THE ‘OLD’ JOE BIDEN BOTCHED THE DEBATE; A ‘NEW’ BIDEN IS MAKING THINGS WORSE  PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN at his July 5 TV interview. CREDIT: ABC News FOR THE FIRST TIME this year, I think Donald Trump will probably win the election in November, turning America into a diabolical dictatorship. If so, it will be Joe Biden’s fault. Let’s put aside age, because that’s not the immediate issue. Instead of looking at Biden, 81, as an old person, let’s consider him simply as a man, whom we used to like. Biden, the man, put on a devastating performance June 27, at his “debate” with Donald Trump. He was frighteningly incoherent and failed to make a cogent, convincing case against Trump, which should have been an easy 90 minutes for an experienced politician. Since then, Biden, the man, has only made things worse by declaring a civil war within his own party, dismissing his baffled and alarmed critics with contempt and disrespect. By dividing, rather than unifying Democrats, Biden, the man, threatens the chances that Democrats will be able to control Congress, the only plausible defense during four years of terror promised by Trump. Here’s what Biden, the man, could be doing since the debate:
THE THEME underlying Biden's behavior since the debate is his suggestion that he’s the Indispensable Man. In this, he is imitating his opposite number, the most despicable man in American history. Donald Trump declared, after he was nominated in 2016 at the Republican National Convention: “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” Here’s what Joe Biden, wrote to members of Congress on July 8, responding to people questioning his ability to win: “... I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.” Nobody is the “only” or “best” man or woman who can do anything, including running the United States. It is absurd, as a matter of fact, and it’s a warning sign that the speaker has lost his objectivity. Does Biden, the man, honestly believe that the woman he chose as his vice president, Kamala Harris, is not capable of serving as his replacement or running successfully against Trump? LET’S LOOK MORE CLOSELY at what Joe Biden, a man, and a responsible one, could be doing. He could candidly confront what went wrong during the debate, and, if he doesn’t know, he should get to the bottom of it – then share his insights with the public. After all, it was Biden who challenged Trump to the debate and outlined the ground rules. The goal was to jump-start his stalled campaign. Biden did just the opposite. It was all Biden’s doing, not the people who have reacted to his failed performance. He was impaired that night; he should find out how and why, and outline a plan to how he can overcome it, or, if necessary, how he'll get out of the race. As to how he could respond to his fellow Democrats, who are as alarmed as Biden is about the consequences of a Trump presidency, he should embrace them, listen to them, work with them, rather than challenge their loyalty and character. Two reasons: One, is that he might learn something from them. They voted for him, supported him, trusted him, celebrated him. Now, their futures are imperiled. Two, the worst thing that can happen to the Democrats is to fight among themselves. A splintered party has zero chances of winning on Nov. 5. Instead, Biden is using his position as president, the leader of his party, the winner in the primary races, to divide people into enemies and allies. Echoes of Donald Trump, and Dick Nixon.  GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS interviews President Biden. CREDIT: ABC news FINALLY, BACK TO THE “TRUTH.” If Biden, the man, were being honest about a sincere exploration of what went wrong, and what the country can do about, I think he would have broad support. Instead, he’s given a number of questionable excuses for what went wrong and downplayed the seriousness of his disastrous appearance. On July 5, Biden sat down for an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, which was supposed to show that the man we saw on June 27 was an aberration. Here’s some of the transcript:
Really?
Biden, the man, did not watch a replay of the debate, the event he planned would turn the race around, but which did the opposite? How could any man, woman, anyone, not watch the replay? And if not, why not? Joe Biden is now a shadow of the man who’s had an exemplary presidency. He’s emerged as a selfish, untruthful bully, who is dividing his party and country. This should be the old Joe Biden’s finest moment: a good man, leading the country to solve a catastrophic problem in an impossibly short length of time, listening, learning, healing and unifying. I’m dismayed by the new Joe Biden. Of course, I'll vote for him, if it comes to that. But I sure miss the old one.
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Election Countdown |
| Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan governor. She’s got the experience and the cachet. She escaped a kidnapping plot, has overseen a progressive big state agenda. And it’s time for a woman president. |  |
| Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania governor. He got a destroyed Route 95 bridge replaced fast, in under two weeks. |  |
| J.B. Pritzker, Illinois governor. Big guy from a big state. Well-spoken, progressive. |  |
Not on my list: Kamala Harris. Already unpopular, the vice president has seen Biden up close, and she hasn’t said a word.
Any “newcomer” to the race that the convention might nominate faces near impossible hurdles: gaining name recognition, credibility and popularity in a very, very short period of time.
If Biden stays in the race, his limitations must be acknowledged. I daydream about going door-to-door in a battleground state (which I won’t do, because I’m too old); somebody tells me they’re worried about Biden’s well-being. What am I supposed to do: run to the next doorbell? No, I have to say Over-the-Hill Joe is better than Don-the-devil. Great message.
THESE ARE THE CARDS WE’VE BEEN DEALT.
Just the two of them.
Whichever one – Joe, Not Joe – it’s important that Democrats don’t fight with each other, but with Donald Trump.
Our focus must be on the two things that count: defeating Trump and electing a Democratic Congress.
Both are possible.
Any “newcomer” to the race that the convention might nominate faces near impossible hurdles: gaining name recognition, credibility and popularity in a very, very short period of time.
If Biden stays in the race, his limitations must be acknowledged. I daydream about going door-to-door in a battleground state (which I won’t do, because I’m too old); somebody tells me they’re worried about Biden’s well-being. What am I supposed to do: run to the next doorbell? No, I have to say Over-the-Hill Joe is better than Don-the-devil. Great message.
THESE ARE THE CARDS WE’VE BEEN DEALT.
Just the two of them.
Whichever one – Joe, Not Joe – it’s important that Democrats don’t fight with each other, but with Donald Trump.
Our focus must be on the two things that count: defeating Trump and electing a Democratic Congress.
Both are possible.
IF AN OLD MAN HAS A BAD NIGHT,
WILL A NATION PAY THE PRICE?
A DISASTER.
Probably a catastrophe.
Worse than your worst fears.
President Joe Biden sounded old and looked old during last night’s “debate,” from the opening to the closing moments of one of the most excruciating 90-minutes in American politics.
Whatever Joe Biden said was almost impossible to follow, jumping from subject to subject with his hoarse, weak voice, mumbling, stopping-and-starting, losing his way, forgetting, chewing his words, missing every opportunity – and there were many – to deliver rhetorical punches.
Donald Trump, with his fake hairdo and whatever it is he puts on his face, and despite his bizarre clownish expressions, looked and sounded like a spring chicken in comparison.
A chicken laying lies by the dozen. But no matter.
If you were a cartoonist or a satirist trying to make fun of a man too old to old to work the buttons of his TV remote, much less be a commander-in-chief, you could not have created a crueler caricature than Joe Biden delivered last night.
After last night, Biden surely will plummet in the polls – and not just in the seven “battleground” states where he has been lagging – but he will lose the near overall tie he’s achieved so far.
Probably a catastrophe.
Worse than your worst fears.
President Joe Biden sounded old and looked old during last night’s “debate,” from the opening to the closing moments of one of the most excruciating 90-minutes in American politics.
Whatever Joe Biden said was almost impossible to follow, jumping from subject to subject with his hoarse, weak voice, mumbling, stopping-and-starting, losing his way, forgetting, chewing his words, missing every opportunity – and there were many – to deliver rhetorical punches.
Donald Trump, with his fake hairdo and whatever it is he puts on his face, and despite his bizarre clownish expressions, looked and sounded like a spring chicken in comparison.
A chicken laying lies by the dozen. But no matter.
If you were a cartoonist or a satirist trying to make fun of a man too old to old to work the buttons of his TV remote, much less be a commander-in-chief, you could not have created a crueler caricature than Joe Biden delivered last night.
After last night, Biden surely will plummet in the polls – and not just in the seven “battleground” states where he has been lagging – but he will lose the near overall tie he’s achieved so far.
IT’S POSSIBLE that my assessment is too pessimistic and that, somehow, Biden will pull it out. Maybe he’ll be a superstar in the second debate. Maybe some crisis, some major event will prove him to be a national hero.
Anything is possible. And none of us should give up.
But Biden did himself no favors last night, not for the nation, not for his fellow 81-year-olds.
Where was the man who delivered such a powerful and inspiring speech at the State of the Union? He surely wasn’t in Atlanta, on CNN’s debate stage.
It’s terrible on two counts:
SO, IT WAS AN ILLUSION.
That's what appeared on our TVs last night, an illusion.
I believe that Biden remains capable, even inspired, as a president.
We did not see the real Joe Biden, the seasoned, practiced politician, with his sound judgement and forward vision for the country.
What we saw, instead, was an illusion.
It only looked like Biden had lost his way, if not his marbles, and that Trump was the one with the energy and vitality. But that also an illusion, but the kind of snake-oil fakery that can put a fast one over on the voters.
No small matters, illusions.
Democracy in the U.S. will collapse if Trump wins on Nov. 5.
Racism, violence, ignorance and injustice in its many forms will become the foundation of a new American character and culture.
And climate change will destroy the earth.
All because an old man had a bad night.
Anything is possible. And none of us should give up.
But Biden did himself no favors last night, not for the nation, not for his fellow 81-year-olds.
Where was the man who delivered such a powerful and inspiring speech at the State of the Union? He surely wasn’t in Atlanta, on CNN’s debate stage.
It’s terrible on two counts:
- The most obvious is that Donald Trump has no business being president, and now it seems he very well might be.
- Less obvious, it was Joe Biden’s performance on TV that was terrible, not his presidency during his first term, nor what his leadership would likely be in a second term.
SO, IT WAS AN ILLUSION.
That's what appeared on our TVs last night, an illusion.
I believe that Biden remains capable, even inspired, as a president.
We did not see the real Joe Biden, the seasoned, practiced politician, with his sound judgement and forward vision for the country.
What we saw, instead, was an illusion.
It only looked like Biden had lost his way, if not his marbles, and that Trump was the one with the energy and vitality. But that also an illusion, but the kind of snake-oil fakery that can put a fast one over on the voters.
No small matters, illusions.
Democracy in the U.S. will collapse if Trump wins on Nov. 5.
Racism, violence, ignorance and injustice in its many forms will become the foundation of a new American character and culture.
And climate change will destroy the earth.
All because an old man had a bad night.
OUR FRAIDY-CAT ELECTION
Are you afraid to put a bumper sticker on your car?
Should you be even more afraid not to?
THERE’S NOTHING MORE AMERICAN than telling your friends and neighbors how you’re planning to vote, hoping they’ll take the hint and follow your example.
What could be simpler than slapping a Biden-Harris sticker on the back bumper?
You’re on the Interstate. It’s night; somewhere rural, dark and empty.You’re alone. But maybe not. Is someone behind you? What’s she thinking about that goddamned Biden-Harris bumper sticker ablaze in her headlights?
In a kinder era, you wouldn’t have given a second thought to something as mundane as a bumper sticker. Sure, another driver might have tossed you a middle finger; alternatively, an approving motorist might have shared a couple of happy taps of the horn.
But out in the badlands of today's politics, you can’t be sure.
Seeing that Biden-Harris slur, the fellow traveler’s brain lights up in all the wrong places. Shouting “Let’s Go, Brandon,” she guns the engine and rams the blasphemous bumper. Or, maybe, the other driver turns out to be a student of the Constitution, who decides to exercise his Second Amendment rights with a couple of blasts from an AR-15.
Actually, I haven’t heard of anything like that happening.
But I can imagine it. I worry about it. Which is why I haven’t put in my order, not yet, to Shop Joe Biden for bumper stickers, $6 a pair. Or, for that matter, I haven't signed up for a $20 yard sign; or a $35 baseball cap.
I’m just thinking about it. And not proud of that.
What could be simpler than slapping a Biden-Harris sticker on the back bumper?
You’re on the Interstate. It’s night; somewhere rural, dark and empty.You’re alone. But maybe not. Is someone behind you? What’s she thinking about that goddamned Biden-Harris bumper sticker ablaze in her headlights?
In a kinder era, you wouldn’t have given a second thought to something as mundane as a bumper sticker. Sure, another driver might have tossed you a middle finger; alternatively, an approving motorist might have shared a couple of happy taps of the horn.
But out in the badlands of today's politics, you can’t be sure.
Seeing that Biden-Harris slur, the fellow traveler’s brain lights up in all the wrong places. Shouting “Let’s Go, Brandon,” she guns the engine and rams the blasphemous bumper. Or, maybe, the other driver turns out to be a student of the Constitution, who decides to exercise his Second Amendment rights with a couple of blasts from an AR-15.
Actually, I haven’t heard of anything like that happening.
But I can imagine it. I worry about it. Which is why I haven’t put in my order, not yet, to Shop Joe Biden for bumper stickers, $6 a pair. Or, for that matter, I haven't signed up for a $20 yard sign; or a $35 baseball cap.
I’m just thinking about it. And not proud of that.
IT’S A LOT EASIER to scold others for being Election Fraidy-Cats, so cowardly, so silent as the 2024 election bears down and democracy is at the cliff’s edge.
It's the Fear Election.
Fear is at work among GOP Senators and Representatives whom Donald Trump put in harm’s way when he set his violent supporters upon the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The congressional folks feared for their lives that day, while the mob shouted “Hang Mike Pence,” Trump’s ultra-loyal vice president, who for one brave moment refused to go along with Trump’s scheme to upend the election.
But post-riot, the rescued GOP lawmakers decided that what they most feared was political suicide. Which is why you have an entire political party pretending that Donald Trump is not a psychopath, criminal, racist, rapist and traitor.
There are many other instances in which fear has scrambled our moral compass. Here are three:
#1 -THE MOVIE YOU CAN’T WATCH
The film “The Apprentice” received a standing ovation at the Cannes film festival on May 20, but has yet to find a U.S. distributor, so you probably won’t be streaming it or seeing it at a theater.
According to those who have watched it, the film depicts the young Donald as he was “apprenticed” to Roy Cohn, the master of the political dark arts. Here’s how the New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg described the movie:
“ 'The Apprentice' also gives you a sense of the audacious glamour Trump projected before he became a caricature, and it makes his decision to pursue Manhattan’s Commodore Hotel in the 1970s, when midtown was a sleazy wasteland, seem visionary. It offers a fresh way of understanding how Trump — under the tutelage of Cohn, who once served as chief counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy — evolved from an almost charming Queens striver into the lawless predator now bestriding American politics."
"I wish you could see it,” Goldberg wrote. “Unfortunately, you may not get a chance to anytime soon.”
The reason?
“Many studios fear a MAGA-led backlash to movies perceived as too ‘woke,’ which can include anything from having a diverse cast to the mere mention of the LGBTQ+ community,” according to an account in the Hollywood Reporter.
The news outlet quoted a producer knowledgeable about the discussion about U.S. distribution as saying that the country is too divided to risk offending one side or the other.
“If an audience is pro-Trump, they won’t watch an anti-Trump movie,” the producer said. “And the other side won’t watch a pro-Trump one.”
According to the Reporter, the film has some alarming depictions of Trump, including “scenes of Trump abusing amphetamines, getting liposuction and scalp-reduction surgery and, most controversially, one graphic sequence showing him raping his first wife, Ivana. (Ivana made the rape claim during her divorce proceedings with Trump in the early ’90s, but later disavowed her deposed testimony, saying she didn’t mean rape in the “literal or criminal sense.”)”
The real problem isn’t just old-fashioned censorship, it’s self-censorship, which I think is more insidious, along with the ludicrous fact that Trump fear is at work without Trump even being re-elected.
#2 - THE DISINFORMATION YOU WON’T KNOW ABOUT
This one is just as disturbing, because it involves a respected university, where you expect independent thinking, commitment to truth and some institutional gumption.
California’s renown Stanford University has turned its back on its “Standford Internet Observatory’s” which has done substantial work about election disinformation.
According to Platformer, a newsletter that tracks technology platform issues, Stanford has cut the Observatory’s staff and “will not conduct research into the 2024 election.”
The reason is a Republican attack on Stanford’s and other universities’ efforts to investigate political lies and other disinformation.
Stanford, according to the Washington Post, has spent millions of dollars to defend its researchers from lawsuits and Congressional probes.
Dee Mostofi, a university spokesperson, said that the Observatory, under new leadership, will continue to work on issues such as child safety.
But with bold doublespeak, Mostofi told the Post:
“Stanford remains deeply concerned about efforts, including lawsuits and congressional investigations, that chill freedom of inquiry and undermine legitimate and much needed academic research — both at Stanford and across academia.”
You don’t need precision instruments to measure the depth of the university’s “deep concern” about attacks on academic freedom and the work of its scholars.
Of course, the retreat couldn’t come at a worse time, with Russia and China launching sophisticated cyber attacks on American voters.
Brown University professor Claire Wardle told the Post that
“closing down a lab like this would always be a huge loss, but doing so now, during a year of global elections, makes absolutely no sense.”
Wardle said: “We need universities to use their resources and standing in the community to stand up to criticism and headlines.”
#3 - THE FOLK SONGS YOU WON'T HEAR
I don’t have authoritative sources on this one, just my own experience over the last nine years of the Trump nightmare.
But I have yet to hear a folk song devoted entirely to Trump and his attack on democracy, whereas folk music provided the soundtrack of the 1960s and 1970s civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War.
As far as I can tell, there’s radio silence, and silence, too, on streaming services and on other media featuring songs about political and cultural threats to freedom and the just plain evil of the man they're not calling Donald John Trump.
I listen to two outstanding folk music sources, WUMB radio out of Boston and Folk Alley, an internet channel. Both feature “new music” by today’s singer-songwriters. And I haven't heard what I’m hoping for.
My guess is that early into the Trump experience, musicians and others made a calculation that if they sang about freedom and Big Bad Don, they’d lose half their audience and be subject to social media and physical threats.
If I’m wrong, please let me know. I'll order an old-school CD right away.
BACK TO BUMPER STICKERS – So, it's easy to belittle protest-free folk singers, university double-talkers and self-censoring movie moguls.
But how brave are the rest of us?
Is my paranoia off base about what can go wrong on the highway? Putting it bluntly, am I a bumper sticker Fraidy-Cat?
Then, I remember the threats against election workers, who aren’t even political partisans; or the care which the Manhattan judge took to protect jurors and witnesses in the case that convicted Trump of trying to hide hush payments to Stormy Daniels.
Do I want to drive a car with a road-rage target stuck on its bumper, with only me or my wife at the wheel?
So, I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Election Fraidy-Cats on that one. Just too many manic drivers, so much ambient road rage, too many opportunities for mischief and worse.
As to a yard sign, that seems okay to me. My house, my fortress, at least sort of.
Same thing with the baseball cap, the t-shirt and other official and home-grown displays of where I stand in this election.
I wish I wasn't making these kinds of choices, because democracy is diminished when citizens compromise fear and free speech.
But I don’t live in a state that puts “Live Free or Die” on its license plates. I live in the place with “Hope” on the state flag.
What I’m hoping for is that the compromises I’m making will be good enough.
But what I fear is that, to survive, democracy needs something braver.
It's the Fear Election.
Fear is at work among GOP Senators and Representatives whom Donald Trump put in harm’s way when he set his violent supporters upon the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The congressional folks feared for their lives that day, while the mob shouted “Hang Mike Pence,” Trump’s ultra-loyal vice president, who for one brave moment refused to go along with Trump’s scheme to upend the election.
But post-riot, the rescued GOP lawmakers decided that what they most feared was political suicide. Which is why you have an entire political party pretending that Donald Trump is not a psychopath, criminal, racist, rapist and traitor.
There are many other instances in which fear has scrambled our moral compass. Here are three:
#1 -THE MOVIE YOU CAN’T WATCH
The film “The Apprentice” received a standing ovation at the Cannes film festival on May 20, but has yet to find a U.S. distributor, so you probably won’t be streaming it or seeing it at a theater.
According to those who have watched it, the film depicts the young Donald as he was “apprenticed” to Roy Cohn, the master of the political dark arts. Here’s how the New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg described the movie:
“ 'The Apprentice' also gives you a sense of the audacious glamour Trump projected before he became a caricature, and it makes his decision to pursue Manhattan’s Commodore Hotel in the 1970s, when midtown was a sleazy wasteland, seem visionary. It offers a fresh way of understanding how Trump — under the tutelage of Cohn, who once served as chief counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy — evolved from an almost charming Queens striver into the lawless predator now bestriding American politics."
"I wish you could see it,” Goldberg wrote. “Unfortunately, you may not get a chance to anytime soon.”
The reason?
“Many studios fear a MAGA-led backlash to movies perceived as too ‘woke,’ which can include anything from having a diverse cast to the mere mention of the LGBTQ+ community,” according to an account in the Hollywood Reporter.
The news outlet quoted a producer knowledgeable about the discussion about U.S. distribution as saying that the country is too divided to risk offending one side or the other.
“If an audience is pro-Trump, they won’t watch an anti-Trump movie,” the producer said. “And the other side won’t watch a pro-Trump one.”
According to the Reporter, the film has some alarming depictions of Trump, including “scenes of Trump abusing amphetamines, getting liposuction and scalp-reduction surgery and, most controversially, one graphic sequence showing him raping his first wife, Ivana. (Ivana made the rape claim during her divorce proceedings with Trump in the early ’90s, but later disavowed her deposed testimony, saying she didn’t mean rape in the “literal or criminal sense.”)”
The real problem isn’t just old-fashioned censorship, it’s self-censorship, which I think is more insidious, along with the ludicrous fact that Trump fear is at work without Trump even being re-elected.
#2 - THE DISINFORMATION YOU WON’T KNOW ABOUT
This one is just as disturbing, because it involves a respected university, where you expect independent thinking, commitment to truth and some institutional gumption.
California’s renown Stanford University has turned its back on its “Standford Internet Observatory’s” which has done substantial work about election disinformation.
According to Platformer, a newsletter that tracks technology platform issues, Stanford has cut the Observatory’s staff and “will not conduct research into the 2024 election.”
The reason is a Republican attack on Stanford’s and other universities’ efforts to investigate political lies and other disinformation.
Stanford, according to the Washington Post, has spent millions of dollars to defend its researchers from lawsuits and Congressional probes.
Dee Mostofi, a university spokesperson, said that the Observatory, under new leadership, will continue to work on issues such as child safety.
But with bold doublespeak, Mostofi told the Post:
“Stanford remains deeply concerned about efforts, including lawsuits and congressional investigations, that chill freedom of inquiry and undermine legitimate and much needed academic research — both at Stanford and across academia.”
You don’t need precision instruments to measure the depth of the university’s “deep concern” about attacks on academic freedom and the work of its scholars.
Of course, the retreat couldn’t come at a worse time, with Russia and China launching sophisticated cyber attacks on American voters.
Brown University professor Claire Wardle told the Post that
“closing down a lab like this would always be a huge loss, but doing so now, during a year of global elections, makes absolutely no sense.”
Wardle said: “We need universities to use their resources and standing in the community to stand up to criticism and headlines.”
#3 - THE FOLK SONGS YOU WON'T HEAR
I don’t have authoritative sources on this one, just my own experience over the last nine years of the Trump nightmare.
But I have yet to hear a folk song devoted entirely to Trump and his attack on democracy, whereas folk music provided the soundtrack of the 1960s and 1970s civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War.
As far as I can tell, there’s radio silence, and silence, too, on streaming services and on other media featuring songs about political and cultural threats to freedom and the just plain evil of the man they're not calling Donald John Trump.
I listen to two outstanding folk music sources, WUMB radio out of Boston and Folk Alley, an internet channel. Both feature “new music” by today’s singer-songwriters. And I haven't heard what I’m hoping for.
My guess is that early into the Trump experience, musicians and others made a calculation that if they sang about freedom and Big Bad Don, they’d lose half their audience and be subject to social media and physical threats.
If I’m wrong, please let me know. I'll order an old-school CD right away.
BACK TO BUMPER STICKERS – So, it's easy to belittle protest-free folk singers, university double-talkers and self-censoring movie moguls.
But how brave are the rest of us?
Is my paranoia off base about what can go wrong on the highway? Putting it bluntly, am I a bumper sticker Fraidy-Cat?
Then, I remember the threats against election workers, who aren’t even political partisans; or the care which the Manhattan judge took to protect jurors and witnesses in the case that convicted Trump of trying to hide hush payments to Stormy Daniels.
Do I want to drive a car with a road-rage target stuck on its bumper, with only me or my wife at the wheel?
So, I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Election Fraidy-Cats on that one. Just too many manic drivers, so much ambient road rage, too many opportunities for mischief and worse.
As to a yard sign, that seems okay to me. My house, my fortress, at least sort of.
Same thing with the baseball cap, the t-shirt and other official and home-grown displays of where I stand in this election.
I wish I wasn't making these kinds of choices, because democracy is diminished when citizens compromise fear and free speech.
