Wednesday, February 28, 2024

A Welcome Return

“I am unsuspending my campaign
for the Presidency of the United States.”

– Marianne Williamson,
February 28, 2024






NEXT:
This Super Tuesday, Don’t Be “Uncommitted” . . .
Vote for the “Ceasefire Candidate,” Marianne Williamson



Related Off-site Links:
Marianne Williamson Unsuspends Campaign After Earning 3% in Michigan Primary – Christian Datoc (Washington Examiner, February 28, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Re-Enters Presidential Race After 3rd-Place Michigan Finish – Christian Datoc (Forbes, February 28, 2024).
Marianne Williamson “Un-Suspends” Campaign After Michigan Primary – Martin Pengelly (The Guardian, February 28, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Is Back in the Race: “We Must Respond” – Jenn Gidman (Newser, February 28, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Re-enters 2024 Race After Besting Dean Phillips in Michigan – Erin Doherty (Axios News, February 28, 2024).



See also: Marianne 2024 Official Site | About | Issues | News | Events | Donate


For The Wild Reed’s coverage of Marianne Williamson’s 2024 presidential campaign, see the following chronologically-ordered posts:
Marianne 2024
Marianne Williamson Launches 2024 Presidential Campaign
Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
More Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
Ben Burgis: Quote of the Day – March 10, 2023
Despite the Undemocratic Antics of the DNC, Marianne Williamson Plans on “Winning the Nomination”
The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need”
Marianne Williamson on The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton – 05/30/23
Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights
Three Progressive Voices on the War in Ukraine
Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – June 27, 2023
Marianne Williamson on The Issue Is with Elex Michaelson – 07/20/23
Voters, Not the DNC, Should Choose the Nominee
Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire
Marianne Williamson: “Repairing Our Hearts Is Essential to Repairing Our Country”
Marianne Williamson on Trump’s Day in Court
Marianne Williamson on NewsNation – 08/25/23
Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Joins NYC’s March to End Fossil Fuels
Marianne Williamson on Your World – 10/6/23
Marianne Williamson’s “Radical Idea” of Putting People First
Marianne Williamson: “We Need to Disrupt the Corrupt”
“We Are Surging”
“Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
Democratic Presidential Debate: Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips – 1/8/24
The Democrats Challenging Biden
Bannering for Marianne
Campaigning for Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire – Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Marianne Williamson: “I Have Decided to Continue”
Marianne Williamson in Nevada – 2/4/24
Forever Grateful
What Marianne Williamson Learned from Running for President
Marianne Williamson: Playing It Big
Minnesotans Launch Super Tuesday Push for “Suspended But Not Ended” Candidate Marianne Williamson

See also:
Marianne Williamson: “We Must Challenge the Entire System”
Marianne Williamson on the Current Condition of the U.S.
Marianne Williamson’s Politics of Love: The Rich Roll Interview
Now Here’s a Voice I’d Like to Hear Regularly on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
Marianne Williamson on the Tenth Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street
Marianne Williamson on How Centrist Democrats Abuse Voters with False Promises
“Two of the Most Dedicated and Enlightened Heroes of Present Day America”
Deep Gratitude
“A Beautiful Message, So Full of Greatness”
Marianne Williamson: “Anything That Will Help People Thrive, I’m Interested In”
Caitlin Johnstone: “Status Quo Politicians Are Infinitely ‘Weirder’ Than Marianne Williamson”


Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Quote of the Day

Intentionally depriving people of food is clearly a war crime. Israel has announced its intention to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part, simply for being Palestinian. In my view as a U.N. human rights expert, this is now a situation of genocide. This means the state of Israel in its entirety is culpable and should be held accountable. There is no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses, and orchards in Gaza – other than to deny people access to food.

The speed of malnourishment of young children is astounding. The bombing and people being killed directly is brutal, but this starvation – and the wasting and stunting of children – is torturous and vile. It will have a long-term impact on the population physically, cognitively and morally. . . . All things indicate that this has been intentional.

