Tag: Kamala Harris

Vote for Democracy ’24 #20

Aftermath – part 1

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

My apologies for the long gap from United States Election Day and this post. We’ve been having a lot happening on the health front here and my limited brainpower had to tend to that over blogging. This post will concentrate on the aftermath of the election itself, not dealing with things like Trump’s staffing decisions and policy pronouncements for his impending administration.

If you have been reading this series, you know that I am upset and worried that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz lost the election. I am, however, grateful that my district (New York 19) elected Democrat Josh Riley over incumbent Republican Marc Molinaro and kept in place State Senator Lea Webb and Assemblymember Donna Lupardo, both of whom were instrumental in the passage of the ban on carbon dioxide fracking in our state.

While I am very worried about the impact that Trump and MAGA Republicans will have on the country, I was encouraged by the reaction from organizations with which I am involved, commentators and experts that I read, and from Vice President Harris herself that we would all continue to work to protect democracy, people, and the planet, especially those who are most vulnerable. Because I have a long history working on environmental/climate and social justice issues, I was comforted to receive so many supportive messages from trusted people and organizations. Many are already making plans within their expertise to protect our civil rights, enforce environmental laws, expose corruption, etc.

I have been somewhat puzzled by those who are saying that the Democrats failed in their message and policy ideas. They tend to say that the Democrats should have talked about fighting inflation, increasing affordable housing, health care, labor issues, and affordability in general, but the thing is, they were talking about those things – over and over for months. Somehow, though, these people missed it.

I think the biggest reason for Trump’s victory, narrow as it was in that more people voted against him than for him, is that there was a massive amount of mis- and disinformation in the campaign. Much of it came directly from the Trump campaign itself but there was also a lot coming from our Republican campaigns, PACs and superPACs, and from foreign entities, including Russia, China, and Iran. For example, Russia put out a fake video purporting to show non-citizens voting in the state of Georgia in the days before the election. There was also a flood of mis/disinformation coming through Elon Musk’s X, as well as other online platforms. Besides Musk, other billionaires and rich heads of companies spent heavily on behalf of Trump and Republicans.

Because our NY-19 House of Representatives district was so hotly contested, we saw this sort of misleading information effort in action. We got mail every day for weeks with lies about crime statistics, immigration, economics, reproductive rights, and more, trying to get votes for the Republican incumbent. Everything was designed to invoke fear and grievance.

Enough people in our district saw through these tactics to elect the Democratic challenger, who was also able to tout his hometown roots, but, nationally, the disinformation held enough sway that Harris lost. There also appeared to be a lot of voters, especially non-college-educated, young, male, lower-income ones, who voted for Trump without having much information at all. One of the most popular Internet searches on election day was about if Joe Biden was running, which seems incredible to those of us who follows news consistently, but apparently there were a lot of people heading to the polls without even knowing who the main party candidates were. There have also been reports of many Trump voters being surprised to find out that he actually intends to follow through on his rhetoric regarding tariffs, deportation, cutting government services, etc.

I can understand how some of the Trump voters fell for the lies and felt they needed a strongman to protect them from these perceived, if not actually real, threats. Unfortunately, fearmongering and grievance can work. I am disturbed, however, by those who voted for Trump because the racism, sexism, and/or Christian nationalism appealed to them. There was so much hateful rhetoric during the campaign and there have been increased threats and harassment against women, people of color, non-Christians, and members of the LGBTQ+ community both during the campaign and since the election. Some of this has impacted people that I know personally while others have been large-scale, such as threatening texts and emails sent with racist or homophobic messages.

I am grateful that the Biden-Harris administation is dedicated to the peaceful transfer of power and we don’t have to worry about violence in the streets or in Washington from Harris’s supporters as we saw from Trump’s after his loss in 2020, especially on January 6, 2021.

I’m afraid that Trump will pardon all the people who committed crimes in connection with Jan. 6th, which he has re-cast as a “day of love,” even though we all saw the violence and destruction in the Capitol that day.

Don’t fall for Trump’s lies.

Find knowledgeable, factual sources and stand up for truth.

Millions of others will be standing with you.

Vote for Democracy ’24 #19

closing arguments

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

With Election Day only a few days away, the two major party candidates for the US presidency have made their closing arguments to the American people. Because of the availability of early voting, vote-by-mail, and absentee ballots, millions have already cast their ballots, but many more millions will vote on Tuesday, November 5, and some eligible voters will not vote at all. The United States does not usually have high voter turnout and it will be interesting to see if this year is different. Levels of early voting have been very high, so perhaps election-day voting will be, too.

