As you say here, Geoffrey, this November 2024 American Presidential election isn’t really about Republicans vs Democrats, liberals vs conservatives, Christians vs everybody else. It’s truly existential. Can our semi-democratic society continue to exist? Can humanity continue living on our “swiftly tilting planet”?
You certainly touched a lot of bases … and there are probably more we don’t even know about, tucked away in the pages of Project 2025.
But for hope: our wind ensemble is playing a concert tomorrow afternoon, on the theme of Democracy. The opening fanfare was composed for the U. S. Marine Band, which premiered it at the inauguration of Joe Biden. The next selection, “Marching Song of Democracy,” is an older piece by Percy Grainger, a doctrinaire and outspoken Australian who didn’t mince words or musical expression. The first half closes with the ever-inspiring “Lincoln Portrait” by Aaron Copland. The second half is a single piece, a five movement 30-minute wind symphony titled simply “Migration.” It’s the composer’s thoughts and reactions to the challenges of leaving one country for another.
And above all, let’s hope everyone in the audience does their civic duty to vote.
The quotations from Lincoln’s speeches are especially inspiring, considering that in his time also, Democracy and the Union were at stake, with the outcome of a great battle undecided.
I hope all this helps you deal with the stress and tension we all feel.
Hopefully, I got at least a few people to rethink sitting this one out. Most of my articles take longer than this one, about 11 hours today, but I feel far more exhaustion than usual. I hope I never have to write about Trump again. The concert looks excellent. Wish I could be there and that it's an omen of what's to come. I'll be ambling over to the polls tomorrow. Early voting in NY started today. Thanks, Bruce.
There is no way to say this that doesn’t (A) trigger people, and (B) make them hold a gut reaction that one must be a total asshole, but the truth is this:
Whatever a Harris administration might bring, Trump’s is a helluva lot worse on all counts, as SHOULD be painfully obvious to anyone giving him a cursory glance
And here’s the triggering comment: if one is wholly focused on the Gaza conflict, one is seeing a miniscule sliver of the big picture. As wild as it may sound to people, there are much bigger things at stake than that.
I strongly suggest one zooms out and looks at them - perhaps via Geogfrey’s writing
I’m not saying Harris is great. I am saying, like last time, “anyone but Trump”. Someone in a coma would be vastly preferable to the destruction and chaos Trump will bring.
Geoff, I am so glad that you made the effort to write about an unpleasant subject.
Trump is everything you said and more. Yes, he is dishonest, ignorant and unbalanced, but I am fairly sure that he now also has dementia. His thinking, speaking, and ability to hold a thought have seriously declined over the past four years. Can you imagine what he will be like four years from now? All of his worst traits will be magnified, and now the Supreme Court has given him permission to do almost anything.
Trump would also be the oldest president ever elected If he were incapacitated or died, Vance would take over, and Project 2025 would be inevitable. It would certainly be the end of whatever democracy we have left.
I wish we had a third party candidate who had a realistic chance of winning, but we don't. A vote for anyone but Kamala Harris just makes the chance of a Trump presidency increase. I mailed in my ballot on the very first day of early voting in my state. I wish I could vote more than once, as some of the MAGA people seem to think we can!
We've needed a third party for a long time. Both of the existing ones are guilty of stifling that possibility. Should Trump win, Project 2025 will be carried out while he's golfing. Should billionaire backed fake hillbilly Vance take over, you're right, same deal. Due respect to Margaret Atwood for seeing so much of this creepy scenario. Glad I'm naturally numb from engaging with this craziness, or I'd be climbing the walls right now.
An Open Letter to Your Friend or Relative Planning to Vote for Trump: Your Vote for Trump Is an Endorsement of Bigotry, Cruelty, and the Erosion of Rights—No Matter the Reason You Give.
Good plea from a different angle. His hateful base is untouchable, but there are disaffected Republicans, that like Cheney will cross the aisle, hopefully in large enough numbers. Unfortunately, defeating Trump, essential, will not make this problem go away.