Michael Fakhri,
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
Excerpted from Nina Lakhani’s article,
Israel Is Deliberately Starving Palestinians,
UN Rights Expert Says

The Guardian
February 27, 2024


NEXT:
More Voices of Reason and Compassion
on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza



Related Off-site Links:
One Month Later, Israel Has “Simply Ignored” ICJ Ruling and Continued to Starve Gazans – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 26, 2024).
As 2-Month-Old Starves to Death in Gaza, Mosab Abu Toha Says His Own Family Is Eating Animal FeedDemocracy Now! (February 26, 2024).
U.N. Chief Says “Rules of War” Being Disregarded From Ukraine to Gaza – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 26, 2024).
Two-Thirds of U.S. Voters Across Political Spectrum Support Permanent Gaza Cease-Fire – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, February 27, 2024).
Israeli Military Kills Nearly 100 Gazans in 24 Hours as Biden Claims Cease-Fire Deal “Close” – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 27, 2024).
Blinken Calls Israeli Settlements “Inconsistent with International Law.” Critics: So Is Genocide – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 23, 2024).
“Moral Failure”: Democrats Rep. Khanna and Michigan State Rep. Aiyash Urge Biden to Change Gaza PolicyDemocracy Now! (February 21, 2024).
IDF Chief Tells Commanders Not to Upload “Revenge Videos” – Novara Media (February 21, 2024).
The West Is Complicit in Israel’s Genocide – Novara Media (February 17, 2024).
“I Cannot Be Quietly Complicit”: Biden Official Resigns Over Gaza Assault – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, January 4, 2024).
Democratic Backlash as Biden Bypasses Congress for Second Time to Arm Israel – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, January 2, 2024).
Sen. Bernie Sanders Says No More U.S. Money for “Grossly Disproportionate” Israeli War on Gaza – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, January 2, 2024).
As Death Toll in Gaza Rises, Israeli Officials Fear Possible Genocide Charges at the International Court of Justice – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, January 1, 2024).
Saving Israel by Ending Its War in Gaza – Jeffrey D. Sachs (Common Dreams, January 1, 2024).
Israel Uses Starvation as a Weapon of War in Gaza – Jehan Alfarra (Middle East Monitor, December 23, 2023).
Record Low: 34% Approve of Biden’s Job as President; CNN’s Acosta Told to “Get Out of the Bubble”Rising (December 19, 2023).
Biden Became “Genocide Joe” Thanks to the Israel Lobby – Philip Weiss (Mondoweiss, November 29, 2023).
White House Requests “Unprecedented” Loophole That Would Obscure Arms Sales to Israel – Janet Abou-Elias, et al (In These Times, November 2, 2023).
“Text-Book Case of Genocide”: Top U.N. Official Craig Mokhiber Resigns and Denounces Israeli Assault on GazaDemocracy Now! (November 1, 2023).

UPDATES: Defunding UNRWA While Arming Israel Makes the U.S. Complicit in Genocide – Phyllis Bennis (OtherWords via Common Dreams, February 29, 2024).
Senator Jeff Merkley: U.S. “Complicit in Starvation and Humanitarian Catastrophe” in GazaDemocracy Now! (February 29, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Sabrina Salvati: Quote of the Day – January 2, 2024
Christmas 2023 – Reflections, Activism, Art, and Celebrations
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Quote of the Day – November 2, 2023
Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
Prayer of the Week – October 16, 2023
Something to Think About – October 12, 2023
Eric Levitz: Quote of the Day – October 11, 2023
Phyllis Bennis: “If We Are Serious About Ending This Spiraling Violence, We Need to Look at Root Causes”
In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
“Nothing About Today is ‘Unprovoked’”
Norman Solomon and the Speech That Biden Should Give
“The Mistreatment and Discrimination Against Palestinians Is Not Unprecedented. It’s Baked Into the Foundation of the Political System in Israel”
Norman Solomon: Quote of the Day – July 14, 2022
Biden’s Win: “As Much the Sounding of An Alarm As a Time for Self-Congratulations” (2020)
Progressive Perspectives on the Biden-Harris Ticket (2020)
Progressive Perspectives on Joe Biden’s Presidential Run (2019)
Noura Erakat: Quote of the Day – May 15, 2018
For Some Jews, Israel’s Treatment of Palestinians is Yet Another Jewish Tragedy
Remembering the Six-Day War and Its Ongoing Aftermath
David Norris: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2014

Image: A Palestinian child holds an empty pot as he waits to receive food distributed by volunteers for Palestinian families displaced by Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on December 22, 2023. (Photo: Abed Zagout / Anadolu Agency)


Remembering Carl Anderson


It’s the birthday of the late, great American vocalist Carl Anderson (1945-2004). He would have been 79 today.

