Tag Archive: Wall Street Journal

A tale of two Memorial Days

President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secy. Lloyd Austin at Arlington National Cemetery, 5/27/24

When then-U.S. Senator John Edwards campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2003 and 2004, one of his main themes was that “there are two Americas,” meaning those who are well-off economically (or who don’t face discrimination based on race, religion, gender, etc.), and the rest of us. Edwards was correct, but there is also another major divide in America: the divide between the political right and left. That right-left political divide often shows up, for example, in the “news” sources that people choose, from the powerful Republican media machine (Fox “News,” Newsmax, OAN, the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, etc.) on the right to a smattering of blogs, which cannot compete with such Republican machine, on the left. And nowhere was this right-left political divide more on display last weekend than in the Memorial Day messages from President Joe Biden and his upcoming election opponent, Donald Trump.

President Biden, the father of a son who served in the military and who died prematurely (though he was not killed in combat), displayed his well-known patriotism, compassion and decency in his Memorial Day speech, given at Arlington National Cemetery. Some of Biden’s quotes included:

A tale of two headlines

Mickey Mouse, caught in another controversy

On Monday, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill dubbed “Don’t Say ‘Gay.'” The bill earned this moniker because, according to the Tampa Bay Times, “it prohibits instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade and potentially restricts such instruction for older kids.” During the discussion leading up to the bill’s passage, many workers at The Walt Disney Company, a huge presence in Florida with its Walt Disney World theme park and nearby hotels, a shopping mall and other properties, protested Disney’s lack of opposition to the bill, even to the point of walking off the job. Disney has a reputation as a LBGTQ-friendly company, both as to its many employees and to customers, including so-called “Gay Days” at its theme parks. These employees were quite upset, therefore, when Disney did not officially oppose the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as it was being drafted and discussed.

Four life hacks to help Joe Biden into the White House

Democratic voters celebrating victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Right now, America is suffering a kind of dual political reality. One the one hand, Joe Biden has won the 2020 presidential election and is now considered the President-elect. On the other hand, Donald Trump and many leading Republicans are denying Biden’s victory, instead supporting Trump’s frivolous court challenges to the results in a number of states. In the meantime, Trump has instructed his Executive Branch officials not to cooperate with President-elect Biden’s transition team, which is dangerous for U.S. national security and our health, given the worsening COVID pandemic. Therefore, we have a strong interest in resolving this latest Trump-created Constitutional crisis quickly, and letting Biden get his team in place to receive briefing and other crucial information. Here are four ways, from a messaging perspective, that we can help President-elect Biden become President Biden smoothly, thoroughly and on time: