Is anybody watching the Democratic National Convention? Kathleen Parker watched opening night Monday and pronounced it boring.
I skipped opening night, but I watched Tuesday yesterday afternoon and Wednesday this morning on reruns. Boring? Yes, but no more so than party conventions have been since television producers took the action away from the politicians and made sure all the antimacassars stay in place and the throw rugs don't get tangled. I haven't watched a convention gavel-to-gavel since 1980, when Leslie Stahl went into ecstasy when she learned the name of Ronald Reagan's vice-presidential pick (G.H.W. Bush) 25 seconds ahead of the rest of the world. She's still outworking the men at CBS. The rest of us? Meh.
Even in virtuality, or maybe especially in virtuality, everything looks like an ad. But all news -- from California fires to kids befriending pizza delivery guys -- looks like an ad since everybody modeled the anchor sets on imaginary space ship loading docks.
About the only thing that struck me was the absence of old white men, The Candidate aside, and the presence of so many black, indigenous, Asian, Hispanic, Latinx women and so much kissing among the same sex as opposed to the boy-and-girl kissing that was rare even when Robert A. Taft tried to head off the nomination of the Likeable Ike with a band playing "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover." I would say the Trump base, such as it is, can draw confirmation for its prejudices from what it saw.
Is anyone else finding inspiration there?
I haven’t watched a convention in years. I honestly don’t remember the last one.
ReplyDeleteI’m sure all the hidden And not so hidden racists will be appalled.
I actually haven't watched any of the convention. But then I never do. I would rather read about it and find a transcript (or a precis) of the speeches I was interested in. I did think it was a neat touch to have the delegates speak from a scene in their own state. Like the Hawaiian lady with a beach as a backdrop.
ReplyDeleteLiked what I read of Barack Obama's speech. I think he was right to sound the sober, somber message that our democracy is in peril. That is uncharacteristic coming from him, I think it had more impact than if somebody else had said it. And of course Michelle O. was great.I
Kamala Harris (at least I think it was she) emphasized that people need a plan of how they are going to vote. Not who they're going to vote for, that's a given. But how they're going to make sure their ballot is counted. That warning shouldn't be necessary, but this time it is.
Check out what Trump said about QAnon. Anything the Dems say at their convention is going to sound positively lucid by comparison.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched a convention in real time since they became infomercials. I listen to the speeches sometimes on YouTube or FB. I listened to AOC and Bernie. The Democrats may be the happy clappy silly party, but they aren't trying to kill democracy and wreck the government.
ReplyDeleteThat would pretty much be 1972, no?
DeleteOh, I wish I were as world weary as all of you sophisticates.
ReplyDeleteI watched it all. Slack-jawed and while eating ham sandwiches with mustard and drinking near-beer. In my bed. With the cats.
I did skip Kamala Harris last night because I don't like listening to her voice, and I knew what she was going to say. And, given the reports this morning, I was right. She has the unenviable task of being the attack dog plus a shining example of Our Brown Immigrant Heritage.
Inspiring? Outside of everyone singing the national anthem at the opening on Monday, no.
But inspiration was amply made up for by the weird. I honestly wish I'd had a joint when they started the roll call on Tuesday. The guy in Ohio standing outside a car plant yelling, "Every time Donald Trump makes a promise, somebody gets screwed!" and the Rhode Islanders hawking calamari. Rhode Island, the calamari comeback state. That's what they said. I told Raber to put visiting Rhode Island to eat calamari on the bucket list.
And Jill Biden's "get to know me" segment opening with the Beatles "Good Day Sunshine." Could it get worse, I wondered? Yes, it could. We learned that Dr. Biden terrorizes her grandchildren with dead snakes in a bag and makes them get up at 5 a.m. It sounded like visiting Gramma was like a visit to a Black Ops outpost.
The whole Jill Biden segment was uncomfortable, unnecessary, and Joe coming on at the end seemed to be stuttering or caught in some kind of elder mind loop with First Lady, Lady, Lady.
Melania could have her coffin wheeled into the Oval Office and rise up out of it in her Bride of Dracula nightie, and it wouldn't have been any weirder.
Except for Desperate Housewife Host Eva Longoria, the hostesses were wearing some mighty strange outfits. Tracee Ellis Ross had something in maroon and black with a lot of zippers that made her look like she had just come from Star Fleet Command, and Kerry Washington in a pinstripe suit with wide lapels was on her way to tryouts for a place in the chorus of Guys and Dolls.
The high-profile Dems they've trotted out have said all the predictable things with a certain direct bluntness. But I'm way past that. I wanted some bug-eyed freak-outs. I want Michelle to wave a trowel around and tell how Trump TORE UP MY GODDAM VEGETABLE GARDEN FOR CHILDREN. I want Obama to to foam at the mouth talking about Trump's COLD-HEARTED LAWSUIT TO END OBAMACARE WHEN UNEMPLOYMENT IS AT 30 MILLION PEOPLE! And I wanted some nurses from Henry Ford Hospital to come out and talk about what it's like to TRIP OVER DEAD BODIES, SOME OF THEM HEALTH CARE WORKERS, BECAUSE TRUMP F*&$ED AROUND GETTING US PPE.
