Yes Please . Kamala Harris for President

We already elected Kamala Harris for exactly this purpose.

My vote for Joe Biden was always a vote for Kamala Harris ... and Antony Blinken ... and Janet Yellen ... and Jared Bernstein ... and Alejandro Mayorkas ... and you get the picture.... It's one thing to *promise* the best people, and quite another to deliver the best — measured by subject matter competence and accomplishment — as Joe Biden did.

Kamala Harris is intelligent, accomplished, strong, confident.

• A clear-  and tough-minded thinker.

• Solidly GenX

• A strong legal mind — an experienced elected prosecutor and California Attorney General

• A solid legislator in the Senate and an exemplary President of the Senate as Vice President.

• Great policy and foreign affairs chops.

• Known and respected by world leaders, diplomats, the intelligence community, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• Fully invested in the Biden Administration agenda for a more just and prosperous America.

Kamala Harris is Donald Trump's nightmare ... she already beat him in a general election.

A Prayer at Midsummer

We 

Thank 

Thee

O God

That

Thou

Dost 

Hate

Exactly 

The 

Same

People

We

Do.

Amen.

Poison Control . Donald Trump + the Civil War Battle

If I were in poison control, I would, I think, be very interested in controlling poison.

Donald Trump said — as a statement of fact — that a Civil War battle took placein a space now marked by a plaque at Trump National Golf Club, along the Potomac River in Sterlling, Virginia. The plaque reads:

"The River of Blood" 

Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot, "The Rapids", on the Potomac River. The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as "The River of Blood". 

It is my great honor to have preserved this important section of the Potomac River!

-Donald John Trump

On the facts, the dedication, publicly defended multiple times by Donald John Trump, is a lie … and the claim about preserving the river is contested.

1. No such battle occured at that site.

https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/president-trumps-golf-course-memorializes-fake-civil-war-battle

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/details-details-donald-trump-has-plaque-at-his-golf-course-commemorating-civil-war-battle-that-never-happenedvvv

2. Clear cutting mature trees for a mile-and-a-half along the river in 2010 increased toxic runoff into the Potomac  … and cutting down another dozen or so mature trees in 2019 (and throwing in the river to drift downstream and become someone else’s problem) … raised legitimate questions about whether that can be described as preservation.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/03/30/donald-trumps-golf-course-continues-to-threaten-potomac-river/

https://dcist.com/story/19/03/07/trumps-virginia-golf-course-illegally-cut-down-trees/

Is this the worst? I don’t imagine it is … but it’s poison nonetheless. 

Is it a stretch to question the integrity of a person who goes to the expense of making up such an extravagant and self-serving lie, and then publicly doubles down when it’s shown to be a lie?

Poison Control . Donald Trump and Infanticide

 If I were in poison control, I would, I think, be very interested in controlling poison.

Donald Trump said — as a statement of fact — that some Democratic states allow people to execute babies after they're born.

On the facts, that statement, repeated on a number of occasions, is a lie.

Infanticide is illegal in every state. It's difficult to imagine a mentally fit former president of the United States not knowing this. 

The fact that Donald Trump has repeated this lie multiple times, including the nationally broadcast debate on June 27, 2024, indicates that no one in his immediate orbit is telling him the truth ... or, if they are, he's not listening ... or he doesn't have the capacity to comprehend the truth and those around him are not admitting that to the American people.

For more on what makes Donald Trump's statements about infanticide lies — and not misstatements or mistakes — see:

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/virginia/trump-debate-fact-check-virginia-governor-after-birth-abortion-ralph-northam/291-9bf4d577-863f-4f31-9e63-11c55cdada53

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/06/politics/fact-check-donald-trump-abortion-babies-executed/index.html

In a Nutshell . July 04, 2024

In a nutshell: 

“For all the fact that the [Second Continental Congress] got around the sticky little problem of Black and Indigenous enslavement by defining "men" as "white men," and for all that it never crossed their minds that women might also have rights, the Declaration of Independence was an astonishingly radical document. … America was founded on the radical idea that all men are created equal.

…

“In 1863, Lincoln explained, the Civil War was ‘testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.’

…

“The Confederate rebellion failed. The United States endured, and Americans began to expand the idea that all men are created equal to include Black men, men of color, and eventually women.

….

“[W]e are now, once again, facing a rebellion against our founding principle, as a few people seek to reshape America into a nation in which certain people are better than others.”

Heather Cox Richardson 

In our families and friendships, leading to the ballot box, in the second half of 2024, our work is cut out for us … There is only *Do. Or do not. There is no try.*

take a breath … it’s right in front of us

I think ... I can't be the only one – or the first — to think this ... there's a perfectly good reason to take a breath, calm ourselves, and see what's right in front of us. 

