Social & Political

Election Connection – Breaking News: Librarian of Congress Fired

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Carla Hayden, who was set to complete her term next year has been fired by the President as part of his rampage against “DEI” and “woke ideology”. [Those terms are in quotations because I feel the White House and many Republicans in Congress do not understand what those words mean, nor do they understand the function of the LIbrary of Congress.] The White House Press Secretary claimed it was for putting inappropriate books on the shelves for children. Anyone who understands how the Library of Congress operates (clearly not the Press Secretary or the President), understands that the LIbrary of Congress is not a circulating library. Research is done there, books do not leave the building, and children do not use the library other than to visit and see how the library operates.

The Library of Congress is responsible for receiving two of every book published. Every. Book. This is a function of its role in administering copyright law. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country, and has been known to be apolitical to the point that Ms. Hayden is only the fourteenth librarian since 1802.

Library of Congress Carla Hayden fired.

Library of Congress, official

Library of Congress: Ask a Librarian

Library of Congress, wikipedia

May I?

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As I mengtioned on Thursday, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. There’s also May Day, and May the Fourth, and Cinco de Mayo. Plus college graduations, Memorial Day, and the “official” start of summer.

Today is three spcial days that should be acknowleged and observed, each with their own reverences.

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Sybil Ludington’s Ride and the Erasure of Women

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Today, in 1777, two years after Paul Revere’s famous ride, at age 16, Sybil Ludington rode all night on horseback, forty miles to rally militiamen after the Brits burned down Danbury, Connecticut. Whether the ride occurred has been in question since about 1956. The accounts of the ride come from the Ludington family, possibly in an effort to promote tourism.

Last week in talking about Revere, I asked who will warn us this time? I linked to the Alt National Park Service, an invaluable source for what is going on in this administration – clarifications, corrections and call outs of the lies and falsehoods perpetuated since before Election Day.

In reference to Sybil Ludington, I have the same questions. On social media we’re told of the women, so many women who are standing up to the fascism, and yet, when a woman warns us in 1777, we dismiss it as ‘maybe it didn’t really happen.’ And to be honest, I don’t really know if it happened. I do know that when women accomplish anything there is someone there to take the credit, to claim the discovery, and to shush the little lady. We dismissed Kamala Harris, the Vice President for four years, Senator before that. We dismissed Hillary Clinton, First Lady for eight years, Secretary of State for four, Senator before that, and accomplished lawyer before that. At what point, will women be taken at face value, and I don’t mean at pretty face value.

How can the women save us if we won’t listen to or acknowledge them?

Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John, “Don’t forget the ladies.” We are not only forgotten but ignored, blamed, and pushed aside while (many, too many) men crush this country under crippling debt, ruin families, arrest women for biological functions, and allow them to die for those same reasons. We are not less than. We don’t need to apologize for existing.

If we were treated as we should be, as equality requires us to be, we wouldn’t need to constantly put ourselves in the stories to uplift us. We would already be there, and there wouldn’t be a question as to whether it is a true story or a folktale.

Paul Revere’s Ride…250 Years…And Today

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Yesterday was the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s Ride warning of the British Army approaching. He was forty years old. The Sons of Liberty put lights in Boston’s Old North Church: one if by land, two if by sea.

Yesterday, projected on the front of the Old North Church was the following warning:

One if by land, Two if by D.C.

There were two lights.

When I first wrote this post, I asked who will warn us this time?

We have that answer.

However, who have we ignored the warnings of?

  • My list is not all-inclusive:
  • 1. Hillary Clinton
  • 2. Kamala Harris
  • 3. Michelle Obama
  • 4. Brian Tyler Cohen
  • 5. Joe Biden
  • 6. Jamie Raskin
  • 7. Harry Dunn
  • 8. Aquillino Gonell
  • 9. Michael Fannone
  • 10. Daniel Hodges
  • 11. Liz Cheney
  • 12. Adam Kinzinger
  • 13. John Lewis
  • 14. Melanie Stansbury
  • 15. Mark Elias
  • And so many others.

There are two lights in the church window.

Resist.

Election Connection – DEI Edition

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What DEI is. And what it isn’t.

It is: a reminder that this world is not monolithic. It is diverse, and our workplaces and museums and schools should reflect that.

It isn’t: a club to bludgeon. It isn’t taking your job or your space on the wall.

The Merriam-Webster definition is:

1: a set of values and related policies and practices focused on establishing a group culture of equitable and inclusive treatment and on attracting and retaining a diverse group of participants, including people who have historically been excluded or discriminated against [1]

Everyone should feel and be welcomed.

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Bring Them Home

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It’s the first night of Passover. The matzo is broken, the chicken is eaten, the food is away. The kitchen is cleaned and families are still missing their people; still held hostage after over 500 days.

But we have hope

We have faith

We have our Collective

and together today as Moses said then, “Let. My. People. Go.”

I wrote this on the first night of Passover, which was Saturday. That was also the night that someone tried to burn the Pennsylvania Governor’s house down, and as we’ve heard since had planned to beat the Governor with a sledgehammer. That is not what this is about; sadly, we will have many more instances of antisemitism to speak out.

World Health Day

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Yesterday was World Health Day, and it’s more important than ever to pay attention to our health and the health of those we care about, not just on World Health Day, but everyday.

The United States is losing a lot of standing in the world as we gut the CDC and the FDA, the NIH and HHS, and it will take time for someone else to take up the mantle of research, development, and whatever else we are quickly dismantling. The alphabet soup of our departments are more than initials, acronyms, and governmental “overreach.” They are what keeps our food from poisoning us. They are what checks on the viability of vaccines; that prevents the next pandemic; that cures cancer.

Visit my new page: Election Connection – Resistance and visit the first table where there are resources for knowing what health issues are going on in the world. Follow Canada Health Watch and get their weekly emails – at least it’s something. As for the title, for anyone who thinks that health isn’t political hasn’t been paying attention.

Please add your own reliable links in the comments. We are a village, and we are responsible for one another even if one quarter of the country doesn’t believe that.

Election Connection – Trump Fiddles While Democracy Burns

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Up to about four minutes is excellent commentary on what is going on in the US. The rest is also worth watching, although its focus is more on where France should be heading.

There are English subtitles.