#A.M. Johnson

[wendysbooknook]

Quote:

"The crowd went quiet, and when the whistle blew, and he sliced through the surface, I heard it. The moment when the sun broke past the horizon and kissed his body as he parted through the water. Brilliant and bold. An orchestra with each stroke. I couldn't take my eyes off him as he manipulated the elements. Using air as fuel, bending water to his will. He was fast, faster than humanly possible, and each kick of his foot mimicked the galloping beat of my heart." - A.M. Johnson "Let there be light"

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

[cattatonically]

Heart2Heart: A Charity Anthology Vol. 6 – Edited by Leslie Copeland

Synopsis

Once upon a time, a bunch of authors wondered… what would happen if Heart2Heart, the dating app responsible for pairing up the quirkiest, most perfect couples, brought people together by asking the questions they never knew they needed answered?

From learning each other’s secret zombie survival skills, to disputing the greatest starship captain ever, to confessing their feelings about Cornish pasties, the characters in these fourteen brand new stories inspired by reader suggestions will learn that no matter how random the question… love is always the answer.

And, as always, all proceeds from this anthology will benefit LGBTQ+ charities to ensure that love in all its incarnations will be celebrated and protected every day of the year!

My Thoughts

Another anthology, and another really good time!

After reading the 5th volume of the Heart2Heart anthologies, I really meant to go back and start at the beginning. But somehow I found myself with the newest volume instead.

I really liked that the theme was so random, and that the questions were so broad and unique! Each story was so captivating, I had to take a pause in between to truly process them all on their own.

Just like with volume 5, there were definitely some stories that I liked more than others. Definitely some authors that I felt a bit more of a connection with than others. But I can truly say that there wasn’t one single story I disliked at all. I walked away with a few more authors to check out at a later date, as well!

Sometimes, all we need are really good, happy endings, and fuzzy feelings. This anthology definitely offers that in spades. I cannot wait to explore more of these authors, and the earlier editions of these anthologies.

[hannaedits]

Con Report: Indies Invade Philly 2023

[eloreenmoon]

The Glow Up (Franklin U. Book 5) by A.M. Johnson #Audiobook #MMRomance #Contemporary #Review #LGBT

The Glow Up (Franklin U. Book 5) by A.M. Johnson #Audiobook #MMRomance #Contemporary #Review #LGBT

Erryn reviews ‘The Glow Up (Franklin U Book 5)’ by A.M. Johnson. This book was released September 22, 2022, and is 303 pgs long. The audiobook version of this story was narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Michael Crouch.  It was released on October 23, 2022, and is 7 hrs and 21 mins long. A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review. Why I read this book:  I’m intrigued by this series. Chris…

[melanielocke]

So, I really need some book recommendations.

I usually read fantasy but I also like dystopian, sci-fi and stuff. As long as it's fictional. I also like rewrites (if that makes sense).

Since the request wasn't super specific, for this one I just picked a couple of very different fantasy books that I read recently and have not yet discussed. I don't have a lot of recent dystopian (publishing currently believed dystopian is dead, I think). For sci-fi, check out this post

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen is a retelling of the Goose Girl. That's a relatively unknown Grimm fairytale where a wicked maid steals the identity of a princess. This book tells the story of the maid, Vanja Schmidt, who is the adopted daughter of Fortune and Death. She used to be Princess Gisele's maid, until she stole Gisele's enchanted pearl necklace that changes her appearance and takes her place. Now, Vanja leads a double life as princess and jewel thief, seeking to make enough money to escape before she has to marry her creepy fiance, and so she can escape her mothers. But when she crosses the wrong god, she is cursed to slowly turn into a statue of jewels as punishment for her greed, unless she finds a way to make up for what she stole. I'd recommend this book if you like unlikeable main characters.

Vanja is very selfish, but she if she doesn't put herself first, no one else will, so it is definitely understandable. She has a tendency to push everyone away, but deep down she's very lonely. She's a gremlin, and I love her.