But I don’t live in a state that puts “Live Free or Die” on its license plates. I live in the place with “Hope” on the state flag.
What I’m hoping for is that the compromises I’m making will be good enough.
But what I fear is that, to survive, democracy needs something braver.
BLAME THE NICE PEOPLE:
HOW ONE SATURDAY AT THE SUPERMARKET STARTED OUT SOUR BUT ENDED UP SWEET
THIS IS A SMALL STORY about a big moment, the kind you rarely hear about, because when nice people do their thing, it usually isn't news.
The day started wretchedly for my wife and me, with a routine round of Saturday errands. At home, we discovered that a “fob” had disappeared.
The "fob," one of those little weird things that make today’s complicated cars unlock, lock, start and turn off, and roll down all four windows, had been on a key ring along with another "fob," which operated a second car, the one used on the shopping trip, which explains why the furtive "fob" wasn't missed right away.
Glumly, we embarked on a probably hopeless mission, reverse-engineering the shopping run, going from one parking lot to another, walking up and down empty spaces, getting down on hands and knees to look under cars, the way they search for hidden bombs in movies.
At the Stop & Shop supermarket on West Main Road in Middletown, I spotted a young man wearing a yellow safety vest and racing around the parking lot to corral stray shopping carts. He was hard to slow down – but stopped a millisecond to say, no, he hadn’t seen any"fob," then sprinted back to his urgent duties.
Dispirited, we went into the store, to the customer service booth.
It was empty.
A young woman in a Stop & Shop smock was standing in front of an aisle. Could we find someone in customer service? "We lost one of those “fob” thingies that unlock cars and gets them started, blah, blah, blah."
She brightened.
“I remember seeing something like that,” she said.
We were near the checkout area, and she rushed to one of the workers, whom she thought might have more information.
Meanwhile, one of those robots that troll supermarket aisles appeared. It had a pair of big fake eyes, maybe to make it seem human or at least amusing. Instinctively, I suspected that the robot didn't give a fig about a "fob."
The young woman found yet another co-worker, who also knew something about a furtive “fob” and its travels.
Excitement was building. And not just on our part. It seemed like the group of workers were just as enthusiastic. A cashier, overhearing the conversation, joined in: “Those things are REALLY expensive.”
Everyone seemed united in a common purpose. The invisible wall between company “associates” and price-obsessed “customers” evaporated, as if we were all committed to a noble cause.
The Stop & Shop woman, who was leading the hunt, darted into the customer service booth, rummaged around a counter and triumphantly held up what for all the world looked like a genuine “fob.”
She handed it over.
The day started wretchedly for my wife and me, with a routine round of Saturday errands. At home, we discovered that a “fob” had disappeared.
The "fob," one of those little weird things that make today’s complicated cars unlock, lock, start and turn off, and roll down all four windows, had been on a key ring along with another "fob," which operated a second car, the one used on the shopping trip, which explains why the furtive "fob" wasn't missed right away.
Glumly, we embarked on a probably hopeless mission, reverse-engineering the shopping run, going from one parking lot to another, walking up and down empty spaces, getting down on hands and knees to look under cars, the way they search for hidden bombs in movies.
At the Stop & Shop supermarket on West Main Road in Middletown, I spotted a young man wearing a yellow safety vest and racing around the parking lot to corral stray shopping carts. He was hard to slow down – but stopped a millisecond to say, no, he hadn’t seen any"fob," then sprinted back to his urgent duties.
Dispirited, we went into the store, to the customer service booth.
It was empty.
A young woman in a Stop & Shop smock was standing in front of an aisle. Could we find someone in customer service? "We lost one of those “fob” thingies that unlock cars and gets them started, blah, blah, blah."
She brightened.
“I remember seeing something like that,” she said.
We were near the checkout area, and she rushed to one of the workers, whom she thought might have more information.
Meanwhile, one of those robots that troll supermarket aisles appeared. It had a pair of big fake eyes, maybe to make it seem human or at least amusing. Instinctively, I suspected that the robot didn't give a fig about a "fob."
The young woman found yet another co-worker, who also knew something about a furtive “fob” and its travels.
Excitement was building. And not just on our part. It seemed like the group of workers were just as enthusiastic. A cashier, overhearing the conversation, joined in: “Those things are REALLY expensive.”
Everyone seemed united in a common purpose. The invisible wall between company “associates” and price-obsessed “customers” evaporated, as if we were all committed to a noble cause.
The Stop & Shop woman, who was leading the hunt, darted into the customer service booth, rummaged around a counter and triumphantly held up what for all the world looked like a genuine “fob.”
She handed it over.
STOP & SHOP RETURNED to business as usual.
Cashiers scanned the barcodes of cabbages, loaves of bread, avocados and emergency Klondike bars; baggers bagged. Over at self-service, the amateurs continued working for free. The robot had disappeared. Out in the parking lot, the carriage wrangler continued his roundup.
The moment of truth had arrived.
We walked toward our car, the one that went with the wandering “fob," which we had driven on our Search-&-Rescue Operation, using the "fob's" spare twin.
Clutching the rescued "fob," I pressed the “open” button.
The car chirped. Welcome.
THINGS DID NOT not have to end this way.
Consider the Stop & Shop person who actually found the “fob.” (Your professionally trained, career journalist never did learn the Who, the Where and the How of the “fob's” actual discovery).
The finder surely could have ignored the thing. Kicked it under a counter. Left it for the sweepers. Not my job.
The young woman who led the hunt could have brushed us off with a “Wait (forever) for the manager” command and walked away. Not my job.
The people at the checkout could have ignored us, as they scanned barcodes and bagged groceries and counted the seconds until their next break. Not our job.
The amateurs at self-service surely wouldn't have noticed a tiny “fob” lying at their feet as they hurried to scan, to bag and to get the hell out of Dodge. Not their jobs.
As for the robot, I imagined that it could have handed us over to security. Or made a cyber note to keep a fake eye out for any more non-shopping "customers," slowing the pace of human “associates.” Maybe it had messaged Control, asking, “What’s a ‘fob?' " only to be rebuked by Control: NOT YOUR JOB.
Instead, nice people understood that a couple of elderly "neighbors" had been set upon by one of those those awful, everyday injustices, the kind that can happen to anyone, turning any spring day sour.
The community knew that some of those injustices extract a hefty price, as one of the checkout ladies had warned. Indeed, we learned later that replacing a fugitive "fob" can set you back $200 to $350.
That's equal to a week’s worth of groceries; a copay for a visit to the emergency room that comes with a CT scan; an overdue electric bill; an oxygen-deprived seat at a stadium.
Finding the thing that is lost is a universal good, part of the pursuit of happiness promised by the Founders, and maybe something the Fathers could have written into the Bill of Rights.
I'd like to think there are people who don't need a copy of the Constitution to do something nice. The people at Stop & Shop certainly didn't need to consult the Ninth Amendment to do what they did last Saturday.
Maybe, in these fraught, contentious times there many people who are just as nice. Maybe there are enough of them so that all the things we're worried about these days will turn out okay.
That really would be nice.
Cashiers scanned the barcodes of cabbages, loaves of bread, avocados and emergency Klondike bars; baggers bagged. Over at self-service, the amateurs continued working for free. The robot had disappeared. Out in the parking lot, the carriage wrangler continued his roundup.
The moment of truth had arrived.
We walked toward our car, the one that went with the wandering “fob," which we had driven on our Search-&-Rescue Operation, using the "fob's" spare twin.
Clutching the rescued "fob," I pressed the “open” button.
The car chirped. Welcome.
THINGS DID NOT not have to end this way.
Consider the Stop & Shop person who actually found the “fob.” (Your professionally trained, career journalist never did learn the Who, the Where and the How of the “fob's” actual discovery).
The finder surely could have ignored the thing. Kicked it under a counter. Left it for the sweepers. Not my job.
The young woman who led the hunt could have brushed us off with a “Wait (forever) for the manager” command and walked away. Not my job.
The people at the checkout could have ignored us, as they scanned barcodes and bagged groceries and counted the seconds until their next break. Not our job.
The amateurs at self-service surely wouldn't have noticed a tiny “fob” lying at their feet as they hurried to scan, to bag and to get the hell out of Dodge. Not their jobs.
As for the robot, I imagined that it could have handed us over to security. Or made a cyber note to keep a fake eye out for any more non-shopping "customers," slowing the pace of human “associates.” Maybe it had messaged Control, asking, “What’s a ‘fob?' " only to be rebuked by Control: NOT YOUR JOB.
Instead, nice people understood that a couple of elderly "neighbors" had been set upon by one of those those awful, everyday injustices, the kind that can happen to anyone, turning any spring day sour.
The community knew that some of those injustices extract a hefty price, as one of the checkout ladies had warned. Indeed, we learned later that replacing a fugitive "fob" can set you back $200 to $350.
That's equal to a week’s worth of groceries; a copay for a visit to the emergency room that comes with a CT scan; an overdue electric bill; an oxygen-deprived seat at a stadium.
Finding the thing that is lost is a universal good, part of the pursuit of happiness promised by the Founders, and maybe something the Fathers could have written into the Bill of Rights.
I'd like to think there are people who don't need a copy of the Constitution to do something nice. The people at Stop & Shop certainly didn't need to consult the Ninth Amendment to do what they did last Saturday.
Maybe, in these fraught, contentious times there many people who are just as nice. Maybe there are enough of them so that all the things we're worried about these days will turn out okay.
That really would be nice.
REMEMBERING TOM MULLIGAN
TOM MULLIGAN - In the Providence Journal newsroom, probably in the 1980s.
I’M PRETTY SURE that Tom Mulligan did not know everything.
He might have come up short on particle physics; and maybe he hadn’t heard that “there are always several meanings of each word in Urdu,” a factoid I saw in a recent Google search.
But you wouldn’t have wanted to bet that Tom Mulligan didn't know something about physics and Urdu. Or, that if necessary, he wouldn’t have quickly ferreted out the critical information, then explained it all, clearly and simply, maybe with a dash of humor.
He had an incisive, inquisitive mind. He read; understood what he read; remembered what he’d read. And he talked to people; understood what they told him; and remembered what they told him. After which, he came to informed, confident conclusions.
This made him perfectly suited to cover business and financial matters, both as a reporter and editor.
I worked with him at the Providence Journal, where he spent more than 11 years, leaving in 1989 as the paper’s business editor; he spent the next 19 years at the Los Angeles Times, where one of his titles was “senior financial writer.”
Tom died June 3 after being diagnosed a few months earlier with esophageal cancer, which doctors told him and his wife, the equally talented journalist, Irene Wielawski, was probably incurable, but, with treatment, might be staved off for a considerable period of time.
So, they decided to live as normally and vigorously as possible. Indeed, a few weeks ago, Tom and Irene were at the luncheon that former Providence Journal staffers hold every month in Warwick. And the morning of his death, Tom played pickle ball.
Later that day, he had to be rushed to a hospital, where he died. That was only part of the shock that spread quickly across Tom’s and Irene’s national network of colleagues, friends and family.
Tom, after all, was only 73, and you wouldn’t have guessed he was even that. Also, unless you’d been told, you would not have suspected that he now was confronting a life-threatening illness that had intruded so cruelly, too soon, and so unfairly.
Which was not how Tom saw it.
“I’m still adjusting, but I don’t in any way feel cheated or ill-used,” he told me in an email after his diagnosis. “At our age, something’s going to get us, and there’s a weird species of relief in seeing the options narrow to exclude (more) horrible things.”
WHEN TOM WAS AT THE JOURNAL, he was part of an actual dynasty that included some of the newspaper’s most talented men and women.
Irene, whom Tom met at the paper, was the Journal’s award-winning medical writer; Tom’s brother, John E. Mulligan, was the paper’s Washington bureau chief. The circle was completed when Tony Lioce, the paper’s legendary columnist and music writer, married Janet Cusick, and John Mulligan married Janet’s sister, Nancy.
He might have come up short on particle physics; and maybe he hadn’t heard that “there are always several meanings of each word in Urdu,” a factoid I saw in a recent Google search.
But you wouldn’t have wanted to bet that Tom Mulligan didn't know something about physics and Urdu. Or, that if necessary, he wouldn’t have quickly ferreted out the critical information, then explained it all, clearly and simply, maybe with a dash of humor.
He had an incisive, inquisitive mind. He read; understood what he read; remembered what he’d read. And he talked to people; understood what they told him; and remembered what they told him. After which, he came to informed, confident conclusions.
This made him perfectly suited to cover business and financial matters, both as a reporter and editor.
I worked with him at the Providence Journal, where he spent more than 11 years, leaving in 1989 as the paper’s business editor; he spent the next 19 years at the Los Angeles Times, where one of his titles was “senior financial writer.”
Tom died June 3 after being diagnosed a few months earlier with esophageal cancer, which doctors told him and his wife, the equally talented journalist, Irene Wielawski, was probably incurable, but, with treatment, might be staved off for a considerable period of time.
So, they decided to live as normally and vigorously as possible. Indeed, a few weeks ago, Tom and Irene were at the luncheon that former Providence Journal staffers hold every month in Warwick. And the morning of his death, Tom played pickle ball.
Later that day, he had to be rushed to a hospital, where he died. That was only part of the shock that spread quickly across Tom’s and Irene’s national network of colleagues, friends and family.
Tom, after all, was only 73, and you wouldn’t have guessed he was even that. Also, unless you’d been told, you would not have suspected that he now was confronting a life-threatening illness that had intruded so cruelly, too soon, and so unfairly.
Which was not how Tom saw it.
“I’m still adjusting, but I don’t in any way feel cheated or ill-used,” he told me in an email after his diagnosis. “At our age, something’s going to get us, and there’s a weird species of relief in seeing the options narrow to exclude (more) horrible things.”
WHEN TOM WAS AT THE JOURNAL, he was part of an actual dynasty that included some of the newspaper’s most talented men and women.
Irene, whom Tom met at the paper, was the Journal’s award-winning medical writer; Tom’s brother, John E. Mulligan, was the paper’s Washington bureau chief. The circle was completed when Tony Lioce, the paper’s legendary columnist and music writer, married Janet Cusick, and John Mulligan married Janet’s sister, Nancy.
TOM MULLIGAN (center), Irene Wielawski, his wife, and John Mulligan, Tom's brother, at Salve Regina University in 2019, where John spoke about the late Senator Claiborne Pell
Explaining a journalist's talent is difficult without describing a little of what the practitioners do.
It’s worth noting that “business” is a subject that intimidates a lot of reporters, who otherwise wouldn’t give a second thought about confronting a bombastic politician or a violent mobster (in Rhode Island, they're sometimes the same person).
The trick is to master the off-putting business jargon and the sometimes mysterious math – Tom earned a masters in business administration from the University of Rhode Island – and then remember that, just like any other subject, business reporting eventually comes down to stories about people.
One article I found online was Tom’s description of Martha Stewart, America’s home-life advice goddess, when she was on trial in 2004 for securities infractions. Here’s how he started the piece:
It’s worth noting that “business” is a subject that intimidates a lot of reporters, who otherwise wouldn’t give a second thought about confronting a bombastic politician or a violent mobster (in Rhode Island, they're sometimes the same person).
The trick is to master the off-putting business jargon and the sometimes mysterious math – Tom earned a masters in business administration from the University of Rhode Island – and then remember that, just like any other subject, business reporting eventually comes down to stories about people.
One article I found online was Tom’s description of Martha Stewart, America’s home-life advice goddess, when she was on trial in 2004 for securities infractions. Here’s how he started the piece:
| Her posture is perfect: head high, shoulders squared, never slouching in her chair during even the most tedious hours of testimony. She never has a bad hair day. Yet the courtroom artists find Martha Stewart hard to draw. Her face, lively and beautiful on TV and in her magazine, emerges as taut and severe in their drawings. It isn’t a question of poor draftsmanship. On trial, with her freedom and fortune on the line, Martha Stewart looks like a different person. Today, Stewart’s top lawyer and the lead prosecutor will paint their opposing portraits of the media entrepreneur and her actions between her now-notorious sale of ImClone Systems Inc. stock on Dec. 27, 2001, and her interview with federal investigators the following April. Is Stewart the victim of a trophy-hunting U.S. Justice Department, or a shrewish multimillionaire who thinks the rules don’t apply to her? |
In four paragraphs, Tom wrapped together the business background of the alleged crime, the legal arguments and of course, the intriguing woman at the center of the story, seen not only through his eyes, but those of courtroom artists.
| AFTER CAREERS ON TWO COASTS, Tom and Irene retired to Providence, to the delight of friends like me and my wife, who had remained in Rhode Island. Still, we didn’t see enough of them, even though we lived in Newport, just 40 miles away, not hundreds or thousands. People our age should know better than to squander time and opportunity. |  |
After Tom’s diagnosis, we were in better touch.
Selfishly, I peppered Tom with emails about business subjects that baffled me but about which I was sure Tom had the answers, like Elon Musk’s vast wealth and the absurd stock market success of Donald Trump’s puny social media company. And I remembered how scornful Tom had been about state lotteries.
“I like lotteries better than sports betting, which I think has much greater potential to wreck young people’s lives,” Tom wrote back, “not to mention that it’s already coarsening and even adding violence (hostility, death threats) to the atmosphere of pro & college sports.”
As to Musk’s billions, Tom noted that his income at least was tied to remarkable success of companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and PayPal. Trump’s ventures mostly were “black holes of failure or frauds or both. The main point is no investor ever made a dime on Trump; only he did.”
We talked about the couples getting together at a Newport restaurant, with Tom joking whether his New York-based toll pass would bill him and Irene $80 for crossing the Newport Bridge.
He ended one email this way:
“Thanks for your friendly thoughts. I’m sure we’ll see you in Newport before long.”
Selfishly, I peppered Tom with emails about business subjects that baffled me but about which I was sure Tom had the answers, like Elon Musk’s vast wealth and the absurd stock market success of Donald Trump’s puny social media company. And I remembered how scornful Tom had been about state lotteries.
“I like lotteries better than sports betting, which I think has much greater potential to wreck young people’s lives,” Tom wrote back, “not to mention that it’s already coarsening and even adding violence (hostility, death threats) to the atmosphere of pro & college sports.”
As to Musk’s billions, Tom noted that his income at least was tied to remarkable success of companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and PayPal. Trump’s ventures mostly were “black holes of failure or frauds or both. The main point is no investor ever made a dime on Trump; only he did.”
We talked about the couples getting together at a Newport restaurant, with Tom joking whether his New York-based toll pass would bill him and Irene $80 for crossing the Newport Bridge.
He ended one email this way:
“Thanks for your friendly thoughts. I’m sure we’ll see you in Newport before long.”
Election countdown
A FATEFUL FORK IN THE ROAD IS 5 MONTHS AWAY
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” – Yogi Berra
ONE OF THE MOST TANTALIZING aspects of the Nov. 5 election – which is just five months away as of today - is the enormous good turn American history will take if voters make the correct choice.
Much of the focus in the campaign has been about keeping Donald Trump out of the White House, to prevent the man-made catastrophe he and his acolytes have been planning in detail.
But much less attention has been focused on the positive turn the country will take if voters elect Joe Biden – and not just because Biden is the obvious better choice.
I believe that the United States is on verge of sweeping advances and reforms far beyond what most of us imagine, bringing the country closer to its idealistic but elusive historic goals.
Take racism – America’s original and, until now, its perpetual sin.
I think the county’s increasing diverse population, plus the collective accomplishments of the Civil War, the 1960s civil rights movement and the more recent Black Lives Matter crusade, are about to give birth to an era in which prejudice loses its grip.
There’s simply too many different kinds of people, of different colors and origins, to tolerate segregation, Jim Crow apartheid and the backlashes that have followed every advance in human rights. The bigots, simply put, will be outnumbered.
And then there’s climate change. What if, instead of a nearly inevitable disaster, America could lead the world community in an unprecedented global campaign for survival?
So much is known about the human-generated causes of a warming climate, as well as the emerging technologies which can reverse a burning planet, that it’s no longer a pipe dream to imagine that the planet can - and will - be saved.
Also, much has been made of the growing divide between rich and poor, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. Be we also know how to even the scales.
Housing is an example. Right now, ensuring that every person has an absolute right to a safe and sustaining home, seems hopeless. Houses and apartments are priced beyond the means of increasing numbers of people, particularly young people, forcing a rise in homelessness that now is not only accepted but regarded as a public nuisance.
But we know how to build houses and apartments; we know how to do that without destroying open space. We know how to subsidize housing costs when they exceed the buying power of paychecks. We know how to treat substance abuse and mental illness and how to deal with other contributors to homelessness. All that we need to do to provide homes is the will to do it. It’s not hard to imagine a consensus that demands solutions, simply because so many people need a place to live.
Those are just three of the remarkable opportunities that lie ahead if we choose – in this election – to take the country in one direction and not the other.
There are so many advances and breakthroughs in the arts, in education, in science, transportation, social science, healthcare, in space and at the bottom of the oceans – that you can practically feel collective knowledge and creativity straining to be set loose.
WHAT’S CLEAR about this election is the stark nature of the choices.
We’ve come to a profound cliche, a national fork in the road, one way leading to promise, the other to despair.
The choice, now merely five months away, is not simply electing Joe Biden, a well-meaning and often competent master of the mundane details of government, or choosing Donald Trump, a felon, liar, rapist, psychopath and dictator-in-waiting determined to destroy democracy.
The choices we make on Nov. 5 will outlive both men, who are well beyond their natural and political shelf lives.
The election of an agingJoe Biden has the potential to open an astonishing future far beyond the outlines of his own policies; while the election of an aging Donald Trump will destroy any hope of advances in equality, ecology, the economy and so much more.
I don’t mean to say that the Biden second term and the decades beyond will be rosy and without blemish; only that democracy, particularly the freedom to think and speak, fosters progress. Dictatorship crushes creativity, innovation, discovery and dialogue.
AT THE BEGINNING of this piece, I quoted one of famous witticisms of the baseball player and manager, Yogi Berra, which seemed to prescribe directionless directions: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Actually, Yogi meant what he said.
According to the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in New Jersey, Berra was telling his pal, the catcher and broadcaster, Joe Garagiola, how to get to his home: at the fork, either road would bring him there.
That is not the case with the electoral fork in the road we’re speeding toward on Nov. 5.
Swing to the right, and we’re doomed.
Take a left, and the future is as promising as it is profound.
VERDICT:
DON’T GIVE UP ON HOPE
HERE’S WHAT I got wrong about the Manhattan trial that has now marked Donald John Trump as a felon.
It wasn’t the guilty verdict itself; or the jury’s speed in reaching it; or even the clean sweep decision – guilty on all 34 counts.
Almost everyone got some or all of those guesses wrong.
The pundits, the legal eagles, analysts, inside-the-courtroom, outside-the-courthouse reporters – collectively, The Experts – didn’t forecast what happened late on a May 30 afternoon.
It’s a lesson that as much as we lean on and even respect The Experts, who arguably do their best, they are mortals and rarely have all the answers.
What I got wrong was forgetting that the most important factor of the 2024 election is hope.
I should know better.
Hope is the real X-factor of any crisis, no more so than an election that’s the most consequential of my lifetime .
None of us knows what’s going to happen on Nov. 5. At best, some are “worried;” and, at worst, others are "resigned" to an outcome in which America delivers itself to a dystopian dictatorship.
The odds often seem unsettling.
Bad enough that Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, and other Republican notables, dressed up like Trump, showed up at the courthouse to support the defendant, then, after the verdict, attacked the justice system.
The most depressing factor in this campaign was, and is, that millions and millions of Americans say they’ll vote for a failed president, a serial liar, an insurrectionist, a racist and an anti-environmentalist.
All of which takes a toll on hope.
SO IT WAS with the New York trial.
My prediction was that there would be a hung jury – that one or more jurors would disagree with her or his fellows, resulting in a mistrial, which Trump would claim as an acquittal.
The case sounded too complicated. The jury needed to believe that Trump – long, long ago in 2016 - purchased the silence of porn celebrity Stormy Daniels about an even earlier encounter with her, then faked business records to pay the bill, all with the purpose of cheating on election laws.
Frankly, a fair-minded anti-Trumper could reasonably agree to disagree with the prosecution. We also could suspect that a member of the Trump cult had lied during jury selection to become the stealth hold-out.
There was also Trump’s most inscrutable, mysterious characteristic that has served him throughout his P.T. Barnum career in business and politics – his ability to fool so many, then to get away with it.
He’d managed to stall the other three pending indictments, about the far more serious charges of attempted election subversion and possession of secret records possession, so that those trials won’t occur until after the election – if ever.
HOPE WAS AT A LOW EBB when I returned from an errand late in afternoon and my wife reported that the jury had reached a verdict.
She been listening to the radio (we are old enough so that’s how we still get a lot of our news).
My reaction was that it was too soon, just two days of deliberations, rather than the two months I’d expected, and so this had to mean acquittal.
