I am a writer with opinions, so of course, I'll be writing about political stuff from time to time. I have to pace myself though. I have other passions that need tending to as well.
Thank you for using your voice and talents to make a difference. I appreciate you.
Ramona, I so appreciate this post and your willingness to keep engaging and resisting. Yes, we should all keep speaking what we see and feel - it’s why first-person voices are so powerful. At some point, I’d appreciate recommendations about commentary or personal storytelling you’re reading that gives you strength. I find I need to pick and choose rather than marinate in too much digital noise. For instance, Masha Gessen and Douglas Rushkoff are two writers helping me meet the moment.
Perhaps those of us in your community can share such reading recommendations in a chat thread - I’m just riffing, but I find strength in both my reading and writing now.
Thanks, Martha, I always hesitate to name names in my WE pieces for fear I'll leave someone out. We're such a close community here. But if I were reading someone else's piece about this I would want to know who they read, wouldn't I? So, I'm making a list, and I'll have to figure out where it will go.
As for Chat, I'm at a total loss. I don't understand the function of Chat. The few times I've been in an active chatroom I've felt claustrophobic and completely blindsided. Everyone talking at once, and by the time I get a comment finished the convo has moved on. I don't know what I'm doing there as a spectator, let alone a leader!
But they seem to be the thing now, so I should learn. Right?
Two things: with recommendations, I wouldn’t worry so much about leaving people out - I was thinking beyond the Substack community in any case (as with two writers I named) - and you quoted from that great Ursula Le Guin speech - I think acknowledging sources of inspiration are important 🙏🏽
Meanwhile, chat - I know exactly what you mean, but maybe there’s a way to use it to build informal conversation? Feel free to DM me if you want to discuss - I’m trying to figure it out too.
Great. Now that the initial rage is lessening, I think I’m ready to take on new challenges—like Chat. But first I need to understand the advantage to it, compared to, say, comment threads?
I agree that I need to add more writer recommendations and quotes. I’ll try to remember to do that! But here are some current names off the top of my head:
I’d start off with Jane Mayer at the New Yorker. She’s amazing. Then I’d add Mary Trump, Molly Jong-Fast, Jess Piper (The View from Rural Missouri), Noha Beshir, Olga Lautman, Connie Schultz, Mueller,She Wrote, Rona Maynard, Susan Bordo, John Pavlovitz, Gloria Horton Young, Dan Rather, Aaron Rupar, Parker Molloy, and Scott Dworkin—just a quick, incomplete list of people who write essays rather than news reports. There are so many more who only get political now and then but make such an impact when they do.
I wish Molly Ivins could come back. And I have to say, I love Fran Lebowitz.
In addition to several of yours, Ramona, I'm really liking Borowitz, who's switched from humor (though he's still hilarious) to essays. So articulate. Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Jay Kuo. Just found a guy who's incredibly profane, which I appreciate if someone's as brilliant as he is. I think his name is Reichart? Like you, Ramona, I prefer these conversations because I can jump in when my writing day is over - this is a different kind of writing, directly exchanged with others but not "immediate." I like Notes to a certain extent. And I really like what you write, always have, whether it's personal or political.
Yes, I forgot Andy Borowitz! He’s doing some remarkable writing since he moved to Substack. I love HCR, Vance, and Kuo, too, but, except for Joyce’s chicken stories, they tend to do straight reporting.
There really are so many great ones out there!
I think you mean Jeff Teidrich. He blasts that F-word right and left but he’s funny a lot of the time and right on target even more. I admit I get tired of the F-bombs. They feel lazy after a while.
I've left out so many, but that tells me there are scores of good resistors out there. Will it help in the next four years? Probably as much as it helped in the years between 2016 and 2020, which is to say--not so much. Trump did what he wanted to do, no matter how much we bellowed. And the Republicans show no signs of patriotic duty over power and profit. They'll go along to get along.
But if we can rally our troops and keep them from getting complacent or compliant, we'll have done something. History will show there was a strong resistance core. It came from us. Let it be noted.
I read that stuff and most of the time, I agree. It is a lot of fun, it is interesting, and it brings hope. Somewhere, I read you are old and you do not move very easily. No problem. You said, in fact you wrote, that your brain is good. It functions well. It is the most important. So take care, write a lot and enjoy. Here near Paris, we are in a certain trouble on the political side, because we lost our prime minister. 50 heads of states will come this weekend for Notre Dame de Paris, and Trump is one of these guys. And the wife of the actual president of the USA. Vladimir Poutine was not invited, I suppose. Everything will be perfect, and it will be a pleasure to see them reunited in a beautiful cathedral.
I note some of you talked about Substack's Chat…. In the last month, I’ve attracted some unsolicited admirers …. Seem to be middle aged, and send multiple chats a day.
