Did not need to be convinced, did not want to think about politics/the election, as you mentioned, but ended up reading this anyway and have sent it to everyone in my family. Great writing.
Thank you for such an excellent piece and for having more courage than the owners of the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. I cancelled my subscriptions to both.
Thank you! I would argue that if someone is angry about the Washington Post's lack of an endorsement, cancelling one's subscription would be less effective than, say, curbing one's Amazon usage. (Something I am not always great about myself.)
I'm a subscriber to the WP, and very satisfied with the content. I have long advocated to my friends, or anyone who will listen to me, that everyone should subscribe to at least one national newspaper. The WP, NYT. or WSJ. They all practice real journalism, whether you agree with their editorial positions or not.
I read the Bulwark piece you linked. and I'm really not too worried about the WP not making an endorsement. I just don't think newspapers endorsements drive that many votes in a Presidential election. Maybe locally they do, but not so much nationally. As long as Bezos doesn't start running the newsroom, I'm fine with the policy.
Yeah, that's why that piece, I thought, was so smart: The real issue is what it says about Amazon, not the power (or lack thereof) of a specific endorsement.
It’s not the point that an op Ed makes a huge difference ; it might not. But the fact that the owners of two major newspapers, including one that broke Watergate, refused to allow it to run… THAT is the story.
it's a bummer to read someone with your reach and background who's somehow arrived at the most boomer politics imaginable. at least this piece comes out and says it: you're more concerned with the veneer of politesse than you are about any real-world implications. Dress nice, for crying out loud, the buildings you work in are very old and very hallowed and deserve some respect!
you live in a battleground state, voting for harris is a pretty clear ethical imperative. don't pat yourself on the back. you're proudly endorsing the administration that's plunged us into an eternity of covid reinfections, lost abortion in spite of a federal trifecta, all while remaining completely unrepentant about the genocide being waged with our tax dollars. this is the country you love?
i understand you count many republicans among your friends and family -- your insistence upon treating them as legitimate actors, upon maintaining neighborly pleasantries, undermines your professed politics. if your friends + readers weren't at least *considering* the candidate you find so distasteful, you wouldn't be writing these pieces.
but this is the world you've chosen, which this newsletter so deftly exports to the outer provinces -- a place where, regardless of politics, all the land-owning whites can get together at little league games and agree that america is, indeed, great. keep fighting the good fight, leitch.
I'm not sure I can address each of these in the way you'd like me to, but I will confess, at this hour, I am not sure how useful polemics about everything that's wrong with everything--some of which I do agree with you about--really are. This is a very close race, and I do not believe the correct strategy to avoid a catastrophe at this point is to tell everybody who does not agree with me on everything that they're an asshole. Am I confused, and scared, by how anyone could possibly be torn on whom to vote for in this election? Yes. But those people *do* exist, and trying to make a straightforward "normie" case to them as to why they should vote for Harris and not for Trump strikes me as something worth doing. (This newsletter is not for any friends and family. They've long since tuned me out, whatever their politics!) Like you, I am often appalled by things done by my country. I still believe it is a country worth valuing, and fighting for. I do not know if that's boomer or not--it's just what I believe. I just do not think it helps anyone to go punch our neighbors in the face if they are wrong--even when they are very, very wrong.
what is the catastrophe if not this? what happens when harris is elected, and continues carpet-bombing muslims abroad while force-infecting workers at home? if you can't appeal to your readers on obvious moral grounds, why split hairs over the candidates' table manners?
last week you wrote how important it is that your kids know "their father stood against Donald Trump." is that brave or difficult? why is donald trump, a literal cartoon villain, your personal barometer?
I saw Matthew Sweet just a couple of days before his stroke at a dinner club in Cleveland. He was doing acoustic shows with two other guitarists (one who doubled as an excellent violinist) in between opening for Hanson! Great shows, good stories, and awesome music. I hope he recovers soon. And that we have a president that supports expanded healthcare so that artists don’t have to rely on GoFundMe!