People also need to be made aware that lower level offices on the ballot might be what actually chooses our next president: not the popular vote, nor even the electoral college – but rather our next president could be chosen in a Trumpist electoral coup through a “contingent election” (which is what Trump was referring to regarding his “little secret” with Mike Johnson at the Madison Square Garden rally). Voting a COMPLETE ballot, and if you split your ticket voting strategically for certain lower level offices, is crucial to stopping it. See the article linked below with a Rachel Maddow clip to learn more about what a contingent election is, and to know what you’re doing when you vote. A vote at the top of the ticket is not enough – independents and Republican cross-over voters, this goes especially for you. Share the article so that the 30% of voters who normally don’t vote a complete ballot will learn about the importance of doing so. Spread the word.
I have restacked your article. I agree, this election will not be decided on November 5, or even a week later as the states prohibited from counting early votes catch up. The January 6 coup attempt never ended.
Yes, Trump and his minions take everyone down in this situation. Thank you for your encouragement. I seem to be fielding questions from quite a few deniers these days, or those that believe industry can go on as it has forever. It's tiring, but what I asked for. If I can get a few people to read my views, maybe I can also change a few minds.
Great writing as usual. I feel utterly sickened by it as well. Had to consciously relapse to go vote for her, but for good reason. All of what you say rings very true to these sad old privileged , yet poor ears. I refuse to waste the choice by not voting, or voting third party like I have for my entire adult life.
I feel the same. The Gaza and now Lebanon situations are pure evil, but Trump and company will be the end of any pretense of Democracy and spell the end of the battle for saving our planet. People like me would be branded as enemies of the state, and we would be unable to trust our neighbors anymore. Thank you for voting. As sickening as it all is we're truly with our backs to the wall.
In your article you state, “ there are 2 Presidential Candidates “ and then mention Trump and any perceived shortcomings and controversial issues. I did not see any mention of the other candidate “ VP Harris “ and any of her shortcomings. In fact you take a term “ word salad and apply it to Trump when it is generally applied to Harris. You also mention the billion dollar media which you are a part of that controls the narrative and influences voters. This piece was simply another hit job on Trump.
I don't love Harris, like most, I barely know her. I feel I criticized the Democrats pretty thoroughly in their support of neoliberal economics, genocide in Gaza, and crackdown on free speech on college campuses. I provided links to those articles and have criticized Biden in many others as well. I am tired, as are most of us, of voting for the lesser of the evils. I didn't mention Jill Stein, because much to our detriment, there is no viable third party.
Trump is a serial liar, profoundly ignorant, a sexual predator and a wannabe dictator. We live under a corporatocracy at this point that has poisoned not just the critical workings of the planet, but our bodies and brains as well. As bad as all of that is, Trump is a far more destructive force. Project 2025 of which his denial of knowledge is yet another lie, is a fascist playbook. Trump deserves all of the hits we can dish out.
Over the course of my career I had 3 opportunities to relocate to the US. Florida, Virginia and California. I am so grateful none of these avenues opened out. I would be pretty high on humpy’s list.
The fight isn't lost yet if Trump is defeated, but it's still close to that if Harris wins. We need to demand profound change. The planet is just about done with us. Corporate run politics, obscene consumption and timid policies must end.
Sorry, Geoff, but I got about half way through your well written and researched piece and had to stop, because I couldn't stop laughing. Did I just wake up from a dream, like, maybe, a scene from "Killer Clowns From Outer Space"? Nope, you're right, it's just another day in the endless farce known as the Trump Circus. Oh, well, at least now, at 79, I have finally resigned from American culture and politics, because for all those years of believing things could change, they never have. Finally, I got it! I'm the one who needs to change, so, now, I just don't give a shit which idiot is elected president. When the feckless DOJ did not arrest and hold for trial DJT on Jan. 21, I knew we were screwed. The billionaires run this shyte show and they haven't invited me to join them. Have a blessed evening.
There is an undeniable level of absurdity here, to the point, "This can't be real, right?" I, too, have resigned from American culture and often feel as a detached observer. The best moments of my life have been spent hiking on and bicycling over mountains immersed in trees, expansive views, and animal sightings. Those things are real, the rest of this just persistent annoyance we are forced to deal with. Should Trump prevail, I am unsure of what I will do next, run straight at the danger or vanish. At 62 and on borrowed time (survived a brain tumor in 2019) I feel okay about dealing with what comes next, but feel for the younger people. My daughter turns 22 in the spring. Thank you, Greeley.
I know this. I called them complicit in neoliberal economics. I called out Gaza. I called out our arms sales to Israel. I called out suppression on college campuses. I have called out Biden in other articles. I pointed out they're all beholden to dark money. But Trump and his minions are next level evil.
