Donald Trump and maga Republicans must put an end to hate speech. Tragically Donald Trump has normalized the ugliness of "hate"!

Echo opinion by Armstrong Williams, published in The Baltimore Sun with a follow up reader's letter*

Hate is ugly- full stop❗❗

Like sex, hate sells. Possibly even more so. 

Unfortunately, the modern economy of outrage rewards those who can turn resentment into revenue. To denounce another as the worst possible type of person is to buy a ticket to fame. It pays dividends, gets clicks, builds audiences and keeps people listening. In the digital marketplace of ideas, indignation is the only currency that never devalues.

Truth, however, is bankrupt. We have grown so addicted to emotional certainty that facts are now treated as inconveniences. Few care to examine whether their assumptions are wrong, or whether the person they loathe is not, in fact, a monster. The only “facts” that matter are the ones that affirm what we already believe. Those who control the levers of information — media outlets, social media platforms, activists and politicians — understand this perfectly. They’ve learned that rage keeps people watching, sharing and donating.

It’s a strange moment in our culture. Good news no longer travels. Even when there is progress — record charitable giving, declining global poverty, medical breakthroughs — few seem to care. Hope is quiet; hysteria is loud. What sells isn’t the story of a community rebuilding, but the image of that community burning. We are not drawn to calm, but to chaos. We crave villains because they give shape to our anxieties. We want to see the boogeyman.

But here’s the truth: There are very few boogeymen left. At least not the kind that once haunted America. Rarely do we see organized, racially motivated killings in the United States today, though there has been a distressing rise in antisemitic attacks since the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel. 

But the days of the Ku Klux Klan marching in the open or white supremacist cells bombing federal buildings have long passed. What remains are small, miserable, irrelevant groups — pale imitations of what once terrified the public. Yet they dominate our airwaves.

Why❓ Because fear is profitable. Networks, influencers and political campaigns have discovered that outrage converts into engagement, and engagement converts into money. The algorithm rewards anger, not reason. The more you hate, the more you scroll. The more you share, the more they earn. The villains we see on our screens are not reflections of reality, but of the market.

Meanwhile, the countless good people who make this country function go unnoticed. The teacher who stays late to help a struggling student, the firefighter who risks his life in a burning home, the small business owner who employs people in his community — these are the quiet heroes. But they don’t trend. They don’t drive ratings. And so, we barely see them.

We’ve inverted our moral priorities. The destructive are celebrated; the constructive are ignored. Outrage has become a form of entertainment, and the producers of hate are its most successful showrunners. This is not to deny that real hatred still exists — it does — but to point out that much of what we now consume as “hate” is curated theater, engineered to sustain attention.

The result is a nation that increasingly mistakes anger for virtue. We’ve come to believe that the louder we condemn, the more righteous we are. But moral noise is not moral clarity. It’s a performance. And as long as we reward it, the performance will continue.

If we truly wish to weaken hate, we must stop buying tickets to its show. Stop amplifying 📣 those who profit from division. 

Stop feeding the algorithm of outrage. Start sharing what is good, noble and constructive about this country — because there is much of it left.

The real rebellion in an age of hate is not to hate back. It is to refuse to be manipulated. The media cannot manufacture outrage without our participation. The demagogue cannot rise without our applause. And the hate-peddler cannot sell without our attention.

America’s greatest strength has always been its capacity for renewal — for rediscovering its decency after moments of darkness. Perhaps it’s time to rediscover that again. Not by pretending evil doesn’t exist, but by refusing to make it our entertainment.

Until we do, hate will remain one of the most profitable products in America — and we’ll keep paying for it with our peace of mind.

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.

*The recent column by Armstrong Williams, “Armstrong Williams: Why has hate become so profitable?” (Oct. 11), was a beautifully written and thoughtful commentary on the profitability of hate. 

His opinion is a welcome acknowledgement and description of a serious issue in today’s civil discourse.

Williams outlined a simple correct strategy for disarming the trend — “not to hate back.”