Instead we got some Young Person singing Stand By Me in Spanglish while walking past an apparently endless mural.
The Boy tells me his leftist buddies will not vote for Biden because they don't want to "endorse" middle-of-the-roaders. I asked if they understood that a vote is not an endorsement. When a man is drowning and you can save him with a leaky rowboat, you do it; you don't want for a luxury cruiser to come along and collect his dead body.
He understood what I was saying, but apparently, we have many young people who just want the system to rot itself out from the inside so they can rebuild it.
I shudder. I really do.
Thanks Jean. You did it for us so we don't have to. Enjoyed your description much more than I would have the actual event.
DeleteYeah, how about that mural? I thought at first it must be painted on Trump's Wall, the way it kept going. Then I realized there is no Wall. And the boy sang "Lean on Me" but then started dancing, so if I had been leaning on him I would have fallen on my face. But remember: The RNC will be worse.
DeleteAbout "...young people who just want the system to rot itself out from the inside so they can rebuild it", sorry, if they're that immature and naive, maybe it's better they don't vote. They might just vote for Trump out of spite.
DeleteI came in from a bathroom break to discover Jimmy and Roselyn Carter were speaking off camera. Have they become so hideous that they cannot be shown? Pondering that left me ignoring a lot of Bill Clinton's speech in the Southern Ex-Presidents Segment.
DeleteTom, yes, it made me wonder if that was a section of the Wall. Apparently not, but the auteurs of this infomercial/fundraiser/talk show/pep rally with no one have not done a good job with putting up the B-roll or whatever it is that tells who these people are and where they're speaking from. I keep thinking that Our Young People have no idea who any of these people are.
Well, Katherine, it's gonna be their world in another 20 years or so, and if any of us are still alive at that point, we can cry bitter tears about what a crummy job we did teaching them about basic civics and the Bill of Rights.
Also adds a little frosting to the cake that Steve Bannon was just arrested for fraud on his phony go-fund-me to build the wall.
ReplyDeleteThe friends of Trump will hold future reunions in minimum security.
DeleteThat was great news. Also, that the lead-exposed children of Flint will receive a $600 million deal from the state. Criminal indictments for the water fiasco could be next.
DeleteIn the country with all this fresh air, I can't keep my eyes open past 9pm EDT. The Better Half has gallantly stuck it out with reports from the highlights.
ReplyDeleteI want to like what I see from 9-9:45m: the national anthem kids were good; never heard it sung better. Michelle Obama good...(I mean to check whether her pronouncing get, "git" is a southside Chicagoism. Tom, do you know?)
I did on my way to sleep announce that SNL was going to have a full season of material to work on, that Reality TV has come to the Dems, and that I have done my bit during the last 40 months to keep Trump under surveillance. Now that the Dems have decided who will beat him, I am returning to my long interest in the Celts and the Vikings (the peoples! not the teams).
Kamala Harris means work for SNL's Maya Rudolph.I hope they bring back Woody Harrelson as Joe Biden.
DeleteRaber is not watching it much. He still has a job to get up for.
Celts and Vikings. Have you read The Edge of the World by Michael Pye? It's in my Kindle somewhere. I like to read that type of thing in cold weather when my brain is working. It has been too hot this summer to read anything but pulp fiction and a pretty dreadful book about the crone archetype in myth and literature.
Celts and Vikings, yes the peoples sound more interesting than the teams.
DeleteAnd I'm sure SNL will make good use of the material the election season is handing them.
Yes, Pye is on "am reading this book" pile. Also, The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe. And something, something set on the west coast of Europe about where Flanders is...
DeleteThere is a new Viking book, The Children of Ash and Elm. The reviewers have focused on archeological digs of mass burials in boats with men at oars surrounded by worldly goods. The reviewers have all reminded us that the Vikings plundered near and far from Byzantium to Lindesfarne and beyond (mentioned: they may have reached to Newfoundland). If the Vikings are the ancestors of the Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians, they have come a long way temperamentally.
Christianity came late to the Scandinavian counties, compared to the rest of Europe. Don't know if that might have settled them down, once it took.
DeleteDid you ever read Kristin Lavransdatir, by Sigrid Undset? I liked it for the historical background, but wanted to smack the main character quite a few times. It was a trilogy, got bogged down in the third volume when everybody was getting the plague.
MS, I don't know about "git." I've heard it as a sort of borrowed southernism as in "I told you to go, now git," but I don't remember it from anywhere in Chicago except when used with tongue in cheek, so to speak.
DeleteI am with you on appropriate bedtimes. The Ds come on as I am ready to pass out.
Wonder if Jill Biden's ex from back in the '70s will get any traction with his tell-all book that he's supposedly writing. My guess is even if there's anything to an alleged affair, 45 years ago is so water-under-the-bridge.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know she was married previously. Will there be bags of snakes, I wonder.
