1. Sue Bell Cobb posted on her Facebook this:
Yesterday, a dear childhood friend wrote this insightful essay which perfectly captures our current predicament …..I am so proud of my friend who is not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. I pray that people who are defending our President will read this and dedicate themselves to a time of self-reflection. All of us need to look at ourselves and ask ourselves: Can I do more?
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There’s a line from the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer that I believe to be profound. In his “Letters and Papers from Prison” he wrote: “Willful ignorance is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion….Against willful ignorance we are defenseless”
It’s a jarring statement—especially from someone who lived under the Nazi regime, who was imprisoned, and eventually executed for his role in resisting Hitler. You would think he would point to evil as the greatest danger. But he didn’t. He pointed to something quieter. Something insidious. Something that doesn’t wear a uniform or announce itself.
Willful ignorance.
Now, Bonhoeffer didn’t mean people were dumb in terms of IQ. He wasn’t mocking anyone. He meant something deeper—something more frightening. He meant that when people give up their capacity for critical thought, when they surrender their judgment to a charismatic figure or a movement, they become blind to reality. Worse, they become proud of it. And at that point, reason doesn’t work. Facts don’t work. Conversation doesn’t work. You can’t argue with someone who no longer recognizes the value of truth. You can’t argue with someone who is not intellectually deficient so much as morally and socially disarmed, made susceptible to propaganda, to dogma, to charismatic manipulation. Once they’ve surrendered their agency reason no longer reaches them.
Today, in our own country, we’re living through the very crisis Bonhoeffer warned about.
The MAGA movement—fueled by Donald Trump and supported by a rising wave of far-right leaders—has created not just a political faction, but a psychological state. It thrives on emotional surrender. On grievance. On blind loyalty.
We’ve all seen it. People who once valued reason, decency, and noble institutions now repeat conspiracy theories without a second thought. They deny facts that are obvious, defend behavior that is indefensible, and treat democratic norms as optional or expendable if they get in the way of their preferred or desired outcomes. They don’t just disagree with their opponents—they dehumanize them.
And they accuse those of us on the left of being “sheep.”
It’s an accusation worth pausing over. The "left" and the "right" find ourselves in a loop argument. But they’re not entirely wrong about the phenomenon of blind allegiance. But they’ve got the mirror turned in the wrong direction. The dilemma becomes a mutual accusation of delusion and a breakdown of shared reality.
They accuse the left of mindless conformity, of blindly trusting government or science or the media. But many within the MAGA world have surrendered their critical faculties to a single albeit improbable man. A man who lies with ease. Who sows chaos with intention. Who now leads an effort—through Project 2025 which is sewn entirely into the lining of a cloak labeled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to remake the American government into a tool of authoritarian control. Who purges our government of experienced and expert civil servants. Who exacts political loyalty tests. Who is dismantling independent agencies which provide safeguards against all of this . Who is, by every means possible, gutting the safeguards of democracy.
It’s not a theory. It’s written down in black and white. Yet millions cheer for it—not because they’re evil, but because they’ve been conditioned to think anything done in the name of their movement must be good.
That’s what Bonhoeffer was trying to tell us. Evil CAN be resisted. It can be exposed. But willful ignorance—this willing blindness—is harder. It gives evil a mask. A platform. A crowd.
So how do we face this?
First, we must remember calling someone willfully ignorant doesn’t change their mind. It doesn’t wake them up. If anything, it drives them deeper into their bunker. You cannot reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into.
We need to ask: Why are so many people this vulnerable to manipulation? Why do they need enemies so badly? Why does rage feel safer to them than reason?
The answer is fear. Fear of losing control. Fear of change. Fear of being left behind by a world that feels unfamiliar and unfair. And fear—when manipulated—makes people do things they’d never imagine.
That’s why our first duty is not to win arguments. It’s to hold the line of truth. To keep the doors of democracy open. To model the kind of thinking and listening and acting that our society so desperately needs. Instead of focusing on what’s false (fact-checking every lie), focus on how manipulation works. “Who benefits from your fear?” “Why do they keep you angry?” “Why do they say democracy is broken unless they win?”
