Thank you, Pattie. I appreciate your support. God knows, anyone willing to stand up against oppression in these trying times needs all the support they can get. But I’m discovering that I’m far from alone.
Pattie’s generous assertion prompts me to address the question, now that we are one week into the Delta variant of Trump ‘25 (Or is it Omicron? I lose track of these mutations): How best do we take that stand against what is showing itself to be as dangerous, cynical and hurtful as the original?
Here are three ingredients to lifting our democracy out of the ICU as we confront the threat of ICE.
Independence, Courage and Empathy.
And just as we must fight fire with fire, we need to fight ICE with I.C.E:
Independence
It’s really breathtaking how quickly people are surging away from corporate media and oligarch-owned social media toward responsible independent outlets. Substack’s rapid growth is certainly part of it. As chronicled in the UK’s Press Gazette, Substack was given Similarweb’s “Digital Winner” award this past week for its web traffic growth, which the analytics company claims has been accompanied by 139% year-on-year growth in its monthly active app usage.
We’ve seen many noted journalists set up shop on Substack over the past two years, either to launch solo newsletters or entire new publications.1 The Press Gazette notes that this month Washington Post opinion columnist Jen Rubin departed her paper over its perceived closeness to the incoming Trump administration, launching a Substack named “The Contrarian” that already has “tens of thousands” of paying subscribers according to the platform’s leaderboard. 2
With Jim Acosta’s highly-touted departure from CNN, the network that turned “Breaking News” into “Broken News,” I saw today that his Substack already has 15,000 subscribers.
I’m a small fish in this ocean, though by one estimate I’m somewhere in the top one percent of Substack authors by the “total subscribers” metric. I’ve certainly benefited from this sudden independent streak among journalists. A small fish, perhaps, but a rising tide lifts us all. Even the smelts.
What’s important is that these author-driven media outlets have come of age just in the nick of time. There is still a purpose for the New York Times, MSNBC and CNN (WaPo, not so much) with all their resources, but I start my morning with Heather Cox Richardson, currently #1 on the Substack chart, and for good reason.3 For me, going from X to Substack (with a side order of Blue Sky), has been like going from a Trump rally to a Sunday afternoon at Tanglewood. It’s made me smarter, as the TV hosts like to say, but at the same time calmer and more civilized. 4
So three cheers for independent media - it might be our salvation as we navigate Omicron Trump 2.0. When the history of this period is written, the revolution of independent journalism will be a huge part of the story.
Saw this perfect introduction in Substack notes today from John Cleese. Welcome aboard, John. Just don’t mention the war!
Courage
The gutless capitulation that we have seen too often recently masks itself as a fair-minded Trump re-set. But it’s pretty hard to justify wiping the slate clean on behalf of someone who denies that the slate even exists, much less that it was ever messed up. Forget remorse. He just went out and freed the cop-attackers of January 6 without a hint of conscience.
That doesn’t mean Trump 2.0 should be met with rudeness and denial of legitimacy - which is the way the Biden administration was met in 2021 - but with principled, fair resistance. But under no circumstances should someone who regains power after trying to tear down the system be lionized as some kind of Comeback Kid. This is not a reboot or “new beginning” (ADL’s term, not mine) for America, unless you consider Pearl Harbor and Fort Sumter “new beginnings” too.
There is a difference between judging each policy, act or statement on its own merits, which we should do - and I will - and cowardly capitulation in the face of more-of-the-same corruption and intimidation. The Washington Post and L.A. Times refusal to endorse a candidate was cowardly capitulation. But this past week’s stunt by the ADL was for me, and for so many Jews, the most gutless gut-punch yet. Rushing to the defense of Elon Musk5 following his offensive gesture was a victory for haters everywhere, when even a simple “No comment while we gather the facts” would have been far more preferable.
The antisemites giggled - they knew exactly what that dog whistle was about - and Musk responded by 1) mocking his detractors and putting the ADL out to dry in the process (at which point the ADL had no choice but to respond a little more assertively) 6, and 2) stating at a rally for Germany’s far right, proto-Nazi party that it is time for Germany to move beyond “past guilt.” 7
Oh really? “Put this behind us” was the precise talking point echoed in GOP ranks after the January 6 pardons.
Is Trump now planning to pardon the Third Reich?
I agree that children should not be punished for the deeds of their parents, as Musk said in his speech. It’s a great argument for Birthright Citizenship, in fact. But generations of Germans have grown to adulthood understanding the special role that history has thrust upon them, through no fault of their own. “Moving beyond it,” wiping away the scar from their history, is not what most Germans feel a need to do. But that is precisely what right wing Americans want. Such historical amnesia has enabled the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and the revival of the debunked and diabolical “Lost Cause of the Confederacy” narrative. And that of course is what Musk and his far right cronies are really aiming for. Why not erase Germany’s national pangs of conscience as a means of facilitating America’s national amnesia? After all, Hitler’s discrimination against Jews was inspired by Jim Crow. Musk is happy to export more good ol’ American hate to fertile ground overseas.
We can argue all day about the merits of affirmative action and DEI. I’d rather take this argument to higher moral ground. Musk is advocating Holocaust denial. Pure and simple. 8Yes, Musk is saying, let’s wipe away the memory of the murder of six million Jews just so current radical right Germans can kick out immigrants and feel better about themselves while downing pints at the Hofbräuhaus. And maybe feel liberated to go after the Jews again, as time permits.
Your move, ADL. Your awkward little guy, whom you say deserves a bit of grace, wants to wipe out German historical memory, meaning the Holocaust. Shall we just put that behind us too?