Rather than have my heart broken with the next “Breaking News” report, I went outside to adjust the pressure of the tires on our car. Better to do something positive.
When I returned, my wife had more news.
“Guilty!” my wife announced. “On all counts. Thirty-four counts.”
STUNNED. AND ASHAMED.
Shame on me: I had gotten it wrong. No mistrial, as I’d predicted. Nobody likes to be wrong, although I knew that somehow, I’d get over that.
But the real shame was that I’d forgotten the most important factor of the crusade to protect American democracy: hope.
I’d let Trump mess with my brain, nearly extinguishing hope. There were no excuses for that. After all, I live in a state whose motto is “Hope.” “Hope” is on the state flag. Hope is on the Rhode Island state seal.
It’s possible that the conviction, in the end, will work in Trump’s favor and inspire even more voters to come to his rescue.
And while it’s unlikely he’ll end up in prison, even that wouldn’t necessarily be the end of Trump. Many giants of history have spent time in the slammer, heroes like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and in Trump’s case, Adolf Hitler.
Appellate courts surely could overturn the jury’s verdict – The Experts tell us there’s plenty of legal wriggle room.
But the Manhattan jury did more than declare Donald John Trump a felon 34 times. It reminded me, and I think lots of others, of the power of hope.
As individuals, we can’t do much to influence the outcome of an election. We can cast our one vote; donate money; write letters; argue with neighbors; maybe go to the Six States That Count to ring doorbells.
But hope – that’s something we can control.
Hope is scary, uncomfortable, energizing and essential.
In the end, hope is not an option for a democracy. The future of our country and the planet depends on it.
It wasn’t the guilty verdict itself; or the jury’s speed in reaching it; or even the clean sweep decision – guilty on all 34 counts.
Almost everyone got some or all of those guesses wrong.
The pundits, the legal eagles, analysts, inside-the-courtroom, outside-the-courthouse reporters – collectively, The Experts – didn’t forecast what happened late on a May 30 afternoon.
It’s a lesson that as much as we lean on and even respect The Experts, who arguably do their best, they are mortals and rarely have all the answers.
What I got wrong was forgetting that the most important factor of the 2024 election is hope.
I should know better.
Hope is the real X-factor of any crisis, no more so than an election that’s the most consequential of my lifetime .
None of us knows what’s going to happen on Nov. 5. At best, some are “worried;” and, at worst, others are "resigned" to an outcome in which America delivers itself to a dystopian dictatorship.
The odds often seem unsettling.
Bad enough that Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, and other Republican notables, dressed up like Trump, showed up at the courthouse to support the defendant, then, after the verdict, attacked the justice system.
The most depressing factor in this campaign was, and is, that millions and millions of Americans say they’ll vote for a failed president, a serial liar, an insurrectionist, a racist and an anti-environmentalist.
All of which takes a toll on hope.
SO IT WAS with the New York trial.
My prediction was that there would be a hung jury – that one or more jurors would disagree with her or his fellows, resulting in a mistrial, which Trump would claim as an acquittal.
The case sounded too complicated. The jury needed to believe that Trump – long, long ago in 2016 - purchased the silence of porn celebrity Stormy Daniels about an even earlier encounter with her, then faked business records to pay the bill, all with the purpose of cheating on election laws.
Frankly, a fair-minded anti-Trumper could reasonably agree to disagree with the prosecution. We also could suspect that a member of the Trump cult had lied during jury selection to become the stealth hold-out.
There was also Trump’s most inscrutable, mysterious characteristic that has served him throughout his P.T. Barnum career in business and politics – his ability to fool so many, then to get away with it.
He’d managed to stall the other three pending indictments, about the far more serious charges of attempted election subversion and possession of secret records possession, so that those trials won’t occur until after the election – if ever.
HOPE WAS AT A LOW EBB when I returned from an errand late in afternoon and my wife reported that the jury had reached a verdict.
She been listening to the radio (we are old enough so that’s how we still get a lot of our news).
My reaction was that it was too soon, just two days of deliberations, rather than the two months I’d expected, and so this had to mean acquittal.
Rather than have my heart broken with the next “Breaking News” report, I went outside to adjust the pressure of the tires on our car. Better to do something positive.
When I returned, my wife had more news.
“Guilty!” my wife announced. “On all counts. Thirty-four counts.”
STUNNED. AND ASHAMED.
Shame on me: I had gotten it wrong. No mistrial, as I’d predicted. Nobody likes to be wrong, although I knew that somehow, I’d get over that.
But the real shame was that I’d forgotten the most important factor of the crusade to protect American democracy: hope.
I’d let Trump mess with my brain, nearly extinguishing hope. There were no excuses for that. After all, I live in a state whose motto is “Hope.” “Hope” is on the state flag. Hope is on the Rhode Island state seal.
It’s possible that the conviction, in the end, will work in Trump’s favor and inspire even more voters to come to his rescue.
And while it’s unlikely he’ll end up in prison, even that wouldn’t necessarily be the end of Trump. Many giants of history have spent time in the slammer, heroes like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and in Trump’s case, Adolf Hitler.
Appellate courts surely could overturn the jury’s verdict – The Experts tell us there’s plenty of legal wriggle room.
But the Manhattan jury did more than declare Donald John Trump a felon 34 times. It reminded me, and I think lots of others, of the power of hope.
As individuals, we can’t do much to influence the outcome of an election. We can cast our one vote; donate money; write letters; argue with neighbors; maybe go to the Six States That Count to ring doorbells.
But hope – that’s something we can control.
Hope is scary, uncomfortable, energizing and essential.
In the end, hope is not an option for a democracy. The future of our country and the planet depends on it.
DON'T HEAD FOR THE STORM CELLAR YET. BIDEN CAN - AND MUST - WIN
I HAVE FRIENDS who are resigned to a Trump victory – and for sound reasons.
They believe that Donald Trump has momentum in the presidential campaign; that Joe Biden is stalled; and that the polls are stubborn in asserting that a psychopath is leading.
So, it makes sense that preparations are in order: Psychologically, to get through a terrible election night; Tactically, to survive a Trump catastrophe.
If you see a tornado coming ....
My view is different.
I believe that Biden will win. More about that later.
Even if the election looks seems close or worse – like a Trump landslide – it is too soon to head for the storm shelters.
Call me crazy, but I believe this fact: the only effective way to survive a Trump second term is to make sure there isn’t one.
They believe that Donald Trump has momentum in the presidential campaign; that Joe Biden is stalled; and that the polls are stubborn in asserting that a psychopath is leading.
So, it makes sense that preparations are in order: Psychologically, to get through a terrible election night; Tactically, to survive a Trump catastrophe.
If you see a tornado coming ....
My view is different.
I believe that Biden will win. More about that later.
Even if the election looks seems close or worse – like a Trump landslide – it is too soon to head for the storm shelters.
Call me crazy, but I believe this fact: the only effective way to survive a Trump second term is to make sure there isn’t one.
TRUMP, arriving at the Manhattan trial earlier this month
I DON’T BLAME PEOPLE for being worried, which is too mild a word for the terror that vaporizes our brains, the thought of a return Trump presidency.
If you are a Biden supporter, there's already a lot that's gone wrong, and now we'll have to contend with all the terrible events that surely will unfold the rest of this spring, summer and fall.
There's no question that Biden’s road to a second term is just like one of my state's infamously defective highways: nasty potholes, time-bomb engineering, time-wasting detours, confusing highway signs, all of which must be navigated by an elderly driver who may not have figured out his car's GPS system or remembered to charge his EV.
Roadblock One is the Constitution.
I'm sorry to say this. We were taught that the nation's central founding document is a work of genius, a miraculous tapestry of checks and balances that guarantee perpetual democracy.
But we now know that the Constitution is an antique, like one of those family heirlooms that visitors are warned not to sit on, too fragile to carry the weight of their original purpose.
You know the major problem: a presidential candidate can win the most votes overall, but lose the "electoral" count, so that the “winner” is decided by six or so special "battleground" states.
When Biden won four years ago, he did so not just because he got 7 million more total votes than Trump, but because he won the battlegrounds, three of them by a combined total of only 43,809 votes.
Polls say that, at the moment, Biden is losing in most of the battlegrounds, and that's been the case for months.
No wonder discouragement is setting in.
There are lots more wrong turns that could produce an Election of Doom:
People may decide not to vote, seeing Biden and Trump as too yesterday, too alike, too unlikable. These abstainers probably would vote for Biden, while Trump voters never have second, third or twenty-third thoughts.
Then there are the "principled" voters. Worried their souls will be corrupted by choosing either Biden or Trump, they might seek to protect their moral immorality by voting for someone else. Anyone will do: crazy Robert Kennedy Jr. Or how about write-in choices like Ben, the lovable option. Ben is our family cat. Ben will take votes away from Biden, not Trump.
Gloomier and gloomier.
Inflation. Gaza. Inflation. The Border. Inflation. Black and Hispanic voters determined, in this election, not to be taken for granted. Inflation. A Biden flub at a debate. Trump’s flubs don't matter. Inflation.
How about that Manhattan trial? What will an acquittal mean? A hung jury? Even a conviction? All good. Because when you're a Trump voter, nothing matters. Anyway, come Nov. 5, the Trump trial will have faded from the national memory. Stormy who?
Worry away, Democrats and anyone else who cares whether democracy survives, whether the climate can be rescued and whether the U.S. can continue its imperfect pledge to try to be better this year than last year.
If you are a Biden supporter, there's already a lot that's gone wrong, and now we'll have to contend with all the terrible events that surely will unfold the rest of this spring, summer and fall.
There's no question that Biden’s road to a second term is just like one of my state's infamously defective highways: nasty potholes, time-bomb engineering, time-wasting detours, confusing highway signs, all of which must be navigated by an elderly driver who may not have figured out his car's GPS system or remembered to charge his EV.
Roadblock One is the Constitution.
I'm sorry to say this. We were taught that the nation's central founding document is a work of genius, a miraculous tapestry of checks and balances that guarantee perpetual democracy.
But we now know that the Constitution is an antique, like one of those family heirlooms that visitors are warned not to sit on, too fragile to carry the weight of their original purpose.
You know the major problem: a presidential candidate can win the most votes overall, but lose the "electoral" count, so that the “winner” is decided by six or so special "battleground" states.
When Biden won four years ago, he did so not just because he got 7 million more total votes than Trump, but because he won the battlegrounds, three of them by a combined total of only 43,809 votes.
Polls say that, at the moment, Biden is losing in most of the battlegrounds, and that's been the case for months.
No wonder discouragement is setting in.
There are lots more wrong turns that could produce an Election of Doom:
People may decide not to vote, seeing Biden and Trump as too yesterday, too alike, too unlikable. These abstainers probably would vote for Biden, while Trump voters never have second, third or twenty-third thoughts.
Then there are the "principled" voters. Worried their souls will be corrupted by choosing either Biden or Trump, they might seek to protect their moral immorality by voting for someone else. Anyone will do: crazy Robert Kennedy Jr. Or how about write-in choices like Ben, the lovable option. Ben is our family cat. Ben will take votes away from Biden, not Trump.
Gloomier and gloomier.
Inflation. Gaza. Inflation. The Border. Inflation. Black and Hispanic voters determined, in this election, not to be taken for granted. Inflation. A Biden flub at a debate. Trump’s flubs don't matter. Inflation.
How about that Manhattan trial? What will an acquittal mean? A hung jury? Even a conviction? All good. Because when you're a Trump voter, nothing matters. Anyway, come Nov. 5, the Trump trial will have faded from the national memory. Stormy who?
Worry away, Democrats and anyone else who cares whether democracy survives, whether the climate can be rescued and whether the U.S. can continue its imperfect pledge to try to be better this year than last year.
JOE BIDEN, wearing signature sunglasses, with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in 2023
WHY AM I OPTIMISTIC?
Because Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. That's a fact. He is too corrupt, too cruel, too inept, too evil.
It simply cannot be allowed to happen.
I'm optimistic because Joe Biden has been a competent president, and will be the same for another four years.
Joey's not a perfect president now, nor will he be in 2025. There never has been President Perfect. I don't like Biden's Gaza strategy or China tariffs. But he makes some historic choices, like his defense of Ukraine, the climate and democracy.
Across the country, people - smart people, determined people, imaginative people - are working hard to reelect Biden and keep the nuclear codes out of a madman's hands.
I believe there are more people of good will than otherwise, and you have to factor them into any election equation. We pay attention to members of Trump's cult and to his Republican opportunists, but there are other powerful forces at work, and they count.
Many Americans - most Americans - believe in justice, more than are committed to a legal system that punishes only the weak and the enemies of the powerful, but pardons the rest.
More people are committed to climate-saving technology and policies than support a poisoned, burning planet. More people want to move forward with civil rights than hope to return to the Jim Crow days.
More people dream of an economy that provides homes, food, education and medical care for all Americans than would rather have millions living on sidewalks, going hungry, growing up ignorant and dying too early.
I’m betting that there are lots of people, who once were embarrassed by cliches like “patriotism,” “the flag” and “citizenship,” but who now see that their country is in peril, so they've decided that to defend it.
The election of 2024 seems complicated, but it comes down to a series of yes or no choices:
Even an optimist knows the outcome of this election isn't certain - only that it’s possible.
This is no time to head for the storm cellar.
Because Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. That's a fact. He is too corrupt, too cruel, too inept, too evil.
It simply cannot be allowed to happen.
I'm optimistic because Joe Biden has been a competent president, and will be the same for another four years.
Joey's not a perfect president now, nor will he be in 2025. There never has been President Perfect. I don't like Biden's Gaza strategy or China tariffs. But he makes some historic choices, like his defense of Ukraine, the climate and democracy.
Across the country, people - smart people, determined people, imaginative people - are working hard to reelect Biden and keep the nuclear codes out of a madman's hands.
I believe there are more people of good will than otherwise, and you have to factor them into any election equation. We pay attention to members of Trump's cult and to his Republican opportunists, but there are other powerful forces at work, and they count.
Many Americans - most Americans - believe in justice, more than are committed to a legal system that punishes only the weak and the enemies of the powerful, but pardons the rest.
More people are committed to climate-saving technology and policies than support a poisoned, burning planet. More people want to move forward with civil rights than hope to return to the Jim Crow days.
More people dream of an economy that provides homes, food, education and medical care for all Americans than would rather have millions living on sidewalks, going hungry, growing up ignorant and dying too early.
I’m betting that there are lots of people, who once were embarrassed by cliches like “patriotism,” “the flag” and “citizenship,” but who now see that their country is in peril, so they've decided that to defend it.
The election of 2024 seems complicated, but it comes down to a series of yes or no choices:
- Democracy or dictatorship
- Progress or regression
- Compassion or violence
- Truth or lies
- Good or evil
- Joe Biden or Donald Trump
Even an optimist knows the outcome of this election isn't certain - only that it’s possible.
This is no time to head for the storm cellar.
A “SORDID” STORY, TOLD IN COURT
THIS SPRING; WORTH RECALLING
IN AN ELECTION THIS FALL
STORMY DANIELS, if that's actually her, a photo on what's purported to be her Facebook site.
WHAT DID WE LEARN from the Trump hush-money/doctored business records/election-influence trial last week as Stormy Daniels swept in and out of the witness chair?
Nothing really new.
We already understood the basics about the defendant: Donald John Trump is a sleaze, a bully, a liar, a sexual outlaw, a misogynist, a corrupter, an adulterer and a creep.
Still, Daniels’ appearance was a reminder of some of Trump’s key character traits as he seeks a second term as president of the United States.
With the election less than six months away, it’s helpful to remember a word that’s often used in news reports about the trial, that so perfectly describes Trump: “sordid.”
Unfortunately, it’s also one of the the words that's often been used about Ms. Daniel’s testimony, making it seem like the “sordid” stuff is her fault and might even favor Trump.
For example, this headline from a Wall Street Journal analysis:
How Stormy Daniels’s Sordid
Testimony Could Help Trump
Porn stars’ details about alleged sexual encounter took trial about
falsifying business records off course, some lawyers say
Reporters also speculated about the possible backfire effect of Ms. Daniels’ testimony as being so explicit that, as one New York Times writer put it: “...the jury develops some sympathy for Trump.”
Sympathy for Donald Trump?
Ladies and gentleman on the jury (of public opinion), we are asked today decide who, exactly, is the “sordid” one:
LET’S GO TO THE TRANSCRIPT of May 7, 2024.
In which Ms. Daniels describes her “encounter” with Trump in 2006 as he slithers his way into bed with her – just briefly, just once, just one of many times he’s abused women.
Ms. Daniels testifies she is at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe, part of a team from her employer, Wicked Pictures, which has sponsored a “hole,” (she notes the irony) at the golf course, and later, she hands out company swag at a gift room visited by players, including Trump.
She’s 27 and Trump is “older than my father.” Later, he dispatches “Keith” to see if she’ll have dinner with Trump at a hotel.
At first she answers “F. no.” But after consulting her publicist, she decides there might be an advantage to her career, and she goes to his room.
They chat about her career, and Ms. Daniels asks about Trump's wife:
"Oh, don't worry about that," he tells her. "We are -- actually don't even sleep in the same room."
Trump brings up the possibility of Ms. Daniels appearing on his hit TV show, “The Apprentice,” which she first dismisses, doubting a national TV network would feature a porn star.
But Trump assures her can put in the fix, the way pro-wrestling shows do when they script a match.
“I can't have you win, but we can -- I am in control. I know what's going to happen,” Trump tells her. “I can give you some advantage to make sure you at least make a good showing.”
Sounds good to her.
As they talk, Trump flatters her progress in the adult film industry, praises how she’s overcome stereotypes that belittle participants as bimbos, even comparing Ms. Daniels to his own daughter:
“You remind me of my daughter, because she is smart and blond and beautiful and people underestimate her was well.”
Wow.
Nothing really new.
We already understood the basics about the defendant: Donald John Trump is a sleaze, a bully, a liar, a sexual outlaw, a misogynist, a corrupter, an adulterer and a creep.
Still, Daniels’ appearance was a reminder of some of Trump’s key character traits as he seeks a second term as president of the United States.
With the election less than six months away, it’s helpful to remember a word that’s often used in news reports about the trial, that so perfectly describes Trump: “sordid.”
Unfortunately, it’s also one of the the words that's often been used about Ms. Daniel’s testimony, making it seem like the “sordid” stuff is her fault and might even favor Trump.
For example, this headline from a Wall Street Journal analysis:
How Stormy Daniels’s Sordid
Testimony Could Help Trump
Porn stars’ details about alleged sexual encounter took trial about
falsifying business records off course, some lawyers say
Reporters also speculated about the possible backfire effect of Ms. Daniels’ testimony as being so explicit that, as one New York Times writer put it: “...the jury develops some sympathy for Trump.”
Sympathy for Donald Trump?
Ladies and gentleman on the jury (of public opinion), we are asked today decide who, exactly, is the “sordid” one:
- The businessman, author, TV star and politician who has won and lost presidential elections?
- The actor, writer and director, who once wanted to be a veterinarian, but built a career in pornography?
LET’S GO TO THE TRANSCRIPT of May 7, 2024.
In which Ms. Daniels describes her “encounter” with Trump in 2006 as he slithers his way into bed with her – just briefly, just once, just one of many times he’s abused women.
Ms. Daniels testifies she is at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe, part of a team from her employer, Wicked Pictures, which has sponsored a “hole,” (she notes the irony) at the golf course, and later, she hands out company swag at a gift room visited by players, including Trump.
She’s 27 and Trump is “older than my father.” Later, he dispatches “Keith” to see if she’ll have dinner with Trump at a hotel.
At first she answers “F. no.” But after consulting her publicist, she decides there might be an advantage to her career, and she goes to his room.
They chat about her career, and Ms. Daniels asks about Trump's wife:
"Oh, don't worry about that," he tells her. "We are -- actually don't even sleep in the same room."
Trump brings up the possibility of Ms. Daniels appearing on his hit TV show, “The Apprentice,” which she first dismisses, doubting a national TV network would feature a porn star.
But Trump assures her can put in the fix, the way pro-wrestling shows do when they script a match.
“I can't have you win, but we can -- I am in control. I know what's going to happen,” Trump tells her. “I can give you some advantage to make sure you at least make a good showing.”
Sounds good to her.
As they talk, Trump flatters her progress in the adult film industry, praises how she’s overcome stereotypes that belittle participants as bimbos, even comparing Ms. Daniels to his own daughter:
“You remind me of my daughter, because she is smart and blond and beautiful and people underestimate her was well.”
Wow.
TIME FOR A BATHROOM BREAK, Ms. Daniels tells the jury, and when she emerges, Trump is lying on a bed in his undershorts and t-shirt.
Too late, she realizes that the author of “The Art of the Deal,” has set up a sex-for-a-favor arrangement.
“I felt the blood basically leave my hands and my feet and almost like if you stand up too fast, and everything kind of spinned,” Ms. Daniels testifies.
She indicates she wants to leave, and Trump seems to block her exit, mocking her efforts to walk way from both hotel room and the quid pro quo.
“I thought we were getting somewhere,” she recalls Trump’s comment. “We were talking, and I thought you were serious about what you wanted. If you ever want to get out of that trailer park....”
(She is offended, telling the jury: “I never lived in a trailer park.”)
“Then I just thought, ‘Oh, my God, what did I misread to get here?’ Because the intention was pretty clear, somebody stripped down in their underwear and posing on the bed, like waiting for you.”
She next recalls being on the bed, naked except for her bra, staring at the ceiling; Trump doesn’t use a condom, even though she’d told him how important condoms are in her industry; they are, briefly, in the missionary position.
Afterwards, Ms. Daniels struggles to put on her clothes.
“My hands were shaking so hard. I was having a hard time getting dressed. He said: ‘Oh, great. Let’s get together again, Honeybunch. We were great together.’ I just wanted to leave.”
THIS PROBABLY ISN’T the kind of sex scene Ms. Daniels would script for one of her films, perhaps too tame, maybe too lame.
It’s up to the jury of public opinion – just like the one in courtroom – to decide how credible it is.
Over the years, Ms. Daniels has changed her story, first denying they had sex, then altering some of the details. And for a while, she stayed in touch with Trump, hoping for the “Apprentice” spot that never materialized.
To me, the story she tells in a Manhattan courtroom describes a Total Trump: the sexual opportunist he bragged about being on the “Access Hollywood” tapes that emerged in the closing days of the 2016 election: a celebrity entitled to grab women’s crotches, to kiss women and to screw them.
Indeed, the story Ms. Daniel’s tells seems to warrant Trump paying $130,000 to keep secret, certainly until after the election, about a man who sent a go-between to proposition her; describing a man who suggested he could advance her career, then extorted some sex.
I don’t know what the jury in New York will decide. My guess is that the case is legally convoluted, so maybe he’ll be acquitted, or that one or two holdout jurors will cause a mistrial. And then there’s this week’s expected testimony by Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s dicey star witness.
But in the court of public opinion, I think the verdict on Stormy Daniels' testimony is uncontested.
I hope that on Nov. 5, a majority of voters will remember her spring testimony as being among the hundreds of reasons not to elect Donald John Trump.
“Just too sordid.”
Too late, she realizes that the author of “The Art of the Deal,” has set up a sex-for-a-favor arrangement.
“I felt the blood basically leave my hands and my feet and almost like if you stand up too fast, and everything kind of spinned,” Ms. Daniels testifies.
She indicates she wants to leave, and Trump seems to block her exit, mocking her efforts to walk way from both hotel room and the quid pro quo.
“I thought we were getting somewhere,” she recalls Trump’s comment. “We were talking, and I thought you were serious about what you wanted. If you ever want to get out of that trailer park....”
(She is offended, telling the jury: “I never lived in a trailer park.”)
“Then I just thought, ‘Oh, my God, what did I misread to get here?’ Because the intention was pretty clear, somebody stripped down in their underwear and posing on the bed, like waiting for you.”
She next recalls being on the bed, naked except for her bra, staring at the ceiling; Trump doesn’t use a condom, even though she’d told him how important condoms are in her industry; they are, briefly, in the missionary position.
Afterwards, Ms. Daniels struggles to put on her clothes.
“My hands were shaking so hard. I was having a hard time getting dressed. He said: ‘Oh, great. Let’s get together again, Honeybunch. We were great together.’ I just wanted to leave.”
THIS PROBABLY ISN’T the kind of sex scene Ms. Daniels would script for one of her films, perhaps too tame, maybe too lame.
It’s up to the jury of public opinion – just like the one in courtroom – to decide how credible it is.
Over the years, Ms. Daniels has changed her story, first denying they had sex, then altering some of the details. And for a while, she stayed in touch with Trump, hoping for the “Apprentice” spot that never materialized.
To me, the story she tells in a Manhattan courtroom describes a Total Trump: the sexual opportunist he bragged about being on the “Access Hollywood” tapes that emerged in the closing days of the 2016 election: a celebrity entitled to grab women’s crotches, to kiss women and to screw them.
