As Lloyd Bridges once said, I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
Enough with a chatty, breezy blog today. We went for a bike ride on a hot day on the Detroit riverwalk, and somehow, I left my phone at home. On the drive, we listened to a new mix CD Jeff Borden sent us last week. As we pulled back into the garage and my watch reconnected with it, it was nonstop ping-ping-ping and I knew something was up, and it was.
I simply cannot keep up with the news today. So it’s up to you. Have at it.
brian stouder said on July 21, 2024 at 6:10 pm
When I was a kiddo, whenever Walter Cronkite reported that this or that Big Thing happened, or Notable Person passed away- she’d say ‘Ohhhhhh!’ – And that was my first reaction to President Biden’s announcement. And now, it’s “Go Kamala”!
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Julie Robinson said on July 21, 2024 at 6:49 pm
As I understand it, the Biden-Harris campaign chest is only available to Harris, not other candidates. Sherri will correct me if I’m wrong on that. Many states have a late August deadline for ballots, and early voting begins for some in September. This needs to be decided quickly so we can be united against the orange horror.
That said, let’s have President Harris run from a place of strength as the incumbent. I believe that’s the next step Biden should take.
I remain furious at the NYT and everyone who piled on Biden. I’m voting D no matter what.
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Sherri said on July 21, 2024 at 6:59 pm
That is my understanding, Julie. Biden could move the money to a PAC, but a PAC would have to be independent and not coordinate with the campaign of a candidate other than Harris. Harris can have access to the money because the money was given to Biden/Harris.
The problem with Biden stepping down as president is that we wouldn’t have a VP. Any new VP would have to be confirmed by a majority vote in both the Senate and the House; imagine how that would go. Failing a new VP confirmation, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson would be a heartbeat away, not a situation I’d like to live with.
I’d rather Jill Biden pull an Edith Bolling Wilson than have Mike Johnson anywhere near that kind of power.
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Julie Robinson said on July 21, 2024 at 7:06 pm
Eek, I’d forgotten that, Sherri. Thanks again for your expertise.
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beb said on July 21, 2024 at 7:21 pm
Biden has dropped out of the race but will remain as president for the rest of his term so there wasn’t be a vice-president issue.
I’m sadden that he has dropped out. He is the most progressive president we have had since FDR.
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MarkH said on July 21, 2024 at 7:31 pm
Sherri is correct on both counts. No one gets the Biden/Harris largesse but Harris. And, if Biden abdicates, things will not go near as well as when Ford named Rockefeller VP in 1974. And everyone knows it. The House republicans will fuck things up just to fuck it up, because Trump. Cabinet and staff will rally around Joe. Short of an actual health emergency Biden isn’t going anywhere before 1/20/25. imho.
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beb said on July 21, 2024 at 7:51 pm
President Biden is not resigning his office. Harris will remain vice president right through to Jan.20th.
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Sherri said on July 21, 2024 at 7:54 pm
Joe Manchin is considering becoming a Democrat again so he can challenge Kamala for the nomination. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, nobody outside of the confines of his teeny tiny mind and his yacht wants him to run anywhere but back home to WV.
God give me the confidence of a mediocre white man.
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Deborah said on July 21, 2024 at 8:03 pm
So if this is it Game On. It means feet to the fire. Open your wallets, get your phones out to make cold calls and start canvassing door to door everywhere. begin now and keep it up relentlessly. We only have a few months to make this happen and it will take all we can do until November.
I’m pumped. I didn’t want to see Biden drop out but I’m not giving up. Can it be done, I have no idea, but we have no choice now. It’s on.
Go Kamela Harris!!!
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Sherri said on July 21, 2024 at 8:16 pm
Here’s the link to donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/social-bfp-july-2024-v2
Time to get behind Kamala and save the country from the GOP.
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David C said on July 21, 2024 at 8:32 pm
I’m sure dipshit Dash at the Times already has the “Kamala Harris is too inexperienced” stories written. I read they had an Op-Ed this morning saying the Dems should nominate Mitt Romney. I’m sure reading that gave David Brooks a chubby, but that’s about it.
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Sherri said on July 21, 2024 at 8:43 pm
That op-ed recommending Romney was written by noted political scientist and campaign strategist Aaron Sorkin. Who has already disavowed it.
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David C said on July 21, 2024 at 8:49 pm
Op-ed takesy backsies after less than a day. Good going TV man. Unshitting the bed never works.
