Today Is America's Birthday. We Cannot Let November 5 Be Her Death Day.
And why Biden's age is the 'but her emails' of 2024
I’m frantically throwing a last-minute Fourth of July party. I used to throw a big blow out every year, complete with burgers, sunscreen, and sparklers, but then in 2017, I wasn’t really feeling it anymore.
What was there to celebrate when our nation was separating children from their parents at the border? What was there to celebrate when it banned Muslims from entering? What was there to celebrate when it sacrificed children to the gun lobby?
The Fourth of July started to feel like attending the birthday party of an abusive and controlling relative you don’t actually like. Begrudging. Hopeless. Bitter. Frustrating.
But this year a change of heart struck me in the middle of the night. (Either that or it was a panic attack… hard to tell these days.)
The story of America that has been told the past few years isn’t the whole story of America.
The defiance that inspired the Sons of Liberty to pour tea into the Boston Harbor is also the story of America.
The determination that inspired Paul Revere to ride through the night to deliver crucial messages to revolutionaries is also the story of America.
The intrepidness that inspired hundreds of households to lead slaves to freedom along the underground railroad is also the story of America.
The sense of justice that walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and ushered in a new wave of civil rights is also the story of America.
The heroism of the passengers of United Flight 93 to overcome terrorists and keep their airplane from crashing into the White House is also the story of America.
Do I like the story of America that has been told the past few years? No. But I know every action we take writes a new chapter of American history. Will it be one of despair and defeat or will it be one of triumph and prosperity?
The choice is ours.
So I am urging everyone who is reading this to ride even the smallest wave of optimism to November 5, 2024. We will not fall into despair and WE. WILL. NOT. GIVE. UP.
If so much is at stake, why is Biden’s age the only thing the media and pundits have focused on for the past week? Do we really need another cooked-up controversy du jour to divide us right now? When unity among Democrats is the only thing that will see us past the horrors that are in store for us if Trump becomes president again?
Can’t we learn from our recent past?
Biden’s age is the ‘but her emails’ of 2024.
This Vox declares Hillary Clinton’s emails got as much front-page coverage in 6 days as policy did in 69. It details mainstream media’s treatment of the 2016 election coverage of Hillary Clinton, particularly focusing on the New York Times. They published their findings in the Columbia Journalism Review:
“In just six days, the New York Times ran as many cover stories about Hillary Clinton’s emails as they did about all the policy issues combined in the 69 days leading up to the election.”
In 2016, the media set up a false dichotomy that we are still living under: Trump’s scandals were relentless and came so unrelentingly that the media tried to balance it by reporting Clinton’s one indiscretion with the same breakneck ferocity in an attempt to look balanced.
Except Trump and Clinton weren’t the same. And neither are Trump and Biden.
Indisputably, we all deserve better than what will happen to the country if Trump becomes president again.
Project 2025 spells it out: If Trump succeeds in November, he will fire tens of thousands of federal employees and replace them with sycophants who will unquestionably follow his demented marching orders.
Trump will imprison doctors who perform abortions, teachers who care for queer students, librarians who allow banned books, scientists who study climate, and other “woke” professionals. BIPOC Americans will lose their civil rights and possibly their freedom. Trump will deport, imprison, or assassinate his political enemies. Social safety nets go away in favor of tax cuts for rich oligarchs. Entire federal departments will be wiped out. Public schools will be defunded and students will learn a disgusting version of history that makes white supremacists into heroes. Need I go on?
If Biden is elected again, he continues to be one of the most progressive presidents in US history. And if he becomes too old to serve, we get Kamala Harris, who is just as intelligent, capable, and strong as she was four years ago, only now she has more experience under her belt.
Serious people know those two outcomes are not even in the same universe.
So the real question is, do you care more about the condition of the keys, or the contents of the boxes they open?
Today, let’s remember that the American experiment is worth fighting for.
Onward, Democracy Defenders!
P.S. I have a tiny favor to ask. I’ve been selected as a delegate to the DNC from the state of Montana. Everyone knows what a big job this is, especially if there’s an open convention. Delegates have to pay their own way to convention and we have to stay in compliance with other elected official fundraising rules (weird, right?). My state party helped me set up an Act Blue link to help fundraise and because Act Blue makes the bookkeeping easy. Would you consider donating?
Or, if you like my writing and want to help make sure it continues, you could become a paid subscriber.
We all we need the courage of Flight 93.
Thank you and well said 😌