Indeed, the story Ms. Daniel’s tells seems to warrant Trump paying $130,000 to keep secret, certainly until after the election, about a man who sent a go-between to proposition her; describing a man who suggested he could advance her career, then extorted some sex.
I don’t know what the jury in New York will decide. My guess is that the case is legally convoluted, so maybe he’ll be acquitted, or that one or two holdout jurors will cause a mistrial. And then there’s this week’s expected testimony by Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s dicey star witness.
But in the court of public opinion, I think the verdict on Stormy Daniels' testimony is uncontested.
I hope that on Nov. 5, a majority of voters will remember her spring testimony as being among the hundreds of reasons not to elect Donald John Trump.
“Just too sordid.”
Election countdown
SIX MONTHS TO THE ELECTION
What will happen to Thanksgiving?
SOMEBODY MENTIONED THANKSGIVING recently, and a shiver went through me.
It’s my favorite holiday, and I’m sure that’s the case with lots of people. No obligatory gifts and a lot fewer holiday themed cards and music. Mainly a gathering of family and friends and the year’s best food. It’s a lot of effort for the cooks. Old and repurposed grievances are always on the menu. But on the whole, it’s a day to look forward to.
Not this year.
Come Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, the election will be three weeks in the proverbial rear-view mirror, so we’ll know whether the United States' future is that of a dictatorship or a democracy.
It’s not that I think Donald Trump will win the presidency.
Just that it’s possible he might.
And that possibility, because it's real, plausible and odds-even, is a nightmare that will haunt the country the rest of this spring, all summer and into the fall.
For me, anything that occurs after the Nov. 5 election - any holiday, any event, any date, anything scheduled beyond when the votes are all in and counted –fills me with one part dread, one part hope.
Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy New Year.
Maybe. Maybe not.
It’s my favorite holiday, and I’m sure that’s the case with lots of people. No obligatory gifts and a lot fewer holiday themed cards and music. Mainly a gathering of family and friends and the year’s best food. It’s a lot of effort for the cooks. Old and repurposed grievances are always on the menu. But on the whole, it’s a day to look forward to.
Not this year.
Come Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, the election will be three weeks in the proverbial rear-view mirror, so we’ll know whether the United States' future is that of a dictatorship or a democracy.
It’s not that I think Donald Trump will win the presidency.
Just that it’s possible he might.
And that possibility, because it's real, plausible and odds-even, is a nightmare that will haunt the country the rest of this spring, all summer and into the fall.
For me, anything that occurs after the Nov. 5 election - any holiday, any event, any date, anything scheduled beyond when the votes are all in and counted –fills me with one part dread, one part hope.
Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy New Year.
Maybe. Maybe not.
TODAY, MAY 5, we are exactly six months away from that fateful turning point.
It means there is still time.
The question is, is there enough time to affect the outcome?
Minds still can be changed. Mind you, not many minds, because changing your mind is among the hardest of human endeavors, and few of us are up to the challenge.
It asks us to admit we were wrong, that we made a mistake, that we hadn’t thought something through.
It took me a long time to admit that Bill Clinton was deeply flawed, most obviously the way he abused women in a way that called into question any of the things he said and did during his presidency.
Similarly, it took me a while to admit that Hilary Clinton wasn’t the ideal candidate it thought she was for the Democrats to put up against Donald Trump. In retrospect, she only seemed to be unusually capable, experienced and talented. But she flunked the test, the only judgment that mattered, and the nation has been paying the price ever since.
So, it’s a big ask to persuade someone who has signed on with Donald Trump to switch to Joe Biden.
I, for sure, don’t know the magic combination that will unlock the mind of a Trump supporter. In part, that’s because I’m astounded that anyone could find common ground with such a flawed, repulsive person in the first place.
A MORE PROMISING use of the time remaining until Nov. 5 is to persuade people to vote, but who today are actively or unconsciously planning to sit out the election.
There are a lot of reasons not to vote.
I hate politics.
I hate politicians.
All politicians are alike.
I don’t like Trump or Biden.
I voted for Biden, but he’s let me down.
My vote doesn’t count.
Even if I vote, nothing will change.
Nothing matters.
A lot of people have little room in their lives for politics, much less a spare hour or two to vote.
Many lives are overwhelmed by the effort it takes just to make it through the day, to get to tomorrow and maybe to next week.
There is too much illness; too little money; too many brutal parents and partners; too much energy needed to manage unmanageable preschoolers and high-schoolers; too far to drive the jobs that pay too little; too many gossipy neighbors; too many drugs and too much booze; too many leaks in the plumbing and on the roof; too many worn out parts in cars that are too old; too many apartments with rents in the stratosphere; too much gunfire.
The White House is too distant, too irrelevant, too removed from so many lives.
The irony, of course, is that all of these non-voters, whether they are simply cynical, lazy or genuinely worn out, are the very people who have power to determine their own fate and the fate of the nation.
Anyone planning not to vote, for whatever reason, is just plain wrong. It’s a democracy, and there’s enough time in most lives to think about the election and to vote.
How we vote makes a difference in every aspect of our lives. Politics and government determine whether rents and medical care can be available and affordable; whether the streets are paved and driveable; whether the water is poison-free; whether guns can be tamed; whether the plumbing gets fixed; whether paychecks are big enough to pay the bills; whether another bridge falls down; and whether the earth will be livable.
My guess is that if enough non-voters decide to vote, they’ll vote for Joe Biden, because, on balance, he’s a decent man, as much as that’s possible in politics, and because they realize that he’s a champion of democracy. More of them will decide against voting for Trump, because he’s so despicable, dreadful and dangerous; and enough people will realize Donald Trump isn’t joking about destroying democracy.
THERE’S STILL TIME, six months, to change a few minds and to encourage millions of others to vote.
It means there is still time.
The question is, is there enough time to affect the outcome?
Minds still can be changed. Mind you, not many minds, because changing your mind is among the hardest of human endeavors, and few of us are up to the challenge.
It asks us to admit we were wrong, that we made a mistake, that we hadn’t thought something through.
It took me a long time to admit that Bill Clinton was deeply flawed, most obviously the way he abused women in a way that called into question any of the things he said and did during his presidency.
Similarly, it took me a while to admit that Hilary Clinton wasn’t the ideal candidate it thought she was for the Democrats to put up against Donald Trump. In retrospect, she only seemed to be unusually capable, experienced and talented. But she flunked the test, the only judgment that mattered, and the nation has been paying the price ever since.
So, it’s a big ask to persuade someone who has signed on with Donald Trump to switch to Joe Biden.
I, for sure, don’t know the magic combination that will unlock the mind of a Trump supporter. In part, that’s because I’m astounded that anyone could find common ground with such a flawed, repulsive person in the first place.
A MORE PROMISING use of the time remaining until Nov. 5 is to persuade people to vote, but who today are actively or unconsciously planning to sit out the election.
There are a lot of reasons not to vote.
I hate politics.
I hate politicians.
All politicians are alike.
I don’t like Trump or Biden.
I voted for Biden, but he’s let me down.
My vote doesn’t count.
Even if I vote, nothing will change.
Nothing matters.
A lot of people have little room in their lives for politics, much less a spare hour or two to vote.
Many lives are overwhelmed by the effort it takes just to make it through the day, to get to tomorrow and maybe to next week.
There is too much illness; too little money; too many brutal parents and partners; too much energy needed to manage unmanageable preschoolers and high-schoolers; too far to drive the jobs that pay too little; too many gossipy neighbors; too many drugs and too much booze; too many leaks in the plumbing and on the roof; too many worn out parts in cars that are too old; too many apartments with rents in the stratosphere; too much gunfire.
The White House is too distant, too irrelevant, too removed from so many lives.
The irony, of course, is that all of these non-voters, whether they are simply cynical, lazy or genuinely worn out, are the very people who have power to determine their own fate and the fate of the nation.
Anyone planning not to vote, for whatever reason, is just plain wrong. It’s a democracy, and there’s enough time in most lives to think about the election and to vote.
How we vote makes a difference in every aspect of our lives. Politics and government determine whether rents and medical care can be available and affordable; whether the streets are paved and driveable; whether the water is poison-free; whether guns can be tamed; whether the plumbing gets fixed; whether paychecks are big enough to pay the bills; whether another bridge falls down; and whether the earth will be livable.
My guess is that if enough non-voters decide to vote, they’ll vote for Joe Biden, because, on balance, he’s a decent man, as much as that’s possible in politics, and because they realize that he’s a champion of democracy. More of them will decide against voting for Trump, because he’s so despicable, dreadful and dangerous; and enough people will realize Donald Trump isn’t joking about destroying democracy.
THERE’S STILL TIME, six months, to change a few minds and to encourage millions of others to vote.
 | A whole half year to go, and then, a couple of weeks, later and a lot of us will be sitting down for Thanksgiving. What will the talk around the table be? It’s crazy, of course, to be thinking about Thanksgiving just as spring is finally getting underway. |
Out my window in Newport, the trees are more than halfway to turning green; the temperatures are on the cool side but not for much longer; the days seem brighter and they stay that way for longer.
What will we be talking about on Thanksgiving?
Is there enough turkey for seconds, even thirds?
Did the polls get it wrong? Instead of a close election, was it a landslide? Was the outcome determined by people who voted in just three states, where the tallies were astonishingly close?
Was voter turnout low?
Did the numbers set a record?
Had enough of us worked hard enough; did we do everything we could?
Were we persuasive enough? Did we raise the alarm sufficiently about the historic stakes?
Did we make the point that this time, the choice wasn’t just between Candidate A and Candidate B, but about freedom and autocracy?
What will we say to one another on Thanksgiving?
Will Christmas be merry?
What will we be talking about on Thanksgiving?
Is there enough turkey for seconds, even thirds?
Did the polls get it wrong? Instead of a close election, was it a landslide? Was the outcome determined by people who voted in just three states, where the tallies were astonishingly close?
Was voter turnout low?
Did the numbers set a record?
Had enough of us worked hard enough; did we do everything we could?
Were we persuasive enough? Did we raise the alarm sufficiently about the historic stakes?
Did we make the point that this time, the choice wasn’t just between Candidate A and Candidate B, but about freedom and autocracy?
What will we say to one another on Thanksgiving?
Will Christmas be merry?
TRUMP BEHIND BARS
IT FEELS DIFFERENT. BUT IS IT?
DONALD TRUMP, as his criminal case continues in New York City, and the limits of his power are argued in Washington, seems caught and caged.
I find the most symbolic photos are those in the hallway outside the Manhattan courtroom, where Trump gives his fact-challenged “analysis” of the day's proceedings.
He stands in a small corral of fencing that seems designed protect him from his frenemies in the media. But to me, the barrier hints at jail.
For the first time, Trump does not appear quite as exempt from the laws of man and the universe that apply to the rest of us, and that extended even to Trump’s peers in the political and corporate stratosphere.
Looking also at the photos inside the courtroom, with Trump seated at the defense table before the formal hearings begin, we see a guy who seems a tad vulnerable.
But how much should we read into the pictures?
I find the most symbolic photos are those in the hallway outside the Manhattan courtroom, where Trump gives his fact-challenged “analysis” of the day's proceedings.
He stands in a small corral of fencing that seems designed protect him from his frenemies in the media. But to me, the barrier hints at jail.
For the first time, Trump does not appear quite as exempt from the laws of man and the universe that apply to the rest of us, and that extended even to Trump’s peers in the political and corporate stratosphere.
Looking also at the photos inside the courtroom, with Trump seated at the defense table before the formal hearings begin, we see a guy who seems a tad vulnerable.
But how much should we read into the pictures?
His face looks blotchy and unhealthy, which is to say, kind of normal for him.
As for his expressions, those always have seemed rehearsed, just as what’s left of his hair is extensively engineered.
And his courtroom scowls, those angry eyes, are not necessarily credible indicators what is going on inside the lizard brain.
Because television cameras and microphones are banned from the formal courtroom proceedings, we are at the mercy of reporters – some of them America’s best – to tell us what’s up, if anything.
Has the defendant really fallen asleep? Is he affecting boredom to show his contempt for the legal process? Is his dopiness a function of his long-reputed short attention span?
“Donald Trump just gave a big yawn....” during a break in hearing, reported the Washington Post’s Hannah Knowles today as part of her paper’s minute-by-minute updates.
Alternatively, “Trump is growing more animated,” said the New York Times’ Kate Christobek, as testimony focused on Stormy Daniels, the actress whose alleged one-night stand with Trump is at the core of the hush payments case. “He has motioned to both of the lawyers sitting next to him, adjusted his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest.”
What does it all mean?
FOR THE SMALL-MINDED – a large, but shameful group if Americans, of which I am a member in good standing – there is much to savor in the New York proceedings.
It is rich in one quality lacking in the other, more important cases Trump faces: sleaze.
Sleazy ethics. Sleazy sex. Sleazy money. Sleazy journalism. So much sleaze.
Just the last name of the prosecution’s first witness proves the point.
It’s a name that would cause any middle school classroom to erupt in hysterics, the same effect produced by mention of one of the solar system’s lesser planets, Uranus.
Here we have a man who once presided over one of the tabloid press’s premier publications, with a last name that perfectly describes his role and perhaps his character.
How fitting, but also cruel. Shouldn’t his family have changed its last name generations ago?
Or should the witness be grateful that he ended up with a mediocre first name, whereas truly malevolent caretakers might have chosen “Big,” or, even more humiliating, “Little,” as a first name, instead of David.
MEANWHILE, IN WASHINGTON today, the putative grownups on the Supreme Court of the United States spent hours thrashing out arguments into Donald Trump’s claim that, as president, or a former one, he had/has immunity from prosecution for crimes like trying to overturn an election.
Would the nation’s highest court hand Donald John a get-out-of-jail free card? Would the court carve out an exception to the most scared principle of American government, that no man is above the law?
The Washington case was as monumental as the New York one was trivial, although either or both could eventually send him to the slammer.
Justices whom Trump himself appointed seemed impressed by the stakes.
“This case has huge implications for the presidency, for the future of the presidency, for the future of the country,” intoned Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.
“We’re writing a rule for the ages,” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
For you and me, both cases – the sleaze one and the Constitutional one - ask the same question:
Are we finally witnessing the beginning of the end of Donald Trump?
Or has Trump merely been experiencing a few bad photo-ops as he continues his relentless crusade to destroy American democracy?
As for his expressions, those always have seemed rehearsed, just as what’s left of his hair is extensively engineered.
And his courtroom scowls, those angry eyes, are not necessarily credible indicators what is going on inside the lizard brain.
Because television cameras and microphones are banned from the formal courtroom proceedings, we are at the mercy of reporters – some of them America’s best – to tell us what’s up, if anything.
Has the defendant really fallen asleep? Is he affecting boredom to show his contempt for the legal process? Is his dopiness a function of his long-reputed short attention span?
“Donald Trump just gave a big yawn....” during a break in hearing, reported the Washington Post’s Hannah Knowles today as part of her paper’s minute-by-minute updates.
Alternatively, “Trump is growing more animated,” said the New York Times’ Kate Christobek, as testimony focused on Stormy Daniels, the actress whose alleged one-night stand with Trump is at the core of the hush payments case. “He has motioned to both of the lawyers sitting next to him, adjusted his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest.”
What does it all mean?
FOR THE SMALL-MINDED – a large, but shameful group if Americans, of which I am a member in good standing – there is much to savor in the New York proceedings.
It is rich in one quality lacking in the other, more important cases Trump faces: sleaze.
Sleazy ethics. Sleazy sex. Sleazy money. Sleazy journalism. So much sleaze.
Just the last name of the prosecution’s first witness proves the point.
It’s a name that would cause any middle school classroom to erupt in hysterics, the same effect produced by mention of one of the solar system’s lesser planets, Uranus.
Here we have a man who once presided over one of the tabloid press’s premier publications, with a last name that perfectly describes his role and perhaps his character.
How fitting, but also cruel. Shouldn’t his family have changed its last name generations ago?
Or should the witness be grateful that he ended up with a mediocre first name, whereas truly malevolent caretakers might have chosen “Big,” or, even more humiliating, “Little,” as a first name, instead of David.
MEANWHILE, IN WASHINGTON today, the putative grownups on the Supreme Court of the United States spent hours thrashing out arguments into Donald Trump’s claim that, as president, or a former one, he had/has immunity from prosecution for crimes like trying to overturn an election.
Would the nation’s highest court hand Donald John a get-out-of-jail free card? Would the court carve out an exception to the most scared principle of American government, that no man is above the law?
The Washington case was as monumental as the New York one was trivial, although either or both could eventually send him to the slammer.
Justices whom Trump himself appointed seemed impressed by the stakes.
“This case has huge implications for the presidency, for the future of the presidency, for the future of the country,” intoned Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.
“We’re writing a rule for the ages,” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
For you and me, both cases – the sleaze one and the Constitutional one - ask the same question:
Are we finally witnessing the beginning of the end of Donald Trump?
Or has Trump merely been experiencing a few bad photo-ops as he continues his relentless crusade to destroy American democracy?
Election countdown
7 MONTHS LEFT, BIDEN
STILL TRAILS TRUMP
So, there's lots to do before Nov. 5;
And some reasons to be upbeat
CREDIT: Illustration by Frank Gerardi
SEVEN MONTHS, that’s all that’s left until the most fateful election of our lifetime.
In the blink of an eye, April 5 will turn into Nov. 5,
And we’ll know whether the United States has a future as a democracy under President Joe Biden, or becomes a dictatorship under Donald Trump.
A lot can happen between today and the first Tuesday of November.
Joe Biden’s age can catch up with him. Donald Trump’s age can catch up with him. China can make a move on Taiwan. We could betray Ukraine and let Putin have his way with that brave country.
Many good things can happen. The Israel-Hamas crisis may find resolution. The majority of Americans could decide this spring and summer that Biden is one of history’s the best presidents.
As of today, however, the race seems stuck where's it's been for months: Donald is leading Joe in the average of polls tracked by the Real Clear Politics website, 46.9 percent to 45.8 percent – a 1.1 point advantage for the dictator-in-waiting.
We are warned not to put too much faith in such “early” polling – can you imagine you or any other rational person actually answering a phone with an alleged pollster on the other end?
What we can conclude from the polls is that Donald Trump has substantial support, despite the fact that he is a repulsive, unqualified, traitorous, criminal and cruel psychopath.
What to do?
Here are two positive suggestions:
The first is to do the practical things within the reach of most of us. They might seem inconsequential, but when multiplied by thousands of people, they can produce thrilling results.
The second is to stay positive, because there are reasons to be optimistic.
SEND A POSTCARD
As to real actions: we can send postcards to folks in other states, people who may need a friendly nudge to do something they hadn’t considered: voting.
Many groups have organized ways to do this. I’ll mention one: Activate America. The organization focuses on campaigns that can help Democrats control congress.
Activate America has identified registered voters who might not be focusing on the election, but might be encouraged to vote, and vote Democratic. Volunteers sign up online, and Activate America emails a list of voters, and instruction of what to do.
Volunteers supply their own postcards and stamps.
In the blink of an eye, April 5 will turn into Nov. 5,
And we’ll know whether the United States has a future as a democracy under President Joe Biden, or becomes a dictatorship under Donald Trump.
A lot can happen between today and the first Tuesday of November.
Joe Biden’s age can catch up with him. Donald Trump’s age can catch up with him. China can make a move on Taiwan. We could betray Ukraine and let Putin have his way with that brave country.
Many good things can happen. The Israel-Hamas crisis may find resolution. The majority of Americans could decide this spring and summer that Biden is one of history’s the best presidents.
As of today, however, the race seems stuck where's it's been for months: Donald is leading Joe in the average of polls tracked by the Real Clear Politics website, 46.9 percent to 45.8 percent – a 1.1 point advantage for the dictator-in-waiting.
We are warned not to put too much faith in such “early” polling – can you imagine you or any other rational person actually answering a phone with an alleged pollster on the other end?
What we can conclude from the polls is that Donald Trump has substantial support, despite the fact that he is a repulsive, unqualified, traitorous, criminal and cruel psychopath.
What to do?
Here are two positive suggestions:
The first is to do the practical things within the reach of most of us. They might seem inconsequential, but when multiplied by thousands of people, they can produce thrilling results.
The second is to stay positive, because there are reasons to be optimistic.
SEND A POSTCARD
As to real actions: we can send postcards to folks in other states, people who may need a friendly nudge to do something they hadn’t considered: voting.
Many groups have organized ways to do this. I’ll mention one: Activate America. The organization focuses on campaigns that can help Democrats control congress.
Activate America has identified registered voters who might not be focusing on the election, but might be encouraged to vote, and vote Democratic. Volunteers sign up online, and Activate America emails a list of voters, and instruction of what to do.
Volunteers supply their own postcards and stamps.
ACTIVATE AMERICA'S website. Click on the image to access the site
Yesterday, just to get started, I signed up for a list of 10 Arizona voters, who are to be asked to consider Ruben Gallego, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. One suggested message, to be written on the back of the postcard:
| Dear (Voter’s name), MAGA Republicans support a national abortion ban. And that’s just the beginning. Republicans are also attacking birth control and fertility treatments. We all deserve freedom to make these personal decisions. Elect Democrat Ruben Gallego to the U.S. Senate to protect our rights. Thanks, Brian, a volunteer |
Activate America says to print the message, because some people aren’t familiar with cursive handwriting. Also, sign your first name only, with no return address. Stick to the wording – a lot of thought has gone into it.
Let’s be real. No one of us can sit at our dining room table and change the course of history.
It takes millions and millions of postcards to move just a tiny fraction of voters. But many elections are close, and a relatively few postcards might make the difference.
AS FOR STAYING OPTIMISTIC
A friend suggested looking at the website of Simon Rosenberg. It’s thankfully NOT titled “Simon Says,” but has a mischievous name “Hopium Chronicles."
Rosenberg is a glass half-full kind of guy, and is crazy positive about Biden’s and the Democrats’ chances this fall.
If Biden is behind in the Real Clear Politics average of polls, Rosenberg cites 14 polls that since February have Biden ahead.
He says he should be taken seriously, because he’s been right about Democrats’ success in recent elections.
Rosenberg is two-note messenger:
Let’s be real. No one of us can sit at our dining room table and change the course of history.
It takes millions and millions of postcards to move just a tiny fraction of voters. But many elections are close, and a relatively few postcards might make the difference.
AS FOR STAYING OPTIMISTIC
A friend suggested looking at the website of Simon Rosenberg. It’s thankfully NOT titled “Simon Says,” but has a mischievous name “Hopium Chronicles."
Rosenberg is a glass half-full kind of guy, and is crazy positive about Biden’s and the Democrats’ chances this fall.
If Biden is behind in the Real Clear Politics average of polls, Rosenberg cites 14 polls that since February have Biden ahead.
He says he should be taken seriously, because he’s been right about Democrats’ success in recent elections.
Rosenberg is two-note messenger:
- Worry less.
- Work hard. Work really, really, really hard. Donate to candidates, help key candidates, going door-to-door, calling on the phone, texting (and sending millions of postcards). Wishing won’t do. Elections are won because people act on their hopes.
| Joe Biden is a good President. The country is better off. The Democratic Party is strong, unified, and winning elections all across the country. And they have Trump - the ugliest political thing we’ve all ever seen. |
Rosenberg is not a modest man, and he is obviously pleased - very pleased - that he’s recently been interviewed by the New York Times, and, with no hesitation or apology, he linked to the article on his own site.
In their back and forth, Rosenberg and Adam Nagourney, the Times' interviewer, don't get into the whether or not the fairy godmother is coming to rescue us.
Which I find refreshing.
In a democracy, it comes down to us, actual little people, with our postcards and our ballpoint pens.
Which I find refreshing.
In a democracy, it comes down to us, actual little people, with our postcards and our ballpoint pens.
NO-TRUMP TUESDAYS
A proposal for political and psychic sanity
ON NO-TRUMP TUESDAYS, visit a daffodil patch
I'M SICK OF IT.
I’m sick of the sacrilege, the serial outrages, the lawlessness, the insults, the racism, the sneering, the double-speak, the analyses, both expert and amateur; he pointless, endless, useless polls; the fibs, the cheating, the innuendoes, the threats, violence, the jokes, the gutter-talk and most of all the fear, the stomach churning, sleep-robbing panic at the prospect of another Donald John Trump presidency.
Going on nine years now, Trump has possessed our lives.
Day after day, in and out of office, every day, all day, weekends, holidays, nights, mornings, it’s always all about Trump.
In the month just passed, there were the golden sneakers, the debate about Trump’s mention of a “bloodbath” – was he talking just about the international car market or the terrible strife that would happen should he lose yet another election? These are subjects that must be examined, parsed and defined.
And with Easter bunny limbering up, announcement of the God Bless the USA Bible, raising this question: Can you put a cost on God’s word? Donald Trump priced it at $59.99. Should he have charged extra on Easter? What did God think about sharing space in Her book with the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance?
And what to do with the 10 Commandments?