There are also some very charming side characters, including the daughter of the god who cursed Vanja, a shape shifter who does not quite understand human behavior, and a prefect (a magic detective of sorts) chasing the jewel thief.

This book also makes some great social commentary on class and wealth. Vanja might have done a bad thing stealing Gisele's life, but Gisele wasn't entitled to all that wealth and prestige in the first place, and this book heavily criticizes nobility.

The Forever Sea and the Endless Song are part of a series and I have only read book 1 so far (book 2 just came in yesterday). This is an adult fantasy series and as such it is heavier on the world building and more complicated than most YA fantasy, so if you've only ever read YA fantasy I don't think this is the best book to transition into adult, but if you're used to reading adult this is a good series to try.

The Forever Sea is one of the most unique fantasies I've read, and this mainly lies in the world building. The premise of this world is an ocean made out of very high grassland. Ships can sail on this grass with the help of a magic hearthfire, and if this fire would go out you would very slowly sink beneath the grass. Sailors go out onto the sea mainly to harvest all sorts of plants used for food and medicine.

Kindred was raised by her grandmother, the Marchess, a legendary captain and hearthfire keeper. When her grandmother disappears beneath the sea, everyone assumes it was a suicide. But Kindred finds a note from her grandmother implying that it was not suicide, but that she was searching for what is down at the bottom of the sea, and might still be alive there. So Kindred sets out to find her, traveling across the Sea and through a legendary pirate city to see if her grandmother could still be out there, and what is at the bottom of the sea.

This book is very plot driven with a huge emphasis on the environment and descriptions on it, but also lots of world building on how this works exactly. There isn't a lot of emphasis on it, but there is also a sapphic relationship in here between the main character and another sailor. As I said, I haven't read book 2 yet but will start it soon. It's also not out in the US yet (coming 14th February, but the UK edition was released already) From the reviews I gathered there's going to be a third (last? idk) book.

In the Ravenous Dark is a dark fantasy that is marketed as YA, but I think it's very upper YA, maybe more NA but publishing doesn't think that is a thing, so YA it is.

This is set in a world inspired by ancient Greece, but only vaguely (clothes, buildings etc, much of the world building is completely made up), and Rovan, the main character, is a blood mage. Since her father's death, she's kept her blood magic hidden, but when her magic is revealed she is taken to the palace and bound to Ivrilos, a dead spirit who can control here, which is something that is done to all blood mages.

Rovan falls in love with two people she can't trust, the spirit Ivrilos, and princess Lydea, another blood mage, and together they uncover a plot of what is going on in the world of the dead and living, and why blood mages must be bound to spirits.

I think the magic system in this book was very well done, including the way spirits work and the realm of the dead. The book was at times a little messy, and I think it might have worked better as a duology since there was so much going on, but I don't bother me much while reading it.

There's a poly relationship between Rovan, Ivrilos and Lydea, which I really liked, and there's Japha, a really cool non binary side character who's essentially the fourth part of the found family.

Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman is a YA fae fantasy set in a second world focusing on an autistic main character

Seelie is a changeling. Though she looks exactly like her twin Isolde, she's actually a fae creature trying to control her unpredictable magic. She and her sister had to flee their home due to prejudice against changelings, and end up stealing to survive. When they get caught up in a heist gone wrong, they team up with unexpected allies to go on a quest and unravel a mystery to do with fae and human history.

The plot of this book is what you'd expect from a YA fantasy, fast paced, not super unpredictable or anything. The strenght of this book is the main character. Seelie is autistic and written by an autistic author, and while it is set in a world where the term autism does not exist, it is portrayed really well and I found Seelie very relatable as an autistic person. In this world, changelings are typically autistic (because real world changeling myths often derive from disabled children, including autistic children). The sister relationship is also intersting, because Seelie and Isolde are so different, and have very different ideas of what their life should be like once they're finished with this quest.

It is the first in a duology and I have no clue when book 2 is coming out

The last book on this list is the Dream Runners by Shveta Thakrar which is a contemporary fantasy inspired by Indian mythology, specifically, the naga. Naga in this world can't dream on their own, so they have children taken from the human world who become dream runners. They travel to the human world to collect dreams from humans for the naga.