In the past I’ve done whole series of posts celebrating Carl at around this time of the year (see, for example here, here and here). This year I’m keeping in simple by sharing just a single video of Carl doing what he did best – singing with heart and soul.

This particular video shows Carl performing at the 1985 Viña del Mar International Song Festival, an event that been held annually since February 21, 1960 (though in 2021 and 2022 it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic). Held in the Valparaíso Region of Chile, it’s considered the largest and longest-running music festival in Latin America.

The festival takes place in the city of Viña del Mar’s Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, which has the capacity for 15,000 spectators. It’s broadcast live on radio, television and various online platforms, achieving an estimated audience of around 250 million.

In 1985, Carl represented the United States in the Festival de Viña with the song “We’re On a Roll Now.” (The winning song that year was Australian Lorenzo Toppano’s “Ya No Puedo Más.”)





The Wild Reed’s February 2021 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
Remembering an Artist and Vocalist Extraordinaire
An Electrifying Spectrum of Emotions
“Fare Thee Well, My Nightingale”
“He Was Bigger Than Life . . . Very Philosophical, Very Warm and Honest”

The Wild Reed’s February 2020 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
Carl Anderson: On and On
Carl Anderson and The Black Pearl
Carl Anderson in The Color Purple
Carl Anderson: “Let the Music Play!”

The Wild Reed’s February 2019 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
Remembering and Celebrating Carl Anderson
Carl Anderson: “Pure Quality”
Carl Anderson’s Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar: “The Gold Standard”
Carl Anderson’s Judas: “A Two-Dimensional Popular Villain Turned Into a Complex Human Being”
Carl Anderson: “Artist and Vocalist Extraordinaire”
Playbill Remembers Carl
Remembering the Life of Carl Anderson: “There Was So Much Love”


For more of Carl at The Wild Reed, see:
Carl Anderson: “Still One of the Greatest Interpretations of Judas on Film”
Remembering Carl Anderson (2022)
Carl Anderson: “Like a Song in the Night”
Carl Anderson: “One of the Most Enjoyable Male Vocalists of His Era”
With Love Inside
Carl Anderson
Acts of Love . . . Carl’s and Mine
Introducing the Carl Anderson Appreciation Group
Forbidden Lover
Revisiting a Groovy Jesus (and a Dysfunctional Theology)

Related Off-site Links:
A Profile of Carl Anderson – Part I: A Broadway Legend with Lynchburg Roots – Holly Phelps (LynchburgMuseum.org, May 12, 2015)
A Profile of Carl Anderson – Part II: The Legend Lives On – Holly Phelps (LynchburgMuseum.org,June 10, 2015)
Carl Anderson – Jazz Legend: The Official Website
Carl Anderson Memorial Page
Carl Anderson at AllMusic.com – Ron Wynn (AllMusic.com)
Carl Anderson Biography – Chris Rizik (Soul Tracks)


Monday, February 26, 2024

Quote of the Day

I’m not sure if anyone knows the real truth about [this] story. I’ve seen the [CBC] documentary film challenging [Buffy Sainte-Marie’s] Indigenous identity. I think there is a lot of information in that film that is important to consider. . . . That being said, I’m not sure even Buffy knows the real truth.

Having known Buffy for more than 15 years, I believe that she believes that she is an Indigenous person and always has. . . . That is what she believes to be her truth. She has conducted herself throughout her life as if she is [Indigenous], and it is pretty hard to argue with all the selfless work that she has done to lift up that community, raise awareness around it, and give voice to a lot of people who otherwise did not have voices. I would like to suggest that she opened the door and laid the path for a lot more Indigenous artists to come into the forefront and share their stories.

I understand the controversy. . . . I understand the pain it causes a lot of people. But it is pretty hard to take away from a woman who is now in her eighties and has done so much for so many people for so long.

