Thinking Out Loud

Tag: Kamala Harris

  • Democracy dies in darkness, indeed

    Democracy dies in darkness, indeed

    I unsubscribed from The Washington Post today, immediately upon learning of its decision to join the Los Angeles Times in declining to endorse in the 2024 presidential campaign.

    Both papers have abandoned longstanding editorial policy conspicuously late in this historically critical election cycle, professing a sudden newfound impartiality. But this election is not a choice between a center-right elephant and a center-left donkey, and no newspaper’s editorial board should act like an uninformed, undecided swing voter.

    Kamala Harris is the only sensible option for the interests of the media, the economy, domestic and foreign policy, and I don’t believe it’s too melodramatic to add: democracy itself. Declining to make an endorsement is an implicit rejection of Harris.

    Both papers are owned by billionaires: The Post by Jeff Bezos, and The Times by Patrick Soon-Shiong. The Columbia Journalism Review confirmed that Bezos spiked a drafted piece endorsing Harris.

    I must infer these billionaires are cynically anticipating a second Trump administration, and fear reprisal for any truths spoken to power, now or in the past. They are making a bad bet. Any pretense of impartiality will not protect them from an emboldened fascist Trump administration.

    I remain a paid subscriber of The New York Times (The Only Patriotic Choice for President) and The New Yorker (Kamala Harris for President). I am also heartened to see the paper I grew up with, The Philadelphia Inquirer, emphatically endorse Harris today.

    In case there’s any confusion, this blog also endorses Kamala Harris for President.

  • Vote for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris

    Vote for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris

    I clearly remember the November day four years ago, waiting in a line stretching around the block to vote for what would/should have been the first woman President of the United States. Very late that evening, we sat at home weeping in front of the television.

    I know it amuses Trump supporters to picture “libs” being “triggered”, to use their lingo. U mad? Yes, I mad. But if Biden & Harris win this election, I do not wish for Trump supporters to weep. I hope against hope that as a competent, compassionate administration takes over and begins to undo the damage of the past several years, that Trump’s supporters will slowly notice their lives improving, and perhaps they may come to reflect on their mistake.

    My wife & I are of course among the most lucky and privileged. We wish we could visit family without fearing we will sicken them, but we have not been too directly affected by the Trump administration’s actions or inactions. We had no children taken from us, we did not get sick or lose our jobs during this mismanaged pandemic, we probably won’t immediately lose our healthcare if the corrupted Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act, and we were not beaten or teargassed. But we could literally see and hear some of these things outside our windows, and it pains me to know that our friends and neighbors are hurting. It’s all the more appalling that this administration’s many crimes were cynically disguised in false patriotism and christianity.

    In my thoughts today are the state where I grew up, Pennsylvania, where the Trump campaign and administration (for they are the same thing) say they will sue to stop the vote count. The state where I went to school, North Carolina, where police teargassed voters on their way to the polls. And my now-home state of 24 years, New York, which created the disgusting parasitic charlatan that has destroyed our international standing, solicited bribes from his properties, orphaned migrant children, rejected science & expertise, mismanaged a pandemic, is a credibly accused rapist, and… I could go on but we all know who he is.

    Please vote for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris. Perhaps your life doesn’t depend on it, but many others do.