Had followed his life and him, since he came on the scene, years ago. You provided a wonderful tribute to him. May it become a tribute that your readers deserve as well.
Thanks, Andrew. And if you're The Andrew McCabe, thanks for repeatedly standing up to these goons, and sorry for what your old colleagues are going through. And if you're another Andrew McCabe, well, I'm still sorry about what they're doing to the FBI anyway. It's just plain wrong.
Yeah, staring at the table... Well you know, the fact that this happens just shows that truth is there. Navalny is right to compel those three, and us all, to look and act beyond the lies. It is heroic stand he takes. He took, God bless his memory.
It is true that we've been in a maelstrom of lies for a while now and one of the things about lies is that is distorts everything, leaving a film of madness and depression. Very hard times.
I saw Dylan and band play this one during covid at a beautiful scarlet and gold theatre in Providence. Chest thumping, eyes watering, just the sadness of the times.
I just say to myself what I know to be true, and take a deep breath.
A nice idea. But pretty pointless, and a waste of money. They're not big readers. I"m pretty sure MarkWayne Mullin hasn't even read his bible, The Art of the Deal. Even with time to sound out all the big two-syllable words. Sometimes we have to face facts: they're as dumb as they sound.
Hey, Sandra, thanks. (And for subscribing.) This piece is behind a paywall, which you probably weren't able to tell since the whole thing came to you by email, since you joined up. So if you post it elsewhere, civilians will run into the paywall. But I don't mind if you cut and paste the text on your Facebook page, if you're able to do that. Otherwise, they'll just have to join the team!
I knew it was going to be a really rough effing four years, but I thought it would mostly be a rerun of Trump I, that is to say, Trumps crooked business men would commit tax fraud and do ridiculous things and maybe go on dancing with the stars, but now we have MAGA Ubersturmfuhrer John McDumpyhitler who spent the last 10 years blogging about phrenology and its importance to the “common good” unlawfully destroying the entire constitutional order of this country. And this is what? Week 3 out of 9 million? Ughhhh.
It 30 degrees with 10 inches of snow on the ground. And half the water's frozen. So haven't been getting much fishing in lately. But here's one in the meantime:
In my 84 years I cannot recall smiling less as an American. That said, Matt, please do not exhaust your talents or temper on incessant obloquy, even though understandable. These days, I find myself harkening back to the upbeats of Rod Stewart's "Forever Young", and Bob Seger's "Running Against the Wind". (my tastes not as eclectic as yours) I do appreciate your educating me with contemplative messages, re: Navalny, and Merton, and others including Slack Tide contributors. Peace.
And to think that this country once elected presidents who spoke to “the better angels of our nature.” Today, Feb. 12, 2025, the birthday of the president who spoke those words amid a nation on the cusp of civil war, almost half the American electorate would find Abraham Lincoln’s words as meaningless as they likely would consider Navalny’s. As for their Orange Jesus, better angels are to him as fidelity to simple truth is to what once was Lincoln’s party. So dark has this moment in our nation’s history become that Dylan’s mournful music sounds positively euphoric by comparison. Thnx for sharing it nonetheless as well as the reflection of Navalny’s courageous soul.
Matt, as a moderate Republican i always enjoyed your measured non partisan and great sense of humor. However your non stop constant rants against Trump have grown most wearisome, and while i agree with many of your positions i don’t think any of us need more whining and handwringing.
You have become an advocate for negativity and you are clearly back in sync with your woke NYT’s friends and totally out of touch with the majority of Americans who didn’t necessarily like or support Trump, but are just sick of the negative cancel culture that you continue to embrace.
Maybe time to see a shrink or get a better mirror to look into
I'll see your majority of Americans who are just sick of negative cancel culture and raise you another majority of Americans who are just as sick of the negative *everything* that your majority of Americans seem to continue to embrace. The point being that the Republican embrace of Trumpism and its deleterious effects have now divided this country to the point that you couldn't get an actual, true majority of Americans to even agree that the wind was blowing hard in the middle of a hurricane.
And as to cancel culture, not to worry. With the new Chairman and CEO of American Culture taking the helm at the Kennedy Center, I expect his influence will spread to other such venues PDQ, and that should pretty much cancel enough culture to last for a good long while.
Ward, your comment makes me really sad. It's not "woke" to recognise the truly dangerous position the country is in at the moment - it's realistic. You, and what you say are the "majority" of Americans (though I doubt it) have obviously got your head deep in the sand. When your house is on fire, a good neighbor does not stand by and say "Nice blaze you have going there - need some more gasoline?