Perhaps someone should impart it to the person who said “I hate my opponent and don’t want the best for them.” That would be President Donald Trump.

From — Nick James, in Baltimore

Antisemitism in Michigan

An echo opinion letter published in The Michigan Daily , aka,"The Daily" newspaper by an annonomous contributor. The Michigan Daily is an independent, student-run newspaper serving the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor communities since 1890.

It has been a tumultuous year for both Jewish and Palestinian residents in the state, including at the University of Michigan.

Letter to the Editor: Hamas’ antisemitism cannot be glossed over.Content warning: This article contains mentions of violence.

I have always been proud to be Jewish ✡️— proud of the culture, values and resilience of the Jewish people. 🕎

But now, more than anything, I am afraid: afraid of the rise of antisemitism across the world, afraid of the surge of antisemitic tropes here on campus and afraid of the antisemitic ideology perpetuated by The Michigan Daily by publications such as: “Breaking walls, building solidarity: Unveiling the apartheid struggle in Palestine.”

I want to begin by saying that just because I am Jewish does not mean that I support all the actions of the Israeli government, the same way that being American does not mean I support all the policies enacted by the former and now President-elect Donald Trump 😟😩. Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and the displacement of many Palestinian people, there is no doubt that Israeli governmental policy has inflicted harm on those residing in the West Bank and Gaza. I understand and empathize with the hurt and frustration of the Palestinians living in these territories who are not granted full rights under the Israeli government.

There is a very important distinction to be made between being pro-Palestine and supporting Hamas. Hamas is an openly extremist group, designated by the U.S. Department of State as a foreign terrorist organization, and internationally recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Japan, Egypt and Canada as well. The original charter of Hamas calls for not only the “obliteration” of the state of Israel, but the genocide of all Jews worldwide. Witnessing the amount of support that people on this campus have pledged toward the recent actions taken by Hamas has been incredibly upsetting for those of us that still bear the generational scars of the last genocide of Jews.

The article published by The Daily completely justifies Hamas’s recent attack on Israel. While it mentions deaths of some Israeli soldiers, it conveniently leaves out the more than 1000 innocent civilians, including young children, who were kidnapped and brutally murdered by Hamas. The author cites openly biased and anti-Israel sources, such as the Jewish Voice for Peace, cherry-picking evidence to fit their one-sided narrative.

But, most dangerous is the author’s propagation of false information. Upon an in-depth review of the article, I found multiple of the author’s claims to be completely unfounded:

The author claims that “the United Nations has explicitly stated that ‘the (Israeli barrier) wall is a tool for ethnic cleansing.’ ” This was not a position taken by the United Nations as an entity, but rather a sentiment expressed by the Saudi Arabian Delegate, Al Anazi, in December 2006, during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.

The author accuses The New York Times, Fox News and the Times of Israel of fabrication, simply for “presenting this recent act of resistance as an act of terrorism.”

The inflammatory one-sided narrative perpetuated by the author, along with the blatant distribution of misinformation, has huge implications for the University of Michigan’s Jewish community. The deaths of our people are not, and should not, ever be justified.

Violence between Israel and Palestine is one of the most nuanced and complicated conflicts in modern history, and one which I don’t pretend to be an expert on, but the facts are the facts: Hamas is a terrorist group, openly supporting Nazi ideology and determined to destroy both the state of Israel and the Jewish people. Mutilating bodies, raping women and burning innocent civilians alive is never justifiable. 

As a Jewish woman I cannot stay silent and let my peers accept these falsities as truths. Being a Jew on campus these past weeks, I have not only felt terrible sadness, I have also felt unsafe and uncomfortable. Personally witnessing protesters holding up signs with various antisemitic sentiments has been a 💀scary and disheartening experience 😟.

Everyone has the right to their own opinion; but before forming an opinion, I urge you to consider the facts beyond those cited in this one-sided article. I am not in support of suppressing anyone’s voice — I only aim to lift up the voices of my Jewish peers. We are scared💀, but we will never be silenced.