Tanvi is such a dream runner, she's been in Nagalok for the past 7 years. Dream runners don't dream themselves and are devoid of emotion, but for Tanvi this is slowly returning and she's desperate to make it stop.

Venkat is a dreamsmith, the only human in Nagalok who is not a dream runner. Instead, he shapes dreams collected by the dream runners into dream stones used by the naga.

They team up to figure out what is going on with Tanvi, and uncover a plot that could destroy the naga world.

I loved the creative world building in this book, with how the dream runner system works. Tanvi was a little difficult to relate to at first, because she was very obsessed with earning a charm bracelet in exchange for her dreams and I found this confusing, but this will make sense later on, and this book had some twists I really liked.

I hope this helps!

[bob-the-movie-man-film-reviews]

The Watchers (15): A Very Creditable debut outing by Ishana Shyamalan... until the finale.

#onemannsmovies #filmrevies of "The Watchers". #TheWatchers. A very Shyamalanny debut for young Ishana, but a half-decent offering in a well-worn genre. 3/5.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Watchers” (2024). “The Watchers” is the debut feature of Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of course of famous director M. Night Shyamalan. And the film has Shyamalan fingerprints all over it! And like the proverbial curate’s egg, it was good in places. Bob the Movie Man Rating: Plot Summary: Mina (Dakota Fanning) is an artist in Galway, doing work in a pet-shop on…

[afriblaq]

Dec. 4, 1969—55 years ago today—police officers from the Cook County, Ill., State Attorney’s Office, in collusion with the FBI, committed the cowardice act of sabotage, murder and assassination of Chicago's Son, Activist, Humanitarian, Freedom Fighter and Uniter Fred Hampton as the Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and his pregnant girlfriend slept in their home on 2337 W. Monroe St. At approximately 4:45 a.m., 14 police officers raided the apartment on Chicago’s West Side and opened fire in the orchestrated hit. Four other Panthers were shot; several were beaten; and Deborah Johnson, Hampton’s eight-months-pregnant fiancée, barely escaped with her life. Make no mistake about Fam, at the age of 21 he founded the now bastardized  Rainbow Coalition, a prominent multicultural political organization that initially included the Black Panthers, Young Patriots and the Young Lords, and an alliance among major Chicago street gangs to help them end infighting and work for social change. THIS, TO THEM, MADE HIM A THREAT TO THE SYSTEM... I KNOW *MY HEROES... I KNOW WHERE I DRAW MY INSPIRATION!

@darkk3ntdanger

[atavist]

The Titanic of the Pacific: A tale of disaster, survival, and ghosts.

Issue no. 138 of The Atavist is now live:

Those onboard were stunned when none of the surviving women would get in the rafts. They believed that with ships in sight, rescue might be imminent. If it wasn’t, the women had little reason for hope. Many had watched their husbands and children die. They preferred to stay where they were. Some began to sing “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” a hymn that in just a few years would become famous for reportedly being the last song sung aboard the Titanic.

Men readied the rafts. The first group to leave consisted mainly of crew members, including chief cook Samuel Hancock. After clearing the ship around 10 a.m., the men rowed toward the distant vessel—only one seemed to remain—but then lost sight of it. Hancock knew there was a northerly current and told the men to keep the shoreline in sight.

Peter Peterson stood on the Valencia’s deck, watching as the topmast came crashing down and the hurricane deck finally caved in. It was now or never—the last raft needed to leave the ship. Captain Johnson tried to change the women’s minds. “This is the last chance,” he said. One replied, “We might just as well die on the ship as die on the raft.”

[how-serene]

Do You Need The Sandman?

Pairing - Johnson (Reprisal) x Fem!Reader

Summary - It's midnight and all Johnson wants is to hear your pretty voice on the other end of the line.

Word count - 497

Warnings - smoking, so many uses of pet names, yearning, Johnson being slightly horny for you

A/N - Love how I'm literally only writing for Johnson so far. Inspired by the song Evangeline by Stephen Sanchez.

