Category: Politics

I went to the Seattle Public Library today, which is where I found the latest issue of The Economist— the one below, with the Cybertruck bashing a bald eagle.

About Musk, the editorial inside asks ‘Is he remaking America’s government, or breaking it?’
Towards the end, the editorial concludes ‘There are three possible outcomes.
First, just as rivals laughed at Tesla and SpaceX in their early days, DOGE* will come good in time.
Second, that Mr Musk will break the government.
The third, likeliest scenario is that DOGE become snarled up in court; many good civil servants are fired or quit; fewer talented people see government as a good career; and America is left with a stronger president and a weaker Congress.’

*Dept. of Government Efficiency.

Sunday’s election, which came months ahead of schedule after the country’s governing coalition crumbled late last year, produced a few surprises and a lot of suspense. Late in the evening in Berlin, it was unclear if the next government would be another wobbly three-party affair, like the one that fell apart last fall, or a return to the more durable two-party governments that had led Germany for most of this century.
…
Among German voters, 65 percent are worried that Germany is helpless against President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, according to a poll released on Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday night in a post-election debate between leaders, Friedrich Merz (the likely new chancellor), quickly brought up the threat that Germany and Europe face because of the new U.S. administration.

“It has become clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this government, is largely indifferent to the fate of Europe,” he said. “I am very curious to see how we approach the NATO summit at the end of June — whether we are still talking about NATO in its current state or whether we need to establish an independent European defense capability much more quickly.”
-Christopher F. Schuetze and Jim Tankersley reporting from Berlin for the New York Times

Without question, the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election brought a devastating sense of loss to all of us who had hoped reason would prevail.
I cannot fathom how anyone could believe that this vile, repugnant man— the sore loser of the 2020 election— is fit to once again serve as President of the United States.

I’ve also promised myself that this will be the last post I make about politics for a very long time.

Kamala Harris Rips Trump As ‘Unstable, Obsessed With Revenge’ At Ellipse
By Kaitlin Lewis for Newsweek.com
More than 75,000 spectators gathered in Washington, D.C., to hear Vice President Kamala Harris’ closing argument speech at the same site of former President Donald Trump’s infamous “Save America” rally that preceded the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Harris’ event at the Ellipse arrived one week before Election Day and followed Trump’s closing arguments at Madison Square Garden on Sunday that received backlash for its inflammatory and racist rhetoric.

From the New York Times Editorial Board:
It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He has proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities — wisdom, honesty, empathy, courage, restraint, humility, discipline — that he most lacks.

Those disqualifying characteristics are compounded by everything else that limits his ability to fulfill the duties of the president: his many criminal charges, his advancing age, his fundamental lack of interest in policy and his increasingly bizarre cast of associates.

This unequivocal, dispiriting truth — Donald Trump is not fit to be president — should be enough for any voter who cares about the health of our country and the stability of our democracy to deny him re-election.

For this reason, regardless of any political disagreements voters might have with her, Kamala Harris is the only patriotic choice for president.

Only two weeks remain until Election Day.
I was reminded today by someone on the radio that the 2020 election was only called on Saturday Nov. 5— four days after Election Day (Tuesday Nov. 1).

Written for deadline.com by Ted Johnson and Dominic Patten on Nov 7, 2020:
After days of wait over a seemingly glacial pace of ballot counting, CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer called the presidential race for Joe Biden at 11:24:20 AM ET, the first of the networks to declare the winner.

“After four long tense days, we have reached a historic moment in this election,” Blitzer said. “We can now project the winner of the presidential race.”

What triggered it? The latest report of votes coming in from Pennsylvania, which put Biden’s margin over Trump at more than 30,000. Although the trendlines have been in Biden’s direction, network decision desks had been reluctant to make the call until they could better discern the remaining vote.

Analyst Van Jones broke down in tears. “It’s easier to be a parent this morning. It’s easier to be a dad. It’s easier to tell your kids, character matters. It matters. Telling the truth matters.”

My ballot landed in the mailbox today. I walk down to the drop box here on Broadway in Seattle’s Capitol Hill tomorrow, and drop it in tomorrow.

Here’s Ezra Klein writing in an opinion piece for the New York Times called ‘Ignore The Polls’, Oct. 13, 2024:

There are voters who are still undecided, but they are, almost by definition, voters who pay less attention to political news and are either so uninterested in politics or so cynical about both candidates that nothing has yet caused them to make up their minds. There are many more voters whose minds are made up but may or may not actually fill out ballots by Election Day. These are the voters who will decide the election, and they’re not tipping their hands yet.

I suspect, if you’re reading this column, you’re not one of those voters. So give yourself a break. Step off the emotional roller coaster. If you want to do something to affect the election, donate money or time in a swing state — ideally to a state party or down-ballot race, where your efforts will go further — or volunteer in a local race. Call anyone in your life who might actually be undecided or might not be registered to vote or might not make it to the polls. And then let go. There’s nothing more you can do, and nothing more the polls can do for you.

Happy Friday.
Early voting has started across the country.
In Georgia, former president Jimmy Carter (100 years old) has voted for Harris-Walz.
My ballot has not arrived yet, but it should land in my mailbox any day now.

Happy Friday.
Thirty-two days to go.

“After tonight, I don’t think Donald Trump will be insisting on another debate.”
– Whit Ayres, Republican Pollster

“Trump looked angry, scowling, and old”
– Chris Wallace on CNN tonight

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election.”
– Taylor Swift in an Instagram post to her 283 million followers

By all accounts (that matter), Vice President Kamala Harris acquitted herself very, very well during the debate tonight with Trump.

Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer writes for The Washington Post:
Harris’s strategy was to get under Trump’s skin, a campaign official said, and she did that.
A few examples:
She said people leave his rallies early “out of exhaustion and boredom.”
She said military leaders have told her he’s a “disgrace.”
She said 81 million people fired him and “he is having a very difficult time processing that.”
She said Russian President Vladimir Putin would “eat you for lunch.”

There goes August, leaving us with 66 days to go until Nov. 5.

The convention in Chicago is over.
The Democratic Party’s nominee for president took the stage tonight in Chicago to rapturous applause and accepted the nomination.
I liked all of Harris’s speech: the story of her life, how everyone counts in a democracy, and saying she will be a president that is realistic and practical, and that she will always fight for the American people.

Nandita Bose, Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu reporting for Reuters:
Harris drew a series of contrasts with Trump, accusing him of not fighting for the middle class, planning to enact a tax hike through his tariff proposals, and having set in motion the end of a constitutional right to abortion with his picks for the U.S. Supreme Court.