The Message

At 4:22 this afternoon, Kamala Harris gave her concession speech, at Howard University, her Alma Mater, where she had hoped to give a victory speech.

She spoke for 12 minutes, praising America and its system, thanking her supporters and telling them she loved them, and telling them to not give up the fight for making this a better country.

Do I feel better for having heard that? No. To continue that fight, we need a plan. Right now, to paraphrase her opponent's line, we don't even have a concept of a plan.

*

So, after an emotionally devastating election, what message to I have for the people who, like me, supported Kamala Harris?

In 2016, the message was easy: "Don't flee to Canada. Stay and fight. Together, we will get through this." This would seem to be a good message again. But, this time, we can't be sure of that. Trump says he'll be a dictator on Day One. No dictator ever gave up power on Day Two. He's said he will terminate the Constitution of the United States, which, he has said, has been "unfair" to him. And he has the Supreme Court on his side now, along with the Senate, and probably (the returns are not all in yet) also the House of Representatives.

Can we survive four years of Dictator Trump and the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025? Or, if, for whatever reason, Trump can't complete the term, four years of a combination of Dictator Trump and Dictator Vance, carrying Project 2025 out? I honestly don't know.

I tried. I warned as many people as I could. Not enough listened to me. I'm sorry. I know that makes me sound like McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and he was no hero, and came to the kind of end that I can imagine Trump's new government carrying out. But it's all I can say. 

*

What's the message to the people who voted for Trump? It's simple:

You got what you wanted. You own it all now. Whatever happens over the next four years, it is all on you.

You have bet your lives, and everybody else's, on Trump having a successful second term. Even though his first term was, by any rational measure, a complete disaster. The day he left office the first time, the country's economy was in tatters, it was causing the inflation you blamed on Joe Biden, over 1 million people died from COVID when he could have saved the vast majority of those had he taken it seriously, the crime problem had gotten worse, he hadn't come close to solving the border problem you care so damned much about.

You decided that his first term, his various failures, his various crimes including impeachable offenses, his various bigotries, and the other evidence of his low character don't matter. You also decided that, whatever virtues Harris has, don't matter. Whatever I might think of such an attitude, it is your right.

But, know this: You are betting your lives, as well as ours, on Trump having a successful term. Even though you know that he is now 78 years old, older than Biden was when he was elected, and morbidly obese. And even though that you also know that, if, for whatever reason, he can't complete this term, the Presidency will fall to J.D. Vance. I'll bet you any money you like that not one of you was undecided, heard that Vance was the choice, and chose Trump on that basis.

But it's all on him now, and it's all on you. Whatever happens over the next four years, it's because you chose this guy.

If it works out in your favor, you are well within your rights to gloat.

If it doesn't -- if Trump crashes the economy a second time, if crime gets worse, if the immigration problem is not fixed, if there is a foreign-policy disaster, if there is another pandemic -- I am well within my rights to tell you that I told you so.

Whatever happens, as was said in the first Joker film, you get what you fucking deserve.

Where Have All the Voters Gone?

1960 to 1964: Democrats gained 8.9 million votes, Republicans lost 7.0 million. Barry Goldwater scared people away.

1964 to 1968: Republicans gained 4.6 million, Democrats lost 11.9 million. People were disillusioned by war, riots and assassinations. There didn't seem to be anything to vote for.

1968 to 1972: Republicans gained 15.4 million, Democrats lost 8.1 million. George McGovern was seen as an extemist.

1972 to 1976: Democrats gained 11.7 million, Republicans lost 8.0 million. Watergate 

1976 to 1980: Republicans gained 4.8 million, Democrats lost 5.4 million. Inflation.

1980 to 1984: Republicans gained 10.5 million, Democrats gained 2.1 million. First time since Presidential politics became widely televised that both parties gained voters.

1984 to 1988: Republicans lost 5.6 million, Democrats gained 4.3 million. First time in the TV era that the winning party lost voters and the losing party gained. To be fair, neither George Bush the father nor Mike Dukakis was an inspiring candidate.

1988 to 1992: Democrats gained 3.1 million, Republicans lost 9.7 million. Recession, and Bill Clinton was an inspiring candidate -- at the time, anyway.

1992 to 1996: Democrats gained 2.5 million, Republicans gained 93,000.

1996 to 2000: Republicans gained 12.2 million, Democrats gained 6.5 million.

2000 to 2004: Republicans gained 11.6 million, Democrats gained 8.0 million.