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Jeff Gill said on July 21, 2024 at 8:53 pm
I think this political cartoon from not quite four years ago is worth recalling:
https://x.com/mortenmorland/status/1815090640486650210/photo/1
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Heather said on July 21, 2024 at 9:25 pm
I burst into tears when I read the news. But seeing all the support for Harris, I’m feeling more hopeful and invigorated.
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Sherri said on July 21, 2024 at 10:26 pm
When the news broke, I sent a text to a group text I’m, a bunch of friends who gather on some Friday evenings. I had been with some of them on Friday, mostly men as it turned out, and they were all adamant that Biden had to go.
My text basically said, okay, you got what you wanted. Now what are *you* going to do to make sure Trump is defeated, and shared what I was doing. I’ve heard back from the wife of one of the men, with her plan, but crickets so far from the guys. (I know their wives will show up and do the work.)
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Sherri said on July 21, 2024 at 10:39 pm
Through 9 pm EDT, Act Blue is reporting $46.7 million.
Fuck right out of here, all those Dem big money donors who shoved Biden out of here and thought they’d play kingmaker.
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Peter said on July 21, 2024 at 10:42 pm
I haven’t commented the last couple of weeks because I would have gone on a long rant, and really anything I would have said others on this site have said it earlier, and better.
And with that being said:
– I don’t know about you, but I don’t care who gets picked. For me, and I think most people, the decision is easy: is this person Trump? No? Then they have my vote. They could pick somebody out of the phone book, and if their last name is not trump, they have my vote.
– Well, by that logic, why do I think it was best that Biden call it a day? This is a poor analogy, but here goes: when I saw that debate, it looked like a respected member of the community getting pushed around by a teenage bully, like in a B grade biker movie from the ’50’s. I kept thinking that here is a man who did a great job and really saved us from a depression and an authoritarian government – shouldn’t he live his last days in peace? Is this what he deserves? Isn’t there someone who should step in and smack that felon around?
That’s the silver lining here. Trump has always had a deep grudge against black women. I think Kamala is going to goad him and then bitch slap him back to Queens.
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Dexter Friend said on July 21, 2024 at 10:54 pm
craigcrawfordsays:
July 21, 2024 at 10:17 pm
“Democratic delegations in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, New Hampshire have already voted to back Harris at the convention. She could get a majority before the week is out.”
Wonder Woman seems to have already closed the deal. Goodbye Shapiro, Gretchen, Pete.
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Alan Stamm said on July 22, 2024 at 7:10 am
Joe kept it zipped up and leak-proof:
“At 1:45 p.m. on Sunday — a minute before Mr. Biden posted his letter of withdrawal to the world — the president told several of his advisers. . . .
“[Chief of Staff Jeff] Zients then held a call with other White House officials to confirm that it was true, . . . followed by a similar call he held with members of his cabinet, who were not aware until the posting went online.” [NYT]
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Deborah said on July 22, 2024 at 8:35 am
Who is Harris gonna pick for VP? Gretchen? How about an all female ticket? Or maybe Pete? That would be cool too.
Does it have to be a straight white male?
Edit: if it does how about Mark Kelly?
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Julie Robinson said on July 22, 2024 at 9:10 am
Any of those choices work for me, but it’ll probably be a straight white guy from a swing state. Does that include Arizona? I truly don’t know.
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ROGirl said on July 22, 2024 at 9:10 am
My company uses crowdstrike for network security and we are still down due to what our it department said was related to problems with our authentication system. They have been working on a fix since Friday.
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Jessica W said on July 22, 2024 at 11:41 am
I’m a retired computer systems and network consultant. The Crowdstrike thing is both a very big deal in itself and a timely warning. Windows is not really secure enough for the jobs assigned to it. Companies are supposed to test automated updated releases thoroughly. I don’t know whether the problem was with the update contents or with the installation process, but either way Crowdstrike dropped the ball.
In a perfect world there would be multiple sources for software doing the specific tasks Crowdstrike does. And large companies would use different tools on different networks/applications. That mitigates single points of failure. It costs more in money and staff; I hope large companies take the warning seriously.
Oh, and Go Kamala!
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 12:13 pm
Okay everyone, here’s your quick guide to the Divine Nine: https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/a-quick-guide-to-the-divine-nine/
Our next president is an AKA, so expect some of that pink and green energy on the campaign trail.