Trump is a runaway Winnebago, filled with fertilizer and nitromethane bearing down on the Constitution, all for his personal glory. Many of us are scared and angry. What do you expect?
Wow. You really are part of the problem. Everything black and white and while the majority of Americans 54% think the counrtry is now going in the right direction, your stubborn head remains in the ground trying to pretend Biden and team were on the best track
Over and out of what? Not your own backside, Ward, or you wouldn't make a blanket, self-serving, unsubstantiated statement like "...the majority of Americans 54% think the country is now going in the right direction..." without backing it up with something... hell, anything.
Anyone - me included - can cherry pick poll results to conform to whatever their *preferred* idea of reality is. The trick is to pull one's own head out of one's own ass and leave the fruit picking to all those dirty migrants now soiling the blood of our country.
It took all of about 20 seconds to find one article from a credible source about current polls that could support your statement - though with a little lower % than you cite - but which could also refute your statement with other polling results on the same question.
Confirmation bias is a powerful thing, and yours is probably now screaming at you "This guy's some kind of wack job libtard."
Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. You could ask Matt, since he knows a little bit about me. But wait... no, I don't guess you can do that now, being that you are SO out of here.
But in case you question the bias of the source I linked to, here you go.
And you might note that I intentionally skewed things toward your "moderate Republican" self-identification by pointing to a poll from a conservative-leaning pollster published by a near center-right media outlet. Can't get much more fair and unbiased than that in disputing your point about what the actual *majority* of the American people think or want regarding the direction in which the country is headed.
And if you're wondering if I'm aware of my own biases, yes, yes I am. Which is why I don't make much of a habit out of throwing around unsubstantiated sweeping statements about what a majority of my fellow Americans are thinking about anything these days. Because I'm sort of biased toward reality rather than what I simply *wish* was reality.
Edit: Best of luck in telling folks to get their heads out of the ground or their asses elsewhere. There is no shortage of folks who are "part of the problem", and you've surely proven you have the keenest of senses for sussing them out.
"So keep preaching to others who disagree with your views and the Democratic Party will continue to implode."... This could very well be true. When you read words such as "unjustly imprisoned ", "corrupt power", "the whole system of power in our beautiful country, and everything that’s happening, is based on endless lies." should we immediately assume they are unique only to Russia? Most of your friends probably first imagined Juan Merchan staring down at the table...
So, since you claim to be a "moderate Republican", why wouldn't you promote Matt to do more to implode the Democratic Party? Maybe even buy some gift subscriptions!
Is there a Lukewarm Christian in there scratching towards a warmer, gentler temperature setting? Being as my Christian thermostat's set on Tepid-Going-On-Room-Temperature, I admire your degree of civility. And I'll try to follow your good example.
From now on when the occasion calls for it, rather than quoting Elon to the offender, I'll simply tell them to "Step back and ELON YOURSELF in the face." Being as room temperature sometimes may not be as far away as one might like it to be, I guess it doesn't hurt to bank a Brownie point with the guy upstairs whenever possible.
Thanks, as always, Dr. Deb. And you don't have to sell me on Thoreau. As you know -- I'm a fan. Though I haven't read this. So I'm saving it for my pleasure reading this week. Now I have something to look forward to.
Not quoting Navalny’s thoughts on immigrants I see. Well he probably changed his mind on that
Had followed his life and him, since he came on the scene, years ago. You provided a wonderful tribute to him. May it become a tribute that your readers deserve as well.
Loved this piece and the music too!
Awesome piece Matt, thank you.
Thanks so much, Matt, for making this moment visible, and your clever linkage of the aching ‘Not Dark Yet’ covers to Navalny’s brave stand.
Thanks, Andrew. And if you're The Andrew McCabe, thanks for repeatedly standing up to these goons, and sorry for what your old colleagues are going through. And if you're another Andrew McCabe, well, I'm still sorry about what they're doing to the FBI anyway. It's just plain wrong.
Thanks Matt. I am in fact the “other” Andrew McCabe around these parts, but appreciate your comment.
Well, we need more Andrew McCabes. So either way!
Yeah, staring at the table... Well you know, the fact that this happens just shows that truth is there. Navalny is right to compel those three, and us all, to look and act beyond the lies. It is heroic stand he takes. He took, God bless his memory.
It is true that we've been in a maelstrom of lies for a while now and one of the things about lies is that is distorts everything, leaving a film of madness and depression. Very hard times.
I saw Dylan and band play this one during covid at a beautiful scarlet and gold theatre in Providence. Chest thumping, eyes watering, just the sadness of the times.
I just say to myself what I know to be true, and take a deep breath.
Thanks for two versions.
