By Bob Gaydos

President Joe Biden, and son, Hunter.

  This week, in the category of “Wow, I didn’t see that coming,” we have President Joe Biden pardoning his son, Hunter.

  Way to go, Joe. Finally, a Democrat realized it was suicide to bring a knife to a gun fight.

    As has become predictable, Biden received all sorts of self-righteous criticism from some fellow Democrats and the so-called mainstream media for pardoning Hunter, after saying that he wouldn’t. Democrats are supposed to be better than that, goes the argument. What about all those things he said about Trump? It just legitimizes all Trump’s pardons, etcetera.

    Nonsense. 

    There’s not a father worth his salt in the world who would not, if he were also president of the most powerful country in the world, pardon his son while the opportunity still existed, especially considering the charges the son was convicted of and the extraordinary political and public pressure by Republicans over the years to harm the father by persecuting this son.

    Not pardoning Hunter would have been unforgivable.

     As the president said in announcing the pardon, “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

     Indeed.

     The criticism of Biden, especially from the media, but also from some members of his own party, rests largely on the foolish belief that, even though Republicans have refused to play by the so-called rules of bipartisan government since about the time Ronald Reagan was elected, Democrats are still supposed to be the good guys and take the high ground, do the right, moral thing.

    Look where that got them in 2016 and this year. Two well-qualified women candidates for president rejected by an electorate that preferred a lying racist, amoral buffoon. A buffoon, by the way, who is a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, twice-impeached, adulterous former president who went out of his way to do favors for family members and loyalists, be it pardons, lucrative financial deals or well-paid, low-expectation jobs.

     So spare me the breast-beating. And spare me the holier than thou “reporting” on the pardon. Most of the stories say Hunter Biden was convicted on a gun charge or a firearms charge or weapons charge and for tax evasion. He was actually  convicted of lying on a firearms application form about his drug addiction. He also pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes that he later paid with penalties. Not uncommon occurrences and not a major threat to society. Also, obviously a result of his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Usually, these don’t wind up being felony charges. But when one political party has it in for the other political party, sometimes unusual things happen. 

    President Biden addressed his remarks to “reasonable“ persons. The few who existed in the Republican Party have left. The MAGA cultists who buy Trump’s game, hook, line and sinker don’t qualify. But I suspect that if some of those “just following the story” reporters would track down a few so-called “typical“ Trump voters who were upset about the price of eggs, a lot of them would say they were OK with a father pardoning his son.

   In this case an 82-year-old father with an extraordinary career of service to his country who has tragically lost another adult son to brain cancer and a young daughter and previous wife in an automobile accident.

      And maybe, if those reporters want to chase a presidential family story, they can ask the president-in-waiting what qualifies Charles Kushner, father-in-law of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, for the position of ambassador to France.

    On his way out of the White House in 2020, Trump pardoned Kushner, who served two years for a variety of charges he pleaded guilty to, including tax evasion, illegal campaign donations and witness tampering.

     The witness tampering involved a scheme Kushner dreamed up to get even with his brother-in-law, who he found out was cooperating with the feds in an investigation.

       Kushner hired a woman to lure his brother-in-law to a motel room in New Jersey in which a hidden camera was installed and recorded everything that happened in the room. Kushner then sent the recording to his sister. This display of brotherly love apparently qualifies Kushner to handle America’s diplomatic relations with one of our key allies, France.

       Actually, with Trump, rather than not seeing it coming, one pretty much expects such news. And there’s the problem.

      Biden‘s got a little less than two months left in office. Can’t wait to see what other surprises he has in mind.

By Bob Gaydos

  “Put up or shut up.”

  That rather rude admonition occurred to me the other day as an apt metaphor for our times. Actually, it was delivered to me inadvertently and directly thanks to the United States Postal Service and social media.

    The message in the mail was not a new one, but it took on new significance as I tried to gather my wits, stamina, confidence and faith in an unknowable universe to deal with four more years of Trumpian chaos. What can one guy with an iPhone, a bunch of opinions and some supportive readers do to fight a wave of ignorance, intolerance and incompetence washing across our country?