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Jeff Borden said on July 22, 2024 at 12:14 pm
Kamala Harris is not a shoo-in. Large portions of the electorate are sexist oinkers and their hatred will multiply for a black woman with an exotic first name. The torrent of racism directed at her will dwarf what the Obamas endured. Thus, the smart move IS a bland white man to deflect all the bullshit about her radical left agenda the QOP will manufacture. It’s not the time for an all-woman ticket. Yet. Same for adding a gay veep. Not yet. The only calculus that counts is beating that orange turd this fall. That is THE mission. Every decision made going forward must remember that goal.
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jim said on July 22, 2024 at 12:22 pm
I’m still betting on Shapiro or Kelly for VP. I’m afraid the US is (still!!) too sexist for a Harris-Whitmer ticket, which truly sucks.
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Deborah said on July 22, 2024 at 12:40 pm
Yes, as much as I would like to see an all woman ticket, let’s get a woman president first, then later on we can try for both. It’s frustrating to always be told it’s not a good time now for all kinds of things that women and minorities have had to wait for. I get that this is the real world and mainly we just have to beat Trump (now the oldest candidate to be a nominee for president, ha ha ha).
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tajalli said on July 22, 2024 at 12:58 pm
It appears that Biden’s resignation may have been a strategic delay and he’s taken one for the team – totally in character. Rather than being a lame duck, I’m looking forward to Biden making Millennial Falcon moves right up to Jan 20, 2025.
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2024/07/22/biden-harris-trump-and-2024/
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brian stouder said on July 22, 2024 at 1:19 pm
She should pick Nancy (Pelosi!)
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Deborah said on July 22, 2024 at 2:45 pm
Wow, I just looked it up, Nancy Pelosi is 84. What a power house! She’d be nearly 88 at the end of a first term. Not gonna happen, in fact I was surprised she didn’t retire yet.
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 2:54 pm
Since we’re talking about old people moving aside (cough, Nancy Pelosi), let me talk about how it’s backing things up in Washington state.
Maria Cantwell is running for her 5th term in the Senate. She’s a relatively youthful 65, as Senators go. Patty Murray is the senior Senator from Washington, having served in the Senate since 1993 and aged 73. Jay Inslee, also 73, is completing his third term as governor, and finally is not running for reelection.
That finally opened up room for Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a relatively youthful 59, who’s been patiently waiting for Inslee to move out of the way. Had Inslee moved out of the way earlier, King County Executive Dow Constantine, 62, in his third term, might have had a lane to run for governor, but the Trump years benefited Ferguson quite a bit.
Dow staying as KCE blocks a friend of mine, King County Council member Claudia Balducci, 56.
Another friend of mine, Manka Dhingra, 50, is now running for AG since Ferguson is moving.
Were Cantwell not running for re-election, my bet is that we’d see Dow Constantine run for Senate, or one of the two incredible progressive women currently fighting for the same Congressional seat, Hilary Franz (54) or Emily Randall (39). Both are good, though I’m partial to Emily. I talked to her back when she was making her first run for the legislature and was impressed.
How do we end up with old candidates? Because there’s no place for younger candidates to go.
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Dexter Friend said on July 22, 2024 at 2:56 pm
Nancy came out strong for Harris an hour ago; it’s a done deal now. She left Joe angry as hell in his isolation when she hinted she was open for change and not supportive of Joe anymore what-so-fucking-ever.
Mark Kelly is a great possibility. We love our astronauts. (Here in Ohio John Glenn was just the best.) Shapiro, Newsome, Pete Buttigieg, Beshear, others, all are possibilities, but Andy hinted strongly he “would listen” if Harris calls. So he’s the man for the job. Cooper is 67, and I have a feeling the pick will be someone under Harris’s age of 59, damn-nearly 60.
Word is that Trump sought out the “late, great, Hannibal Lecter” for his veep, when he realized Hannibal Lecter is actually alive, hosting dinner parties for his enemies. “He’d love to have you for dinner,” FAVA BEANS !!! Sssssss-upppppp!
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 3:05 pm
Let’s take a moment to appreciate how well Biden orchestrated his dropping out. He may have been forced out, but he chose his replacement, he didn’t let the people who forced him out do it.
Basically, I agree with Scalzi. I don’t know when this became a plan, but it did become a plan.