It means defending institutions even when they’re imperfect. It means voting like our future depends on it—because it does. It means talking to those who might still be reachable, not to shame them, but to remind them they can think for themselves. That they’re not powerless. That they don’t have to follow the mob. The battle isn’t just for hearts and minds, it’s for institutions, laws and norms. While persuasion is noble, protecting democratic structures such as voting rights, independent courts, and education standards is crucial even when persuasion fails. Just yesterday (Wednesday) the entire board of the prestigious Fulbright program that promotes international educational exchanges resigned because of what they said was political interference by the Trump administration in their operations. The Fulbright program was established in 1946 after legislation introduced by J. William Fulbright, a Democratic senator from Arkansas. The Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961 formalized legal statutes for the program. It says the selection of scholars, teachers and others falls under the authority of a 12-member board appointed by the president. The nearly 200 scholars who are receiving rejection letters are part of a group of about 900 American scholars approved by the board over the winter.
Democracy isn’t just a system of government. It’s a system of trust. And when we lose that—when people stop believing in shared reality—we don’t just face bad policies. We face collapse
In the end, Bonhoeffer was right. The greatest threat to our world isn’t the villain twirling his mustache in the shadows. It’s the everyday person who hands over their mind and soul, piece by piece, in the name of safety or certainty or pride.
But here’s the hope: if that surrender is a choice, then so is the reclaiming of thought. Of voice. Of courage.
We can still choose truth.
We can still choose community.
We can still choose each other.
And as long as we do, democracy still has a fighting chance.
Bonhoeffer ultimately gave his life resisting a regime built on the very manipulation and willful ignorance he warned against. His warning is not that such people are beyond redemption—it’s that they must be awakened, and that we must never grow so angry or cynical that we forget our duty to try.
So the resolution isn’t about “winning the argument.” It’s about preserving the conditions under which the truth can still be spoken—and heard.
There’s a line from the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer that I believe to be profound. In his “Letters and Papers from Prison” he wrote: “Willful ignorance is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion….Against willful ignorance we are defenseless”
It’s a jarring statement—especially from someone who lived under the Nazi regime, who was imprisoned, and eventually executed for his role in resisting Hitler. You would think he would point to evil as the greatest danger. But he didn’t. He pointed to something quieter. Something insidious. Something that doesn’t wear a uniform or announce itself.
Willful ignorance.
Now, Bonhoeffer didn’t mean people were dumb in terms of IQ. He wasn’t mocking anyone. He meant something deeper—something more frightening. He meant that when people give up their capacity for critical thought, when they surrender their judgment to a charismatic figure or a movement, they become blind to reality. Worse, they become proud of it. And at that point, reason doesn’t work. Facts don’t work. Conversation doesn’t work. You can’t argue with someone who no longer recognizes the value of truth. You can’t argue with someone who is not intellectually deficient so much as morally and socially disarmed, made susceptible to propaganda, to dogma, to charismatic manipulation. Once they’ve surrendered their agency reason no longer reaches them.
Today, in our own country, we’re living through the very crisis Bonhoeffer warned about.
The MAGA movement—fueled by Donald Trump and supported by a rising wave of far-right leaders—has created not just a political faction, but a psychological state. It thrives on emotional surrender. On grievance. On blind loyalty.
We’ve all seen it. People who once valued reason, decency, and noble institutions now repeat conspiracy theories without a second thought. They deny facts that are obvious, defend behavior that is indefensible, and treat democratic norms as optional or expendable if they get in the way of their preferred or desired outcomes. They don’t just disagree with their opponents—they dehumanize them.
And they accuse those of us on the left of being “sheep.”
It’s an accusation worth pausing over. The "left" and the "right" find ourselves in a loop argument. But they’re not entirely wrong about the phenomenon of blind allegiance. But they’ve got the mirror turned in the wrong direction. The dilemma becomes a mutual accusation of delusion and a breakdown of shared reality.
They accuse the left of mindless conformity, of blindly trusting government or science or the media. But many within the MAGA world have surrendered their critical faculties to a single albeit improbable man. A man who lies with ease. Who sows chaos with intention. Who now leads an effort—through Project 2025 which is sewn entirely into the lining of a cloak labeled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to remake the American government into a tool of authoritarian control. Who purges our government of experienced and expert civil servants. Who exacts political loyalty tests. Who is dismantling independent agencies which provide safeguards against all of this . Who is, by every means possible, gutting the safeguards of democracy.