    The mail held a couple of answers.

    One virtually shouted at me: “We’ve Seen 105 Years and 19 Presidents. Trump’s Gotta Get Past All of Us.”

     Right! I don’t have to do this alone. Step aside, ego. I knew this, of course, but at that moment I seriously needed a reminder.

     There are people who’ve been doing this a long time and know very well what they’re doing. Plus, they’re successful and they don’t ever give up. The ACLU.

      Yes, for the record, I’m already a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union and, yes, I’ll gladly renew. During Trump’s first term, the advocacy group filed 434 legal challenges against his administration. It won many important battles.

     Before Election Day 2024, it already had a plan in place, should Trump win, to fight his threatened mass deportation plan, provide legal aid to whistleblowers and those who oppose Trump’s policies, protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people and protect the right to reproductive freedom. All Trump targets.

    And they’ll do it all in court at all levels of government and all with experienced lawyers. So yeah, I’ll gladly put up a few bucks to help.

     There was also mail from the SPLC, another group of initials dedicated to fighting for people’s rights. The Southern Poverty Law Center was born in the civil rights movement and continues to fight for the rights of blacks (especially voting rights) across the South and, now, across the country. It has expanded its mission to fighting poverty, improving education and, notably, compiling a list of hate groups, state by state. 

    These groups, fed a steady diet of disinformation from far-right media that support Trump, represent a growing threat of violence against people of color, Jewish Americans, immigrants, LGBTQ+ and women. Again, all the people Trump targets when it suits his purpose.

   The SPLC has had some growing pains and internal issues recently in shifting its focus from helping individuals victimized by injustice to fighting injustice on a national scale, but it shows no less dedication in its mission and, again, it has been doing this for some time.

   Besides, the only other organization I can think of that might have compiled a list of hate groups state by state is the FBI and they don’t send me their list in the mail. So, yes, I will trust the SPLC and gladly renew my membership and, again, put my money where my mouth is.

    That’s the “put up” part. The “shut up” part came via social media. I’ve been sharing my opinions on various issues in newspapers and on social media for more than four decades now. I’m used to criticism. I also know that I speak for a lot of people who haven’t been given the privilege of opinionating publicly, as I have, or don’t feel comfortable doing so.

    So when I got a comment on one of my social media columns to the effect of: “It’s over. You lost. Stop” I had an immediate reaction. Not gonna happen. No way, no how and certainly not for any “sore winner.”

   No, I didn’t post this online. Never do. I’m not there to debate. But clearly, I got to this person. That’s good. Sometimes, the truth is hard to take. But I intend to keep spreading it as long as I can and it certainly helps to remember that, when it comes to fighting MAGA, you and I have our own bunch of smart initials — with lawyers who get paid — backing us up.

rjgaydos@gmail.com      

By Bob Gaydos

I think that I shall never see … RJ Photography

  This was going to be a rant, then I remembered it was Thanksgiving and I can always rant about the same stuff and the same people another day, so it’s going to be a gratitude column. Better for my health and yours. Better to be thankful than bitter. Better to enjoy the day. (It’ll also be much shorter.)

     So what am I thankful for? Let’s start with the confidence, after nearly 60 years of writing, to know that sometimes it’s OK to end a sentence with a preposition. Thankful, in large part, that at my age, although some components of my body have slowed down or simply broken, the brain seems willing and able to do this writing stuff every day. Sometimes, it insists.

     Thankful, of course, for readers across the years, who have been there to give me encouragement, criticism and feedback and continue to do so today. Without you, I’m an old man talking to myself.

    I’m thankful for the teachers, colleagues and mentors I’ve had along the way and even the bosses who didn’t appreciate my unique talent. They taught me humility and how to look for a new job.

      On a more personal level, I’m thankful for family and friends, old and new, who have provided love and support and still help me to be open to new challenges, new ideas, new vitamin supplements.