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2024/07/22/biden-harris-trump-and-2024/
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beb said on July 22, 2024 at 3:08 pm
replying to Jeff at 26: The population is divided (roughly speaking) into 45% Republican, 45% Democrat and 10% undecided. The racist, sexist oinkers that Jeff worries about are largely in the Republican camp who would never vote for a Democrat. The people in the Democratic camp would never vote for a Republican so that leaves only the 10% in the middle. Half of them are woman who are more likely than not to support a woman candidate. The male half of the undecided are likely split between a healthy, intelligent woman and a doddering old man who is obsessed with sharks and Hannibal Lector. The election is entirely winnable.
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Peter said on July 22, 2024 at 4:25 pm
And a side benefit to Joe dropping out – more SNL skits with Maya Rudolph!
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 4:44 pm
Biden drops out, endorses Harris, $81 million in small money donations come flooding in, and yet I see Ross Douthat saying it’s a bad idea for the Dems to line up behind Kamala.
He’s so sad that he had to ditch that Dems in Disarray work he already had ready to go.
Many of us thought Biden dropping out was a bad idea because we feared Dems in Disarray, since that’s what we’re used to. But I feel much better today. Let’s go hang Dobbs around the GOP’s neck!
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Jason T. said on July 22, 2024 at 4:56 pm
Sherri, I know you mean the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, but I’d also be happy if they hanged the moldering remains of Lou Dobbs around the party’s neck
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David C said on July 22, 2024 at 5:31 pm
Yeah Dexter, but Hannibal Lecter is now on a heart healthy diet. Only lean meat.
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 7:35 pm
That, too, Jason. We can do both.
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 7:53 pm
The Republicans really weren’t ready for Kamala. Today they were saying she shouldn’t be president because she didn’t have kids, ignoring her step-children, and of course, glossing over their candidate having kids with three different women.
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 8:12 pm
I stand by my belief that Pelosi, too, should retire. But if she engineered all of this, including how well the transition to Kamala went, then my hat’s off to her: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/07/nancy-pelosi-kamala-harris-endorsement-biden-jeffries-schumer.html
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Sherri said on July 22, 2024 at 10:02 pm
I have learned that there is a quirk of North Carolina law that makes the Lt Governor the Acting Governor whenever the Governor leaves the state, which would be problematic for Roy Cooper to hit the campaign trail. The Lt Governor is the absolute loon Mark “some folks need killing” Robinson, currently the GOP candidate for governor in NC. You don’t want that guy in change for more than a few days.
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Deborah said on July 22, 2024 at 10:10 pm
I too am getting more and more pumped for the Harris as president campaign. It seems to be motivating democrats. Of course the craven right wing hasn’t got their evilness working yet, somehow they didn’t expect this could happen or something. Now they have to rethink their whole strategy from what was going to be all about Biden’s age and Hunter. Trump is the sleepy old guy now with the questionable family values so that isn’t working for them anymore.
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susan said on July 22, 2024 at 10:20 pm
This is fun and inspiring to watch, and it’s still going on live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-hbm0gwatk #WinWithBlackMen
They’ve raised more than a million bucks for Kamala in two hours.
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ROGirl said on July 23, 2024 at 8:33 am
So far, this is playing out much better than I would have expected. I would have voted for Biden, but I don’t think he would have won, so my feeling of impending doom has lifted (for now).
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alex said on July 23, 2024 at 9:21 am
I’m feeling jazzed. I think this is just what the Dem ticket needed to inspire turnout of women and minorities the way they did for Obama. I’m also glad to see the press finally giving Trump’s age and faltering cognition the attention they deserve, in addition to the patent ludicrousness of his disavowals of Project 2025.
I seriously doubt that there were any committed Biden voters who would switch to Trump rather than support a woman of color. I also doubt that Trump and his surrogates can resist the temptation to damage their own campaign with racist and sexist invective.
Great to be home from a week’s respite in Canada. It’s the height of the summer flower season here at home and I’m savoring every moment in my garden.
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jcburns said on July 23, 2024 at 9:52 am
I’m looking forward to voting for Ms. Harris with as many of my Georgia neighbors as she can assemble. Wonderful, the prospect of getting a smart, young president who can represent us with energy and style.
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diane said on July 23, 2024 at 10:20 am
I thought Joe could win but I learned not to trust my sense of politics when Hillary lost. I was also terrified of the Dems doing their usual gang that can’t shoot straight forming circular firing squad if Biden stepped down. The swift “it’s a done deal” with Kamala has reassured me. I’ve never been a Kamala fan (for example, she was supposed to be such a great interrogator from her prosecutor days but she got outbluffed by Kavenaugh at his SC hearing) but it absolutely could not have been anyone else at this point.
