Good morning and happy labor day, Matthew. 💪🐇🐇💙
Father, friend, believe love conquers hate, and truth wins over prevarication.
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Good morning and happy labor day, Matthew. 💪🐇🐇💙
Sisters/brothers, let us pause today on remember it was hardworking folks who fought for labor rights and union leaders who built the middle class in America. we all have much to thank them for. Happy Labor Day.
happy bday French writer Annie Ernaux, b.1940. “I have searched for my mother's love in all the corners of the world.” “Pain cannot be kept intact, it needs to be “processed,” converted into humor.” “There is no such thing as a lesser truth.”
happy bday Dutch writer Willem Frederik Hermans, b.1921. "A harmful truth is better than a useful lie." "War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace".
Mass shooters since 2018 who were transgender, total of 4. Mass shooters since 2018 who were not transgender, total of more than 4,000. Transgender folks are 1.0% of the population and they make up less than 0.1% of the mass shooters.
thank you. onward my friend.
"The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind." ~Maria Montessori Explains one of the reasons I became a teacher 👆🏼👇🏼
happy bday Armenian-American writer William Saroyan, b1908, Fresno, CA “The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness. “You must not be unkind, especially when it happens that you're right. “The role of art is to make a world which can be inhabited.”
happy bday Italian educator/physician Maria Montessori, b.1870. "The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind." “Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.” “Of all things love is the most potent.”
RIP Irish poet Seamus Heaney, died this day 2013. "History says, don't hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme."
happy bday English writer Mary Shelley, b.1797. “There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.” “The beginning is always today.” “When falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?”
“We have only one recourse in the face of death: make art before it happens."
happy bday Haitian writer René Depestre, b1926 “The vast space sparkling w/ stars seemed to want to become part of my body. "The relationships between consciousness & reality are extremely complex. It is equally necessary to decolonize our minds & inner life, at the same time we decolonize society.
happy bday Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck, b.1862. “Each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand mediocre minds appointed to guard the past.” “When we lose one we love, our bitterest tears are called forth by the memory of hours when we loved not enough.”
70 years ago, on this date, Emmett Till was kidnapped and brutally murdered by white men. His family, including his cousin who was with him at the time, is repeating the train ride he took from Chicago to Mississippi in 1955 to mark the anniversary
thank you.
All of these quotes ring true but the second one? If this doesn’t explain so much of where we are in this world today, I don’t know what does. Thank you as always Matthew for sharing all the wisdom you find — as well as your own.
Lovely 😊
Sunset last night on Orcas Island, hanging with friends and family around a warm campfire, as a breeze comes in, and the waves lap the shore.
"The heights by great men reached and kept were not achieved by sudden flight but they, while their companions slept were toiling upward in the night."
happy bday German writer/polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, b.1749. “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” “A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.” “By seeking and blundering we learn.”
...Sure, it's hard to get started; remember learning to use knife and fork? Dig in: you'll never reach bottom. It's not like it's the end of the world-- just the world as you think you know it.”
happy bday writer Rita Dove, b.1952, Akron, OH. “The First Book Open it. Go ahead, it won't bite. Well. . . maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You see, it keeps on opening. You may fall in....
...We clove the crags apart. With forces ever vying, Upon the rock-face time and time again we smote."
happy bday Ukrainian writer/philosopher Ivan Franko, b.1856. "Wisdom is not in words; Wisdom is meaning within words." "Together one and all, raising our arms on high, we Struck, and a thousand hammers sounded forth their note. And on a thousand sides hurled shards and splinters flying,...
happy bday writer Theodore Dreiser, b.1871, Terra Haute, IN. “Art is the stored honey of the human soul.” “Love is the only thing you can really give in all this world. When you give love, you give everything.” "In order to have wisdom we must have ignorance".
i think he is drawn to him because of his vices and shortcomings.
yes, but had some work to do, so came to get internet at orcas library.
any reporter or analyst saying Trump has had a good month should be completely ignored. He passed an awful unpopular bill, and his approval ratings dropped. He launched national guard in DC and his low approval numbers haven't moved. the level of malpractice by analysts is astounding.
there is literally no evidence any of this has helped trump. his approval numbers haven't moved, and they continue to be dismal.
Trump approval on economy is now at all time low for him of 37% according to Gallup much lower than 2018. His approval among Dems on economy is 4% and among Independents it is 29% (another all time low). Among GOP Trump economy approval is 93%. GOP continues to support the felon.