2004 to 2008: Democrats gained 10.4 million, Republicans lost 2.1 million. Recession, and Barack Obama was an inspiring candidate.

2008 to 2012: Democrats lost 4.5 million, Republicans gained 1.0 million. 

2012 to 2016: Republicans gained 2.0 million. Democrats lost 62,000. Millions of people voted who had never voted before, because Donald Trump was the first candidate who was ever told them that it was okay to be bigoted, and they rewarded him.

2016 to 2020: Democrats gained 15.4 million, Republicans gained 11.3 million. It was generally accepted that Trump was a disaster. Four years later, people forgot that.

2020 to 2024, as of 7:00 AM EST on November 6: Republicans lost 3.1 million, Democrats lost 15.0 million.

Where was this "record turnout" we kept hearing about? Where are all these "newly registered voters" we kept hearing about? Where are all these "people who've never voted for a Democrat before"?

Where the flying fuck are all these millions of young women that Taylor Swift supposedly registered to vote at her concerts?

And you can't say, "A lot of them went to Trump," anyway. Because, at last check, he had a net loss of voters, too! If he did get them, or a big chunk of them, that might well have been too suspicious. 

Even before you consider what happened to all the new voters, when you add up the drops on both sides, that's 18.1 million people who voted in 2020, the year when it was harder to vote than ever before, because of COVID restrictions; who didn't vote in 2024, when there was no excuse not to vote.

You can't blame COVID restrictions: They're all gone. You can't blame the weather: Coast to coast, border to border, it couldn't have been better. You can't say you didn't know enough about the candidates, because you knee that one of them was Donald Trump, and the Democrats could have nominated me, as unfit for the office as I am, and it would have been an improvement! 

So, what happened? Where did those 18 million people go? Did Thanos "snap them away"? No, because he's a fictional character, and the Infinity Gems/Stones don't exist.

Did they register, or maintain their registration, and simply not vote, because they didn't like either candidate? If that was the case, they should have sucked it up and voted for Harris, anyway, because she's not a fascist, a rapist, a felon, and an idiot, who sent terrorists to try to sabotage the last election, while Trump is all five.

Eighteen million voters. Where did they go? 

Something isn't right here. Above and beyond the result. If anything, population growth, alone, should have given both Parties more votes than last time. It's happened before.

Where did they go? Why haven't we heard from them?

To paraphrase Pete Seeger -- who, unlike Kamala, actually was a Communist, and was proud of it -- Where have all the voters gone? Long time passing.

UPDATE: As of 5:00 PM, Trump was down 2.2 million; the Democrats, down 14.0 million. 16.2 million total voters lost.

I Did Warn You

As I write this, it is after midnight on November 6, 2024. Unless the city and mail-in votes come in the favorable way, November 5, 2024 will go down as the darkest day in American history.

I had hoped that women would come through and save us. But, as is so often the case, "It's the economy, stupid." Too many women put the price of supermarket eggs over the price of their own "eggs." The Democrats did very little to point out that Trump has a record on the economy, and it was horrible.

The Hispanic men who decided they couldn't vote for a woman? Wait until they discover that the Republicans don't consider them "white."

The young, first-time-voting Arab-Americans who couldn't vote for Harris because she was a part of the Biden Administration that supported Israel over Gaza? Many of them were too young to have paid attention to the news in 2016 and 2017, and don't remember the Muslim ban, and haven't considered that Trump is a lot closer to Netanyahu than Biden is. If they expected me to have sympathy for their people and their plight before, they can forget it now. Because of their votes, or non-votes as the case may be, more Americans will die than Gazans who have already died.

Trump will talk Justices John Roberts, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito into retiring, and will replace them with 3 younger right-wing fanatic Justices. And Sonia Sotomayor is 70: She's the new Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If there even is a 2028 election, we could have a 7-2 psycho majority on the Supreme Court.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned, Thomas and Alito were quick to say that birth control was next. Same-sex marriage is "settled law"? So was abortion rights. We won't see any action to stop gun violence. Racially-motivated police brutality will skyrocket. Gay people, including trans people, are doomed.

You wanna talk "doomed"? NATO is doomed. Vladimir Putin will have America and China on the same side. Ukraine is gone. Poland, my ancestral homeland, could be next. The rest of NATO won't stand up for Poland without an America run by Trump. We won't have World War III, but we will have the result of a non-nuclear version of World War III, except, this time, we'll be on the Fascist side.

Taiwan could be gone. Even South Korea could be in danger, because Trump won't stop North Korea if they want to take it.