Should Trump have taken his famous Sharpie pen – which, as president, he used to doctor a weather map to show that he was right about the course of a hurricane – black out some if not all of the Commandments, the thou shall not steal and the thou shall not bear false witness sections? And while at it, maybe he should have redacted those pesky do-not-covets: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, not your neighbor’s manservant, not his maidservant, not his ox and not his ass?
The point is that day after day, we are living in Donald Trump’s world.
Did Donald Trump really say that? Did Donald Trump slither his way out of this or that gag order? Did that businessman, this politician, and those voters swear allegiance to Trump in violation of the admonition that thee shall have no other gods before me?
And always, the question that begins every week: what will Trump get away with next? Which indictment? What impeachment? What report? Will he ever pay?
As for the rest of us, will we ever be free of Donald Trump?
I think there’s a chance. In fact, I’ve been thinking about a two-step plan.
STEP ONE: NO-TRUMP TUESDAYS.
Every Tuesday, do not read about Trump. Do not watch TV if you suspect it will even mention, much less feature, Donald Trump. Do not listen to NPR news on the radio, or Morning Joe on TV or any political streaming podcasts. Thou shall not talk about Trump at breakfast, at lunch, or supper. As much as this pains me, avoid the “Dangerous Times” blog or its archives, which are 99.9 percent about Trump.
Every Tuesday, wipe Donald Trump from your mind; cleanse your soul of Donald Trump.
Do something else.
It’s officially spring, so appreciate it.
Seek out the daffodils. Review your St. Patrick’s Day parade snapshots. Look forward to summer.
Go for a ride (you already know which routes to avoid because of certain yard signs). Read a book. Paint a picture. Work overtime. Take the afternoon off. Brush the dog. Give the cat a treat. Visit the sick. Play with the kids. Drop in on friends who used to be sick. If you live in New York, visit the Statue of Liberty for the first time. If you live near the Rhode Island seashore, take a walk on the beach before they start charging for parking. Mow the lawn. Better idea, forget the lawn.
I’m sick of the sacrilege, the serial outrages, the lawlessness, the insults, the racism, the sneering, the double-speak, the analyses, both expert and amateur; he pointless, endless, useless polls; the fibs, the cheating, the innuendoes, the threats, violence, the jokes, the gutter-talk and most of all the fear, the stomach churning, sleep-robbing panic at the prospect of another Donald John Trump presidency.
Going on nine years now, Trump has possessed our lives.
Day after day, in and out of office, every day, all day, weekends, holidays, nights, mornings, it’s always all about Trump.
In the month just passed, there were the golden sneakers, the debate about Trump’s mention of a “bloodbath” – was he talking just about the international car market or the terrible strife that would happen should he lose yet another election? These are subjects that must be examined, parsed and defined.
And with Easter bunny limbering up, announcement of the God Bless the USA Bible, raising this question: Can you put a cost on God’s word? Donald Trump priced it at $59.99. Should he have charged extra on Easter? What did God think about sharing space in Her book with the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance?
And what to do with the 10 Commandments?
Should Trump have taken his famous Sharpie pen – which, as president, he used to doctor a weather map to show that he was right about the course of a hurricane – black out some if not all of the Commandments, the thou shall not steal and the thou shall not bear false witness sections? And while at it, maybe he should have redacted those pesky do-not-covets: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, not your neighbor’s manservant, not his maidservant, not his ox and not his ass?
The point is that day after day, we are living in Donald Trump’s world.
Did Donald Trump really say that? Did Donald Trump slither his way out of this or that gag order? Did that businessman, this politician, and those voters swear allegiance to Trump in violation of the admonition that thee shall have no other gods before me?
And always, the question that begins every week: what will Trump get away with next? Which indictment? What impeachment? What report? Will he ever pay?
As for the rest of us, will we ever be free of Donald Trump?
I think there’s a chance. In fact, I’ve been thinking about a two-step plan.
STEP ONE: NO-TRUMP TUESDAYS.
Every Tuesday, do not read about Trump. Do not watch TV if you suspect it will even mention, much less feature, Donald Trump. Do not listen to NPR news on the radio, or Morning Joe on TV or any political streaming podcasts. Thou shall not talk about Trump at breakfast, at lunch, or supper. As much as this pains me, avoid the “Dangerous Times” blog or its archives, which are 99.9 percent about Trump.
Every Tuesday, wipe Donald Trump from your mind; cleanse your soul of Donald Trump.
Do something else.
It’s officially spring, so appreciate it.
Seek out the daffodils. Review your St. Patrick’s Day parade snapshots. Look forward to summer.
Go for a ride (you already know which routes to avoid because of certain yard signs). Read a book. Paint a picture. Work overtime. Take the afternoon off. Brush the dog. Give the cat a treat. Visit the sick. Play with the kids. Drop in on friends who used to be sick. If you live in New York, visit the Statue of Liberty for the first time. If you live near the Rhode Island seashore, take a walk on the beach before they start charging for parking. Mow the lawn. Better idea, forget the lawn.
ON NO-TRUMP TUESDAYS, review your St. Patrick's Day parade snapshots
If you are a political wonk, or simply a patriot, do the many things that a democracy demands of its citizens: have an argument about the best series to stream. Plant a tree. Stand up straight. Fall asleep and try not to dream about politics. Be nice. Muse about democracy’s blessings: fee speech, the rule of law, the positive possibilities of free enterprise.
Our democracy has many deficits, so maybe use your free time on No-Trump Tuesdays to think about how promote voting, provide affordable housing and medical care for everyone. Take a minute to wonder how to rid ourselves and our country from racism and make sure our schools work.
Don’t let the selfish, the greedy, the short-sighted and the stupid undermine our crusade to prevent the destruction of the planet because of climate change or nuclear war. Think about what government should do to ensure jetliners have enough bolts when they take off, and that bridges won’t collapse when container ships get too close.
HOLD ON, YOU SAY: Isn’t this No-Trump Tuesdays silliness just so much old fashioned head-in-the-sand, ostrich stuff, Neville Chamberlain-style approach to Hitlerian Armageddon? Just pretending that Trump’s gone won't make it happen.
Quite the opposite. I’m suggesting that we remember what this political fight of our lifetimes is really about: What will it feel like if Donald Trump is out of our government, out of our lives and out of our minds for good?
Instead of thinking about golden sneakers, make-America-pray again Bibles and Project 2025 - the Trump & Friends plan to end democracy as we know it - we need to dream, to imagine, to be inspired by the possibilities and privileges of living in a free society where citizens call the shots or try to.
And certainly, on the other six days, we need to do everything possible to get rid of Donald Trump. On Wednesdays, we need to catch up on the news we missed on Tuesdays, and to follow the news closely the rest of the week. We need to give money to Joe Biden, to congressional Democrats and state and local officials. We need to argue, persuade, pray, anything within our ability to fashion a positive election outcome. To go door-to-door, bother people on the phone, find those organizations that will help us do all of those things and more.
STEP-TWO
As I mentioned, I was thinking of a two-step plan.
Step Two is to vote for president on or about Nov. 5.
Nov. 5, you will remember, is a Tuesday.
And if we try our best, that particular Tuesday will turn out to be the ultimate and final No-Trump Tuesday.
Our democracy has many deficits, so maybe use your free time on No-Trump Tuesdays to think about how promote voting, provide affordable housing and medical care for everyone. Take a minute to wonder how to rid ourselves and our country from racism and make sure our schools work.
Don’t let the selfish, the greedy, the short-sighted and the stupid undermine our crusade to prevent the destruction of the planet because of climate change or nuclear war. Think about what government should do to ensure jetliners have enough bolts when they take off, and that bridges won’t collapse when container ships get too close.
HOLD ON, YOU SAY: Isn’t this No-Trump Tuesdays silliness just so much old fashioned head-in-the-sand, ostrich stuff, Neville Chamberlain-style approach to Hitlerian Armageddon? Just pretending that Trump’s gone won't make it happen.
Quite the opposite. I’m suggesting that we remember what this political fight of our lifetimes is really about: What will it feel like if Donald Trump is out of our government, out of our lives and out of our minds for good?
Instead of thinking about golden sneakers, make-America-pray again Bibles and Project 2025 - the Trump & Friends plan to end democracy as we know it - we need to dream, to imagine, to be inspired by the possibilities and privileges of living in a free society where citizens call the shots or try to.
And certainly, on the other six days, we need to do everything possible to get rid of Donald Trump. On Wednesdays, we need to catch up on the news we missed on Tuesdays, and to follow the news closely the rest of the week. We need to give money to Joe Biden, to congressional Democrats and state and local officials. We need to argue, persuade, pray, anything within our ability to fashion a positive election outcome. To go door-to-door, bother people on the phone, find those organizations that will help us do all of those things and more.
STEP-TWO
As I mentioned, I was thinking of a two-step plan.
Step Two is to vote for president on or about Nov. 5.
Nov. 5, you will remember, is a Tuesday.
And if we try our best, that particular Tuesday will turn out to be the ultimate and final No-Trump Tuesday.
ON NO-TRUMP TUESDAYS, remember when a near-sighted moose beamed down to earth
Whether Hoping for a Laugh, or
Venting Political Angst, Armchair
Assassins Abound In An Age of Trump
THE SNEAKER SALESMAN bestrides America. ILLUSTRATION by Frank Gerardi
AMONG THE MANY DREADFUL THINGS Donald Trump has done to America is turn a fraction of the citizenry into armchair assassins.
“I wish Trump would just drop dead,” a friend told me recently.
I told him I occasionally had similar thoughts, and that I have heard the same from others.
Should the NSA, FBI, FDIC or the FSB be listening in with AI powered algorithms, let me say I am unaware of any active plots to neutralize politicians or anyone else, and if I did, I’d be the first to play the rat.
The folks who are imagining Trump’s timely passing are no latter day Lee Harvey Oswalds.
Their flights of fancy don’t involve bullets, bombs, or bazookas, or any other kind of direct action. Instead, they envision second- or third-hand mechanisms, the kind of arms-length finales known as “natural causes.”
But some Democrats are so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump presidency, and frustrated that the forces that usually end the careers of errant politicians don’t apply in the Age of Trump, that only a sudden passing could be their last, best hope.
SO, DEADLY DAYDREAMS ABOUND.
I found a bunch of such "ideas" in the Comments section that followed and online publication of an opinion column in the March 5 Washington Post.
The author was Charlie Sykes, a conservative never-Trumper, who was musing at length about Trump’s serial escapes from legal and political accountability. Sykes’ column was headlined:
DONALD TRUMP, THE LUCKIEST POLITICIAN WHO EVER LIVED
He wrote:
“I wish Trump would just drop dead,” a friend told me recently.
I told him I occasionally had similar thoughts, and that I have heard the same from others.
Should the NSA, FBI, FDIC or the FSB be listening in with AI powered algorithms, let me say I am unaware of any active plots to neutralize politicians or anyone else, and if I did, I’d be the first to play the rat.
The folks who are imagining Trump’s timely passing are no latter day Lee Harvey Oswalds.
Their flights of fancy don’t involve bullets, bombs, or bazookas, or any other kind of direct action. Instead, they envision second- or third-hand mechanisms, the kind of arms-length finales known as “natural causes.”
But some Democrats are so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump presidency, and frustrated that the forces that usually end the careers of errant politicians don’t apply in the Age of Trump, that only a sudden passing could be their last, best hope.
SO, DEADLY DAYDREAMS ABOUND.
I found a bunch of such "ideas" in the Comments section that followed and online publication of an opinion column in the March 5 Washington Post.
The author was Charlie Sykes, a conservative never-Trumper, who was musing at length about Trump’s serial escapes from legal and political accountability. Sykes’ column was headlined:
DONALD TRUMP, THE LUCKIEST POLITICIAN WHO EVER LIVED
He wrote:
| For almost a decade (though it feels even longer), we’ve watched him trip through minefields, totter on the edge of sinkholes and step on trapdoors, each time thinking: This is it. Now he’s going down. It has become a mantra of dashed hopes: The walls are (once again) closing in on Donald Trump. He’s on the brink, desperate. This time, surely this time. And yet, somehow, he escapes. |
Sykes’ column set off an avalanche of angry reader comments, some debating whether “lucky” was an appropriate term, others blaming the courts, or indicting rich mega-donors, insincere media outlets and an indifferent electorate for the current situation.
When I last looked, there were 3,446 comments, with a smattering – but far from a majority – wishing the ex-president the very worst.
One reader wrote:
If only he would cease breathing.
That was one of the gentler responses, perhaps suggesting that not breathing is isn’t murder, only something that happens.
Some appealed to nature:
Mother Nature has a ticking time bomb for him. I’m rooting for Mother Nature.
A couple of writers hoped an even more powerful Mother would intervene:
Obviously we're incapable of saving ourselves from the devil incarnate, so Lord, it's up to you.
* * *
There is only one way we are going to get rid of this plague on our country; the Grim Reaper. No one can cheat death; no matter how lucky.
Some singled out poor lifestyle choices, resulting in predictably dismal health outcomes:
Come on greasy hamburgers, do your thing!!
* * *
Luck for the rest of us would come in the form of a massive stroke or heart attack.
But another writer seemed let down by the medical option:
So it's all going to come down to Trump's clogged arteries?
A few readers were in such despair that they wondered - since it was Trump - whether death itself would be enough.
Even if trump dies, which I truly hope he does (today would be acceptable), he will still get millions of write-in votes. His base might truly believe that, if elected after his death, he will be resurrected to "save" America.
Another was both philosophical and wishful:
All lucky streaks end. May I wake up tomorrow and read his obituary.
AS I SCROLLED through hundreds of comments, then thousands more, I was sad about the damage that Donald Trump already has done to our national psyche.
The challenge Trump has posed for the past decade is that, whatever else, the majority of Americans must avoid the temptation to try to out-trump Trump.
Political process, the justice system, protest and debate are the corrective tools prescribed by the Constitution and democracy to cure our collective ills.
To wish for Trump’s unscheduled passing hands him an undeserved victory, and speaking only for myself, I repent.
A militia of death-dreamers assembled in America’s living rooms and kitchens – whether hoping for a good laugh or expressing sincere frustration – only advances Donald Trump’s campaign of cynicism, conspiracy and contempt.
* * *
NOTE: The original ending was unfunny and stupid, and counter to the point of the posting. So, I knocked off the last two lines, to be unambiguous about always rejecting Trump's way of doing business. Apologies. - Brian C. Jones
When I last looked, there were 3,446 comments, with a smattering – but far from a majority – wishing the ex-president the very worst.
One reader wrote:
If only he would cease breathing.
That was one of the gentler responses, perhaps suggesting that not breathing is isn’t murder, only something that happens.
Some appealed to nature:
Mother Nature has a ticking time bomb for him. I’m rooting for Mother Nature.
A couple of writers hoped an even more powerful Mother would intervene:
Obviously we're incapable of saving ourselves from the devil incarnate, so Lord, it's up to you.
* * *
There is only one way we are going to get rid of this plague on our country; the Grim Reaper. No one can cheat death; no matter how lucky.
Some singled out poor lifestyle choices, resulting in predictably dismal health outcomes:
Come on greasy hamburgers, do your thing!!
* * *
Luck for the rest of us would come in the form of a massive stroke or heart attack.
But another writer seemed let down by the medical option:
So it's all going to come down to Trump's clogged arteries?
A few readers were in such despair that they wondered - since it was Trump - whether death itself would be enough.
Even if trump dies, which I truly hope he does (today would be acceptable), he will still get millions of write-in votes. His base might truly believe that, if elected after his death, he will be resurrected to "save" America.
Another was both philosophical and wishful:
All lucky streaks end. May I wake up tomorrow and read his obituary.
AS I SCROLLED through hundreds of comments, then thousands more, I was sad about the damage that Donald Trump already has done to our national psyche.
The challenge Trump has posed for the past decade is that, whatever else, the majority of Americans must avoid the temptation to try to out-trump Trump.
Political process, the justice system, protest and debate are the corrective tools prescribed by the Constitution and democracy to cure our collective ills.
To wish for Trump’s unscheduled passing hands him an undeserved victory, and speaking only for myself, I repent.
A militia of death-dreamers assembled in America’s living rooms and kitchens – whether hoping for a good laugh or expressing sincere frustration – only advances Donald Trump’s campaign of cynicism, conspiracy and contempt.
* * *
NOTE: The original ending was unfunny and stupid, and counter to the point of the posting. So, I knocked off the last two lines, to be unambiguous about always rejecting Trump's way of doing business. Apologies. - Brian C. Jones
Election countdown: 8 months to go
THE POLLS, PAPERS AND POLS ARE BEATING ON BIDEN. WE CAN WORK HARDER TO BEAT TRUMP
JOE BIDEN -- CREDIT: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons license
IF YOU WANT MY GUESS about the outcome of the election – which as of today is only eight months away – I can’t tell you how Joe Biden is going to defeat Donald Trump.
Day after day, it feels like nothing is going President Biden’s way, while the momentum for The Defendant’s attempted return to the White House seems to be accelerating.
The polls are awful, and some are getting worse. More people are saying Biden should drop out as a candidate. Bibi Netanyahu, Trump’s Israeli clone, is making a fool of Biden’s pleas to stop killing Gaza civilians. A handful of Republican crazies in the House are undermining Biden’s vow to defend Ukraine.
Voters think immigration is the most important concern in their lives, and that it's Biden’s fault. Rents are exorbitant, and that’s Biden’s fault, too. Buying a house is out of reach for ordinary families, and it’s Biden’s fault.
Gas prices at the moment are lower than they have been. Unemployment is low; there’s no recession; crime is going down; and in general for lots of Americans, life is good. None of this is to Biden's credit.
The big one is that Biden is old. Too old. He looks old, talks old, walks old. Even worse, Joe gets older every day. It’s relentless, and it's Biden's fault.
I’m sure that I’m not alone. Millions of people care deeply about America, but at the moment see little that’s reassuring about Biden’s – and democracy’s – prospects on Nov. 5.
The question is: What to do about it?
The answer is that The Defendant - as Donald Trump is known in Jack Smith's election conspiracy indictment of last August - is too dangerous, too vile to be president of the United States. So he can't.
Like most people, I haven't the slightest idea of how to turn the current dynamics around, only that is what must happen. The Defendant is unacceptable. America – and perhaps the world – will be destroyed if he is put in charge.
So, while my brain is telling me in that The Defendant could very well be on his way back to the White House, my heart is saying that cannot happen.
I never liked my brain, so I’m listening these days to my heart.
IN ACKNOWLEDGING MY DESPAIR, I will not tolerate anyone lecturing me and my fellow Despair-Pals that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Trump is real; so is the peril he represents; fear is justified.
Don’t instruct us about the pitfalls of bad attitudes, that, just by admitting despair, we set off a self-fulfilling prophecy producing its predictable terrible outcome. That’s malarkey, to use a Biden word.
So, don't blame the worried, the sleepless, the frightened, the discouraged for what could be a terrible election outcome.
If you are not scared of The Defendant, then you are not paying attention, nor are you taking seriously Liz Cheney’s warning that the nation is sleepwalking into dictatorship.
My heart is telling me that we should not mistake despair for helplessness. Just because it seems that today, March 5, we feel doomed, that doesn’t mean that we are doomed.
Instead, we should use our despair as a source of energy and inspiration to work harder – much harder - to elect Joe Biden.
As individuals, all of us have to work as diligently and smartly as possible – and all the harder and smarter than we would if we were comforted by the belief that Biden was sure to win.
Mainly, we have to do what voters do best: vote.
We also need to persuade others to vote. We must beg our families to vote (or at least select family members). We can search out groups that organize letter-writing and postcard-sending and annoying telephone calling and which give us the addresses of doors to pound on. We must give money to the candidates and groups that can use it best, as much money as possible.
What we cannot do is quit , disappear, fade, hide or stop.
SOME OF OUR DESPAIR is news-generated.
We should recognize that the media does not exist to cheer us up. Pep talks are not how journalism works. More often than not, credible media lets us know what’s happening, and leaves the rest to us.
I know that many of my fellow Despair-Pals are furious at the New York Times, because the world’s greatest remaining newspaper seems determined to publish stories that make Biden look weak, while ignoring or downplaying The Defendant's alarming and dangerous flaws.
Makes me wonder whether the Times has established a "Democrats In Despair Desk," whose mission is to come up with at least one story a day to break Biden supporters' hearts.
Over the last weekend, the Times couldn’t seem to get enough of its recent poll showing Trump beating Biden, and Biden’s own supporters dissing him for being “old.”
Day after day, it feels like nothing is going President Biden’s way, while the momentum for The Defendant’s attempted return to the White House seems to be accelerating.
The polls are awful, and some are getting worse. More people are saying Biden should drop out as a candidate. Bibi Netanyahu, Trump’s Israeli clone, is making a fool of Biden’s pleas to stop killing Gaza civilians. A handful of Republican crazies in the House are undermining Biden’s vow to defend Ukraine.
Voters think immigration is the most important concern in their lives, and that it's Biden’s fault. Rents are exorbitant, and that’s Biden’s fault, too. Buying a house is out of reach for ordinary families, and it’s Biden’s fault.
Gas prices at the moment are lower than they have been. Unemployment is low; there’s no recession; crime is going down; and in general for lots of Americans, life is good. None of this is to Biden's credit.
The big one is that Biden is old. Too old. He looks old, talks old, walks old. Even worse, Joe gets older every day. It’s relentless, and it's Biden's fault.
I’m sure that I’m not alone. Millions of people care deeply about America, but at the moment see little that’s reassuring about Biden’s – and democracy’s – prospects on Nov. 5.
The question is: What to do about it?
The answer is that The Defendant - as Donald Trump is known in Jack Smith's election conspiracy indictment of last August - is too dangerous, too vile to be president of the United States. So he can't.
Like most people, I haven't the slightest idea of how to turn the current dynamics around, only that is what must happen. The Defendant is unacceptable. America – and perhaps the world – will be destroyed if he is put in charge.
So, while my brain is telling me in that The Defendant could very well be on his way back to the White House, my heart is saying that cannot happen.
I never liked my brain, so I’m listening these days to my heart.
IN ACKNOWLEDGING MY DESPAIR, I will not tolerate anyone lecturing me and my fellow Despair-Pals that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Trump is real; so is the peril he represents; fear is justified.
Don’t instruct us about the pitfalls of bad attitudes, that, just by admitting despair, we set off a self-fulfilling prophecy producing its predictable terrible outcome. That’s malarkey, to use a Biden word.
So, don't blame the worried, the sleepless, the frightened, the discouraged for what could be a terrible election outcome.
If you are not scared of The Defendant, then you are not paying attention, nor are you taking seriously Liz Cheney’s warning that the nation is sleepwalking into dictatorship.
My heart is telling me that we should not mistake despair for helplessness. Just because it seems that today, March 5, we feel doomed, that doesn’t mean that we are doomed.
Instead, we should use our despair as a source of energy and inspiration to work harder – much harder - to elect Joe Biden.
As individuals, all of us have to work as diligently and smartly as possible – and all the harder and smarter than we would if we were comforted by the belief that Biden was sure to win.
Mainly, we have to do what voters do best: vote.
We also need to persuade others to vote. We must beg our families to vote (or at least select family members). We can search out groups that organize letter-writing and postcard-sending and annoying telephone calling and which give us the addresses of doors to pound on. We must give money to the candidates and groups that can use it best, as much money as possible.
What we cannot do is quit , disappear, fade, hide or stop.
SOME OF OUR DESPAIR is news-generated.
We should recognize that the media does not exist to cheer us up. Pep talks are not how journalism works. More often than not, credible media lets us know what’s happening, and leaves the rest to us.
I know that many of my fellow Despair-Pals are furious at the New York Times, because the world’s greatest remaining newspaper seems determined to publish stories that make Biden look weak, while ignoring or downplaying The Defendant's alarming and dangerous flaws.
Makes me wonder whether the Times has established a "Democrats In Despair Desk," whose mission is to come up with at least one story a day to break Biden supporters' hearts.
Over the last weekend, the Times couldn’t seem to get enough of its recent poll showing Trump beating Biden, and Biden’s own supporters dissing him for being “old.”
 |
 |
 |
The Times can argue that it’s just following the news, not making it, which is sort of correct.
But for our purposes, turning our anger on the Times and other media is a waste of time and energy, because the news folks are the wrong targets.
Defendant Trump is the villain of our shared nightmare. Defendant Donald is planning to turn America into a hellscape of hatred, injustice and vengeance.
We need to stay focused.
WHAT WOULD A COACH tell his team when it is behind at halftime?
Stay in the game.
Yes, things look bleak right now, because they are.
We can play better, harder, smarter, longer.
Circumstances change. We can help make them change.
And we can be ready when things go wrong for the other team - which they will.
Maybe Trump will do something that will shock even his most devoted cultists. Maybe he’ll start walking backwards. Or take to wearing women’s panties – on his head.
