It Takes A Village – VNV Saturday: Nevertheless, We Persist 2/18/17

February 18, 2017 DoReMI It Takes a Village 43

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Tonight/this morning, my two 70+ pound basset hounds decided the most comfy place to sleep was across my chest and legs. While they were snoring contentedly, I was far from comfortable or content; result = a Saturday HNV. This is a just a random collection of quotes and images that have been on my mind lately; add your own thoughts, images, tweets, and wisdom for the ages.

It’s becoming clear that the actions of ICE and CBP agents are a feature, not a bug, of their employment. When the crackdowns at airports first started, I wanted to believe that some of the agents were merely taking matters into their own, bigoted hands. However, I now believe that the culture of the agencies attracts and encourages such behavior, and so I include a prescient quote from Justice John Marshall Harlan, from his 1896 dissent to the Plessy v Ferguson decision:

Sixty millions of whites are in no danger from the presence here of 8 million blacks. The destinies of the two races in this country are indissolubly linked together, and the interests of both require that the common government of all shall not permit the seeds of race hate to be planted under the sanction of law. What can more certainly arouse race hate, what more certainly create and perpetuate a feeling of distrust between these races than state enactments, which, in fact, proceed on the ground that colored citizens are so inferior and degraded that they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied by white citizens? That, as all will admit, is the real meaning of such legislation as was enacted in Louisiana.

I’ve also been reading Dr. William Barber’s new book, The Third Reconstruction. He writes:

…my first fight…was forcing me to develop a new imagination for social engagement that was built upon a fundamental commitment to the necessity of moral dissent. …In a movement based upon moral dissent, defeat does not cause us to doubt our purpose or question the ends toward which we strive. We do not belong to those who shrink back, for we know the tragic truth of history. When oppressed people shrink back, they always be forgotten and destroyed. Faith-rooted moral dissent requires that we always look forward toward the vision of what we know we were made to be.

In that vein, I’m including this tweet from a high school friend of my daughter:

(Transcript of video: Hey, y’all, it’s Jermaine! …Hey guys, so this morning I woke with a heavy heart, because of my current situation. And when I say current situation, I mean I’m a freelance graphic designer and illustrator; I’m self-employed and I’m working on a lot of big projects. And you know, I’m tired. I’m so, so tired. And I want to give up; I want to stop so bad. So the words that I’m saying to you right now, I’m saying for me too, because I need those words too. But I believe, I firmly believe in uplifting one another and exchanging positive messages, so that we can come together collectively and make the world a better place. So my message to you, my friend, is to not give up. Don’t give up. Realize the desire, the emotion of wanting to give up, to stop, is natural. And don’t suppress it. In fact, take it in your hand, mold it into something else; something powerful. So take that negative energy and mold it. Transform it into light. And use that light to put it inside you, and use it to empower you; to help you move forward. Even if you have to…sort of drag yourself to your destination. Knowing that you are infinitely valuable; that your dreams are just as valuable too. Knowing that the bigger your dreams, the harder you have to work; because you are infinitely valuable, you are worth every single tear you shed, every single sacrifice you make, and so are your dreams. So don’t stop dreaming. Don’t stop. Don’t give up. Whatever it is you’re going through, I promise you, you’ll get through this. You will. Don’t give up on your dream. Live completely. Live to the fullest extent of your being every single day. Don’t give up. You got this.)

About DoReMI 165 Articles
Now a Michigander, by way of Ohio, Illinois, Scotland, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Gardener. Sewer. Democrat. Resister.

43 Comments

  1. Ho, ho, DoReMi, love your tags! “Dog-induced insomnia”—-priceless. Thanks for the Saturday morning village post. It’s great to see so many friends here.

    Thanks also for the inspirational quotes today. Yes, it’s true we can’t give up, but on the other hand, we occasionally need time to recharge.

    Yesterday I confessed to my friends, all in their eighties, that I haven’t done as much for the Resistance as I should, owing to the demands of my personal life. “Relax,” they said. “You did all that in the seventies and the nineties. Now let the younger, more energetic people have a chance.” And it’s true: in the 1970s I marched toward the state capitol in Richmond for the Equal Rights Amendment and in the 1990s I defended women’s clinics, represented Virginia NARAL at our various local fairs, and served as vice-president of the board of Virginia NARAL. All that got me a mention in a book about pioneer feminists, but now I’m 73 and too lacking in energy even to go to the movies.

