I didn’t want to read this, because it involves murders of young women and Trump. But it was worth it. Read the end of it aloud to my husband over breakfast. Thank you for writing well about difficult topics.
Your column said it all. I, personally, became and have remained disgusted by Trump when he made fun of the journalist with a physical disability and called John McCain a loser for getting captured while serving in Vietnam. There is no moral center to this guy but he has allowed people who have kept their hate and biases locked up for a very long time to let it all come out. It’s scary. What is even more scary is that he may very well be our next president. God help us all because apparently we may not be able to help ourselves.
I'm constantly confronted with the idea that both Democrats and Republicans are just as bad. I haven't found an effective way of convincing people that Republicans have turned against democracy. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you for writing this Will. I often think back to your Nov 2016 post right before the election: "Dad needs this on the record". I feel the same way.
I thought Trump was a repulsive human being back in the 1980s. It still boggles my mind that people would willingly have lunch with the man, never mind vote for him.
Will, I made a bad joke (Life of Riley?) in order to deal with the horrorscape your words dredged up in me. For that I sincerely apologize. I should have just suffered in silence and let my stomach twist in knots again from seeing that man do his thing again. I too have lost a child so this post about that mans actions on this issue merged those feelings with the dread I feel from the potential outcome of the November election. I did not handle those feelings well. I sincerely apologize for that. I will try to do better.
I am glad you wrote this, people need to see it but I probably should not have read it.....
One hundred years from now, historians will write about how foolish the American electorate was, in that (seemingly) the best we could do for Presidential candidates were Donald Trump and Joe Biden, not just once, but TWICE. In my opinion, both major political parties have moved over the last 50 years from (just) being partisan to the fringes of lunacy. So much divisiveness. It will be interesting in the coming decades to see what event or series of events pulls this country closer to the center of the political spectrum. Not sure I will live long enough to see it, but I have to believe that sensibility will once again come into vogue. Doesn’t appear that will happen in 2024.
One hundred years from now, historians will wonder why Greta Thunberg was the only well-known person who understood what was happening and tried to stop it.
Sorry Tony, but you're just wrong. You don't get to blame both parties for divisiveness when only one of them stokes racial hatred, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ scapegoating.
Nothing Joe Biden has done as president remotely approaches "lunacy", so I assume you're referring to his age.
We could all see, in 2020, that Joe Biden was old and knew that fact would be a political problem in 2024. Most Democrats decided 4 years ago, perhaps even correctly, that he was the only candidate who could beat Trump, so living with his age was a price worth paying.
If we're judging Biden objectively on the results of his policies, it's impossible to see what you're talking about about. The effects of the pandemic are still settling out of the economy - inflation sucks but was an inevitable result of the massive spending required to prop up a nation forced to take a year off for illness - but the rate of inflation is falling and more and more jobs are being added.
In terms of foreign policy, there's nothing radical about Biden's administration. Under his administration, the US has supported the Ukrainian defense against Russian aggression and has remained an ally of Israel. You could drop those statements into any decade in the past 70 years and they wouldn't seem out of place.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I just can’t buy the premise that in the 2120s historians will write books on how brilliant the American electorate was in the 2020s for having two rounds of Biden vs. Trump. If you believe differently, then I respect your beliefs. Best wishes to all!
Will. thank you for your comments. I’m a lifelong Cardinals fan. My first Cardinals memory was Tim McCarver hitting a three-run home run in the 10th inning in Game 5 of the ‘64 World Series. Go Cardinals!
As someone who shares a sympathy toward at least theoretical centrism, I'd argue that Biden is the ideal candidate. But I definitely agree that few people in 2120 will be looking back at us now and thinking we're particularly brilliant about much of anything. (I just hope we still have historians then!)
Patrick, your analysis makes a lot of sense. My point of view, perhaps not well stated, is our political system has been on a bad path for decades and we’re (sadly) at the spot now where your comments may represent as good as an outcome we could hope for to keep plodding through this mess. I’ve told a few of my grandchildren that historians in the 22nd century will point to my generation (the boomers), as when the boomers came into power, IMHO, the proverbial “train left the tracks.” I don’t mean to be a doomsayer, just that we need to work together (and not against each other) to get the train back on the tracks. I’m still a believer that there is a lot of good in America and all of mankind. Thank you for your comments.
I think Biden's first nomination makes sense -- a well-liked former VP and longtime senator who the party turned to at a time when the nation desperately needed a steady hand at the wheel. Let's also not forget that at the time, he was making noises about being a "transitional" President, which many took to mean he only wanted one term.
The second nomination speaks to the nature of incumbency and party politics. Once Biden decided to run again, his nomination was inevitable. The electorate had no say in the matter. No viable challengers emerged on the Democratic side because nobody wants to take on a sitting President in their own party. So yeah, it's not a great look on the surface, but the reasoning goes a little deeper.
