Sunday Letters to Bette: Election Eve
I salute you.
I had hoped to sway the wind with my words in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election. I was accustomed to having influence in the second biggest market in the country, as a former broadcast news producer and veteran Los Angeles Times columnist. I thought a bit of sharp wit, brevity, and investigation lite delivered in a Twainish twang would help somehow.
As a wall of mirrors reflected red from the television screens I had my back to above a bar in a downtown Los Angeles eatery on election night, I was certain I was in a hellish fever dream. I awoke the next morning to the news that Trump had won. I held my strong daughter in my arms, tears flowing down her face, and promised her I would make it right. We would make it right. I never thought it would take four years to eject a criminal from the White House, and another four years to reject him twice. But here we are: on the eve of the most consequential election in our lifetime. Eight years of fighting with my pen and when asked last night by Chauncey DeVega if our words made a difference, I told him: “Absofuckinglutely.”
Each of us who chose to go public to fight tyranny in this new age of fascism not only collectively shored up others but we left markers for our families and future historians that there were people who were spectacularly defiant and said, ‘Not again. Not on our watch.’
I know my words can’t sway the wind, but they do comfort me.
I reached out to Bette members this week with a request to send your thoughts on this moment in time, this historic moment in time, and you delivered, because of course you did.
Here they are:
SUNDAY LETTERS TO BETTE: ELECTION EVE
THE SLIM LADY SINGS by Martin Sheil
Whether tragedy or comedy, the end will define this shambolic play in spite of all the daily theatre confronting the citizenry called a Presidential election campaign.
This opera masquerading as a reality show exploded in my mind with a defining moment in Motor City when Slim Shady intro'd Barack to the crowd and Obama contrasted the loser who never changed a diaper in his life with our winna and shrouded her in a message of hope for a new and better way. Listening close one could hear the very faint tinkling of broken glass that day, which allows the light to shine in through every ceiling in the land to disperse the dark despair of the alternative.
The end comes when the slim lady sings and this observer hopes she rides on Slim Shady's wings…
That's why we sing: for these kids who don't have a thing, except for a dream and a fucking rap magazine. Who pin up pictures on their walls all day long, idolize their favorite rappers and know all of their songs. And for anyone who's ever been through shit in their lives, who sit and they cry at night, wishing they'd die. That's why we sing for the moment, try to freeze it and hold it, seize it and own it, we consider these minutes golden.
'Living in Murphy's Law' - Eminem
H - So that is what I'm thinking in 'the moment '…
Best,
Marty
PS
Let the Slim Lady win and send the fat loser to Rikers, where he belongs and where he cannot stain a Sanitation Truck again since a Felon like him would never be allowed a Civil Service job which would be employment much too good for the likes of him.
THE BIRTHRIGHT OF EVERY AMERICAN by Audrey Peterman
Beloved Heidi,
I am unspeakably grateful for all the love, all the scholarship, all the dedication and tenacity that you consistently pour into your efforts to keep us informed, motivated and relatively sane. YOU, my beloved sister, are a true Patriot.
As the pivotal election approaches, everything is at stake including the very firmament upon which we live and have our being. For example, a recent analysis of the voting record taken from the 2024 Congressional Scorecard - National Parks Action Fund of Members of the House of Representatives as relates to funding conservation and the national parks found that in one party, ONE representative earned an A grade. In the other party, more than 200 representatives earned an A. The contrast could hardly be more drastic.
We’re striving to do our part to raise awareness about the incredible treasures in the National Park System and the public lands system, and the need to fund and protect them. They are literally the birthright of every American, and the stories they contain on the land where it happened emphatically contradict the current narratives of “alternative truth.” The land does not and cannot lie, and the authentic stories were preserved long before this dismaying time.
I hope you’ll encourage your subscribers to check out our website at www.delnsb.com where we’re sharing vitally important current information, including an incredible recent tour of influencers visiting the Grand Canyon National Park and their ecstatic responses.
Bless you my sis. Our democracy must and will prevail.