    There are other things I can do, and I will, but right now I’m tired. My grandchildren take a lot of my time. However, my formerly crappy slave-owning state has off-year elections, so I’ll be volunteering for my local delegate’s campaign this summer. And I may end up going door to door for Ralph Northam—anything to keep the governor’s office in Democratic hands!

    If the counties of Arlington, Fairfax (where I live), and Loudoun go Democratic, we carry the state! We are the most diverse, populous, and Democratic-inclined people in the Commonwealth. That’s a good enough reason to canvass for Democratic candidates.

    • Thank you for all your hard work for us women! I get so frustrated at my generation (Millennial) for their non-feminist bent. And so many White Women have allowed themselves to be duped and sold a poor bill of goods in not standing up vociferously for feminism and women and girls. I don’t even think they realize right now how much they’ll come to regret it. I think right now we’re at the precipice, we were about to make that final push over the mountain, but us younger women dropped the ball. Too many thought we already had equality and the fight was over. Too few failed to realize we’re not as equal as some would like to say and we still had to cement and entrench our gains. Now we’re sliding backward. I use the mountain analogy deliberately, in my opinion, what women of my generation were feeling is that lull in the battle or that little rest you take before you make your final push to get to the top, but that final push takes even more effort and energy. Women my age felt that lull, felt that weight come off and thought we had won, and in some ways abandoned the cause at the most critical moment, just as we needed them most and just as we were about to win.

  2. Morning Sherry…Thanks for the Saturday uplift…
    Morning everyone…57 here in Tampa at 8:30am …expected to hit 75 with 50% chance of thundershowers this afternoon..
    Prayers for all the people out in CA that are getting bombarded with heavy rains..

    • Good morning, Batch. Due to our record breaking temps this weekend, they’re predicting thundershowers in MPLS Monday. This is in lieu of our usual spring blizzards.

  3. Thank you, DoReMI for this post and thank you for sharing the soul-wise words from Jermaine. We all need to hear this often because it is true.

    • I thought Jermaine was effectively doing a video version of what our community does for us, and it hit a chord with me. (The fact that he’s a total sweetheart may have played a part too!)

      Fun tidbit: my daughter is getting married in October, and their wedding and reception are going to be a bit quirky/nerdy, just like my daughter and her fiancé. She want gifts for her bridesmaids that are equally outside of the box, so she commissioned Jermaine to do original artwork, with her bridesmaids as female superheroes. She sent him photos and brief descriptions of their interests/personalities; one is going to be Wonder Woman, one She Hulk…I’m not sure about the rest. I can’t wait to see them; he really is very talented.

  4. Morning everyone, light rain here in Atlanta. I’m also tired, from work, from two very emotional deaths last week, and very weary of the constant barrage of evil and hatred coming from the Orange House. Going tojust step back and unwind for a few days. There was discussion last night in the VUTB evening thread on DK about people gone missing. I’m trying to leave a few comments there each day, those people are allies for the most part and I think it’s worthwhile to keep in touch with them. Just my two cents worth.

  5. Oh and great opening Do-Re-Mi. A neat thing happened yesterday. As I was walking over to my neurologist’s office a woman going the other way said ‘Today’s a good day to wear purple’, which I was . So a few steps on I answered with ‘It’s always a good day to wear purple’ and we both walked away chuckling.

  6. {{{DoReMI}}} – thanks for both diaries. I haven’t read either one yet although I’ve dropped the lynx etc into the DK one. Not that the community needs are being paid any attention to. Not a cent on any of the fundraisers in over 10 days. sigh. Worried about gtghawaii and jtg – the former needs March rent and the latter has some utility bills coming up before the end of the month. Well, heck, worried about all of them but those two are the “urgent of the moment” ones. double sigh. (I’m making comments over in the Evening Edition that may get me into trouble if there’s a bro lurking. It would almost be a relief if they clobber me. Then I couldn’t be responsible for trying to get help to those in need. It wouldn’t help them of course and I’d feel guilty about it. But it would literally be out of my hands.)

    Oh well. I need to deal with emails and kosmails then get some shopping done. The kittehs and I still need to eat, no matter what’s going on in the world. But I’ll be back as soon as I can to read and join the conversation. Thank you again so much for the Saturday Editions – both places.

