Equal Opportunity Hating

Equal Opportunity Hating

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Since my last post bashed Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, let me indulge in a little Hillary-bashing today. If you’re angry at Hillary and all she represents — i.e., the total non-opposition of the supposed opposition party — help discredit her with the party’s liberal base so that she won’t become the Democratic nominee in 2008. I suggest getting involved with Jonathan Tasini’s upstart campaign. Tasini — a longtime labor activist and writer — is challenging Hillary for the Senate. (Full disclosure: Jonathan and I were debate partners in a smackdown sponsored by The Nation and The Economist magazines, on the question “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?”) Jonathan is, by his own admission, unlikely to unseat Hillary. But this is not really about the Senate; it’s public education for 2008. Jonathan is calling attention to Hillary’s dismal pro-war record, and her failure to stand up for working people (not only has she served on the board of Wal-Mart, she voted for the bankruptcy “reform” bill, paid for — and authored — by the credit card industry).

Speaking of trying to stop bad people from becoming president — an admittedly quixotic endeavor — I just saw an excellent documentary called “Giuliani Time.” Like most political documentaries it drags on a bit, but the film is illuminating and even shocking, even for someone like me who lived in New York City during that horrible era.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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