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.