    • {{{{bfitz}}}} You’ve been carrying a huge responsibility with the helping posts (both the admin side, keeping track, updates, posting – and the human caring side). I know that I, along with many people who read them want to help, but are tapped out, or trying to stash a bit extra away for the apocalypse. You’ve been a real soldier and it’s OK to stop if you have to. The universe will realign to give others a chance to help.
      You’re a good person, Ma’am.

      • Well, thank you. And I know there are a lot of folks who do care but can’t help for one reason or another. Half the people on my current list used to be fundraisers and donors then Life Happened and here they are. But I started doing this because with DK5 nothing stays on the sidebar long enough to meet a fundraiser goal unless the person in question is as well-known as a front pager like teacherken – and his for medical bills before the election is the only one I’ve seen actually do that in years.

        While PDNC and Aji both have goals that are harder to get ($30K and above), the rest on my list are 4-digit at most. 3 or 4 years ago we’d have done them in a single major push and that would have been that. So it’s either DK becomes a place that doesn’t “take care of its own” any longer – which is unfortunately likely – or someone like me manages to grab the links and paste them in multiple places at multiple times so people see them. sigh.

        That said – should we manage to take care of everybody on the current list, I don’t think I will continue to do anything this time consuming on it. And if somebody else wants to pick up the torch, they may have it with my blessing. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Good morning and thanks DoReMI! I’m taking Belle to the vet for a check up this morning, and as she has been pretty feisty on previous visits (to the point of drawing blood) I’m trying a sedative first. Will see how it goes!

  8. Good Morning Pond Dwellers! 51 and cloudy right now in Sacramento. I’m hoping to take a walk while it’s “dry”. Thank you for the diary, Doremi. I’ve wanted a Bassett hound for ages. I thought I’d call him Flash.

    • I had a Flash once! They really are wonderful dogs, as long as you aren’t looking for high-energy, easily-trained companions. But they are such lovers and clowns; we haven’t been without a basset in 30+ years. And boy, do they love cuddling. Our current two are always curled up with, around, on top of each other. They have bed privileges and are usually spooned up tight against us; I have no idea why they gave up spooning last night and added me as the base of the puppy pile. It was adorable for the first 15 minutes…!

  9. Thanks DoReMI, great post and tags, have all 6 gran children for the weekend, hopefully the Masses will come to realization that this Regime doesn’t represent the Majority of Americans and that the VGIC is to be dealt with now, not in 2018.

  10. OK – sort of back – I’ve got to go write my Street Prophets diary. Considering the lack of movement on just about everything – even the recs I get for it usually come from Village folks on DK once I’ve put the new link in whatever Village diary is up – I’m not sure it’s worth it – but as I keep saying to everybody else (pay attention to yourself, woman) don’t give up. Stopping me is going to have to be somebody else’s choice, not mine. Back when I can. {{{Village Peeps}}}

    • Hey! I can tell this is really stressing you out :( And I can see how much it means to you and how hard you’re working on it. Maybe there’s another approach which won’t spread you so thin and take some of the stress off?

      I don’t know the history of what you’ve been doing so I don’t want to make recommendations of things that you’ve already tried or going back to where you’re evolved from, but maybe a ‘relaunch’? It seems like you post regularly on Wed/Sat so people know when to look and what to look for, but maybe a few of us could push and share the link in other diaries for a couple of weeks to see if we can drive more people to your Community Fundraising diaries? Also, what about some of the other communities which post regularly, would they be willing to have you post Community Lynx, or even just a link to one of your Kossaks in Need diaries? And the ‘relaunch’ could just be a quick paragraph comment in some other diaries explaining what you’re doing, trying to achieve and how people can ask for their own assistance if they need it?

      Let me know if I can help in any way :)

      • {{{cbd}}} – I’ve already got an abbreviated version of the community needs list I use in the Pootie diaries that includes the link to my most recent Street Prophets. Really the lengthy one I’ve used in the Village diaries was because so many of the people in the Village were new to DK and didn’t know the folks on my list. And by having the links to the diaries and fundraiser sites in the list comment it made it easier for folks to just go there. And that’s what happened when I first started doing it. The Village was the largest group made up of some of the newest people on DK – but also just about the caringest of the new people on DK. So it made sense to put the most information I could on the list I posted there. But I put the abbreviated one in the pootie diaries, other writers’ Street Prophets, anything Ojibwa posts that isn’t itself a fundraiser (he did a few for Native American candidates during the election), and usually in KTK. Starting tonight in the Evening Edition, I think I’m going to put the abbreviated one in the Village diaries as well.