It’s not a theory. It’s written down in black and white. Yet millions cheer for it—not because they’re evil, but because they’ve been conditioned to think anything done in the name of their movement must be good.
That’s what Bonhoeffer was trying to tell us. Evil CAN be resisted. It can be exposed. But willful ignorance—this willing blindness—is harder. It gives evil a mask. A platform. A crowd.
So how do we face this?
First, we must remember calling someone willfully ignorant doesn’t change their mind. It doesn’t wake them up. If anything, it drives them deeper into their bunker. You cannot reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into.
We need to ask: Why are so many people this vulnerable to manipulation? Why do they need enemies so badly? Why does rage feel safer to them than reason?
The answer is fear. Fear of losing control. Fear of change. Fear of being left behind by a world that feels unfamiliar and unfair. And fear—when manipulated—makes people do things they’d never imagine.
That’s why our first duty is not to win arguments. It’s to hold the line of truth. To keep the doors of democracy open. To model the kind of thinking and listening and acting that our society so desperately needs. Instead of focusing on what’s false (fact-checking every lie), focus on how manipulation works. “Who benefits from your fear?” “Why do they keep you angry?” “Why do they say democracy is broken unless they win?”
It means defending institutions even when they’re imperfect. It means voting like our future depends on it—because it does. It means talking to those who might still be reachable, not to shame them, but to remind them they can think for themselves. That they’re not powerless. That they don’t have to follow the mob. The battle isn’t just for hearts and minds, it’s for institutions, laws and norms. While persuasion is noble, protecting democratic structures such as voting rights, independent courts, and education standards is crucial even when persuasion fails. Just yesterday (Wednesday) the entire board of the prestigious Fulbright program that promotes international educational exchanges resigned because of what they said was political interference by the Trump administration in their operations. The Fulbright program was established in 1946 after legislation introduced by J. William Fulbright, a Democratic senator from Arkansas. The Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961 formalized legal statutes for the program. It says the selection of scholars, teachers and others falls under the authority of a 12-member board appointed by the president. The nearly 200 scholars who are receiving rejection letters are part of a group of about 900 American scholars approved by the board over the winter.
Democracy isn’t just a system of government. It’s a system of trust. And when we lose that—when people stop believing in shared reality—we don’t just face bad policies. We face collapse
In the end, Bonhoeffer was right. The greatest threat to our world isn’t the villain twirling his mustache in the shadows. It’s the everyday person who hands over their mind and soul, piece by piece, in the name of safety or certainty or pride.
But here’s the hope: if that surrender is a choice, then so is the reclaiming of thought. Of voice. Of courage.
We can still choose truth.
We can still choose community.
We can still choose each other.
And as long as we do, democracy still has a fighting chance.
Bonhoeffer ultimately gave his life resisting a regime built on the very manipulation and willful ignorance he warned against. His warning is not that such people are beyond redemption—it’s that they must be awakened, and that we must never grow so angry or cynical that we forget our duty to try.
So the resolution isn’t about “winning the argument.” It’s about preserving the conditions under which the truth can still be spoken—and heard.
3. Robert Reich video on Facebook
[I will embed here the above video if I can figure out how to.]
Reich's Facebook post on his video says: On June 14th, Give Trump an Unhappy Birthday.Tomorrow on "No Kings Day," we'll be peacefully demonstrating against a wannabe king and his trampling of our constitutional rights.And as we protest, we build solidarity.From that solidarity, we feel less alone and build courage for the work ahead.