I mean that fascism won after WW2, worldwide. The merger of state and industry, the liquidation of the communist project into labor management by corrupt unions, and the administration of society and the people within it as a formless mass, by propaganda, violence, and secret police, with lesser or greater brutality, in order to extract value and lower wages, which became the same thing after Vietnam.
Thanks. I’m hearing “merger of state and industry” and management via “propaganda, violence, and secret police”. These are undoubtedly fascist characteristics.
I suppose that diagnosing fascism involves a identifying a number of signs and symptoms and to yours I would add:
Cult of Personality.
Mythic Nationalism and Racial Purity.
Anti-Intellectualism and Suppression of Dissent.
Mobilisation of Masses Through Paramilitaries.
Militarization of Society.
Abuse of Human Rights.
Use of Scapegoats and Conspiracies.
Rigidity of Gender Roles.
I’d conclude that although the Democrats and Republicans could both be diagnosed with fascist spectrum disorder, the Republicans have a much more serious case!
All of those are in effect in the USA today, and the only arguable one is paramilitary mobilization, and that’s weak anyway. The brownshirts were more like sheepdogs than cheerleaders. I suspect you are trying to restrict the phenomenon to the exotic Nazi type of thing. There is no political difference between Dems and Repubs.
As you say here, Geoffrey, this November 2024 American Presidential election isn’t really about Republicans vs Democrats, liberals vs conservatives, Christians vs everybody else. It’s truly existential. Can our semi-democratic society continue to exist? Can humanity continue living on our “swiftly tilting planet”?
Think hard…and then act accordingly.
An excellent piece of writing!
~Mike McGraw~ (technical writer)
Thank you, Mike. This one really exhausted me. The whole situation should be a farcical novel, but here we are staring down a gun.
You certainly touched a lot of bases … and there are probably more we don’t even know about, tucked away in the pages of Project 2025.
But for hope: our wind ensemble is playing a concert tomorrow afternoon, on the theme of Democracy. The opening fanfare was composed for the U. S. Marine Band, which premiered it at the inauguration of Joe Biden. The next selection, “Marching Song of Democracy,” is an older piece by Percy Grainger, a doctrinaire and outspoken Australian who didn’t mince words or musical expression. The first half closes with the ever-inspiring “Lincoln Portrait” by Aaron Copland. The second half is a single piece, a five movement 30-minute wind symphony titled simply “Migration.” It’s the composer’s thoughts and reactions to the challenges of leaving one country for another.
And above all, let’s hope everyone in the audience does their civic duty to vote.
The quotations from Lincoln’s speeches are especially inspiring, considering that in his time also, Democracy and the Union were at stake, with the outcome of a great battle undecided.
I hope all this helps you deal with the stress and tension we all feel.
Program notes on our web site, http://www.crwe.org.
Hopefully, I got at least a few people to rethink sitting this one out. Most of my articles take longer than this one, about 11 hours today, but I feel far more exhaustion than usual. I hope I never have to write about Trump again. The concert looks excellent. Wish I could be there and that it's an omen of what's to come. I'll be ambling over to the polls tomorrow. Early voting in NY started today. Thanks, Bruce.
There is no way to say this that doesn’t (A) trigger people, and (B) make them hold a gut reaction that one must be a total asshole, but the truth is this:
Whatever a Harris administration might bring, Trump’s is a helluva lot worse on all counts, as SHOULD be painfully obvious to anyone giving him a cursory glance
And here’s the triggering comment: if one is wholly focused on the Gaza conflict, one is seeing a miniscule sliver of the big picture. As wild as it may sound to people, there are much bigger things at stake than that.
I strongly suggest one zooms out and looks at them - perhaps via Geogfrey’s writing
I’m not saying Harris is great. I am saying, like last time, “anyone but Trump”. Someone in a coma would be vastly preferable to the destruction and chaos Trump will bring.
Spot on!
Geoff, I am so glad that you made the effort to write about an unpleasant subject.
Trump is everything you said and more. Yes, he is dishonest, ignorant and unbalanced, but I am fairly sure that he now also has dementia. His thinking, speaking, and ability to hold a thought have seriously declined over the past four years. Can you imagine what he will be like four years from now? All of his worst traits will be magnified, and now the Supreme Court has given him permission to do almost anything.
Trump would also be the oldest president ever elected If he were incapacitated or died, Vance would take over, and Project 2025 would be inevitable. It would certainly be the end of whatever democracy we have left.
I wish we had a third party candidate who had a realistic chance of winning, but we don't. A vote for anyone but Kamala Harris just makes the chance of a Trump presidency increase. I mailed in my ballot on the very first day of early voting in my state. I wish I could vote more than once, as some of the MAGA people seem to think we can!
We've needed a third party for a long time. Both of the existing ones are guilty of stifling that possibility. Should Trump win, Project 2025 will be carried out while he's golfing. Should billionaire backed fake hillbilly Vance take over, you're right, same deal. Due respect to Margaret Atwood for seeing so much of this creepy scenario. Glad I'm naturally numb from engaging with this craziness, or I'd be climbing the walls right now.
An Open Letter to Your Friend or Relative Planning to Vote for Trump: Your Vote for Trump Is an Endorsement of Bigotry, Cruelty, and the Erosion of Rights—No Matter the Reason You Give.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-150725410?r=4d7sow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Good plea from a different angle. His hateful base is untouchable, but there are disaffected Republicans, that like Cheney will cross the aisle, hopefully in large enough numbers. Unfortunately, defeating Trump, essential, will not make this problem go away.
People also need to be made aware that lower level offices on the ballot might be what actually chooses our next president: not the popular vote, nor even the electoral college – but rather our next president could be chosen in a Trumpist electoral coup through a “contingent election” (which is what Trump was referring to regarding his “little secret” with Mike Johnson at the Madison Square Garden rally). Voting a COMPLETE ballot, and if you split your ticket voting strategically for certain lower level offices, is crucial to stopping it. See the article linked below with a Rachel Maddow clip to learn more about what a contingent election is, and to know what you’re doing when you vote. A vote at the top of the ticket is not enough – independents and Republican cross-over voters, this goes especially for you. Share the article so that the 30% of voters who normally don’t vote a complete ballot will learn about the importance of doing so. Spread the word.
https://crisafulli.substack.com/p/vote-blue-down-ballot-or-house-may-elect-trump
I have restacked your article. I agree, this election will not be decided on November 5, or even a week later as the states prohibited from counting early votes catch up. The January 6 coup attempt never ended.
Greatful you've gone off script again, because if Trump wins the rest of us sink with the US. There is a world on edge out here, deeply worried.
But ... ESPECIALLY grateful for the care, and attention, and clarity you put into the difficult task of climate communication. Just sayin'.
Yes, Trump and his minions take everyone down in this situation. Thank you for your encouragement. I seem to be fielding questions from quite a few deniers these days, or those that believe industry can go on as it has forever. It's tiring, but what I asked for. If I can get a few people to read my views, maybe I can also change a few minds.
Great writing as usual. I feel utterly sickened by it as well. Had to consciously relapse to go vote for her, but for good reason. All of what you say rings very true to these sad old privileged , yet poor ears. I refuse to waste the choice by not voting, or voting third party like I have for my entire adult life.
I feel the same. The Gaza and now Lebanon situations are pure evil, but Trump and company will be the end of any pretense of Democracy and spell the end of the battle for saving our planet. People like me would be branded as enemies of the state, and we would be unable to trust our neighbors anymore. Thank you for voting. As sickening as it all is we're truly with our backs to the wall.
An Open Letter to Your Friend or Relative Planning to Vote for Trump:
Your Vote for Trump Is an Endorsement of Bigotry, Cruelty, and the Erosion of Rights—No Matter the Reason You Give.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-150725410?r=4d7sow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
In your article you state, “ there are 2 Presidential Candidates “ and then mention Trump and any perceived shortcomings and controversial issues. I did not see any mention of the other candidate “ VP Harris “ and any of her shortcomings. In fact you take a term “ word salad and apply it to Trump when it is generally applied to Harris. You also mention the billion dollar media which you are a part of that controls the narrative and influences voters. This piece was simply another hit job on Trump.
I don't love Harris, like most, I barely know her. I feel I criticized the Democrats pretty thoroughly in their support of neoliberal economics, genocide in Gaza, and crackdown on free speech on college campuses. I provided links to those articles and have criticized Biden in many others as well. I am tired, as are most of us, of voting for the lesser of the evils. I didn't mention Jill Stein, because much to our detriment, there is no viable third party.