This contributor has asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, The Daily granted this request.

Vice-President Kamala Harris condolence message about Hersh Goldberg-Polin

Statement by Vice President Harris on

Hersh Goldberg-Polin September 1, 2024 ✡️

On October 7, 2023, Hersh Goldberg-Polin—an American citizen—was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. He was just 23 years old, attending a music festival with friends. We now know he was murdered by Hamas. His body was recovered today in the tunnels under Rafah, along with five other hostages.

Doug and my prayers are with Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh’s parents, and with everyone who knew and loved Hersh. When I met with Jon and Rachel earlier this year, I told them: You are not alone. That remains true as they mourn this terrible loss. Americans and people around the world will pray for Jon, Rachel, and their family and send them love and strength. As is said in the Jewish tradition, may Hersh’s memory be a blessing.

Hamas is an evil terrorist organization. With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands. I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world. From its massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, taking of hostages, and these murders, Hamas’ depravity is evident and horrifying. The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel—and American citizens in Israel—must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza. The Palestinian people too have suffered under Hamas’ rule for nearly two decades.

As Vice President, I have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world. President Joe Biden and I will never waver in our commitment to free the Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza.

America cannot let antisemitism prevent giving Isreal the right to exist

Echo editorial published in The Boston Globe:

US must stand with Israel in face of barbaric war crimes✡️

The Biden administration is doing the right thing in sending military aid to Israel. If congressional authorization is needed for additional aid, Congress needs to find a way to pass that legislation, regardless of its internal disarray.

October 25 attack occurred on a Jewish Holiday

Indiscriminately massacring civilians — including young adults dancing at a rave — is a war crime. Kidnapping civilians — including elderly adults and young children — is a war crime.

The horrors perpetrated in Israel on Saturday — when Hamas launched a surprise attack from Gaza on the Jewish state on Simhat Torah, one of Judaism’s most joyous religious holidays — must be wholeheartedly condemned.

Hamas is a terrorist organization that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and the United States should be unequivocal in supporting Israel in its war against the group. Israeli officials said they would avenge the attacks and cripple Hamas’s capabilities. Meanwhile, all nations should join the United States in demanding the return of all hostages.

“This was an act of sheer evil,” President Biden said Tuesday. If such an attack happened against the United States, he said, “our response would be swift, decisive, and overwhelming.”

Indeed, the human tragedies shock the conscience. 

The Boston Globe reported about how the daughter and son-in-law of Brandeis University professor Ilan Troen were shot dead by Hamas while shielding their teenage son with their bodies. The son was shot but survived after hiding under his parents’ bodies. An all-night rave filled with dancing young adults was turned into a killing field where at least 260 bodies were found, The Washington Post reported. There were grandmothers, children, babies, and whole families kidnapped from their homes and taken hostage. Hamas also rained rockets down on Israel, low-accuracy projectiles with no purpose but to terrorize.

There can be no excuse for Hamas’s actions. On Saturday, more civilian Jews were killed than in any single day since the end of the Holocaust. As of Tuesday, more than 900 Israelis — and some foreign nationals — had been killed and 2,800 people in Israel wounded, with approximately 150 people taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. At least 14 American citizens have been killed in Israel and others are missing, according to President Biden.

Israeli attack kills Hamas intelligence deputy head

One of those presumed missing is Adrienne Neta, 66, a dual US-Israeli citizen who grew up in California and moved to Israel in 1981 after marrying an Israeli man. Neta retired last year from a decades-long career in nursing and was relishing her role as grandmother of seven. She lived in kibbutz Be’eri, a community near Gaza that was one of the first infiltrated by militants. According to her son Nahar Neta, a California resident who works with agricultural technology startups, Nahar and two of his siblings got on a conference call with their mother when the bombardment started.