Thank you🌸🌼🌺
I adore Apollianiare and so did many composers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeIl...
happy bday poet/professor Nikky Finney, b.1957, Conway, SC. “You are not responsible for breaking the glass but you are responsible for walking away as if you were not involved, as if you were not there, as if you did not have the power or the courage to do something to try and make it right.”
“Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
happy bday Italian-French writer Guillaume Apollinaire, b.1880. “Come to the edge," he said. "We can't, we're afraid!" they responded. "Come to the edge," he said. "We can't, We will fall!" they responded. "Come to the edge," he said. And so they came. And he pushed them. And they flew.”
happy bday Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, b.1914. “All profound distraction opens certain doors. You have to allow yourself to be distracted when you are unable to concentrate.” "Time is born in the eyes, everybody knows that."
awake on calm beautiful morning on Orcas island, listening to the waves lap the shore, warm cup of tea in hand, and watching the sunrise. Life is good.
Starlette Thomas: "Frederick Douglass asserted the same before her, 'I prefer to be my true self, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false and incur my own abhorrence.' goodfaithmedia.org/the-way-to-o...
...Sometimes I can't sit still for all the asininities I read. Give me the hummingbird, who has to eat sixty times His own weight a day just to stay alive. Now that's a life on the edge.”
happy bday poet Charles Wright, b.1935, Pickwick Dam, TN. “We've all led raucous lives, some of them inside, some of them out. But only the poem you leave behind is what's important. Everyone knows this. The voyage into the interior is all that matters, Whatever your ride....
happy bday Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin, b.1962. “Let humanity be the other name for religion.” “It's foolish to confront a weapon with bare hands.” "Nothing but the flag of religion can crush human beings and humane emotions so completely.”
Remember when Ted Cruz pretended to care about democracy?👇
happy bday Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, b.1899. “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” “To fall in love is to create a religion that has a fallible god.” “Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.”
happy bday Jamaican poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, b.1952. "I am often asked why I started to write poetry. The answer is that my motivation sprang from a visceral need to creatively articulate the experiences of the black youth of my generation, coming of age in a racist society."
happy bday West Indian writer Jean Rhys, b.1890. “Today I must be very careful, today I have left my armor at home.” “Blot out the moon, Pull down the stars. Love in the dark, for we're for the dark So soon, so soon.”
hi sisters and brothers, i am off to Orcas Island for a week, and no wifi where i am staying so I may be spotty on my morning postings. Enjoy this day and days ahead. Peace and love to you all.
Happy bday English poet William Ernest Henley, b.1849 💫✨💫
laughing. i am up in Pacific Northwest so i am actually very early.
...How often I have wandered to forget life’s gloomy sorrows in the evening’s dark, upon my lips, a divine melody recited by a caravan of stars."
happy bday Iraqi poet Nazik Al-Malaika, b.1923, she wrote her first poem at age ten. "Night is life’s melody, its poetry, here gods of beauty roam to their content, here uninhibited souls fly about and spirits hover in the firmament...
happy bday English writer William Ernest Henley, b.1849 "It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”
Shaggy was alone and scared on the streets of Thailand. To see him now in America will make your heart melt...
Matthew, Dorothy’s final resting place. After some shifting around, she is home. Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx.
“I gave my life to Christ in the Cracker Barrel parking lot” sounds like the filthiest euphemism I have ever heard.
"if Democrats don’t draw partisan districts, they would most likely be ceding a permanent majority to the GOP in the House of Representatives." www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Up in Seattle today hanging with family, and then off to Orcas island for the first time tomorrow. Weather is so wonderful up here.
This is funny on so many levels
thank you. you too.
...Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne. Three be the things I shall have till I die: Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.”
happy bday writer Dorothy Parker, b.1893, Long Branch, NJ. "Four be the things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe. Four be the things I'd been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt....
happy bday writer Annie Proulx, b.1935 in Norwich, CT. “Everybody that went away suffered a broken heart. "I'm coming back some day," they all wrote. But never did. The old life was too small to fit anymore.” “You know, friend, this is a goddamn bitch of a unsatisfactory situation.”
I suggest this new logo inspired by the California Governor. @gavinnewsom.bsky.social
in latest polling in NYC mayoral race, Mamdani leads Cuomo by 18 points.
I like gold leaf unsweetened....Thanks Matt, for all your insights and knowledge...for those of us that still have hope and a belief we will overcome this. Onward.
and so do i.