      For Max and Zack and filling the birdfeeders on a sunny day. For sushi, salt and vinegar potato chips, thin, crisp, New York pizza, Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, baseball, tall trees, an occasional hot dog, coffee, guacamole, artists and poets, cataract surgery, Bill Wilson, wonton noodle soup, music, electric blankets, horses and dogs. Cats, too.

     Thankful for science and the fact that I have successfully gone from typing my story or column on an Underwood manual typewriter to a Taiahiro Gaming Keyboard, which takes my iPhone hostage. Thank you, Gilbert.

     I’m also thankful I’ve learned how to get in and when to get out. I tried to keep this under 300 words, but I guess I have more to be thankful for than I thought. Thankful for that.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Bob

(Don’t be shy. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.)

By Bob Gaydos

Hawk, watching me watching it

Following my own advice, lately I’ve been trying to maintain a sense of serenity in an increasingly untidy world by being more conscious of what’s going on in my own chunk of it. What’s going on around me and what can I do, as physicist/author Thomas Campbell says, to reduce the entropy?

In the simplest terms, which is all I’m qualified to offer, Campbell’s book, “My Big TOE (Theory of Everything)”, uses physics and mathematics to explain, among other things, that consciousness is fundamental in the universe, and that the goal of the Larger Consciousness System is reduction of entropy, or disorder.

       As part of that system, I feel I have to do my part. So I focused on my world. No politics.

     Well, the biggest news story around here has been a massive fire that has consumed acres of forest around Greenwood Lake, a lovely spot which sits on the border of New York and New Jersey. The fire has raged for days in this area, which has been uncharacteristically rain-free for weeks. I’m trying not to speculate that global warming, which some people say doesn’t exist, has had any part in this change of weather pattern.

 The positive news is that no homes have been destroyed as of this writing and no evacuations have been necessary thus far. 

    However, an 18-year-old parks employee, helping with the massive fire control effort, was killed when a tree fell on him. A tragedy. And I’ve seen no account of the significant toll the fire has surely taken on the wildlife that call the forest home.

       Connecting those dots, it has been all too easy to notice the toll taken on wildlife in my neighborhood by the confluence of mating season, the end of Daylight Savings Time and the steady increase in land development and consequent reduction of forest space for deer to live  free and safely.

     A 10-minute drive this morning produced three deer carcasses on the side of the road. Another drive the other night, about 15 minutes, resulted in close encounters with half a dozen deer.

      Four friends of mine have had direct contact with deer this season, the result being one totaled Subaru, one dead buck and three trips to the repair shop. Fortunately, none of my friends was hurt.

       Counting raccoons, squirrels, foxes and other wildlife just out there looking for some food, there were more than 35,000 animal-related crashes in New York State in 2023, according to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research. That’s about one every 15 minutes. 

      My limited contribution to reducing the entropy in this regard has been to utilize my cataracts-free eyes gratefully and diligently when on the road. Really, it’s more like self-preservation.

     As I was writing this column, I noticed a hawk sitting on a branch of a tree out back. Consciousness, I said to myself. So I sat and watched the hawk as the hawk sat and watched whatever was going on in our patch of New York.

     Not much. The dogs, much too big to be prey for this predator in any case, were in the house. There were no squirrels, chipmunks or rabbits to be seen. We, the hawk and I, sat and watched for 15 minutes. Very patient bird.

      Then, suddenly, he or she took off, flying swiftly to our neighbors’ property and an apparent target of opportunity. Out of my sight. Not sure I had much effect on the entropy there.

     But, as fate, or synchronicity, would have it, just as the hawk flew off, a bulletin from The New York Times popped up on my phone. Donald Trump was planning to nominate Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

      Talk about potential entropy. Stefanik went from being a fairly normal middle-of-the-road Republican to a number one Trump stooge and apologist literally overnight. No qualms. No apologies. No explanation.  Like that hawk, just waiting for her opportunity.