DeleteI watched the whole two hours Monday night. Most notable:
ReplyDeleteAside from the two hour infomercial, there were no commercials, absolutely none on the YouTube channel.
There were no pundits commenting on everything. A commercial free and pundit free convention definitely is an improvement.
I watched the first night mainly for Bernie and Michelle. I have skipped the last two nights and plan to skip tonight.
I have three Bernie signs in my garage from the primary for the three corners of my corner lot. I am saving them because I suspect sometime after the election, nor matter who is president, that I will have occasion to bring them out just to remind everyone that there was another choice.
Jack, That is probably a prescient move with the signs.I didn't hear any of the Ds talking about what happens on Jan 21, assuming Joe wins and assuming The Don goes quietly -- the second being a big assumption. But even if both of those assumptions come true, we won't get back to "normal" in 24 hours or 24 weeks of 24 months. If Joe wins, his first job will be like cleaning up the Augean stables. Cleaning up the mess is more likely to take two terms than two weeks. No indication Tom Perez's party knows it.
DeleteI would say that the confidence of European nations in the US will be shaky for a long time. After all, some 40% of our electorate can't recognize this charlatan for what he is. Seriously, I am uncomfortable being in the same country with them. And I'm not wholly confident in the judgement of the Democratic voters, either. Come on. Biden? And the other corporate Democratic candidates rolled over for him. I refrain from criticism of Biden in FB but the audience in this forum is an order of magnitude more capable of complex judgement.
DeleteStanley, you are right about our traditional allies having shaky confidence in the US. Going to be a a heavy lift to restore our relationships.
DeleteI haven't watched more than bits and snatches. My wife watched President Obama's speech last night (or was that two nights ago now?) but I've been busy during the evenings - have a wedding to prep for, and am working this evening.
ReplyDeleteBased on what I've seen: I'm having a really hard time getting into it because of the lack of a crowd. Convention speeches require a crowd to get revved up. Caught a couple of minutes of Kamala last night and she was trying hard and doing ok, but it just came across like a lecture rather than a political speech. Can't give a barn-burner when there is no barn to burn. I know some of the Democrat-friendly opinion-makers in the NY Times and New Yorker have pronounced this format a rousing success, but it seems kinda flat from here.
Love Jean's fashion comments. I wish they gave me new impetus to watch the Repubs' upcoming confab, but I fear they're as bad at picking out interesting clothes as they are at responsible governing these days.
According to the LA Times, through last night the television ratings are down about 18% from 2016. Considering it's all-virtual, that almost sounds like a victory to me. If not for the third night, with Obama and Kamala, it would be down more like 25%. MSNBC is outrating the traditional networks by a wide margin - MSNBC is accounting for something like one out of every five television viewers of the convention. Inasmuch as the typical MSNBC viewer probably is a hardcore Democratic supporter, I am not sure whether that statistic bodes well for Biden/Harris or not. It probably means the base is fired up, which is good, but the low ratings on other networks may signal a broader level of disinterest, which seems bad.
ReplyDeleteThe Biden campaign is claiming that the social media "hits" are breaking records, and that must be taken into account when considering total viewership. I'm sure that's at least partially true.
Here is the LA Time article on the television ratings:
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-08-20/tv-audience-for-night-3-of-the-democratic-convention-rises-to-21-million-viewers
Be interesting to know what the stats were of people tuning in to reading about it on the news sites as opposed to watching it on tv.
ReplyDeletePeople diss Biden for being insufficiently exciting. Believe me, I've had it with excitement for awhile. One of his best characteristics is that he is normal. As opposed to narcissistic borderline personality disorder, or whatever it is that is Trump's thing. Tom said something earlier about Biden having to clean up the Augean stables, which is a good analogy. I have confidence that he will at least pick competent cabinet members, and not just "acting" ones. One thing about his having had a long career in government is that he knows plenty of people to choose from, and won't be picking, for instance, a Betsy DeVos, who knows zip about the department they're supposed to head up.
Trump's conservative christian supporters wanted DeVos and so he went along to make them happy. He really doesn't care one whit about education policy. She has an agenda - basically to get rid of public education, and support "christian" schools with tax money.
DeleteThis election is about Trump vs Covid in which Covid will likely defeat Trump in November. Biden and the Democrats are just the lesser of two evils, with people hoping they will do better than Trump and the Republicans.
ReplyDeleteEven assuming the Democrats win the Senate in 2020, by 2022 they could lose House, and perhaps the Senate. The Democratic Convention has been about Joe is the nice and compassionate guy who feels your pain. That may work against the nightmare of Trump's incompetence against Covid. However the Democrats have to deliver against a host of problems that have accumulated under Trump not just sing "Happy days are here again because we are in power."
Trump moved the official record keeping from CDC to his own group in DC. Obviously it's a move meant to have total control over access to the data bases, and thus control the official counts. The numbers of new cases have been going down ever since that move was made. Now we really will have to hunt for the real numbers - Johns Hopkins will figure out a way, but few Americans even know about their dashboard. Trump will put out false numbers and claim victory over Covid.