Johnson took a long drag from his cigarette, letting the smoke coat his tongue. In his other hand he held a sleek black phone that was connected to a barely kept together phone booth. A stream of live band music spilled into the streets whenever someone walked inside the bar, reminding him he wasn’t alone. 

Pick up, baby.

He cradled the phone to his ear, holding onto it as if the device might disappear in his hands. Maybe you were asleep, or simply weren’t home-

“H-Hello?” your sweet voice came through the receiver, stalling his thoughts. A strange sense of relief washed over him. 

“It’s me, angel.” he said, plucking the cigarette from his lips. He could hear you shuffling around, turning on the lamp beside your bed. 

“Well hello, lover boy.” you eventually said, giggling in his ear. His heart fluttered at the sound, as he firmly pressed the phone against his cheek. The time on his watch read 12 a.m.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he apologized, flicking the cigarette. “Just wanted to hear your voice.” 

His stomach twisted at your silence, tugging at the phone cord as some mease distraction as he waited. 

You sighed into the phone, “It’s fine, I wasn't getting much sleep.” You fell silent again, weighing something in your mind. 

“Too busy thinking about you anyway.” 

He perked up, snuffing out his cigarette as he propped his arm up on the phone stand. People continued to filter in and out through the bar door, drunkenly making their way past him without another thought. 

“Been thinkin about you too, angel face.” he confessed, his voice nearly a whisper. He could picture you lying there right now, phone held up to your ear, hand grasping onto it like a lifeline. The mattress hugging the curves of your body, the sky blue nightie you adored rising up over your stomach whenever you moved around. Your own hands running down the sides of your soft body, teasing him over the phone. 

“Been thinking about you a whole lot,” he muttered, the sight of you in his mind vanishing. You giggled again, amused. He closed his eyes, greedily drinking in the sound. 

“I’m curious to know just how much I’ve been on your mind, Johnson.” 

Your sugary voice was almost mocking, causing his heart to wince. 

He glanced back at the bar door, contemplating. The minutes ticked away on his watch, yet it felt as if time didn’t move at all. The sight of you appeared in his mind again, all blue and all soft. 

“Stay awake for me, doll.” 

You hummed, “Will do, doe eyes.” before promptly hanging up. 

He hung the phone back up, flicking his cigarette on the ground. The warm night air brushed against the nape of his neck. He began walking, the mere thought of you in his mind pulling his body toward your presence. 

Behind him, the lively sound of bar music and laughter filled the parking lot.

So, don't go to sleep, don't rest your head I'll be the pillow, and I'll be the bed Holding your dreams as you lie to rest

[algebraicvarietyshow]

The House rejected a new Republican proposal to avert a shutdown, a day after President-elect Donald J. Trump torpedoed a spending deal that House Speaker Mike Johnson had struck with Democrats. The new, Trump-endorsed plan would have tied an extension of government funding to a two-year suspension of the federal debt limit. 

The vote was 235 to 174, with 38 Republicans and 197 Democrats voting no. Mr. Johnson is trying to find a new way forward. If a spending deal is not passed, government funding lapses at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

de kormanyozni tudnak!

mi lesz vajon ha trump elnok ur beiktatasaig nincs kormanyzati finanszirozas? kar lenne a szep unnepsegert

[missmielyhoran]

Daddy (4)

in which Y/N's daughter accidentally calls Harry daddy and the whole world goes crazy...

Face claim- Dakota Johnson

Masterlist

liked by Harryfan1, Harryfan4, Harryfan2 and 5,987,021 others

harrystyles Chunky loved mum's farm a bit too much I fear. @/yourinstagram we would have to move.

View all comments.

Harryfan1 WHAT. THE. FUCK

Jeffazoff HARRY🤦

Harryfan3 Was this supposed to be on his private account?

Yourinstagram Harry wrong account! wrong account!

