220 Comments

Aretha! She’s the best of the best! Never get tired of hearing her music. Vote early! Vote! Vote! Vote!

🗳️🙏🏼💙

Expand full comment

Yes, Aretha is a performer who gets one excited about freedom and action. So think...and Vote Blue after you Think! I love Dan's musical choice. It's uplifting and put a smile on my face. No one pushes Aretha around. Here's to NOT GOING BACK!

Expand full comment

Go back? Not now, not ever. Family wedding this weekend, three generations from all over the states and even Europe. Found glorious political agreement with nieces and nephews. Cheers my heart being in harmony with the not going back crowd.

Expand full comment

Love Aretha. And this election is about freedom from Tyranny.

Expand full comment

"...freedom from Tyranny," which brings us to Timothy Snyder!

Expand full comment

Brings us to Chris Hedges and Ralph Nader and Jeffrey Sachs

Expand full comment

Please leave Ralph Nader out of it. He ruined Al Gore in 2000.

Expand full comment

That's great!

Expand full comment

Great, good for you.

And I have an elder sibling, not spoken to in over 18 months. Political differences. We all have to do and live with our own, Karma.

My two cents.

Thank you

Expand full comment

Politics are very important to me but family is first in my heart.I cannot give one for the other.

Expand full comment

Appreciate that,

Don’t have to compromise on principle’s and values also.

Expand full comment

Absolutely no one pushes Aretha around - and definitely we are not going back!

Expand full comment

You bet,

Thank you

Expand full comment
founding

Oh the smile you brought to my face Mr. Rather…. If you could only see…

I had a rough week and you pretty much eliminated the pain of it, by gosh.

Thank you, Aretha. Thank you, Sir.

🌻💙🙏

Expand full comment

Hear hear! You wrote my comment for me!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻💜

Expand full comment
founding
Oct 21·edited Oct 21

Thank you Susie 🙏

Expand full comment
founding

Great great choice. How apropos. Beautiful rendition. Two themes that D. Trump doesn’t understand….”think”. ….he doesn’t know how. And “freedom”, he probably can’t even spell it. You only have to read the first 5 paragraphs of Bob Woodward new book to

Understand what Trump is about and how he is such a menace. He believes in running things purely on his instinct and he believes in not paying honoring his debts and contracts. “Ignore them”, he says. Act tough and they will go away.

VOTE WE MUST! 🇺🇸🗽💙🧢🗳️ blue up and down the ballots. Keep him out of the White House!

Expand full comment

Please allow me to add one more word “” Respect”” song by Aretha and something Trumpee doesn’t know.

Have to get Woodward’s book. It is a must read.

Our minds are made up already. We need to give Trumpee, the “” Blue’s “”.

Thank you.

Expand full comment

"Respect" is indeed an excellent number, and so much lacking in Trump and his ilk. Thank you for adding this song - it goes with the times.

Expand full comment
founding

Good point. He doesn’t know about respect either…..and a whole bunch of other human attributes.

Definitely read Woodward. Two chapters, going back to their meeting/iv in the 80’s and you know immediately what a low life/sleaze he is.

Expand full comment

Thank you very much. I have a good collection of Bob Woodward’s book. ( Between you and me, pulling a Connie Cheung, lol) seriously though, Bob Woodward was the reason why I migrated to USA ( legally) 43 yrs ago from India. Read his book “” All the President’s Men ) was in awe since then. What a great country- two ordinary, at the time, journalists brought down the most powerful guy in the world. What a shame he happened to be another “” Tricky Dick “. Lol

Also read almost all of Dan’ books.

Just bought ‘ what unites us’.

Thank you.

Peace be with you.

Expand full comment

And yet so many people follow him, politicians, wealthy and ordinary. I do NOT understand it!

Expand full comment

True, but the world is going on, because there are more good people than bad.

Expand full comment

Read STRONGMEN: Mussolini to the Present

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Expand full comment

I thought the same thing, related to how quickly she won everybody's RESPECT (save members of the Trumpian personality cult) in record time. What she has done in such a short period of time is amazing. She has not only given us a "reason to smile," she has given us a reason to hope. Respect, indeed!

Expand full comment

I love your music connections. Aretha’s “Think” is spot on for today. Think freedom and think blue.

Expand full comment

Exactly.

Expand full comment

Love her singing and would have listened to her if she sang the phone book. She was truly one of the greats in the music world.

Expand full comment

Truly the Queen of Soul!

