Democracy – Page 3 – Susan Feathers

Personal Resources to Survive Defending America’s Republic

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

~ Rosa Parks from “Quiet Strength: the Faith, the Hope, and the Heart of a Woman Who Changed a Nation” (2000) by Rosa Parks with Gregory J. Reed

To feed the soul and the mind, I recommend deep reading during these winter months. Support independent bookstores by using Bookshop.org.

One of the best resources for American Democracy is the nonpartisan National Constitution Center. They have a podcast, We the People, and Town Halls which bring together the best minds in history and law to discuss important topics related to our Republic.

Heather Cox Richardson, a Professor of American History and author of Letters from An American (Substack.com). Heather also does an informal response to readers questions on her Facebook account on Tuesday afternoons.

Timothy Snyder, a Professor of History with focus on Russia, Ukraine and international relations, is most available on his Substack.com account but if you go to YouTube, type in his name in the search function and numerous interviews and presentations pop up. Be sure to watch and listen to those about his small but popular book, On Tyranny. It is a guide to recognize when autocracy threatens democracies and what actions to take.

Anne Applebaum, a journalist, author and historian with focus on autocratic governments and their rise and defeat. Anne is a leading authority on autocracies and one of the clearest thinkers of our time.

Robert Reich’s Substack on January 2 posted this argument that federal courts will be key firewalls to unconstitutional actions by the President and his unelected advisors, Musk and Ramaswamy, through their Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E). Important to review.

Preparation for Action

One of the first things I did as I understood that an autocrat and movement were elected to lead this great nation, was to sit down and make a document with the contact information for my city council, state delegates, federal Congresspersons and Senators, AND identified the MAGA reps assigned to national cabinet positions and key committees in the House and Senate. Having these handy makes it easy and timely for contacting people in positions with power to make wise decisions to protect the nation.

Personally, I have upped my walking to keep in shape and in beautiful places to inspire me and to reduce stress.

Taking Action

We are encouraged to join with a group or form one for moral and social support. Second, we are encouraged to work on the state and local levels in any area of our working democracy that you feel you would like to work to protect and strengthen. For example, you may have concerns about public schools remaining the bedrock of democratic values. Attend the meetings and consider running for a place on the board.

Another example is my own: I am an environmental educator with concerns about the land, waters, and air quality in Virginia. So I joined a conservation organization, LynnhavenRiverNOW.org. They sponsored a half-day introduction to conservation issues for the State. I have signed up to take a bus to Richmond in January to lobby my delegates in the VA Assembly.

Inspiration to Endure

UPDATE [DECEMBER 31, 2024]: Clay Jenkins on NPR today discussed how people can creatively make the next four years outstanding. I highly recommend listening to this broadcast! It is for everyone, no politics.

“A Survival Guide for the Next Four Years!”

Read or listen to great writers about history, democracy, and topics that give you a broad perspective on our nation’s path to freedom. Read about the guardrails our founding fathers put in place in the Constitution to ward off autocratic threats which arise when a people describe everyone as equal under the law and endowed with unalienable rights.

Attend community discussions about these issues. Be willing to offer your perspective, with respect for all points of view.

If you are a person of faith, read from the inspirational texts of that faith, or read and discuss the tenets and truths of people you respect and admire that refocus your mind for improving your own character.

Keep a curious and good sense of humor! Humor that reminds all of us to not take ourselves too seriously or reminds us of the pit traps of our own thought process. Humor that degrades others is simply tyranny.

In all of this, recall that our Republic is founded on religious freedom, separation between church and state (based on centuries of oppression and violence by the churches in Western Europe.) Keep the faith, keep it to yourself. Let your example be your persuasion.

I leave you with the words of President Eisenhower that are very relevant today as Donald Trump and a cohort of billionaires with personal interests in government contracts come to power. Right now, it seems like everything we cherish is up for grabs by unqualified people. Get yourself ready to wage truth.

Voices for Mother Earth

“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (from goodreads)

“Our challenge is to create a new language, even a new sense of what it is to be human. It is to transcend not only national limitations, but even our species isolation, to enter into the larger community of living species. This brings about a completely new sense of reality and value.” (Thomas Berry, “The Ecological Age,” in The Dream of the Earth, 42). https://thomasberry.org/quotes/

Photo by Susan Feathers at Virginia Beach Botanical Garden Hydrangea Park

M. Scott Momaday, reading his poetry, A Man Made of Words.

Scott’s understanding of language arises from his deep conversation with the land of the Kiowa. He received the Pulitzer Prize with his first novel, The House Made of Dawn.

