't taught them that we are so much more powerful working together and can take on any threat to our country. We must do better. We must convince our children that our democracy was worth D-Day's sacrifices. That our way of life isn't indestructible. That our country is faltering and it's up to all of us to collectively vote to save it. Otherwise D-Day wasn't important enough for us to care.
The problem is that the GOP mouthbreathers you mention imagine themselves striding side-by-side along those men on Omaha Beach as leaders. Drug addiction, malignant narcissism and delusion play highly in their brain space. That is what they are, and MAGA loves them for it.
With a father who piloted a B-26 (The Daisy Mae) from England to France 96 times, who was awarded two silver stars and three bronze to defeat the original fascists, I'm prepared to do everything that's necessary to defeat the domestic ones, now.
This is exactly how I feel, only stated much more skillfully. We are being called to this moment, and it's my hope that when it becomes apparent of just how much we have to lose, the much to silent majority in this country wakes up and defends what we were given...with vigor.
Thanks.
I bought the book, used it to help celebrate my 80th birthday and my memory of my father dressed for service, a proper Fathers' Day.
It's a little late, but this post highlighted for me the Republican disgrace that is Donald (Bone-Spurs) Trump, especially in his contempt for and mockery of military service and personnel. And Rick's article inspired my to remind voters that in November they will be voting for Commander-in-Chief, and to think twice before putting that coward back in office.
President Bone-Spurs was and continues to be a Republican Disgrace, so I felt the need to write another post:
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/a-republican-disgrace
Very well put, Rick. My 92-year-old mother, whose late older brother flew gliders during the war (and one on D-Day), keeps asking me if things have ever been as bad in this country as they are right now, and I am hard-pressed to think of an example.
Wish I'd seen this earlier, but glad I read it today. Thank you for your observations of then and now.
I often think that if it came down to it, even as a 60ish woman, I’d pick up a rifle if called to do it. I have to believe that I’m not alone. Otherwise despair sinks it.
I found myself in tears yesterday watching the D-Day ceremony. It seems like things were so clear in 1944. Of course they weren’t. There were prominent Americans, and Brits, who were supportive of Hitler. And today we have Americans who openly call for a dictatorship. Who admire Putin in spite of his murderous ways.
I don’t know what it will take. Maybe a trip to Auschwitz to see the horror in person?
I feel like they hate us more than they love this country. Hillary was right. They are deplorable.
I often think that if it came down to it, even as a 60ish woman, I’d pick up a rifle if called to do it. I have to believe that I’m not alone. Otherwise despair sinks it.
I found myself in tears yesterday watching the D-Day ceremony. It seems like things were so clear in 1944. Of course they weren’t. There were prominent Americans, and Brits, who were supportive of Hitler. And today we have Americans who openly call for a dictatorship. Who admire Putin in spite of his murderous ways.
I don’t know what it will take. Maybe a trip to Auschwitz to see the horror in person?
I feel like they hate us more than they love this country. Hillary was right. They are deplorable.
Thanks for this beautiful tribute, Rick. I am definitely with you in the WWII history, not BBQ, category.
“Never forget” seems to have had an 80 year expiration date. I am still in shock(as you and so many of us are) about these past 9 years. I cannot believe we are where we are in this country.
My father in law was a 19 year old PFC in the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima. He was set to be part of the first wave of the invasion of Japan, and did serve in the occupation on the island where Nagasaki is located. He died 40 years ago, and would have been 99 this summer. He saw things and did things none of us should ever have to see or do, and because of him and the millions of others, we did not have to. Now look at our fellow countrymen who follow a person and an ideology antithetical to everything this country stands for.
The WWII folks really were the Greatest Generation. I believe that with all my heart. Charlie Sykes yesterday also called them the “unentitled generation.” That is SO true. The ones who survived just came back and lived their lives expecting nothing in return. We owe them a debt of gratitude. The least we can do is do our best to repel the fascists and Putin friends in our midst.
I never thought we would be in such a horrible place as a country. Rick, with your platform, keep up the good fight. Thank you.
Beautifully written. I believe that we can still do big things. It just takes so much energy to overcome the inertia created by everyday comforts and challenges. But once we're 'awake' Americans are very capable of accepting the hardest tasks and rising to master them.
So glad to see the effort made by Biden and others to pay homage to those who lost their lives at Normandy, acknowledging the sadness of their families back then, and now. Genuine heroes doing the right thing as best they could. Never forget!
"against all odds, we fought for and preserved America"
========
Against all odds? Is MAGA really such a mighty and indomitable force?
A scrum of mouth-breathing yahoos riled up by a vain craptastic con man, is, though toxic, not exactly the Luftwaffe
I pray you are right, Jim. But most of the media and many of the courts(see Supreme Court in my view) are aiding and abetting the yahoos in a big way.
I'm not saying I like it, or that he won't win, or that it won't be destructive if he does, or that shitty people aren't being shitty, or that we don't need to push against it.
But the fact that I'm needing to make the point not once but twice - that none of this is akin to taking Omaha Beach amid massive machine gun fire, and that Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler, and, really, you don't need to "pray for it" to be thus - is highly disconcerting.