Vice President Kamala Harris gave her speech in front of a crowd of about 75,000 at the Ellipse in Washington DC, with the White House behind her, the same location where Donald Trump spoke at a rally on Jan.6, 2021, calling on his supporters to march to the Capitol where a violent mob broke in and tried to stop Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

In contrast to Trump’s diviseness, Harris gave a message of unity, explaining how she would be a president for all the people who would listen to differing viewpoints. She talked about her policy proposals for the economy and health care, including reproductive rights and elder care, and shared her biography and experience prior to the vice-presidency. While she was making a contrast with Trump, she was concentrating on a positive, unifying message, which is important as she has been reaching out to Republicans and other conservatives who are dedicated to the Constitution and the rule of law and are repulsed by Trump’s attacks on those principles.

Trump’s closing argument rally was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City which was at its capacity of 19,500. The rally went on for hours; the video link I shared here is the final 3 1/4 hours, which includes all of Trump’s 78-minute speech. The event was designed for Trump’s base of supporters and was quite openly racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant, and divisive. Trump and the other speakers continued to vilify Trump’s opponents, attacking them personally in often vulgar terms and lying about them and their positions. There is no sense of working together to solve problems, only of seeking vengeance on anyone who disagrees with Trump.

It’s terrifying, especially because so much of Trump’s rhetoric is violent and we all know what happened four years ago when Trump tried to steal an election he had lost.

Donald Trump’s vision of America is dark place of grievance where a few rich and powerful men rule. Instead, I embrace Kamala Harris’s vision of the United States as nation of people of good will who work together within the structures of our laws and government to solve problems and uphold the common good, as the Preamble to our Constitution terms it to “promote the general welfare.”

I hope that all eligible voters will look to those values as they vote not only for president but for other federal, state, and local offices. We must vote to protect our rights and our democratic principles so we can continue to build vibrant, caring, and responsible communities.

Together, we can do this!

Vote!

