I really don't get it. The reluctance of so many Democrats to wholeheartedly support Biden is infuriating. Indeed, he has done more to improve the lives of Americans in two and a half years than any president in the last 50 years, especially given the numerous and overwhelming crises and critical issues of our day. His legislative accomplishments should be lauded every opportunity we can. I call them, "The New Deal on steroids". Unless we are willing or wanting to bolster Trump's or a clone's candidacy in 2024, we should go "all in" for Biden. The alternative sickens and terrifies me. The Republicans get it. Democrats need to grow up and stop whining when they don't get everything he promised or they demanded. This is the real world folks. We need to act and think like mature, reasonable adults, or else we all may live to regret it.
Hear Hear, Pat. People seem to forget that having a democracy means nobody gets everything they want. That's what comes (as it should) with diversity and the many voices that are in the room where it happens!
Exactly. Republicans are told who to vote for & line up & do it. Period. Democrats want to like the candidate, or check every issue, or not aggressive enough on their issue, or not progressive enough. Ridiculous! Enough! In this time of insanity & corruption vs. visionary responsible governance there is one choice. Get over all this stuff. Be like Nike, Just Do It. Big sigh.
One thing we can't lose sight of is that if TFG finally implodes during the run-up to the election, the Republicans will likely offer a "savior" to succeed him. We need to be prepared for that as well.
I would add that "mainstream media" reluctance to give his legislative accomplishments front page space every day (not sexy enough to sell papers or generate clicks) isn't helping. It's too easy to make it all about Trump.
Absolutely, Pat! It's scandalous, first of all that the automakers are not going all in on electric cars!!! Then to refuse to endorse Biden for doing everything he can to improve the horror of what we're experience due to climate change is just insane! I agree with your analysis of how great Biden is, and don't understand ANY Democrat's ridiculous criticism of him! He may not be "perfect," but he's the best we have to go up against Trump.
“We must pull together in recognition that the choice in 2024 is between Biden and tyranny.”
Absolutely. I watched in horror yesterday as the Speaker of the House, 3RD IN LINE FOR THE PRESIDENCY, defended the former president and said that people he talked to “all across the country” were upset about a potential indictment. He said this without having seen an indictment, which we know will provide evidence that Trump broke many laws, tried to overturn an election, and put people on harm’s way.
The Speaker of the House is defending these crimes.
This is not a party that can be allowed to govern.
I was born in the third month of the Eisenhower administration, of which I remember nothing. To the extent I was aware of JFK, I knew him only as a distant celebrity. It was in the times of LBJ that I became aware of policy. Lord, how I hated that man! I marched against the war, I supported the Peace and Freedom Party in 1968... Today, I see thing differently. I consider LBJ the best president of my life time, a man with large and glaring faults and failing but nonetheless the best president of my lifetime.
Biden has climbed the ladder and displaced Ike to take over the #2 position. He too is a man with large and glaring faults. To choose just one example, while it is true that he has been the most pro-climate president ever, that doesn't mean he's been pro-climate. It's been one step forward, two steps back with him. But what other president has ever taken that one step forward?
The question in my mind is, are his failing really his failings, or are they due to the circumstance in which he must work? He has never had a good congress to work with. Yes, I think he should be re-elected, but let's put him on the spot, let's see what he's really made of. Let's also elect a congress that will push him.
I'm not sure if you could put Jimmy Carter in there as a climate activist as he did have solar panels installed on the White House roof back in 1979. We can only imagine where we would be today climate-wise if Reagan hadn't had them removed when he took over the presidency.
Sitting on the fence is the equivalent of cheering on the insurrectionists. Especially for union leaders this amounts to having a death wish. Perhaps they should better listen to MTG :-)
The UAW: never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity for the past 50 years. If Fain wants to know what the major problem his union faces is, all he needs to do is look in the bathroom mirror, like most other American union leaders - they spent 50 years excluding the people they need to save them today, and now they complain. And I say that as a union member (who always votes against the bourgeois bolsheviks who run for office in the WGA).
Sadly, union leadership often gets it wrong, which gives unions a bad wrap. Leadership should serve its members, not the other way around. If Shawn Fain thinks that ANY KIND of fair deal would be possible under tRump, he is totally crazy!!!!
Like most leaders (especially union) they only care about themselves. Look what the union head in NYC did to retirees trying to shove them into Medicare Advantage.