Wrong. You realize that the lunatic fringe has taken over the GOP, but the GOP is your team. You therefore have to make yourself feel better by claiming that both major parties are equally lunatic.
For me it's the Muslim Ban. He did that a week into his presidency "for 90 days until we can figure this out" and then left it in place for his entire time in office. How anyone can not think he is a raging bigot is beyond me.
It often seems like the only time politicians tell the truth is when they call each other liars. But when it comes to dishonesty, DT is an all-world first teamer.
If Trump were Pinocchio, Earth would resemble Saturn.
His lies are so blatant and so automatic that we've forgotten most of them, and
that's kind of amazing.
There's no question that was a foul at the end of the game, but should the ref have called it in that situation...?
Will a very thoughtful column and a different way to view the way our country is run and may be run if Trump is re-elected. I tend to look at people as people not political pawns. I mourn those that have died tragic deaths but I fear what will happen to the soul of America if Trump is re-elected.
A shout out to the person who said both political parties have lost their marbles. We get to choose between mob boss Trump and war monger Biden. I cannot vote for either. Dennis Kucinich is running as an independent for the House. I listened to him on YouTube's Judge Napolitano channel, and his ideas resonated with me. He says it is past time we stop throwing tax dollars down the rat hole of foreign conflicts that have little to do with American security or prosperity, and a lot to do with pointless empire building. Eight hundred military bases across the globe, and we cannot close a single one, and takeg it off the taxpayer's dime? What nonsense.
Rather than derail this into a discussion of the definition of "war monger," I'd like to take this opportunity to shout out a long interview I did with Dennis Kucinich for a feature story that was supposed to run in The New York Times Magazine way back in ... 2003! https://web.archive.org/web/20050206232351/http://www.blacktable.com/leitch030731.htm
I didn’t want to read this, because it involves murders of young women and Trump. But it was worth it. Read the end of it aloud to my husband over breakfast. Thank you for writing well about difficult topics.
Your column said it all. I, personally, became and have remained disgusted by Trump when he made fun of the journalist with a physical disability and called John McCain a loser for getting captured while serving in Vietnam. There is no moral center to this guy but he has allowed people who have kept their hate and biases locked up for a very long time to let it all come out. It’s scary. What is even more scary is that he may very well be our next president. God help us all because apparently we may not be able to help ourselves.
DT being elected again is indeed scary. I just can't imagine more than half of the US voters could be that blind and naive. Again.
Will, you can not preach this loud enough…thank you!
I'm constantly confronted with the idea that both Democrats and Republicans are just as bad. I haven't found an effective way of convincing people that Republicans have turned against democracy. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I have found this particular piece occasionally helpful: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/a-vote-for-trump-is-a-vote-for-chaos
Can’t get people to see what they refuse to see. Or to admit that an extremist element has hijacked and transformed their party.
Thank you for writing this Will. I often think back to your Nov 2016 post right before the election: "Dad needs this on the record". I feel the same way.
I do sometimes worry that I have said it on the record for them so many times now that I'm just planting more November 2024 anxiety in their heads.
I thought Trump was a repulsive human being back in the 1980s. It still boggles my mind that people would willingly have lunch with the man, never mind vote for him.
I do not think I would enjoy lunch with him either, no.
Will, I made a bad joke (Life of Riley?) in order to deal with the horrorscape your words dredged up in me. For that I sincerely apologize. I should have just suffered in silence and let my stomach twist in knots again from seeing that man do his thing again. I too have lost a child so this post about that mans actions on this issue merged those feelings with the dread I feel from the potential outcome of the November election. I did not handle those feelings well. I sincerely apologize for that. I will try to do better.
I am glad you wrote this, people need to see it but I probably should not have read it.....
No reason to apologize. I am sorry to learn this and that you went through it.
Thanks Will
One hundred years from now, historians will write about how foolish the American electorate was, in that (seemingly) the best we could do for Presidential candidates were Donald Trump and Joe Biden, not just once, but TWICE. In my opinion, both major political parties have moved over the last 50 years from (just) being partisan to the fringes of lunacy. So much divisiveness. It will be interesting in the coming decades to see what event or series of events pulls this country closer to the center of the political spectrum. Not sure I will live long enough to see it, but I have to believe that sensibility will once again come into vogue. Doesn’t appear that will happen in 2024.
One hundred years from now, historians will wonder why Greta Thunberg was the only well-known person who understood what was happening and tried to stop it.
Sorry Tony, but you're just wrong. You don't get to blame both parties for divisiveness when only one of them stokes racial hatred, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ scapegoating.