5. Email to Alabama lawyers who shy away from being in the streets today
From: Rob Shattuck <rdshatt@aol.com>
To: shannon.isbell@wbrc.com <shannon.isbell@wbrc.com>; Susana Schuler <susana.schuler@hearst.com>; brendan.kirby@fox10tv.com <brendan.kirby@fox10tv.com>; jama.killingsworth@waff.com <jama.killingsworth@waff.com>; Mike Wright <mwright@waaytv.com>; rmartin@cbs42.com <rmartin@cbs42.com>; Baylor Long <blong@hearst.com>; dwingard@wsfa.com <dwingard@wsfa.com>; news@mynbc15.com <news@mynbc15.com>; randy.merrow@fox10tv.com <randy.merrow@fox10tv.com>; gmcdonald@waka.com <gmcdonald@waka.com>; comments@abc3340.com <comments@abc3340.com>; newstip@abc3340.com <newstip@abc3340.com>; wvtm13@wvtm.com <wvtm13@wvtm.com>; dlamb@cbs42.com <dlamb@cbs42.com>; sdiorio@wvua23.com <sdiorio@wvua23.com>
Cc: tstacy@aptv.org <tstacy@aptv.org>; rscott@aptv.org <rscott@aptv.org>; bbritt@alreporter.com <bbritt@alreporter.com>; jmoon@alreporter.com <jmoon@alreporter.com>; sbritt@alreporter.com <sbritt@alreporter.com>; Brian Lyman <blyman@alabamareflector.com>; jsharp@al.com <jsharp@al.com>; csmith@al.com <csmith@al.com>; saa0056@auburn.edu <saa0056@auburn.edu>; brunnbr@auburn.edu <brunnbr@auburn.edu>; all0093@auburn.edu <all0093@auburn.edu>; ney0002@auburn.edu <ney0002@auburn.edu>; bcd0039@auburn.edu <bcd0039@auburn.edu>; fairlln@auburn.edu <fairlln@auburn.edu>; fillise@auburn.edu <fillise@auburn.edu>; mnelson@ua.edu <mnelson@ua.edu>; alfranks@uab.edu <alfranks@uab.edu>; jzb0124@auburn.edu <jzb0124@auburn.edu>; mcarey@samford.edu <mcarey@samford.edu>; cofieldj@montevallo.edu <cofieldj@montevallo.edu>; jtbailey@ua.edu <jtbailey@ua.edu>; kbissell@ua.edu <kbissell@ua.edu>; mdbruce@ua.edu <mdbruce@ua.edu>; wevans@ua.edu <wevans@ua.edu>; sahartley1@ua.edu <sahartley1@ua.edu>; dmwaymer@ua.edu <dmwaymer@ua.edu>; laurie.wright@ua.edu <laurie.wright@ua.edu>; bsbutler@ua.edu <bsbutler@ua.edu>; ajbauer2@ua.edu <ajbauer2@ua.edu>
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2025 at 08:19:30 AM CDT
Subject: May AL TV stations gain understanding today about Trump's will to power
To Alabama TV stations' news staffs:
In the course of your reporting on today, which is No Kings Day, and the 79th birthday of the power-crazed, January 6th lawbreaker, 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and the 250th birthday of the United States Army, I hope Alabama TV stations' news staffs will gain understanding about Trump's will to power. Citizens Acting to End the Trump Presidency: Trump's will to power.
Thank you.
7. If you are not on the streets today
The goal of today's No Kings protests is to achieve powerful messaging against Trump that is heard loudly in the country. This will be achieved mainly through TV news coverage, and, for this, the greater the number of protests and the greater the numbers of protest participants, the louder will be the messaging that is heard in the country through TV news reporting.
If you are not on the streets today, what can you do to add to the messaging against Trump today?
Facebook posting usually has a limited reach, mainly being seen by persons who are like-minded persons.
Trying to engage on Facebook with other than like-minded persons could be tried, but there is a good chance will not be fruitful.
If you are not on the streets today, what can you do to add to the messaging against Trump today?
Facebook posting usually has a limited reach, mainly being seen by persons who are like-minded persons.
Trying to engage on Facebook with other than like-minded persons could be tried, but there is a good chance will not be fruitful.
[Edit: An hour ago Katie Britt posted on her Facebook a Happy Birthday to Trump. Do you think the Alabama Trump resistance could help itself by posting comments on Trump supporter comments that are made on Katie Britt's post?]
I have done a lot of targeted emailing, but it is a tough slog and hard to know whether it has any effect. To judge for yourself, please take a look at the above email I sent today to Alabama TV stations and the email I sent yesterday to Alabama lawyers that is linked above.
Please tell me whether you think such emailing is worth the effort.
Thanks.
I have done a lot of targeted emailing, but it is a tough slog and hard to know whether it has any effect. To judge for yourself, please take a look at the above email I sent today to Alabama TV stations and the email I sent yesterday to Alabama lawyers that is linked above.
Please tell me whether you think such emailing is worth the effort.
Thanks.
[to be continued throughout the day]
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