Deadline Poet / November 28, 2023

Mike Pence Ends His Presidential Campaign

Calvin Trillin

He wouldn’t validate a Trumpist coup.
His status as an enemy was cinched.
In cults, disloyalty’s the mortal sin.
He’s lucky he avoided being lynched.

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

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

More from The Nation

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks onstage during a Pride celebration on June 28, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Trans People Shouldn’t Be Scapegoated for Democrats’ Failures Trans People Shouldn’t Be Scapegoated for Democrats’ Failures

Politicians and pundits are stoking a backlash to trans rights in the wake of the election. They’re playing a dangerous game.

Sydney Bauer

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is seen at a press conference on upcoming Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) aimed at blocking certain offensive weapon sales to Israel in Washington, DC, on November 19, 2024.

Bernie Sanders Is Leading a Bold New Effort to Block Arms Sales to Israel Bernie Sanders Is Leading a Bold New Effort to Block Arms Sales to Israel

The senator has more allies than ever in his fight to hold Israel accountable and save lives in Gaza.

John Nichols

President Donald Trump pointing in front of an American flag.

Will “Serious” Republicans Block Any of Trump’s Freak-Show Cabinet Picks? Will “Serious” Republicans Block Any of Trump’s Freak-Show Cabinet Picks?

Will they stand up to even the scariest of these nominees? I’m not optimistic.

Joan Walsh

Kamala Harris, campaigning in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024, faces protests from hundreds of people expressing disapproval of her administration’s Gaza policy.

Harris’s Gaza Policy Was a Disaster on Every Level Harris’s Gaza Policy Was a Disaster on Every Level

Palestine may not have swung the election one way or another. But Democrats unquestionably paid a high price for their refusal to hold Israel accountable.

Y.L. Al-Sheikh

Former president Donald Trump speaks after being declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024.

Donald Trump Has NOT Won a Majority of the Votes Cast for President Donald Trump Has NOT Won a Majority of the Votes Cast for President

Donald Trump’s popular vote total has fallen below 50 percent, and his margin over Kamala Harris has narrowed considerably as all the votes are counted.

John Nichols

Close-up of Gov. Pritzker with his left hand up in a fist.

When Does Power Concede? Thwarting MAGA Will Take More Than Protest and Symbolic Resistance. When Does Power Concede? Thwarting MAGA Will Take More Than Protest and Symbolic Resistance.

If we want to deploy actual power to block Trump’s vicious agenda once he takes control of the federal government, we will have to look to the states.

Van Gosse