Tag: Kamala Harris

America Had A Choice. America Chose Wrong

Sharing some thoughts of mine and others while trying to process this awful change.

America had a choice on November 5, 2024. America chose wrong. Donald Trump, the decaying orange convicted felon/child rapist who stole state secrets and tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat was reelected to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States. We can’t say we weren’t warned.

From The Onion

I’m still reeling a bit, alternating between shock, grief, and trying to find my way to process what I believe marks the end of America two years shy of its 250th birthday. Oh, sure it’ll still show up on a map, have a flag, and command a place in the world. But it will never be the same. No more defiantly claiming this is not who we are. In an act of national lunacy, this is who we’ve chosen to be. Sorry. That’s how I see it. You don’t invite a criminal into your home and stand in surprise when he steals the silver.

But back to the processing.

One of the things I do is read and share writing and subjects I think are worth your time. Typically that appears in my Sunday Morning Reading column here on the Wicked Stage. Today, I’m sharing some reading that has helped me through a couple of sleepless nights and very gray moods under very gray skies. Some seeks solace and understanding. Some might feel vindictive and angry. As I said, processing.

I hope you take the time to read this writing from some very thoughtful thinkers.

First up is Scattered Thoughts On The Worst of Days by Ian Dunt. Helpful words from overseas.

David Todd McCarty is trying to make sense of things in the aftermath of a catastrophe in So, That Happened.

Mark McKinnon pens An Open Letter to My Daughters. It’s meant as some words of solace. I’m not sure I’m there yet. One day, maybe. But I’m saving this for my granddaughter to read down the road.

Charles Pierce writes With The Election of Donald Trump, America is About to Get Exactly What It Wants.

James C. Nelson is a vet from a distinguished military family. He comes in hot with I Will Fly My Flag No Longer.

Finally, Ken White of PopeHat fame writes down some thoughts in And Yet It Moves. Damn good. Here’s a quote:

Are Americans inherently good, freedom-loving, devoted to free speech and free worship, committed to all people being created equal? That’s our founding myth, and isn’t it pretty to think so? But a glance at history shows it’s not true. Bodies in graves and jails across America disprove it. We’re freedom-loving when times are easy, devoted to speech and worship we like with lip service to the rest, and divided about our differences since our inception.

In some small way I’m selfishly hoping sharing this might help me as much as you. Good reading.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

Why I’m Voting for Kamala Harris

For my granddaughter.

Short. Sweet. Simple.

This week I voted for Kamala Harris for President of the United States.

Tomorrow, my granddaughter celebrates her first birthday.

I voted for my granddaughter’s (and also my grandson’s) future.

That’s it. That’s the post.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Living on a Knife’s Edge: Post Election Fears

The Anxiety Is Real

While we’re treading water waiting for the election I have to admit my anxiety is split about evenly between what actually happens with the vote before and on November 5th, and what happens after that. To be honest, I’m more worried about the latter.

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I’ll break it down into my four biggest fears.

Violence

Do I think there will be violence? I do. To what degree I don’t know. From what quarter I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if the MAGAts and insurrectionists don’t have some sort of Maskirovka in the works to try and force the Department of Justice (which they don’t control) to take some action. Which brings me to my second fear:

Merrick Garland

I have no faith that Merrick Garland will do the right thing in any event, violent or no. He’s proven that he doesn’t understand that not taking action is as political as taking action. Frankly, this could easily be my number one fear.

SCOTUS

If whatever happens ends up in front of the Supreme Court, we’re screwed. I don’t see any other possible outcome.

The Body Politic

I have no way of knowing what’s going to happen with the vote or its aftermath. Consequently I have no way of knowing how our body politic is going to react to whatever that will be. I just fear that we’re sitting on a knife’s edge that has been honed for far too long. Does this mean going back to Fear above? Not necessarily. I fear we could also end up in a situation when disillusionment settles in one way or the other that could be just as dangerous in the long run as violence would be in the short term.

Someone, somewhere on the Internet described our anxious waiting as akin to a national waiting for the results of a biopsy. I think they were spot on.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Sam Elliott Gets Down and Dirty with Lincoln Project Ad for Kamala Harris

Let’s just make Sam Elliott the official voice of the Harris/Walz campaign.

