Tag Archive: Zoom

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are leaving it all on the field

One way to support the Harris/Walz ticket

Since Minnesota Governor and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz was a football coach, he knows the expression “leaving it all on the field,” which means, essentially, making such a complete effort that, whether you win or lose, there will be no regrets or second-guessing about what else could have been done. That kind of effort also naturally leads to more wins than losses. And that is precisely what Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris are doing in their shortened, stunning campaign for the presidential election of 2024. Indeed, at a rally yesterday in Madison, WI, Walz began with a similar sports analogy:

When the stakes are the highest, winners are the ones that step up. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. You play all the way through to that final whistle, and that’s the exact energy that Kamala Harris and I are bringing to these final 14 days.

And then, sure enough, at the end of his speech, Walz said it:

We’re gonna leave it all on the field.

Walz’s appearance in Madison is part of a whirlwind of media appearances, interviews, rallies and other events by him, Harris, and surrogate heavy hitters including President Barack Obama (who appeared with Walz in Madison), Michelle Obama, President Bill Clinton, and others. The whirlwind has taken Harris and/or Walz to The View, The Howard Stern Show, the popular Call Her Daddy podcast, 60 Minutes, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Charlamagne Tha God‘s radio program from Detroit, and more. Even Republicans such as former Rep. Liz Cheney are campaigning with and endorsing Vice President Harris.

Women of Star Trek for Kamala Harris hold fun and successful Zoom call

Jeri Ryan, Star Trek actress and Democratic activist

Last night, another breakout group of Kamala Harris supporters, this time the Women of Trek for Kamala, held a successful Zoom call that was and is available for viewing here on YouTube. As the title indicates, it was hosted by actresses from the many Star Trek TV series and movies, including Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Denise Crosby, Stacey Abrams (who also doubled as a Georgia state representative and is a Democratic Party leader), and others.

The Women of Trek call follows a number of similar such calls that have taken place since Harris became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, including White Dudes for Harris, Cat Ladies for Harris, Deadheads for Harris, and more. These celebrity-studded calls have raised millions of dollars for the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign; have had up to hundreds of thousands of participants; have raised awareness on many issues important to Democratic voters (abortion, climate change, gun violence, healthcare, job creation, small business support, etc.); and have urged voters to register and get out the vote. Importantly, the calls have brought together large numbers of Democrats into smaller communities of special interest to them.

Consistent with the Democratic Party’s inclusiveness, the call also included a prominent man, U.S. Senator Cory Booker. Of course, men (and people who identify anywhere on the gender spectrum) were welcome to register as participants on the call as well.

As a number of the guests on the Harris call mentioned, with just over 30 days until the election, the time for voters to take action is now. That includes everything from voting early where possible; donating to the candidates or party; making phone calls from home or at organized phone banks, sending texts or postcards, knocking on doors (whichever of these actions one feels comfortable and safe doing); and trying to convince friends, colleagues and loved ones to come out and vote for the excellent Democratic candidates.

Photo by Gwydion M Williams, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/i3k9g8

It’s a Biden Boom: share the news

The Biden Boom

One of the most important stories of 2021 is one that does not get told enough: the Biden Economic Boom. Specifically, in less than 11 months, following the Trump Recession in which millions of jobs were lost, President Joe Biden has presided over a historic economic and jobs recovery. This includes:

–Extraordinary economic growth, estimated to be 7.8 percent this year.

–Income, wage and salary growth all way above the figures for 2018 and 2019.

–Unemployment falling from 6.3 percent in January 2021 (Donald Trump‘s last month in office) to just 4.2 percent last month, a historic drop in such a short time. And jobless claims just hit a new 52-year low.

Indeed, The Hill calls this “the fastest economic recovery in history.”

Moreover, the Biden Boom is no accident, but rather, a result of the Biden administration’s phenomenal efforts to vaccinate Americans against COVID; the American Rescue Plan which put money in the pockets of many Americans; and now the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (which may soon be followed by the Build Back Better Act). It turns out that Americans really do like competence in government, or what we call Good Government, and that is part of the Democratic Party’s brand.

Are we doomed to continuous COVID by Trump inaction and human nature?

One reason why COVID cases keep rising in the U.S.

We already know that inaction on COVID by Donald Trump and Republican governors and members of Congress has made the pandemic much worse than it had to be. The United States has just over four percent of the world’s population, yet it has 20 percent of the world’s Coronavirus deaths and an even larger portion of global Coronavirus cases. Moreover, the number of cases is going up, not down. Indeed, Trump has been caught lying to the American people about the dangers of COVID, knowing it was far worse just as he was telling us that the pandemic would soon disappear. Trump has also set a dismal example by refusing to wear a mask for the longest time (indeed mocking his political rival, Joe Biden, for wearing “the biggest mask” in public), holding mask-free COVID “super spreader” events like the recent White House reception for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and failing to undertake contact tracing even after numerous Trump administration members and Republican U.S. Senators at such events contracted COVID. To top it off, Trump himself then came down with COVID, along with his wife Melania and son Barron.

Such failures by Trump and his Republican enablers are especially harmful given what we can observe about human behavior during the pandemic. Whether intentionally or by neglect, many Americans, and others around the world, are not dutifully following basic COVID precautions, such as social distancing, proper mask wearing, and frequent hand washing.