That thumbnail of Lina Khan perfectly encapsulates how I’m feeling about the government lately.

It’s very weird to me that it’s republicans who are more proud than democrats. Republicans are the ones who say the country is a crime-filled shithole full of woke gay black trans people who care about humans rights, and they think those are bad things. So what are they proud of?

I’m proud that we have all those types of people and more, and that we’ve made some progress in getting them a semblance of equality, but I’m ashamed that we’re still not quite there yet and even the pittances we’ve won have taken so freaking long and have been met with such resistance from the right.

Those were highly controlled public appearances. It’s pretty easy to get those done without fucking up. There’s no substitute for us seeing him in a completely unscripted and natural setting, and he has consistently done pretty badly in those types of situations lately. When someone his age starts to decline, it can happen really fast. He’s not to blame for that, it’s just human, we get old and lose our abilities. He is to blame for thinking he’s fit for another four years of one of the most stressful jobs in the world.

I want you to be right, I really do, but I’m not sure where you’re getting your confidence.

A DailyMail.com survey of 1,000 likely voters

Well that seems like some untrustworthy bullshit. Give me a sample size of 100,000 and maybe I’ll listen. Fucking polls…

Good luck!!

This is why, despite the fact that many of us also dislike Kamala, she should be the only name in the running, and he shouldn’t wait until the convection to step aside. He should resign now, let Kamala be president for a few months, and then she can run in the election as an incumbent with full party support. No one else can legally claim his delegates or even use the campaign’s money, only she can do that if he resigns. This would be the only real way to force the DCCC into not shitting the bed, which is their default setting. Any other approach, in my opinion, is a recipe for mayhem at the convention, and yeah, an inevitable Trump presidency.

Yeah, all good and valid points. I’m a big fan of Whitmer, but AOC is my favorite on that list to be sure. As much as I love Bernie, he’s too old. I just don’t see it being easier for any of them than it would be for Harris, taking into account the institutional party support she would automatically have if Biden resigned.

I think you’re totally right that Harris would struggle with constant media attention though, so that’s not great. But ugh, I just want this to be done.

Ah yeah that makes sense. Though in the past I’ve gotten in trouble for trying to say who is and who isn’t a “real” Jew (many an argument about Messianic Jews over the dinner table). But yeah, anyone who supports genocide doesn’t deserve my respect, so I’m okay calling them not real Jews.

I mean, practically speaking, she’s the most realistic option with the way stupid internal party politics work. Again, I don’t like her, and I like the Democratic Party establishment even less, but I like democracy more than I dislike her. Since her name was on the ticket, Joe would have a much easier time transferring his delegates to her at the convention. Many of those delegates are bound by their state law to vote for Biden, btw. If he steps down, they could relatively easily go to Harris instead. Anyone else would require a bloody open convention that I’m not confident the party could survive, let alone win the race after.

I’m open to anything that lets us win, honestly. But we can’t afford to just shut down alternatives because it sounds hard or might not be exactly what we want. Have any suggestions?

Yeah, that’s unfortunately right. So much of the American system is based on norms and ideals that we trusted our leaders to respect. The Supreme Court has seized their authority, and since they refuse to recognize Congressional oversight (the Chief Justice has regularly refused to appear before Congress), there’s very little we can do.

I’m with you, I’m not a fan of Kamala. I think any of your suggestions would be a way better candidate than her if she hadn’t already won on the current administration’s ticket. The fact that Kamala’s name was on the winning ticket is huge. Incumbency is so important, arguably way more important than it should be, but even a few months of being president would give her a huge leg up over any candidates who might look better on paper. It would take a ton of humility on Joe’s part for this to be a viable plan, but I think he’s capable of it.

Nothing about this situation is ideal, so I’m prepared to settle for pretty much anyone other than Trump.

Dear Joe,

You made it. You ran for president for decades, and you finally did it. On top of that, you did the best you could dealing with some genuinely absurd and unprecedented issues, and all told did a completely acceptable if not a pretty good job.

Now, if you actually care about the country you’ve spent your entire life serving, it’s time to resign, let Kamala finish out your term, and give her the opportunity to run the race as an incumbent. There is no shame in recognizing the time has come. Literally everybody gets old, it’s kinda fundamental. To be clear, I don’t like Kamala one bit, I think she’s a problematic candidate with a problematic record, and a terrible communicator. But she’s an intelligent and vital human being with relevant experience. Stress on the vitality, meaning she’s not in her final months of life.

Sorry, but your age really does matter. Frankly, you have one of the only jobs in the world where your age matters so much. Kamala won’t embarrass us nearly as much as you did during the debate. There’s nothing you can say that will convince me that you’ll magically get younger and more vital in the next few months, so again, if you care about this country, you need to step aside immediately, and put all of the party’s establishment support behind Kamala. Anything less is selfish. If Kamala, as an incumbent president, can’t beat Trump—a man who promises to use his new immunity in the worst ways possible—I don’t think you would again either.

Sincerely, An exhausted patriot