In the wake of the first presidential debate, we here in America have been immersed in a single national news narrative: Joe Biden: the successful sitting president who defeated Donald Trump just four years ago, who led us past an insurrection, through COVID, and out of inflation—needs to step aside.
I’m heartbroken and sickened by the unrelenting consistency of major media outlets to treat the candidates as equivalent. The criticism of the debate and press conference, even the committee withholding $90 million of the incumbent insists on continuing— meanwhile the false narrative that Trump seems “strong and forceful.”
They are not equivalent, and we have never had an election like this.
One is a malignant narcissist with measurably worsening cognitive impairment who has plainly told us that he wants to be dictator for life. A convicted felon who calls white nationalists fine people, who envies Putin, Orban, Duterte, and Kim. A man who incited an insurrection and told his people to hang the sitting vice president. A man who has ripped away the judicial and legislative gird rails.
And the other candidate, with decades of experience in politics, has presided over the strongest jobs market in 60 years, who has sent the stock market soaring, who has empowered young people with forgiveness of usurious loan interest rates, who has actually restored domestic manufacturing and is tending to infrastructure issues from century-old highways and bridges, a man who is restoring the middle class.
Why is Trump winning and why are the media helping him!
I believe that the Biden/Harris ticket will win by well over 12-15 million votes. Biden beat Trump before he was impeached, indicted, convicted of 34 felony charges, before Roe was overturned, before the insurrection happened, before clear paperwork about his pedophelia was made available to the public….Before the outline of Project 2025…before 90% of his former staff members said they won’t back him!
I was only 17 and not at all political in 1968, but the Chicago convention and its chaos made a lasting impression. As did the election results. LBJ may or may not have won if he hadn’t stepped aside, but for sure that action lost us that election. The last thing we need at this time is a repeat…if you can’t learn from history what’s the point?
"I’m afraid some progressives are going to demand Joe Biden step down all the way to November and if he ends up losing by a minuscule amount—will fail to realize they will have been that margin."
I can't presume to speak for all my fellow progressives who are trying to persuade Joe to step aside now, but all who I've communicated with directly and read online have clearly stated that we will back Joe 100% should he still be the nominee at the end of the DNC next month.
There are, for me, three points that need to be addressed. They are:
1) You cannot be a Trump supporter AND a moral human being;
2) America's mainstream media is AT LEAST as dangerous to our democracy as Trump and his vile gang of MAGAts are; and finally
3) Refusing to vote for Joe Biden because of his age, or because of his centrist, institutionalist political bent, or because of indifference, or because he's not perfect (whatever the hell that means), or because you "just don't like him," is ITSELF a grotesquely immoral act given the existential nature of this election and the *actual, stated malevolence, injustice, and cruelty* that fuels the modern-day Republican Party.
Lives are at stake here. An entire way of life is at stake here. People's freedoms and liberties are at stake here. An entire world's biosphere is at stake here. As Beau of the Fifth Column (https://www.youtube.com/@BeauoftheFifthColumn/videos) said recently, "If you are scared, then you aren't scared enough." This from a man who very rarely is given to hyperbole or emotion. And he's absolutely right.
It is WAY past time for Democrats to stop hand-wringing and cowering and sniping at each other, as Jaime Harrison, DNC chief, recently exclaimed. And is it WAY past time for you to stop supporting mainstream media sources that continue to stoke these dangerous, dysfunctional, click-bait narratives. That's pretty much all of them, including, sadly, my go-to MSNBC. *It's got to stop.* Again, lives are at stake.
Here's the deal. I'd vote for a greasy dollop of COVID in a moldy pickle jar left in a hot parking lot at a Wal-Mart over Trump; and I'd stand in line for days to do it, too. It's time to rise up and fight back, folks; it's time to get as serious as a heart attack. As Josey Wales says, "When things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is." I realize that Wales, being a former Confederate guerrilla (and played by a conservative in Clint Eastwood), may not be the best source to quote from, but his words are perfect for this historic, terrifying moment. And right now they are pointing directly at the entire friggin' Democratic Party.
I am sick and tired of the left demonizing Biden for being old. Instead they should harp on all the things he has done for America. How about the stock market? Oh the job market is going great! Oh my how much better is the economy? Nancy Pelosi is older than Biden and they talk about how much she has done for the country. If she had Biden’s schedule going around the world and speaking to world leaders and hosting events. It is easy to say things in the safety of tv studios when you cool calm and collected. She should be in congress reining in those ridiculous policies that are brought in by those idiots in congress. Dishwashers, refrigerators etc seriously, not children care, hunger and poverty? Not women health care? She should have classes on what the purpose of government agencies is to protect workers’ safety and safety for the environment and protect our planet. Things like that.