I wholeheartedly agree with Robert about supporting Joe Biden. He is not a ho-hum president. He has been a quiet, humble if not boring powerhouse, taking a sinking ship in a storm, back to harbor without crowing a bit. It feels that Americans just can’t appreciate solidity unless it glitters and puffs. I am so afraid that my own Democratic Party members have fallen prey to this now, too. I so appreciate the media and writers who are now stepping up to remind our bot-besodden, disinformation ridden, fad-trend addicted culture that in fact, we have a pretty amazing person at the helm. And frankly, who else is stepping up? We also blame “the Democrats”(ourselves, really) for suppressing the running field. When a new, true star or hero appears, we’ll know it. But not now. Now we have Biden and Roberts words ring 100% true. It’s Biden or tyranny and chaos. And those are not just words. They will be our daily lives. Please my fellow liberals…join the still-too-small group of people working around the clock to increase voter awareness and participation. We certainly can do this if everyone does the human to human work of caring, educating and modeling participation in a true Democracy. Thank you again, Robert.
Jul 20, 2023·edited Jul 20, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
"We must get over ourselves, folks."Truer words have never been spoken/written. Thank-you for your wise words, Robert. This is the exact sentiment I felt before the 2016 election. For as flawed a candidate as Hillary Clinton was, her imperfections were miniscule when compared to the sheer awfulness of Donald Trump. People didn't listen then. Will they now?
And now many praise Hillary. The dislike and downright hate towards VP Kamala Harris is in this same strain of downright mind-blowing to me. She is highly competent and definitely will uphold democracy.
Harris is highly competent, no question. I think people are paid to demonize the competition. Some do it for free out of ignoramusness. She is kind of ‘girly’ though, don’t you think? Sisterly. Reachable. I believe that is why they jump to ‘not competent’.
Biden: An old sculptor, chipping away, with time left, at a masterpiece called, “A More Perfect Union”
Republicans: The Taliban, mindlessly blowing up astounding, ancient Buddhist monuments not to their liking.
Those who who would vote against Biden for whatever myopic reason would do well to ponder the line, ‘ stay right here, ‘cause these are the good old days’. “Anticipation” by Carly Simon - good accompaniment to morning coffee and Today’s Edition Newsletter.
Today’s Edition points out a very interesting fact that most voters are unaware of. The executive orders around unions is just one example of hundreds how the Trump Administration corrupted and suppressed many levers of government. I can understand auto workers concern regarding electric vehicles and this represents an opportunity for the Biden Administration to create funding to help retrain the auto workers for the new technology. It is the same auto unions that negotiated contracts with the Big Three that resulted in the US losing the domestic auto markets to foreign competition. That threat still exists and both the Biden Administration and the UAW must reach a compromise that benefits both parties. Trump is not a friend to unions.
Just a quick comment about the unions or others who are not happy with particular issues that they don’t believe Biden has solved. My question always is: what the hell is the alternative? If the unions aren’t happy about the progress of electric cars and that their workers may be left out of that, please tell me what the GQP has ever done or will do in the future to satisfy unions???? Who are they going to hurt???? The Democrats who are trying their best to keep unions in the forefront. I truly don’t understand lower income whites, who would fall on a sword for Trump. What the hell has he ever done for them, and what do they think he will do in the future? If they could take their biased blinders off, they would so become Democrats, who truly are working night and day to make the lives of middle America better! Sadly, as we know, people are not motivated by their rational side but rather their emotions. Somehow, the Democratic message must be one that is powerfully emotional and yet shares the FACTS of what good government looks like.
Laura Stillman, you say: “ I truly don’t understand lower income whites, who would fall on a sword for Trump. What the hell has he ever done for them, and what do they think he will do in the future?”
What has Trump done for union workers? Apparently, he has given many of them a sense of self-respect (perhaps spurious, but real, nonetheless). This is in contrast to progressive Democrats and ‘deplorables’ Hillary Clinton, whom they evidently see as looking down on them.
Typical Democrats think industrial union workers should be following only their economic self-interest. But the workers also have a sense of pride, which evidently many of them think progressives and liberal democrats have trampled. Feeling personally attacked, they’ve been striking back.