        The community needs list is in two parts – the folks in need is the primary, but then attached to it is one of just the links to the fundraiser sites asking the social media people to share them out. The third one I do is Kos Katalogue – the folks listed on that one are either already on the community needs list or will be if they don’t get sales – and I’ve tried my best to figure out how to condense that one and draw a blank every time.

        All of that is replicated and expanded on in my twice-weekly Street Prophets diaries. Which only get traffic the day I post them – and only because I put the link to the new one in the Village diary and in the Pootie diary. Those are the folks who visit, rec, and sometimes comment and that’s it. If you can think of where else to put that link you always have my blessing on putting it wherever you think appropriate. I don’t know if it will generate more traffic there but it certainly can’t hurt. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  12. OK – not a political anything, but my solar panel system just “turned over” 10 megawatts for lifetime production! W00t! (yes, it took a while – it’s been online since the end of April 2014 – but still.) Making my little difference, one KWH at a time, right? heh.

  13. Hi hi! DoReMI I love your wonderful and uplifting diary! I think your pup must be am angel of inspiration in disguise. ;)

    I was listening to AM Joy this morning and one of her guests, it might have been John Dean but I don’t remember for certain, was talking about authoritarian personalities and remarked that while yes, Trump is no doubt an authoritarian, so too are his core base. Some authoritarians are leaders, but many are not, they are followers and want a leader, to tell them what to do and make their lives simple, solve all their problems (or make them think they are being solved). It struck me that this is not only Trump’s core, but a fairly high percentage of the hardcore Berners. And that authoritarian followers would never, and could never have followed HRC.

    I almost never remember to do the weather thing. It’s 82 (so they tell us) and sunny, yes in February. Tomorrow the sun is supposed to yield a little and by Monday we’ll be back to a likelihood of storms, which we had this past week as well. Our weather has been like a yo-yo crossed with a roller coaster. I don’t do well with cold at all but no winter temps is resulting in us having mosquitoes year round now instead of just summer.

    The Vonster and I went out to tool around in the sun for a bit, mostly errands but it including some walking (the length of Bayou Place and back, for any Houstonians here). We share a car and she works a regular 5 day week and has a fairly long commute both ways, so weekends are one of the few times I get out of the domicile. And I need to get out.

    It’s nice though having our Village at Moose Pond to return to. Good company and commiseration for the crazy times.

    • I think about the increasing political polarization and I worry, because I’m a big believer in reciprocity and I have no desire to meet conservative half way, to entertain their ideas or consider their viewpoints. I used to be willing to compromise with the ‘fiscal’ conservatives, as long as they stayed away from ‘social’ issues, but more and more I find their fiscal and business policies seem to be consistently wrong as well.

      I dunno, is this research correct? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/calling-truce-political-wars/ When it comes to liberals and conservatives are our brains just wired differently? And what does that mean for working together in a nation? The article speaks of the authoritarian tendency of conservatives you mention. It also speaks not only to the psychological differences between liberals and conservatives but the value differences as well.

      Looking at political issues facing nations such as the UK with Brexit and the US with Trump I’m beginning to wonder if the gap can be bridged or if we should even want to try and bridge the gap anymore. People are proud of being anti-intellectual, anti-expert, anti-experience, anti-knowledge. They take pleasure in hurting others and ‘liberal tears’ as they call them. They don’t want to change, but then, nor do I.

      A key theme I find running through Trump’s election and Brexit is that people are either incapable or uninterested in dealing with nuance, handling their emotional impulses or being self-aware and self-critical. There seems to be a very sharp division between those who want to operate in a simplistic world and those who have the capacity to engage with the larger world around.

      How do you overcome these differences? Can you?

      • Ah nuance…my biggest complaint about Bernie, his campaign and his supporters is that they seem to have no idea what that was…

      • I don’t know the answer (anyone surprised? ;)) but if a five minute look at that article can be acceptable, I’d say it’s probably generally true. I’ve seen similar theories put forth. Conservatives tend to be afraid and fear can lead to a lot of things, including hate, defensiveness, and a world outlook that sees “the other” as a threat.

        If you don’t automatically fear the other, or have enough compassion to bridge the gap, you may still have fears about life but you don’t tend to frame things the same way.