Will I agree with you on Obama's oratory skills But I would put Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson and MLK right up there There is nothing as good as a black Baptist pastor Bill does talk too long
Go back and look at Clinton's speech at the 2012 convention That was a true masterpiece After watching that I said Hillary will never be president Everyone want Bill
Michelle is right up there and AOC is coming up on the rail
I am not sure how this administration lost the abortion issue and I'm not sure what the trifecta is
Covid, like the flu, is a virus They mutate That is why they recommend one shot of each every year
Their are people who are so self absorbed they don't want the government telling them what to do What about your fellow citizens Look at the states who had the highest rate of Covid deaths Thry were the ones with the lowest rate of vaccinations
On the Middle East almost no one knows the entire history going back 2000 years Study it This has been a perplexing problem since at least Carter George W said it best, "I have low expectations That way they are met"
Yes it has been almost a genocide in The Gaza Strip and Lebanon might be heading that way But on the other hand the Palestinian"leadership" have walked away over the years from almost every treaty that has been offered Finally you have Bibi who is trying to save his political and personal hide and is using the Orthodox for cover
In a week this will all be over. At least we can look forward to not having this particular cloud over us. A new cloud will settle in, but hopefully not one so foreboding and dangerous.
Great writing as usual and I was really affected by your assertion that life is mostly about luck and positioning, because that's EXACTLY how I feel. I've seen this played out over and over again in my life and the lives of others.
Let's hope for us (and the rest of the world too) that people make the obvious choice next Tuesday.
Thank you for writing the endorsement that the Washington Post should have published. Since I canceled my subscription to the Post because of their cowardice, your latest essay there might be the last thing I ever read there.
I suggest that antipathy to Trump may have let Leif h overlook realities with respect to Harris. First is her radical
liberal background that she intelligently deferred to the strategies of Plouffe and Dillon, her smart campaign managers. Many of her improved speaking skills can also be attributed to good coaching. But how would she be as president no longer needing to pay attention to coaches coaches?
Did not need to be convinced, did not want to think about politics/the election, as you mentioned, but ended up reading this anyway and have sent it to everyone in my family. Great writing.
Amen. This is not an election over policy. John Roberts's immunity decision makes presidential character more important than it ever was.
Thank you for such an excellent piece and for having more courage than the owners of the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. I cancelled my subscriptions to both.
Thank you! I would argue that if someone is angry about the Washington Post's lack of an endorsement, cancelling one's subscription would be less effective than, say, curbing one's Amazon usage. (Something I am not always great about myself.)
I just had that conversation with my husband. We’ll try. Amazon is addictive
I'm a subscriber to the WP, and very satisfied with the content. I have long advocated to my friends, or anyone who will listen to me, that everyone should subscribe to at least one national newspaper. The WP, NYT. or WSJ. They all practice real journalism, whether you agree with their editorial positions or not.
I read the Bulwark piece you linked. and I'm really not too worried about the WP not making an endorsement. I just don't think newspapers endorsements drive that many votes in a Presidential election. Maybe locally they do, but not so much nationally. As long as Bezos doesn't start running the newsroom, I'm fine with the policy.
Yeah, that's why that piece, I thought, was so smart: The real issue is what it says about Amazon, not the power (or lack thereof) of a specific endorsement.
It’s not the point that an op Ed makes a huge difference ; it might not. But the fact that the owners of two major newspapers, including one that broke Watergate, refused to allow it to run… THAT is the story.
Thanks for saying what needs to be shouted from the rooftops!
it's a bummer to read someone with your reach and background who's somehow arrived at the most boomer politics imaginable. at least this piece comes out and says it: you're more concerned with the veneer of politesse than you are about any real-world implications. Dress nice, for crying out loud, the buildings you work in are very old and very hallowed and deserve some respect!
you live in a battleground state, voting for harris is a pretty clear ethical imperative. don't pat yourself on the back. you're proudly endorsing the administration that's plunged us into an eternity of covid reinfections, lost abortion in spite of a federal trifecta, all while remaining completely unrepentant about the genocide being waged with our tax dollars. this is the country you love?
i understand you count many republicans among your friends and family -- your insistence upon treating them as legitimate actors, upon maintaining neighborly pleasantries, undermines your professed politics. if your friends + readers weren't at least *considering* the candidate you find so distasteful, you wouldn't be writing these pieces.
but this is the world you've chosen, which this newsletter so deftly exports to the outer provinces -- a place where, regardless of politics, all the land-owning whites can get together at little league games and agree that america is, indeed, great. keep fighting the good fight, leitch.
