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Dec 26
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I do love Andrew Weissmann and Lawrence O'Donnell so I can usually find a segment on youtube or a podcast if I want to hear something specific but how many mesothelioma cancer commercials can I take? No. Done. I'd rather hear Popok do another Loomie commercial over that lol.

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Dec 26
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Good you got out. Me too! I can't keep up with my inbox anymore. Or the youtubes or podcasts. It was like a fulltime job. Don't want to unsubscribe but sometimes can only skim. I used to also lurk on Twitter so I would also get links to many videos on the msnbc website too. It was really the legal news I was craving so Weissmann, Lisa Rubin, Neal Katyal were my go channel saving me thinking Demented Donnie was going to be held accountable and we wouldn't ever have to deal with him again. 😥

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Dec 27Edited
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I'm sorry for you Vel and your circumstances. I have tears in my eyes.😥😥😥😥😥. I assumed you left willingly. I forget sometimes MTN is international. I hear your pain and frustration. I went to Croatia (and B-H for a few hours) in 2014...at the time of that catastrophic flood in B-H. Each country in fmr Yug is different but B-H was horrific during the war. I get the trauma. As an American tourist I could never begin to know what it would be like to live there and how oppressive.. There were tons of Chinese tourists too which surprised me. Things seemed so positive and more hopeful then.

I can see why you would be here at MTN and the love for MSNBC and especially Rachel and Lawrence. Smart. Rational. Comforting. And before the election...hopeful. Thank you for sharing your story, especially about how difficult it is to become a legal immigrant.

We have no control where we are born and sadly, so many people had and have the misfortune of being born under terrible, brutal cruel regimes. It's horrible.. The world is scary now. I've lived long enough to see the pendulum swing from the 1960s and hard won rights to Nazi Germany. I only have known democracy. I would not know where to go if I wanted to leave. I really hope things get better for you.🙏

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Dec 29Edited
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Dear Vel...again I apologize for the editing and anyone reading this has lost a lot of context to what I wrote. Another reason for editing the post that I didn't know you had read, was more for privacy...yours and mine. This is one of the few places I actually write and comment, because it feels like a "safe space" but then I thought maybe I wrote too much about myself and if you hadn't read it, I would go back and cut out and shorten some things because the post was also really long. And you will see I can never usually give a simple answer to a simple question, because I just have too much to say. I know you mentioned 20 years but did not know all the circumstances of what you personally went through. It's why I cried when I read your anger and pain and frustration. I cannot possibly begin to know what your life has been likee.. Did you ever meet with an immigration lawyer here before you went back in 2016. I would have never known that after being here for 20 years that leaving to go home to see your mother would have jeapordized your status. and that you have always felt the cards stacked.against you 😥 i wrote another long post and Imgot a message to write a shorter comment.

But not one.thing.I wrote you originally that you read as I was editing has changed about my being empathetic to your pain and anger. Fear? Loneliness too? It is abominable how other immigrants treated you. Why? Were these Bosnia immigrants? You were all trying to make a life here. , and one thing that you did share about with me was was your sexual orientation and knowing the oppressive country and religious culture you were from. I instantly understood what life must have been like before and still is like. . When you go someplace as an American.tourist, you usually only see the good things. They keep the dark, ugly things hidden. And I told you I have never been anywhere more physically beautiful.But we could not possibly know what daily life was like for the citizens....(did I say in my original post that I.still have my small bottle of Bosnian.red wine where we stopped for a couple of hours that I brought home. So I knew you were from that part of the world, and being gay and how stifling life must be like under that oppression. I judge people by their character.Not who they are attracted to.. We are who we are. No one is being hurt. People.are.born.this way. And we are adults. Everyone should be entitled to love who.they want. This is one thing I have incredibly strong.views on because of my friends.and.family. My "unmarried" single cousin who died in his late 80s and would be over 100 years old today was a closeted gay man his entire life. One would think in 2024 we would have evolved more, but we are.going terribly backwards. Everything. Gay rights. Religious freedom. Overturning Roe v Wade. I'm afraid for my married gay frienda.that will be the next.thing.they overturn.The last 10 years here with Trump has destabilized the world.