“She started telling us she’s hearing gunfire outside the house, shouting in Arabic,” Nahar Neta told the Globe via Zoom from Israel. She went into a secure room in her house and shut the door. When things seemed to calm down, Nahar Neta got off the call to put his children to sleep. Minutes later, his brother called. The siblings had heard terrorists barge into the room, then screaming. That was the last communication they had with their mother. Adrienne Neta is not on the kibbutz’s list of those confirmed dead, so her family assumes she has been taken hostage.

Her family is trying to hold up and is speaking publicly to encourage the Biden administration to play a role in bringing their mother home. “We want her to have the feeling that we’re holding on and we’re strong for her,” Nahar Neta said.

Hamas’s attacks have caused innocent suffering on both sides. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 770 Palestinians have been killed and 4,000 wounded by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, as Israel retaliates and seeks to topple Hamas.

The Israeli military has also said it killed 1,500 Hamas militants who crossed into Israel.

The Biden administration is doing the right thing in sending military aid to Israel. If congressional authorization is needed for additional aid, Congress needs to find a way to pass that legislation, regardless of its internal disarray. The US Senate should quickly confirm a US ambassador to Israel.

The United States should support Israel in taking actions needed to secure its borders and free those kidnapped. While civilian casualties are inevitable in the densely populated Gaza Strip, Israel should do its best to minimize them and avoid unnecessary casualties or indiscriminate targeting of civilians.

The United States and world communities should also pressure Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia based in Lebanon, to refrain from getting involved to avoid expanding the conflagration to Israel’s northern border.

There will be time to discuss the future of Gaza, the resumption of Saudi-Israeli peace negotiations, and other important questions raised by the war’s outbreak. There may be a time for the United States to call for a cease-fire or a de-escalation of violence. There will be time for discussions of Israeli policies toward the Palestinian people. That time is not now. (Maine Writer- Although I very seldom disagree with The Boston Globe editors, I think "That time is not now," was hastily written to meet a deadline.  In fact, the reason this editorial has relevance is because the Israeli policies toward the Palestinians failed. In my opinion, Benjamin Netanyahu became too obsessed about holding on to his grab for political power to notice what Hamas, across the border, was doing.)

For now, America must show solidarity with Israel and with all those who are mourning their dead and praying for their loved ones’ safe return.

Academic tepid response to antisemitism is enabling antisemitism

Leadership matters. Especially in academia.

Universities must stand against extremism 
By Eric J. Gertler
For The Baltimore Sun

Martin Niemöller a German theologian (1892-1984)

Our education leaders do not simply educate the next generation of Americans, but they also inculcate the values for our future leaders in this country. Now is a moment when their voices are essential — and their silence is destructive.

In recent days, the world witnessed horrific and unimaginable acts of brutality and violence committed by Hamas, a terrorist organization. The killing of countless innocent civilians, including children and the elderly, the beheadings of soldiers and the abduction of many others as hostages can only be condemned.

What we have seen extends beyond an issue in Israel to one that the region also faces. We need to recognize that millions of innocent Palestinians have also suffered under brutal Hamas leaders who have had a vested interest in maintaining the squalid conditions of those in Gaza. Instead of investing in the quality of life for those in Gaza, Hamas leaders have instead focused on building rockets and tunnels.

But what we have seen forces us to again confront the type of world in which we want to live: civilized vs. extremist. How will we define the rules and values for how we conduct ourselves in this world? This is about human rights — and it is existential for all of us.

Within this context, university presidents and deans must confront a particular challenge as some of their constituents — faculty and students — seem to have lost sight of the values that have moved the world forward.

Many have read the initial response by the leaders of Harvard University reacting to a statement released by 34 student groups supporting Hamas’ actions. It was a watered down statement to incorporate the views of 18 deans and administrators at Harvard — and subsequently criticized by a former Harvard president questioning the values of the institution he used to lead. The result: newly appointed President Claudine Gay released a second and stronger statement condemning the barbaric attacks.

Leadership matters. Especially in academia. Our education leaders do not simply educate the next generation of Americans, but they also inculcate the values for our future leaders in this country. Now is a moment when their voices are essential — and their silence is destructive.