To read or listen to powerful voices of people who have devoted their lives to celebrating the Earth is to heal and to find our way home. Each offers us solace and a direction for our lives as we anticipate times of destruction in America and around the world. Earth teaches us to live in community, to know each other and to be in reciprocal relationship with each other and all of life around us. I highly recommend these great teachers, each of whom has helped me understand a way forward in uncertain times. They offer hope and a longer point of view than ephemeral politics. They are an antidote to avarice. We need this deep resonance now to stabalize our spirits and our collective wish for unity, equality and peace.

Listening

Here is a brilliant conversation between Robin Wall Kimmerer and Emanuel Vaughn Lee of Emergence Magazine. Robin describes the wonderful serviceberry tree and what she has learned from its generosity. I also recommend Emergence Magazine for its films from artists and thought leaders across our great planet. I go there frequently to keep the balance.

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimerer. I am awaiting my copy!

Down Ballot Races Tell a Story

To readers: I recommend Heather Cox Richardson and Timothy Snyder as historians and active citizens – as people who can provide trustworthy guidance as we move into a period. While we are entering a stark reality in he U.S.A., there is still much we can do to protect democracy, and there are long term strategies to protect the nearly 250 years of progress toward equality for all and the rule of law. In fact, if we do not engage in protecting this progress, we may lose it all.

What American Voters Actually Voted For

In state governments citizens voted to restore or protect abortion rights for women’s health; better wages; higher taxes on super wealthy, equality under the law, protection of workers’ rights. Voters also voted for climate mitigation and green energy development. Americans voted to protect right to fair voting rules. This is what Americans voted for on both sides of the political ticket.

Why did more than half of them then vote for Trump? They were deceived. Disinformation created a picture that by voting for the MAGA movement you would get all those things. They are in for a big disappointment.

We don’t have to stand by while Trump and his cronies hack away at democratic institutions and use violence against the American people.

We are entering a period of potential internal destruction/reconstruction of our governing structure (with the wealthiest men in the world in charge now) with promises to withdraw from international leadership (even participating at all) with other countries working together to keep a rules-based system of world peace. We’ll be cronies with Putin and the like. We are probably entering a period of isolation from other democracies while the new governance forms partnerships and deals with other autocracies that increase their power and individual wealth.

Trump promises to withdraw from the climate accords and he and the elected party deny that climate change is real. Call your Senators and Representatives to let them know you do not support this, even if they are MAGA recruits.

So we have some slivers of light and hope. On the local and state levels we can start building coalitions as a stabilizing force to what is happening federally. Many states are already working on this. Call your representatives.

All over the country we are witnessing right wing leaders declaring loyalty to Trump: “He is always right. Whatever he tells me to do, I will do it.” This is an acute sign of impending autocratic rule. Right from the play book.

Timothy Snyder, Yale professor of history, and author of On Tyranny and most recently On Freedom, calls this ‘obeying in advance’ to the dictator.

What can we do? We get in touch with our Senators and Representatives to tell them no, we do not believe this is right. We need to do this now. Also, create communities. Work together. You are probably already in one or more that have been active on one or more of these aspects of democratic governance.

Unqualified individuals and cronies of Trump are moving into powerful position such as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense (heading up our entire miliary establishment). Shout from the mountain tops that you do not agree and will not support it!!!!!

Remember, Kamala and Tim built a large coalition of democracy-loving citizens from left, right and center.

We must now step up together to defend our country.

Check out a Politics Chat with Heather Cox Richardson

See below this instructive set of short videos from Timothy Snyder.

Daughter’s Lament to Her Father on Veterans Day and Loss of Democracy

In a timely interview by Jon Stewart with Heather Cox Richardson, the historian reflects on how Americans chose an autocracy as our form of government, and then reflected that we have witnessed the end of the American century.

In that century Americans rose to the moment to protect America by joining free nations in the world to overcome autocracies led by Nazi Germany who strove to establish a white Christian oligarchy and rule by a few powerful men.