While I thought Nancy should have retired two years ago, I’m relieved that she was around to make this work. Nancy learned how politics work starting practically in her infancy. People think of her as a left coast/San Francisco elite. But she’s not, she’s a tough east coaster. She’s a Baltimore girl who watched her father work the smoky back rooms and watched her mother work the wives for both her father and then later her brother become Mayor.
I think it’s going to work out. I happened to be in Arkansas and Oklahoma this weekend for a family function. Admittedly my sample size is just one but I think it rings true. A Republican relative (female, late sixties) despises Trump and was going to vote for Biden (she has daughters and granddaughters and does not like seeing their rights eroded). But she does not support Kamala and says Michelle Obama should run (ha, tell me you won’t vote for a black woman without telling me that you won’t vote for a black woman). But what she will do is stay home. I think in this election, the Republicans are going to have the get out the vote problems. And of course they don’t know how to do that because they are much more into suppressing the vote.
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4dbirds said on July 23, 2024 at 12:36 pm
I hear the small donor donations are up to 100 million. I call that enthusiasm. Although one enthusiastic voter only has one vote, enthusiasm encourages other people. I think Kamala will definitely win. She looks young, healthy, and fit next to Trump. She will mop the floor with him when he says anything. I love the video where she is dancing with the young girls. I hope the media plays that every time Trump does his arm flaps he thinks is dancing.
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Sherri said on July 23, 2024 at 12:42 pm
Ah yes, Michelle Obama, the one they hated when she was First Lady, and the one they’d never, ever vote for if she actually became a candidate, but is safe to claim right now to demonstrate that no, I don’t have a racist bone in my body.
Some old white guy big money donor has said he’s taking his money and going home, that Kamala’s too far left, and called her Biden’s revenge for being out, and that we need a third party for people like him. The article doesn’t mention a single policy area where he disagrees with Harris, but he lists a bunch of white people he thinks would be more likely to win, including Joe Manchin(!), then adds Michelle Obama just so we know he isn’t racist.
https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/23/kamala-harris-john-morgan-fundraising/74508576007/
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Sherri said on July 23, 2024 at 12:46 pm
JD Vance says people who haven’t given birth don’t have a real stake in America. We don’t have a single president in our history who has given birth.
Of course, JD really said women, not people. Hey, JD, maybe men who haven’t given birth don’t have a real stake in decisions about women’s health!
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alex said on July 23, 2024 at 1:12 pm
Diane,
Here’s a different take on Kamala’s “dismantling of Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearing” (free gift article):
https://wapo.st/3LxJKDJ
He may have evaded answering, but her questions and his responses laid bare who he really is.
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Jakash said on July 23, 2024 at 2:00 pm
I enjoyed that Scalzi piece and am trying to be encouraged by all y’all’s enthusiasm. I feel like whatever is going to unfold following the choice of door #2 (Biden dropping out) will definitely offer a greater chance of success in November than having grudgingly carried on with what we knew was behind door #1. And I give the president a lot of credit for making what had to be a tough and very unpalatable decision for the good of the country.
But I have to take issue with a couple of Scalzi’s points. “it looked and felt like panic and flailing around for weeks at a time over one bad debate.” This seems pretty disingenuous to me. Many had been disconcerted by Biden’s quite apparent, relatively recent slippage in capabilities well before the debate. It wasn’t like Obama’s underperforming in his first debate against Romney, which *was* an anomaly. The road Joe is going down is a one-way street, alas, and it was perfectly reasonable to be concerned about how these next months would go, in addition to being very disturbed with the consensus judgment about the debate.
“after eight years, we know what the hard cap is on Trump’s support.” Man, I wish that were true, but I’m not so sure. I thought we learned what the hard cap on his support was in 2016. Then, 4 years later, 11 million *more* people voted for him than did the first time. Ay-yi-yi, unimaginable, but true! And that was when he was running against a kinda middle-of-the-road white guy, the stereotypical guy you might like to have a beer with. What the cap will be in this benighted nation when the opponent is a black woman scares me.
My hope is that a lot of the folks who were Biden supporters in 2020, but who had stated they would not vote for him this time, might see their way clear to voting for Kamala. Muslims upset about Israel, young people who understandably want somebody younger, and others.