DeleteFinal night, blah blah. Mike Bloomberg was fun. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kyL6M88SysU
ReplyDeleteUncle Joe's speech was competent, clear message that the reign of Chthulu must end, and he wisely made no big promises or pushed any new ideas, unless you count the perennial "jobs in infrastructure and alternative energy," which everyone says is a good idea, but no one acts on. What he lacked in fire, he made up for in compassion.
Awkward transition from the Big Speech to the outdoor appearance. I liked the drive-in rally and fireworks. Hope this might be a way for him to do some appearances.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, bad choice. Yukking it up between serious interludes was jarring. And her stand-up skills are poor to begin with. I'm sure I'm not the only one to associate her too closely with her obnoxious acting roles.
I did think that the virtual nature of the convention made the Democratic Party look organized and unified, a feat in itself. No progressives going rogue with floor demonstrations or people going off script.
Otoh, the progressive wing outside of Bernie, who understands defeating Trump is the priority, was kept muzzled. There was no one speaking to anyone under 40 or 50. I wonder if the party has given up on the Bernie Bros and was aimed at garnering Independents, moderate Repubs, and women of color.
During the DNC, Trump has basically fallen back on scare tactics: "White America, the n-----s and sp--s are coming to loot your stores, rape your women, and move into your suburbs. And Joe Biden won't stop them." See his tweet, for example, at 7:30 last night:
I STAND FOR LAW AND ORDER AND I TOOK ACTION! Operation LeGend has led to the arrest of over 1,000 criminals, including 90 killers, all while Sleepy Joe Biden and the Radical Left excuses violence and crime in their Democrat-run cities. I want safety & security, Joe allows CRIME!
And don't forget, if you open the door to Joe, you get AOC, Antifa, mass chaos, end times, etc. (I stole that line from my sister). She and I were texting about it, and I texted back with the line from The Music Man; "One fine night, they leave the pool hall and head for the dance at the armory...scarlet women, libertine men, and ragtime!"
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMusic Man is a good analogy for Trump-speak. Except Henry Hill would have made a better prez.
DeleteThe problem with trying to demonize Joe he is a known quantity. The worst you can say is that he's a touchy-feely old geezer who talks too much about the past. (And I'm not sure that bringing out that kid with a stutter wasn't a bridge too far. It clutched at the heart, but it was almost too "real" to watch, like an invasion of privacy, like exploitation.)
It was pointed out by Gary Abernathy that Democrats always do better at empathy. I would add that Republicans do better at fear-mongering. Of course there are exceptions and overlap. But I'm hoping that Uncle Joe will not spend too much time oozing schmaltz at the expense of concrete plans, facts, and figures.
Correction: Harold Hill
DeleteIf he's smart he will listen to Elizabeth Warren for plans, facts, and figures. That's what she's good at.
DeleteRe: trying to demonize Joe Biden: I've heard sound bites, several times, in which Trump is characterizing him as an extreme leftist. I just don't think that flies.
DeleteWell, now we can look forward to a convention with a roster of truly exciting speakers, if their parole officers will let them appear. On Zoom you can't see the ankle bracelets. So we can hear from Gen. Flinn on Fightin' Don Bonespur, Michael Cohen on "I Was No Roy Cohn," my buddy Roger Stone performing the oldie "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" (he has been practicing the first line), Paul Manafort on the sights and sounds of Eastern Europe, George Popadopulous on "Trump Takes a Meeting," and Ric Gates on "Who, Me?," with videotape endorsements from Vladimir Putin, Recciep Tayyep Erdogan, Jair Bolsonaro and other members of Trump International. Keynote by Steve Bannon.
ReplyDeleteAnd on the second night, we can hear from the next (after The Don) President of the United States, Ivanka. And the one after her, Don Jr., and the one after him, Jared, and the one after him, Eric (with a regent) and the one after him, Baron.
The third an fourth nights will be wholly taken up by The Don's acceptance speech, introduced wordlessly but with physical signs of houndlike devotion by the Vice President.
On to the GOP convention.
ReplyDeleteI expect it to be a four-day spectacle in the vein of Goya's Saturn Devouring His Children. It will be so hideous that you won't be able to look away.
Trump will be resplendent in orange makeup with newly tinted hair making those strange blow-hole noises. Melania, constricted in her mega-belt and Spanx, her smokey gimlet eyes glittering, will demand that we Be Best in her forest of blood-red Christmas trees.
Mike Pence will bring his mommy and his bunny rabbits. The rootin' tootin' McCloskeys of St. Louis and Smirkin' Nick Sandman will be there to represent white Christian privilege that bravely beat back some black people with signs and an elderly Native American with a drum.
Sadly Rev. Jerry Fallwell Jr. is offline repenting of his sins. Drinking that "black water" lowers your judgment, dude.
LOL over "Saturn Devouring His Children". I was thinking too of Hieronymus Bosch's pictures that look like he got a hold of some bread with ergot poisoning.
DeleteJean, I fervently hope you will continue to inform us with your after-action reports, which are better than what's been on the screen.