Richardson is a respected historian of history who publishes Letters from An Americans on Substack in which millions of readers learn to interpret the present moment in politics by understanding our history. She has become an island of sanity in the stream of disinformation on social media and legacy media. Richardson observes that voters in a “swirl of disinformation” voted for something they do not expect. In fact we elected an autocrat with eyes on dismantling our institutions that protect our democracy.

On this Veteran’s Day, how can I go to my father’s memory – a man who fought in WWII as a B-29 pilot and then came back to our democracy and served for another 22 years as an Air Force officer – now that we just threw away the country, the democracy, for which he risked his life and defended at great risk against autocracies that threatened the world?

We lost our democracy on November 5, 2024.

The truth is that Kamala Harris ran a strongly democratic campaign in a centrist coalition which gained Republicans, independents, and a diverse electorate in the belief that a majority of people with agency, doing the best for as many as possible, can continue a lasting, democracy. [This is a paraphrase from Heather Cox Richardson.]

I highly recommend to Americans who voted for democracy to listen and relisten to this interview by Jon Stewart with Heather Cox Richardson to understand what was lost and how we might organize to restore democracy to the United States of America. It will be the long game.

This, then, is my tribute to all the Veterans – to the memory of my father, Edward B. Feathers, Colonel, US Air Force and recipient of the Air Medal of the Army Air Corp (now the Air Force)- who risked their lives in defense of democracy as did Veterans throughout our history. I pledge to you to devote what is left of my life to gain back the democracy we have lost.

WWII Veteran, my father, Edward B. Feathers

The FDR era comes to an end. Bill McKibben, Substack

It is about the Constitution

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generations. John F. Kennedy

Will the peaceful transfer of power and the rule of law prevail in the United States of America?

Dear Readers, America is at the brink.

How a candidate more UNqualified to lead this nation, and a man who committed crimes against the country, when he incited an insurrection, EVER WAS PRESIDENT continues to baffle me.

Autocracy is a creeping malice that begins when Americans forget their obligation to think for themselves, to learn the truth and speak their minds about that truth. To be an American takes effort on everyone’s part.

It saddens me that in today’s America we have forced candidates to speak about what they will give us, what they will do for us. We no longer discuss what we should be collectively under the mantle of this great nation’s mandate: All people are created equal and leaders govern under the consent of the people. We have obligations and responsibilities to keep democracy strong, as well as having rights.

No one has said this better than a notable Republican Judge. Michael Luttig was appointed by George H.W. Bush and served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1991 to 2006. Here is the link to his recent Opinion in the New York Times. I encourage readers to take time to read it.

NY Times Opinion by the Honorable Micael Luttig

Sit with Yourself Before You Vote

Before you vote, sit with yourself in quietude – if possible. Think about which candidate represents your values. Which candidate has earned the right to lead a representative democracy based on consent of the governed, the rule of law, and the belief that no one is above the law?

Who shows the character and knowledge (experience) to represent us at home and abroad? Who is consistent in the values that govern their public life?

Who lifts people up? Who presents a positive vision of who we are and where our nation can go together? Who brings us together without putting people down? Finally, who would you bring home to meet your mother?

Actions speak louder than words. As President John Adams once famously wrote from the newly built White House: “I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”

Our world is changing. Don’t miss the chance to be a part of assuring our nation continues on its long and hopeful path as the flagship of democracy.

STOP, WAIT, CONSIDER.

Renascence of a Republic

“Remember the ladies… Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.” ~ Abigail Adams

One of the treasures of the early American Republic is Abigail Adams, First Lady with President John Adams. She wrote a trove of letters to her husband John during the colonies’ break with Britain and the subsequent American Revolution. She endured President Adam’s long absences as he worked to finance the revolution and then later to construct a binding set of prinicples and laws that would help a new democracy sustain itself and grow. It was a formative time in our nation’s hsitory without the pomp and circumstance we modern Americans expect. The White House was but a dirty shell without furniture or amenities. Building continued during Adams’s Presidency, accomplished by enslaved people in sight of the symbols of freedom and equality.

Now consider that Abraham Lincoln held that the central principle of a democracy is consent of the governed. Consent he said derived from this: If I would not be a slave, so I must not enslave any person. Lincoln called this the “sheet anchor” of the Republic. This is realized through each person’s morality, that we consent to not impose any rule on another person without their consent. This creates high expectations on all Americans to live up to the principals outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If I want my freedom of speech protected, I must protect every other person’s right to free speech.