Nothing Joe Biden has done as president remotely approaches "lunacy", so I assume you're referring to his age.
We could all see, in 2020, that Joe Biden was old and knew that fact would be a political problem in 2024. Most Democrats decided 4 years ago, perhaps even correctly, that he was the only candidate who could beat Trump, so living with his age was a price worth paying.
If we're judging Biden objectively on the results of his policies, it's impossible to see what you're talking about about. The effects of the pandemic are still settling out of the economy - inflation sucks but was an inevitable result of the massive spending required to prop up a nation forced to take a year off for illness - but the rate of inflation is falling and more and more jobs are being added.
In terms of foreign policy, there's nothing radical about Biden's administration. Under his administration, the US has supported the Ukrainian defense against Russian aggression and has remained an ally of Israel. You could drop those statements into any decade in the past 70 years and they wouldn't seem out of place.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I just can’t buy the premise that in the 2120s historians will write books on how brilliant the American electorate was in the 2020s for having two rounds of Biden vs. Trump. If you believe differently, then I respect your beliefs. Best wishes to all!
(Also, thank you for sharing your thoughts as well. They're always welcome here. Unless you are a Cubs fan.)
Will. thank you for your comments. I’m a lifelong Cardinals fan. My first Cardinals memory was Tim McCarver hitting a three-run home run in the 10th inning in Game 5 of the ‘64 World Series. Go Cardinals!
As someone who shares a sympathy toward at least theoretical centrism, I'd argue that Biden is the ideal candidate. But I definitely agree that few people in 2120 will be looking back at us now and thinking we're particularly brilliant about much of anything. (I just hope we still have historians then!)
Patrick, your analysis makes a lot of sense. My point of view, perhaps not well stated, is our political system has been on a bad path for decades and we’re (sadly) at the spot now where your comments may represent as good as an outcome we could hope for to keep plodding through this mess. I’ve told a few of my grandchildren that historians in the 22nd century will point to my generation (the boomers), as when the boomers came into power, IMHO, the proverbial “train left the tracks.” I don’t mean to be a doomsayer, just that we need to work together (and not against each other) to get the train back on the tracks. I’m still a believer that there is a lot of good in America and all of mankind. Thank you for your comments.
I think Biden's first nomination makes sense -- a well-liked former VP and longtime senator who the party turned to at a time when the nation desperately needed a steady hand at the wheel. Let's also not forget that at the time, he was making noises about being a "transitional" President, which many took to mean he only wanted one term.
The second nomination speaks to the nature of incumbency and party politics. Once Biden decided to run again, his nomination was inevitable. The electorate had no say in the matter. No viable challengers emerged on the Democratic side because nobody wants to take on a sitting President in their own party. So yeah, it's not a great look on the surface, but the reasoning goes a little deeper.
Wrong. You realize that the lunatic fringe has taken over the GOP, but the GOP is your team. You therefore have to make yourself feel better by claiming that both major parties are equally lunatic.
For me it's the Muslim Ban. He did that a week into his presidency "for 90 days until we can figure this out" and then left it in place for his entire time in office. How anyone can not think he is a raging bigot is beyond me.
It often seems like the only time politicians tell the truth is when they call each other liars. But when it comes to dishonesty, DT is an all-world first teamer.
If Trump were Pinocchio, Earth would resemble Saturn.
His lies are so blatant and so automatic that we've forgotten most of them, and
that's kind of amazing.
There's no question that was a foul at the end of the game, but should the ref have called it in that situation...?
Thank you for using your platform to explain yet another reason not to deify the former guy.
THANK YOU
Will a very thoughtful column and a different way to view the way our country is run and may be run if Trump is re-elected. I tend to look at people as people not political pawns. I mourn those that have died tragic deaths but I fear what will happen to the soul of America if Trump is re-elected.
Believing in Trump is like believing in a bizarro Santa Claus.
A shout out to the person who said both political parties have lost their marbles. We get to choose between mob boss Trump and war monger Biden. I cannot vote for either. Dennis Kucinich is running as an independent for the House. I listened to him on YouTube's Judge Napolitano channel, and his ideas resonated with me. He says it is past time we stop throwing tax dollars down the rat hole of foreign conflicts that have little to do with American security or prosperity, and a lot to do with pointless empire building. Eight hundred military bases across the globe, and we cannot close a single one, and takeg it off the taxpayer's dime? What nonsense.
Rather than derail this into a discussion of the definition of "war monger," I'd like to take this opportunity to shout out a long interview I did with Dennis Kucinich for a feature story that was supposed to run in The New York Times Magazine way back in ... 2003! https://web.archive.org/web/20050206232351/http://www.blacktable.com/leitch030731.htm
Thanks for shining your light on this latest example of his unlimited, debased opportunism.