Kyle Irving,
Executive producer of Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Quoted in a letter to the editor of
The Journal of the San Juan Islands
February 26, 2024


Related Off-site Links:
Behind the Scenes with Executive Producer Kyle Irving: A Special Screening of Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On – Friday Harbor Film Festival (February 12, 2024).
Buffy Saint-Marie Documentary, Carry It On, Wins International Emmy AwardCBC News (November 20, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie Says CBC Investigation Into Ancestry Includes Fabricated Evidence: “These Allegations Do Not Shake Me” – Christy Piña (The Hollywood Reporter, November 23, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie Pushes Back Against CBC Investigation Contradicting Claims to Indigenous Ancestry – Kelly Geraldine Malone (The Canadian Press, November 23, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie Says CBC Investigation Into Ancestry Includes Fabrications
– Jessica Wang (Entertainment Weekly, November 23, 2023).
“I Have Never Lied”: Buffy Sainte-Marie Pushes Back On Probe Into Indigenous Ancestry – Kelby Vera (The Huffington Post, November 25, 2023).
What’s the Point of “Pretendian” Investigations? – Michelle Cyca (The Walrus, November 20, 2023).
The Problem With Labelling People “Pretendians” – Drew Lafond (The Globe and Mail, May 28, 2022).
Buffy Sainte-Marie May Not Be Native But She Could Be Jewish – Barbara Aiello (The Times of Israel, November 20, 2023).
Discovering Buffy – David Rovics (This Week With David Rovics, November 6, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Adoption by Indigenous People Vital – Doug Cuthand (The Star Pheonix, November 4, 2023).
“Be Gentle With Yourself': Indigenous Northerners Wrestle With Legacy of Buffy Sainte-MarieCBC News (November 1, 2023).
Anishinaabe Singer Says Contested Ancestry of Buffy Sainte-Marie “Doesn’t Take Away the Inspiration”CBC News (October 31, 2023).
Two Indigenous Artists React to the Questions Raised About Buffy Sainte-Marie’s AncestryCBC Arts (October 30, 2023).
Revelations About Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Ancestry Are Having a Devastating Impact on Indigenous Communities Across Canada – Lori Campbell (The Conversation, October 29, 2023).
“We Claim Her, End of Story”: Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Piapot Family Hurt by Allegations – Haley Lewis and Melissa Ridgen (Global News, October 27, 2023).



For The Wild Reed’s special series of posts leading-up to the November 10, 2017 release of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Medicine Songs, see:
For Acclaimed Songwriter, Activist and Humanitarian Buffy Sainte-Marie, the World is Always Ripening
Buffy Sainte-Marie: “I’m Creative Anywhere”
Buffy Sainte-Marie Headlines SummerStage Festival in NYC’s Central Park
Buffy Sainte-Marie, “One of the Best Performers Out Touring Today”
The Music of Buffy Sainte-Marie: “Uprooting the Sources of Disenfranchisement”
Buffy Sainte-Marie: “Things Do Change and Things Do Get Better”
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Medicine Songs



For The Wild Reed’s special series of posts leading-up to the May 12, 2015 release of Buffy’s award-winning album, Power in the Blood, see:
Buffy Sainte-Marie and That “Human-Being Magic”
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Lesson from the Cutting Edge: “Go Where You Must to Grow”
Buffy Sainte-Marie: “Sometimes You Have to Be Content to Plant Good Seeds and Be Patient”
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Power in the Blood


For more of Buffy Sainte-Marie at The Wild Reed, see:
“The Real Deal”: Maurice Switzer on the Legacy of Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie: “It Is Time for Me to Shine a Light on the Truth, My Truth”
David Rovics: The “Big Picture” of the Buffy Sainte-Marie Controversy “Necessitates Holding Contradictory Things to Be True at the Same Time”
A Music Legend Visits the North Country: Buffy Sainte-Marie in Minnesota and Wisconsin – August 2016
Buffy Sainte-Marie on Indigenous Peoples’ Day: “There’s an Awful Lot of Work Yet to Be Done”
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Pope’s Apology Is “Just the Beginning”
Sweet America
Carrying It On . . . Into the New Year
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “America the Beautiful”
Two Exceptional Singers Take a Chance on the “Spirit of the Wind”
Photo of the Day – January 21, 2017
Buffy Sainte-Marie Wins 2015 Polaris Music Prize
Congratulations, Buffy
Happy Birthday, Buffy! – 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023
Actually, There’s No Question About It
For Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Well-Deserved Honor
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Singing It and Praying It; Living It and Saying It
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Still Singing with Spirit, Joy, and Passion
Something Special for Indigenous Peoples Day
Buffy Sainte-Marie: “The Big Ones Get Away”

Opening image: Buffy Sainte-Marie and Kyle Irving at the Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On Premiere during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario – September 8, 2022 . (Photo: Unique Nicole/Getty Images)


Minnesotans Launch Super Tuesday Push for “Suspended But Not Ended” Candidate Marianne Williamson


Effort centers on TV ad campaign for the progressive
presidential candidate who has ballot access in 30 states


Minnesota Friends of Marianne Williamson, a grassroots group supportive of the Democratic former presidential candidate, is urging voters to cast their votes for the progressive activist and author who is on the ballot for next week’s Super Tuesday Minnesota primary.

