In this crucial election, Americans face a stark choice: a path toward authoritarianism under disgraced former President Donald Trump or stability with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos made a decision to kill a Washington Post endorsement of the Democratic nominee, the Los Angeles Times, which is owned by biotech entrepreneur and billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, is also facing resignations and subscription cancellations for pulling a Harris endorsement ahead of the election, and USA Today, one of the largest circulation daily newspapers in the country, said it would also forgo a presidential endorsement.
This is not simply about partisanship or policy differences. It’s about democracy itself.
The warning signs are everywhere. Trump has promoted “Christian Nationalism,” a warped ideology that distorts religion and contradicts American values of pluralism and freedom. This rebirth of fascist ideology is deeply unpatriotic and dangerous to our republic.
He has embraced foreign autocrats, threatened to deploy the military against American citizens, and shown he has no respect for our institutions, from the Department of Justice to the press.
It’s clear that Trump would not hesitate to seize unchecked power, especially given his mounting legal troubles and persistent threats to reject any election results that do not favor him.
Nearly half of voters are currently entertaining the idea of re-electing a man who’s been found liable for fraud and remains under indictment for charges tied to election interference and obstruction of justice.
A Trump victory would almost certainly mean unprecedented overreach, further entrenching corruption and threatening civil liberties.
Harris, is far from perfect but she is the only alternative.
Her nomination reflects a Democratic primary system where potential challengers faced substantial, unfair institutional obstacles; her career is one marked by success is a deeply flaws political establishment; and amid a class war waged against working people, she has raised a billion dollars.
However, the Democratic nominee’s flaws pale in comparison to the threat posed by Trump.
Harris represents a continuation of stability, government functioning, and adherence to democratic norms. Her policies may disappoint some, but she does not threaten the foundations of democracy itself.
If Harris wins, the transition period may be tense, with Trump potentially facing multiple criminal convictions and his actions revealing his clear intention to overturn the will of the voters by obstructing the certification of the vote so the presidential selection might fall to Congress, where Republicans have a partisan advantage.
Yet even with the challenges ahead, a peaceful transfer of power remains critical.
In contrast, if Trump prevails, we can expect no such commitment to the rule of law. With allies in Congress and sympathetic courts, his second term would probably usher in unprecedented abuses of power, from civil rights crackdowns to policy directed by personal loyalty rather than public service.
In this election, Americans must ask ourselves if we truly value democracy and what it represents.
A vote for Kamala Harris, despite her imperfections, is a vote to uphold the principles that make the United States a beacon of freedom and rule of law. That simple reality has been affirmed by former Vice President Dick Cheney, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and hundreds of other prominent Republicans. Retired Marine General John Kelly, who was Trump’s White House chief of staff, also affirmed that Trump is a fascist.
This is a moment of reckoning for Americans who can either protect democracy or surrender it to the unchecked ambitions of a man who has repeatedly shown contempt for it.
About 120 years ago, Lincoln Steffens asked, “do we Americans really want good government?” of average citizens who ignored politics and had allowed corruption to continue in what he called ‘The Shame of the Cities.’
Echoing Steffens’ 1904 indictment of Americans tolerating corruption, voters today must decide whether they will stand by democracy or enable a would-be dictator.
As in Steffens’ day, when average citizens allowed the political rot of corruption to thrive, today’s public faces a similar moment.
Today, nearly half the people in the United States are flirting with the idea of electing a corrupt, dishonest and callous tyrant who has embraced a bizarre and unAmerican notion called ‘Christian Nationalism,’ which is both a perversion of that religion and distinctly unpatriotic.
The alternative is a flawed and imperfect contender who represents the status quo, a Vice President who emerged as the Democratic nominee after all prospective challengers to the failed incumbent had been driven out of anything like a fair and competitive primary election process.
Certainly, Kamala Harris is the lesser evil. Donald Trump is the candidate who is prepared to reject the outcome of any election he does not win, who threatens to unleash the military against his critics and political adversaries, and has openly courted international despots, corporate oligarchs and neofascist theocrats.
Americans who ignored politics and tolerated corruption have invited this poor choice, and the potential that Republicans will mount a full scale attack on democracy
If Harris prevails in the balloting, there is going to be real desperation after the polls close with Donald Trump facing sentencing on his fraud conviction in New York state, a difficult trial on federal charges in the District of Columbia, another federal indictment in Florida, and the RICO indictment in Georgia.
A GOP victory may be hard for Democrats to swallow, but a smoothe transition will probably be followed by unconstitutional behavior that will pass unchecked by the cowardly Congress and crooked courts, leaving Americans to rise up against tyranny but at a great disadvantage.
There is no easy way out of this mess, but stopping Trump is the only thing that makes sense and enables citizens to apply their collective power to effective change.
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