Yes, we have not always done a good job of messaging to those folks. But the sad truth is that the Republicans just lie to them, and support thoughts and ideas that are racist, homophobic, “Christian” only. They don’t relate to their constituents by offering reasonable, compassionate policies, but rather hit them on emotional, cultural issues. It’s hard to talk to anyone in Trump’s camp, including some of my own family members, who either aren’t aware of facts or have been fed a steady diet of alternate facts. So, while I know Dems could do much better by going where they live and listening to their concerns, we really can’t support their cultural views of the world. It’s a conundrum. What do you suggest?
I believe you have a point here. The "deplorables" remark was extremely mild compared to what the right has said about democrats over the intervening years, but often those who lash out the most are the most defensive and quickest to take offense... especially when there is a sensitive spot.
While I think personality type, quality of education, media availability and sub-cultural or tribal identification all play a part, in terms of pride what would you suggest to address that aspect? For instance, would programs for retraining be helpful or be rejected as patronizing? Would there be better ways to address this? I believe, from what I've read, that there are areas in coal country where clean energy retraining would be welcome if there were employment opportunities locally available.
Remember what happened in the presidential election of 1844! That is what Heather Cox Richardson exclaimed when she and Joanne Freeman addressed the No Labels/Third Party problem. The candidates were James K. Polk (Democrat) and Henry Clay (Whig). It was free states versus slave states for the newly acquired territories out West. Both candidates were slave owners (Clay less so), so neither could pass the purity test for die-hard abolitionists. But who remembers the newly formed Liberty Party with James Birney as their candidate that handed the victory to Polk?
If anyone is withholding support from Joe Biden because of his age, I ask that you ask yourself whether or not you are acting like an ageist. This form of invidious discrimination (judging a person and acting on your or other’s concerns about your or their perception that a person might have diminished abilities because of an immutable aspect of that person) in this case, being and growing older, is real and widespread.
Because some African Americans had minimal education and minimal social skills among whites caused exclusion by white Americans of virtually all African Americans from good jobs, neighborhoods, schools and public buildings and institutions for years despite the obvious fact that specific African Americans had all the needed skills for a job etc. To a diminished extent such judgments still exclude some African Americans. That is a form of racism.
Because many or most women worked only in the home, many perceived that as the limit of women’s capabilities. A form of sexism. Which persists to some degree.
We all (well, most of us) now recognize racism and sexism and other such “ism’s.” Less recognized is ageism-judging a person based on their age. But this “ism” is no less damaging to the person so judged and to the nation’s ability and need to maximize the productivity of each person. Might a person in his 80’s in apparent good health die in the next 5 years? Yes maybe but maybe not. Same answer with the question about will that person develop poor mental health.
Much younger people die and develop mental issues but plenty of older people retain their abilities and energy. President Biden has.
Please consider judging President Biden on his abilities to do the jobs of being president and staying elected and bringing the house and senate in line to pass better laws and appoint better judges.
Look at what he has accomplished. Give him and give us as Americans who want our country to be as good as it can be a chance to accomplish more. He is far and above our best choice among the current candidates.
Ageism is a major conspiracy. Old people hold the knowledge of our past. Knowledge that, if it got out, would take money from the pockets of those who take advantage of young, not very experienced wage earners. Old people must be discredited in every way possible to prevent them from being taken seriously. Furthermore this kind of discrediting makes old people prey for the young. If old people are made to be unimportant they are made ‘invisible’ and are left unprotected. The long-lived are under utilized for their vast store of knowledge and wisdom, knowledge and wisdom that, if known, would upset the grift based economy.
I can't agree more about Joe Biden. With all the autocratic terror wafting around the globe, we are absolutely blessed to have Joe Biden with his steady hand as our president.
In 2016, Hilary Clinton had the perfect word for TFG and his party; DEPLORABLES!
Just received my GOTV postcards kit from Blue Wave Postcard Movement. This is a top notch well run organization. I feel like my work here makes a real difference! Please join me. Connect with bluewavepostcards.org. Work from your home and help GOTV across the USA! Start today!