There are voices and there are voices. If you’ve ever been in the business of casting an actor for a character or finding a voice for a message you know what that means. You also know when you hit pay dirt. The Lincoln Project did just that with Sam Elliott and his well known and well loved gravely voice over for its latest ad called Choose Change. 

Be warned though, this might not be your grandma’s ad. Call it NSFW, depending on where you work, but you need to call it perfect for the moment.

The ad makers decided to let Elliott say just what those of us who liberally sprinkle the F-word in our descriptions think and say about what’s happening in this country. If you ask me it’s glorious. I’m sure others will think it’s out of line. But then what line are we talking about given what we’re living through? The one for deportations?

The ad also ends with what I think is a great line: “It’s time to be a man, and vote for a woman.” I imagine that’ll piss off more folks than the F-word. If you ask me further, I’d say the Harris/Walz campaign should just sign Elliott up as the voice of the campaign going forward.

Well worth a watch and well worth sharing. Hell, even send it to your grandma. She may not like the language, but for many I’ll be she’ll tell them to suck it up and be a man.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

The Real Kamala Harris Debate Story

The Kamala Harris debate victory puts all the rest of Trump’s previous opponents to shame.

Kamala Harris wiped the floor with Donald Trump’s comb-over in the debate last night. There’s no disputing her victory. As wonderful as it was watching it, it doesn’t mean there isn’t work to still be done in what continues to be a close election, and perhaps a closer post-election slew of legal fights. But the real story, from a 30,000 foot view is a bigger one.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) shakes hands with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Kamala Harris is the first political candidate to take on Donald Trump in a debate and knock him off kilter, while winning walking away since he emerged as a candidate in 2015. Joe Biden, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Hilary Clinton, and others never bested the bully. They may have scored on points, may have technically been declared the winner, but not one of them knocked him off his stride.  

From the moment she strode across the stage and forced the coward to shake her hand while introducing herself she had him in her grasp. It was a spectacle to behold in these typically less than spectacular events.

Yes, I posted previously that we didn’t need a debate. I won’t say I was wrong then. I will say instead that we needed this moment, whether it was in a debate or not.

Kamala Harris wants to turn the page on this terrible Trump tale. Perhaps she’s also turning the tide. But we still have a ways to go.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

I Don’t Think We Need A Debate

Why have a debate when we already know what’s going to happen?

The hype machines are running full tilt for next week, whipping up a frenzy of sound and fury that will eventually signify something, but in the end nothing. I’m not talking about the annual run up to Apple’s announcements of new iPhones or the kickoff to the NFL season, both of which generate enough hype to overwhelm their respectve events. I’m talking about the debate between Kamala Harris and the decaying orange convicted felon/child rapist Donald Trump. I just don’t think we need to have a debate.

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Sure debates have been a part of political campaigns since time immemorial. It’s been accepted canon that we need to see how candidates stack up side by side and face to face. But we’ve long since wrung any substance out of these beauty contests in American politics. And this one promises to continue that trend and deepen the trench our politics has fallen into.

Let’s get real. We already know the candidates positions or lack thereof. Nothing new of substance will be announced during a debate. We also already know what the candidates will say of each other. The only suspsense is how Harris will choose to respond to the bullshit Trump will spew all over the stage. We also already know the debate moderators won’t bring up the high stakes that this election is really about. They’ll dance around January 6th and Trump’s stealing of classified material. They’ll also piroutette away from asking directly if Trump wants to dismantle the constitution and serve as a dictator.

It will be left up to the candidates to “fact check” each other, a task that offers no real benefit since Trump gish-gallopped out of Reality TV into this surreal reality we all deal with now. Perhaps, and more importantly, no matter how the debate goes we already know the spin that’s going to be spun in the hours and days after the debate. God could moderate this debate and declare a winner and it wouldn’t matter to most.

What I think also doesn’t matter and I’m guessing I’m not alone. Sure, there might be a relative handful of undecided voters who tune in to see what’s what, but call me cynical, I don’t think I want those folks deciding the future of the country given what we face and what we’re living through.

The debate will happen. Apple will also announce new iPhones and the NFL will kick off another season. It will be a week. And then we’ll move on to the next big thing to over hype, over ripen, wishing it would just be over.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.