DeleteOff subject.
ReplyDeleteI know all of you believe in intercessory prayer. I do it, because it can't hurt,even though I'm not a bit convinced that God makes favorites of those who have friends and family who pray on their behalf. I think God is too big, too loving of all, to play favorites like that.
Nevertheless, I come back to you all now. One of our sons and his family live in the foothills overlooking San Jose. Like the rest of California, the hill is covered in very dry vegetation at this time of year - ready to go up in flames in a flash. There are only two roads down to the valley from where they live. Small, narrow roads. The evacuation line right now is at their street. They are still on the don't evacuate side, but the fire is very close. He sent a photo a little while ago. They have moved their cars and packed for themselves and their children if they have to evacuate soon.
There are tens of thousands of people in Calif right now who are in the same situation. The extraordinary lightening storm that was unheard of started more than 360 fires all over northern Calif. It is very dry and very hot. People are breathing smoke again, which is really tough on both the old and the young.
So, please add California to your prayer list.
Anne, I will definitely keep them in prayer. Can they evacuate even though it isn't mandatory on their side yet? Do they have anyplace they can go to wait it out?
DeleteThey have friends, but I don't know if their friends are also in the danger areas. So they stay put for now and wait. I have one lifelong friend who has evacuated her home on a southern Calif hillsides 3 times in the last 25 years. They pack the cars and watch and wait. Normally the Red Cross sets up shelters in schools, community centers etc. Covid obviously complicates the matter.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSent, though odd that you would ask for prayers you don't believe in. If I asked you to pray for something, would you bother? Just askin' ...
DeleteProbably a good idea to also pray that people wise up about climate change and that they see though Trump's lies about how EZ it is to prevent forest fires by raking the forest floor.
Prayers are coming. tom
DeleteAbout a week ago, a long running Facebook thread started, with one sibling wondering how Biden could call himself Catholic. Well, I took the bait, and soon other siblings, cousins and friends of same chimed in, and it segued away from religion to a discussion of the fitness for office of Biden and Harris. For the most part it was respectful and we didn't blowtorch one another. It was about half and half male and female, with all of us being Nebraskans. But I noticed that it fell about 95% along gender lines, with most of the women in the Biden-Harris camp, and most of the men in the Trump camp. Of course anecdote isn't data, but I wonder if that's how it plays out in a lot of places?
ReplyDeleteKatherine, without getting yourself cancelled on the Facebook thread, can you offer some clues about the men and Trump. It's easy enough to understand why women wouldn't want to be in the same room as Trump, much less the same country. But guys? Don't they see the fake persona, the half-assed ideas, the bully-boy conceits. Men might laugh at or with such a guy, but vote for him? They can't want or enjoy the chaos that surrounds his every decision, appointment, utterance. Give me a clue: why are they going to vote for him?
DeleteOr, are they just saying that to tease you?
They might like to jerk my chain a little. But mostly they are sincere. For one thing, most of the guys are ranchers and farmers. They feel that the Republicans are much more frienly to their interests. They are gun owners. Not survivalists, but hunters and sportsmen. They have bought the story that the Dems are against the 2nd amendment. There is a culture thing too, their "tribe", their side. And Kamala Harris ticks all the wong boxes for them. She's a lib, and worse than that she's from California. She talks too much identity politics for them. I think if Joe makes it, they won't actually have that big of a problem with him. But Kamala's another story.
DeleteThe women in the discusdion all grew up on ranches and farms. But we live in town now. We all hate the chaos and misrule of the Trump administration. We are worried about our children and grandchildren. The guys apparently are in denial that it is in fact misrule.
PS to that, they are staunch Republicans rather than staunch admirers of Trump. They fail to see that Trump hijacked their party and ran it into the ground.
Delete"They have bought the story that the Dems are against the 2nd amendment."
DeleteI mean, it's a true story, isn't it?
I'd be fine with amending or striking the 2nd amendment. I don't know that this is something that breaks down along political lines per se. I think it's more (sub)cultural differences. People like me who feel secure in our local communities and who aren't hunters don't really have much use for guns.
Personally, I think the 2nd amendment is permitting a lot of people in this country to be armed who really have no business being armed. Top of my list are elderly relatives of mine whose judgment and faculties I don't trust with a gun. Owning a gun should be like having a driver's license: a privilege which may be revoked, not a constitutional right.
Putting reasonable limits on gun ownership does not revoke the 2nd Amendment. Most countries permit private gun ownership, but they have rules for licensing, mandatory training, registration, no gun show loopholes. No assault weapons.
DeleteThere are limits on other constitutional rights. There are limits to freedom of speech (libel and slander laws, and not yelling Fire in a crowded theater). There are limits to religious freedom - the JWs and Christian Scientists are allowed to refuse medical care for themselves, but not for their minor children. If they do, then the court might appoint a guardian to make sure the child gets proper medical care.
No, Democrats are not against the 2nd Amendment. They are against irresponsible gun ownership and use, and against the NRA's unreasonable and idiotic arguments that run counter to gun safety.