Gay or not, immigrant or not, I am a single woman (by choice) and never understood why single people are penalized with their taxes having to pay the most because we don't have marriage or child deduxtions. Looked down on for not marrying or having children even though your taxes and mine and all my single friends pay and ,support the programs to help everyone else.And you can bet you and I have paid more taxes than Donald Trump ever has. I don't understand the process of modern immigration even though I told you I was the granddaughter of 4 Eastern European Jewish immigrants who fled persecution under the Russian Empire. They didn't speak the language. My father was born here and didn't speak English for the first 3 years of his life because it wasn't spoken at home. But I know how hard they worked, as you did, paycheck.to paycheck,...to make some kind of life here...and do it honestly. I have young nieces and nephews. I'm not worried for myself as much as I am for them. I've lived my life. But no Vel...I cannot possibly know your experience.and what you had.to go.through all of these years. Life.is so unfair in so many ways. and some people don't get breaks. As I said originally...I can feel.and hear your pain and frustration. I understand it. Especially having to hide you sexuality. My cousin who would be way over 100 now was a closeted gay man his entire life. And since he was so much older than me I don't know if he ever found love or a relationship. . I have many older gay male friends in their 60s and 70s who fought for gay rights.. I have friends that because of their culture (Hispanic) born here who have to still hide who they are to to their families because of their culture and religion I found the naturalization records of my paternal.grandfather and.aunt who came at 9. She wasn't naturalized until she was married with children. I saw my aunt wasn't naturalized until she was married with children. Way overr 20 years. I never knew that while she was alive. Like you said...the most expensive part is to get their final papers. So as I said, I think it takes guts and bravery to immigrate. Especially alone. My ancestors came here to make a better life. A life they would not have survived if they had stayed. At least you were able to Skype your Mom and see her until she guilt tripped you to come visit. My family never saw their relatives they left behind again. She wanted to see you in person. Mothers and their sons. I take no pride being of Russian descent (now Belarus-no less--and -horrible Lushenko.) and Lithuanian. And you know what? For the first time in MY life I feel hatred and discrimination towards me not because I'm an awful person, but just by virtue of being Jewish. I will never apologize for who I am nor should you. You are smart. You wanted more and better for yourself. I admire you. Yes I'm an American citizen born here, lived here for my entire life. I am in one of the most multicultral.cities in the US. And I always loved the diversity. On the floor I live on in my apartment we have white, (Jewish and Christian), Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and Korean people. . We all get.along. We keep to ourselves but we are pleasant and nice to.each other. What are all these crazy MAGAs afraid of? Any of us who are "others" that aren't like "them" instill fear. What are they so afraid of. But I feel worried for you based on what you have told me of crime and corruption horrible disturbimg things, and of course influence of Russia. one the Serbians. They are cruel. When I went it in 2014 there were no warnings. Everything was fine. . But that summer of 2014 aside from.that awful.Bosnian flood.that exposed landmines, there was an Islamic terrorist attack against Jews in Belgium. When I went to France.another year there.was.a.terrorist attack in Avignon shortly after I visited. And a terror attack with them.killing the terrorist.right in fron.of my hotel in Nice. My last trip to Europe was 2019 and then came covid. That changed things forever.

You must feel helpless. I just found the US embassy in Sarajevo on Twitter/x. made a statement in 12/25 and I don't understand it but people who are answering are saying things are.not good. and mentioning the Russians. Even if you are not on " X" here is the link to the page. You should be able to read what they posted if not the comments.

https://x.com/USEmbassySJJ/status/1871885921634734243

Do you at least still have your family there or are you all alone? I hope I was able to recreate most of what I said the first time 🙏

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Dec 29
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Because you hadn't answered in a couple of days and I thought you (or anyone else) would not want to read everything I wrote, so I thought I would shorten it, but right after I edited it I saw you replied! I am so sorry. I don't usually write as much and I meant everything I wrote originally and I am so glad you read it. What you wrote was so honest and heartfelt and because I have been to your country I understood. I am knew to substack and didn't realize people are just catching up over a few days and the confusion editing would make. I won't do that again!

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Dec 29Edited
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Dear Vel. You must have been answering me at.the same time I was writing and editing my post thinking...oh, he hasn't looked and won't want to read all of this...and hit the "save" button then saw you answered me 23 minutes before. I am glad you saw my original post.🙏 I have a screencap. I know what it said.And I read yours before your edit (cause I'm typing away too...for a couple of hours. So much I want to say) but my tablet I'm writing on is crashing. We are at an inflection point in history. Despite MTN and MSNBC and Jack Smith one by one.the dominoes were falling and.then SCOTUS giving him immunity (I felt in my heart it was over then) I am so sorry you couldn't get.to Canada but the world is on fire. I voted for democracy, as imperfect as it is and not for this cruel (and stupid) grifting, repulsive Orange Stain of a lunatic (talk about shame!) with an insatiable lust for money and power and vanity which made him the perfect puppet to control, who let this Trojan Horse in of Elon Musk 😱. It took 50 years for these white evangelical Christian nationalists to.take over our gov't and Elon Musk did it in a couple of months. He paid $250 million to get.this lunatic in again and in a month or two made another $200 billion. We are at an inflection point of history.

But like minded people will find each other even in this insane time of history we are living in. I am amazed that we have been able to "talk" through a substack!

yes yes yes. putin-KGB- -GRU, etc. inflaming Serbian aggression. Your country lived through a Hitler. Putin is the most evil man alive (my Russian tech guy is from Belarus and came here as a teenager. He has no illusions. He knows exactly how evil he is. He's a.good guy) but his point was even Putin and the billionaires and dictators and Orban and Xi and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will DIE. No one gets out of here alive. And if we don't have WWIII or wind up in "The Matrix" with AI...who is waiting in the wings? They think they will live forever but they won't and then what comes after Putin? He killed Nalvany and every dissident went out a window or was poisoned. But what happens to the unimaginable billions he has.stolen from that country when he drops dead which can't come soon enough. Who will replace him. The world looked away from him because of the MONEY and the OIL and greed and power. They could care less about civil rights.

Putin is a sick, twisted guy who is ashamed his great USSR fell and he is trying to get back every inch of the glorious Russian Empire to restore it to its " former glory" (said with sarcasm. I would spit on his grave)and there is religion involved with him too. These religious hypocrites disgust me. Any religious extremist.! Poor Ukraine.

Follow Ruth Ben-Ghiat. She wrote "Strongmen". She has a substack.

We've got some Axis of Evil going on again. They just want to divvy up the world. OMG. Jimmy Carter died and Canada is in turmoil.😥 . 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

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