“A candidate who has suspended their campaign can still be voted for,” says Michael Bayly, a member of Minnesota Friends of Marianne Williamson. “Also, if they receive 15% of votes, they can get delegates.”

“Marianne may not gain enough delegates to secure a path to the nomination,” continues Bayly, “but she could use any delegates she gains as leverage to push for a more progressive party platform at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.”

“Yet even without securing delegates,” says Bayly, “a vote for Marianne Williamson sends a clear message to the party establishment about the much needed progressive direction we want to see the party and the nation go. It’s also important to remember that, like any candidate who has suspended their campaign, Marianne can unsuspend hers at any time.”

In an effort to encourage Minnesotans to vote for Williamson next Tuesday, TV ads in support of her, and funded by the super PAC We the People 2024, will air in the Twin Cities starting this, Friday, March 1.

St. Paul resident Ben Adams founded Minnesota Friends of Marianne Williamson in response to concerns about President Biden.

“I hit a point in mid-2022 when I reached the conclusion that Biden was underperforming as President,” says Adams. “I decided he should be primaried to address the issues I had with his performance, which include the failure of the Build Back Better Act, his failure to fulfill campaign promises such as a minimum wage increase, his poor handling of the rail worker strike, his approval of the Willow Project in Alaska, his complicity in what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza, and his inability to articulate a good, long-term plan for the Democratic Party.”

Minneapolis resident Kate Kulas shares similar critiques of the president and so plans to vote for Williamson on Super Tuesday.

“Marianne’s the real deal,” says Kulas. “I have much respect for President Biden and his long political career and sacrifices over the years, but he has not followed through on campaign promises.”

Like Adams, Kulas cites a number of examples of the president’s “unfulfilled campaign promises.”

“The increase in minimum wage is a horrific failure,” she says. “Biden is still using the default policy based on the Raise the Wage Act of 2023, where in 2024 the minimum hourly wage is $9.50 with some states still using $7.25. Currently $15 per hour is considered not a poverty level wage. IMHO, $20 per hour is what is humanly just.”

Another example relates to Biden’s environmental record. “Biden’s approval of the Willow Project is in direct opposition to his promise to protect our Earth and its people from further harm,” says Kulas.

“And finally,” says Kulas, “the president’s failure to demand a ceasefire from the Israeli government lost my support for him.”

In contrast, Kulas notes that Williamson lists 31 “Policy Issues” on her website, with explanations on why each is needed and how she will implement them.

“Just look up ‘Climate Action’ and ‘Economy and Peace’ on her website,” says Kulas. “Marianne isn't just another politician saying things designed to make people feel good; Marianne Williamson is telling us exactly how these can be achieved! She says, Yes, we can! and then shows us how. I truly believe she will work for the good of all Americans. On Super Tuesday, she has my vote for President.”

NEXT:
A Welcome Return


Related Off-site Links:
Marianne Willamson Ran on a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights, Why Won’t Biden Embrace It? – An Interview with Historian Harvey KayJENerational Change (February 22, 2024).
How Marianne Williamson Rises Without Mass Media Attention – Thu Pham (Diggit Magazine, February 19, 2024).




For The Wild Reed’s coverage of Marianne Williamson’s 2024 presidential campaign, see the following chronologically-ordered posts:
Marianne 2024
Marianne Williamson Launches 2024 Presidential Campaign
Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
More Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
Ben Burgis: Quote of the Day – March 10, 2023
Despite the Undemocratic Antics of the DNC, Marianne Williamson Plans on “Winning the Nomination”
The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need”
Marianne Williamson on The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton – 05/30/23
Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights
Three Progressive Voices on the War in Ukraine
Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – June 27, 2023
Marianne Williamson on The Issue Is with Elex Michaelson – 07/20/23
Voters, Not the DNC, Should Choose the Nominee
Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire
Marianne Williamson: “Repairing Our Hearts Is Essential to Repairing Our Country”
Marianne Williamson on Trump’s Day in Court
Marianne Williamson on NewsNation – 08/25/23
Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Joins NYC’s March to End Fossil Fuels
Marianne Williamson on Your World – 10/6/23
Marianne Williamson’s “Radical Idea” of Putting People First
Marianne Williamson: “We Need to Disrupt the Corrupt”
“We Are Surging”
“Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
Democratic Presidential Debate: Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips – 1/8/24
The Democrats Challenging Biden
Bannering for Marianne
Campaigning for Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire – Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Marianne Williamson: “I Have Decided to Continue”
Marianne Williamson in Nevada – 2/4/24
Forever Grateful
What Marianne Williamson Learned from Running for President
Marianne Williamson: Playing It Big