Harryfan2 Holy shit

~~~~~~~~~~~~ this post was deleted ~~~~~~~~~~~~

On twitter-

Harryfan1 Did you guys see that, or did I dreamt it?

505 likes 21 quote retweets 30 retweets 45 comments

Harryfan2 Oh no, I definitely saw that

Harryfan3 It was meant to be on his personal account, which means he has more posts like this😭

Y/Nfan1 Jeff probably got a heart attack lmao💀

*****

liked by harrystyles, Yourinstagram, Y/Nfan3 and 5,987,120 others

Zendaya Happiest birthday to my best friend, my sister and my twin flame! I love you and Mimi so much<33

View all comments.

Y/Nfan1 Happy birthday bestie💕

Yourinstagram Stop I love you too😭❤️

Harryfan1 Okay but her outfit😩🤌

Y/Nfan3 Harry we can see you liking her pictures. It was posted 2 minutes ago! get a grip💀

*****

harrystyles story-

*****

On twitter-

Harryfan2 He said hbd ily😭😭😭 god me when?!

906 likes 201 retweets 112 quote retweets 99 comments

Harryfan1 Sleeping on the highway tonight😭

Harryfan2 I'm bringing sleeping bags😭

Harryfan3 Take me too😭

*****

liked by Y/Nfan1, Y/Nfan2, Harryfan1 and 985,225 others

DailyMail 'As it was' singer, Harry Styles spotted with model Y/N Y/L/N and her daughter at Disneyland on model's birthday. Is this a new flourishing relationship or just a tactic by their management to promote the model's new line of clothing brand?

View all comments.

Y/Nfan1 Fuck off DailyMail

Harryfan1 Mimi looks so cute🥺

Harryfan2 her sister is wearing tpwk hoodie aww

Y/Nfan3 Harry better treat her right or there will be roit

Harryfan4 Fake!

liked by Yourinstagram, annetwist, Y/Nfan3 and 7,987,125 others

harrystyles Home❤️

View all comments.

Harryfan1 H😭O😭M😭E😭

Harryfan2 god me when?

Yourinstagram 🏡❤️

Y/Nfan1 Our ship sailed guys😌

Annetwist Enjoy kids!

liked by Annetwist, Yourinstagram, Jeffazoff and 34 others

dottycatlookalike Good night

View all comments.

Annetwist Oh she's so cute❤️

GemmaStyles This account gives me anxiety cause your post go from cute baby posts to possibly posting a nude

dottycatlookalike that was one time! on accident!

Yourinstagram Thank you for the wonderful day H! I can't believe I found you❤️

dottycatlookalike I can't believe I found you both❤️

liked by Zendaya, harrystyles, Y/Nfan3 and 8,765,998 others

Yourinstagram Thank you for the best birthday ever! ily. goodnight❤️

View all comments.

Y/Nfan1 oh to be harry styles

Harryfan1 Look at Harry and mimi🥺

harrystyles Prettiest❤️

Y/Nfan2 @/harrystyles can you fight?

Harryfan3 they're cute I take everything back😭

Zendaya Sexy😩

liked by Y/Nfan1, Y/Nfan3, Harryfan2 and 7,986,435 others

Vogue "Yes, we are dating but there is no rush. Emilia (her daughter) adores Harry like crazy. If we're not hanging out she be hanging on my shoulders asking when we're going to meet him and he loves her the same. Always spoiling her with different food and gifts, if she asks for anything he be up at 3 a.m. to make it for her." The model laughed talking about her and her daughter's relationship with singer and actor Harry Styles.

View all comments.

Harryfan1 He gets up at 3 a.m. to make food for Mimi🥺

Harryfan2 Dadrry strikes again!

Y/Nfan1 she looked so good in this photoshoot🥵

Harryfan3 everyone thank mimi for calling Harry daddy cause now we get this😌

*****

And the end

Taglist- @venomsvl @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @harryspirate @iamahallucinationnn

Please Like, Comment and Reblog!

Talk to me here♡ the requests are closed for now

[cattatonically]

Snowed In: An MM Romance Charity Anthology- Kiki Clark, Nora Phoenix, E.M. Lindsey, Nicole Dykes, Crea Reitan, A.M. Johnson, Dianna Roman, Cora Rose, Kelly Fox, and Lark Taylor

Synopsis

Snowed In is an MM Romance Charity Anthology from some of your favorite authors!These Christmas-themed stories all feature the swoon-inducing trope of being snowed-in together! You can find new, exclusive novellas from Kiki Clark, Nora Phoenix, EM Lindsey, Nicole Dykes, Crea Reitan, A.M. Johnson, Dianna Roman, Cora Rose, Kelly Fox, and Lark Taylor!

All proceeds will be donated to Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE).

My Thoughts

I love anthologies like this. I’ve read a few since first discovering them a few years ago, and I can never get enough.

Snowed In has the benefit of donating all the proceeds to Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), so not only do I get to read some fantastic stories, but I know my contribution is going to an amazing cause.

I also get to enjoy a few very fun takes on the same trope – being snowed in over the holidays!! With any anthology, a couple of the stories didn’t appeal to me as much as the others did, but they were all very fun regardless! I got to explore the writing styles of a couple new-to-me authors, while also relishing in the works of authors that have become staples on my digital shelves.