I'm not sure I can address each of these in the way you'd like me to, but I will confess, at this hour, I am not sure how useful polemics about everything that's wrong with everything--some of which I do agree with you about--really are. This is a very close race, and I do not believe the correct strategy to avoid a catastrophe at this point is to tell everybody who does not agree with me on everything that they're an asshole. Am I confused, and scared, by how anyone could possibly be torn on whom to vote for in this election? Yes. But those people *do* exist, and trying to make a straightforward "normie" case to them as to why they should vote for Harris and not for Trump strikes me as something worth doing. (This newsletter is not for any friends and family. They've long since tuned me out, whatever their politics!) Like you, I am often appalled by things done by my country. I still believe it is a country worth valuing, and fighting for. I do not know if that's boomer or not--it's just what I believe. I just do not think it helps anyone to go punch our neighbors in the face if they are wrong--even when they are very, very wrong.
Also I do wish Fetterman dressed better, yes.
what is the catastrophe if not this? what happens when harris is elected, and continues carpet-bombing muslims abroad while force-infecting workers at home? if you can't appeal to your readers on obvious moral grounds, why split hairs over the candidates' table manners?
last week you wrote how important it is that your kids know "their father stood against Donald Trump." is that brave or difficult? why is donald trump, a literal cartoon villain, your personal barometer?
Pete You keep talking about Covid shots What do you mean by force infecting workers
I saw Matthew Sweet just a couple of days before his stroke at a dinner club in Cleveland. He was doing acoustic shows with two other guitarists (one who doubled as an excellent violinist) in between opening for Hanson! Great shows, good stories, and awesome music. I hope he recovers soon. And that we have a president that supports expanded healthcare so that artists don’t have to rely on GoFundMe!
Aw, man ... I'm glad you got to see him. I've been listening to him all day ...
leitch not Leif
Will I agree with you on Obama's oratory skills But I would put Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson and MLK right up there There is nothing as good as a black Baptist pastor Bill does talk too long
Go back and look at Clinton's speech at the 2012 convention That was a true masterpiece After watching that I said Hillary will never be president Everyone want Bill
Michelle is right up there and AOC is coming up on the rail
The 90% quote is Woody Allen
Will didn't want to use his name.....
I am not sure how this administration lost the abortion issue and I'm not sure what the trifecta is
Covid, like the flu, is a virus They mutate That is why they recommend one shot of each every year
Their are people who are so self absorbed they don't want the government telling them what to do What about your fellow citizens Look at the states who had the highest rate of Covid deaths Thry were the ones with the lowest rate of vaccinations
On the Middle East almost no one knows the entire history going back 2000 years Study it This has been a perplexing problem since at least Carter George W said it best, "I have low expectations That way they are met"
Yes it has been almost a genocide in The Gaza Strip and Lebanon might be heading that way But on the other hand the Palestinian"leadership" have walked away over the years from almost every treaty that has been offered Finally you have Bibi who is trying to save his political and personal hide and is using the Orthodox for cover
hi will
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to publicly state my prediction!
Almost everyone agrees, this will be a very tight, traumatic, and potentially violent election
It will hinge on the eight tug of war battleground states
Nev, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, n c, and Georgia.
Recall 2000 Florida, bush won by .0009%, 537 votes!
Enter the eighth battleground, the state of the Supreme Court!
Partisan litigants are already setting up to push election issues to the Supremes again
This from a yahoo headline one hour ago: Trump lays groundwork to contest election results in Pennsylvania.
2020 was the most engaged democratic vote of all time, 155,472,985 citizens voted!
I believe the democratic vote will still matter, however it will be a majority of 9 history bending votes!
"Stoooooppppp what you're doing to meeeeeeeee"
Bummer.
In a week this will all be over. At least we can look forward to not having this particular cloud over us. A new cloud will settle in, but hopefully not one so foreboding and dangerous.
Great writing as usual and I was really affected by your assertion that life is mostly about luck and positioning, because that's EXACTLY how I feel. I've seen this played out over and over again in my life and the lives of others.
Let's hope for us (and the rest of the world too) that people make the obvious choice next Tuesday.
Sorry to hear about Matthew Sweet. Girlfriend is definitely a top 5 album in my book. Donated and hope he recovers and gets out to play again.
Thank you for writing the endorsement that the Washington Post should have published. Since I canceled my subscription to the Post because of their cowardice, your latest essay there might be the last thing I ever read there.
I suggest that antipathy to Trump may have let Leif h overlook realities with respect to Harris. First is her radical
liberal background that she intelligently deferred to the strategies of Plouffe and Dillon, her smart campaign managers. Many of her improved speaking skills can also be attributed to good coaching. But how would she be as president no longer needing to pay attention to coaches coaches?
She'll do better than the other guy who is literally deranged.....