That's the trick—getting the right people to hear and believe the message. It's been said and testified to over and over. There are videos to support our comments, and it doesn't seem to matter. So, what more—or maybe it's how can that change? 9/11 was a game-changer uniting people and politicians for a while. If that were to happen today, I wonder if the response would be the same - maybe not, if I consider Jan 6th. I also wonder how the history books will portray that event - will it ever be noted as such, or just another visit to the Capitol?
I don't know. If the election of 2024 wasn't enough of a potential game-changer, I don't know what would be. We KNEW Trump would be a disaster to beat all disasters and nothing we did was enough to change what happened. People are tired and demoralized and eager to blame the Democrats for not winning, thus putting the Dems in an untenable position: Fix it or else!
I'm afraid for 'what else'. Who else can get anything meaningful done?
Yes. We KNEW, and everyone had a chance to know what we were heading into, and it didn't matter. Can it be fixed or saved? I don't know. Everything seems locked in place on his behalf at the moment.
There are a few pundits telling us it isn’t as bad as it looks, but from where I am, and from everything I see, it’s bad and it’s going to get worse. Having the House at a near-tie means nothing if no Republican will vote with Democrats.
I would rather go on the assumption that the Republicans will do all they can to block any progress from our side—every one of them. Then we at least know what we’re dealing with and can act accordingly.
And if by chance a few of them vote our way, well, happy surprise! But for gods sake, don’t get to expecting it.
Wishful thinkers, take note: they are who they appear to be.
I, too, view the situation as bad and going to worsen. I agree that the Trump Team is who they appear to be and said they would be. I've stopped listening to the pundits - I no longer believe them.
Whatever our spheres of influence, that's where we need to direct our energies. Fortunately, yours is wider than others, and the messages you're sharing are worthy. Thanks for keeping on.
Hi Ramona,
I am a writer with opinions, so of course, I'll be writing about political stuff from time to time. I have to pace myself though. I have other passions that need tending to as well.
Thank you for using your voice and talents to make a difference. I appreciate you.
Thanks. Yes, do it your way, of course. Whatever is most authentic for you.
Ramona, I so appreciate this post and your willingness to keep engaging and resisting. Yes, we should all keep speaking what we see and feel - it’s why first-person voices are so powerful. At some point, I’d appreciate recommendations about commentary or personal storytelling you’re reading that gives you strength. I find I need to pick and choose rather than marinate in too much digital noise. For instance, Masha Gessen and Douglas Rushkoff are two writers helping me meet the moment.
Perhaps those of us in your community can share such reading recommendations in a chat thread - I’m just riffing, but I find strength in both my reading and writing now.
Thanks, Martha, I always hesitate to name names in my WE pieces for fear I'll leave someone out. We're such a close community here. But if I were reading someone else's piece about this I would want to know who they read, wouldn't I? So, I'm making a list, and I'll have to figure out where it will go.
As for Chat, I'm at a total loss. I don't understand the function of Chat. The few times I've been in an active chatroom I've felt claustrophobic and completely blindsided. Everyone talking at once, and by the time I get a comment finished the convo has moved on. I don't know what I'm doing there as a spectator, let alone a leader!
But they seem to be the thing now, so I should learn. Right?
Two things: with recommendations, I wouldn’t worry so much about leaving people out - I was thinking beyond the Substack community in any case (as with two writers I named) - and you quoted from that great Ursula Le Guin speech - I think acknowledging sources of inspiration are important 🙏🏽
Meanwhile, chat - I know exactly what you mean, but maybe there’s a way to use it to build informal conversation? Feel free to DM me if you want to discuss - I’m trying to figure it out too.
Great. Now that the initial rage is lessening, I think I’m ready to take on new challenges—like Chat. But first I need to understand the advantage to it, compared to, say, comment threads?
I agree that I need to add more writer recommendations and quotes. I’ll try to remember to do that! But here are some current names off the top of my head:
I’d start off with Jane Mayer at the New Yorker. She’s amazing. Then I’d add Mary Trump, Molly Jong-Fast, Jess Piper (The View from Rural Missouri), Noha Beshir, Olga Lautman, Connie Schultz, Mueller,She Wrote, Rona Maynard, Susan Bordo, John Pavlovitz, Gloria Horton Young, Dan Rather, Aaron Rupar, Parker Molloy, and Scott Dworkin—just a quick, incomplete list of people who write essays rather than news reports. There are so many more who only get political now and then but make such an impact when they do.
I wish Molly Ivins could come back. And I have to say, I love Fran Lebowitz.
I’m sure I’ll come across more.