We Americans are so rich and comfortable and complacent that we've lost all sense of perspective. Mere suboptimality for us feels like Kristallnacht felt for our grandparents.
I think metaphorically it is like taking Omaha Beach because if Trump gets elected it is the end of life and our world as we once knew it.
Some of us remember the Left saying the same at the prospect of Reagan and GWB as presidents. And the Right says the same about another Biden term. Americans need to stop allowing themselves to be spun into irrational DEFCON 1 level fear by parties with a financial stake in their attentive terror. I'd suggest turning off the cable news and Twitter.
I'm keenly aware of what Trump presents. I'm not missing an iota of it. But "end of life and our world as we once knew it" makes you sound like a Fox News viewer. It's over the top by a factor of 10,000.
A Trump presidency would suck. You will survive. Citizens of Turkey and Hungary and China live normal lives. Most Russians (if they're not drafted) do likewise. It's not optimal. By all means, let's aim for (and fight for) optimality, but while keeping a sane perspective.
Your great-grandparents, who seethe in jealousy at the way you live - your freedom and comfort and ease and security - wince at your lack of gratitude for living in utopia.
I voted for Reagan and GWB. I don't watch cable news, or do Twitter. I read extensively, people like Rick , Anne Applebaum and Ruth Ben Ghiat. I don't know how you know that people in Turkey and Hungary and China live "normal" lives. How is "normal" judged by you? I'm not going to assume anything about you based on your name but I've had male colleagues who tell me "Iife won't change much for them under Trump". It will change for me though and for the poor and for people in marginalized communities and more importantly for my children. Having lived and traveled abroad, I am grateful every day for living in "utopia" and I'd like to keep the hard fought freedoms we have. Americans have never lived under facism and the rest of the world has not experienced an America under facism, so yes it would be the end of a way of life as we once knew them. Of course losing your head with worry over it doesn't help, action does.
Remember what Trump did when he went to France for WWI - 100th anniversary marking the end of that war, at the war memorial he called the fallen "losers and suckers." Don't know how anyone could cast a vote for this man. He is not only despicable, he is a man without a soul, without empathy for those who sacrificed the ultimate, without basic care and compassion. He is a disgrace to this nation. I hope the families of those who served in all military since realize the despicable person he is, and vote accordingly. Whether you agree with the policies of Joe Biden or not - he is a decent man, a man whose son actually served, whose family actually sacrificed. Unlike Golden Spoon Don and His Family. The memory of those veterans who served this country deserve better.
won
I know it's too late now to do so, but I think the first 10 minutes of Saving Private Ryan should be played in both houses of Congress. Make it a mandatory meeting. Force people like Tommy Tuberville, Ronny Jackson, Scot Perry, Margery Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, Mike Johnson, and so many more to sit and watch the carnage of Omaha Beach, of Utah Beach. Then ask them if supporting the criminal running for the highest office is worthy of our attention much less following him. It's days like this that reminds us of what our parents and grandparents sacrificed when asked to. Tom Brokaw popurlized the term The Greatest Generation, and it is true.
My generation was asked to sacrifice for Viet Nam and we lost many of our young men and women to a war that was sold to us as necessary. The idea that Nixon and Kissinger would go to the North Vietnamese leaders and ask them to extend the war until after Nixon was elected was a turning point for a whole generation. We turned away from trusting our government. We changed the way we thought about our government and it serving us. We became disillusioned with the America our parent's generation sacrificed for.
My heart breaks when I read about D-Day. It breaks when I read about Eisenhower's agonizing over decisions about the D-Day invasion. And it breaks even more when I hear the MAGA caucus sharing Russian talking points on the floor of our congress. We have become fatigued by the chaos of Trump. We have become complacent and lazy about our democracy because of the easy life our parents sacrificed to give us. We've taught our children that they are the most important person in the room without teaching them that collectively we have responsibilities to give something back. We haven't taught them that we are so much more powerful working together and can take on any threat to our country. We must do better. We must convince our children that our democracy was worth D-Day's sacrifices. That our way of life isn't indestructible. That our country is faltering and it's up to all of us to collectively vote to save it. Otherwise D-Day wasn't important enough for us to care.
The problem is that the GOP mouthbreathers you mention imagine themselves striding side-by-side along those men on Omaha Beach as leaders. Drug addiction, malignant narcissism and delusion play highly in their brain space. That is what they are, and MAGA loves them for it.
thank you Carol, well said
thank you
Very well said. Bravo!
Thank you.
With a father who piloted a B-26 (The Daisy Mae) from England to France 96 times, who was awarded two silver stars and three bronze to defeat the original fascists, I'm prepared to do everything that's necessary to defeat the domestic ones, now.
How could I do anything less?
I, too, remain “militantly optimistic.” Our family lost too much over too many centuries to be otherwise. Thanks for these words on this solemn day.
This is exactly how I feel, only stated much more skillfully. We are being called to this moment, and it's my hope that when it becomes apparent of just how much we have to lose, the much to silent majority in this country wakes up and defends what we were given...with vigor.