We could still take the House of Representatives, which could prevent some awful ideas from becoming bills, let alone laws. But it will be the only thing standing between us and Norsefire, the Fascist government of Britain in V for Vendetta, overturned on a fictional 5th of November.

Truly, this was a 5th of November that will never, ever be forgot. For the wrong reasons.

I did warn you. Lots of people warned you. Some of you did the right thing. Not enough of you did.

So many things that Trump has already done, and so many things that he might yet do, were, and are, crimes. The fact that tens of millions of people saw everything he has done to this country, and know what he wants to do over the next four years, and voted for him anyway, is a disgrace.

That the rest of us, possibly a majority of the people in this country, have to live with it is a tragedy.

And when it all comes crashing down, those people who voted for Trump will say, "Oh, no, all these terrible things won't hurt me. I'm white, heterosexual, and a Christian. Just like Trump. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go place flowers on Dad's grave. He died of COVID."

But they can't blame the liberals, the blacks, the Hispanics, the Muslims, the gays, the trans, or the migrants this time. Because Trump took care of all of those problems on Day One. Right? Right?

Come on, city vote. Come on, mail-in vote. Make me eat these words.

November 6, 1984: President Ronald Reagan Is Re-Elected

November 6, 1984, 40 years ago: President Ronald Reagan is overwhelmingly re-elected, defeating Walter Mondale, who had been Vice President under Reagan's predecessor as President, Jimmy Carter. Reagan nearly becomes the 1st candidate to pull off a 50-State sweep, coming closer than Richard Nixon did in 1972, as Mondale wins his home State of Minnesota by just 2,996 votes.

Reagan thus breaks Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1936 record of 523 Electoral Votes, with 525, although it's not quite a higher percentage: FDR got 523 of 531 for 98.5 percent of the EVs, while Reagan got 525 of 538 for 97.6.

Mondale also won the mostly-black District of Columbia, for 3 EVs, but until about 12:00 Midnight, Eastern Time, Minnesota still couldn't be called for him. Or, as comedian Jay Leno put it, "When I went to bed, I only had 3 fewer Electoral Votes than Mondale, and I wasn't even running!"

Mondale also got at least 48 percent of the vote in Massachusetts and Rhode Island; 47 percent in Maryland; and 45 percent in Pennsylvania, Iowa, New York and Wisconsin. Had he won those, instead of losing 525 Electoral Votes to 13, he would have lost 398 to 140, and it wouldn't have looked so bad. But the popular vote was still bad: Reagan won 58.7 percent, Mondale 40.6.

Unemployment was 7.5 percent, higher than the 7.1 percent that it was 4 years earlier when Reagan knocked Carter out of the White House. And there was the Beirut barracks debacle just a year before this election, killing 241 U.S. Marines -- to put it into recent context, 60 "Benghazis" all at once.

And, less than 4 months earlier, Reagan had joked about starting World War III: "We begin bombing in 5 minutes." As a 14-year-old boy, let me tell you: That was terrifying. And, especially in the 2nd debate, Reagan looked like he was already affected by Alzheimer's disease.

So how did Reagan win? By lying: By saying that it was "Morning Again In America," by saying that America was stronger than ever thanks to his defense buildup, by saying that the Communists were in retreat (they weren't), and that he wasn't going to raise taxes but Mondale was. (As Mondale pointed out, Reagan had already raised taxes twice, and would have to do so again -- and, in fact, did.)

But the Republicans ran against "The Carter-Mondale Administration." To this day, they compare every Democratic President, and every Democratic nominee for President, to Carter, even after we've had successful Democratic Presidencies under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and Republican Presidents who were much more damaging than Carter in the two George Bushes and Donald Trump -- and, as it turned out, Reagan himself.

Mondale also hurt himself with his selection of a running mate. It is easy to understand his desire to choose the 1st female Vice Presidential nominee: He thought he could take the women's vote away from Reagan. That was probably a bad guess, no matter who he would have chosen. 

But Ferraro, then a Congresswoman from Queens, was the wrong woman for the job. The traditional running-mate role, that of the "attack dog" who says things the Presidential nominee shouldn't, worked against her, especially with her N'Yawk accent. The fact that her husband, Brooklyn real-estate developer John Zaccaro, was viewed ethically compromised (even if he really wasn't, and she wasn't, either) didn't help.

But there was nothing Mondale could have done. Reagan was able to have it both ways. He was able to accentuate the positive: The "Morning In America" ad suggested, with much justification, that things were better than they had been 4 years earlier.