Maybe he’ll ridicule ardent supporters in ways that they’ll finally recognize how little he cares about them.
Maybe he’ll walk into a Washington courtroom and plead guilty to trying to overturn an election and throw his repulsive body on the mercy of the court.
As I mentioned, I’ve quit listening to my brain.
When I need cheering up, I’ll check in with Democratic optimists, whose track records give them credibility.
One upbeat expert is Simon Rosenberg, who puts out a website called the “Hopium Chronicles,” in which he calls for Democrats to stay hopeful, but more importantly, to work hard, really hard, to make their hopes come true.
Simon’s meditations have headings like this:
  |
Humor helps.
Like this piece in The Atlantic magazine, by Jonathan Last, editor of The Bulwark, an anti-Trump online site. Last was responding to people wanting Biden replaced by a younger Democrat:
Like this piece in The Atlantic magazine, by Jonathan Last, editor of The Bulwark, an anti-Trump online site. Last was responding to people wanting Biden replaced by a younger Democrat:
| As the political strategist Mike Murphy said many moons ago, Biden’s age is like a gigantic pair of antlers he wears on his head, all day every day. Even when he does something exceptional—like visit a war zone in Ukraine, or whip inflation—the people applauding him are thinking, Can’t. Stop. Staring. At. The antlers. Biden can’t shed these antlers. He’s going to wear them from now until November 5. If anything, they’ll probably grow. |
IT'S OKAY to feel despair, fear, worry and anxiety and the other common sense emotions that bubble up when faced by a psychopath like The Defendant. We’d be crazy to do otherwise.
We should pledge to do the very best we can to keep him away from the Oval Office.
We should get as much sleep as possible. Eat sensibly. Exercise responsibly.
Occasionally, we should laugh at ourselves and, more often, at our critics
And maybe, in solidarity with Joe Biden, we should get our own set of antlers.
We should pledge to do the very best we can to keep him away from the Oval Office.
We should get as much sleep as possible. Eat sensibly. Exercise responsibly.
Occasionally, we should laugh at ourselves and, more often, at our critics
And maybe, in solidarity with Joe Biden, we should get our own set of antlers.
JOE BIDEN SURE IS OLD;
HE'S STILL OUR BEST BET
TO WIN ON NOV. 5
I HAVE A RADICAL PROPOSAL.
Let’s stop wishing Joe Biden is something he’s not.
He’s not a track star. He can’t do cartwheels down the ramp of Air Force One.
He's not an ideal contestant for Jeopardy! He’s not the best guy to explain the Theory of Relativity. In a grocery checkout, he’ll probably slow the line while fumbling for exact change.
That’s because he’s old.
So, let’s stop trying to make him do things that only a younger person can do. At 81, he can’t match the energy of a Super Bowl quarterback. He can’t campaign round the clock; can't perform flawlessly on the public stage while running the country and conducting crisis seminars in the Situation Room. He’s no orator.
But today, is there a better man or woman to run the country and face down the evil of Donald Trump?
No. He's a terrific president. He's an expert on the difference between good and evil, democracy and dictatorship, Russia and Ukraine and a government that's competent and compassionate and one that's chaotic and cruel.
But some people disagree, and they wish Biden would step aside as the 2024 Democratic candidate, the sooner the better.
I KNOW HOW THEY FEEL.
I, too, wish Joe Biden was getting younger.
I also wish there was a grandstand filled with Democratic superstars, chomping at the bit to run president, brimming with political ambition and experience, any one of whom can take on Donald Trump as a can’t-lose Democratic nominee.
Man or woman, short or tall, religious or agnostic, just as long as they are charismatic Energizer bunnies, that's who I want. Prodigies, who are well-read in the Classics, but literate in pop music. I want someone socially compassionate, morally upright, feared by America’s foreign foes and beloved of America’s allies. I'd want to be inspired by silver-tongued speakers, who have PhDs in particle physics and heads stuffed with sports trivia. I want a veteran of Seal Team 6, who, in an emergency, can land Marine One on the South Lawn.
I also wish that Donald Trump was not running.
But he is.
And he's running strong. I won’t bore you with all of the reasons Donald Trump is the most dangerous candidate in U.S. history, other than he conspired, as a sitting president, to overturn the 2020 election.
So, I have no quarrel with the motives of people wanting Biden replaced. These are people of good will. They believe that the threat of a second Trump presidency is so ominous that the very future of democracy is at risk. And many admire Joe Biden - they just want to win, and they are scared that Biden can’t.
Replacing Biden is a theme that long has been running through the campaign, but surged after Special Counsel Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s Feb. 5 report that cleared Biden of keeping secret records, but indicted him with the far more notorious high crime of being a doddering old fool.
Hur wrote:
Let’s stop wishing Joe Biden is something he’s not.
He’s not a track star. He can’t do cartwheels down the ramp of Air Force One.
He's not an ideal contestant for Jeopardy! He’s not the best guy to explain the Theory of Relativity. In a grocery checkout, he’ll probably slow the line while fumbling for exact change.
That’s because he’s old.
So, let’s stop trying to make him do things that only a younger person can do. At 81, he can’t match the energy of a Super Bowl quarterback. He can’t campaign round the clock; can't perform flawlessly on the public stage while running the country and conducting crisis seminars in the Situation Room. He’s no orator.
But today, is there a better man or woman to run the country and face down the evil of Donald Trump?
No. He's a terrific president. He's an expert on the difference between good and evil, democracy and dictatorship, Russia and Ukraine and a government that's competent and compassionate and one that's chaotic and cruel.
But some people disagree, and they wish Biden would step aside as the 2024 Democratic candidate, the sooner the better.
I KNOW HOW THEY FEEL.
I, too, wish Joe Biden was getting younger.
I also wish there was a grandstand filled with Democratic superstars, chomping at the bit to run president, brimming with political ambition and experience, any one of whom can take on Donald Trump as a can’t-lose Democratic nominee.
Man or woman, short or tall, religious or agnostic, just as long as they are charismatic Energizer bunnies, that's who I want. Prodigies, who are well-read in the Classics, but literate in pop music. I want someone socially compassionate, morally upright, feared by America’s foreign foes and beloved of America’s allies. I'd want to be inspired by silver-tongued speakers, who have PhDs in particle physics and heads stuffed with sports trivia. I want a veteran of Seal Team 6, who, in an emergency, can land Marine One on the South Lawn.
I also wish that Donald Trump was not running.
But he is.
And he's running strong. I won’t bore you with all of the reasons Donald Trump is the most dangerous candidate in U.S. history, other than he conspired, as a sitting president, to overturn the 2020 election.
So, I have no quarrel with the motives of people wanting Biden replaced. These are people of good will. They believe that the threat of a second Trump presidency is so ominous that the very future of democracy is at risk. And many admire Joe Biden - they just want to win, and they are scared that Biden can’t.
Replacing Biden is a theme that long has been running through the campaign, but surged after Special Counsel Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s Feb. 5 report that cleared Biden of keeping secret records, but indicted him with the far more notorious high crime of being a doddering old fool.
Hur wrote:
| We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory. |
Hur’s political hatchet job unleashed fresh doubts about Biden’s abilities.
Among the skeptics is Ezra Klein, the New York Times star podcaster, who is open-minded, earnest, clearly liberal, the embodiment of fairness.
In a Feb. 16 podcast, Klein pointed to Biden’s stubbornly awful poll numbers, his fumbling public appearances, the fact that many voters don’t credit Biden’s successes, including an unexpectedly strong economy or Biden’s skill in foreign affairs. Klein was upset that Biden’s own staff seems to have doubts, keeping Biden away from public outings like a Super Bowl interview.
Klein said:
Among the skeptics is Ezra Klein, the New York Times star podcaster, who is open-minded, earnest, clearly liberal, the embodiment of fairness.
In a Feb. 16 podcast, Klein pointed to Biden’s stubbornly awful poll numbers, his fumbling public appearances, the fact that many voters don’t credit Biden’s successes, including an unexpectedly strong economy or Biden’s skill in foreign affairs. Klein was upset that Biden’s own staff seems to have doubts, keeping Biden away from public outings like a Super Bowl interview.
Klein said:
| I still think Biden might win against Trump, even with all I’ve said. It’s just that there’s a very good chance he might lose. Maybe even better than even odds. And Trump is dangerous. I want better odds than that. |
Klein offered this plan: First, party leaders would persuade Biden to step down; Secondly, the Democratic National Convention would pick a nominee with a better chance of defeating Trump.
| There is a ton of talent in the Democratic Party right now ... Some of them would make a run at the nomination. They would give speeches at the convention, and people would actually pay attention. The whole country would be watching the Democratic convention, and probably quite a bit happening in the run-up to it, and seeing what this murderer’s row of political talent could actually do. And then some ticket would be chosen based on how those people did. |
IT'S A POLITICAL FAIRY TALE.
If you doubt this, I invite you to take a quiz, identifying the people Klein named as members of his “ton of talent” pool.
I've listed their names.
And included photos.
I suspect you’ll get some of them right. But even politically literate readers may miss or mix up others.
The answers are below.
If you doubt this, I invite you to take a quiz, identifying the people Klein named as members of his “ton of talent” pool.
I've listed their names.
And included photos.
I suspect you’ll get some of them right. But even politically literate readers may miss or mix up others.
The answers are below.
| 1. Gretchen Whitmer |  |
| 2. Wes Moore |  |
| 3. Jared Polis |  |
| 4. Gavin Newsom |  |
| 5. Raphael Warnock |  |
| 6. Josh Shapiro |  |
| 7. Cory Booker |  |
| 8. Ro Khanna |  |
| 9. Pete Buttigieg |  |
| 10. Gina Raimondo |  |
| 11. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez |  |
| 12. Chris Murphy |  |
| 13. Andy Beshear |  |
| 14. J. B. Pritzker |  |
The answers are:
NOW IMAGINE that the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19-22 in Chicago picks one of them to run against Trump.
Will most potential voters obsessively watch the convention on their antique TVs and social media and streaming feeds?
Will they know who the leading contenders are?
Two months later, on Nov. 5, will enough voters know the name of the Democratic nominee? Will they be certain that she or she should be president of the United States?
But nearly every voter will know who Donald Trump is.
“I’ve heard of that guy, but not the other one,” some voters – maybe enough voters – will say.
On the other hand, every voter already knows who Joe Biden is.
And if Democrats let well enough alone, and don't further screw up an already perilous election process, maybe Biden and the country have a chance.
Of course, nothing is certain, which is why this election is so fraught and frightening.
But maybe, just maybe, enough voters will conclude that Joe Biden, despite his age – or maybe because of it – is a national treasure.
- Gretchen Whitmer, 52, is the governor of Michigan.
- Wes Moore,45, governor of Maryland.
- Jared Polis, 48, governor of Colorado
- Gavin Newsom, 56, governor of California
- Raphael Warnock, 54, U.S. Senator from Georgia
- Josh Shapiro, 50, governor of Pennsylvania.
- Cory Booker, 54, U.S Senator of New Jersey.
- Ro Khanna, 47, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California.
- Pete Buttigieg, 42, U.S. secretary of transportation.
- Gina Raimondo, 52, U.S. secretary of commerce.
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 34, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York.
- Chris Murphy, 50, U.S. Senator from Connecticut.
- Andy Beshear, 46, governor of Kentucky.
- J.B. Pritzker, 59, governor of Illinois.
NOW IMAGINE that the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19-22 in Chicago picks one of them to run against Trump.
Will most potential voters obsessively watch the convention on their antique TVs and social media and streaming feeds?
Will they know who the leading contenders are?
Two months later, on Nov. 5, will enough voters know the name of the Democratic nominee? Will they be certain that she or she should be president of the United States?
But nearly every voter will know who Donald Trump is.
“I’ve heard of that guy, but not the other one,” some voters – maybe enough voters – will say.
On the other hand, every voter already knows who Joe Biden is.
And if Democrats let well enough alone, and don't further screw up an already perilous election process, maybe Biden and the country have a chance.
Of course, nothing is certain, which is why this election is so fraught and frightening.
But maybe, just maybe, enough voters will conclude that Joe Biden, despite his age – or maybe because of it – is a national treasure.
JUST 9 MONTHS UNTIL NOV. 5
THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIVES
Illustration by Frank Gerardi
NINE MONTHS.
That’s all the time that’s left until the 2024 election, which will decide the future of the United States.
Will we remain a democracy, albeit an imperfect one? Or a dictatorship, from which there will be no return?
Nine months seems like a long time – plenty of time – to consider the choices.
But just a month ago, the election was 10 months away, and I’m betting you can’t remember a whole lot of what happened in your own life during January, to say nothing of the nation’s.
Which is why the remaining nine months will fly by, an instead of today being Feb. 5, it will be Nov. 5, Election Day, the election of our lives.
The good news is that there’s enough time.
That’s all the time that’s left until the 2024 election, which will decide the future of the United States.
Will we remain a democracy, albeit an imperfect one? Or a dictatorship, from which there will be no return?
Nine months seems like a long time – plenty of time – to consider the choices.
But just a month ago, the election was 10 months away, and I’m betting you can’t remember a whole lot of what happened in your own life during January, to say nothing of the nation’s.
Which is why the remaining nine months will fly by, an instead of today being Feb. 5, it will be Nov. 5, Election Day, the election of our lives.
The good news is that there’s enough time.
THE CHALLENGES, of course, are enormous.
The polls are hideous.
Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in a national match up, 46.7 to 44.6 percent, according to the website Real Clear Politics.
This is truly shocking.
The records of both men are well-established.
Trump, in his first term, proved himself to be the worst president in history, almost succeeding in overthrowing the election, in a multi-pronged conspiracy culminating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. During the Covid pandemic, hundreds of thousands died needlessly, thanks to his bungled management. Abroad, he undermined U.S. allies and lionized the nation’s authoritarian enemies
Biden, in his first term, proved himself to be one of the most successful presidents of modern times, returning the country to “normal” after the chaos of the Trump years, promoting far-sighted programs to repair roads and cur climate change. He proved adept at foreign policy, highlighted by his support of Ukraine’s heroic resistance to Russia’s invasion.
The polls are hideous.
Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in a national match up, 46.7 to 44.6 percent, according to the website Real Clear Politics.
This is truly shocking.
The records of both men are well-established.
Trump, in his first term, proved himself to be the worst president in history, almost succeeding in overthrowing the election, in a multi-pronged conspiracy culminating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. During the Covid pandemic, hundreds of thousands died needlessly, thanks to his bungled management. Abroad, he undermined U.S. allies and lionized the nation’s authoritarian enemies
Biden, in his first term, proved himself to be one of the most successful presidents of modern times, returning the country to “normal” after the chaos of the Trump years, promoting far-sighted programs to repair roads and cur climate change. He proved adept at foreign policy, highlighted by his support of Ukraine’s heroic resistance to Russia’s invasion.
| The polls are even more alarming when it comes to the six "battleground" states expected to determine the election’s outcome. He’s barely ahead only in one – Pennsylvania – and behind in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia (where Trump leads by 7.2 percentage points). I take the polls seriously. Whatever its flaws, early polling means that a lot of voters have made up their minds; and it’s really, really hard for them, or for any of us, to change our opinions today, or nine months from now. A lot of people don’t mind that Trump faces felony charges in four courts, that he’s a rapist and a liar and that he and his allies are working on plans to create an authoritarian government. So what’s the good news? THE HOPEFUL PART is that it may not take a whole lot of votes to turn things around. Not that it won’t mean a lot of extraordinarily hard work and a fair amount of luck But it might not take that many votes to swing the election to Biden. Which means that every vote, and everything people do to increase voting, will make a difference. This was what happened in 2020, when Biden rescued the nation from Trump. You may remember that Joe whipped Don by more than 7 million votes; Joey got 51.3 percent, Donny just 46.8 percent. But the real margin was just a tad under 43,000 votes. That was the combined winning margins for Biden in three of the aforementioned battleground states – Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin. Biden won by absurdly thin margins in each state, but enough to throw their Electoral College votes to Joe Biden. This Electoral College system is one of the Constitution’s dangerous flaws; it means a candidate can have far more popular votes than his or her opponent, but lose the election because of the Electoral College formula. | BIDEN'S OLD But not too old ONE REASON many Americans don’t want Joe Biden to serve a second term is that he’s 81. Too old. But, remarkably, he’s active, hard-working and sharp. Exactly one month ago, on Jan. 5, Biden delivered a critical speech in Pennsylvania. It was a forceful, eloquent appearance that defined the election in stark terms, as a choice between democracy and dictatorship. What struck me was the vigor that Biden displayed. You can see for yourself. Below is a picture linked to a four-minute except of a C-Span video. To watch, click on the photo. Below the photo is a transcript of what's on the clip: Biden' is discussing the Jan.6 Capitol riot.  “THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE PREVAILED. Not the anger of the mob or the appetites of one man. When the attack on January sixth happened, there was no doubt about the truth. At the time, even Republican members of Congress and Fox News commentators publicly and privately condemned the attack. As one Republican senator said, Trump’s behavior was embarrassing and humiliating for the country. (The transcript continues below the main story). |
Thus, out of 155 million combined votes for Biden and Trump, 42,918 people in three states made the difference.
Thank you, Founding Fathers for coming up with such a stupid, stupid system.
On the other hand, in a closely divided country, this can mean that everything each one of us does counts, including volunteering for a group trying to produce a relatively few votes.
Every door you knock on, every obnoxious phone call, every postcard or letter that you write, and every “discussion” you have with anyone, may make a difference.
As I said, I doubt you can change many people’s minds. But we might be able to persuade people to vote, even though they weren’t planning to.
The people involved are voters variously described as “undecided,” “detached,” “low-information,” and “cynical.”
The cynics say things like:
Various activist groups are working to influence presidential and congressional elections, and seeking volunteers to contact such voters, working from lists of people who might vote for Democrats, just not this time.
The organizations include Activate America and Swing Left. I hope to provide more information in the future about such groups and the actions that individuals can take.
Meanwhile, if you are a closet patriot...
... and if you fit any of the above categories of likely 2024 non-voters, this is your chance to change course and become an American Hero.
But you’ve only got nine months to figure that out.
Thank you, Founding Fathers for coming up with such a stupid, stupid system.
On the other hand, in a closely divided country, this can mean that everything each one of us does counts, including volunteering for a group trying to produce a relatively few votes.
Every door you knock on, every obnoxious phone call, every postcard or letter that you write, and every “discussion” you have with anyone, may make a difference.
As I said, I doubt you can change many people’s minds. But we might be able to persuade people to vote, even though they weren’t planning to.
The people involved are voters variously described as “undecided,” “detached,” “low-information,” and “cynical.”
The cynics say things like:
- Both candidates are terrible.
- I’m not interested in politics.
- Actually, I hate politics.
- A candidate said or did something stupid.
- He or she let me down on my pet issue.
- There’s not a dime’s difference between them.
Various activist groups are working to influence presidential and congressional elections, and seeking volunteers to contact such voters, working from lists of people who might vote for Democrats, just not this time.
The organizations include Activate America and Swing Left. I hope to provide more information in the future about such groups and the actions that individuals can take.
Meanwhile, if you are a closet patriot...
... and if you fit any of the above categories of likely 2024 non-voters, this is your chance to change course and become an American Hero.
But you’ve only got nine months to figure that out.
| BIDEN'S JAN. 5TH SPEECH CONTINUED: "BUT NOW, that same senator and those same people have changed their tune. As time has gone on on, politics, fear, money, all have intervened. And now these MAGA voices, who know the truth about Trump on January sixth, have abandoned the truth and abandoned the democracy. They made their choice. Now, the rest of us, Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans, we have to make our choice. I know mine, and I believe I know America’s. We’ll defend the truth, not give in to the big lie. We’ll embrace the Constitution of the Declaration, not abandon it. We’ll honor the sacred cause of democracy, not walk away from it. Today, I make this sacred pledge to you: The defense, protection and preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, the central cause of my presidency. America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot. Yes, we’ll be voting on many issues: on the freedom to vote, and have your vote counted. On the freedom of choice. The freedom to have a fair shot. The freedom from fear. And we’ll debate and disagree. Without democracy, no progress is impossible. Think about it. The alternative to democracy is dictatorship. The rule of one, not the rule of we, the people. "THAT'S WHAT THE SOLDIERS of Valley Forge understood. So was me, we have to understand it as well. We’ve been blessed so long with a strong, stable democracy, it’s easy to forget why so many before us risked their lives and strengthened democracy. What our lives would be without it. Democracy means having the freedom to speak your mind, to be who you are, to be who you want to be. Democracy is about being able to bring about peaceful change. Democracy. Democracy is how we open the doors of opportunity wider and wider with each successive generation, not notwithstanding our mistakes. But if democracy falls, we’ll lose that freedom, we’ll lose the power of we, the people, to shape our destiny. If you doubt me, look around the world. Travel with me as I meet with other heads of state throughout the world. Look at the authoritarian leaders and dictators Trump says he admires. He out loud says he admires. I won’t go through them all. It would take too long.” If you want to watch the entire speech, click on the big photo of Biden, which is linked to the full C-Span video, which is preceded by an annoying ad. |
TRUMP TO HIS FANS:
I DON'T CARE IF YOU DIE -
JUST VOTE FOR ME FIRST
MEMO to would-be Trump voters:
Donald John Trump does not care about you.
He does not care if you are “sick as a dog.”
He doesn’t care if you drive in dangerous weather.
He doesn't care if you live. Or if you die.
Well, that last one needs some explanation:
It’s okay with Trump if you die, as long as you voted for him first.
I know that you don’t want to hear this. Because if you care for him so much, it makes sense that he feels the same about you.
I also know that if you and I were discussing this face-to-face, you’d tell me straight out that I’m a liar or, even worse, a sourpuss who never gets the joke.
Maybe you heard or read about this at the time that Trump explained it.
But I’d like to go through it again, because I think it tells you and the rest of us all that we need to know about Donald Trump.
IT’S THE DAY before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, and Trump is in a place called Indianola, at a rally attended by 500 people, a bigger crowd than his opponents can even dream about
The weather has turned savage. It’s been snowing heavily; temperatures are below zero; windchills are way below that.
People are worried about driving to schools, libraries and other caucus locations. Trump is worried, too. What if the weather keeps some people home?
“If you want to save America from crooked Joe Biden, you must go caucus tomorrow,” he says, exhorting his people to hit the road – not because the race is tight, but because it isn’t.
“We got to do it big,” he explains.
“You can’t sit home. If you’re as sick as a dog ...,” Trump says, imagining a kitchen-table discussion in which the husband tells his wife that he’s going to caucus, ill health or not.
Then Trump knocks it out of the park:
“Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it.”
Laughter can be heard in the background of a C-Span video of the rally. Trump is such a funny guy, which is one of the thousand reasons that people love him so much
What could be more hilarious than his suggestion that his supporters risk their lives, or the lives of people that they love, to ensure that he wins by a huge margin.
There are whoops and cheers as Trump continues his imagined wife-and-husband exchange, this time reversing the couple’s roles.
Now, it’s the husband’s turn to play the wimp, using his illness as an excuse to stay home, like a kid with a stomach ache trying to skip school.
“If you’re sick, if you’re just so sick, you can’t...,” Trump says, imitating the whiny husband making excuses to his spouse: ‘Dar,’ I don’t think....’”
Donald John Trump does not care about you.
He does not care if you are “sick as a dog.”
He doesn’t care if you drive in dangerous weather.
He doesn't care if you live. Or if you die.
Well, that last one needs some explanation:
It’s okay with Trump if you die, as long as you voted for him first.
I know that you don’t want to hear this. Because if you care for him so much, it makes sense that he feels the same about you.
I also know that if you and I were discussing this face-to-face, you’d tell me straight out that I’m a liar or, even worse, a sourpuss who never gets the joke.
Maybe you heard or read about this at the time that Trump explained it.
But I’d like to go through it again, because I think it tells you and the rest of us all that we need to know about Donald Trump.
IT’S THE DAY before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, and Trump is in a place called Indianola, at a rally attended by 500 people, a bigger crowd than his opponents can even dream about
The weather has turned savage. It’s been snowing heavily; temperatures are below zero; windchills are way below that.
People are worried about driving to schools, libraries and other caucus locations. Trump is worried, too. What if the weather keeps some people home?
“If you want to save America from crooked Joe Biden, you must go caucus tomorrow,” he says, exhorting his people to hit the road – not because the race is tight, but because it isn’t.
“We got to do it big,” he explains.
“You can’t sit home. If you’re as sick as a dog ...,” Trump says, imagining a kitchen-table discussion in which the husband tells his wife that he’s going to caucus, ill health or not.
Then Trump knocks it out of the park:
“Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it.”
Laughter can be heard in the background of a C-Span video of the rally. Trump is such a funny guy, which is one of the thousand reasons that people love him so much
What could be more hilarious than his suggestion that his supporters risk their lives, or the lives of people that they love, to ensure that he wins by a huge margin.