        Is it impossible to bridge the gap? Maybe. However there are always people who are not as far in one direction on the scale or the other, and those people can be influenced by personal, family and societal pressures and influences. What we’re seeing now (IMHO) is the back and forth adjustments of a society which is making course corrections. They don’t happen smoothly, it’s like a pendulum, more energy in one direction swings back with reciprocal energy in the other but eventually ( decades?) a new normal should be reached. We just might or might not live to see it.

        Things have already changed so very very fast in my own lifetime. We used to call it Future Shock. Things haven’t slowed down, quite the contrary and I expected this backlash, it’s just damned hard to live through and to see things swing back when we were so close to a brass ring I was very personally invested in. :P

      • We can’t overcome the differences because our brains are truly wired differently. But that doesn’t mean give up. The thing with the authoritarian group is that most of them are “law abiding” folks. So as Hillary said to the BLM group, we change policy and resource allocation. We change laws. And we make sure they are enforced because an unenforced law is in many ways worse than no law at all. If they notice at all, the conservatives will rant about “overreach” and so forth, but they will obey them.

        What we are dealing with right now is the Authority telling them they don’t have to obey them. They can let every mean, hurtful, nastiness infesting their souls run loose. And it’s why the nastier and more deplorable the person is, the more they support pvl45. That is equally why getting rid of pvl45 is very important – very legally, very law abidingly – because that will put them back into their law abiding space. The serious issue will then be who the authority is and what he tells them to do. pvl45 is not smart enough to be Hitler – but Bannon is and Pence might be. The reign of the Brown Shirts stops with pvl45. Whether or not it’s followed by the reign of the SS will depend on who grabs the reins when pvl45 lets go of them. Once pvl45 is gone we will return to Rule of Law as far as the conservatives are concerned and it doesn’t matter if they ever understand about the importance of “promote the general welfare” – they will do it if it’s law. So primary importance is to position our team to be able to enforce the law (and restore it if necessary) and secondary is legally get rid of pvl45.

    • {{{MomentaryGrace}}} – it’s been so long since I’ve lived in Houston I haven’t a clue where anything is any more. Too many maps of different places superimposed over the map of Houston at this point. Glad you could get out and enjoy the weather. February is the only time I remember Houston ever being cold. Ice storms I remember in February – and that did take down the mosquitoes temporarily.

      And yes, the berners are authoritarians – that type of personality works very well in the military. Everybody has his rank – who he obeys and who he bosses – very secure. And no, they won’t follow Hillary or anyone like her partly because she really wants to do away with rank and have everyone both be equal under the law and rise as far as their work and talent will take them. Very insecure to those who need to know who to obey and who they can boss.

      The Moose Pond is very calming and supportive. It’s why my first thought when things started blowing up at DK was to see if we could rebuild here. I need this kind of atmosphere to be able to do my part in the Resistance. A strong and supportive community watches each others’ backs – over at DK right now we have to watch our own, but here – well, I think once we’re strong enough we will be able to use the Village like a sallyport. Think up Resistance things to do here in the safety of the Moose Pond Village, sally forth to do them, then beat it back here to think up something else to do out there. :) moar {{{HUGS}}} – including {{{VonsterTX}}}

    • It’s interesting, because I think a lot of people on DK had similar views about Obama in 2008-2009. They wanted him to tell them what to do, and solve their problems (chiefly Wall Street), but I think they fundamentally misunderstood who he was and the type of leader he was.

      • I agree completely. He was/is ahead of his time but I feel like we were lucky to get that sojourn in what I hope the future is more like, and I don’t mean the GOP obstruction. ;P

      • Absolutely – President Obama being a progressive dealing with an economic emergency was not the authoritarian they hoped they’d elected. It was the beginning of the rox/sux wars that drove so many people from DK in a previous migration. I’m beginning to wonder if Kos himself doesn’t have that problem. He is ex-military and unless there is a serious mental/emotional readjustment when they leave the service, it can stick with them.

        • {{{bfitz, Momentary Grace, basket}}} excellent conversation about authoritarianism. Each of you offered insights that I find intriguing.

          I’ve gotten half way through writing several profound comments in reply, but just decided, “nope, it’s Saturday night and I can’t do it justice while multitasking eating frozen yogurt and watching cartoons.”

      • Spot on bfitz. Almost from the moment President Obama was elected DK became very critical of him. I was dismayed by the venom directed at him. Many good folks were driven off the site, or just left. I remember how they hounded Black Water Dog for posting Obama photo diaries.

        • Addendum to my comment above:
          The Moose Pond is welcoming and supportive. I’m grateful to have landed here.

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