UNITED STATES STATUS: SUMMER 2024

1. THE DEBATE

Even though she has received mountains of advice, VP Harris only has to do a couple of things in the debate. First, she has to be competent. This should be easy, since she is. She just has to be herself. Second, she has to be confident, sure of herself and without hesitation. This too won't be a problem. And third, she has to have fun. The debate is not, or it should not be, an inquisition. Going up against Demented Felon Donnie should be a breeze, a walk in the park. No need to be serious. Just enjoy yourself.

The time on the ABC stage is important but far more consequential are the memes. Kamala has to zing Trump, with a smile on her face and scorn on his. Such moments will instantly become memes, to be replayed a million times in the next two months. They will define her.

All the best. Be who you are. America will be impressed.

Post debate comments:

She did it. She attacked! The best defense is a good offense. Well done Kamala!

Bright, experienced, middle-aged professional, who loves America, versus senile, angry criminal, who hates America. Gosh, it's such a difficult choice.

2. TRUMP NOT BEING SENTENCED

I've spent much of the last 30 years overseas, with the bulk in countries considered less developed, i.e., "third world." None have adequate legal systems. Well, we can now say that the U.S. is a third world nation, too. Our legal system, from the top down, has failed. A man charged with four different sets of felonies, or I should say a billionaire charged with four sets of felonies, has not received justice even though the charges were filed years ago. He is above the law - outside of the law. In a lot of countries the wealthy can commit murder and get away with it. Just pay the right bribes. In the U.S. it's ideological. Be in the right Party and the justices from that Party will let you off the hook. The Republican Supreme Court stole the presidency from Al Gore, by preventing the rightful counting of the vote in Florida. It is so obvious you would think it didn't even need to be said, to have a democracy you have to be able to count the vote. The Supreme Court now, also under the Republicans, has just said that the criminal Trump is above the law. And so it seems he is. I think any American charged with a crime should try to take the "Donald Trump" defense. The laws don't apply to me. Trump was indicted in New York by a Grand Jury, a jury of Americans. He was found guilty by another Jury. He should be sentenced, and if it is to prison, sent there, pending an appeal. There is no honor anymore in being an American. We have been all just been slapped in the face.

3. THE 2024 ELECTION

I have learned, and written extensively about, the idea that real social change cannot be accomplished by reform. It requires revolution. This may range from the armed revolution now underway in Burma to the popular revolution that occurred in Poland and Tunisia. Democrats are playing with fire because they are the ones who have failed to achieve this understanding. It is not just that they are weak and indecisive; on this critical subject they are ignorant. The Republicans are already at war with America, with its ideals, institutions and traditions. They are engaged in revolution. But there is still a chance to respond to this without the need for violence. It will require a new approach and a new candidate. Joe, I love you, too, but you have to go. The Democrats have to have an open convention, let everyone interested toss their hats into the ring, and then let the best prevail, and then destroy the Republicans at the ballot box in November, just the way the people of both the U.K. and France recently summarily defeated their own wannabe fascist dictators. The Democrats need to wake up and confront the threat broadly and head on. Outline every risk in the last three decades of Republican words and actions and in their Orwellian Freedom is Slavery 2025 agenda. And attack the media. Every time journalists, I'm thinking of the New York Times and CNN specifically but every large outlet is guilty, let the Republicans and Trump off, confront those journalists by name on the airwaves and the Internet. Call them out. It's a war but it is still at this point, oddly, a true oxymoron, a peaceful war. The Second Civil War can be avoided.

4. UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT

Mitch McConnell broke long-standing Senate rules to prevent Obama from appointing a Supreme Court justice, with the result that criminal Trump got to appoint three fascist judges, which made a total of six. They first took away the rights of women. This session they have made Trump King, with the result that his New York convictions may be thrown out and also that he will not even be tried for his attempted coup and for his theft of top secret documents; they have made machine guns legal; and they have destroyed the precedent that allowed the United States Government actually to function - based on the work of experts. America has already been harmed irreparably or at a minimum in a way that will take decades, and an increase in Supreme Court membership, to reverse. Trump himself has said that if he wins he will be a dictator and his thugs have prepared a roadmap, Project 2025, to turn America into a full-on tyranny. Having been a pro-democracy activist for thirty years I know a threat, and dictatorship, when I see it. The threat is the Trump cult, the way many white Americans, including very sadly Christians, have lost their minds.

5. COMMENT ON ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Maybe we should be quiet for a day or two out of respect for the man standing behind Trump who was murdered, but then we all need to return to the offensive. The election is the future of America and the world, especially Europe. If Trump gets in NATO is finished and he will abandon Ukraine to Putin, who will then invade the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. For the U.S. women will have to forget that they ever had rights and young people will lose their future. It's not just the climate crisis. Find out what it's like for the young people who live in real dictatorships like Burma. That's what Trump and the Republicans want: a White Christian Military Dictatorship run for the benefit of billionaires. They will establish a gulag and if you are young and not white or evangelical you may well end up in it.