From Other Sources: News for and About Amherst: Seven Election Essays to Get You Through the Week

I know of many folks who have turned away from the news in the last week or so, with reporting and punditry seemingly doing whatever they can to increase our anxiety about the outcome of Tuesday’s election without offering much in the way of comfort or new insights.  So here are seven essays that are worth reading – only one of which is likely to inflame your anxieties.

Are Paywalls An Obstacle?”
Here at the Indy we support several other publications with our personal subscriptions and we encourage our readers to do the same as they are able.  And for this feature, we try to post articles that are not hiding behind a paywall.  But sometimes an article worth reading is hiding behind a paywall, and subscription to the source is just not feasible. For such instances there are workarounds. Check out some possibilities here and here and here.

Share The Good Stuff That You Are Reading
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The Candidates’ Closing Arguments
The candidates’ closing arguments offer a stark contrast between two different futures for the United States. Harris’s argument offers concrete proposals that will foster a better, more just, and more inclusive America. Trump’s is dark and angry and promises violence and retribution.

Letters from an American, October 28, 2024 by Health Cox Richardson (Substack)

Endorsements
There is much to be said about the decision of the owners of many of America’s largest newspapers (e.g. the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, USA Today) to override their own editorial boards and not offer any endorsements for president in the coming election.  These non-endorsements came less than two weeks before election day and they caused a stir, capturing a couple of news cycles. That decision produced plenty of outrage and accusations that the owners were attempting to assuage Trump and avoid his wrath should he win,  prompting Yale historian Timothy Snyder to accuse them of abetting the onset of fascism with “anticipatory obedience”. 

The New York Times has amassed a shameful record of uneven, friendly reporting on Trump but was an outlier among the majors in producing a full throated endorsement of Harris, albeit before all of the other news outlets caved.  And while many of the nation’s major newspapers followed the Washington Post’s lead and eschewed endorsements, there were many metropolitan dailies that did endorse – among them the Philadelphia Inquirer with an enthusiastic editorial supporting Kamala Harris.

The Only Patriotic Choice for President by The Editorial Board of the New York Times

Kamala Harris for President Endorsement by The Editorial Board of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Will Women Save Democracy?
There’s a lot of talk that the votes of women, who are significantly outnumbering men in early voting, will defeat Trump’s fascist agenda. Ironically, Trump apparently believed that making the election about gender would be a winning strategy. That strategy may be backfiring.

Donald Trump Wanted a Gender Election. And It Could Be the Reason He Loses by Jonathan Cohn (Huff Post)

Will Gaza Cost Harris the Election?  More and more advocates for justice in Palestine are declaring that “punishing the democrats” by electing Trump will not help Palestinians (or Ukrainians, or the victims of the Sudan War, or World Peace). Here are two examples.

How Can I Vote for Kamala Harris If She Supports Israel’s War? Here’s My Answer by Bernie Sanders (The Guardian / Portside)

Consequences of the Choice We Make in November by James Zogby (Washington Watch / Portside).

What if Trump Wins? 
Ok, this is the dark one and it’s not going to assuage your anxieties, so if you’re already struggling to hold it together as election day approaches, you might want to take a pass on this one.  There’s nothing in here that Trump hasn’t already promised. Rick Perlstein just imagines how some of those promises (like killing the Affordable Care Act or deporting millions of immigrants) will touch our daily lives and this provides a grim reminder of what’s at stake in the election.

What Will You Do?  Life  Changing Choices We May Be Forced to Make if Trump Wins by Rick Perlstein (The American Prospect)