Should we do a GoFundMe to buy every senator Navalnys book?
Maybe we should do a GoFundMe to just buy the Senators, just like any other lobbying group would try to do.
A nice idea. But pretty pointless, and a waste of money. They're not big readers. I"m pretty sure MarkWayne Mullin hasn't even read his bible, The Art of the Deal. Even with time to sound out all the big two-syllable words. Sometimes we have to face facts: they're as dumb as they sound.
A wonderful piece in all its parts. ❤️Thank you.
As a new paid subscriber I shared your post on facebook and learned it could not be read beyond a few paragraphs. Any remedies, Matt?
Hey, Sandra, thanks. (And for subscribing.) This piece is behind a paywall, which you probably weren't able to tell since the whole thing came to you by email, since you joined up. So if you post it elsewhere, civilians will run into the paywall. But I don't mind if you cut and paste the text on your Facebook page, if you're able to do that. Otherwise, they'll just have to join the team!
I think I'm going to get me a "I'm not looking at the table!" badge. Superb observation - and they ALL do it - apart from the dancing masters. . .
I knew it was going to be a really rough effing four years, but I thought it would mostly be a rerun of Trump I, that is to say, Trumps crooked business men would commit tax fraud and do ridiculous things and maybe go on dancing with the stars, but now we have MAGA Ubersturmfuhrer John McDumpyhitler who spent the last 10 years blogging about phrenology and its importance to the “common good” unlawfully destroying the entire constitutional order of this country. And this is what? Week 3 out of 9 million? Ughhhh.
Superb
I just renewed my subscription, which I had set to lapse in early November
How about a fishing piece?
It 30 degrees with 10 inches of snow on the ground. And half the water's frozen. So haven't been getting much fishing in lately. But here's one in the meantime:
https://mattlabash.substack.com/p/spots-of-time
That’s a great one; thanks.
In my 84 years I cannot recall smiling less as an American. That said, Matt, please do not exhaust your talents or temper on incessant obloquy, even though understandable. These days, I find myself harkening back to the upbeats of Rod Stewart's "Forever Young", and Bob Seger's "Running Against the Wind". (my tastes not as eclectic as yours) I do appreciate your educating me with contemplative messages, re: Navalny, and Merton, and others including Slack Tide contributors. Peace.
Thank you, brother. Much appreciated. And hang in there.....
And to think that this country once elected presidents who spoke to “the better angels of our nature.” Today, Feb. 12, 2025, the birthday of the president who spoke those words amid a nation on the cusp of civil war, almost half the American electorate would find Abraham Lincoln’s words as meaningless as they likely would consider Navalny’s. As for their Orange Jesus, better angels are to him as fidelity to simple truth is to what once was Lincoln’s party. So dark has this moment in our nation’s history become that Dylan’s mournful music sounds positively euphoric by comparison. Thnx for sharing it nonetheless as well as the reflection of Navalny’s courageous soul.
Matt, as a moderate Republican i always enjoyed your measured non partisan and great sense of humor. However your non stop constant rants against Trump have grown most wearisome, and while i agree with many of your positions i don’t think any of us need more whining and handwringing.
You have become an advocate for negativity and you are clearly back in sync with your woke NYT’s friends and totally out of touch with the majority of Americans who didn’t necessarily like or support Trump, but are just sick of the negative cancel culture that you continue to embrace.
Maybe time to see a shrink or get a better mirror to look into
I'll see your majority of Americans who are just sick of negative cancel culture and raise you another majority of Americans who are just as sick of the negative *everything* that your majority of Americans seem to continue to embrace. The point being that the Republican embrace of Trumpism and its deleterious effects have now divided this country to the point that you couldn't get an actual, true majority of Americans to even agree that the wind was blowing hard in the middle of a hurricane.
And as to cancel culture, not to worry. With the new Chairman and CEO of American Culture taking the helm at the Kennedy Center, I expect his influence will spread to other such venues PDQ, and that should pretty much cancel enough culture to last for a good long while.
Ward, your comment makes me really sad. It's not "woke" to recognise the truly dangerous position the country is in at the moment - it's realistic. You, and what you say are the "majority" of Americans (though I doubt it) have obviously got your head deep in the sand. When your house is on fire, a good neighbor does not stand by and say "Nice blaze you have going there - need some more gasoline?
Trump is a runaway Winnebago, filled with fertilizer and nitromethane bearing down on the Constitution, all for his personal glory. Many of us are scared and angry. What do you expect?