DeleteThe driver's license analogy is a good one. No rights are absolute.
DeleteThe thing about the 2nd Amendment is that it is not just the Amendment itself but all the case law which has accreted to it over the years. The permissions are too broad, and the problem seems to be at the constitutional level. Or so it seems in my amateur opinion.
DeleteYes, Jim makes a good point. Precedents matter. Now that the NRA seems to be imploding, I wonder if that will make a difference. I would have no problem registering my late uncle's Winchester and taking a gun safety test. Because the gun is an antique and in good working order, I would protest cops coming in to confiscate it.
DeleteKatherine, I made a desperate attempt to reach my sister who is 82. I spent a very long time putting together information - from Catholic sources - hoping to convince her to vote Biden. I did not quote from Francis as I suspect she and her husband think he's the anti-Christ. She lives in Virginia, which could be a close state, even though it went blue the last time. One more vote wouldn't hurt.
ReplyDeleteNot hearing it. She wouldn't even read my email. Said she skimmed it but is too busy to read the whole thing. (at 82, mostly housebound because of COVID). She says Biden is not a real Catholic no matter what anybody says. He's pro-choice and she is a single issue voter. No other issue counts. Only abortion. She freely admits that Trump is basically a horrible person. But he's "pro-life" according to her and Biden isn't.
We have only seen each other once since the last election. That was at our other sister's daughter's and husband's funeral. I simply can't be around my Trump voting relatives. I think it is likely we will never see one another again, even though we live only 20 minutes away from each other.
I have a childhood friend like your sister. She said if Democrats were serious about stopping Trump, we would change our platform and go pro-life, which = antiabortion in her mind. Her view is that we (us Democrats) have forced Trump on everyone because we are babykillers. Trump is who she's required to vote for until we stop the slaughter. If we suffer for it, think of what the aborted babies have to endure.
DeleteI get it, but it's a line of thinking that allows her to play perennial victim, admits no half measures, and accepts no responsibility.
"He's pro-choice and she is a single issue voter. No other issue counts. Only abortion. She freely admits that Trump is basically a horrible person. But he's "pro-life" according to her and Biden isn't."
DeleteThis is not an extreme position. This is someone who is weighing the issues and making a voting decision. I have a lot of sympathy for a voter like your sister.
I won't vote for Trump (not that it matters in a blue state like Illinois). But I can't vote for Biden, either. Wouldn't mind too much if he won, considering the alternative, but.
I really liked Jean's quote from an Alanon lesson a few days ago: "You didn't cause it, you can't cure it, and you can't control what other people do." ( hope I didn't misquote.) But I find that helpful.
DeleteI have a couple of stock replies when people press me too aggressively about politics in conversations. One of them I used on my hair stylist the other day: "I really dont like to discuss politics. How are your grandchildren?" It worked, the conversation went in a different direction . The other one is for use when people press too hard about how can a Catholic not vote Republican. I would say, "Everyone has to discern their own decision about that. I hope we can all be respectful if someone makes a different choice than we would."
About differences with family members, it kind of came to me in prayer that I wasn't called to change them, but to love them.
Anne, I can't advise someone what to do about their own situations with family members, except that estrangements are heartbreaking. Are there ways you can connect with your sister without dealing with politics? Sometimes the best we can do is to avoid the land mines.
A few days ago there was a very good article on tge NCR site, entitled The Heresy of Oversimplified Christianity, by Daniel Horan. I thought it dealt with the problem of one issue voting very well.
Jim, I think my husband is conflicted like you, likely for the same reasons.
DeleteMe? All bets are off, I am voting my actual conscience this time. Unlike last time when I voted for Evan McMullen. Didn't matter because Nebraska hasn't gone Democratic since 1964. This time it might actually matter. My reasons are well stated in the Daniel Horan article.
Katherine, interesting article. Thank you (and Anne) for posting it.
DeleteI don't argue with Raber and other people about the way faith informs their votes. Certainly not my childhood friend above.
But I do think that the article is a good reminder to us not to twist the faith to fit our own worldviews or to reduce the faith to a list of the "worst" sins that we ourselves would not be tempted to commit.
This is Father Jim Martin SJ,'s benediction from last night. (h/t Jim McCrae) Think of it as an SAT on Catholic social thought. How many boxes does Biden check? How many does Trump check?
DeleteLoving God,
Open our hearts to those most in need:
The unemployed parent worried about feeding his or her children.
The woman who is underpaid, harassed or abused.
The Black man or woman who fear for their lives.
The immigrant at the border, longing for safety.
The homeless person looking for a meal.
The LGBT teen who is bullied.
The unborn child in the womb.
The inmate on death row.
Help us to be a nation where
every life is sacred,
all people are loved,
and all are welcome.
Amen.
I love Fr. Martin.
DeleteI copied its into my prayer book. Thanks, Tom!
DeleteJim, Trump gave them what they wanted - judges. A president has no power to end abortion. The courts rule on it. They got Kavanaugh and Gorsuch and it's possible that Roe will be overturned at some point. So Trump is no longer needed.