Biden can win this. Harris can assume the mantle if something bad happens after Joe is sworn in, like every previous time in history. Stop the hand wringing & get busy working to get Joe re-elected! It's important!
So very well articulated John. It is true that ”America is in the balance”. If the Democratic Party does not unite, it is like handing the election to a convicted felonious liar that cares only for himself. Please put all your efforts into getting out this message.
Fabulous and perfectly grounded in fact. I want to send this to the NYT and to the Wash.Post and to all the sniveling blather being put out there. God, can’t we just get out of our own way and let adult actions begin our purpose. This is about all of humanity now. Not about greedy , power .
Get out of the way if all you want is to be boring.
Don't write off #GenZ...they are calling. Why? Because it's their future more then the 70-somthings we hang with. Student loans and other education issues, basic freedom are all.in jeopardy at this very moment.
I have posted this on Fb and sent it to friends. It is THE best cri de coeur I have read. True as stone.
Joe Biden has proved himself continuously since he took office, and he can beat DJT like a drum, but the whole of the Democratic Tent has to join him. That is the only way this Democracy survives.
I am unbelievably pi&$ed off right now. I don’t care who the Democratic nominee for POTUS is on November 5th, he/she will get my vote. This election isn’t about a candidate, it’s about a document… the Constitution of the United States of America. I have had it up to my ears with the infighting about Joe Biden’s credibility as a candidate. Enough already!!!! We know Trump is a loon. Get the info out regarding Project 2025, and come 11/5… VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO! And as for the MSM, shut the hell up… your jobs are at stake come November.
John, I am a member of the left, sort of. When I served in the state legislature, the media would grade all 150 legislators based on votes and i usually was 1 o 2 in ranking and media articles would follow. I don’t care.
I do care about using your valuable time and writing castigating today’s left (whose strategies and careless messaging drive me nuts-I am a baby boomer).
Crusade by preaching to the left to get involved in down ballot issues..
Crusade by trying to come up with some way to encapsulate anti trump folks into a slogan that fits on a hat. I came up with a FREEDOM acronmy which does not exactly work for hats or tshirts.
I’m heartbroken and sickened by the unrelenting consistency of major media outlets to treat the candidates as equivalent. The criticism of the debate and press conference, even the committee withholding $90 million of the incumbent insists on continuing— meanwhile the false narrative that Trump seems “strong and forceful.”
They are not equivalent, and we have never had an election like this.
One is a malignant narcissist with measurably worsening cognitive impairment who has plainly told us that he wants to be dictator for life. A convicted felon who calls white nationalists fine people, who envies Putin, Orban, Duterte, and Kim. A man who incited an insurrection and told his people to hang the sitting vice president. A man who has ripped away the judicial and legislative gird rails.
And the other candidate, with decades of experience in politics, has presided over the strongest jobs market in 60 years, who has sent the stock market soaring, who has empowered young people with forgiveness of usurious loan interest rates, who has actually restored domestic manufacturing and is tending to infrastructure issues from century-old highways and bridges, a man who is restoring the middle class.
Why is Trump winning and why are the media helping him!
Someone wiser than I recently called the news outlets: "Media Malpractice"
There is also "expert" criticism of our polling, calling it: "Skewed Methodology"
My well being in these crazy times calls for gravitating toward common sense & intelligence
That's why I am following John & also Dr. Heather Cox Richardson
They are my beacons of hope that America is better than projected elsewhere
Peace Out!
I believe that the Biden/Harris ticket will win by well over 12-15 million votes. Biden beat Trump before he was impeached, indicted, convicted of 34 felony charges, before Roe was overturned, before the insurrection happened, before clear paperwork about his pedophelia was made available to the public….Before the outline of Project 2025…before 90% of his former staff members said they won’t back him!
Let’s GO! #bidenharris2024 #smokinjoeforthewin
I was only 17 and not at all political in 1968, but the Chicago convention and its chaos made a lasting impression. As did the election results. LBJ may or may not have won if he hadn’t stepped aside, but for sure that action lost us that election. The last thing we need at this time is a repeat…if you can’t learn from history what’s the point?
I, too, was alive and aware at the time of the '68 DNC. The big difference between then and now: the Vietnam War.
"I’m afraid some progressives are going to demand Joe Biden step down all the way to November and if he ends up losing by a minuscule amount—will fail to realize they will have been that margin."
I can't presume to speak for all my fellow progressives who are trying to persuade Joe to step aside now, but all who I've communicated with directly and read online have clearly stated that we will back Joe 100% should he still be the nominee at the end of the DNC next month.
There are, for me, three points that need to be addressed. They are:
1) You cannot be a Trump supporter AND a moral human being;
2) America's mainstream media is AT LEAST as dangerous to our democracy as Trump and his vile gang of MAGAts are; and finally
3) Refusing to vote for Joe Biden because of his age, or because of his centrist, institutionalist political bent, or because of indifference, or because he's not perfect (whatever the hell that means), or because you "just don't like him," is ITSELF a grotesquely immoral act given the existential nature of this election and the *actual, stated malevolence, injustice, and cruelty* that fuels the modern-day Republican Party.