Maybe you should read this:
https://substack.com/@mattlabash/note/c-92583651
Wow. You really are part of the problem. Everything black and white and while the majority of Americans 54% think the counrtry is now going in the right direction, your stubborn head remains in the ground trying to pretend Biden and team were on the best track
I am SO out of here
Hey, honesty/reality aren't for everybody. Bye, Felicia!
Jesus said “ i am the truth” but i guess it actually is You.
So keep preaching to others who disagree with your views and the Democratic Party will continue to implode.
Unfortuate that you cant even partially pull your head out of your ass.
Over and out!
Over and out of what? Not your own backside, Ward, or you wouldn't make a blanket, self-serving, unsubstantiated statement like "...the majority of Americans 54% think the country is now going in the right direction..." without backing it up with something... hell, anything.
Anyone - me included - can cherry pick poll results to conform to whatever their *preferred* idea of reality is. The trick is to pull one's own head out of one's own ass and leave the fruit picking to all those dirty migrants now soiling the blood of our country.
It took all of about 20 seconds to find one article from a credible source about current polls that could support your statement - though with a little lower % than you cite - but which could also refute your statement with other polling results on the same question.
https://www.newsweek.com/americans-think-country-right-track-rasmussen-poll-2031393
Confirmation bias is a powerful thing, and yours is probably now screaming at you "This guy's some kind of wack job libtard."
Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. You could ask Matt, since he knows a little bit about me. But wait... no, I don't guess you can do that now, being that you are SO out of here.
But in case you question the bias of the source I linked to, here you go.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/newsweek/
And you might note that I intentionally skewed things toward your "moderate Republican" self-identification by pointing to a poll from a conservative-leaning pollster published by a near center-right media outlet. Can't get much more fair and unbiased than that in disputing your point about what the actual *majority* of the American people think or want regarding the direction in which the country is headed.
And if you're wondering if I'm aware of my own biases, yes, yes I am. Which is why I don't make much of a habit out of throwing around unsubstantiated sweeping statements about what a majority of my fellow Americans are thinking about anything these days. Because I'm sort of biased toward reality rather than what I simply *wish* was reality.
Edit: Best of luck in telling folks to get their heads out of the ground or their asses elsewhere. There is no shortage of folks who are "part of the problem", and you've surely proven you have the keenest of senses for sussing them out.
There's this fascinating pattern in the wood grain of the table top . . . it looks just like all my accumulated illusions.
I know piling on is bad form, but that's obviously yesterday's thinking
"So keep preaching to others who disagree with your views and the Democratic Party will continue to implode."... This could very well be true. When you read words such as "unjustly imprisoned ", "corrupt power", "the whole system of power in our beautiful country, and everything that’s happening, is based on endless lies." should we immediately assume they are unique only to Russia? Most of your friends probably first imagined Juan Merchan staring down at the table...
So, since you claim to be a "moderate Republican", why wouldn't you promote Matt to do more to implode the Democratic Party? Maybe even buy some gift subscriptions!
Richard, Agreed..Yes, we hear endless, easily refutable lies with the facts - however, we know what MAGA thinks about facts. Anyway...
I contend that these endless, easily refutable lies are but the offspring of one lie...the one BIG LIE!
Gosh, Matt. That's about the most courteous, polite "...step back and F-BOMB YOURSELF in the face" that I've ever seen...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-appears-to-quote-tropic-thunder-with-f-yourself-in-the-face-tweet/
Is there a Lukewarm Christian in there scratching towards a warmer, gentler temperature setting? Being as my Christian thermostat's set on Tepid-Going-On-Room-Temperature, I admire your degree of civility. And I'll try to follow your good example.
From now on when the occasion calls for it, rather than quoting Elon to the offender, I'll simply tell them to "Step back and ELON YOURSELF in the face." Being as room temperature sometimes may not be as far away as one might like it to be, I guess it doesn't hurt to bank a Brownie point with the guy upstairs whenever possible.
Yeah, I'm trying to be kinder and gentler. Also, he's a paid subscriber. I try to take most of my animus out on free subscribers.
Dear Matt,
Thank you for your great essay.
It is the most valuable writing
of yours that I have yet read.
Thank you for giving us
your words of courage.
Now, when we need them the most.
Allow me to share with you
the immortal words of Henry David Thoreau:
A Plea For Captain John Brown.
My father read these words aloud to me
many times when I was a young girl,
weeping as he delivered them.
Thoreau speaks to us today.
He teaches us
what it means to be alive.
https://moglen.law.columbia.edu/LCS/pleaforcaptainjohnbrown.pdf
Thanks, as always, Dr. Deb. And you don't have to sell me on Thoreau. As you know -- I'm a fan. Though I haven't read this. So I'm saving it for my pleasure reading this week. Now I have something to look forward to.