ReplyDeleteIf Roe is overturned, abortion will still be with us. It's always with the world, even in countries that have a total ban. If it goes to the states after Roe is overturned, Alabama will ban it and New York will not. So a woman in Alabama facing a problematic pregnancy has these choices - go to term, even though she can't afford medical care for herself or her child, will have to quit her job and go on welfare, etc etc. Or she might fly to New York. Or she might order the RU486 pill and do her own abortion, without medical supervision. Or, worst case, she will go to a back-alley abortionist and risk her own life as well. The women in Ireland did these things until the ban was overturned a couple of years ago.
If you want to really reduce abortions, then a Biden vote is the best bet.
The secular countries in Europe have lower rates of abortion/1000 women than does the US. They have extensive pro-family social safety nets. A woman doesn't have to worry about how to pay for her prenatal care, birth expenses, and pediatric care. She can keep her job and have safe, reliable subsidized day care - affordable. (my kids pay more than $20k/year/child for daycare) Or she can take maternity leave for a year at full pay and then take advantage of the day care provided by the nation when she goes back to work when her baby is no longer a newborn. Many European countries also pay baby bonuses - an extra help with a new baby that brings a lot of extra expenses (baby gear is EXPENSIVE). Some also pay child bonuses every monthly. A friend lived in Germany for a year - her husband worked there on a scientific exchange. They had 3 kids whens they got there and got a monthly payment for each of them even though they were not German citizens. Their 4th child was born there - so they got a big bonus when she was born, and an additional monthly check for her as well as the older children.
My son and his wife had a baby in March. She has employer health insurance, but had to pay full premiums until the company reopened remotely (when they also had no income) - the company barely made it. Even with the very hefty premiums they pay each month (their second largest expense after mortgage and property tax) they had to cough up more than $10,000 in deductibles/co-pays for the birth. European women don't face these choices.
Biden will support these kinds of family friendly policies - policies that are pro-life. The Republicans cut those programs - they are not pro-life. They are anti-abortion and pro-birth. Then they walk away after the church parish does a baby bottle collection and gives the new mom a couple of months worth of diapers.
For an interesting read on the "heresy of oversimplified christianity"
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/faith-seeking-understanding/heresy-oversimplified-christianity
Anne, LOL, I linked the same article before I saw that you did, too. What is it that the kids say, "jinx"
DeleteLadies, thank you for the link to the Daniel Horan piece. This passage ...
Delete"We see this [oversimplification and distortion of Catholic teaching] in the way that some Catholics reduce the rich and nuanced moral teachings of the church to focus exclusively on abortion to the exclusion of other equally or greater pressing social sins, such as capital punishment, torture, economic inequality, euthanasia, racial injustice, among others. "
Two comments about that passage: one needn't be "single issue" to prize abortion over other issues. A voter can consider all of those issues, assigning them the weight the voter believes they deserve, and still conclude that one can vote for Donald Trump. The other comment is subjective on my part, but it's what I believe: the thoughtful writer and professor is simply wrong here: none of those other issues he names are as important or urgent as abortion. They're simply not of the same magnitude. (It's interesting that he didn't name climate change which just might belong in the same team picture as abortion. But I don't have much faith that a president can make much of a concrete difference when it comes to climate change - not yet.)
He also mentions, "political party affiliation or legislative support for policies in conflict with Catholic teaching (a reality that equally affects both Republican and Democratic platforms, neither of which is fully in line with church teaching)". That is the fundamental problem. One can agree with his insights about the fullness of Catholic teaching -but then what? How does a voter bring the totality of Catholic teaching into the voting booth? At the end of the day, a voter must still pull the lever for a Democrat or a Republican, or throw his/her vote away. And in choosing a Democrat or a Republican, s/he is choosing a candidate who falls short of the totality of Catholic moral and social teaching.
Anne, I am afraid you haven't persuaded me that Biden is the more anti-abortion candidate. Most European countries have more restrictive abortion laws than we do, which is the practical reason they have fewer abortions per capita than we do. Also, European women have lower birth rates than we do. If the rates of both abortions and live births are lower, the reasonable conclusion is that European women are getting pregnant less often. It would be interesting to see if there are any statistics which bear that out.
DeleteIn the US, the trend for the number of abortions annually has been: almost without exception, they increased every year from 1970 until 1990. After 1990, they have fallen every year, at least through 2018. They fell before the advent of Obamacare with its contraception mandate, and they continued to fall after the advent of the mandate. They fell during Clinton's presidency, then GW Bush's presidency, then Obama's presidency. Those presidents have taken turns increasing abortion funding and then reducing it; and they have taken turns choosing pro-abortion federal judges and then anti-abortion federal judges. None of it has made a dramatic difference in the number of abortions. Whatever is causing the rate to fall, it doesn't seem to be these controversial government policies.