I’m actually happy that you quoted yourself - it’s such a concise and elegant statement that I have clipped it and added it to my notes to have at the ready any time someone mentions to me that they wish Biden wasn’t running again. And thanks for continuing to mention Ohio! We have to do everything we can to get voters to turnout on Aug 8. Check out https://votenoinaugust.org/ for ways to get involved! Jess Craven also suggests joining this letter writing campaign (before July 25): https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-to-write-letters-with-working-america-5
I was second in-line at my county to early vote"No" on Issue 1. The turn-out locally has been good and I think it is that way state-wide. I am guardedly optimistic that the people's right to make changes to their state constitution will prevail. I also am grateful that Robert has mentioned Ohio and our very important special election on August 8.
The letters are soooo easy. Print; handwrite a sentence or two; sign; stuff in a stamped envelope; enjoy the walk to the post office. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
I wrote Vote Forward letters about this OH Reproduction protection bill and it's hidden poison pill amendment to raise the threshold to SIXTY % for all ballot initiatives going forward. That raise will allow a minority to prevent those initiatives from being passed in the future. I also did letters for the 2020 & 2022 elections as well. I find that the letters are a way I can do my part to help democracy, given my mobility issues and have driven canvassers for the door to door work.
2 friends and I, from Miami, sent out 200 postcards to Ohio voters (well, I hope they are voters) on Wednesday. The postcards were from Blue Wave Postcard Movement. We are with you all the way, Janet.
Joe Manchin and his coal interests are a real disappointment. Where at one point I thought he was a maverick with some justification for his orneriness, I've come around to thinking he's just a selfish Dem in name only. The amount of help he's given Joe Biden would fit in a teaspoon.
I really don't get it. The reluctance of so many Democrats to wholeheartedly support Biden is infuriating. Indeed, he has done more to improve the lives of Americans in two and a half years than any president in the last 50 years, especially given the numerous and overwhelming crises and critical issues of our day. His legislative accomplishments should be lauded every opportunity we can. I call them, "The New Deal on steroids". Unless we are willing or wanting to bolster Trump's or a clone's candidacy in 2024, we should go "all in" for Biden. The alternative sickens and terrifies me. The Republicans get it. Democrats need to grow up and stop whining when they don't get everything he promised or they demanded. This is the real world folks. We need to act and think like mature, reasonable adults, or else we all may live to regret it.
Hear Hear, Pat. People seem to forget that having a democracy means nobody gets everything they want. That's what comes (as it should) with diversity and the many voices that are in the room where it happens!
Democrats still believe things can be worked out on a bi-partisan basis for all those concerned.
The cult of ignorance will take anything that is stuffed down their throats and think it's great. Especially if represents them, the ‘patriots’.
So sad that so many remain fooled by nonsense.............
Even Margie Green-with-envy sees this:
https://twitter.com/joebiden/status/1681424737384435713
Brilliant ad!’
Exactly. Republicans are told who to vote for & line up & do it. Period. Democrats want to like the candidate, or check every issue, or not aggressive enough on their issue, or not progressive enough. Ridiculous! Enough! In this time of insanity & corruption vs. visionary responsible governance there is one choice. Get over all this stuff. Be like Nike, Just Do It. Big sigh.
It seems as if Democrats are playing "The Dating Game," while Republicans are playing "Survivor!" WAKE UP!
If you're interested, I posted a mercifully brief piece Monday touching on the differences between the parties and the 3rd party impact: https://open.substack.com/pub/bobmorgan/p/on-the-ballot-in-2024
One thing we can't lose sight of is that if TFG finally implodes during the run-up to the election, the Republicans will likely offer a "savior" to succeed him. We need to be prepared for that as well.
I would add that "mainstream media" reluctance to give his legislative accomplishments front page space every day (not sexy enough to sell papers or generate clicks) isn't helping. It's too easy to make it all about Trump.
Spot on!
Absolutely, Pat! It's scandalous, first of all that the automakers are not going all in on electric cars!!! Then to refuse to endorse Biden for doing everything he can to improve the horror of what we're experience due to climate change is just insane! I agree with your analysis of how great Biden is, and don't understand ANY Democrat's ridiculous criticism of him! He may not be "perfect," but he's the best we have to go up against Trump.
I’m all in for Biden, but so far as the UAW is concerned, I respectfully point to my comment below.
“We must pull together in recognition that the choice in 2024 is between Biden and tyranny.”
Absolutely. I watched in horror yesterday as the Speaker of the House, 3RD IN LINE FOR THE PRESIDENCY, defended the former president and said that people he talked to “all across the country” were upset about a potential indictment. He said this without having seen an indictment, which we know will provide evidence that Trump broke many laws, tried to overturn an election, and put people on harm’s way.