At any rate, having traditional Dems be energized by this development, and offering the inscrutable “undecided” suburban moms a different option than they had a week ago seems like the right way to go.
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Sherri said on July 23, 2024 at 4:28 pm
I would encourage everyone that from here on out, do not say, I don’t know if a Black Asian woman can win. Say how happy you are to cast your vote for a Black Asian woman.
Because it feels like to me that the voices still saying we need some sort of contest, or that Harris isn’t the best candidate, are saying she isn’t white man enough without having to say that out loud. Well, we gave you the white man the last 4 years, and you shoved him aside.
It seems to me that media pundits understand that Republicans get to choose the Republican nominee, but that media pundits, Never Trumpers, Independents, and Republicans should all get to weigh in on who the Democratic nominee is. I think Democrats made it very clear on Sunday that Kamala Harris was their nominee, and it was time to get on with the business of winning the election.
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Sherri said on July 23, 2024 at 5:15 pm
Here’s a single data point.
My personal trainer is a single mom in her late 30s. I met her in January 2017, right after the Convicted Felon had been elected. She was completely unaware of anything politically, was not even registered to vote. I can’t let anybody I know not be registered to vote, so with a lot of work, I finally got her to register to vote. It took a lot more work to get her to vote in local elections, though Dobbs was a big wake-up for her.
Today, when I walked in the gym, she wanted to talk about Kamala. She had a break before me, and just happened to catch Kamala’s campaign rally on her phone. She was so inspired she was in tears!
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brian stouder said on July 23, 2024 at 5:48 pm
Sheri – superb! I think Kamala will make an excellent President, in any case; and ‘toweringly’ better than Trump-2
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Mark P said on July 23, 2024 at 5:58 pm
I supported Biden right up until he withdrew. I thought it would be a hard slog, but doable. Now I am a little surprised that I am optimistic about Kamala’s chances. What a wonderful thing it will be if she wins, for lots of reasons.
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Jeff Gill said on July 23, 2024 at 6:35 pm
Watch me chortle. Gift link, article worth reading in full!
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/trump-campaign-biden-dropping-out/679183/?gift=rp9XU8rKXQPOmHygjLiZILVer34C9ISTwV2vwOQjIQE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 12:12 am
I think that mostly male pundits also aren’t understanding the level of simmering rage women in this country are carrying.
There’s a reason I’m physically stronger than I’ve ever been in my life. It keeps me from punching people.
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David C said on July 24, 2024 at 6:01 am
Ha, so much for $45 million a month. Elmo’s a crazy son of a bitch who doesn’t know who his customers are. But there must be someone at Tesla who was able to crowbar into his cranium that his mouth was hurting the business.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/23/business/tesla-q2-earnings-elon-musk.html?smid=tw-share
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Jeff Gill said on July 24, 2024 at 7:45 am
Sherri, true, but also true: I preached last Sunday in a church where one old man wore a white square of gauze on one ear in tribute to his Dear Leader, and many were the women who came up and commended him on his cosplay. I will state that I have yet to meet a female Trump supporter who is under 55 (I know some exist), but nervously aware that older women are consistent and resolute in their voting, rain or shine.
The common thread when I have a chance to ask “why are you in favor of this erratic & unreliable man?” is “things are changing, changing too fast, and I don’t like it, plus gas costs too much.” There’s racism & xenophobia in most Trump support, but also a fair amount of chronophobia, or maybe you should call it metathesiophobia: fear of change. Trump is the boor they know.
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 11:19 am
And what are these “things” that are changing too fast, that they don’t like? Maybe it has something to do with women and black and brown people in positions of power, and LGTBQ+ people not quietly staying in the closet, and their doctors are all immigrants.
Those very nice people at that church enjoying that cosplay would likely have been sputtering “too political” if I had walked in the door with a Black Lives Matter pin, without any self-awareness. (Or any clue about 501(c)3 allows and doesn’t.)
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Jeff Gill said on July 24, 2024 at 11:26 am
Oh, sputtering & eyebrow raising & harumpphhing. And I can assure you their doctors are mostly immigrants.
Three cheers for Medicare, and down with government handouts . . . with no cognitive dissonance at all.