One-Liner Wednesday: in a democracy

In a democracy it is the duty of every citizen to think.

~~~ James Russell Lowell in the first presidential endorsement in The Atlantic in 1860 when the new magazine endorsed Abraham Lincoln; this year, in only their fifth endorsement in their long, storied history, they endorsed Kamala Harris.

This timely reminder is brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/10/30/one-liner-wednesday-getting-ready/

Vote for Democracy #17

Trump and the f-word

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Donald Trump’s rhetoric has become even more and more extreme, to the point that some in the media and politics have moved from characterizing it as authoritarian to calling it fascist. Historians, such as Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Heather Cox Richardson, have written columns and done interviews about this, as well as economist, professor, and former Cabinet secretary Robert Reich and many others.

They aren’t wrong.

While Trump has long demonized immigrants, he is now vowing to deport not only undocumented immigrants but also some immigrants who have legal status, such as temporary protected status or pending asylum claims, and even naturalized citizens and children of immigrants born in the United States who are citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment of our Constitution. He plans to round up millions of immigrants, place them in detention camps, and send them to other countries. Not only would this devastate these individuals and families, it would also tear apart many communities and devastate certain employment sectors with large numbers of immigrant-workers, such as agriculture, hospitality, construction, and food processing.

Trump is threatening to imprison law-abiding political opponents and members of the independent media, solely on the basis of their opposing viewpoints and truthful reporting. He repeatedly refers to them as “the enemy within.” This is chilling not only for public officials but also for lowly bloggers like me and people with Harris-Walz signs on their lawns. Will Trump-inspired vigillantes come after people like me?

Trump is threatening to use the military inside the United States to squelch protests and arrest people. It is illegal for the US military to operate in this way within the borders of the US, though they can help with things like disaster relief when cleared by state governors. He has even threatened to try civilians before military tribunals rather than in the courts, which is also unconstitutional.

Besides demonizing immigrants, especially people of color, Trump has scapegoated people of certain faiths, such as Muslims and Jews. He has a long history of denigrating Black people, dating from his early days in New York CIty real estate. His mistreatment of women is well-known from his decades of philandering and sexual abuse to his disregard for women’s right to bodily autonomy in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade which he made possible. White male superiority is seen as the center of power, which gives those with fascist ideas cover to demean women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, religious minorities, immigrants, or anyone they feel does not fit the strongman mold.

Fascism is not democratic. The United States is. It’s time for all eligible voters to stand up for democracy on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5th, or before if early voting or vote-by-mail are available in your state. If you value our democracy, do not vote for Donald Trump or for any Republican who is not publicly opposing his hateful, fascist policies. Do not write in the name of your spouse or next-door neighbor. Do vote for Kamala Harris and the Democrats who value democracy and want to govern for the common good, not just those who voted for them.

Many Republican and former Republican elected officials and staff members have endorsed Vice President Harris because our democractic principles and the rule of law are much more important than particular policy disagreements. They know that, if Trump is elected, he will expand executive power and carry out the violent, fascistic threats he has been making.

Join them and all those who value our freedoms to Vote for Democracy!

Vote for Democracy #15

presidential debate wrap-up

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Last night was the first – and perhaps only – debate between US presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

The two had never met in-person and Harris made a point of walking over to Trump to introduce herself and shake hands. She introduced herself by name, which was interesting in that Trump frequently mispronounces it. She had to cross over to his side of the stage as Trump made no move to meet in the middle for a handshake as is customary for presidential debates.

Harris proceeded to answer questions and explain her policy ideas while also correcting some of Trump’s erroneous assertions.

Trump had a lot of trouble staying on topic and lied about a bunch of things. When either the moderators or Harris corrected him, he often doubled down on the lies. For example, he said that immigrants are eating their neighbors’ pets in a certain city, which is not true at all according to the police and government officials there. For Trump to claim such an outlandish thing in a presidential debate is just absurd and out of touch with reality.

Trump spent most of the debate looking glum. Harris sometimes looked at Trump with pity, sometimes with incredulity.

Harris came across as an intelligent, experienced leader, while Trump appeared to be confused and combative. Trump’s mode of thought and expression reminded me uncomfortably of some family members when they were developing Alzheimer’s. This is particularly concerning because Trump’s father suffered from Alzheimer’s disease at a similar age and it tends to run in families.

To learn more about Kamala Harris’s positions on issues and proposals for her presidency, visit the issues page on her website here. There are numerous drop-down sections with specific policies. By contrast, Donald Trump’s Agenda 47 page is more a series of statements than an explanation of how he might implement them.

There is not currently an agreement for a second debate. I can’t imagine the Trump campaign wanting him to try this again.

Presidential Debate Bingo

NETWORK, a social justice lobbying organization founded over fifty years ago by a group of Catholic sisters, is currently embarked on their Nuns on the bus & Friends tour in the run-up to the November election.

They have provided a non-partisan tool to use during the September 10th presidential debate to keep track of which issues are mentioned during the debate. It’s a bingo card!

The page above puts it this way:

The 2024 election poses a critical choice to our country: will we choose a future where everyone thrives? You can use the bingo card to help you track what the candidates have to say on the issues, and discern how your vote will protect and expand a flourishing, multiracial, multi-faith democracy for all.