I really had a great time with Snowed In, and just in time for the holidays! I can be quite the Grinch this time of year (lots of family drama and trauma have made the holidays rather torturous some years). Being able to find little bits of enjoyment when I can eases the anxiety and the dread. And this anthology wad definitely way more than just a little bit of enjoyment.

[lonestarflight]

"The Space Shuttle Enterprise, the nation's prototype space shuttle orbiter, departed NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, at 11:00 a.m., May 16, 1983, on the first leg of its trek to the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France. Carried by the huge 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), the first stop for the Enterprise was Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Piloting the 747 on the Europe trip were Joe Algranti, Johnson Space Center Chief Pilot, Astronaut Dick Scobee, and NASA Dryden Chief Pilot Tom McMurtry. Flight engineers for that portion of the flight were Dryden's Ray Young and Johnson Space Center's Skip Guidry. The Enterprise, named after the spacecraft of Star Trek fame, was originally carried and launched by the 747 during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Dryden Flight Research Center."

Date: May 16, 1983

NASA ID: ECN-24314

[mariacallous]

On Aug. 8, 1974, Republican U.S. President Richard Nixon shocked the nation. Following more than a year of multiple investigations into his administration over the Watergate scandal, Nixon went on television and announced that he would be resigning from office the following day.

“To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the president and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home,” Nixon said as the nation watched. “Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.”

Less than two years earlier, Nixon had defeated South Dakota Sen. George McGovern, the Democratic Party’s candidate, in a landslide victory that pundits had compared to former President Franklin Roosevelt’s historic reelection in 1936. But now, Nixon became the first president in the nation’s history to step down before finishing his term. Americans were stunned and relieved. But even as Nixon’s administration has come to represent the ultimate rupture of a presidency, his was in fact the third consecutive administration to end in disruption in the mid-20th century. John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in November 1963. Lyndon Johnson had unexpectedly withdrawn from his reelection campaign in 1968. And then, six years later, Nixon would resign.

Nor was the outcome inevitable, as it may seem today. Nixon had fought when Congress, a grand jury, special prosecutors, judges, and reporters tried to find out what his role had been in the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in June 1972, and whether he had obstructed subsequent investigations. Just a few days before Nixon’s announcement, a mere 31 percent of Republicans polled by Gallup felt that he should no longer hold the office.

The pressure had mounted. On July 24, in United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court ruled that the president must turn over secret White House tape recordings—one of which contained a “smoking gun” in which legislators could hear him in a conversation with advisor H.R. Haldeman, agreeing that they should persuade the CIA to stop the FBI from looking into the matter. On Aug. 7, Sen. Barry Goldwater, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, and House Minority Leader John Rhodes—all Republicans—met with Nixon and said that if the House voted to send them articles of impeachment, which seemed likely, many in the GOP would join the Democrats in voting to remove him from office. Nixon’s job approval, according to Gallup, fell to 24 percent, with more than a majority of the country thinking he should leave. That’s what he did.

On Aug. 9, at 9:31 a.m., the president entered into the East Room with the first lady, Pat Nixon, and addressed a small group of cabinet officials, friends, and supporters. As he held back tears during different moments of his talk, Nixon advised everyone who was surrounding him: “Aways give your best. Never get discouraged, never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.”

He then went down to the Diplomatic Reception Room, where he wished the new president, Gerald Ford, good luck. Nixon walked up the staircase to the helicopter that was waiting for him outside, turned to look at the White House one last time as president, waved with his fingers shaped as a “V” for victory, and then flew off to Andrews Air Force Base, where Air Force One brought him back to California.

