For non-Americans — your American friends may be suffering right now

Ruth Bader Ginsberg died yesterday. This is a bad situation for the United States, on a number of levels. For one, any hope of just quietly exiting / moving on from the Trump era is now gone.

I think some people – moderates of all kinds – supported Joe Biden because they thought he would represent a return to “business as usual.” That seems unlikely to be possible now, even if Biden wins in November.

(A simple way to understand the strangeness and viciousness of modern American politics is that, in response to the slow diversification of the population, one party has decided to move beyond electoral politics to a form of minority rule – maintained through gerrymanders, juidicial activism, voter suppression, and other means. Ginsberg’s death, and the vacancy on the supreme court that it creates, enables that plan to accelerate.)

Women’s rights and affordable health care now also seem in sharper danger than ever before.

If you are suffering right now, I’m happy to talk about it.

If you are looking for something to do in response, and you live in the US, this is a good site to visit: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/getmitch

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Thank you, Daniel.

It is indeed bad here. I will likely contribute to the ActBlue fundraiser today. And I will probably attend a march or two.

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