It was something that Americans, besieged by a quarter of a century of Cold War, civil rights struggles, race riots, assassinations, war, recession and terrorism desperately wanted to believe. And Reagan and his packagers were able to convince them it was true. This was all part of the Actor's show. He never played any part as well as he played "President Reagan." In short, to adapt a famous line from a TV commercial: Ronald Reagan wasn't a great President, but he played one on TV.

One thing that helped was the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Granted, the hockey Gold Medal, including the upset of the vastly more talented Soviet team, at the 1980 Winter Olympics didn't help Carter (or Mondale, who was actually at the game with the Soviets and the Gold Medal game with Finland, as several players were from Minnesota). But the boycott of the Summer Olympics, in Moscow, sure hurt Carter – even though it did more to expose the Soviets as "an evil empire" than anything Reagan ever did.

When the Soviets and the East Germans boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, it left the American team almost free rein to win as many medals as it wanted. It became 16 days of unbridled, safe patriotism, a call of, "You're all welcome to visit our country, but our country is the greatest!" It was right up Reagan's alley, and it was right in his Southern California backyard. As the host nation's head of state, he even got to officially declare the Games open. He was great at ceremonial stuff like that, and he reveled in it.

But Reagan and his team were equally good at selling the Cold War. In spite of the sunny image he projected for both himself and America, Reagan was able to make Americans so frightened of the Soviet Union that they'd rather have a senile, lying Republican as President than an honest Democrat of sound mind.

There was nothing Mondale could have done. The only way he could have won would have been if Reagan's Alzheimer's disease had made him look obviously impaired during their debates. People who heard his closing statement in the 2nd debate wondered, but it wasn't obvious enough to swing the election.

In spite of his tremendous victory, it was a personal landslide, a.k.a. a "lonely landslide." The Republicans gained 16 seats in the House of Representatives, hardly what one would expect when the President won by such a wide margin. And the Democrats actually gained 2 seats in the Senate. Notable newly-elected Senators included Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Phil Gramm of Texas; and Democrats Al Gore of Tennessee, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Paul Simon of Illinois, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia.

Reagan died in 2004, Ferraro in 2011, Bush in 2018, Mondale in 2021.

November 5, 1994: George Foreman Regains the Heavyweight Title

November 5, 1994, 30 years ago: A 45-year-old overweight minister wins the Heavyweight Championship of the World. It doesn't sound possible. It is, when it's George Foreman.

Wearing the same trunks he wore 20 years minus a week earlier, when he lost the title to Muhammad Ali, Big George knocks Michael Moorer out in the 10th round at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. He thus breaks Jersey Joe Walcott's record as oldest Heavyweight Champion. (Walcott was 38 when he lost the title to Rocky Marciano in 1952).

He doesn't hold the title for long, as organizational shenanigans beyond his control forced him to give it up. But he had made his point. Today, who remembers the guys who made George Foreman give up the title (except for Ali)? Ah, but everybody remembers George, and everybody likes George. Which was not the case the first time around: After retiring from boxing for the 1st time in 1977, he totally changed his life, and became a different and better person. His last fight was a loss to Shannon Briggs in 1997. His final record was 76-5 -- 31-3 after his comeback. 

For Those About to Stay Home Or Vote 3rd Party

In 1968, Hubert Humphrey wasn't pure enough for the leftists. They stayed home or voted 3rd party, and ended up with the President the least like the one they wanted, Richard Nixon.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter wasn't pure enough for the leftists. They stayed home or voted 3rd party, and ended up with the President the least like the one they wanted, Ronald Reagan.

In 2000, Al Gore wasn't pure enough for the leftists. They stayed home or voted 3rd party, and ended up with the President the least like the one they wanted, George W. Bush.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton wasn't pure enough for the leftists. They stayed home or voted 3rd party, and ended up with the President the least like the one they wanted, Donald Trump.

It's 2024. If you're old enough to vote, then you've seen this movie at least once before.

Don't be selfish, and don't be an idiot. Be an American, and give yourself a President who will be very much like the one you want. 

Becausd if you don't, you'll be giving us the one that only the most evil of people want.

Closing Argument

Tomorrow is Election Day. The Democratic Party has nominated Vice President Kamala Harris, who previously served as U.S. Senator from California, Attorney General of her State, and District Attorney for the County of San Francisco. The Republican Party has nominated former President Donald Trump.