Trump is a serial liar, profoundly ignorant, a sexual predator and a wannabe dictator. We live under a corporatocracy at this point that has poisoned not just the critical workings of the planet, but our bodies and brains as well. As bad as all of that is, Trump is a far more destructive force. Project 2025 of which his denial of knowledge is yet another lie, is a fascist playbook. Trump deserves all of the hits we can dish out.
Imagine halving to provide security for such a creature
Yeah, I would never last in the Secret Service given that assignment.
Over the course of my career I had 3 opportunities to relocate to the US. Florida, Virginia and California. I am so grateful none of these avenues opened out. I would be pretty high on humpy’s list.
Well, let's face it, David. Woke vegans are ruining this country.
And there’s me thinking we’re saving the world
The fight isn't lost yet if Trump is defeated, but it's still close to that if Harris wins. We need to demand profound change. The planet is just about done with us. Corporate run politics, obscene consumption and timid policies must end.
Sorry, Geoff, but I got about half way through your well written and researched piece and had to stop, because I couldn't stop laughing. Did I just wake up from a dream, like, maybe, a scene from "Killer Clowns From Outer Space"? Nope, you're right, it's just another day in the endless farce known as the Trump Circus. Oh, well, at least now, at 79, I have finally resigned from American culture and politics, because for all those years of believing things could change, they never have. Finally, I got it! I'm the one who needs to change, so, now, I just don't give a shit which idiot is elected president. When the feckless DOJ did not arrest and hold for trial DJT on Jan. 21, I knew we were screwed. The billionaires run this shyte show and they haven't invited me to join them. Have a blessed evening.
There is an undeniable level of absurdity here, to the point, "This can't be real, right?" I, too, have resigned from American culture and often feel as a detached observer. The best moments of my life have been spent hiking on and bicycling over mountains immersed in trees, expansive views, and animal sightings. Those things are real, the rest of this just persistent annoyance we are forced to deal with. Should Trump prevail, I am unsure of what I will do next, run straight at the danger or vanish. At 62 and on borrowed time (survived a brain tumor in 2019) I feel okay about dealing with what comes next, but feel for the younger people. My daughter turns 22 in the spring. Thank you, Greeley.
You are underestimating how bad the Democrats are. Both are fascist. Yes, I am serious.
I know this. I called them complicit in neoliberal economics. I called out Gaza. I called out our arms sales to Israel. I called out suppression on college campuses. I have called out Biden in other articles. I pointed out they're all beholden to dark money. But Trump and his minions are next level evil.
“Fascist” is such a protean term. Can you explain what you mean? What do the Dems and the Libs have in common that makes them both fascist?
I mean that fascism won after WW2, worldwide. The merger of state and industry, the liquidation of the communist project into labor management by corrupt unions, and the administration of society and the people within it as a formless mass, by propaganda, violence, and secret police, with lesser or greater brutality, in order to extract value and lower wages, which became the same thing after Vietnam.
Thanks. I’m hearing “merger of state and industry” and management via “propaganda, violence, and secret police”. These are undoubtedly fascist characteristics.
I suppose that diagnosing fascism involves a identifying a number of signs and symptoms and to yours I would add:
Cult of Personality.
Mythic Nationalism and Racial Purity.
Anti-Intellectualism and Suppression of Dissent.
Mobilisation of Masses Through Paramilitaries.
Militarization of Society.
Abuse of Human Rights.
Use of Scapegoats and Conspiracies.
Rigidity of Gender Roles.
I’d conclude that although the Democrats and Republicans could both be diagnosed with fascist spectrum disorder, the Republicans have a much more serious case!
All of those are in effect in the USA today, and the only arguable one is paramilitary mobilization, and that’s weak anyway. The brownshirts were more like sheepdogs than cheerleaders. I suspect you are trying to restrict the phenomenon to the exotic Nazi type of thing. There is no political difference between Dems and Repubs.
No, not at all trying to restrict it to the NAZIs. Rather I’m taking them as an exemplar of the far reaches of the fascist spectrum.
So something like, “A party has a fascist disorder if in the past two years it has exhibited support for 6 of the following 10 characteristics”.