Audrey Peterman, Atlanta
STEPPING UP TO SOUND THE ALARM by Leslie M
I have always known and appreciated the fragility of democracy generally, but under-appreciated the desire by so many around the globe to take down American democracy. This was largely due, I suspect, to a diplomatic childhood in posts around the world, in some countries much less stable than America. But it was not until the ascension of a very dark, Christian nationalist—Koch libertarian strain of politicians in my state of Kansas in the 2010’s that I realized that I was overdue for stepping up to sound the alarm and hash out a better future. It took a while to see how degraded and brittle our democracy had become.
By the time Trump finally kidnapped democratic government in 2017, I had a strong cohort of Midwestern gals to lean on as we forged new entities (like Indivisible groups, Swing Left, MO Action Alliance and others) and bolstered legacy groups like the LWV and ACLU of Kansas. As much as I have been helping community organizers and teaching civics and partnering in legislative efforts targeted to key policy changes/needs, the personal work of education and learning has also continued. What would we do without Substack luminaries (from Heather Cox Richardson, to Ruth Ben-Ghiat, to Timothy Snyder, to Robert Hubbell and David Pepper and Jess Piper… and so many more)? I realized that I needed to continue to pull up and try to discern the patterns and influences that I had been too slow to connect.
Heidi and her treasured trove of archival work have become indispensable — pushing me to keep looking wide. She and Tim Snyder both have opened doors to European and non-Western histories and writers who both terrify and offer great hope. It is with all this that I approach Election Day — focused on America but looking globally for ballast — and find I’ve mitigated the trepidation and feel confident that we will be able to continue the work of defending democracy for the next generation to take up.
Heidi and I have spoken several times about our journeys to deep engagement as democracy defenders… I look forward to reading what others in Bette Dangerous’s community have to say.
Leslie M
RECEIVING LOVE by Randolph P
It’s been quite the journey since the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson MO in 2014 compelled me to turn off the sports programming and start listening to something else, which led to hearing Krista Tippett on her NPR show ON BEING (3yrs ago to the day!!) a poem by Padrig O Tuama, which led to reciting the poem at the conclusion of an early Lucid zoomie …
When a spirit of hopelessness had overwhelmed our comments & questions to Ruth, which led to Lucidian Naima S reaching out to me, to express gratitude for reading the poem, which led to my sitting at her feet to listen to her and see her demonstrate in a myriad of ways, that all that is required of us is to be Present each moment…
so we can hear Her whisper
about the possibility
in this moment
of receiving & offering
Love.
Blessings,
Randolph
PS Here’s an excerpt from the O’Tuama poem OREMUS (let us pray):
“So let us pick up the stones over which we stumble … and build altars”
AT LEAST I TRIED by Alex Alvarova
Dear Heidi,
With a few days left until the election, the leaves in New England are taking on the wildest shade of red and yellow. It's a terrible drought here, the forest fires we fled from in 2022 from the West Coast of Canada are starting around here in Massachusetts. The climate is changing so fast that it no longer makes sense to plan your permanent home.
In 2017, I wrote a book in Czech, The Industry of Lies, about how the Russians are conquering the world with a new type of propaganda, which makes people angry, helpless, radicalized and cognitively confused. In 2020, I wrote a fiction – the book Feed the Demons. It's a dark thriller about what happens when someone like Steve Bannon gets his hands on the world's most powerful weapon – large sets of psychological data of ordinary Americans. It was such a horrible dystopia that only security analysts could understand. It's 2024, and we're living that story again.
People in the freest country in the world are afraid to talk about politics. I know that we all went through that angst during communism in Czechoslovakia, where I was born.
I didn't want to play Cassandra. I just wanted to warn.
As Randle McMurphy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest said:
At least I tried.
Alex Alvarova
FTR: The work of Alex Alvarova has informed the top disinformation analysts in the world. Her importance cannot be overstated.-hsc
ON THE EDGE OF THIS FASCIST KNIFE ARE THE TROUBADOURS OF TRUTH by Marlene B
I never thought our democracy would be on the edge of this fascist knife. I know it’s woven through out our history in various ways, but I really, I guess naively, never thought we’d be at this point. I think a lot about my father’s service in WWII and the fact that we have Nazis accepted and given a platform by one of our major political parties now. I think a lot about my children’s future and the future of our good Mother Earth for us all. How critical it is we get this right. I honestly don’t know if I can find the words to express this moment.