The Vice Presidential nominees: The Democrats have Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, former Congressman, former high school football coach; while the Republicans have J.D. Vance, a  U.S. Senator from Ohio for only 4 years, and before that a corporate stooge-lawyer who wrote a well-known book about how "his people" are hillbillies that liberals don't respect.

In my opinion, the Democrats have nominated Claire Huxtable and Knute Rockne, while the Republicans have nominated Benito Mussolini and Gregory Marmalard. (Marmalard was the leader of the "evil" fraternity in Animal House, played by James Daughton.)

This race seemed like it would come down to 6 States: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. But recent polls have thrown North Carolina and Iowa into question.

To people in those States, here is the closing argument:

* The "Save Democracy" Argument: If Harris wins this time, and you don't like what she does, you can vote against her next time. If Trump wins this time, there may not be a next time.

* The "Rights" Argument: Trump appointed 3 Justices to the Supreme Court, giving it a 6-3 conservative majority, which took the right to an abortion away. If you are a woman who lives in a State that still upholds your right to decide for yourself if and when to have a child, that ends if Trump wins. He will almost certainly keep control of the House of Representatives and drag Republicans into control of the Senate, and he'll sign a bill outlawing all abortions -- except for rich people, who will find a way to get it taken care of for themselves or their wives/girlfriends/mistresses.

And Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have both already said that birth control is next. And if you think gay marriage was forever enshrined in the Constitution of the United States, well, that's what pro-choice activists thought.

* The "Palestinians" Argument: You might think Harris, as part of the Biden Administration, bears some responsibility for what's happened in Gaza. Trump is much more closely allied with Benjamin Netanyahu. Under him, things will absolutely get worse. He might even support Netanyahu in a war against Iran. After all, like Trump, Netanyahu is staying in power so he can stay out of prison.

The only State where a pro-Palestinian vote might make a difference is Michigan, since the Detroit metropolitan area has a large population of Arab descent. Fortunately, Detroit is also a majority-black city, and Michigan is a major union State, which should offset the number of pro-Palestinian voters either switching to Trump, voting third-party, or staying home. But if you're one of them, remember: You've got a better chance at peace with Harris than with Trump.

* The "Border" Argument: This one is just plain stupid. The border issue could have been solved this year. President Biden said he would sign the border security bill that was already set to be voted on by the Republican-controlled house and the Democratic-controlled Senate. It was endorsed by the FBI and every other major law-enforcement organization. But Trump called Speaker Mike Johnson and told him not to hold a vote.

You see, Trump doesn't give a damn about the border. He doesn't want to solve the issue. He only wants to have the issue, because he wants to scare you into voting for him instead of the Democrats. Dumb Donald is so dumb (How dumb is he?), he didn't realize that if Biden had signed a Republican-sponsored bill, he, Trump, could have taken credit for it, and his fans would have believed him. He could have said, "I forced Biden to sign the bill! I'm strong! He's weak!" Instead, he stopped the bill, because he didn't want Biden to get any credit for it.

One more time: Donald Trump does not care about immigrants, legal or otherwise, law-abiding or otherwise, coming over the border. He just wants to scare you about it. As a great President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, taught us, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

* The "Crime" Issue: Crime went up under Trump -- including crimes committed by Trump himself -- and it's gone down under Biden-Harris. When Trump says crime is out of control, he's lying, and the statistics prove it.

Nobody is eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio. The town's Mayor, a Republican, said it's not happening.

Minneapolis and Portland were not "burned down." Both cities, with Democratic Mayors and in States with Democratic Governors, are doing better than the cities of Florida under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, and the cities of Texas under Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

* The "Economy" Issue: The economy was good for the 1st 3 years of the Trump Administration -- because it was still the Obama economy. Then it crashed because of Trump's tax cuts and tariffs, and his mishandling of the COVID pandemic. Inflation was negligible then, because the economy itself was negligible.

Under Biden-Harris, the restoration of the economy led to inflation, but even so, it was lower in American than in any other developed nation. Today, inflation is back to where it was when Biden and Harris took office, unemployment is near an all-time peacetime low, and the stock market is at an all-time high. In other words, every prediction Trump made for the economy if Biden won has been proven wrong.

* Foreign Policy: Trump let the dictators of the world, from Netanyahu to Vladimir Putin of Russia, get away with whatever they wanted. They would love to have him back.

Trump said the war in Ukraine never would have happened with him still in office. Of course not: He wouldn't have aided Ukraine, and Putin would have won the war quickly. Now, he says, he would "let him do whatever the hell he wants."