The Speaker of the House is defending these crimes.
This is not a party that can be allowed to govern.
The Republicans do not govern. They simply try to pay back their rich donors as much as possible and leave everyone else to sink or swim on their own.
I was born in the third month of the Eisenhower administration, of which I remember nothing. To the extent I was aware of JFK, I knew him only as a distant celebrity. It was in the times of LBJ that I became aware of policy. Lord, how I hated that man! I marched against the war, I supported the Peace and Freedom Party in 1968... Today, I see thing differently. I consider LBJ the best president of my life time, a man with large and glaring faults and failing but nonetheless the best president of my lifetime.
Biden has climbed the ladder and displaced Ike to take over the #2 position. He too is a man with large and glaring faults. To choose just one example, while it is true that he has been the most pro-climate president ever, that doesn't mean he's been pro-climate. It's been one step forward, two steps back with him. But what other president has ever taken that one step forward?
The question in my mind is, are his failing really his failings, or are they due to the circumstance in which he must work? He has never had a good congress to work with. Yes, I think he should be re-elected, but let's put him on the spot, let's see what he's really made of. Let's also elect a congress that will push him.
I'm not sure if you could put Jimmy Carter in there as a climate activist as he did have solar panels installed on the White House roof back in 1979. We can only imagine where we would be today climate-wise if Reagan hadn't had them removed when he took over the presidency.
Sitting on the fence is the equivalent of cheering on the insurrectionists. Especially for union leaders this amounts to having a death wish. Perhaps they should better listen to MTG :-)
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1681424737384435713?s=20
The UAW: never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity for the past 50 years. If Fain wants to know what the major problem his union faces is, all he needs to do is look in the bathroom mirror, like most other American union leaders - they spent 50 years excluding the people they need to save them today, and now they complain. And I say that as a union member (who always votes against the bourgeois bolsheviks who run for office in the WGA).
Sadly, union leadership often gets it wrong, which gives unions a bad wrap. Leadership should serve its members, not the other way around. If Shawn Fain thinks that ANY KIND of fair deal would be possible under tRump, he is totally crazy!!!!
Like most leaders (especially union) they only care about themselves. Look what the union head in NYC did to retirees trying to shove them into Medicare Advantage.
I wholeheartedly agree with Robert about supporting Joe Biden. He is not a ho-hum president. He has been a quiet, humble if not boring powerhouse, taking a sinking ship in a storm, back to harbor without crowing a bit. It feels that Americans just can’t appreciate solidity unless it glitters and puffs. I am so afraid that my own Democratic Party members have fallen prey to this now, too. I so appreciate the media and writers who are now stepping up to remind our bot-besodden, disinformation ridden, fad-trend addicted culture that in fact, we have a pretty amazing person at the helm. And frankly, who else is stepping up? We also blame “the Democrats”(ourselves, really) for suppressing the running field. When a new, true star or hero appears, we’ll know it. But not now. Now we have Biden and Roberts words ring 100% true. It’s Biden or tyranny and chaos. And those are not just words. They will be our daily lives. Please my fellow liberals…join the still-too-small group of people working around the clock to increase voter awareness and participation. We certainly can do this if everyone does the human to human work of caring, educating and modeling participation in a true Democracy. Thank you again, Robert.
"We must get over ourselves, folks."Truer words have never been spoken/written. Thank-you for your wise words, Robert. This is the exact sentiment I felt before the 2016 election. For as flawed a candidate as Hillary Clinton was, her imperfections were miniscule when compared to the sheer awfulness of Donald Trump. People didn't listen then. Will they now?
And now many praise Hillary. The dislike and downright hate towards VP Kamala Harris is in this same strain of downright mind-blowing to me. She is highly competent and definitely will uphold democracy.
Harris is highly competent, no question. I think people are paid to demonize the competition. Some do it for free out of ignoramusness. She is kind of ‘girly’ though, don’t you think? Sisterly. Reachable. I believe that is why they jump to ‘not competent’.
Hold up. I just saw a video of Kamala Harris speaking without the sound on. She did not look girly. She looked sharp and confident and forceful.
A lot has happened since then. We will see.
Biden: An old sculptor, chipping away, with time left, at a masterpiece called, “A More Perfect Union”
Republicans: The Taliban, mindlessly blowing up astounding, ancient Buddhist monuments not to their liking.