The keystone of our American Democracy lay with the virtues or mores that each citizen must possess to fully engage in a democratic form of governance.

Without these guidewires, democracies risk the rise of despots who would misuse the words of freedom to their own selfish ends. This was the caution Abigail gave to John Adams. Women are providing strong leadership today. Kamala Harris is such a woman. She has a keen sense of humor and eagle eye for connivers and crooks and possesses the clarity and will to stand up for the truth without fear. We witnessed this in the only debate with Trump.

Such women are changemakers.

In the American body politic people’s common sense is kicking in as we are daily shocked by the ravages and rantings of what has become a diminished Republican Party and home to authoritarians.

Over time we have allowed people and parties and other countries to chip away at our democratic norms, twisting their meaning, denigrating their importance.

Republicans of the grand old party are joining Kamala and Tim to prevent men and women who have lost their moral compass and whose behavior is outside the boundaries (democratic norms) that leaders of a democracy must possess.

As more and more citizens join The Party of Opportunity, a new consensus is forming that is center of left and center of right. At least each shares a belief in the principles inherent in democracy and the Constitution – the expected norms by which we operate, legislate, and govern ourselves.

If we can take this yearning for truth and decency, to form a body politic that works together on behalf of all of us, then we may rise again as the most vibrant hope for a democratic way of life on Earth.

It’s possible we might even rescue civil discourse.

Sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico. Photo by Susan Feathers

All things come ’round to the Truth, eventually.

Last night at the Democratic National Convention, I saw Americans from all “walks of life” coming together for one purpose: saving democracy as our form of governance.

It once was true that political conventions were showcases of different ideas on how to improve our democracy. Now, because of a mutant form of the Republican party, our task is about saving all that Americans have built together for nearly 250 years of striving for a more perfect union.

Liberals, conservatives, independents and all —over two and a half centuries of blood, sweat and tears — are coalescing around Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to repair and strengthen our ship of state. Joe Biden’s team saved us from the brink of disaster. Now, we must come together for Harris and Walz.

Photo by Manfred Hu00f6nig on Pexels.com

Think of our nation as a grand sailing vessel, sails full and straining for the horizon. We are all on that ship together, but there is rot in the hull below the waterline. Joe Biden and freedom-loving congresswomen and men, are reaming out the rotten planks and replacing them with solid oak, rebuilding what has been torn down. We are coming together to be more weatherly!

Weatherly!

Let’s elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to be the next Captains and fill our crew with strong sailers who know what it means to work together. We have a destiny. We have a map, and, the winds are in our favor!

VOTE.GOV

Kamala Harris Campaign Site

Republicans for Harris – some prominent Repubicans are encouraging Republicans who can’t vote for Trump to vote for Harris whether you agree with the platform or not. This is to bring a ground swell that pushes back on lies and threats and a wrong direction for people living in a democracy.

Vote Forward: Get out the vote! I like this group because they don’t tell people who to vote for, just to vote as part of your responsibility in a democracy.

Let’s bring our Ship of State round about and sail closed hauled into the sunrise of destiny on the American Democratic Adventure!

Photo by Susan Feathers, Gulf Islands National Seashore

The Warp and Woof of Democracy

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. ~ Abraham Lincoln

I’ve tasked myself with reading more about our history and our changemakers. In Our Ancient Faith by Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln is preparing for a debate with Frederick Douglas and jots down this idea above.

Democracy at its root is relational.

If an indiviudal would not be a slave, he must not deny the same to others. Consent of the governed is the fundamental principal on which our government carries forth the will of the people.

In these very turbulent times, most recently demonstrated in a violent asassination attempt on the life of former President Trump, the nation has paused to consider how this could happen and what caused the youmg man to engage in such an act. We also reexamine how separated we have become, how violent rhetoric has caused people to distrust each other exemplified in the last seven years of political divide, vitrieolic language and extreme othering.

Lulu Garcia-Navarre revisits Robert Putnam’s study of the state of our Republic in the New York Times (July 14, 2024). In light of a new 2oth year edition of his book Bowling Alone, updated to include social media, they discuss why there has been little progress, even worsening separation among us, deepening the loneliness epidemic and consequent fear of each other.