I know that many of us, whether or not we follow a faith tradition, want to see everyone thrive. Please feel free to use and share this bingo card and NETWORK’s Equally Sacred Multi-Issue Voter Checklist to help guide deliberations in choosing for whom to vote at all levels of government.

Vote for Democracy #13

a changed landscape

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

There has been a torrent of presidential election news since I posted Vote for Democracy #12 the day after the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. For those who may not follow United States election news, this post will try to fill you in on what has happened to change the presidential election so massively since then.

The Republican party held their convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15th-18th. While it had been billed as being unifying in the wake of the assassination attempt, the message seemed to be welcoming only to those ready to believe the lies about the 2020 election being “stolen” and a lot of other lies about crime rates, immigration, the economy, and a host of other issues. Ohio Senator JD Vance became the vice-presidential nominee. At age 39, he is literally half Donald Trump’s age. He has only served in office for a year and a half and is better known as an author and venture capitalist. Trump gave the longest televised nomination acceptance speech ever at about 92 minutes. He started by recounting the assassination attempt but then veered off the prepared remarks into a version of his rally speech with a lot of rambling.

Meanwhile, President Biden was under increasing pressure to step aside from the presidential campaign, which he did on July 21st, putting his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination. It is unusual for a US president to decide not to seek an additional term, especially this close to an election and there are reams of commentary about it.

Like Joe Biden, I’m Catholic and think about his decision to step aside as an example of servant leadership, a model that is exemplified by Christ. Too often, leadership in the Church has been dominated by clericalism and in government by authoritarianism, oligarchy, or other forms of being power- or wealth-hungry. Biden did what he thought would be best for the country, not seeking re-election to concentrate on his presidential duties for this last six months of his term or one-eighth of his presidency.

About half an hour after announcing his decision, President Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination. He asked the delegates pledged to him for the Democratic party’s convention to vote for her, although they were no obligated to do so. Harris declared her candidacy shortly thereafter. Because the campaign had previously been the Biden-Harris campaign, she was entitled to use the resources, including funds, on hand.

There was a groundswell of support for her candidacy. In the first 24 hours, her campaign raised $81 million. Within the first week, there was $200 million, 66% of it from first-time donors. Over 170,000 people had volunteered to help the campaign. Tens of thousands had registered to vote. Funds have also poured into political action committees to support her candidacy.

Meanwhile, Harris has gained endorsements from leading political figures, unions, and organizations. Importantly, the convention delegates have been meeting online to pursue a virtual role call for the nomination. This was the procedure they used last time due to the pandemic; they are using it this year because their convention isn’t until Aug. 19-22 due to the timing of the Republican convention and the Olympics. Some states have deadlines for ballot access earlier in August, so the nomination is being finalized online before the physical gathering in Chicago. In order to be placed into nomination, a candidate needed to have 300 delegates pledged to them. Harris is the only candidate to meet that threshold. She hasn’t yet chosen a running mate, but we expect that announcement soon.

While Harris has been joyfully and skillfully doing numerous speeches, fundraisers, and official appearances, such as greeting the American hostages returning from Russia, the Trump campaign has been confounded. They had apparently centered their strategy around attacking Joe Biden, which is now moot. The Trump campaign and Republicans have engaged in attacks on Harris that come across as misogynistic, racist, and anti-immigrant. They fault Harris for not having given birth, although she is an actively engaged stepmom to Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s two children. They mock her laugh. The daughter of a Jamaican immigrant father and Indian immigrant mother, Kamala Harris has always celebrated both her Black and Asian roots. Somehow, Trump can’t seem to wrap his head around that fact, which is bizarre to most of us who are or have family and friends who are multi-racial/ethnic. Trump has even tried to characterize Harris as anti-Semitic, although she is married to a Jewish man.

I appreciate Harris’s political savvy in being able to briefly address the lies about her but then carry on with her own skills, history, and policy provisions, defining herself for the public rather than letting her opponents put her in a box.

The contrasts between her and the Trump/Vance ticket are stark. Trump and Vance have 5 1/2 years of public service in elected office between them. Harris has held elected office since 2004 as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, United States senator, and vice president, giving her twenty years of experience across three branches of government. Harris is an experienced prosecutor who brought cases against fraud and sexual abuse while Trump is a convicted felon who has also been found libel for financial fraud and sexual abuse. If elected, Harris would make history as the first woman and the first person of South Asian descent to hold the US presidency. If Trump is elected, he would be the oldest president at the time of election and the first convicted criminal in the office. Harris is committed to the Constitution and the rule of law and wants to uphold democracy at home and among our allies. Trump has espoused authoritarian ideas, tried to stay in office after he lost the 2020 election, fomented an insurrection, stolen classified documents and other presidential papers, and admires autocrats.

Trump uses lies and manipulation to spread a message of fear and grievance. Harris uses her experience and intelligence to bring a message of hope and strength.

She has earned my support.

I urge all eligible Americans to make sure they are registered and look at the facts and the positions of the candidates for president, Congress, and any other elections and propositions that may be on their ballots in November.

Vote for democracy ’24!

Vote for Democracy ’24 #11

a week after the first debate

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

I watched the first presidential debate on June 27 with my family.

To me, the clear loser in the debate was Donald Trump because he told dozens of easily identifiable lies and didn’t answer many of the questions. He also tried to take credit for some accomplishments of President Biden.

