Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.
Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.
I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.
I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.
With love and hope,
Taylor Swift
Childless Cat Lady
Possibly the most important thing she says is right up front, in the first paragraph. She states, unequivocally, DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK. Whatever you think about her, her music, or even her boyfriend, this is a woman who has a powerful platform and who uses it judiciously. You gotta admire that woman's smarts.
Now, on to the real episode
Three disparate things crossed my brainpath this week. One, of course, was the debate. The second is an essay penned by playwright Tom Stoppard. The third was Ukraine. At least they seemed disparate to me until I started putting this week's episode together. Maybe. Maybe not.
The debate was a spectacle of gladiatorial proportions. Yes, I used the mute on occasion, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. The split screen was totally brilliant. I don't know how she managed to keep as straight a face as she did, but her grins and pursed lips (worthy of Meryl Streep or Sidney Schwaidelson) were fantastic.
My favorite moment came when Harris was talking about how Feckless Felon invited the Taliban to meet at Camp David. Watch the video, you see her lips purse, clearly forming an "M" word before she quickly changes it for former president. I fear she misspoke there. She has said more than once what her favorite inappropriate word is, and I think she was about to say "Motherfucker." I am not alone in that supposition.
I think she shoulda said it. Not really. But it woulda been the most memorable moment of the debate.
What I will remember is the aftermath; how Feckless Felon claimed all the polls declared him the winner. Only that wasn't true. Even FOX said Harris won. Only Newsmax. If you want to scare yourself silly, go read the "news" on that website.
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| Tom Stoppard photo by Matt Humphreys |
A few days after my mother died [1996], Ken [Stoppard’s step-father], whom from England onward I had called “Daddy” or “Father” or “Dad” (though he objected to “Dad,” which he thought was lower-class) wrote to me to say that he had been concerned for some time about my “tribalization ” by which he meant mainly my association, 10 years earlier, with the cause of Russian Jews, and he asked me to stop using “Stoppard” as my name. I wrote back that this was not practical.
Leaving aside the anti-Semitism and, frankly, the dottiness, I know what made Major Stoppard, himself the father of two half-Jewish children, so angry. Whatever his opinions about Jews, his prejudice had an obverse side, a paternalism toward other races who were grateful to adopt English ways and modes of thought. Blacks were admirable when they were Anglophile Indians. Gurkhas were especially admirable. But when it came to Jews (or Indians) who to their good fortune received honorary membership in the club but persisted in their “tribal” ways nonetheless – that was sheer ingratitude, an insult to his country. Don’t you realize I made you British?
Stoppard's recognition of "tribalism" really signals just how deep tacit anti-semitism goes. It is so deeply rooted in the culture that it's tacitly accepted as the norm and what's worse, expected. Is it any wonder that the British behaved as they did when they fundamentally ruled the world? They were roundly hated by every population they occupied.
Not really. My British grandmother used to tell me it was okay to love Shakespeare, Keats, Austen, and Carroll, but I needed to understand that in their world, in the real world of British life, I would never be their friend because I was a Jew. I got the same warnings from my Odessan grandmother who, while she loved to see the Grand Duchesses arriving on the Imperial Yacht Standart, you could not trust the Tsar to keep you safe...because we are Jews. "Never turn your back on a Cossack," she used to warn me. To her, anyone in uniform (except her cousin Sammy who was NYFD) was a Cossack and could not be trusted.
You know by now, of course, that Odessa is not in Russia although it was when Grandma Bessie lived there. But it really is Ukraine. And that means there are Cossacks there. Times, however, have changed a bit, and now Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jew, is the President of Ukraine.
And that's the third piece. Editor-at-Large for the Jewish Chronicle, a UK based paper, Stephen Pollard wrote a fascinating piece: If Ukraine must be allowed to fight, why isn’t Israel?
I've been wondering the same thing myself, lately, especially after the debate when the candidates did a whole lotta posturing about Ukraine. Pollard points out that Putin's push into Ukraine does not demonstrate Russian strength, but just the opposite.
After two and a half months Russia has still not managed to push Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region. The Russian economy is in chaos – interest rates are now 19 per cent and inflation is off the charts. It is now effectively economically dependent on China (and militarily dependent on weapons from Iran and North Korea), which also limits its freedom of action. However much Putin blusters about red lines and hints about using nuclear weapons, the Chinese will not allow it. So let’s please stop hearing any more about the risk of Russian retaliation. The only risk comes from our refusal to let Ukraine do the job of repelling Russia. The future of the century depends on Ukraine.
Ring any bells? You can substitute Israel for much of the above. While Ukraine is fighting Russia on behalf of the rest of Europe’s security, Israel is doing the West’s dirty work fighting Islamists on our behalf.
It's pretty clear to just about everyone in any government....but not the pro-Hamas puppet protesters here in the States, that the 3-Hs are proxies for Iran. Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are financially incapable of maintaining their fighting forces without outside assistance. It's pretty clear from the machinery in use that it's all coming from Iran and its allies, Russia and China. The UN talks a great game about Islamist attacks in Africa and the Levant, but their own people are openly aiding the Islamist regimes. What's a country to do? Warning them is pointless. Sending them on a free trip to Gaza isn't happening. They just keep drinking the Kool-Aid because Jews are not telling them the truth about anything.
Nowhere else in the world is a sovereign population told to march themselves into the sea. No other nation is told not to defend itself from rockets, missiles, or terrorist incursions. Only Israel. And that, without question, is because we are Jews.
So here's what I think is gonna happen. We will survive as a nation and as a people. Israelis of all backgrounds know their lives are infinitely better in Israel than any other country in the ME. We'll figure this all out, and if we're real lucky, the residents of Gaza will figure out it's not Israel preventing them from having an economy.
I keep hoping. Seriously. What's Plan B?
The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week
Early voting begins on Friday in Minnesota.
Vote like your life depends on it.