Putnam discusses Alexis de Tocqueville‘s famous studies of American democracy published in 1835 and 1840. He observed that we were joiners – members of dozens of clubs and group affiliations. We were intensely relational including both close relationships and more social relations from hunting to sewing clubs, societies and guilds.

Garcia-Navarre and Putnam exmine how these kinds of relationships over the life of a citizen facilitate democracy. This brings me full circle to consider how Abraham Lincoln described democracy as relational. If I would not be a slave, I would not be a master.

Would more frequent nonpolitical relating to each other prevent the growth of misunderstanding and mistrust among us?

I encourage you to listen or read the article.

Related to this is how our founders understood morality. Founders thought about how each person manages oneself: restraint, kindness, courtesy, honesty, etc. It had nothing to do with the imposition of values on free citizens. To founders it was about improving oneself and continually self correcting by personal inventory over a lifetime of striving to be the best person possible. Self management.

Perhaps this is honed in an array of relationships throughout our lifetimes and that is why we see a weakened American democracy for which our relational lives is its essence. See the National Constitution Center’s discussion of how our founders thought about morality as self control and self management. Character.

Our rights and duties to engage in Civil Dialogue is at the heart of democracy.

What do you think? Leave a comment so that we can discuss this matter.

IT IS BIDEN: LEADERSHIP & WISDOM

Biden at the 75th Anniversary of the founding of NATO, our great alliance of democraces across the Atlantic, delivers a powerful message. I am solidly behind President Biden as the leader who has the greatest vision of America’s role at home and in the world. Let him lead: elect him to a second term to finish his vision of a free world and more just America, ready and able to help stem climate impacts and secure America’s and the world’s futures.

Biden’s Record: A Great President

Heather Cox Richardson’s July 9 Substack Letter reviews Biden Administration’s accomplishments from the viewpoint of a historian as opposed to “horse race” media reporting.

The most consequential investment in renewable energy and justice for Energy Transistion required to secure American families and the world community during climate change. It is underway and already transforming communities across America while employing Americans in great jobs at unprecented rates. States, red and blue, are benefitting economically.

A record of high jobs creation, low unemployment and business growth. Support of workers’ rights, wages and benefits, and support of unions. Inflation is low and steady.

Legislation to reduce college debt, improve health care, support families and children through reduction of poverty; calling out companies that drain wealth from families through high interest rates and inflated costs of products and services. Reduction of the high cost of pharmaceuticals, and allowances for Medicare to negotiate the cost of life-saving drugs for all Americans.

Standing for the rights of LGBTQ and Transgender individuals to the protections of the Constitution as citizens with equal rights to the bounties of citizenship and the community of a freedom-loving people.

Maintaining the separation of church and state as a fundamental tenet of the U.S. Constitution since its founding.

Unwavering support for women’s reproductive rights and healthcare. This is one of the most important protections of women’s rights now struck down by a partisan Supreme Court. Biden promises to sign reproductive rights into law when reelected for a second term. This is about health and freedom of choice.

Assertive foreign policy with NATO and in new alliances in the Global South and among Pacific allies to protect democracy across the world. Unflinching commitment to support Ukraine in its justified defense against unprovoked aggression by Russia. Biden will continue to support Ukraine to victory with a strong NATO commitment. NATO has grown stronger, adding new countries in Europe during Biden’s term of office. Support for Israel while negotiating for justice for Palestinians in Gaza. We are safer with Biden’s leadership. He has the long vision younger Americans do not possess at this critical time in history. This is the time to support wisdom and experience.

Call me an optimist, but to me Americans “get” all this and will come through to victory against the second internal threat to our democracy in recent history with Trump and the MAGA Republicans. This is not supposition. We experienced four years of Trump in the White House and its termination with an insurrection in the Capitol and assault against the rule of law by convicted criminals. The latter is only the latest odd ball and dangerous internal grab for power and suppression of liberty among our people seen from time to time in America’s history. Recall: the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Now we are the watchmen and we must not fail Liberty.

America is about the steady and determined growth toward plurality and diversity as promised in our founding documents and principles. We are about the steady march to freedom and liberty for all. We have stumbled in the past and sometimes lost that vision, but in this time, in this place in history the future of life on Earth is at stake. Its too high a danger to fail now.