See updates through October 31, 2024, at end of post.
A lot of people are posting “Democracy dies in cowardice” (George T. Conway, III, might have been the first[1]) in response to an executive decision by the Washington Post to not publish an endorsement,[2] presumably of Kamala Harris, at the behest of Jeff Bezos, a mere eleven days prior to election day.[3] There is a distinct appearance that Bezos is bending the knee to Donald Trump,[4] in a race generally considered much too close to call. “Trump met with leaders from the Jeff Bezos-owned aerospace company Blue Origin” on the same day.[5]
My own reading of a terribly muddled situation is that Trump is more likely than not to prevail. Kamala Harris is losing votes from many—and there are many, though Black men have been getting the spotlight—who are disappointed with the Democratic Party’s failure to deliver even on existential needs for vulnerable people and from many who are appalled by Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s genocide. By contrast, Trump’s white Christian supremacist base is solid and combines with an electoral college advantage for Republicans and the failure of Democrats to pass voting rights reform.
But Bezos need not have reached that conclusion. He need merely to have decided that the risk of Trump’s victory, in combination with Trump’s expressed vindictiveness, was too great to ignore.
I have long felt that the Democrats prefer to sit in opposition, where they can complain about Republicans without actually being expected to accomplish anything. But however we attribute Democrats’ record of non-accomplishment, the cost of a constitutional oligarchy styled as “democracy” may soon be even more apparent as even darker years may well lie ahead.
Update, October 28, 2024: The impact of the Washington Post executive decision not to run an endorsement of Kamala Harris[6] appears substantial. Three editorial board members have stepped down, though they will continue in other roles with the newspaper,[7] which has lost over 200,000 subscribers—about eight percent of its subscriber count prior to Jeff Bezos’ interference.[8]
Meanwhile, it seems I’m not the only one impressed by the recent massive appearance of Donald Trump signs in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. John Fetterman is seeing it all over Pennsylvania and attributes it to the first assassination attempt in Butler.[9] My guess is that Kamala Harris has lost Pennsylvania—and with it, the presidency.
Update, October 29, 2024: A lot of people in Michigan, a state with a large number of Arab-American and Muslim-American voters, remain highly upset with Joe Biden’s genocidal policy. Kamala Harris will get someof their votes, but only some.[10] It’s pretty hard to see how Harris can win without winning both Pennsylvania and Michigan. And I’m just not seeing it.
October 30, 2024: The number of subscribers the Washington Post has lost due to Jeff Bezos’ decision to quash an endorsement in the presidential election has risen to 250,000, though supposedly the paper has also gained subscribers.[11]
Be that as it may, I think a lot of folks are seeing the writing on the wall with this election—Donald Trump will likely win. (His paleoconservative[12] rally at Madison Square Garden, featuring blatant bigotry against Puerto Rico, Kamala Harris, and Black people, among others,[13] will, of course, make absolutely no difference, providing yet further evidence, as if any were needed, that Barack Obama’s imagination of a “post-racial” society is sheer delusion.[14])
Update, October 31, 2024: I should note in this space that Jeff Bezos defends his decision to tank the Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris writing, “We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased.”[15] Except for the timing, it’s a reasonable argument—and Dylan Byers at Puck, who is harsh about the timing, might be the only one I’ve seen who believes it to be sincere.[16] I think a better explanation is needed than that Blue Origin’s executives met with Donald Trump that same day was a mere coincidence; as Bezos himself admits, this is unpersuasive[17] and it fails to explain the timing of the decision—a mere eleven days prior to the election—even apart from that meeting.
