Gratitude - On International Women’s Day
Giving thanks to all the good people
I received calls from around the world, been offered safe houses with no terms, been sent Ernest Hemingway and Elizabeth Cady Stanton quotes, and spent an hour laughing on the phone with my friend Wes Clark Jr., who reassures me laziness will always overpower hatred, at least in America.
His words offer me great comfort lol. Ever since Mike Flynn’s brother called for my arrest, I began receiving death threats. You guys know me, I laugh at everything, and want the best for this old world.
You also know that I am afraid of everything, but believe it’s even more scary to not do this work, to not be another voice of truth in a time of grave deception. We are fighting fascism, and I didn’t expect it to be pretty.
The irony wasn’t lost on me that on International Women’s Day I will be spending it with friends in law enforcement and speaking with legal experts who take domestic terrorism threats quite seriously.
I would rather be hiking and finishing my latest investigation for you and putting the finishing touches on another banger for Byline Supplement. I’ll get it done.
I just wanted to make sure this moment didn’t pass without saying thank you to all of you.
I write a lot about kindness on these pages. I write often about how this is a war on kindness, and how we need to be kind anyway.
The fact that they’re doubling down on hate shows we are winning - CPAC was lightly attended theatre craft. People are beginning to see that the fascists have no clothes.
Why be scared of a gal like I if the truth I report wasn’t piercing through their ability to sell fear and victimhood to destroy democracy…
I have often written investigations about the scale of the underground troll economy - it’s true, it is daunting. But the numbers of the good and the decent are massive, our empathy is bigger than their hate.
I am not underselling the troubles - we have a clear fight against good and evil - the likes of which haven’t been seen since World War II.
“It is time to think of the GOP as an autocratic force working from within to destroy our democracy, in tandem and in sympathy with foreign autocratic states which have that same goal,” wrote Ruth Ben-Ghiat this morning.
That is our fight.
All along the way, Eleanor Roosevelt has been a muse. Here are some words from her:
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the one thing you think you cannot do.”
Every damn day.
Four years ago, on February 5, 2019, I wrote:
As Eleanor Roosevelt noted, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
We must continue to believe in beauty, in truth, and never allow the ugliness of bankrupt souls to corrupt our own sense of right and wrong.
We’ve never known how this story will end, the future remains unwritten. But each of us, resisting together, will be writing the history of this moment in time. Let us remain fearless, united by a righteous strength, invincible in our certainty that to defend Democracy in autocratic times may be our raison d’être.
In other words, viva la résistance.
I am glad I wrote that. I am glad you are here, and I am grateful for every kind word and your overwhelming support.
Truly, viva la résistance.💘
****
Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you as well to all those who support my work with your generous coffee tips and who buy my ebooks.
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
Save the date! The next Bette Dangerous ‘Speakeasy’ Zoom for paid members is Sunday, March 12, 4 pm PT. We invite special guests in the fight for truth and democracy, and it’s an amazing hour. If you are not yet a paid subscriber, please consider joining. You’ll receive invites, access to all archives, and private thread chats.
(Eleanor, pen and pearls 🤍)