I will say though, the silver lining is the communities that have developed all over the world to rally for democracy, for humanity, for empathy and therefore freedom. The democracy warriors of all varieties, independent journalists, scholars, historians, musicians, poets, artists, all troubadours of truth, providing us with the armor of knowledge, wings for our hearts, and courage in truth. The record breaking turnout at the polls has been so uplifting, songs will be written of this moment when we saved democracy and thereby saved the world!
As I cast my vote yesterday I felt I honored my father’s service, and my children’s future 🇺🇸🗽
Marlene B
ONLY IF KAMALA HARRIS WINS A DECISIVE MAJORITY WOULD CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM BECOME POSSIBLE by Trevor Fisher
Lord Sumption is right: The US Constitution is not fit for modern American Culture, and the crisis of the Supreme Court shows how severe the problems are. The Presidential election will decide whether the Supreme Court is beyond saving.
Joe Biden had some proposals for dealing with the Court’s lapse into the service of MAGA, but even before his campaign ended it was clear that partisan politics would prevent reform. The MAGA faction has no interest in allowing change to a situation that gives it overwhelming power, and a vote for change would be blocked.
The election may not go as we want and a clean MAGA sweep of all three bodies, House of Representatives, Senate and White House. is not impossible.
So how the MAGA Cult took hold has to be understood. I am amazed the term GOP is still used. The old republican party is now dead. Trump has been going for over a decade. How he took over politics in the US has to be grasped.
If Donald Trump wins the election, he has made it clear he Is out for political revenge, and the Supreme Court will not stop him. If Trump loses narrowly and attempts to violently overthrow the result, the Court will allow it. The US State needs to prepare for a second insurrection. Only if Kamala Harris wins a decisive majority would constitutional reform become possible.
Yours sincerely,
Trevor Fisher, UK
MAYBE COURAGE GROWS WITH EACH SIMPLE ACT by Julie DeLaurier
I've been a nervous wreck. We all have. Word has it, it's tough to get a shrink appointment in this town. The shrinks need shrinks. Xanax is flying off pharmacy shelves.
We're on the brink of fascism. What do you expect? Contingency plans are being made. Irish grandmother? Italian father? Rifle through old papers for their birth certificates, just in case.
A few activist friends came over after we protested Trump's rally last Sunday, as my place is a short walk from Madison Square Garden. We needed to detox and process. We've been pushing back against Trump as a group (Rise and Resist) since November 2016. But never have we encountered this scale of MAGA ugliness — and in our blue, blue, progressive town, no less. (Of course, the MAGA crowd nearly all bussed and trained in from New Jersey and Long Island — some hardcore cultists flew in from even redder places.) As our coffee klatch was breaking up, I stopped my friends with one last question: If "it" happens, we'll keep going, yes? As exhausted as we are, as badly as I want to leave this behind like soldiers demobilized after WWII, we'll meet this moment?
We stood silent. And then, resolve. Yes. We will. We'll take a breath, we'll regroup and move forward. Of this much, now I am sure.
So, back to contingency plans. I have none. Whatever happens after November 5th, I'm not leaving. Should the worst happen, I may finally find out what stripe of courage I have.
I'm in awe of Russian dissidents, Iranian women who burned their hijabs, the '60s Freedom Riders, poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. The kind of courage my father had, who signed up to fight Nazis fully expecting to be killed.
Read this book: "A Woman of No Importance." It's a serious page turner -- the story of Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who spied behind enemy lines in France, of whom the Gestapo wrote: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." I can't fathom her courage, and would be thrilled to have even a microscopic drop of it.
Which brings me to the play I saw last night. "Vladimir," about a Russian journalist in the early days of Putin as he tightened his grip on power. The journalist calls Putin a “little man” whose only “talent is finding ugliness and knowing how to use it.”