Those who who would vote against Biden for whatever myopic reason would do well to ponder the line, ‘ stay right here, ‘cause these are the good old days’. “Anticipation” by Carly Simon - good accompaniment to morning coffee and Today’s Edition Newsletter.
Love your metaphor about Joe Biden as an old sculptor!
Today’s Edition points out a very interesting fact that most voters are unaware of. The executive orders around unions is just one example of hundreds how the Trump Administration corrupted and suppressed many levers of government. I can understand auto workers concern regarding electric vehicles and this represents an opportunity for the Biden Administration to create funding to help retrain the auto workers for the new technology. It is the same auto unions that negotiated contracts with the Big Three that resulted in the US losing the domestic auto markets to foreign competition. That threat still exists and both the Biden Administration and the UAW must reach a compromise that benefits both parties. Trump is not a friend to unions.
The guy well known for stiffing service workers isn't going to be the guy siding with unions.
Just a quick comment about the unions or others who are not happy with particular issues that they don’t believe Biden has solved. My question always is: what the hell is the alternative? If the unions aren’t happy about the progress of electric cars and that their workers may be left out of that, please tell me what the GQP has ever done or will do in the future to satisfy unions???? Who are they going to hurt???? The Democrats who are trying their best to keep unions in the forefront. I truly don’t understand lower income whites, who would fall on a sword for Trump. What the hell has he ever done for them, and what do they think he will do in the future? If they could take their biased blinders off, they would so become Democrats, who truly are working night and day to make the lives of middle America better! Sadly, as we know, people are not motivated by their rational side but rather their emotions. Somehow, the Democratic message must be one that is powerfully emotional and yet shares the FACTS of what good government looks like.
Laura Stillman, you say: “ I truly don’t understand lower income whites, who would fall on a sword for Trump. What the hell has he ever done for them, and what do they think he will do in the future?”
What has Trump done for union workers? Apparently, he has given many of them a sense of self-respect (perhaps spurious, but real, nonetheless). This is in contrast to progressive Democrats and ‘deplorables’ Hillary Clinton, whom they evidently see as looking down on them.
Typical Democrats think industrial union workers should be following only their economic self-interest. But the workers also have a sense of pride, which evidently many of them think progressives and liberal democrats have trampled. Feeling personally attacked, they’ve been striking back.
Yes, we have not always done a good job of messaging to those folks. But the sad truth is that the Republicans just lie to them, and support thoughts and ideas that are racist, homophobic, “Christian” only. They don’t relate to their constituents by offering reasonable, compassionate policies, but rather hit them on emotional, cultural issues. It’s hard to talk to anyone in Trump’s camp, including some of my own family members, who either aren’t aware of facts or have been fed a steady diet of alternate facts. So, while I know Dems could do much better by going where they live and listening to their concerns, we really can’t support their cultural views of the world. It’s a conundrum. What do you suggest?
I believe you have a point here. The "deplorables" remark was extremely mild compared to what the right has said about democrats over the intervening years, but often those who lash out the most are the most defensive and quickest to take offense... especially when there is a sensitive spot.
While I think personality type, quality of education, media availability and sub-cultural or tribal identification all play a part, in terms of pride what would you suggest to address that aspect? For instance, would programs for retraining be helpful or be rejected as patronizing? Would there be better ways to address this? I believe, from what I've read, that there are areas in coal country where clean energy retraining would be welcome if there were employment opportunities locally available.
Remember what happened in the presidential election of 1844! That is what Heather Cox Richardson exclaimed when she and Joanne Freeman addressed the No Labels/Third Party problem. The candidates were James K. Polk (Democrat) and Henry Clay (Whig). It was free states versus slave states for the newly acquired territories out West. Both candidates were slave owners (Clay less so), so neither could pass the purity test for die-hard abolitionists. But who remembers the newly formed Liberty Party with James Birney as their candidate that handed the victory to Polk?
https://cafe.com/now-and-then/the-third-party-problem/
This episode covers Kennedy/No Labels Party; 1844/Liberty Party; and 1912/Progressive Party
Readers,
If anyone is withholding support from Joe Biden because of his age, I ask that you ask yourself whether or not you are acting like an ageist. This form of invidious discrimination (judging a person and acting on your or other’s concerns about your or their perception that a person might have diminished abilities because of an immutable aspect of that person) in this case, being and growing older, is real and widespread.