     Yeah, it’s politics, but she’s from upstate New York and strongly supported George Santos, the phony disgraced congressman from Long Island, when he ran for Congress. We like to keep our portion of the Empire State free from such, umm, entropy sources.

      Sorry, readers. Sorry, Mr. Campbell. Guess you could call that a slip. Creature of habit. 

                               Friday, Nov. 8, 2024

By Bob Gaydos

     I saw a shooting star last night. Spoiler alert: Yes, this is going to be one of those “synchronicity strikes again, isn’t that something and it can only be a good sign” columns. 

     To start with, I’ve never seen a shooting star before. The only reason I saw this one is that Prince, our resident beagle/Australian shepherd mix decided he needed to take one more trip outside around midnight. Since he was already over his usual daily allotment of such outings, this was rare.

   We walked outside, I looked up at the sky, and said to myself, Wow, that is spectacular, referring to all the stars visible. When you live in the country, the lights of so-called civilization don’t interfere. Then I looked off to to my right, to the east, and sonofagun: shooting star. Cool.

     Of course, when I came back inside, I immediately posted my experience on Facebook. A good omen, I called it. 

     But of course, I checked with a reliable source. The Farmers Almanac told me: “With many people of all cultures looking to the heavens for signs, symbols, and answers for eons, it is no surprise that shooting star superstitions exist. The most prevalent superstition is that it is good luck to wish upon a star.  …

    “In the second century, the Greek astronomer Ptolemy hypothesized that they were a result of the gods peering down from heaven, having parted the heavens to do so and therefore dislodging a star in the process. Because a shooting star was a tangible symbol of the gods looking down at that moment, it was believed that a wish or request made upon seeing the star was more likely to be heard and granted. …

    “In the 1830s, the idea of wishing upon stars became even more prominent in modern beliefs. Seeing a meteor was believed to be a sign of promise, luck, and good fortune.”

      Looking for a second source, I turned to current science. Google AI told me this: “Some believe that seeing a shooting star is a sign of good fortune or luck. An old superstition suggests that wishing upon a shooting star will grant your wish.”

      Well, one man’s superstition is another man’s omen. And what some call coincidence, others see as synchronicity. It is all connected. One need only pay attention.

      Friends, trying to be helpful, pointed out to me that what I had seen was actually a meteor, part of a meteor shower expected last night. And scientists point out that if I were to go outside and lie down on my back and stare up at the sky for 15 minutes on a dark night, I might well see a dozen “shooting stars.“

     But I didn’t. I went out on this particular night, looked to my right (to the East, the good luck direction) and saw something I had never seen before, even out here in the country. It was like that black squirrel I wrote about a while back. Apparently, just not as rare.

      Anyway, I had a couple of wishes. I made them. I guess you’re supposed to keep the wishes secret so as not to jinx them. I will say that one of them concerned a legendary New York City baseball team located in the Bronx and a stroke of fortune that might befall them concerning another kind of shooting star if they look to the right.

    The other wish was political in nature. Any regular reader of my column could probably look to the right and voice some version of it. In fact, go ahead and do it on my star.

     Meteor, shmeteor, who am I to argue with Ptolemy?

    The gods are with us.

rjgaydos@gmail.com

By Bob Gaydos

   “This, too, shall pass.“

   That’s a text I received from a friend this morning. It was in response to a text I had sent saying, “It sucks.”

    Now, I’m well aware of the “this too shall pass“ philosophy of life. And, yes, it has its usefulness. But, see, I am more in the “day at a time” stage of life. At 83, waiting for something unpleasant to pass, painfully like a kidney stone, or slowly, like torture, doesn’t really appeal to me.

      Eckhart Tolle‘s philosophy of  “the power of now” encourages me to focus on what’s right in front of me at the moment and not imagine what’s going to happen in the future because I have no control over it. Because there is only now. There is no next.

    Many years ago, another friend said to me, “Bobby, isn’t it great to be present in your own life.” Many years ago some people actually called me Bobby.