“With his departure,” wrote Jules Witcover in the Washington Post on Aug. 9, “he leaves behind a political legacy of negativism that far transcends the damage to his own party.”

Nixon’s presidency came to an abrupt end, but the resignation was just the final stage of a tumultuous era. The nation had been embroiled in fierce internal battles over issues such civil rights and the war in Vietnam. College campuses had been rocked by ongoing protest. Even the clothing that a person chose to wear sent strong signals about what they stood for. The Democratic Convention in August 1968 in Chicago had been a fiasco. The whole world watched as anti-war activists clashed with Mayor Richard Daley’s police force; inside the convention, anti-war delegates fought with supporters of then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who had become the nominee when Johnson withdrew from the race

And all of this took place after there had been a series of assassinations that started with Kennedy. When Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, in April 1968, unrest swept through major cities. When an assassin killed one of the late president’s brothers, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, in June, many young people lost all hope.

It is not a surprise that in 1974, Knopf published Robert Caro’s The Power Broker, a masterful work that would come to be considered one of the greatest nonfiction books of the century. Caro traced the career of the legendary unelected civil servant Robert Moses, who started his career as an idealistic reformer but ended as someone who did whatever was necessary, and to whomever, in his quest for total power. “The real lesson of Moses’ career,” wrote a reviewer in the Los Angeles Times, “and it is not nearly so difficult to understand in light of recent events such as Watergate—is the way the techniques of opinion manipulation and power use can operate within democracy.”

But another perspective suggested that perhaps Nixon’s resignation demonstrated that “the system worked,” with the optimists wanting to believe that a scandalous president being forced to give up power would restore the trust in government and elected officials that Vietnam and Watergate had stolen from them.

“No one can rejoice in the events which culminated in the resignation of the President,” noted American Bar Association President Chesterfield Smith in a newspaper interview. “We can, however, find comfort in the fact that … when our system for the administration of justice was tested—by perhaps its greatest challenge of all time—that system proved equal to the task.”

Such feelings did not last long. History took a different turn, and public distrust of government worsened. In 2024, Americans have trouble believing that their leaders will serve the public interest. According to Pew, a mere 22 percent trust the federal government to do what is right “just about always.” Though there have been some moments of improvement, such as at times during Ronald Reagan’s presidency and in the years immediately after 9/11, the public trust percentages upward of 70 percent that were normative in the early 1960s currently feel impossible to recreate. Even in recent years, when trust has grown slightly higher, positive numbers remain far lower than before.

So why didn’t Nixon’s resignation make things better? How did an act of such massive historical weight fail to cure the ills that were afflicting the body politic?

To begin with, Richard Nixon was never held accountable. Just one month after he told Americans that he was stepping down, his successor, Ford—who Nixon had appointed to be his vice president in 1973, when Spiro Agnew resigned in scandal—pardoned Nixon for any crimes that he might have committed. Seeking to heal the nation, Ford did the opposite. Nixon, who in 1977 told television interviewer David Frost that if a president did something, then it was legal, went on to have a career writing books and giving advice to future leaders. Rather than a criminal, he was treated as a statesman.

Public distrust also never went away because Vietnam and Watergate created a more vigilant outlook, with institutional support, as more people on both the left and right were constantly on the lookout for wrongdoing. Investigative journalists, nonprofit organizations, and good government groups such as a Common Cause were determined to keep holding elected officials accountable. So Americans naturally learned more about the bad things that politicians could do, such as when Sen. Frank Church’s committee revealed the illicit activities of the CIA during the Cold War, as the forces of reform struggled to clean the government so that it work be better. The quest for improvement tapped into a distrust of government that had always been part of the United States since its founding, when the country was created in a rebellion against a corrupt and oppressive British government.