It may be that policies at other levels of government make more of an impact. Or - which seems more likely to me - other social and cultural forces are responsible for the long rise followed by the long fall. It's been noted that, after Roe v Wade legalized abortion, the basic arc of the number of abortions has tracked fairly well with the fertility years of Baby Boom women. Why they would be any different than Gen X or Millennial women, I don't know. It's also been suggested that there is a "sex depression" going on for the last decade or so. And it's been noted that abortions may be self-administered without the need to go to a clinic, so the number of babies in the womb may be considerably higher than these CDC statistics suggest.
But there still are well over a half-million abortions per year. I don't think that more government-funded pre-natal care or more government-funded childcare is going to make a big difference, either. I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong.
Jim, 49% of women who obtain an abortion have incomes below the federal poverty line. Another 25% are barely above it - officially termed low income. The poverty line for one person is $12,500 roughly. For a family of 5 it is ~$30,000.
DeleteFor a family of 6, it is around $34,500.
59% of women who seek abortion have children already.
You are a family of 6. What would your standard of living be at that income level? Even where you live, where the cost of housing is about 1/3 of areas like Cali.New York, or the Boston or DC metro areas?
Providing support to increase financial security won’t reduce abortion rates to zero. Overturning Roe won’t either.. But helping the poor women who seek abortions would reduce the rates at least some - poor and low income women are 75% of those who get abortions.
I wish that the US also had more restrictions on abortion. Most European countries restrict abortion after the first trimester. Some countries permit it longer on demand. According to Guttmacher,, 2/3 of abortions in the US occur before 8 weeks, and 88% by 8 weeks. Fairly close to Europe in practice even if not legally mandated.
DeleteJim, you said, "At the end of the day, a voter must still pull the lever for a Democrat or a Republican, or throw his/her vote away. And in choosing a Democrat or a Republican, s/he is choosing a candidate who falls short of the totality of Catholic moral and social teaching." Bingo. That summarizes the problem in a nutshell. And I concede your point about all of the issues a voter considers not being of equal importance. You mentioned two issues, abortion and climate change, which are of greater magnitude. There is a third one, which I will get to in a minute.
DeleteA president has very limited actual control over the number of abortions. and addressing it totally as a supply problem ignores the fact that it is to a larger degree a demand problem. Climate change is also a problem over which a president has limited control, though he can do more by gutting departments which are supposed to be addressing that issue.
Now as to my third issue which is of overweening importance, that the president actually does exercise control over. How about the possibility of re-electing someone who is destroying our democracy, brick by brick? Because that is what Trump is doing by his lies and chaos, and ignoring the constitution. Whether or not Biden is sufficiently anti-abortion, he won't do that. Doing what I can to ensure that my country isn't a failed state is my necessary and sufficient reason to vote for a flawed candidate who at least isn't that flawed.
Correction - 88% by 12 weeks is n the US.
DeleteKatherine - “ How about the possibility of re-electing someone who is destroying our democracy, brick by brick? Because that is what Trump is doing by his lies and chaos, and ignoring the constitution. Whether or not Biden is sufficiently anti-abortion, he won't do that. Doing what I can to ensure that my country isn't a failed state is my necessary and sufficient reason to vote for a flawed candidate who at least isn't that flawed. ”
DeleteThis is my #1 issue also.
PS to above: if in fact the problem with abortion is one of moral formation rather than an economic one of the social safety net, that is outside the purview of a president.
DeleteJim, now that the judges are in place whom you hope will overturn Roe, what do you think a president can do to ban all abortions in the US?
DeleteThere is nothing he can do on his own now. So how does voting for trump now justify itself on the grounds of being anti-abortion?
Oh Anne no wonder you are not a Republican- you are not nearly paranoid enough. First of all, there are the deplorable recent decisions of that turncoat Chief Justice, Benedict Roberts, the spawn of Anthony Kennedy. Next there is the imminent calamity of one of the Republican appointees dying or retiring while Comrade Biden is in the White House and the Senate is under the control of his Politburo. And then there are those monsters lurking under the beds of every federal district, Obama Judges, who have to be neutralized. When you stop and think about it, the judiciary is never quite completely safe for democracy.
DeleteKatherine, it is one of the articles I sent to my sister that she doesn’t have time to read. Guessing she doesn’t want to read anything that will possibly upset her preconceived conclusions.
ReplyDeleteBTW, there really is no way to connect with her in person or on the phone. I don't really want to. We do family round robin emails now and then, and, frankly, that's enough for me. If I were with her I would get too upset and angry. I can handle people I don't know very well who support Trump. But I think Trump is such a danger to our country that I find I cannot forgive my family members who support him. Very wrong of me, I know. But she and I are oil and water when we talk in person. Even in email. I doubt that I will hear from her again even by email except for the occasional family emails.
Delete'
I am as much to blame for the estrangement as she is. But, it' better if we don't see each other in person or talk on the phone. She insulted me terribly four years ago, has never apologized, and I know I would erupt if I saw her. Best that we stay away from one another.
As someone said recently, It is what it is.
The best part of a virtual convention is being able to watch vignettes such as this which never happened in the bad old days:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ-wtIhovBI
Saw a meme anout the RNC: "If you ain't indicted, you ain't invited!"
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete