The Ides of July
Note to reader: I want to thank you in advance for letting me stress type this newsletter while I watch Biden’s NATO press conference in real time.
Right out of the gate, may I direct your attention to this week’s Choice Words, featuring the lovely and amazing Rachel Platten. Rachel, best known for her 2016 anthem “Fight Song” (literally, at this point, an anthem) is SO much more than that single song, which we all know across generations, including my kids, and that is really SAYING something.
Our conversation is case in point what I intended when I launched this podcast - the choices she has made gave me chills. Rachel is simultaneously so fun and engaging, and a ball of energy, but also deeply honest and vulnerable. What a talent. I feel like we went there, and I trust that you will agree! Cannot get her new song “I Know” out of my head.
Does anyone think there’s music playing anywhere in the… green room… in the leadup to President Biden’s 6:30 NATO press conference today? I can’t even… make this joke actually, nevermind. Of course there is no music playing, no one is having any fun, hearts are heavy, political wheels are grinding. There’s no “Fight Song” on this Earth that could make people energetic and bouncy as we refresh our keyboards waiting for this conference to begin. Would we have all tuned in for this two years ago? Hahaha, it is to laugh.
Pause to watch a high stakes news conference, and oops just five minutes prior he referred to President Zelensky as President Putin.
Le *sigh*, le *ugh*, le WTF are we doing here folks.
(Also they are in fact playing pre-show music and it is the soundtrack of doom. Like Holst: The Planets, but with an undercurrent of “the fascists are on the march.”)
I take no joy in this whatsoever, and I say this as someone who has quite routinely made fun of Joe Biden across multiple political satire shows. At The Daily Show, we made full smorgasbords of the grin, the gaffes, the avuncular but off-putting handsy-ness.
But no matter what, it is uncomfortable to watch the walls close in on a human being. And close in they are. Even the reporters’ questions seem as soft and downy as a goosefeather, delivered… tentatively.
Here is a text I sent to my friend as I watched this press conference, seeing only defiance and stubbornness from Biden: “Man, fuck this.”
I am so sorry but I happen to believe that this will end poorly for him if he doesn’t step down, and that no version of a press conference is going to quell people’s concerns or end this open revolt. There are many months of grueling campaigning ahead.
Ok this press conference was… fine, what about tomorrow… what about next week… what about two years from now.
It doesn’t matter how much infighting happens or how many extremely online people gang up on one another to deny this–what I am saying is true, and we all know it.
Plus let’s be honest; the only worthwhile use of social media anymore is time spent scrolling TikTok videos of hippos aggressively chasing boats.
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I happen to believe that Democrats have a good bench of strong possibilities, and that the only possible path to defeating Donald Trump is by pumping fresh energy into this goddamn death rattle of an election.
Look, the real campaigning hasn’t even STARTED yet. Can you imagine what they have planned for Joe Biden??? You think he took it on the chin unfairly tonight for getting Kamala’s name wrong at a press conference? You think that debate performance was bad?? We are about to see the full wrath of the Republican money machine next week when the RNC invades Wisconsin. And dear GOD it will be stupid, and messy, and people will dry hump the flag, and it will be a profound embarrassment to the human race.
But there will be one message and one message alone. By the time the GOP attack machine is in full swing, they’ll be outright standing on the stage calling Joe Biden a vegetable. It’s going to get uglier than anyone ever thought possible, and only a vigorous candidate is going to have the standing to deflect the onslaught.
The DNC is notoriously unfun - we all laugh and mock the weak wine pours and party favors every four years, but this year could be SO MUCH DIFFERENT. We have an opportunity here, to inject excitement, possibility, and like, actual hope? If we don’t possess the balls to step in and secure a new razor-sharp ticket, this reflects poorly on the entire party and very, very important down ballots which will jeopardize another famous House a few blocks away.
And then… when the DNC is over - and I cannot stress this enough - no matter who the top of the ticket is, whether it’s Kamala, or Gavin Newsom, or a can of creamed corn, or the ghost of Bea Arthur…we have got to GET BEHIND THAT PERSON. I mean full force. None of this fucking bullshit. No more Democratic infighting. Nothing. Just a monolithic wall of support.
We’ve got five weeks to go until those balloons drop in Chicago for real so let’s GO.
And if all else fails, Rachel and I are on the case.
Xo,
Sam
Here's the good news: there are plenty of state and local elections that could use the same attention and energy we spend on the federal ones -- and those offices make a huge difference in your daily life if you like, say, having paved streets, a sewer system, or a library.
Plus, if you want better candidates at a statewide/federal level, you need to support them at a local level so that they can build the experience/team to help them succeed as they move further up.
Not to be all Tracy Flick about it all but throw some of your time and dollars at the offices that get nearly no love, especially when the presidential race is so ... fraught. If nothing else, it gives you something to do that isn't watching whatever the fuck is happening on the TV and editorial page. And at a local level, your help will make a huge difference.
I agree and add only that I am heartbroken. And, by the way, there are wonderful dog videos on twitter.