In addition to several of yours, Ramona, I'm really liking Borowitz, who's switched from humor (though he's still hilarious) to essays. So articulate. Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Jay Kuo. Just found a guy who's incredibly profane, which I appreciate if someone's as brilliant as he is. I think his name is Reichart? Like you, Ramona, I prefer these conversations because I can jump in when my writing day is over - this is a different kind of writing, directly exchanged with others but not "immediate." I like Notes to a certain extent. And I really like what you write, always have, whether it's personal or political.
Yes, I forgot Andy Borowitz! He’s doing some remarkable writing since he moved to Substack. I love HCR, Vance, and Kuo, too, but, except for Joyce’s chicken stories, they tend to do straight reporting.
There really are so many great ones out there!
I think you mean Jeff Teidrich. He blasts that F-word right and left but he’s funny a lot of the time and right on target even more. I admit I get tired of the F-bombs. They feel lazy after a while.
Thanks for your support! ❤
I love all these suggestions, and I think listing all the writers who are resisting the so-called status quo is a form of resistance itself 🙂
I've left out so many, but that tells me there are scores of good resistors out there. Will it help in the next four years? Probably as much as it helped in the years between 2016 and 2020, which is to say--not so much. Trump did what he wanted to do, no matter how much we bellowed. And the Republicans show no signs of patriotic duty over power and profit. They'll go along to get along.
But if we can rally our troops and keep them from getting complacent or compliant, we'll have done something. History will show there was a strong resistance core. It came from us. Let it be noted.
Yes. Every word of this.
Absolutely!
I read that stuff and most of the time, I agree. It is a lot of fun, it is interesting, and it brings hope. Somewhere, I read you are old and you do not move very easily. No problem. You said, in fact you wrote, that your brain is good. It functions well. It is the most important. So take care, write a lot and enjoy. Here near Paris, we are in a certain trouble on the political side, because we lost our prime minister. 50 heads of states will come this weekend for Notre Dame de Paris, and Trump is one of these guys. And the wife of the actual president of the USA. Vladimir Poutine was not invited, I suppose. Everything will be perfect, and it will be a pleasure to see them reunited in a beautiful cathedral.
Hi Jean, sorry to hear about your political troubles over there. And now Trump is coming to visit! Sorry about that, too. I hope they all shun him. 😑
I note some of you talked about Substack's Chat…. In the last month, I’ve attracted some unsolicited admirers …. Seem to be middle aged, and send multiple chats a day.
I’m old enough to be their mother, maybe granny!
Any one else?
I get a few ‘Hello’s’ and I immediately block them. They tell me they’re bots, but why?? I just don’t get any of it!
Thanks, Ramona…I found the block button.
Attagirl, Ramona! You got spunk…
😂😂😂
That's the trick—getting the right people to hear and believe the message. It's been said and testified to over and over. There are videos to support our comments, and it doesn't seem to matter. So, what more—or maybe it's how can that change? 9/11 was a game-changer uniting people and politicians for a while. If that were to happen today, I wonder if the response would be the same - maybe not, if I consider Jan 6th. I also wonder how the history books will portray that event - will it ever be noted as such, or just another visit to the Capitol?
I don't know. If the election of 2024 wasn't enough of a potential game-changer, I don't know what would be. We KNEW Trump would be a disaster to beat all disasters and nothing we did was enough to change what happened. People are tired and demoralized and eager to blame the Democrats for not winning, thus putting the Dems in an untenable position: Fix it or else!
I'm afraid for 'what else'. Who else can get anything meaningful done?
Yes. We KNEW, and everyone had a chance to know what we were heading into, and it didn't matter. Can it be fixed or saved? I don't know. Everything seems locked in place on his behalf at the moment.
There are a few pundits telling us it isn’t as bad as it looks, but from where I am, and from everything I see, it’s bad and it’s going to get worse. Having the House at a near-tie means nothing if no Republican will vote with Democrats.
I would rather go on the assumption that the Republicans will do all they can to block any progress from our side—every one of them. Then we at least know what we’re dealing with and can act accordingly.
And if by chance a few of them vote our way, well, happy surprise! But for gods sake, don’t get to expecting it.
Wishful thinkers, take note: they are who they appear to be.
I, too, view the situation as bad and going to worsen. I agree that the Trump Team is who they appear to be and said they would be. I've stopped listening to the pundits - I no longer believe them.
They really don't know any more than we do. They're guessing, along with the rest of us. Nothing will be normal now.
Whatever our spheres of influence, that's where we need to direct our energies. Fortunately, yours is wider than others, and the messages you're sharing are worthy. Thanks for keeping on.
Thank you, Elizabeth. I’m going to do what I can where I can. I’m glad there are so many others doing the same.
For me this is a season of moulting. Reading. Piling up leaves. The action of inaction.