As soon as President Biden started speaking, it was obvious to me that he was ill. He also was rushing his answers, probably in an attempt to pack as much information as possible into the two-minute allowed response time. As Trump threw around lies and accusations, Biden tried to respond to those plus answering the given question and his well-known, long-standing problems with stuttering kicked in, making some of his answers a jumble.

Since then, there has been a large-scale, public freak-out about whether Biden is too old to seek another term, even though Trump is only three years younger and doesn’t lead a healthy lifestyle. Biden’s latest annual physical exam report, dated Feb. 28, 2024, shows that he has no major neurological conditions and that his gait issues are from arthritis in his back and hip, along with some neuropathy in his feet. There is no comparably detailed health report from Trump.

Some of the criticism of Biden makes me wonder if those voicing it spend time with elders. For example, collagen levels decrease with age and this makes one’s face look older. So, yes, at 81 and a healthy weight, Biden’s face looks like he’s 81. It doesn’t mean he is cognitively impaired. Yes, he moves more slowly, as you would expect from someone with that level of arthritis. The presidency is not a footrace. If it were, Franklin Roosevelt would never have been elected.

I appreciate Biden’s wisdom, experience in government, decency, empathy, and compassion. His life journey has been long and he has faced more than the usual share of personal tragedy. He has assembled a very good team of advisors and Cabinet officials. It’s true that his debate performance was terrible but, as President, one is always surrounded by policy experts, advisors, and research documents and doesn’t have to answer questions with a time limit and no notes while trying to rebut lies.

I don’t know what will happen at this point. Biden is determined today to stay in the race but, if he does step aside, Vice-president Harris or whomever the Democrats nominate will have my support and vote.

It will be a vote for democracy.

I won’t vote for Trump because he is an immoral, lying, convicted felon who doesn’t care about our country and its laws. I also won’t vote for anyone who supports him or puts their political party above the laws and the people of the United States. This is especially important after recent decisions by a corrupted Supreme Court. That’s a post for another day.

Today, as we celebrate the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, let’s renew our commitment to each other, to democracy, to our Constitution and laws, and to our highest ideals. Let’s resolve to vote only for candidates who share those ideals and seek to serve the country, not those who seek only to enhance their own power and wealth and that of their rich cronies.

Together, we can keep our democracy vibrant and ready to add more centuries to the 248 years the United States celebrates today.

Day 1

Yesterday at noon, Joe Biden began his term as president of the United States.

I am grateful for that – and grateful that there was no violence, despite the many threats made. There was a massive police and military presence in Washington DC and in many state capitols, but protests were small and peaceful.

The inauguration ceremony was uplifting. It was gratifying to finally see a woman sworn into a high executive office in the US (although I had originally hoped it would be Elizabeth Warren as president). It’s sad that it took a hundred years of women’s suffrage for it to happen, but my hope is that it will finally be a political possibility for a woman to ascend to the presidency. And, perhaps, that woman will be now Vice President Kamala Harris.

I am relieved to have someone of Joe Biden’s experience, character, and temperament as our president. Our times are indeed daunting. In his inaugural address, he spoke about the daunting challenges we face and brought hope that we could deal with them together as a nation:

This is a time of testing.

We face an attack on democracy and on truth.

A raging virus.

Growing inequity.

The sting of systemic racism.

A climate in crisis.

America’s role in the world.

Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways.

But the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with the gravest of responsibilities.

Now we must step up.

All of us.

It is a time for boldness, for there is so much to do.

And, this is certain.

We will be judged, you and I, for how we resolve the cascading crises of our era.

Will we rise to the occasion?

Will we master this rare and difficult hour?

Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world for our children?

I believe we must and I believe we will.

And when we do, we will write the next chapter in the American story.

Another sign of hope was the inaugural poem proclaimed by the amazing Amanda Gorman, the Youth Poet Laurate of the United States. Her poem is a stirring complement to the inaugural address; if you haven’t heard her, this link: https://youtu.be/whZqA0z61jY will allow you to see and hear her vision and energy. Although she is now 22, she has been on the poetry scene for several years so I was already familiar with her work, but I am happy that people around the country and the world now know her name and the power of poetry.

The usual post-inaugural activities were scaled back due to the pandemic, but that allowed the new administration to begin work on their very first day in office. Vice President Harris swore in three new senators, giving the Democrats the majority in the Senate for the first time in several years. President Biden signed a number of executive orders and directives, among them beginning the process for the United States to re-enter the Paris Climate Accord, cancelling the permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, and rejoining the World Health Organization. There was a press conference with the White House press secretary Jen Psaki, reading a statement and then answering questions from the press. It was all refreshingly straight-forward and informative after the prior administration’s combative and sometimes unavailable press office.

As President Biden made clear, we in the United States are facing multiple huge challenges. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the administration made a start yesterday and is doing more today and will be continuing to work hard on our many problems. I and millions of others are pledging to do our part, too.

*****
Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2021/01/21/jusjojan-prompt-the-21st-spell/

One-Liner Wednesday: inauguration day

I haven’t been this anxious for noon to come since my wedding day.
~ my thought this morning as we await the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice-president of the United States

Brought to you by Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays and Just Jot It January. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2021/01/20/one-liner-wednesday-jusjojan-the-20th-2021-defeat/