Because some African Americans had minimal education and minimal social skills among whites caused exclusion by white Americans of virtually all African Americans from good jobs, neighborhoods, schools and public buildings and institutions for years despite the obvious fact that specific African Americans had all the needed skills for a job etc. To a diminished extent such judgments still exclude some African Americans. That is a form of racism.
Because many or most women worked only in the home, many perceived that as the limit of women’s capabilities. A form of sexism. Which persists to some degree.
We all (well, most of us) now recognize racism and sexism and other such “ism’s.” Less recognized is ageism-judging a person based on their age. But this “ism” is no less damaging to the person so judged and to the nation’s ability and need to maximize the productivity of each person. Might a person in his 80’s in apparent good health die in the next 5 years? Yes maybe but maybe not. Same answer with the question about will that person develop poor mental health.
Much younger people die and develop mental issues but plenty of older people retain their abilities and energy. President Biden has.
Please consider judging President Biden on his abilities to do the jobs of being president and staying elected and bringing the house and senate in line to pass better laws and appoint better judges.
Look at what he has accomplished. Give him and give us as Americans who want our country to be as good as it can be a chance to accomplish more. He is far and above our best choice among the current candidates.
Go! Vote! Get others to vote! Win!
Eliot Tucker
Ageism is a major conspiracy. Old people hold the knowledge of our past. Knowledge that, if it got out, would take money from the pockets of those who take advantage of young, not very experienced wage earners. Old people must be discredited in every way possible to prevent them from being taken seriously. Furthermore this kind of discrediting makes old people prey for the young. If old people are made to be unimportant they are made ‘invisible’ and are left unprotected. The long-lived are under utilized for their vast store of knowledge and wisdom, knowledge and wisdom that, if known, would upset the grift based economy.
I can't agree more about Joe Biden. With all the autocratic terror wafting around the globe, we are absolutely blessed to have Joe Biden with his steady hand as our president.
In 2016, Hilary Clinton had the perfect word for TFG and his party; DEPLORABLES!
We need, not just win but a landslide in 2024!!
Just received my GOTV postcards kit from Blue Wave Postcard Movement. This is a top notch well run organization. I feel like my work here makes a real difference! Please join me. Connect with bluewavepostcards.org. Work from your home and help GOTV across the USA! Start today!
Agree! They are a great organization!
I’m actually happy that you quoted yourself - it’s such a concise and elegant statement that I have clipped it and added it to my notes to have at the ready any time someone mentions to me that they wish Biden wasn’t running again. And thanks for continuing to mention Ohio! We have to do everything we can to get voters to turnout on Aug 8. Check out https://votenoinaugust.org/ for ways to get involved! Jess Craven also suggests joining this letter writing campaign (before July 25): https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-to-write-letters-with-working-america-5
I was second in-line at my county to early vote"No" on Issue 1. The turn-out locally has been good and I think it is that way state-wide. I am guardedly optimistic that the people's right to make changes to their state constitution will prevail. I also am grateful that Robert has mentioned Ohio and our very important special election on August 8.
thanks for the update from the field!
You are quite welcome.
Glad to hear from someone on the ground in OH, and of your optimism (even guarded).
The letters are soooo easy. Print; handwrite a sentence or two; sign; stuff in a stamped envelope; enjoy the walk to the post office. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
I wrote Vote Forward letters about this OH Reproduction protection bill and it's hidden poison pill amendment to raise the threshold to SIXTY % for all ballot initiatives going forward. That raise will allow a minority to prevent those initiatives from being passed in the future. I also did letters for the 2020 & 2022 elections as well. I find that the letters are a way I can do my part to help democracy, given my mobility issues and have driven canvassers for the door to door work.
2 friends and I, from Miami, sent out 200 postcards to Ohio voters (well, I hope they are voters) on Wednesday. The postcards were from Blue Wave Postcard Movement. We are with you all the way, Janet.
Joe Manchin and his coal interests are a real disappointment. Where at one point I thought he was a maverick with some justification for his orneriness, I've come around to thinking he's just a selfish Dem in name only. The amount of help he's given Joe Biden would fit in a teaspoon.
Selfish DINO? Also, dino as in dinosaur 😈