The ADL’s move was bad enough on the merits, as I noted at the time, but what was just as bad was that this should not have been hard. It was a layup - a teachable moment. Let’s explain why the gesture was offensive. It should not have to be courageous for Jews to oppose a sieg heil by a major public official - or even just an alleged sieg heil. If, on day one of this administration, this could happen to a group whose raison d'être is literally to defend Jews from people who give sieg heil salutes, what does that portend for the next four years?
Let us recall that divide-and-conquer is the autocrat’s modus operandi, and it has been Trump’s from the day he came down the escalator. No wonder Musk was so giddy. He just carved a wedge right into the heart of American Jewry.
What we need is more courage. If and when the ADL addresses this matter forthrightly to correct their stained record, and I believe they will, I will be the first to stand up and cheer.
Empathy
It’s becoming clear that along with independent journalists, religious leaders will be at the front lines of resisting the oppressive injustices of the next four years. Bishop Maryann Edgar Budde set the pace last week with her pitch-perfect keynote sermon at the National Cathedral that enraged President Trump. I wrote about it here.
What made it so powerful was her appeal to empathy:
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.
Today brought the news that dozens of Jewish groups have joined together to draft an open letter to protest Trump’s plans for massive deportation. You can read it here.9
Trump’s new policy is a direct attack on the sanctity of the worship space. Not only is he declaring war on sanctuary cities and sanctuary states, he’s declared all out war on sanctuary sanctuaries, on places of worship. Added to the invasion of sacred space is the freezing of federal grants that could impact synagogue security at a time when we need it. That is a nave too far, a bima beyond the pale, and 88 Jewish groups have stood up to say, “Not in our holy space. Not here. Not now. Not ever.”
The letter states:
During times of uncertainty and vulnerability, the places where people most often turn are our religious institutions. Proposed changes to the immigration policy, including allowing immigration authorities to enter sacred spaces, only serve to exacerbate feelings of fear, panic, and insecurity. People should be able to come together in peace and worship without fear of deportation, detention, or harassment.
Please do not enact policies that would turn places of solace into places of fear. Let us work together to create a nation that continues to embrace religious freedom and demonstrates compassion for those who seek refuge.
I was impressed that so many groups have signed this letter and expect that more would have done so if they had known about it. But not to fret. There will be many other opportunities to sign onto letters and to transform our sanctuaries into truly sacred spaces.
In 2018, I invited a victim of Trump 1’s immigrant purge, who had just received a stay on her deportation, to my High Holidays services. During the sermon (full text here), I pointed her out and said:
Several months ago, I stood vigil with other community leaders in front of a house where authorities were threatening to come and deport a woman who has lived in this country since 1992. Miriam, originally from Guatemala, is married with two children, Alison and Brianna. Brianna has Juvenile Diabetes and is entering 8th grade. Miriam was about to be deported, leaving Brianna in a life-threatening situation. Thanks to a community that came to her aid, a judge granted her a stay…. Miriam’s next court appearance is next week, and I pray that her stay will be extended indefinitely. But Miriam, if you need me down at your house to protect you, I will be there at a moment’s notice – even on Yom Kippur.
Hear that section of the sermon about 32 minutes in.
I asked Miriam, Brianna and Alison to stand (at 33:00 on the recording), and the congregation erupted in applause. It was one my proudest moments as a rabbi,
Our activism muscle has atrophied a bit since Trump’s been out of power. We never thought we would have to do this again. But at the moment Trump took his won’t-touch-the-Bible-it-has-cooties oath of office, a switch turned on in the hearts of conscientious people everywhere. It turns out that a lot more people have consciences than we thought. And that all begins with empathy, with stories like Miriam’s. We’ve now jumped from the “they’re eating the dogs” portion of our immigration program to real stories of real people suffering because of the cruelty of real cruel people. We can feel the pendulum swaying.
We can do this folks.
We just need to fight fire with fire, and ICE. with I.C.E., each and every day.
The PressGazette notes that journalists moving to the platform have included The London Times’ David Aaronovitch and Henry Winter, former MSNBC contributor Mehdi Hasan, who launched progressive outlet Zeteo, and The Guardian’s Jim Waterson, who set up local news site London Centric.
While Substack posts no official numbers, PressGazette calculated the top earning sites and posted them. Here are the top 16:
See more about Substack’s growth and user and revenue statistics here. One statistic that needs updating but is still impressive:
See also from SimilarWeb:
And it must be noted that as high as the quality of the newsy newsletters can be, Substack is angling for a broader creative impact on the culture, with poetry, fiction, and spirituality.
Here’s the now-infamous tweet:
Musk’s mockery and ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt’s response:
Boston Globe:
And I’m not the only one saying this. Ha’aretz front page on Wed:
And here:
P.S. Thank you Pattie Abee Jenkins! You speak for many of us. Thank you as always, Rabbi Hammerman!
While I, a US Citizen, was involved in the restoration project of a little Synagogue in a city near Frankfurt, Germany, I did as much research as possible (there wasn´t much info available in the late 70´s and early 80´s as one can imagine) on Judaism, the vanished Jewish community in this little city and European history in general, the Shoah was a constant presence of course in my readings. The thought came to me time and time again back then: Thank G*d this could never happen in America! Well, who would have thought that a cruel, ugly terror regime like the present one in my home country could happen? One that echoes the same patterns as those in the rise of nazi Germany I studied so long ago? I teach at a Jewish elementary school in a major German city. We have round-the-clock police protection because the Synagogue, Jewish museum and community center housing the school are all on one small arial. If Elon continues his interference in German politics (and in that of other European countries), who knows how long we will have this protection? I attended a "Stop the AfD" meeting last evening. About 50 young people. The advertising was word-of-mouth. Much too little for a major German city. Complacency is the enemy.