There are whoops and cheers as Trump continues his imagined wife-and-husband exchange, this time reversing the couple’s roles.
Now, it’s the husband’s turn to play the wimp, using his illness as an excuse to stay home, like a kid with a stomach ache trying to skip school.
“If you’re sick, if you’re just so sick, you can’t...,” Trump says, imitating the whiny husband making excuses to his spouse: ‘Dar,’ I don’t think....’”
| But she’s a tough one, and she's having none of it. “Get up; get up,” the wife bellows. “You get up. You vote.” “Yes, Darling,” the husband replies meekly. Aware of, but not directly discussing the treacherous driving conditions, Trump promises that all will be well. “You’re going to be safe,” he assures the crowd. “And, again, all indoors. It’s going to be all indoors.” “But you got to get up,” he insists. “You got to vote, because it has nothing to do with anything but taking our nation back, and that’s the biggest thing there is.” | IN HIS OWN WORDS... Here's a recording of Trump's instructions to his followers to ignore treacherous driving conditions and attend the Iowa caucuses. This is copied from a C-SPAN video.  |
INDEED, TRUMP WON the caucuses and won big, with 51 percent of the vote.
Turnout was low, maybe because of the harsh winter, maybe because people were sick as dogs, or maybe because they wanted to watch football on TV.
News reports said that 108,000 people participated overall, compared to 187,000 in 2016.
We also don’t know if anyone was hurt or killed going to a caucus or coming home from one
Most reporters didn’t stick around to find out, since the press pack had quickly headed for New Hampshire, the next non-event in the non-race for the GOP nomination.
As for Trump, he’d already said his piece. He didn’t care.
Turnout was low, maybe because of the harsh winter, maybe because people were sick as dogs, or maybe because they wanted to watch football on TV.
News reports said that 108,000 people participated overall, compared to 187,000 in 2016.
We also don’t know if anyone was hurt or killed going to a caucus or coming home from one
Most reporters didn’t stick around to find out, since the press pack had quickly headed for New Hampshire, the next non-event in the non-race for the GOP nomination.
As for Trump, he’d already said his piece. He didn’t care.
BE ANGRY
Not only with Trump. But the
people who make him possible
OKAY WITH TRUMP - in Tuscon, AZ, 2016. CREDIT: Johnny Silvercloud, Creative Commons license
I’D LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT from the crusade to prevent Donald Trump from destroying America, just a brief moment to register a complaint:
It’s not fair. None of it.
As a country, we didn’t deserve Donald Trump when he took office in 2016.
It also wasn’t fair that Trump turned out to be an even more treacherous president than predicted by his sorry, sordid history as a business cheat, a bigot, an abuser of women, a TV huckster and a liar.
It’s wasn’t fair that after four years in the White House, Trump conspired to overturn the election that he’d just lost to Joe Biden.
Now, it’s even more unfair that Trump, facing four major indictments, is still with us, and in the polls, running ahead of Biden.
So, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the injustice all of this, even though it doesn’t count whether you, I or anyone else has hurt feelings. What matters is what we do to defeat Trump.
On the other hand, I think that sometimes analytical, practical liberals forget to be angry – crazy mad, jumping-up-and-down furious and out-of-our-minds insane about being terrorized for eight years by Donald Trump.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
By "we," I mean the millions of Americans who, among other things, are decent people.
Most Americans love their children. They pay most of their taxes; they usually tell the truth; they are likely to stop at traffic lights; and often they are kind to their pets.
Lots of Americans support and volunteer with hometown charities; they take care of their elders; most Americans don’t own guns, don’t shoplift, don’t say expletive deleted in public.
A good many Americans wish that society should be less biased than we actually are; and a lot of Americans would like to curb the man-made gasses that are frying the planet.
In other words, I believe that lots of us try do the right thing, at least what seems to be the right thing, at the time we’re doing it.
Three years ago, we did this by voting Trump out of the White House.
It was a happy outcome that seemed to be in line with something that the Sardinian philosopher, Joseph de Maistre, wrote in French in 1811: Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite:
But that turns out to be wrong. It's actually bogus.
The fact is we often don’t get the government we deserve.
Exhibit A: we got Trump.
TRUMP CAME TO BE, in part, because of an unfair election system.
We expect that a candidate who gets the most votes wins. But that’s not always the case, thanks to one of the Constitution’s most flawed provisions, choosing winners not on vote totals, but “electoral votes,” determined by the number of each state’s U.S. Senate and House of Representatives seats.
As you well know, the popular vote and the electoral count sometimes are out of sync.
Hilary Clinton, in 2016, received nearly 3-million more votes than Trump, 48.2 percent to 46.1 percent. But the Electoral College, with a score of 304 to 227, waltzed Trump into the Oval Office.
It wasn’t fair.
It’s not fair. None of it.
As a country, we didn’t deserve Donald Trump when he took office in 2016.
It also wasn’t fair that Trump turned out to be an even more treacherous president than predicted by his sorry, sordid history as a business cheat, a bigot, an abuser of women, a TV huckster and a liar.
It’s wasn’t fair that after four years in the White House, Trump conspired to overturn the election that he’d just lost to Joe Biden.
Now, it’s even more unfair that Trump, facing four major indictments, is still with us, and in the polls, running ahead of Biden.
So, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the injustice all of this, even though it doesn’t count whether you, I or anyone else has hurt feelings. What matters is what we do to defeat Trump.
On the other hand, I think that sometimes analytical, practical liberals forget to be angry – crazy mad, jumping-up-and-down furious and out-of-our-minds insane about being terrorized for eight years by Donald Trump.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
By "we," I mean the millions of Americans who, among other things, are decent people.
Most Americans love their children. They pay most of their taxes; they usually tell the truth; they are likely to stop at traffic lights; and often they are kind to their pets.
Lots of Americans support and volunteer with hometown charities; they take care of their elders; most Americans don’t own guns, don’t shoplift, don’t say expletive deleted in public.
A good many Americans wish that society should be less biased than we actually are; and a lot of Americans would like to curb the man-made gasses that are frying the planet.
In other words, I believe that lots of us try do the right thing, at least what seems to be the right thing, at the time we’re doing it.
Three years ago, we did this by voting Trump out of the White House.
It was a happy outcome that seemed to be in line with something that the Sardinian philosopher, Joseph de Maistre, wrote in French in 1811: Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite:
- One translation: Every nation has the government it deserves.
- Another version: In a democracy, people get the leaders they deserve.
But that turns out to be wrong. It's actually bogus.
The fact is we often don’t get the government we deserve.
Exhibit A: we got Trump.
TRUMP CAME TO BE, in part, because of an unfair election system.
We expect that a candidate who gets the most votes wins. But that’s not always the case, thanks to one of the Constitution’s most flawed provisions, choosing winners not on vote totals, but “electoral votes,” determined by the number of each state’s U.S. Senate and House of Representatives seats.
As you well know, the popular vote and the electoral count sometimes are out of sync.
Hilary Clinton, in 2016, received nearly 3-million more votes than Trump, 48.2 percent to 46.1 percent. But the Electoral College, with a score of 304 to 227, waltzed Trump into the Oval Office.
It wasn’t fair.
THANK YOU rally, Nashville, 2017. CREDIT: Dan Scavino, White House
HERE’S SOMETHING ELSE that’s not fair. A lot of the time, federal and state governments ignore what people want.
Take guns. According to the Pew Research Center, 58 percent of Americans want stricter gun laws. Sixty-seven percent want government to prioritize alternative energy sources to curb climate change; 61 percent think there’s too much economic inequality. The Gallup poll says 69 percent would allow first-trimester abortions.
Word from the State Houses and/or Congress to America: “Who cares?”
So forgive me if I take a minute or two to complain, to be just a little indignant and out-of-my-mind furious, because the country and the world are in trouble, and we don’t seem to be able to fix them.
Take guns. According to the Pew Research Center, 58 percent of Americans want stricter gun laws. Sixty-seven percent want government to prioritize alternative energy sources to curb climate change; 61 percent think there’s too much economic inequality. The Gallup poll says 69 percent would allow first-trimester abortions.
Word from the State Houses and/or Congress to America: “Who cares?”
So forgive me if I take a minute or two to complain, to be just a little indignant and out-of-my-mind furious, because the country and the world are in trouble, and we don’t seem to be able to fix them.
TRUMP RALLY in Phoenix, AZ, 2020. CREDIT Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons license
NOW, FOR THE WORST PART.
Remember those mostly nice Americans I was telling you about?
Well, they are still here.
But what Trump demonstrated in 2016 and what he’s showing us again, is that there’s a second bunch of Americans – and it’s a big bunch – who aren’t nice at all.
More than 74-million people voted for him in 2020.
And that wasn't fair to the rest of us.
We’ve trusted our neighbors.
We thought we shared most of the important things, the basic, core values like being a good loser, obeying the law, telling the truth and supporting the peaceful, non-violent transfer of power.
We thought we could rely on each other, the folks in the house across the street and others, whom we've never met and who live on the other side of the country.
The shock in 2016 was that even though Trump had lost the popular vote, millions of people did vote for him and cheered when the Electoral College put him over the top.
Now, even more people would do it again.
Even after Trump’s terrible presidency, culminating in his attempt to overturn the Biden election by engineering the 2021 riot at the Capitol, millions of voters are okay with that and want him to continue to do awful stuff, only worse.
Think of it. The presumptive leader of the free world tried to cheat on an election, and lots of people are okay with that.
Pollsters tell us that if the election were held today, more people would vote for Trump than Joe Biden.
And the reason lies with those who are close to us.
Our uncles, wives, great-aunts and brothers are okay with Donald Trump.
The same goes for our co-workers, teaching assistants, second-best friends and the diners at the restaurant table next to ours.
The guy driving the Honda Civic behind our F-150 is A-OK with Trump.
People who went to daycare with us have grown up to be okay with Trump.
Fans, who are cheering for our football team, are okay with Donald Trump.
The patient groaning in the emergency room bay next to yours is okay with Donald Trump.
The friendly lady, who’s walking in the park with her cute Jack Russell, is okay with Donald Trump.
We are betrayed.
Remember those mostly nice Americans I was telling you about?
Well, they are still here.
But what Trump demonstrated in 2016 and what he’s showing us again, is that there’s a second bunch of Americans – and it’s a big bunch – who aren’t nice at all.
More than 74-million people voted for him in 2020.
And that wasn't fair to the rest of us.
We’ve trusted our neighbors.
We thought we shared most of the important things, the basic, core values like being a good loser, obeying the law, telling the truth and supporting the peaceful, non-violent transfer of power.
We thought we could rely on each other, the folks in the house across the street and others, whom we've never met and who live on the other side of the country.
The shock in 2016 was that even though Trump had lost the popular vote, millions of people did vote for him and cheered when the Electoral College put him over the top.
Now, even more people would do it again.
Even after Trump’s terrible presidency, culminating in his attempt to overturn the Biden election by engineering the 2021 riot at the Capitol, millions of voters are okay with that and want him to continue to do awful stuff, only worse.
Think of it. The presumptive leader of the free world tried to cheat on an election, and lots of people are okay with that.
Pollsters tell us that if the election were held today, more people would vote for Trump than Joe Biden.
And the reason lies with those who are close to us.
Our uncles, wives, great-aunts and brothers are okay with Donald Trump.
The same goes for our co-workers, teaching assistants, second-best friends and the diners at the restaurant table next to ours.
The guy driving the Honda Civic behind our F-150 is A-OK with Trump.
People who went to daycare with us have grown up to be okay with Trump.
Fans, who are cheering for our football team, are okay with Donald Trump.
The patient groaning in the emergency room bay next to yours is okay with Donald Trump.
The friendly lady, who’s walking in the park with her cute Jack Russell, is okay with Donald Trump.
We are betrayed.
PRO-TRUMP - in Tuscon, AZ, 2016. CREDIT: Johnny Silvercloud, Creative Commons license
ELECTION COUNTDOWN:
10 MONTHS TO GO.
Democracy Is On The Line Nov. 5th
THERE ARE JUST 10 MONTHS, as of today, until the Nov. 5 election.
Which means that the election, which will determine whether the United States remains a democracy, is almost here. And right now, democracy is losing.
I had a close encounter earlier this week with one of the many obstacles that President Joe Biden faces in his underdog campaign to win a second term, and prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House and creating a dictatorship.
My wife and I were at one of several events that Rhode Island Democrats are holding to collect signatures to put Biden’s name on the ballot for our state’s April 2 presidential primary.
This signature gathering event happened to be held at the Middletown Public Library. Greeting us at the front door was an affable guy with a clipboard. He asked whether we were registered voters, and if so, could we sign some nomination papers?
The candidate? Dean Phillips.
You might be excused for wondering who Phillips us. He’s the Minnesota Congressman who is challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination. Phillips claims to be a big fan of the president, but warns that Biden can’t win, so he’s stepping up.
“Absolutely not!” I told the guy, who said he was from Phillips' state and seemed taken aback by my response. Shouldn’t voters have a choice, he asked? And besides, we're all the same side, wanting to defeat Donald Trump - right?
Wrong.
Phillips’ candidacy is absurd. But it’s also dangerous. Because anything that suggests pro-democracy voters have a choice other than Biden – such as an alternative Democrat, or a third-party candidate – takes precious votes from Biden and helps Donald Trump.
Which means that the election, which will determine whether the United States remains a democracy, is almost here. And right now, democracy is losing.
I had a close encounter earlier this week with one of the many obstacles that President Joe Biden faces in his underdog campaign to win a second term, and prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House and creating a dictatorship.
My wife and I were at one of several events that Rhode Island Democrats are holding to collect signatures to put Biden’s name on the ballot for our state’s April 2 presidential primary.
This signature gathering event happened to be held at the Middletown Public Library. Greeting us at the front door was an affable guy with a clipboard. He asked whether we were registered voters, and if so, could we sign some nomination papers?
The candidate? Dean Phillips.
You might be excused for wondering who Phillips us. He’s the Minnesota Congressman who is challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination. Phillips claims to be a big fan of the president, but warns that Biden can’t win, so he’s stepping up.
“Absolutely not!” I told the guy, who said he was from Phillips' state and seemed taken aback by my response. Shouldn’t voters have a choice, he asked? And besides, we're all the same side, wanting to defeat Donald Trump - right?
Wrong.
Phillips’ candidacy is absurd. But it’s also dangerous. Because anything that suggests pro-democracy voters have a choice other than Biden – such as an alternative Democrat, or a third-party candidate – takes precious votes from Biden and helps Donald Trump.
NOTHING will be more catastrophic to the country than Trump returning to White House, which is a nightmare that today seems not only possible, but likely.
The Real Clear Politics website, which tracks current voter preferences, has been showing Trump with a more than two-point lead in a hypothetical match up. These were the figures yesterday.
BIDEN: 44.3 percent
TRUMP: 46.5 percent
Astonishing.
Especially astonishing considering the symbolism of tomorrow’s anniversary – the third year since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Trump’s final, desperate attempt to stay in power.
That should have been the end of Trump. Instead, the opposite has happened. Trump gets a pass from millions of Republicans.
For example, a disturbingly large cohort of voters think the FBI, not Trump, was responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection.
A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll asked respondents whether it was true or false that FBI operatives caused the Capitol riot. Twenty-five percent answered it was "definitely" or "probably" true that the FBI was behind the uprising.
Trump can probably count on some of these unhinged voters to support his election and his goals if he wins: to put federal departments, the military, the apparatus of government under his control.
The Real Clear Politics website, which tracks current voter preferences, has been showing Trump with a more than two-point lead in a hypothetical match up. These were the figures yesterday.
BIDEN: 44.3 percent
TRUMP: 46.5 percent
Astonishing.
Especially astonishing considering the symbolism of tomorrow’s anniversary – the third year since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Trump’s final, desperate attempt to stay in power.
That should have been the end of Trump. Instead, the opposite has happened. Trump gets a pass from millions of Republicans.
For example, a disturbingly large cohort of voters think the FBI, not Trump, was responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection.
A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll asked respondents whether it was true or false that FBI operatives caused the Capitol riot. Twenty-five percent answered it was "definitely" or "probably" true that the FBI was behind the uprising.
Trump can probably count on some of these unhinged voters to support his election and his goals if he wins: to put federal departments, the military, the apparatus of government under his control.
OBVIOUSLY, millions of other Americans are opposed to a dictatorship, and wonder what they can do to help Biden, who many people, myself included, think has been a capable president.
Offering advice is Robert Reich, a University of California professor and former labor secretary under President Bill Clinton.
In a recent column in The Guardian newspaper, Reich proposes 10 steps individuals can take to head off a Trump victory. Here are two:
Ten months until the election.
Ten months to save a country.
Offering advice is Robert Reich, a University of California professor and former labor secretary under President Bill Clinton.
In a recent column in The Guardian newspaper, Reich proposes 10 steps individuals can take to head off a Trump victory. Here are two:
- "Become a political activist to ensure Trump is not elected. For some of us, this will mean taking more time out of our normal lives, up to and including getting out the votes in critical swing states. For others, it means phone banking, making political contributions, writing letters to editors, and calling friends and relations in key states."
- "Don’t decide to sit this election out or to vote for a third-party candidate, because you don’t especially like Biden and you’re tired of voting for the 'lesser of two evils.' Biden may not be perfect, but he’s not the lesser of two evils. Trump is truly evil.
Ten months until the election.
Ten months to save a country.
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION: GO CRAZY OVER POLITICS
An election, only months away, will change our country and our lives
THIS LITTLE BOAT, with its flag-style sail, is one of my favorite images from last year, suggesting - at least to me - this singular challenge: Can America make it safely through 2024?
The boat sails alone under angry skies. But it seems to do so with confidence, suggesting that, despite ominous odds, it expects to reach its destination.
As I took this photo last October, someone on board waved cheerfully at me as the boat moved steadily up Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. I don’t know why.
Maybe he was just a showoff.
Maybe he was a terrorist, enlisting Old Glory en route to his rendezvous with Donald Trump, eager to join his cult's mission to turn the United States into a dictatorship and, incidentally, keep Our Leader out of jail.
I prefer to think of the sailor as a patriot, proud of his country, its traditions and sacred symbols, suggesting that no matter how bleak the prospects, democracy can be saved.
The day I saw the boat, I was taking one of my favorite walks, at Fort Adams State Park, where there are lots of ways to have fun: ruby matches, sailing programs, vintage car shows and the Newport folk and jazz festivals.
Instead, I was obsessing about Donald Trump.
IT'S CRAZY.
All I care about on any day, at any time of day, is politics and whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump will win the Electoral College.
Instead of seeing a boat with a clever sail, I looked for signs about whether the United States, as we know it, will survive.
The boat sails alone under angry skies. But it seems to do so with confidence, suggesting that, despite ominous odds, it expects to reach its destination.
As I took this photo last October, someone on board waved cheerfully at me as the boat moved steadily up Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. I don’t know why.
Maybe he was just a showoff.
Maybe he was a terrorist, enlisting Old Glory en route to his rendezvous with Donald Trump, eager to join his cult's mission to turn the United States into a dictatorship and, incidentally, keep Our Leader out of jail.
I prefer to think of the sailor as a patriot, proud of his country, its traditions and sacred symbols, suggesting that no matter how bleak the prospects, democracy can be saved.
The day I saw the boat, I was taking one of my favorite walks, at Fort Adams State Park, where there are lots of ways to have fun: ruby matches, sailing programs, vintage car shows and the Newport folk and jazz festivals.
Instead, I was obsessing about Donald Trump.
IT'S CRAZY.
All I care about on any day, at any time of day, is politics and whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump will win the Electoral College.
Instead of seeing a boat with a clever sail, I looked for signs about whether the United States, as we know it, will survive.
 | Please, no small talk. I don’t want to hear about the weather. Or how long the street repairs are taking, the price of eggs, the answer to Final Jeopardy! or the possibility that I paid too much for new tires or whether another celebrity has bought or sold a pricey home. |
Maybe the boat was just a boat. Just enjoy it. Seems nutty to turn every little thing into a seminar on the election.
Or is it?
Is it crazy to be afraid that the worst president in history – a vicious cheat, a sex criminal and psychopath who almost overturned the election that he’d just lost – is not only trying again, but at the moment he's winning?
What I’m hoping is that millions of people will recognize there's a catastrophe in the making, and realize there is only one thing that matters in 2024.
It's not the economy, the climate, overseas wars, all of which truly are all critical, that counts this year. The life-and-death event of 2024 will be number of votes counted on Nov. 5.
If Trump wins, there will be no going back: “Oops, I guess that a dictatorship wasn’t a good idea after all.”
WHAT TO DO?
I have no special insight here. I’m just one insignificant elderly gentleman, who's no more worth listening to than any other loudmouth sounding off at the neighborhood diner.
But in this national crisis, every voice, every idea, every opinion, every vote, counts. So, here are my two-cents about what to do:
ON NEW YEAR’S DAY, which is supposed to be the final, joyful holiday of the season, everything seems grim, because it is grim.
Biden is too old, and his many accomplishments are unappreciated. Millions of voters have already made up their minds and not in a good way.
It’s impossible to understand anyone voting for Donald Trump, but they plan to.
So, it's up to millions of other Americans to care about the peril we face as individuals and as a country.
Politics will crush us. Or save us. It’s not hopeless. We can make 2024 the year Americans cared enough about their democracy to save it.
Go crazy.
Or is it?
Is it crazy to be afraid that the worst president in history – a vicious cheat, a sex criminal and psychopath who almost overturned the election that he’d just lost – is not only trying again, but at the moment he's winning?
What I’m hoping is that millions of people will recognize there's a catastrophe in the making, and realize there is only one thing that matters in 2024.
It's not the economy, the climate, overseas wars, all of which truly are all critical, that counts this year. The life-and-death event of 2024 will be number of votes counted on Nov. 5.
If Trump wins, there will be no going back: “Oops, I guess that a dictatorship wasn’t a good idea after all.”
WHAT TO DO?
I have no special insight here. I’m just one insignificant elderly gentleman, who's no more worth listening to than any other loudmouth sounding off at the neighborhood diner.
But in this national crisis, every voice, every idea, every opinion, every vote, counts. So, here are my two-cents about what to do:
- Everyone should care about the Nov. 5 election. The more obsessed people get, the more people will be alert to the danger and how to avoid it. Big numbers are the only way to be rid of Donald Trump.
- Stop complaining about Joe Biden age and other flaws, and start talking about the positive things he’s done, including not being Donald Trump.
- Stop thinking of yourself, and your one vote, as insignificant.
- Give money. Politicians, the good ones included, need lots of it.
- Look for small things to do – go door-to-door, write letters, postcards and texts. Some of them may work.
- If you have friends or relatives on the Trump-Biden fence, tell them – respectfully - how important this election is to you and how deeply you feel about it. One out of a hundred may care.
- If you are an ace headline writer or advertising genius, write a slogan that nails Biden. So far, no one has. But there is an effective slogan out there somewhere; the right two or three words may win the election.
ON NEW YEAR’S DAY, which is supposed to be the final, joyful holiday of the season, everything seems grim, because it is grim.
Biden is too old, and his many accomplishments are unappreciated. Millions of voters have already made up their minds and not in a good way.
It’s impossible to understand anyone voting for Donald Trump, but they plan to.
So, it's up to millions of other Americans to care about the peril we face as individuals and as a country.
Politics will crush us. Or save us. It’s not hopeless. We can make 2024 the year Americans cared enough about their democracy to save it.
Go crazy.
2023: A BAD YEAR;
JUST NOT ALL BAD
 JOE BIDEN - CREDIT, photo, the White House, David Lienemann |  DONALD TRUMP - CREDIT, illustration by Frank Gerardi |
I’M AMONG THE FEW PEOPLE who don’t think 2023 was a terrible year.
Sure, a whole lot of dreadful was packed into the 12 months now wrapping up.
But there was a lot to like about 2023 – well, maybe “a lot” is too generous.
Still, there were some remarkable people at work, and some uplifting events.
And these positives count, because they are what sustain and move us forward. The negatives are to be expected.
I know that by now, you’ve had enough of year-end roundups. And what’s more, a lot of people carry them off with more skill, detail and eloquence than I do. Let’s start off with the positives.
THE GOOD
Sure, a whole lot of dreadful was packed into the 12 months now wrapping up.
But there was a lot to like about 2023 – well, maybe “a lot” is too generous.
Still, there were some remarkable people at work, and some uplifting events.
And these positives count, because they are what sustain and move us forward. The negatives are to be expected.
I know that by now, you’ve had enough of year-end roundups. And what’s more, a lot of people carry them off with more skill, detail and eloquence than I do. Let’s start off with the positives.
THE GOOD
JOE BIDEN: AN AMERICAN HERO
He saved us from a Trump second term. Moreover, Joe has run his presidency as well as anyone could – better than people much younger, smarter, better spoken and more charismatic than he is.
We take this accomplishment for granted, as if the first three years of Biden’s term have been how things are supposed to be.
His cabinet is filled with bright, competent people who value their offices and missions.
He has made reasonable decisions. Ukraine. His big spending bills. I don’t say they were perfect or even 100 percent right decisions. Presidents say and do stupid things, since, with one exception, they are terribly human.
Presidents have too much power, starting with being able to blow up the world just on their say so. At the same time, a handful of extremist Republicans in Congress can stalemate a president, bring the economy to a dead stop, betray our allies and cancel reform.
He saved us from a Trump second term. Moreover, Joe has run his presidency as well as anyone could – better than people much younger, smarter, better spoken and more charismatic than he is.
We take this accomplishment for granted, as if the first three years of Biden’s term have been how things are supposed to be.
His cabinet is filled with bright, competent people who value their offices and missions.
He has made reasonable decisions. Ukraine. His big spending bills. I don’t say they were perfect or even 100 percent right decisions. Presidents say and do stupid things, since, with one exception, they are terribly human.
Presidents have too much power, starting with being able to blow up the world just on their say so. At the same time, a handful of extremist Republicans in Congress can stalemate a president, bring the economy to a dead stop, betray our allies and cancel reform.
Biden generally goes in the right direction dealing with foreign affairs, the environment, social welfare, transportation, the economy, civil rights, issues like abortion and gun control and the many, many things that that government can do to help rather than hurt people.
Is he too old? Yes. Of course, 81-years is too old. But is there a better Democrat – better known to most voters – to run in 2024? Absolutely not.
Would Biden rather not be seeking a second term? He actually said so a few weeks ago – that if Trump weren’t the likely opponent, Joe probably wouldn’t be in the race.
It’s good to have a good person in charge.
DEMOCRACY IS IN PERIL
THIS IS A GOOD THING, you ask?
Of course not. But recognizing the crisis facing democracy is an essential step to preserving our flawed, inspired experiment in self-government.
For a long time, most of us been under the illusion that because Biden returned the country to normal after the Trump chaos that everything will be okay. The political press continues to report mainly on polls, who’s ahead and not, rather than the life-and-death consequences of the 2024 election.
In the words of Liz Cheney, democracy’s most eloquent advocate, we have been sleepwalking toward dictatorship.
But as the year is ending, millions of people are waking up to the certainty that a Trump second term will be a catastrophe.
There have been a slew of news stories about Trump’s plans – and the many people who will be helping him – to create a cruel and wide-ranging authoritarian regime from which we cannot recover.
The best example is The Atlantic magazine’s year-end issue, headlined “If Trump Wins,” in which 24 writers project what will happen. The Department of Justice will hunt down Trump’s enemies; a demonic program will detain, then drive immigrants from the country; the Insurrection Act will send the military to quell protests.
Most Americans don’t read The Atlantic, the New York Times and the Washington Post – none of which have the influence they did just a few years ago. But I trust they and other media will continue to spell out the consequences of the Nov. 5 election, and those warnings will be a factor in the outcome.
THE TRUMP INDICTMENTS
Is he too old? Yes. Of course, 81-years is too old. But is there a better Democrat – better known to most voters – to run in 2024? Absolutely not.
Would Biden rather not be seeking a second term? He actually said so a few weeks ago – that if Trump weren’t the likely opponent, Joe probably wouldn’t be in the race.
It’s good to have a good person in charge.
DEMOCRACY IS IN PERIL
THIS IS A GOOD THING, you ask?
Of course not. But recognizing the crisis facing democracy is an essential step to preserving our flawed, inspired experiment in self-government.
For a long time, most of us been under the illusion that because Biden returned the country to normal after the Trump chaos that everything will be okay. The political press continues to report mainly on polls, who’s ahead and not, rather than the life-and-death consequences of the 2024 election.
In the words of Liz Cheney, democracy’s most eloquent advocate, we have been sleepwalking toward dictatorship.
But as the year is ending, millions of people are waking up to the certainty that a Trump second term will be a catastrophe.
There have been a slew of news stories about Trump’s plans – and the many people who will be helping him – to create a cruel and wide-ranging authoritarian regime from which we cannot recover.
The best example is The Atlantic magazine’s year-end issue, headlined “If Trump Wins,” in which 24 writers project what will happen. The Department of Justice will hunt down Trump’s enemies; a demonic program will detain, then drive immigrants from the country; the Insurrection Act will send the military to quell protests.
Most Americans don’t read The Atlantic, the New York Times and the Washington Post – none of which have the influence they did just a few years ago. But I trust they and other media will continue to spell out the consequences of the Nov. 5 election, and those warnings will be a factor in the outcome.
THE TRUMP INDICTMENTS
ONE OF THE WEIRDEST, almost supernatural things about Trump is how quickly we get used to how evil he is and the terrible things he does.
“That’s just Trump,” we say, no matter what he says or does.
We quickly acclimated to the fact that he’s the first ex-president not only to be indicted for a crime, but for a bunch of crimes.
But they should shock us every day:
Trump is being held to account for some of his worst activities.
It goes to the heart of our democracy, that no man is above the law. Which is in contrast to Trump’s comment years ago that he could shoot someone in the middle of Manhattan and he'll get away with it.
Why aren’t these devastating charges part of every political news story? Why doesn't every headline include the word "crook?"
For one thing, because Trump’s cult doesn't care.
In fact, his polling has improved as the charges have accumulated, and particularly, the Republican party and congressional leaders treat Trump as a victim rather than a serial criminal.
Another counter-force is that we are used to Trump getting away with his bad behavior, so the question is not that he’s been charged, but how he’ll wriggle free.
Still, the positive point is that there is a serious, well-documented attempt to bring him to justice.
And it’s going to happen. One of these days....
THE BAD
DANGEROUS VOTERS
THE WEBSITE , REAL CLEAR POLITICS, has this hypothetical match up between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, with less than 11 months to go before the Nov. 5 election:
Trump: 46.8 percent
Biden: 44.5 percent
It's insane.
We know so much about Trump, including his attempt to change the election outcome, culminating with the insurrection at the Capitol, in which some of the rioters hoped to hang Trump’s vice president.
In office, out of office, Donald Trump is a vile and dangerous man, an insult to our politics. He is a racist, a rapist, a cheat, a liar and a bully whose controlling ethic is cruelty.
When he won the 2016 election, there was a question as to what he’d really be like as president. The answer was immediate, and by the end of his four-year term, there was a long, long bill of particulars.
Now, with all that is known, how can any voter, any of our neighbors, friends, family members and fellow pet owners, look on Trump with anything but contempt? That they act otherwise is astonishing and deeply disturbing. The people we love and respect, cheering on Trump?
But that's what is happening.
For me, Trump's support became shockingly clear when the New York Times on Nov. 5 - a year from the election - published a poll of voters in six swing states showing Trump winning in five of them.
“That’s just Trump,” we say, no matter what he says or does.
We quickly acclimated to the fact that he’s the first ex-president not only to be indicted for a crime, but for a bunch of crimes.
But they should shock us every day:
- The Aug. 1 indictment brought by Jack Smith, the Department of Justice's special counsel, charging Trump with a multi-pronged effort to overthrow the 2020 election.
- The Aug. 14 racketeering indictment brought in Georgia charging Trump and his confederates with an organized attempt to reverse the election.
- The June 9 Smith indictment charging Trump with taking and mishandling classified documents, some of which involved nuclear warfare, as he left office.
- The March 30 indictment in New York charging Trump with falsifying records in connection with alleged hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
Trump is being held to account for some of his worst activities.
It goes to the heart of our democracy, that no man is above the law. Which is in contrast to Trump’s comment years ago that he could shoot someone in the middle of Manhattan and he'll get away with it.
Why aren’t these devastating charges part of every political news story? Why doesn't every headline include the word "crook?"
For one thing, because Trump’s cult doesn't care.
In fact, his polling has improved as the charges have accumulated, and particularly, the Republican party and congressional leaders treat Trump as a victim rather than a serial criminal.
Another counter-force is that we are used to Trump getting away with his bad behavior, so the question is not that he’s been charged, but how he’ll wriggle free.
Still, the positive point is that there is a serious, well-documented attempt to bring him to justice.
And it’s going to happen. One of these days....
THE BAD
DANGEROUS VOTERS
THE WEBSITE , REAL CLEAR POLITICS, has this hypothetical match up between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, with less than 11 months to go before the Nov. 5 election:
Trump: 46.8 percent
Biden: 44.5 percent
It's insane.
We know so much about Trump, including his attempt to change the election outcome, culminating with the insurrection at the Capitol, in which some of the rioters hoped to hang Trump’s vice president.
In office, out of office, Donald Trump is a vile and dangerous man, an insult to our politics. He is a racist, a rapist, a cheat, a liar and a bully whose controlling ethic is cruelty.
When he won the 2016 election, there was a question as to what he’d really be like as president. The answer was immediate, and by the end of his four-year term, there was a long, long bill of particulars.
Now, with all that is known, how can any voter, any of our neighbors, friends, family members and fellow pet owners, look on Trump with anything but contempt? That they act otherwise is astonishing and deeply disturbing. The people we love and respect, cheering on Trump?
But that's what is happening.
For me, Trump's support became shockingly clear when the New York Times on Nov. 5 - a year from the election - published a poll of voters in six swing states showing Trump winning in five of them.
 |
That's when I started getting out of bed every morning with a sick feeling, understanding that the monster is back. I'm sure that lots of people are feeling the same way, especially since many subsequent polls are showing the pre-election trends.
You can argue that pollsters are asking the wrong questions. They should be asking voters not whether they prefer Biden or Trump, but how many years Donald John Trump, aka "The Defendant," should serve in prison.
Pundits, at least some of them, assure us that it’s too early for polls to be valid.
They are wrong.
The polls may and usually do have lots of flaws. But this isn't the time to niggle over the margin of error or whether the wrong smart phones are being called.
It's clear that a lot of people want Donald Trump to be president. And that a lot of others don't want Joe Biden to be president.
It's terrible. And the challenge of our lifetime.
THE HOTTEST YEAR
You can argue that pollsters are asking the wrong questions. They should be asking voters not whether they prefer Biden or Trump, but how many years Donald John Trump, aka "The Defendant," should serve in prison.
Pundits, at least some of them, assure us that it’s too early for polls to be valid.
They are wrong.
The polls may and usually do have lots of flaws. But this isn't the time to niggle over the margin of error or whether the wrong smart phones are being called.
It's clear that a lot of people want Donald Trump to be president. And that a lot of others don't want Joe Biden to be president.
It's terrible. And the challenge of our lifetime.
THE HOTTEST YEAR
FORT ADAMS STATE PARK, Dec. 26. The grass shouldn't be green. That other stuff should be snow, not fog. It's not "nice" weather. It's a warning
IN NEWPORT, the grass is green. It’s December.
There has been no snow of note in Rhode Island. It’s winter.
Our front porch thermometer reads 49 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s “nice" in our corner of New England, except it’s not supposed to be.
The year 2023 will be declared as the hottest ever on Earth. Ever – as in ever since we've been writing on the walls of caves.
The record estimates are from the World Meteorological Organization and other tracking organizations, such as the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
It means there’s a good chance that humans will destroy themselves and their home planet.
The climate crisis already has reached Old Testament scale: wildfires, floods, hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, rising sea levels, habitat-destroying, people-killing heat waves.
It’s may be too late to stop the collapse of the environment. And, if elected, Trump will do everything he can to hurry things along.
The irony is that we probably have enough technology – wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars, smarter farming – to put this into reverse.
Millions of people want to save their planet, their home.
But so far, not enough people are doing enough things to force governments and industries to stop the murder of Earth.
THE ISRAELI-PALESTINE WAR
HAMAS DID NOT have to attack Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel did not have to destroy Gaza in the months that followed.
Actual human beings are responsible for both atrocities.
Even if we are not in Israel or Gaza, it is possible for us as onlookers to understand how both sides see the conflict.
No one who survived the Hamas attack will forget or forgive the savagery and slaughter. If you are a Jew, a centuries-old peril is instantly refreshed. The Holocaust is no longer ancient history; it happened last night or yesterday. “Never again” means that, as a Jew, you never again can feel safe, and you never again will be safe.
If you are a Palestinian, you might have survived the months of Israel's retaliation, but you may not make it through tomorrow.
The death toll is now over 20,000, many of the dead are children. Your home is rubble. You are being starved and sickened. You are told where to go next to escape the next bombing run, but it is a lie. Israel’s retaliation is a massive, unforgivable war crime.
If you are Israeli or Palestinian there is no reason to stop killing, maiming and hating. Only a fool would tell you that.
There has been no snow of note in Rhode Island. It’s winter.
Our front porch thermometer reads 49 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s “nice" in our corner of New England, except it’s not supposed to be.
The year 2023 will be declared as the hottest ever on Earth. Ever – as in ever since we've been writing on the walls of caves.
The record estimates are from the World Meteorological Organization and other tracking organizations, such as the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
It means there’s a good chance that humans will destroy themselves and their home planet.
The climate crisis already has reached Old Testament scale: wildfires, floods, hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, rising sea levels, habitat-destroying, people-killing heat waves.
It’s may be too late to stop the collapse of the environment. And, if elected, Trump will do everything he can to hurry things along.
The irony is that we probably have enough technology – wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars, smarter farming – to put this into reverse.
Millions of people want to save their planet, their home.
But so far, not enough people are doing enough things to force governments and industries to stop the murder of Earth.
THE ISRAELI-PALESTINE WAR
HAMAS DID NOT have to attack Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel did not have to destroy Gaza in the months that followed.
Actual human beings are responsible for both atrocities.
Even if we are not in Israel or Gaza, it is possible for us as onlookers to understand how both sides see the conflict.
No one who survived the Hamas attack will forget or forgive the savagery and slaughter. If you are a Jew, a centuries-old peril is instantly refreshed. The Holocaust is no longer ancient history; it happened last night or yesterday. “Never again” means that, as a Jew, you never again can feel safe, and you never again will be safe.
If you are a Palestinian, you might have survived the months of Israel's retaliation, but you may not make it through tomorrow.
The death toll is now over 20,000, many of the dead are children. Your home is rubble. You are being starved and sickened. You are told where to go next to escape the next bombing run, but it is a lie. Israel’s retaliation is a massive, unforgivable war crime.
If you are Israeli or Palestinian there is no reason to stop killing, maiming and hating. Only a fool would tell you that.
DICTATORSHIP --
OR DEMOCRACY?
THE MEDIA FINALLY WAKES UP
TO THE STAKES IN ELECTION 2024
DICTATOR IN WAITING -- Donald Trump at one of his court hearings
AT LAST, the nation’s top news outlets are being frank about the peril posed by the 2024 election: Donald Trump, if elected, will turn the United States into a dictatorship.
One of the boldest examples of this candor is the decision by The Atlantic magazine to devote its January-February edition to 24 articles by its contributors, who explore the consequences of a Trump victory, under the heading If Trump Wins.
One of the articles, already online, is headlined, The Danger Ahead, in which David Frum describes the consequences of a Trump victory:
One of the boldest examples of this candor is the decision by The Atlantic magazine to devote its January-February edition to 24 articles by its contributors, who explore the consequences of a Trump victory, under the heading If Trump Wins.
One of the articles, already online, is headlined, The Danger Ahead, in which David Frum describes the consequences of a Trump victory:
| A second Trump term would instantly plunge the country into a constitutional crisis more terrible than anything seen since the Civil War. Even in the turmoil of the 1960s, even during the Great Depression, the country had a functional government with the president as its head. But the government cannot function with an indicted or convicted criminal as its head. The president would be an outlaw, or on his way to becoming an outlaw. For his own survival, he would have to destroy the rule of law. |
 | Other Atlantic writers deal with the many ways that Trump and his supporters are planning to destroy American democracy: remaking the Department of Justice to go after his enemies; abandoning NATO; packing the federal bureaucracy with loyalists who’ll carry out Trump’s orders; what will happen to core issues such as climate change, immigration and civil rights; and the many challenges faced by journalism. |
THE WASHINGTON POST, meanwhile, featured a long, detailed piece on Nov. 30 by one of its opinion writers, Robert Kagan, that began with this chilling headline:
A TRUMP DICTATORSHIP IS INCREASINGLY INEVITABLE. WE SHOULD STOP PRETENDING.
A TRUMP DICTATORSHIP IS INCREASINGLY INEVITABLE. WE SHOULD STOP PRETENDING.
| For many months now, we have been living in a world of self-delusion, rich with imagined possibilities. * Such hopeful speculation has allowed us to drift along passively, conducting business as usual, taking no dramatic action to change course, in the hope and expectation that something will happen. * Like people on a riverboat, we have long known there is a waterfall ahead but assume we will somehow find our way to shore before we go over the edge.” |
The New York Times, in a series of articles, has detailed the depth of plans by Trump and right wing groups, including this this Dec. 4 piece:
HOW TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES PLAN TO WIELD POWER OF 2025
HOW TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES PLAN TO WIELD POWER OF 2025
| Since launching his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump has said the “termination” of the Constitution would have been justified to overturn the 2020 election, told followers “I am your retribution” and vowed to use the Justice Department to prosecute his adversaries — starting with President Biden and his family. * Beneath these public threats is a series of plans by Mr. Trump and his allies that would upend core elements of American governance, democracy, foreign policy and the rule of law if he regained the White House. * Since leaving office, Mr. Trump’s advisers and allies at a network of well-funded groups have advanced policies, created lists of potential personnel and started shaping new legal scaffolding — laying the groundwork for a second Trump presidency they hope will commence on Jan. 20, 2025. |
Among the drastic plans are those aimed at undocumented immigrants, the Times’ article explained:
| Mr. Trump is planning an assault on immigration on a scale unseen in modern American history. Millions of undocumented immigrants would be barred from the country or uprooted from it years or even decades after settling here. Bolstered by agents reassigned from other federal law enforcement agencies and state police and the National Guard, officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement would carry out sweeping raids aimed at deporting millions of people each year. Military funds would be used to erect sprawling camps to hold undocumented detainees. A public-health emergency law would be invoked to shut down asylum requests by people arriving at the border. And the government would try to end birthright citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil to undocumented parents. |
Back in April, Washington Post reporters similarly explored details of Trump’s plans:
TRUMP TOUTS AUTHORITARIAN VISION FOR SECOND TERM: 'I AM YOUR JUSTICE.
TRUMP TOUTS AUTHORITARIAN VISION FOR SECOND TERM: 'I AM YOUR JUSTICE.
| Mandatory stop-and-frisk. Deploying the military to fight street crime, break up gangs and deport immigrants. Purging the federal workforce and charging leakers. Former president Donald Trump has steadily begun outlining his vision for a second-term agenda, focusing on unfinished business from his time in the White House and an expansive vision for how he would wield federal power. In online videos and stump speeches, Trump is pledging to pick up where his first term left off and push even further. |
Trump himself has added to these the grim forecasts. Campaigning in Claremont, New Hampshire last month, he made this widely quoted declaration, which some experts compared to the kind of language used by authoritarian leaders, the Post reported on Nov. 12:
TRUMP CALLS POLITICAL ENEMIES 'VERMIN,'ECHOING DICTATORS HITLER, MUSSOLINI
| Former president Donald Trump denigrated his domestic opponents and critics during a Veterans Day speech Saturday, calling those on the other side of the aisle “vermin” and suggesting that they pose a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China or North Korea. That language is drawing rebuke from historians, who compared it to that of authoritarian leaders. "We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Trump said toward the end of his speech, repeating his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. "They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream." |
The Times devoted one article on Dec. 5 to Trump’s various speeches and social media posts: DONALD TRUMP'S 2024 CAMPAIGN, IN HIS OWN MENACING WORDS
The Times cited 69 quotes. Here’s a sampling:
The Times cited 69 quotes. Here’s a sampling:
 |
WILL THIS INCREASED ATTENTION to the election’s outcome make a difference?
I doubt that the barrage of news and opinion articles will change the minds of Trump cultists. Indeed, the wording is so apocalyptic that many will dismiss it as confirmation that a liberal media is indeed is partisan and biased.
But I’m guessing that it will help put the election in its proper perspective, emphasizing that Trump is hardly just another candidate, but instead he's a figure that could change the course of national and world history, putting the country into a downward, irreversible slide into authoritarianism.
This has not an easy call for editors and leaders of these news organizations, who remain uncomfortable with finally having to tell it like it is.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, explained the magazine’s decision, to devote an entire edition about the consequences of a Trump victory in an article headlined: A WARNING:
I doubt that the barrage of news and opinion articles will change the minds of Trump cultists. Indeed, the wording is so apocalyptic that many will dismiss it as confirmation that a liberal media is indeed is partisan and biased.
But I’m guessing that it will help put the election in its proper perspective, emphasizing that Trump is hardly just another candidate, but instead he's a figure that could change the course of national and world history, putting the country into a downward, irreversible slide into authoritarianism.
This has not an easy call for editors and leaders of these news organizations, who remain uncomfortable with finally having to tell it like it is.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, explained the magazine’s decision, to devote an entire edition about the consequences of a Trump victory in an article headlined: A WARNING:
| The Atlantic, as our loyal readers know, is deliberately not a partisan magazine. “Of no party or clique” is our original 1857 motto, and it is true today. Our concern with Trump is not that he is a Republican, or that he embraces—when convenient—certain conservative ideas. We believe that a democracy needs, among other things, a strong liberal party and a strong conservative party in order to flourish. Our concern is that the Republican Party has mortgaged itself to an antidemocratic demagogue, one who is completely devoid of decency. |
A CASE CAN BE MADE that there's a self-serving motive for these journalistic warnings, since the media itself would be in Trump’s crosshairs:
Earlier this week, a former Trump advisor, Kash Patel, who could have a role in a second administration, said on a podcast that the media would be a principal target, the Associated Press reported Dec. 5:
A SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL 'COME AFTER' PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA IN THE COURTS, AN ALLY SAYS
Earlier this week, a former Trump advisor, Kash Patel, who could have a role in a second administration, said on a podcast that the media would be a principal target, the Associated Press reported Dec. 5:
A SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL 'COME AFTER' PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA IN THE COURTS, AN ALLY SAYS
| Kash Patel, who was also chief of staff in the Defense Department and held a role on the National Security Council, made the comment on Steve Bannon’s podcast. He said that, in a second Trump administration, “We will go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media,” over the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” Patel said. “Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we’re going to come after you." |
This, of course, is old news, since Trump, going back to his presidency, has long been at war with news outlets. In a post on his “Truth Social” platform on Sept. 24, Trump declared:
| I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events. Why should NBC, or any other of the corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE? They are a true threat to Democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country! |
YOU CAN ARGUE that the media is emphasizing the danger of a Trump dictatorship because it’s worried about its own skin.
To which I say: Good.
It’s about time the press realized that it’s likely to be among the first targets of a dictatorship, as has been the case historically when authoritarians take control.
So, yes, the media’s increased focus on the election's outcome may be as much about its own survival as it is concern for the future of the country.
Which does not make its warnings less true.
My concern is that the media will back away from these explicit warnings, saying that “We covered that back in December,” rather than making the alarms a regular feature of campaign coverage.
This is an election that we should all take personally. A dictatorship will attack every aspect of society – schools, business, the environment, agriculture, science, health care, entertainment.
No one will be spared. Everything will be worse.
Every single American is at risk in a Trump dictatorship.
This is an election in which we all need to vote as if our lives depend on it.
Because that’s the fact.
To which I say: Good.
It’s about time the press realized that it’s likely to be among the first targets of a dictatorship, as has been the case historically when authoritarians take control.
So, yes, the media’s increased focus on the election's outcome may be as much about its own survival as it is concern for the future of the country.
Which does not make its warnings less true.
My concern is that the media will back away from these explicit warnings, saying that “We covered that back in December,” rather than making the alarms a regular feature of campaign coverage.
This is an election that we should all take personally. A dictatorship will attack every aspect of society – schools, business, the environment, agriculture, science, health care, entertainment.
No one will be spared. Everything will be worse.
Every single American is at risk in a Trump dictatorship.
This is an election in which we all need to vote as if our lives depend on it.
Because that’s the fact.
BRIAN C. JONES
I'VE BEEN a reporter and writer for 60 years, long enough to have learned that journalists don't know very much, although I've met some smart ones.
Mainly, what reporters know comes from asking other people questions and fretting about their answers.
This blog is a successor to one inspired by our dog, Phoebe, who was smart, sweet and the antithesis of Donald Trump. She died Feb. 3, 2022, and I don't see getting over that very soon.
Occasionally, I think about trying to reach her via cell phone.
Mainly, what reporters know comes from asking other people questions and fretting about their answers.
This blog is a successor to one inspired by our dog, Phoebe, who was smart, sweet and the antithesis of Donald Trump. She died Feb. 3, 2022, and I don't see getting over that very soon.
Occasionally, I think about trying to reach her via cell phone.
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