Bob Schwartz

When Dick Cheney, Vice President to George W. Bush endorsed Kamala Harris, saying he voted for her, the hope was that it would influence the number of old-school Republicans who hate and fear Trump but have never voted for a Democrat.

Dick Cheney remains deeply unpopular among Democrats. They don’t consider him redeemed, but welcome any help from anywhere.

Liz Cheney, Dick’s equally conservative daughter, has been appearing with Harris on the campaign trail. Barbara Bush, W’s daughter, has endorsed Harris. A number of former aides to W, including Nicole Wallace on MSNBC, have implored W to endorse Harris.

For his part, W says he does not endorse candidates, despite the position taken by Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney (who worked in the W administration), and many of his former aides.

W’s ranking on the list of quality presidents is not great, somewhere in the mid-30s of the 46, between Zachary Taylor and Benjamin Harrison.

But if W was to endorse Harris—even if she didn’t win—the conscientious courage would rocket him way up the list. Maybe not Top Ten, but up there.

There are a few days until Election Day. So, George W. Bush, if you are reading this, as a crown on your career, help save America and endorse Kamala Harris.

© 2024 by Bob Schwartz

The advent calendar is messed up.
How many days to Election Day?
How many days to Christmas?
Can Santa vote legally
At the North Poll or the North Pole?
Will there be peace at the polls poles?
Will there be peace on earth?
When you open the next tiny door
What sweet surprise will you find?

© 2024 by Bob Schwartz

“He sold or melted down much of Cluny’s treasure to relieve the poor in time of famine and was known for his saying that he would rather be damned for being too merciful than for being too severe.”

Even those who may recognize today as All Saints Day (the day after All Hallow’s Eve) may not have heard of Saint Odilo.

Odilo (ca. 962–1049) was abbot for fifty-five years. Under him Cluny became the most important abbey in western Europe. It was he who instituted the feast of All Souls [November 2], first for deceased monks and then for all the deceased faithful. He sold or melted down much of Cluny’s treasure to relieve the poor in time of famine and was known for his saying that he would rather be damned for being too merciful than for being too severe.

If that seems like a lead-in to a call for donation to help the starving, you’re right.

Two million Palestinians–half of them children–are living without access to sufficient medical care. The IRC deployed 11 emergency medical teams over the past year, and with partners, we are supporting emergency medical care in the few partially-operational hospitals still remaining. We are providing medicine and supplies.

Food and Water
Two million Palestinians are living without access to sufficient food and water. The IRC is directly providing 100,000 liters of clean drinking water and malnutrition support (through ready-to-use therapeutic food, a nutrient-rich paste for malnourished children) in Gaza.

Protection for Women and Children
In both Gaza and the West Bank, the IRC is providing protection services for women and children–reaching those in temporary shelters in Gaza, and serving communities in the West Bank. In both Gaza and the West Bank, the IRC is also providing early childhood development activities.

Ceasefire
The IRC continues to call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, one that seeks to fully protect Palestinian lives, secure the release of hostages and safely scale up humanitarian assistance and service delivery.

There is no place safe in Gaza for Palestinians. Nearly 1 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering across hundreds of emergency shelters or in the surrounding areas further exacerbating the conditions in what was already one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

Your support at this critical time helps families in crisis in Gaza and across the world. Donate now.

International Rescue Committee

That’s what Saint Odilo would do.

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear

For What It’s Worth, Buffalo Springfield (1966)

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and they carrying signs
Mostly say, “Hooray for our side”

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away

I think it’s time we stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?

Songwriter: Stephen Stills

Setting Sun, The Chemical Brothers (1997)

You’re the devil in me I brought in from the cold
You said your body was young but your mind was very old
You’re coming on strong and I like the way
The visions we had have faded away
You’re part of a life I’ve never had
I’ll tell you that it’s just too bad

Songwriters: Edmund John Simons, Noel Thomas Gallagher, Thomas Owen Mostyn Rowlands

Am I a fan of hammers? I don’t know how to answer. I do know that if I want to drive a nail, it beats using my hand or my head.

Am I a fan of AI? It is a very powerful tool. Thinking about hammers makes me also think about powered nail guns. Used wrong, both can cause damage and death. Used properly, both make it possible to build a house.

First Dog on the Moon is a cartoon series that runs in the Guardian. The current cartoon is funny. It criticizes some of the ways things can go wrong in our engagement—approaching obsession—with AI.

It is the time before the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Newspapers report that one side says that slavery is endorsed by the Bible and that Africans are chattel, not people. Newspapers report that the other side says that Africans are people, deserving all the rights of human beings. The newspapers say to readers: you decide.

It is the 1930s, when Hitler is rising to power. Media report that Hitler says that some people, especially Jews, are not people and do not deserve German citizenship or rights as human beings. Media report that some others say that Jews and other disfavored people in Germany deserve to be treated with all the rights of human beings. The media say to readers and listeners: you decide.

Five years ago, during the Trump administration, I wrote a post Media Balance v. Truth: “A Balanced Treatment of an Unbalanced Phenomenon Distorts Reality”. The quote is from a piece by Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, who wrote:

We understand the values of mainstream journalists, including the effort to report both sides of a story. But a balanced treatment of an unbalanced phenomenon distorts reality. If the political dynamics of Washington are unlikely to change anytime soon, at least we should change the way that reality is portrayed to the public.

Our advice to the press: Don’t seek professional safety through the even-handed, unfiltered presentation of opposing views.

The newspapers believed they weren’t defending slavery, just reporting on it. The media believed they weren’t defending Hitler, just reporting on him.

At the end of the day, when things went horribly wrong, were their hands really clean? At the end of this day, if things go horribly wrong, will theirs be?

The key to this presidential election is not entirely “it’s the economy, stupid.” Of course the economy always matters, in this election and all others.

But when you look at constituencies where Harris is under-performing compared to Biden last time, and you look at Trump being even less attractive and stable than last time, and you look at the insults Trump is peddling, there is a simple explanation.

This race is about misogyny and racism, both of which are very much alive and well in America. If a voter is inclined to a lesser or greater degree in those directions, Harris is a difficult choice, if not a nightmare. A woman of color in the White House? No way, they think, not if I can help it!

This is not to deny amazing strides America and many Americans have made. We did, after all, elect a black president twice. On the other hand, the legitimacy of his presidency was questioned from day one. And Trump’s favorite term for women of color—especially women of intelligence and achievement—remains “a nasty woman.” A nasty woman in the White House is a bridge too far for some. Maybe not for many, but maybe enough to swing the election.

There is a myth that lemmings, Arctic rodents, commit mass suicide by throwing themselves off cliffs.

The durable myth has been perpetuated by many cultural instances, the most egregious of which is a Disney documentary from 1958. The producers imported a small number of lemmings from Norway, and then threw them off a cliff to simulate a behavior that didn’t actually exist.

We don’t know whether there are other creatures who actually do mindlessly follow each other en masse over cliffs. Or whether, as they descend, they shout about being good Americans, or Republicans, or Christians, or whatever. Or whether they expect that they will land softly and safely and triumphantly at the bottom, because of parachutes or because God will save them.

Please be kind to the actual lemmings, who don’t deserve their reputation.