    I slowly came to realize what he was saying. Enjoy the present. Be grateful for what you have. Do something positive over things you can control. Projection breeds anxiety,  breeds worry, breeds negative behavior and negative results.

    So that’s what I’m doing. I’m dealing with the results of the 2024 presidential election on a personal rather than professional level. That is, rather than writing a commentary in the manner of editorial writer or columnist, which I have been doing for decades, I will deal with it on a personal level, just for today.

    The primary reason for this approach is that when I get in my editorial writing mode I can tend to be a little abrasive, judgmental, even sarcastic and nasty, all in the service of being honest, because, theoretically, I’m not writing just my own opinion.

    I could wind up writing something like, “The only reason millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump is that they are stupid and lazy.” I used to say that all the time to another friend of mine, usually blaming much of the stupidity and laziness on an education system that is failing too many people. Too many don’t know history, economics, or civics. Also, there’s religious zealotry and racism.

      But saying that only angers people and I certainly have no control over those issues. So I’m not going to do that today.

       I will, however, say that I think living a day at a time to the best of my ability will be better for my health and offer me a much better chance of being able to cast a vote for a qualified presidential candidate in four years when I won’t have to worry about millions of others preferring the other candidate, who is a twice-impeached serial liar, convicted felon, adjudicated sex offender, misogynist, racist, fascist, mentally incompetent insurrectionist and lazy SOB.

      So, just for today, I will walk my dog and encourage my texting friend to hug his 80-something mother.

PS: Don’t get frustrated. It takes practice.

By Bob Gaydos

George W. Bush and Kamala Harris

   Some final thoughts while waiting for the results of an election, the likes of which I never expected or wanted to witness …

— Where’s W? Is George Bush so intimidated by the violent rhetoric spewing from Donald Trump’s mouth that he cannot bring himself to publicly denounce what has happened to the Republican Party that once once proudly nominated and then supported him and his father as each served as president? His own daughter is campaigning for Kamala Harris.

  George, your vice president’s daughter has had the courage of her convictions to denounce Trump for the horrible human being he is and the threat he poses to American democracy. That courage cost Liz Cheney her seat in Congress as Trump’s Republican Party refused to support her. 

     George, you’re 78 years old, same as Trump. You have your place in history. Time is not on your side. An act of statesmanship and patriotism would be a great  capper for your biography. Endorse Kamala Harris.

     …. Actually, that’s it. Everybody else vote for Kamala Harris. Your country as you know it depends upon it.

By Bob Gaydos

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate groups map.

    Thinking about that ugly, hate-filled MAGA rally in Madison Square Garden a few nights ago, I wondered about the real audience Donald Trump was addressing out there in the rest of the world.

     Surely it wasn’t the millions of relatively normal Americans who will be  choosing their next president on November 5. The message coming out of the Garden was too pointedly — too obviously— hateful to appeal to any but the already committed Trump voters. To pump them up, media analysts said. To get them ready for the inevitable defeat, many speculated. Ready to do what? To reprise January 6? To simply further stall Trump’s imprisonment? To actually try to overthrow the government?

     As outlandish as these thoughts seem to me as I think them, I know there are people in this country who actually hold them seriously. They are a minority given disproportionate voice by Trump these past eight years.

    Who are they, I wondered? Where are they? For help, I went to a source that has made it its business to know the answers to those questions. To know who the hate groups in America are and where they are.

     The Southern Poverty Law Center, headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., was founded in 1971 with civil rights activist Julian Bond as its first president. Its purpose, as its web site declares: “To ensure that the promise of the Civil Rights movement became a reality for everyone.”

       In taking the fight for equality to the courts, the nonprofit organization has won victories, not only for blacks in America, but for women, children, the LGBTQ community, the disabled and immigrants.

     As part of its mission, in the 1980s, with a rise of white supremacist activity in America, the group started tracking hate groups. It publishes an annual report, state by state, listing the groups, their hometowns and their particular flavor of hate.

    It’s informative, if not pleasant, reading. The 2023 report lists 2,430 hate and anti-government groups in America. No state is spared.