See also:
Marianne Williamson: “We Must Challenge the Entire System”
Marianne Williamson on the Current Condition of the U.S.
Marianne Williamson’s Politics of Love: The Rich Roll Interview
Now Here’s a Voice I’d Like to Hear Regularly on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
Marianne Williamson on the Tenth Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street
Marianne Williamson on How Centrist Democrats Abuse Voters with False Promises
“Two of the Most Dedicated and Enlightened Heroes of Present Day America”
Deep Gratitude
“A Beautiful Message, So Full of Greatness”
Marianne Williamson: “Anything That Will Help People Thrive, I’m Interested In”
Caitlin Johnstone: “Status Quo Politicians Are Infinitely ‘Weirder’ Than Marianne Williamson”


Sunday, February 25, 2024

Weekend in Northern Wisconsin

Above: Standing on the shores of frozen Trout Lake in northern Wisconsin, listening to the groaning of the ice. And, yes, it’s a very haunting sound.


I spent the weekend in northern Wisconsin with my friend Kate, staying in Land O’ Lakes, a town in north-central Vilas County along the border with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

It’s a very beautiful part of the world, even in the midst of an unseasonably warm winter. Kate told me that, normally, the ground and trees are completely covered in snow at this time of year. Well, as you can see, there definitely was ice around but very little snow.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Damon Linker on the Democrats’ Need to Replace Biden

Damon Linker recently had a piece in The Atlantic in which he made a compelling case for why the powers-that-be within the Democratic party (which should, of course, be registered Democratic voters but which sadly are various “elites” and operatives within the DNC) need to “wake up and stop sleepwalking toward disaster with Biden as its nominee.” In other words, it’s time to replace President Biden as the presumptive nominee in the upcoming presidential election.

Nevermind that the DNC should have recognized and respected the Democratic primary that’s been going on for months now rather than shoehorning Biden into the nomination; here now is a call from an establishment figure (a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Pennsylvania) for Democrats to “pick a new presidential candidate” – somthing that a lot of us have been saying for quite some time now.

Following is an excerpt from Linker’s February 13 Altantic piece.

_______________

[P]artisan Democrats, from the president on down, responded with anger and defensiveness to [the recently released] Hur report. This is so unfair! How dare he use his office for a partisan hit job! To which I’m inclined to respond: Stop whining! The reason Hur’s comments seemed damaging is that they confirmed what most of the country already believes: Biden is too old and frail for the job he holds right now. So the prospect of his serving another four years is a reasonable source of concern (especially because his vice president is as unpopular as he is).

How did we end up in this situation? The lion’s share of the blame belongs to Biden himself. His decision to run for reelection, after initially indicating in 2019 that he’d probably serve only one term, is understandable in human respects but indefensible in political ones. It’s very common for an aging person – especially a man – to deny the truth about his decline and the need to pull back from responsibilities. Such transitions typically involve a painful, arduous struggle for any family facing the situation.

A good part of it is stubborn pride. But decline itself can impair judgment. Close family members, equally disinclined to accept the reality of what’s happening, can also become complicit in the self-deception. (I’m looking at you, Jill Biden.) Whatever the source of this problem, Biden is putting his self-regard ahead of the good of the country. As a result, both he and his party are badly undermining the most compelling rationale of the 2024 campaign, which is the need to do everything possible to prevent Trump from returning to the White House. If the prospect of a second Trump term really poses a dangerous threat to American democracy, why is the Democratic Party depending on an incumbent president with an approval number lower than Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, or even Trump himself were facing at the equivalent moment before their failed reelection bids?

Many Democrats will say it’s too late now. And that’s true if we’re talking about having an open primary season in which voters get to decide on an alternative nominee. Except for [author, activist and progressive Democrat Marianne Williamson’s and] Representative Dean Phillips’s quixotic primary challenge[s], the party has chosen to circle the wagons, angrily swatting away any talk of Biden making way for someone else. For God’s sake, why?