Expand full comment

I look forward to your Sunday morning song.

Thanks, Dan

Expand full comment

Song or other.

Expand full comment

Thank you, Dan Rather. Yes very. Very important to vote. Arrived in the usa to vote and start volunteer work from monday.

It is going to be a very comfortable victory for Kh.

The polls will be proven wrong, one more time.

My two cents, thank you.

Expand full comment

I do o pray that you are correct.

Expand full comment

I think so, and I sure hope so. Polls can say whatever they want, Trumpee’s decline has started from October 17th. Release of more Jack Smith’s evidence, he will be canceling a lot more appearances down the road before 5th November. He has only verbal diarrhea coming out when he opens his mouth.

Thank you

Expand full comment

Praying is good, but add work to the prayers. Keep working right down to election night. Check your voter registration if needed, donate time and treasure, voluteer to drive people to the polls, vote, and bring your friends.

Expand full comment

Sure thing, did check my voter registration, lol. Everything perfect.

Wife and myself both on the same page.

Expand full comment

I have a book from back in my college years - How To Lie With Statistics

by Darrell Huff. Check it out. Absolutely relevant

Expand full comment

Bravo! Great choice!

Expand full comment

My feeling is that the partisan divide has been set in stone since July There isn't one Trump voter out there who is going to switch sides. None. And I don't think they are a bit concerned that Vance is the one likely to succeed Trump during his administration. They see Vance as cut from the same cloth and, if they think about it at all, hey are unbothered by Vance's denial of the J6 events or by Vance being bought and sold by Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and a few other mega billionaires. Our only hope is that some among the undecided voters out there will decide to vote Blue as they see the alternative slate being a bona fide threat to our country, to seeing the US melt further into the conspiracy abyss.

Expand full comment

Aretha Franklin, the absolute "Queen of Soul"! Best singer ever! She could get your heart pumping and your feet moving! We lost one of the greats when we lost Aretha! I can guarantee you that if she were with us today, she would be singing Kamala's praises to everyone! Like Tina Turner, her voice is so recognizable! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!

Expand full comment

She and Ella Fitzgerald are memorable voices.

Expand full comment

Oh my gosh, Steve! You are right! Ella Fitzgerald had a fantastic voice. I also liked Billie Holiday's voice.

Expand full comment

Yep, Holiday was excellent. We also can't forget Lena Horne either, and for a more classical approach, Marian Anderson.

Expand full comment

Wow! You really know your singers! All of the ones you mentioned were superb! The only one I was not familiar with was Marian Anderson but I am going to listen because I know she will be good, too!

Expand full comment

What a great way to start my Sunday! It is the day after our little town in Nova Scotia voted to install an all-woman 4-person council and mayor. Annapolis Royal is becoming famous for a lot of firsts and I am delighted to live here. Freedom, indeed. I hope for the best for our Southern neighbours in the weeks to come.

Expand full comment

Thank you Dan Rather!

Thank you Dan Rather!

Oooooh! YES! What a GREAT way to wake up on this Sunday morning grooving and dancing and singing along with QUEEN ARETHA!

Early voting starts on Monday here in Texas, and I will be voting for the next President -Kamala Harris - and Vice President - Tim Walz!

#FREEDOM

Expand full comment

Thank you!

Expand full comment

You would not believe how late any info has come out on local race candidates. I even obtained party sides from the local democratic party on those races not supposed to be political--not all are obvious.

Expand full comment

I named my new puppy Miss Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul !

Expand full comment

Ah Ms Franklin was an unsurpassed talent. I have, in my playlist, her incredible version of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” from President Obama’s first inauguration. At 72, she was a major figure in the soundtrack of my teen years. This song is an appropriate choice in the lead up to the most critical vote of our lives. THINK!! And VOTE! Thank you, Mr Rather. As usual, you hit the nail squarely on the head.

Expand full comment
founding

Thanks Dan. Great choice for these times.

Expand full comment

I voted by mail! They emailed me when they received it!

Expand full comment

Me too. Illinois does it well. They email when they send the ballot, again when they receive it, and yet again when it's accepted and recorded.

Expand full comment

California sends emails also. My town is the county seat so I walked the dog from my house to the ballot box and deposited my ballot. Felt so good!

Expand full comment

Well done!

Expand full comment

Believe it or not, I have a similar great experience here in AZ! Makes me at least a little hopeful that we will be BLUE again this time around! 💙

Expand full comment