     Especially curious, I checked out New York, where I live. The SPLC lists 63 such groups in New York last year with agendas ranging from anti-government to anti-Muslim, anti-semitism, anti-LGBTQ, neo-Nazi, white nationalist and, my favorite label, “general hate.”

     Moms for Liberty, a group of parents which wants to control what schools teach and do not teach, has 14 chapters, including one in Orange County, which is in my bailiwick.

      Also, of note, the Proud Boys, a group of that has gained some notoriety recently, has five chapters in the state. It’s in one of those “general hate” categories.

     According to the SPLC, “Established in the midst of the 2016 presidential election by VICE Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys are self-described ‘Western chauvinists’ who adamantly deny any connection to the racist alt-right. They insist they are simply a fraternal group spreading an ‘anti-political correctness’ and ‘anti-white guilt’ agenda.” They are listed as a terrorist group in Canada.

      How do you show you’re a Proud Boy? The SPLC, which is clearly very thorough in its research, says there are four degrees of membership. It writes, “To become a first degree in the ‘pro-West fraternal organization’ a prospective member simply has to declare, ‘I am a Western chauvinist, and I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.’ To enter the second degree, a Proud Boy has to endure a beating until they can yell out the names of five breakfast cereals (in order to demonstrate ‘adrenaline control’). Those who enter the third degree have demonstrated their commitment by getting a Proud Boys tattoo. Any man – no matter his race or sexual orientation – can join the fraternal organization as long as they ‘recognize that white men are not the problem.’ The fourth is reserved for those who have gotten in a ‘fight for the cause.’”

     On a positive note, I guess, the SPLC says, “All members are banned from watching pornography or masturbating more than once a month because, in theory, it will leave them more inclined to go out and meet women.”

         Well then. So now I know a little bit more about the audience Donald Trump was addressing in Madison Square Garden Sunday night. Still not sure how I feel about that.

By Bob Gaydos

     I was voter number 838 Sunday afternoon, Oct. 26, at the Government Center in Monticello, N.Y.. Row A, Kamala Harris and Democrats, all the way. “Yes” on New York State Proposition One extending protection against discrimination in several categories including pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes — Democrats’ preemptive effort to thwart possible Republican efforts to enact a national abortion ban.

            Republicans have forfeited any chance of consideration at the ballot box with their full-throated and conscience-free embrace of all things Trump, punctuated by the all-out salute to hatred and bigotry at his Sunday night Madison Square Garden rally. An utterly despicable display.

       In contrast, it was a pleasure casting the vote Sunday. A sunny afternoon. Lots of parking. No lines. Plenty of helpful volunteer poll workers. Name, address, signature. Smooth as silk. Well done, Sullivan.

       Of course, this is precisely the kind of thing Republicans have been trying to dismantle across the country — orderly, honest, uncomplicated voting. For all. When that happens everywhere, they tend to lose nationally because their policies don’t sit well with many Americans. Especially for the past decade when their only policy has been to oppose anything Democrats propose. It’s hard to run a two-party system of government that way.

       That’s why Trump and the MAGAs want it their way: one ruler with absolute power and a bunch of flunkies to make it happen. Essentially eliminate all marginalized citizens — non-white, non-straight, non-Christian — who might expect support from their government by eliminating their vote and the votes of those who support the concept of equal rights and opportunity (those Trump calls “the enemy within”).

       It wasn’t that long ago that women were on that list of marginalized citizens. Not anymore. They have the vote and tend to vote in larger numbers than men. They have a candidate this year who understands their concerns and those of the citizens who were targets of ugly “jokes” and comments in Madison Square Garden Sunday night.

       Early voting numbers are up in many areas of the country where it hasn’t always been as easy as it was in Monticello Sunday afternoon. I’d like to think it’s a positive sign for Kamala Harris and those who want to protect and preserve democracy in America. 

          Vote like your freedom depends on it.

rjgaydos@gmail.com

By Bob Gaydos

The Washington Post’s ironic motto.