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 12:04 pm
I know I talk about issues of racism and sexism a lot here, and there’s a reason. What I have seen working on boards and commissions (and churchs!) is that even in the most well-meaning situations, it is a struggle for white people not to center themselves. The solutions they come up with do not tend to consider non-dominant culture, and whether those solutions work for everyone. It often never even occurs to them that anything would be different for anyone else (especially white men, because they so seldom have to think in those terms.)
Further, I watch new ideas brought forth by women and people of color get torn apart ways that ideas from white men don’t. There’s just a default resistance to believe that they know what they’re talking about.
White people also want to blame it on something else, like “things are changing too fast”, but….
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Dexter Friend said on July 24, 2024 at 12:15 pm
Kamala and Stacey were both in the running for veep and I was livid when Joe went with Kamala, probably because I don’t like cops. Ha ha. I just adore Stacey Abrams.
But it’s a new dawn and I enthusiastically am all-in for a Harris presidency; long may she run. It took me a couple days, maybe others had to take a step back too, as we love Joe Biden. You know, 3 days of mourning.
I’d vote for a snake or a brick of 1975 government cheese (tasty!) before voting for that orange rapist. Fuck that bastard!
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Jeff Borden said on July 24, 2024 at 12:30 pm
Interesting how no one is talking about the Battle at Wounded Ear anymore. tRump must be livid his bloody martyrdom is yesterday’s news.
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 2:23 pm
There are so many good JD Vance memes floating around social media, because there are so many areas to riff on, from the fauxbilly (“JD Vance puts his cast iron skillet in the dishwasher”) to the beard (“Nazi Teddy Ruxpin”). Today’s that made me stop and laugh: JD Vance is an Opus Dei hire.
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ROGirl said on July 24, 2024 at 2:39 pm
Or you could just call him JD Wentworth, like his new boss did.
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 3:07 pm
I watched that panel of women Trump voters that MSNBC interviewed; shocker, they think Kamala is an unqualified idiot, and if she wins, they think it will be because the election has been stolen! They do for it scary that everyone is so excited about her.
I want to see a panel of South Asian and Black aunties being asked what they think about Kamala vs. Trump. Why do we get endless panels of Trump voters, but no panels like this?
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 3:11 pm
Memes aside, I think the thing I detest the most about JD Vance being the VP candidate is that it’s bringing up one of his philosophical (and I use that word lightly) influences, Curtis Yarvin, aka Mencius Moldbug, and I’m forced to relive looking into him years ago when I first heard of him online. Gross.
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Julie Robinson said on July 24, 2024 at 3:18 pm
And in FloriDUH news today, we present Manny Diaz, Commissioner of Education, with his cute little July reading list for Celebrating American Pride. Not that kind of pride, more like Proud to be an American.
The list is fairly predictable until the high school choice, Pride and Prejudice, which any high school girl could tell Manny is a British romance novel.
Hat tip to Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell for bringing this to our attention. Maxwell says maybe Diaz should spend more time reading books and less time banning them.
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Dexter Friend said on July 24, 2024 at 3:55 pm
I have been for Shapiro even when an open convention was being discussed, so I hope the latest reports /sources are right. What’s this about Kelly’s anti-union stance being a positive? Oh hell no! Lots of action right now with invective over Netanyahu’s speech. Talib’s sign had it right. When Netanyahu said his forces killed hundreds of Hamas and “practically zero civilians”, and then said only 24 civilians in Rafah, I swore. 50 specialist doctors have been recently blown to bits by the IDF, and for each one, hundreds of civilians. Netanyahu and Trump will both be imprisoned soon, if right is right. Correct me if I am wrong; I heard 80% of Israelis want Netanyahu OUT. Wow, it’s quite a ruckus there in Washington, DC, fires, loud protests against Netanyahu, lots of Israel supporters who want this war to end, and they blame Netanyahu for allowing October 7 to even happen. Netanyahu’s pledge to keep the war on full volume is his own political stunt to stay out of prison. Nadler really giving Netanyahu hell now, calling him dishonest and referring to Netanyahu’s call to assassinate Rabin in 1994.
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 4:01 pm
Maureen Ryan says what I was trying to say, better: https://burner-account.ghost.io/on-kamala-harris-barack-obama-and-sleepy-hollow-on-moving-forward-and-not-going-back-2/
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Sherri said on July 24, 2024 at 8:18 pm
More good news: in the 48 hours after Biden exited and endorsed Harris, vote.org registered almost 40,000 new voters, over 80% of whom were 18-34.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4790269-harris-voter-registration/
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