[1] George T. Conway, III, “Democracy dies in cowardice,” X, October 25, 2024, https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1849854864064643452
[2] William Lewis, “On political endorsement,” Washington Post, October 25, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/washington-post-endorsement/=
[3] Dan Mangan, “Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports,” CNBC, October 26, 2024, https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/25/jeff-bezos-killed-washington-post-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-.html; Ruth Marcus, “For The Post, the wrong choice at the worst possible time,” Washington Post, October 25, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/post-editorial-board-wapo-endorsement-2024/; Manuel Roig-Franzia and Laura Wagner, “The Washington Post says it will not endorse a candidate for president,” Washington Post, October 25, 2024, The Washington Post says it will not endorse a candidate for president; Karen Tumulty, “Refusing to endorse a candidate, The Post wounds itself,” Washington Post, October 25, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/washington-post-presidential-endorsement/; Washington Post, “Post columnists respond,” October 25, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/post-columnist-no-endorsement-2024-trump-harris/
[4] Dan Mangan, “Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports,” CNBC, October 26, 2024, https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/25/jeff-bezos-killed-washington-post-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-.html
[5] Filip Timotija, “Trump meets with leaders from Bezos-owned Blue Origin,” Hill, October 25, 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4954591-trump-meets-blue-origin-leaders-bezos/
[6] Karen Attiah, “The true roots of The Post’s endorsement policy,” Washington Post, October 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/27/washington-post-presidential-endorsements/; Dan Mangan, “Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports,” CNBC, October 26, 2024, https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/25/jeff-bezos-killed-washington-post-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-.html; Ruth Marcus, “For The Post, the wrong choice at the worst possible time,” Washington Post, October 25, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/post-editorial-board-wapo-endorsement-2024/; Manuel Roig-Franzia and Laura Wagner, “The Washington Post says it will not endorse a candidate for president,” Washington Post, October 25, 2024, The Washington Post says it will not endorse a candidate for president; Karen Tumulty, “Refusing to endorse a candidate, The Post wounds itself,” Washington Post, October 25, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/washington-post-presidential-endorsement/; Washington Post, “Post columnists respond,” October 25, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/post-columnist-no-endorsement-2024-trump-harris/
[7] Manuel Roig-Franzia, “Post editorial board members step down in wake of endorsement decision,” Washington Post, October 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/10/28/post-editorial-board-resignations/
[8] David Folkenflik, “Over 200,000 subscribers flee 'Washington Post' after Bezos blocks Harris endorsement,” WUSF, October 28, 2024, https://www.wusf.org/2024-10-28/over-200-000-subscribers-flee-washington-post-after-bezos-blocks-harris-endorsement
[9] Ashleigh Fields, “‘It’s astonishing:’ Fetterman likens Trump’s impact in Pennsylvania to Taylor Swift,” Hill, October 28, 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4955417-john-fetterman-donald-trump-impact-pennsylvania-taylor-swift/
[10] Peter Hamby, “De Tocqueville Does Detroit,” Puck, October 28, 2024, https://puck.news/for-michigan-gen-z-voters-who-are-still-undecided-gaza-matters/
[11] Elahe Izadi, “After non-endorsement, 250,000 subscribers cancel The Washington Post,” Washington Post, October 29, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/10/29/washington-post-cancellations-number/
[12] Paleoconservatism is one of seven tendencies of conservatism I identified in my dissertation. It includes blatant racists who will tell you flatly that they are racist. This of course includes neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, skinheads, and the like, at the extreme end but also less demonstrative folks nearer to the conservative mainstream. And they openly advocate a racially segregated society. David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).
[13] Andrew Howard, “Fallout spreads from racist rhetoric at Trump’s MSG rally,” Politico, October 28, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/28/trump-madison-square-garden-rally-tony-hinchcliffe-00185793; Brett Samuels, “Trump calls Madison Square Garden rally a ‘love fest,’” Hill, October 29, 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/4959432-trump-ny-msg-rally-love-fest/
[14] Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “Barack Obama's original sin: America's post-racial illusion,” Guardian, January 13, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/13/barack-obama-legacy-racism-criminal-justice-system
[15] Jeff Bezos, “The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media,” Washington Post, October 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/
[16] Dylan Byers, “Bezos’s Inferno,” Puck, October 30, 2024, https://puck.news/jeff-bezos-washington-post-inferno/
[17] Jeff Bezos, “The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media,” Washington Post, October 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/