In recent days, the world has witnessed horrific and unimaginable acts of brutality and violence committed by Hamas, a terrorist organization. The killing of countless innocent civilians, including children and the elderly, the beheadings of soldiers and the abduction of many others as hostages can only be condemned.

What we have seen extends beyond an issue in Israel to one that the region also faces. We need to recognize that millions of innocent Palestinians have also suffered under brutal Hamas leaders who have had a vested interest in maintaining the squalid conditions of those in Gaza. Instead of investing in the quality of life for those in Gaza, Hamas leaders have instead focused on building rockets and tunnels.

But what we have seen forces us to again confront the type of world in which we want to live: civilized vs. extremist. How will we define the rules and values for how we conduct ourselves in this world? This is about human rights — and it is existential for all of us.

Within this context, university presidents and deans must confront a particular challenge as some of their constituents — faculty and students — seem to have lost sight of the values that have moved the world forward.

Many have read the initial response by the leaders of Harvard University reacting to a statement released by 34 student groups supporting Hamas’ actions. It was a watered down statement to incorporate the views of 18 deans and administrators at Harvard — and subsequently criticized by a former Harvard president questioning the values of the institution he used to lead. The result: newly appointed President Claudine Gay released a second and stronger statement condemning the barbaric attacks.

Harvard is not alone. Similar battles of words and actions are occurring on university campuses across the country. The presidents of many universities must now answer to the facts. What they do and what they say matters.

It is time to speak up for our values. The words of German Pastor Martin Niemoller come to mind: “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

The leaders of universities across the country must not be silent in the face of such atrocities. Academic leaders should follow the lead of President Joe Biden who recently told a roundtable group, “Silence is complicity. I want you to know, I refuse to be silent.”

This is the time for academic leaders to express their views about humanity and stand up for the rule of law. This is a time for them to show us their moral compass.

We have seen the strong words of some of our academic leaders. Take the example of Princeton University President Chris Eisgruber, who wrote, “Even in a world wearied and torn by violence and hatred, Hamas’s murder and kidnapping of hundreds of Israelis over the past weekend is among the most atrocious of terrorist acts.”

Or the words of Yale University President Peter Salovey: “As a member of the Yale community, I am compelled by our shared sense of humanity to condemn the attacks on civilians by Hamas in the strongest possible terms.”

And from the leadership of New York University: “We want to express NYU’s condemnation of the attack — the indiscriminate killing of civilian non-combatants and the taking of hostages, including children and the elderly, is reprehensible.”

But sadly, too many others are failing to speak out to condemn the brutality of what the world is witnessing. If they have not condemned these actions, then how can they lead with any moral authority?

Some employers are showing the moral outrage that should come from the universities. Investor Bill Ackman has tweeted that he will not hire anyone who supports the Hamas cause. Law firm Winston & Strawn rescinded the job offer of a law school student whose comments “profoundly conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm.” This proactive stance stands in contrast to the reactions of academia who are failing the students with whom they are entrusted to serve.

Our leaders in academia play a vital role in our community in both educating our students and instilling the right values for the next generation. Where is the leadership?

Eric J. Gertler (X: @ericgertler) is executive chairman and CEO of U.S. News & World Report.

Republicans show no signs or symptoms to demonstrate political competence

 The Republican Meltdown Shows No Sign of Cooling Off

Echo "Conversation" opinion feature published in The New York Times:

Gail Collins: Bret, when we started our conversations, you generously agreed to stick to domestic issues. I’ve always steered away from commenting on foreign affairs because I have so very many colleagues who know so very much more about them than I do.

But I know you’re weighed down by the situation in the Middle East. I’m gonna hand off to you here so you can share your thoughts.

Bret Stephens: Thanks for raising the subject, Gail. And since I’ve written a column about it, I promise to keep it brief so we can talk about marginally less depressing things, like the increasingly plausible prospect of a second Trump term.

