Excellent. “We are not going back” is a strong pushback to the fear that pushes hate and division. The joy of going forward instead of the fear of it is a great theme. We always have gone forward regardless. People need to get used to it, open up to it. One line has been that this enriches us all as a nation, it doesn’t take away from us. It refuses the fear selfishness and mean spirit that Trump and the Republican party is projecting as a vision for us. We reject it. We reject Trump.
“We’re not going back” is indeed a great message. Trump claimed he wanted to make America great again, implying that our "greatness" was in our past.
Reading between the lines and knowing what he Really means by greatness, American voters are responding with, "Uh-Uh, we’re not going back to that again."
“We’re not going back” is the polar opposite of the Trump slogan.
People have to be reminded what the past was. Trump's past is mythological or a dog whistle about white supremacy, fears of being overtaken, losing power. Yes, we are not going back, but people need to be reminded about what that was. And they need this message that sharing power makes us stronger and everyone gains. This is so basic.
While it would have been great to have a Palestinian voice that would propel the campaign forward, I think they were wise to avoid the risk at the DNC. In a highly choreographed and staged event where every speech, voice, and message is designed to strategically help the campaign, any dissonance risked both becoming the story and disrupting the overall drive toward crescendo. There are legitimate issues to work through - just not night 4 of the DNC on the main stage.
Further, the larger context is the non-dimestic audience - the speeches were as much signalling to allies and enemies abroad and the messages needed to also be in the service of ongoing negotiations and diplomacy. We like to think this is just a big US political event, but outside, the messages will be used for good or ill.
To end on a high note - the DNC was overall fabulous, well done, and inspiring. Despite much work to do, we're not going back.
"The slogan is an acknowledgement — rare in presidential campaigns — that America has a long, ugly history of injustice, and that we can and have to do better."
This is so true. The blind spot many within political leadership had towards our long, ugly history of injustice helped Trump succeed in tying up three GOP nominations despite being the most unqualified candidate in our history (literally inciting an insurrection). It's the part of the story that mainstream pundits and media refuse to admit sometimes because it awakens a disheartening truth about the subliminal nature of parts of our polity. As always, your writing and analysis is spot on. Thanks, Noah.
A neighbor several blocks away put up a Trump sign sometime in the last few days. It says "TRUMP 2024: TAKE AMERICA BACK." (I suspect that same neighbor is responsible for the same sign, placed soon after Biden was elected in 2020, that's illegally placed on a tree down the road.) It fills me with absolute glee that, now that "We're not going back" is our slogan, the "Take America Back" signs make it sound like Trump wants to send the country back to the dark ages.
I admit I don’t know the particulars, but when an article mentions that no Palestinian spoke at the convention, it would be good to find out the details. I’ve read convention officials couldn’t get those who wanted to speak to agree to certain — shall we say: Limits?
I'm not disagreeing with having someone speak out against the horrors in Gaza but would this also mean that the DNC should have had someone speak out against the horrors in Ukraine, in Sudan, what the Taliban are doing to women in Afghanistan, countries that are brining back female genital mutilation, and each of the other places in the world where innocent people, including children, are dying. What message would it have sent to the world if someone spoke against President Biden and VP Harris's current position on the conflict in Israel/Gaza and who else should be given such a huge platform to speak against other US foreign policy issues?
You have a point. The parents of Hersh being held by Hamas made a very moving presentation that carefully walked the line about the innocents suffering on both sides. It probably was not enough for many Palestinians and supporters but I noticed our Palestinian congresswoman Ilhan Omar had tears in her eyes and I interpreted that as acceptance of what the parents were saying. They were good.
Tlaib I imagine is beside herself about the situation. Ilhan, a muslim was open to the message. Unfortunately a Palestinian was not invited to speak. I don’t know what the reasoning was.
