[ Posted Friday, November 1st, 2024 – 15:34 UTC ]
The final week of the 2024 presidential campaign was reduced -- quite literally -- to "trash talk." This is perhaps a fitting end for this contest, one might think.
But among all the frenzy surrounding who called whom "garbage" this week, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her closing pitch to voters from the same spot Donald Trump incited a mob to go attack the United States Capitol four years ago. From the Ellipse, with the White House in the background, Harris spoke of the differences between her and Trump, and made her closing argument for why Americans should vote for her rather than him.
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[ Posted Thursday, October 31st, 2024 – 14:26 UTC ]
I start with an apology: I can't do it. I just can't. Not this year, sorry.
Today is when I traditionally spin scary (and amusing) stories depicting nightmares from the left and right of the political divide, but this year reality is scarier than anything I could come up with. So I am abdicating my duty. I am punting.
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[ Posted Wednesday, October 30th, 2024 – 15:53 UTC ]
Today seems like a good day to write an optimistic column. I was inspired to do so by reading a different optimistic column, in today's New York Times (to give full credit for my outburst of rosy-tinted cheerfulness). The article, by Jonathan Alter, is titled: "What If Democrats Win The White House And Congress On Tuesday?" It does begin by admitting that this all may be a "pipe dream," but it lays out what Kamala Harris and a Democratic Congress (with control of both houses) might be able to accomplish.
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[ Posted Tuesday, October 29th, 2024 – 17:05 UTC ]
With one week left until Election Day, a trend seems to have emerged. Unfortunately for Democrats, this trend seems to be favoring Donald Trump, although not in what you'd call an overwhelming way. It may be more the cumulative effect of a number of battleground states just barely edging over to Trump simultaneously. But it is the first trend of any kind in quite a while, so it bears mentioning.
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[ Posted Monday, October 28th, 2024 – 16:48 UTC ]
The 2024 presidential campaign has been an unusual one in a number of respects. The candidates from both major political parties got their nominations in rather odd ways, and while the outcome is going to be close, the winner will set some sort of political precedent in modern American politics for the way this campaign has unfolded.
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[ Posted Friday, October 25th, 2024 – 17:47 UTC ]
The Washington Post secured its entry into the annals of American political history by taking down a United States president. Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein famously uncovered the entire Watergate scandal, which caused Richard Nixon to resign in disgrace. Award-winning books and movies about the brave reporters followed, portraying them as giants in the world of journalism.
Ah... those were the days, eh?
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[ Posted Thursday, October 24th, 2024 – 16:21 UTC ]
Kamala Harris was asked in an interview recently whether, if she became president, she would be open to the idea of pardoning Donald Trump. She dodged the question as a "hypothetical," and the interviewer moved on. Today Donald Trump indicated that he'd be open to pardoning Hunter Biden, which isn't exactly the same thing but seemed to be Trump trying to put forward the idea that a pardon would be a good idea, and that the alternative would be "very bad for our country."
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[ Posted Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024 – 17:56 UTC ]
We begin today with a few definitions, from Merriam-Webster:
fasces
a bundle of rods and among them an ax with projecting blade borne before ancient Roman magistrates as a badge of authority
fascism
(1) a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition
(2) a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
surprise
(1) an attack made without warning
(2) something that surprises
(3) the feeling caused by something unexpected or unusual
October surprise
[US politics] a significant revelation or event in the month prior to an election that has the potential to shift public opinion about an election candidate and that is often orchestrated to influence the election's outcome
That's what the dictionary says.
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[ Posted Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024 – 16:40 UTC ]
Last week, we called the presidential race "as close as things can get." This week we have to up that to "even closer than close," we suppose. As things stand, there are two states perfectly tied in the polls, which leaves neither candidate with enough to win the Electoral College outright without adding at least one of them.
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[ Posted Monday, October 21st, 2024 – 15:42 UTC ]
Two weeks from tomorrow is Election Day. To be followed by Election Night, when we all gather 'round our screens and watch the returns come in and wait for the experts to call each of the states for one candidate or the other. But remember last time? This time might turn out the same -- instead of just one night of stress, we may all have to live through "Election Week," as the final votes are counted.
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