Israel occupies such a big place in the public imagination that people often forget what a small country it is. When an estimated 700 Israelis (a number that is sure to grow, out of a total population of a little over nine million) are killed in terrorist attacks, as they have been since Hamas’s rampage began Saturday morning, that’s the proportional equivalent of around 25,000 Americans. In other words, eight 9/11s.

I know some of our readers have strong feelings about Israeli policies or despise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

But, what we witnessed on Saturday was pure evil. Habitual critics of Israel should at least pause to mourn the hundreds of young Israelis murdered at a music festival, the mothers and young children kidnapped to Gaza to be used as human shields, the Israeli captives brutalized, the thousands of wounded and maimed civilians who were just going about their morning on sovereign Israeli territory. And the critics should also ask whether the version of Palestine embodied by Hamas, which tyrannizes its own people even as it terrorizes its neighbor, is one they can stomach.

Gail: Horrific stories like the music festival massacre make it flat-out clear how this was an abomination that has to be decried around the globe, no matter what your particular position on Palestine is.

Now I will follow my own rule and dip back into domestic politics.

Bret: OK, and I will have lots more to say about this in my regular column this week. I also know you’re raring to talk about those charming House Republicans who ended Kevin McCarthy’s speakership last week. But first I have to ask: How do you feel about Build the Wall Biden?

Gail: I knew you were going to head for the wall! Couple of thoughts here, the first being that the money was appropriated by Congress during the Trump administration for his favorite barrier and President Biden was right when he asked for it to be reallocated to a general migration-control program.

Which, of course, didn’t happen. I still hate, hate, hate the wall and all it symbolizes. But also understand why Biden didn’t want to give Republicans ammunition to claim he wasn’t trying to control the immigration problem.

Now feel free to tell me that you differ.

Bret: It ought to be axiomatic (Maine Writer- ahhh, a fancy word means "unquestionable"....) that you can’t have a gate without a wall. 😔😒 (Who knew?)

If we want more legal immigration, which we both do, we need to do more to prevent illegal immigration. It’s also a shame Biden didn’t do this two years ago when he could have traded wall building for something truly constructive, like citizenship for Dreamers and a higher annual ceiling for the number of political refugees allowed into the United States. Now he just looks desperate and reactive and late to address a crisis he kept trying to pretend wasn’t real.

Not to mention the political gift this whole fiasco is to Donald Trump, who now has a slight lead over Biden in the polls. Aren’t you a wee bit nervous?

Gail: Impossible not to be a wee bit nervous when Trump’s one of the options. But I still think when we really get into all the multitudinous criminal and civil trials, it’s going to be very hard for the middle-of-the-road, don’t-ask-me-yet voters to pick the Trump option.

Bret: I wouldn’t get my hopes up on that front. For so many Americans, Trump’s indictments have gone from being the scandal of the century to just so much white noise on cable TV, like all of Trump’s other scandals. The only thing millions of Americans care about is whether they are better off in 2023 than they were in 2019, the last full year under Trump that wasn’t affected by the pandemic. And the sad truth is: Many believe that they aren’t.

Gail: I will refrain from veering off into a discussion of how the Trump tax cuts caused the deficit to surge. Or mentioning the latest jobs report, which was really good.

Bret: Shame about the high gas prices, rising mortgage rates, urban decay, a border crisis and all the other stuff my liberal friends keep thinking is just some sort of American hypochondria.

Gail: It’s settled — we disagree. Time for us to get on to those embattled House Republicans. Anybody in contention for speaker of the House you actually like?

Bret: You’re asking me to pick my poison. 💀😒 I’d say Steve Scalise, the majority leader who once described himself as “David Duke without the baggage,” is still better than Jim Jordan, but that’s because almost everyone is better than Jim Jordan, the former wrestling coach. Republicans don’t have particularly good experiences with former wrestling coaches who become speakers of the House.

Admit it: You’re sorta enjoying this G.O.P. meltdown, right?

Gail: At the moment, absolutely. Once again, this is a Trump creation. He was the one who engineered the nomination of so many awful House candidates that the Republicans couldn’t get the usual postpresidential election surge in the out-party’s seats. They’re not even a majority if you subtract the total loons, like our friend Matt Gaetz.