Lives are at stake here. An entire way of life is at stake here. People's freedoms and liberties are at stake here. An entire world's biosphere is at stake here. As Beau of the Fifth Column (https://www.youtube.com/@BeauoftheFifthColumn/videos) said recently, "If you are scared, then you aren't scared enough." This from a man who very rarely is given to hyperbole or emotion. And he's absolutely right.
It is WAY past time for Democrats to stop hand-wringing and cowering and sniping at each other, as Jaime Harrison, DNC chief, recently exclaimed. And is it WAY past time for you to stop supporting mainstream media sources that continue to stoke these dangerous, dysfunctional, click-bait narratives. That's pretty much all of them, including, sadly, my go-to MSNBC. *It's got to stop.* Again, lives are at stake.
Here's the deal. I'd vote for a greasy dollop of COVID in a moldy pickle jar left in a hot parking lot at a Wal-Mart over Trump; and I'd stand in line for days to do it, too. It's time to rise up and fight back, folks; it's time to get as serious as a heart attack. As Josey Wales says, "When things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is." I realize that Wales, being a former Confederate guerrilla (and played by a conservative in Clint Eastwood), may not be the best source to quote from, but his words are perfect for this historic, terrifying moment. And right now they are pointing directly at the entire friggin' Democratic Party.
End rant.
I am sick and tired of the left demonizing Biden for being old. Instead they should harp on all the things he has done for America. How about the stock market? Oh the job market is going great! Oh my how much better is the economy? Nancy Pelosi is older than Biden and they talk about how much she has done for the country. If she had Biden’s schedule going around the world and speaking to world leaders and hosting events. It is easy to say things in the safety of tv studios when you cool calm and collected. She should be in congress reining in those ridiculous policies that are brought in by those idiots in congress. Dishwashers, refrigerators etc seriously, not children care, hunger and poverty? Not women health care? She should have classes on what the purpose of government agencies is to protect workers’ safety and safety for the environment and protect our planet. Things like that.
AMEN! About 10,000 times!
Elect the old dog not the rabid dog!
Biden can win this. Harris can assume the mantle if something bad happens after Joe is sworn in, like every previous time in history. Stop the hand wringing & get busy working to get Joe re-elected! It's important!
So very well articulated John. It is true that ”America is in the balance”. If the Democratic Party does not unite, it is like handing the election to a convicted felonious liar that cares only for himself. Please put all your efforts into getting out this message.
Mr. Pavlovitz,
Fabulous and perfectly grounded in fact. I want to send this to the NYT and to the Wash.Post and to all the sniveling blather being put out there. God, can’t we just get out of our own way and let adult actions begin our purpose. This is about all of humanity now. Not about greedy , power .
Get out of the way if all you want is to be boring.
Thank you again. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Speak TRUTH!! Thank you for putting my thoughts into a message I can share!
Don't write off #GenZ...they are calling. Why? Because it's their future more then the 70-somthings we hang with. Student loans and other education issues, basic freedom are all.in jeopardy at this very moment.
https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-backs-biden-debate-1920875
And they are spreading the word: https://www.yahoo.com/news/young-content-creators-drive-messaging-120040378.html
I guess the young voters will not miss democracy much since they are not old enough to have experienced it to any great extent...
I have posted this on Fb and sent it to friends. It is THE best cri de coeur I have read. True as stone.
Joe Biden has proved himself continuously since he took office, and he can beat DJT like a drum, but the whole of the Democratic Tent has to join him. That is the only way this Democracy survives.
I am unbelievably pi&$ed off right now. I don’t care who the Democratic nominee for POTUS is on November 5th, he/she will get my vote. This election isn’t about a candidate, it’s about a document… the Constitution of the United States of America. I have had it up to my ears with the infighting about Joe Biden’s credibility as a candidate. Enough already!!!! We know Trump is a loon. Get the info out regarding Project 2025, and come 11/5… VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO! And as for the MSM, shut the hell up… your jobs are at stake come November.
John, I am a member of the left, sort of. When I served in the state legislature, the media would grade all 150 legislators based on votes and i usually was 1 o 2 in ranking and media articles would follow. I don’t care.
I do care about using your valuable time and writing castigating today’s left (whose strategies and careless messaging drive me nuts-I am a baby boomer).
Crusade by preaching to the left to get involved in down ballot issues..
Crusade by trying to come up with some way to encapsulate anti trump folks into a slogan that fits on a hat. I came up with a FREEDOM acronmy which does not exactly work for hats or tshirts.
Absolutely! 💙🇺🇸