Matthew Dowd spilled on why he's loving the California governor's new posting style.
And I haven't had Starbucks in nearly ten years. I don't drink coffee, but used to get iced tea. Boycott!
"Starbucks, the global coffee chain, had the largest pay ratio gap in the entire S&P 500 at 6,666 to 1 last year—Brian Niccol reportedly pocketed $95.8 million while the average worker earned $14,674, the eighth-lowest median pay of any S&P 500 firm, the report found." Institute for Policy Studies
thank you. very kind.
OPINION by @matthewjdowd.bsky.social: “In the short term, if Democrats don’t draw partisan districts, they would most likely be ceding a permanent majority to the GOP in the House of Representatives.” READ MORE: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
“What would be poetic justice is if the new GOP-drawn districts in Texas backfire and voters replace Republicans with Democrats in Congress.”👏🏻
Klein is a compellingly original poet who unfortunately is not that well-known outside Canada.
"...it is clearer than ever that while citizen-led independent redistricting commissions are necessary, they need to be instituted in every state in a similar way. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a bill with this goal in 2021, but Republicans blocked it."
I’m introduced to so many people with your birthday greetings - thanks! A particularly relevant writer today
"None of this is good for our democracy. Drawing nearly every district as uncompetitive in a general election means we have elections decided by a few partisans, not the broader electorate." - @matthewjdowd.bsky.social Please read below re: "the path out of this radioactive debate is threefold..."
"O biblic birds, who fluttered to me in my childhood illnesses — me little, afraid, ill, not of your race, — the cool wing for my fever, the hovering solace, the sense of angels— be thanked, O plumage of paradise, be praised." - A.M. Klein
Thanks for that Matthew. I was torn over this “race to the bottom.” The weight of your opinion has convinced me that it’s a necessary and hopefully temporary arms race in the fight for democracy.
Texas remains a growing embarrassment to this Country, to Democracy and to the Constitution.
...... Because it is the absolute and very comforting rule of the fairy tale that the good and brave shall be rewarded, and that bad people shall come to a bad end."
happy bday English writer Ruth Manning-Sanders, b1886 "Now in all these stories, as in fairy tales about witches in general, you may be sure of one thing however terrible the witches may seem – & whatever power they may have to lay spells on people & to work mischief – they are always defeated....
We need to hold these TX Republicans accountable for election fraud!
thank you my friend.
"we must all speak out against the Republicans who have brought us to the brink of political war". latest column: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Excellent article on the political war the GOP has forced us into. They are weak & afraid, but like a cornered animal, they become more vicious in their attempt to survive. @democrats.org must be more vicious & relentless. I also keep thinking no taxation without representation.
RIP Ukrainian-born Canadian poet A.M. Klein, died today 1972. "And my tears, too, have stained this heirloomed ground, When reading in these treatises some weird Miracle, I turned a leaf and found A white hair fallen from my father's beard."
my latest column: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
@matthewjdowd.bsky.social Just saw you onDeadline Whitehouse - you are spot on again!! I can vouch that I am feeling the fun. I have been laughing my head off at Newsome trolling and the sandwhich guy felon. Wish I could laugh about the Epstein files. Always appreciate your thoughts.
Nicolle Wallace and her guests laugh at Gavin Newsom’s parody of Trump. Matthew Dowd: “If you’re laughing at a politician, you’re winning. If you can get voters to laugh at somebody else, you’re winning.” @nicollewallace.bsky.social @matthewjdowd.bsky.social
Important comments today on Texas redistricting on @msnbc.com @nicollewallace.bsky.social Please post your segments today with @matthewjdowd.bsky.social @wagnertonight.msnbc.com
Seems you and @marcelias.bsky.social are on the same page… it’s not time to quit/give up.
...It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit”
happy bday British-born writer Edgar A. Guest, b.1881. "Success is failure turned inside out- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far, So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit-...
happy bday Norwegian writer Tarjei Vesaas, b.1897. “The pine needles stretch their tongues and sing an unfamiliar nocturnal song. Each tongue is so small that it cannot be heard; together the sound is so deep and powerful that it could level the hills if it wished.”
happy bday German-born theologian/philosopher Paul Tillich, b.1886. “...history has shown that the most terrible crimes against love have been committed in the name of fanatically defended doctrines.” “Joy is the emotional expression of the courageous YES to one's own true being.”
Andrew 