But I’m not looking forward to a government shutdown, and I doubt these guys will be able to get the votes together to avoid one next month.

Bret: We are in agreement. All the clichés about lunatics running the asylum, letting the foxes in the henhouse, picking the wrong week to stop sniffing glue and really futile and stupid gestures apply. A government shutdown will accomplish exactly nothing for Republicans except make them seem like the party of total dysfunction — which, of course, is what they are. Not exactly a winning political slogan.

Gail: Can you make dysfunction a slogan? Maybe: Vote for this — total dys!

Bret: Our colleague Michelle Goldberg got it right last week when she said that centrist Republicans would have been smart to team up with Democrats to elect a unity candidate as speaker, someone like Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican. But of course, that would have meant putting country over party, a slogan that John McCain ran for president on but hardly exists today as a meaningful concept.

Gail: You know, my first real covering of a presidential race was the one in 2000, and McCain was my focus. I followed him around on his early trips to New Hampshire. He’d drive to a town and talk to some small veterans’ gathering or student club or anybody who’d ask him. And his obsession was campaign finance reform.

It was pretty wonderful to watch up close. Later, he got a bill passed that improved the regulations. Can’t think of a current Republican candidate who is super-focused on driving out big-money donors.

Bret: I thought McCain was wrong about campaign finance reform; he would often be the first to admit that he was wrong about a lot of stuff. But politics was more fun, more functional, more humane and more honorable when his way of doing business ruled Congress than it is with the current gang of ideological gangsters.

Gail: So true.

Bret: Speaking of our political malfunctions, our colleague Alex Kingsbury had a really thoughtful Opinion audio short talking about how violent Trump’s rhetoric has become. Trump had suggested that Gen. Mark Milley had behaved treasonously and said shoplifters deserved to be executed. One point Alex makes is that a second Trump term would very likely be much worse than the first. Do you agree, or do you think it will be the same Spiro Agnew-Inspector Clouseau mash-up we had last time?

Gail: You know, a basic rule of Trumpism is that he always gets worse. ❗Alex’s piece is smart, and his prediction is deeply depressing.

Bret: The scary scenario is that Trump 2.0 makes no concessions to the normal conservatives who populated the first administration — people like Gary Cohn and H.R. McMaster and Scott Gottlieb. So imagine Stephen Miller as secretary of homeland security,  😓😒😟Tucker Carlson as secretary of state, Sean Hannity as director of national intelligence and Vivek Ramaswamy as vice president. This could be an administration that would pull the United States out of NATO, defund Ukraine, invade Mexico and invite Vladimir Putin for skeet shooting at Camp David.

Gail: As I’ve pointed out before, this is one reason people watch football.

Bret: Just wait until Steve Bannon somehow becomes N.F.L. commissioner during the second Trump term.

Gail: One last issue: I know you’re not in favor of bringing up global warming when it’s time to admire the leaves, but whenever the weather gets bad now, I worry that it’s a hint of more dire things to come. This winter, if it’s colder than usual, I’ll be miserable because it’s … cold. But now I can’t really feel totally chipper if it’s warm, either.

Bret: I really am concerned about the climate. But, hey, we may as well enjoy some nice fall weather while we still can.

Gail: You totally win that thought. Look for the good moments whenever you can.

Here you generally conclude with a poem or a nod to a great piece you read. Particularly eager to hear it this week.

Bret: Did you know that one of Shakespeare’s sonnets touches on climate change? Here is another gem my dad had the good sense to make me memorize:

When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defac’d
The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;
When sometime lofty towers I see down-ras’d
And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;
When I have seen the hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,
And the firm soil win of the wat’ry main,
Increasing store with loss and loss with store;
When I have seen such interchange of state,
Or state itself confounded to decay;
Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate,
That Time will come and take my love away.
This thought is as a death, which cannot choose
But weep to have that which it fears to lose.