Had this healthy skepticism been balanced with messages about the virtues of what Washington could do, such as when elderly Americans received health care through Medicare or poor young kids received nutrition through school lunch programs, public opinion might have improved. But instead, a conservative movement swept through the nation. Conservatism targeted the ills of government. As Reagan declared in his inaugural address, “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

These feelings only intensified as more conservatism became more entrenched in politics and as the United States moved further away from Roosevelt’s New Deal and Johnson’s Great Society. Even some Democratic leaders such as President Bill Clinton, though still liberal, embraced Reagan’s logic as well. During his State of the Union address in 1996, Clinton proclaimed that “the era of big government” was “over.”

As if all of this was not enough, the intensification of hyperpolarization over the past two decades has caused red and blue Americans to distrust officials from the other side. To be sure, strong partisanship is a good thing. Robust parties offer Americans real mechanisms within the mainstream political system to express differences and to struggle over policy. Parties have helped to provide coherence to the country’s incredibly fragmented government.

But when “affective polarization” became normative, as political scientist such as Liliana Mason have argued, intense emotionalism left members of each party disliking the other and disgusted by their opponents to the point that there could be no reconciliation. Fundamental differences have been supplanted by fundamental distrust. And social media has created multiple opportunities to spread all kind of information regardless of its veracity, which further fuels these feelings.

Besides the sorts of tensions that this culture of distrust has created, the sentiment also makes it more difficult for the government that we all need to survive, thrive, and do good work.

Rather than hoping that somehow conditions will miraculously change, the time has come for a new reform agenda, where the country’s elected officials take the concerns that were at the root of the good-faith skepticism that took hold when Nixon stepped down. Instead of just railing against those in charge, Americans need more dialogue about improving processes, procedures, and rules—while demanding better leadership—in order to produce a government that is always looking out for the national interest.

[garadinervi]

Emily Dickinson, Before I got my eye put out, A.MS. (unsigned) poem; [n.p., ca. 1862 Aug.] [(1s. (3p.) MS Am 1118.1 (14)). Emily Dickinson Archive. Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0]

Bibl.: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA, and Toronto, 1960, p. 155

Before I got my eye put out (J327, Fr336) Before I got my eye put out I liked as well to see – As other Creatures, that have Eyes And know no other way – But were it told to me – Today – That I might have the sky For mine – I tell you that my Heart Would split, for size of me – The Meadows – mine – The Mountains – mine – All Forests – Stintless Stars – As much of Noon as I could take Between my finite eyes – The Motions of The Dipping Birds – The Morning's Amber Road – For mine – to look at when I liked – The News would strike me dead – So safer Guess – with just my soul Upon the Window pane – Where other Creatures put their eyes – Incautious – of the Sun –

[spacefrontier]

Cygnus NG-21 S.S. Francis R. 'Dick' Scobee', carrying over 8,000 pounds of supplies and experiments, has successfully been berthed to the International Space Station.

Despite a low pressure state in the Cygnus engine preventing two orbit raising burns early in the mission, Northrup Grumman engineers were able to work out new burn and trajectory plans, enabling Cygnus to rendezvous with the International Space Station at the originally scheduled time.

At 3:11 a.m. EDT on August 6, 2024, astronaut Matt Dominick captured the spacecraft with the International Space Station's Canadarm2, with berthing completed remotely by engineers at the Johnson Space Center's Mission Control Center at 5:33 a.m. EDT.

Cygnus will remain at the space station until January, where it will dispose of thousands of pounds by burning up in Earth's atmosphere during re-entry.

NASA 1, 2