If Ukraine falls, Poland is next. In those 8 toss-ups States, there are this many Polish-Americans: Michigan, 764,000; Pennsylvania, 737,000; Wisconsin, 474,000; Arizona, 152,000; North Carolina, 149,000; Georgia, 108,000; Nevada, 51,000; and Iowa, 38,000.

* "But I've always voted Republican!" So have many other people who are voting for Harris. Trump's own former Vice President isn't voting for him or endorsing him. Which makes sense: Mike Pence remains the only Vice President whose President tried to have him killed. (Andrew Jackson publicly expressed the wish that he had shot John C. Calhoun, but he never sent a mob chanting that they wanted to hang him, or to shoot the Speaker of the House in the head, as Trump did.)

Nor is the only other living Republican former President, George W. Bush, endorsing Trump. Bush's Vice President, Dick Cheney, has said he's voting for Harris. Cheney's daughter, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, is making campaign appearances with Harris. And while one of the Bush Twins, Jenna Bush Hager, is working in media (for NBC's The Today Show), and must maintain the appearance of neutrality, the other, Barbara Bush (who does not publicly use her married name, Mrs. Coyne), has been going door-to-door in key State Pennsylvania for Harris.

Harris has also been endorsed by Ronald P. Reagan and Patti Davis, children of "The Gipper"; Susan Ford Bales, daughter of Jerry Ford; Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Ike; and descendants of Theodore Roosevelt. Somehow, Trump's gaining of the endorsement of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pales in comparison to all of that -- and would even if RFK Jr. were sane, which he isn't.

Aside from Trump and Bush, the only other living Republican former nominee for President is Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, nominated in 2012. He has endorsed Harris, because he finds Trump immoral. The family of Senator John McCain of Arizona, nominated in 2008, is also supporting Harris, and their support of Biden in 2020 probably cost Trump their State. The only other living Republican former Vice President, Dan Quayle, also hasn't endorsed Trump.

Mark Milley, a 4-star Army General who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Trump's last year in office and Biden's 1st 3 years, has said that Trump is "fascist to the core" and "the most dangerous person ever."

John F. Kelly, a 4-star Marine General who served as Trump's 1st Secretary of Homeland Security and his 2nd White House Chief of Staff, has called Trump “certainly an authoritarian,” and has said that the former President once told him he wished he behaved more like the “German generals,” and specifically “Hitler’s generals.” Mark Esper, who served as Trump's 2nd Secretary of Defense, says he "has those inclinations."

Jim Mattis, a 4-star Marine General who served as Trump's 1st Secretary of Defense, has said that Trump "used the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens."

Rex Tillerson, an energy company executive who served as Secretary of State for the 1st year of the Trump Administration, has called Trump "a fucking moron." He was succeeded at State by Mike Pompeo. He hasn't endorsed Trump, either. Nor have Trump's 2 Attorneys General, Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr. Nor has Trump's Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, who tried to get the Cabinet to invoke the Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to remove him from office after the Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021.

So Trump can't get the endorsement of his own Vice President, Secretaries of State, Secretaries of Defense, Attorneys General, Secretary of the Treasury, of White House Chiefs of Staff. And he can't get the endorsement of a single living Republican who has ever been nominated for President or Vice President, except his current running mate, Vance -- who, before being chose, called Trump "America's Hitler."

And if those Republicans, some of whom would deck anyone calling them a "liberal," can't bring themselves to vote for Trump, perhaps you should take that into consideration.

Indeed, Harris has supporters from across the political spectrum, from Bernie Sanders on the left to Liz Cheney on the right. Trump couldn't even get Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to speak on his behalf at the Republican Convention.

I mean, look at their supporters. Choose your decade icon:

* 1960s: Harris has Jane Fonda, Trump has Jon Voight.

* 1970s: Harris has Dolly Parton, Trump has Ted Nugent.

* 1980s: Harris has Bruce Springsteen, Trump has Hulk Hogan.

* 1990s: Harris has Jennifer Lopez, Trump has Dr. Phil McGraw.

* 2000s: Harris has Beyoncé, Trump has Kid Rock.

* 2010s and 2020s: Harris has Taylor Swift, Trump has Elon Musk.

That's the closing argument. Trump represents things that should be left in the past: Authoritarianism, toxic masculinity, bigotry in every form. While Harris represents the future that America was always meant to have.

"Make America Great Again"? Trump does not understand what greatness is. America, for all its flaws and missteps, has never stopped being great. Harris is a symbol of America's greatness. Let's make her the caretaker of America's greatness, so she can move America's greatness to a new, higher level.