If it turns out we need a backup candidate, we already have a really good one, and we already elected her for exactly this purpose. 

She is Donald Trump's nightmare — and our dream — an intelligent, accomplished, strong, properly confident woman. A clear- and tough- minded minded thinker. 

A strong legal mind. 

An experienced elected prosecutor 

 

A solid legislator and an exemplary President of the Senate. 

Great policy and foreign affairs chops. 

Known and respected by world leaders and by the extraordinary Biden Cabinet. 

 

Fully invested in the Biden Administration agenda for a just and prosperous America. 

If we need her, Kamala Harris already beat Donald Trump, so ... take a breath, and look at who's right in front of us.

Go for broke, Governor

No half measures, Governor. 

If you want to get my attention, get your legislature to mandate posting the Sermon on the Mount in every classroom. 

We’ll still have to argue whether that gets crosswise with the establishment clause, but since you seem to identify as a Christian, why stop halfway through your story?

What're You Gonna Believe?

"Who are you gonna believe, me or my voting record?" — Leah Greenberg, when, on June 12, 2024, all 49 US Senators signed a letter saying "We strongly support continued nationwide access to IVF [in vitro fertilization], which has allowed millions of aspiring parents to start and grow their families." 

Then, 46 of the signees (who strongly support continued nationwide access to IVF, which has allowed millions of aspiring parents to start and grow their families") voted against advancing a Senate bill that would establish federal protections for IVF (which they strongly support ... Senator Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Collins of Maine voted for the measure, Senator Schmitt of Missouri did not vote ... After the vote, Majority Leader Schumer, Democrat of New York, changed his vote to No -- thus preserving the right under Senate rules to reintroduce the measure at a later date.). 

This desire to have it both ways echoes the behavior of Republicans in the House and Senate who voted against the measures that brought the US economy back from the brink in the first two years of the Biden administration but are now taking credit for Infrastructure act money that is currently supporting construction businesses in their states, for Chips and Science act money that is currently attracting huge private-sector investments and creating good-paying jobs for people without college degrees in their states, and Inflation Reduction act money that is currently reducing the costs of medications to the most economically challenged citizens of their states. 

If you are represented by elected Republicans in the US Congress, you know, more or less, what they've said — and you know exactly how they voted on all these measures ... 

Are you going to believe them, or their voting record? 

leahgreenb/status/1801232816581062897 [on X] 

https://www.britt.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/6.12.24-IVF-Statement_49.pdf 

https://rollcall.com/2024/06/13/senate-falls-short-on-ivf-vote/ 

https://wapo.st/3z2EOnd

Pick One: [ ] Monarchy [ ] Democracy

 Here is, perhaps, the clearest difference in the worldviews driving US elections in 2024.

On one hand, this from President Biden:

“Hitler and those with him thought democracies were weak, that the future belonged to dictators...”

— President Joe Biden, in a speech commemorating D-Day, June 06, 2024.

On the other hand, this from former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly:

“My theory on why [Donald Trump] likes the dictators so much is that’s who he is [....] Every incoming president is shocked that they actually have so little power without going to the Congress, which is a good thing. It’s Civics 101, separation of powers, three equal branches of government. But in his case, he was shocked that he didn’t have dictatorial-type powers to send US forces places or to move money around within the budget. And he looked at Putin and Xi and that nutcase in North Korea as people who were like him in terms of being a tough guy.

[....]

“He would ask about the loyalty issues and about how, when I pointed out to him the German generals as a group were not loyal to [Hitler], and in fact tried to assassinate him a few times, and he didn’t know that. [....] He truly believed, when he brought us generals in, that we would be loyal — that we would do anything he wanted us to do."

— Retired general and former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly, to CNN's Jim Sciutto, reported March 12, 2024

Pick One: [ ] Monarchy [ ] Democracy

Have you reviewed, lately, the complaints against the dictator, King George, in the Declaration of Independence? [https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript]

Forming a democracy — the rule of the people — in place of a monarchy — the rule of one — is the very thing that got this nation up and running in 1776. 

Are we about to decide that Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Adams, Franklin, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Chase, Witherspoon, Bartlett, and the rest were wrong about dictators? Do we imagine they were only mad at George, king by divine right, etc, and not the whole lot of dictators who claim, and somehow persuade others to believe, that they alone are fit to govern?

Are we about to throw in the towel on American democracy just shy of 250 years into getting it right because, on the word of a pretentious grifter, whose almost comically accidental elevation to the presidency we heartily regretted and immediately took back in the next election, we've finally come to our senses and decided Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt, and the Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution were flat out wrong? ... Because we now think Putin, Chi, Orban, Duterte, Erdogan, Mussolini, and Hitler (and the grifter himself, of course) are right?

[Have we lost our damn minds?]