Sound familiar? Her courage, too, is unfathomable. She says to a New York bookstore audience that “simple acts done by simple people” are a weapon against fascists like Putin. “And it’s not deadly, this weapon,” she says. “But I think it’s very dangerous. Little men are very frightened of it.” Tomorrow, she tells the audience, she will fly back to Russia. She's already been poisoned once, and fully understands Putin will have her killed. She's going back because it's her home. Because there, "I can be useful."
So, that's my lesson from last week and last night. We are all "simple people" and we can do "simple acts" against fascists. Just take a breath, and do the next thing.
Maybe courage grows with each simple act.
Or perhaps the best will happen. Perhaps President Harris will prevail and we can spend our days shoring up our democracy so future malignant narcissists can't ever bring us to this brink again.
I pray I can stay in distant awe of courage. But let's be willing to find out.
Julie DeLaurier
A VISION by Jen Senko
Dear Bette Dangerous,
My journey up to this election started over three decades ago. It started when my dad started listening to Rush Limbaugh, and I watched his personality change dramatically from day to night. Around the same time I also started noticing all these emails he would get and forward. They'd be bashing Democrats and liberals. I sensed something sinister was afoot.
I started my documentary, The Brainwashing of My Dad. As I researched and observed, it became more and more clear to me that there was a deliberate poisoning going on. Wealthy, libertarian Republicans seemed to be pushing for one-party rule.
Then I witnessed a few mini coups: The 2000 election handed to Bush by corrupt Supreme Court members with deep oil and gas ties, Karl Rove's role in helping to steal the election from John Kerry, Mitch McConnell’s brazen denial of Obama's Supreme Court pick. Each of these things felt like a boundary being tested and crossed.
As much as I liked Obama, I realized that he — like so many other Democrats — didn't understand a war was being waged against them. These Republicans were bullies and each line they pushed just made it easier to push the next.I was running around with my hair on fire, but even my own friends did not think it warranted so much attention on my part.
By 2014 the Russians hopped on board, because who would even notice? Russian propaganda was hardly distinguishable from Fox "News" and the flood of other right-wing media. What an opportunity for Putin!
Now, I take care of my 104-year-old mom so I'm not out there as much. But I am heartened by those who have taken up the mantle. I just pray to the Virgin Mother that it's not too little, too late.
I'm not religious, but when I was seven I had a vision of her. It was something I'll never forget. So I figure if anything or anybody is listening, it might be her.
I've pondered whether I'd move out of the country if Trump and these Fascists take over. I have friends here who mean the world to me. So the decision would be difficult. In the meantime, I hold my breath and do what I can to fight.
Jen Senko
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(Photos clockwise from top left: Martin Sheil, courtesy Cathy Sheil; Jen Senko with parents, courtesy Jen Senko; Julie DeLaurier protesting in front of Madison Square Garden, courtesy Julie DeLaurier; Audrey ‘Parkie’ Peterman at Grand Canyon, courtesy Audrey Peterman; Marlene B’s bumper sticker, courtesy Marlene B)
Letter from Martin Sheil, September 17, 2022 — six years to the day after I pressed send on my first anti-Trump post:
Keep up the good fight!
Words are weapons
Words can destroy
Words can inform
Words can motivate
Words can change minds
Words can end wars
Words can create wealth
Words can change inequality
Words are seeds that can grow into beauty, meaning, clarity
Words are wisdom in an ocean of ignorance and you are the captain of a ship sailing steadfastly into the wind but you must never give up.
Words need you - your direction - your spirit - your vision
Words are soldiers and you must harness this army of knowledge and stand fast against all that oppose and shed light into darkness!
That is your destiny. Accept it and flow down the river of history.
Words are your legacy.
Just happy to have made your acquaintance,
marty
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I have received a thousand beautiful letters from a thousand beautiful souls. I am glad we have this poignant record in this poignant moment, and I too, am glad to have made your acquaintance.—hsc
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🤍
Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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Our collective voices exult in a paean to the Universe
So many uplifting revelations!
Here’s the excerpt from the Padraig O’Tuama poem OREMUS (let us pray)
So let us pick up the stones over which we stumble … and build altars