The Democratic Party appears to be stuck in a self-destructive contradiction, combining stupefying risk aversion (We can’t change horses midstream! It’d be chaos!) with unjustified arrogance (Republicans are such morons to nominate Trump-the-loser again! That plus Dobbs means we’re golden! We’re so likely to prevail, you might as well ignore the polls!). I’d wager that precisely this unstable mixture of emotional responses helped produce the kind of unseemly displays we’ve seen since Hur’s report, in which just about everyone on the center left has been pretending that everything would be fine and dandy with the Biden campaign if only the special counsel hadn’t played his dirty tricks and the media’s both-sides-ing hadn’t amplified his dishonest insinuations.

– Damon Linker
Excerpted from "Democrats Should Pick a New
Presidential Candidate Now
"
The Atlantic
February 13, 2024


UPDATE: New Poll Shows Biden Losing Some of His 2020 Voters to Trump and Lagging in Support Among Women – John L. Dorman (Business Insider via Yahoo! News, March 2, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The Democrats Challenging Biden
Democratic Presidential Debate: Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips
Sabrina Salvati: Quote of the Day – January 2, 2024
“Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
Thoughts on Cornel West’s Presidential Run
Marianne Williamson: “Repairing Our Hearts Is Essential to Repairing Our Country”
Voters, Not the DNC, Should Choose the Nominee
Despite the Undemocratic Antics of the DNC, Marianne Williamson Plans on “Winning the Nomination”

Image: Damon Winter/The New York Times/Redux.


Friday, February 23, 2024

Eckhart Tolle on Going Beyond the Thinking Mind


My “season of listening” continues.

As I mentioned in a previous post, one writer whose words I’m using as a guide throughout this season is Eckhart Tolle who in his book Stillness Speaks, writes the following.

Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of self that is conditioned by the past.

In you, as in each human, there is a dimension of consciousness far deeper than thought. It is the very essence of who you are. We may call it presence, awareness, the unconditioned consciousness. In the ancient teachings, it is the Christ within, or your Buddha nature.

Finding that dimension frees you and the world from the suffering you inflict on yourself and others when the mind-made “little me” is all you know and runs your life. Love, joy, creative expansion, and lasting inner peace cannot come into your life except through that unconditioned dimension of consciousness.

If you can recognize, even occasionally, the thoughts that go through your mind as simply thoughts, if you can witness your own mental-emotional reactive patterns as they happen, then that dimension is already emerging in you as the awareness in which thoughts and emotions happen – the timeless inner space in which the content of your life unfolds.

How easy it is for people to become trapped in their conceptual prisons. . . . The thinking mind is a useful and powerful tool, but it is also very limiting when it takes over your life completely, when you don’t realize that it is only a small part of the consciousness that you are.

Wisdom is not a product of thought. The deep knowing that is wisdom arises through the simple act of giving someone or something your full attention. Attention is primordial intelligence, consciousness itself. It dissolves the barriers created by conceptual thought, and with this comes the recognition that nothing exists in and by itself. It joins the perceiver and the perceived in a unifying field of awareness. It is the healer of separation.

Eckhart Tolle
Excerpted from Stillness Speaks
Hodder & Stoughton, 2003
pp. 13-16


NEXT:
Eckhart Tolle on Being
“Conscious Without Thought”


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
A Season of Listening
Eckhart Tolle on Silence and Stillness
Time to Go Inwards
A Prayer of Anchoring
Today I Will Be Still
Cultivating Stillness
Inner Peace
A Sacred Pause
Aligning With the Living Light
Mystical Participation
I Need Do Nothing . . . I Am Open to the Living Light
Stepping Out of Time and Resting Your Mind
In the Stillness and Silence of This Present Moment
The Beauty and Challenge of Being Present in the Moment
Resting in the Presence of the Beloved
Active Waiting: A Radical Attitude Toward Life
Threshold Musings
Brigit Anna McNeill on Hearing the Wild and Natural Call to Go Inwards
Brigit Anna McNeill on “Winter’s Way”
To Dream, to Feel, to Listen
The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All
The Source is Within You
Forever Oneness
In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything is Possible

Image: The Center for Reflection and Renewal at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, MN. (Photo: Michael J. Bayly)