I don't think so. I think we went a little wobbly for a minute and it cost us ... but not as wobbly as 1861, when we literally broke up and proceeded to kill 620,000 neighbors over whether any state should have the privilege of enslaving other human beings for profit and power. Not that crazy.  

I think we've allowed some stupid stuff, and I think we have to be clearer about what we mean by forming "a more perfect Union, establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common defence, promoting the general Welfare, and securing the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."

I think a supermajority of Americans see how far we've come — from the Declaration of Independence ... to the wartime Articles of Confederation ... to the US Constitution ... to the Constitution as amended.

I think we are awake — or are waking up — to the need for a renewed public discourse in the months just ahead, leading to a convincing display of democratic will at our ballot boxes in November to affirm that democracy really is better than dictatorship (by whatever name), and not just better but more sustainable, and more coherent with who we've said we are on our shared path to that more perfect Union.

Clearly, we're not there yet. And, clearly, we're not turning back. 

If you think I'm wrong about that, I'd be curious to know if you'd be willing to talk about it.

A chilling reminder from 8 years ago today...

A chilling reminder from 8 years ago today...

I know it's not a perfect record, but...

Given the commitment (and, in many instance, remarkable acheivements) of the Biden administration on

• climate care

• historic jobs recovery, post-pandemic

• historic post-pandemic economic boom

• defending the rule of law

• pursuing equal justice before the law for LGBTQ+ Americans

• taking leadership in the rules based world order

• seeking equitable taxation at every income level

• funding infrastructure and evidence based science

• protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

• pursuing equal justice for black and brown Americans

• pursuing accountability for Jan 6 criminals

• pursuing equitable women’s health care

• defending American democracy

I wonder how man progressives, in order to punish a candidate who has not met all their expectations, will enable the election of a candidate — as, I think, too many chose to do in 2016 — who is on the record *supporting* discrimination against women, brown and black Americans, sexual minorities, religious minorities, and immigrants… 

...and who is on the record *against* climate and environmental responsibility, cooperation in the World Health Organization, working for equal justice under law for every American, protecting equal voting rights for every American, national protection for equitable women’s health care, equitable taxation, defending Ukraine and NATO allies… 

...and who is on the record *in support of* his followers' political violence, the suspension of US Constitional standards that stand in his way, coddling wealthy free-riders, government interference in sexual and reproductive health care, white nationalist leaders, and global authoritarianism….

If it was the best I could do, I would hold my nose and *vote against…*

• fascism

• sexism

• racism

• election denial

• political violence

• a free ride for rich people

• government interference in 

• women’s health care

• discrimination against religious minorities

• white nationalism

• Putin Republicans

• global warming

• authoritarianism

If that was the best I could do, it would still worth doing … it would still worth my vote.

If it was the best I could do, I would hold my nose and *vote for…*

• legal rights of American women

•  climate care

•  women’s health care

•  the rule of law

•  equal justice before the law for LGBTQ+ Americans

•  leadership in the rules based world order

•  fair taxation at every income level

•  infrastructure

•  Social Security

•  equal justice before the law for black and brown Americans

•  leadership in NATO

•  accountability for Jan 6 criminals

•  evidence based science

•  democracy

If that was the best I could do, it would still worth doing … it would still worth my vote.A chilling reminder from 8 years ago today...

Palm Sunday for Example

Some days I try to remember 

I can be replaced by a rock. 

up + down the ballot

Six years later.

About 8 million Americans aged into the voting pool between the general elections in 2016 and 2020 …. and about 8 million more between 2020 to 2024.

Tell our youngest voters -- your grandkids and kids, nieces and nephews, colleagues and friends -- the truth about which candidates, up and down the ballot, have the most convincing records of defending the dignity, rights, health, voices, and contributions of women, people of color, working people, old people, political, social, sexual, and religious minorities, low income as well as middle and upper income Americans ... which candidates have the most convincing records of seeking to deliver equal justice and accountability before the law for *every* American without fear or favor ... which candidates have the most convincing records of defending and supporting the rules-based international order that has enabled us and our allies to resist authoritarians, aristocrats, *and* anarchists at home and around the world ... which candidates have the most convincing records of understanding, accepting, and acting on the best evidence-based knowledge and practices in response to climate change ... which candidates, up and down the ballot, have the most convincing records for protecting Americans from unregulated, unrestrained gun violence....

Our youngest voters are, on balance, more broadly and deeply exposed to all these things than our oldest voters (on balance). So tell them what you see. Talk them what you know. Tell them you are with them — even if 1/2 the other olds are not — and that you hope they'll be with you, too ... because long life has shown you we can do hard things, good things, fair and equitable things *together.*

https://circle.tufts.edu/.../41-million-members-gen-z...

https://www.pewresearch.org/.../behind-bidens-2020-victory/