    The oligarchs are flexing their muscles. On the heels of stories that the owner of the Los Angeles Times killed an editorial supporting Kamala Harris for president, the Washington Post announced it would not be endorsing any candidate for president this year, or in the future.

      So much for the Fourth Estate. So much for a Free Press.

     These “non-endorsements“ are bought and paid for by the greed of super rich people, afraid of losing some money and influence if they say something that might, heaven forbid, offend someone.

      Something like maybe, “Don’t vote for the incompetent, felonious, lying fascist, but rather vote for the competent, sensible, intelligent candidate. The country’s future wel-being may hang in the balance.”

      In the most important presidential election of our lifetimes, the newspaper that drove Richard Nixon out of office is taking a pass because its owner, Jeff Bezos, is more afraid of what will happen to him if Donald Trump wins knowing that the Post endorsed Kamala Harris, than what will happen to everyone else in the country if Harris doesn’t win.

      You’re on your own folks. We don’t have an opinion. Except, the Post editorial board actually did have an opinion. Like the editorial board at the LA times, it was preparing to endorse Harris for president.

  Instead, Will Lewis, the Post’s chief executive, wrote, “The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.” Balderdash.

    The Post has been endorsing presidential candidates since 1976.

     This is where the politics of fear leads — newspapers, protected by the Constitution, become fearful of performing their duty. Of course, if the fascist wins, that fear will exist every day. That’s when greed and the desire to maintain power kick in. More silence. Look at today’s Republican Party.

     Editorial writers at the Post and the LA Times have resigned in protest, pointing out that this is not the time to remain silent. Indeed, maintaining a position of neutrality in this election falsely suggests that there’s no clear difference between the candidates, that they are pretty much alike, take your pick. We have an opinion on everything else, but this one’s up to you. No biggie.

   Patriotism apparently is not present in the Post’s roots.

                                    ***

    Full disclosure: In my 23-plus years writing editorials for The Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., we took a pass on one presidential election. It was the 2000 race between Al Gore and George W. Bush. There was no concern about fascism, criminal convictions, sexual assaults, fraud, lies, ignorance of government procedures, secret foreign alliances, threats of reprisal and obviously declining mental competence with either candidate. Just which one might be better for the country, Gore, the current vice president, or Bush, the son of a former president and a governor of Texas.

    I preferred Gore, the  Democrat. So did Mike Levine, the paper’s editor. Gore was in keeping with the newspaper’s liberal tradition editorially. However, Jim Moss, the publisher, preferred Bush, the Republican. Not entirely surprising since publishers tend to be more conservative.

      Levine told Moss that I was going to write an editorial endorsing Gore for president. Moss said he wanted Bush. We asked why. His reasons didn’t sway us. Our arguments for Gore had the same result on Moss.

      Moss insisted that the newspaper run an editorial endorsing Bush for president. I said I wouldn’t write it. Levine said he wouldn’t write it. That left it up to Moss. He decided to punt. Levine and I considered it a victory of sorts in that we avoided endorsing Bush and I wrote an editorial which, to this day, remains remarkably unimprinted on my brain. We had an opinion on the election, but no endorsement and I have no idea what I wrote.

      That was the hanging chads election in Florida which the Supreme Court gave to Bush. It was also the only time that Moss made any such demands on me editorially and even he compromised his position.

    Unfortunately, both Levine and Moss are no longer with us so I have no way to check my recollection of events, but I’m pretty sure I got it right. If any librarian reading this can find a copy, I’d love to see it.

        In any event, I’m glad The New York Times whose reporting on the campaign, has left much to be desired, still had the courage of its convictions this year to write a strong endorsement of Harris for president. I’m sure other newspapers around the country will do likewise. But the continuing growing control of newspapers in this country by a few rich, powerful entities is a threat to democracy that, I feel, too few Americans appreciate.

      Our founding fathers gave newspapers the protection of a free voice for a reason. If you don’t use it, you lose it.

rjgaydos@gmail.com