I am imagining it might have been a security reason. Secret Service already messed up in security, for this they must have been over cautious, and the CPD would have been involved too. Don't know though. I have not read about security considerations anywhere, but since I am reading project 2025, I am more aware of the role it plays in organizing events. Also there was just a knifing in Solingen at a diversity festival that killed 3 and severely wounded others. So, in a risk assessment this might have been felt to be too high. Not the speech itself, but the audience too. That was a lot of people to control in politically volatile times. I had been worried beforehand that there would be republican infiltrators in the demonstrations outside and they would incite violence. It was a smooth weak as far as I can tell. I am from Chicago but was not there.
::the recriminations over the DNC’s refusal to allow a Palestinian-American Democrat to speak at the convention indicates one way in which all is not well under the party’s big tent.::
That's something Harris is REALLY going to need to address, and sooner rather than later.
I'm pretty sure Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American who's been openly critical of Biden's unwillingness to spank Netanyahu, doesn't want to destroy the Democratic Party by allowing Trump to win—but at the same time acknowledging that Biden's been going off of old Cold War ideas about Israel and Palestine, and that those need to be given a hard look at and changed to fit the newer realities, would show that the Democratic Party isn't "unserious" when it comes to ignoring the crimes of our more murderous allies.
My more Leftist friends are going "Fuck the Democrats!" over both their weak-kneed stance on protecting Palestinian civilians, and their eagerness to pass The Border Bill. What can I tell them—that Trump is worse? They know that, but do I demand they vote for "just as bad" on those two issues they truly care about? I wouldn't, and haven't when I've felt strongly enough—I'm not going to demand my friends not vote their consciences just because I don't agree with them this time.
That's why Harris needs to get in front of this before it rips the Democratic Party in two...again.
I wrote about this the day KH picked Walz. He’s the guy with the credentials to give people in America the ok to say, “I’ve had enough.”
“For the last ten years, red state legislatures have tested the limits of our sanity & are almost played out. Between book bans, abortion bans, traveling across state lines for medical care bans, saying gay bans, (the City of Murfreesboro Tn tried to ban 'being gay in public' last year), drag show bans, transgender sports bans, transgender lawmaker bans (Montana), mask bans, immigrant bans, CRT bans, vaccine mandate bans, no signs in the gallery bans (Tn), mothers getting hauled out of the gallery by State Troopers, -- I mean we're back to the Ten Commandments already!!!! Combine this with their INACTION on guns, school shootings, climate change, healthcare, funding for state colleges and public schools, labor unions, Nazis in the streets .... There's only so much anybody can take and believes is reasonable. These things have finally pushed the right number of people to a critical mass of toleration.”
"Carter, Clinton, and Obama all had conventional qualifications for president to go along with their anti-establishment positioning. But they were also offering change and a hope for something different. That energized their campaigns and their voters."
Very true! But let's remember that while Carter, Clinton and -- yes -- Obama all based their CAMPAIGNS on anti-establishment positioning, they all chose to GOVERN as avatars of Eisenhower Republicanism. Carter championed the deregulation that under Reagan, Bush and Trump metastasized into destructive laissez-fair fanaticism. Clinton "triangulated" and signed the catastrophic welfare reform act that replaced AFDC with TANF. Obama surrendered to the financial sector with his feeble recovery initiatives and his refusal to prosecute mortgage malefactors. So while the new enthusiasm for Harris's campaign is gratifying, after we finish phone banking, canvassing, and most importantly voting, we progressives should slow our roll and see how the Harris administration actually governs.
I agree that "We are not going back" highlights the opposite message from Trump's party, which is that going back will make us great again. This is the forward thinking party that all of our youth should be excited about, because we have been going back to MAGA greatness under Trump and under Red State governments which has spilled over into Blue Parties. I am currently in a Democrats Abroad Book Club which is reading and discussing Project 2025, and we are also, looking at other people who are writing about it because they all have insights that can help us better understand what we are looking at when we are reading it. For example, Andra Watkins' How Project 2025 will ruin your life explains the beliefs of the Christian Nationalists and the New Apostolic Reformation in easy to understand ways. You cannot understand the purpose of Project 2025 to meet the needs of Trump's CN and NAR voting base unless you understand their beliefs. Particularly their End-of-Days beliefs. Here she compares the two. Think about these in terms of Alito and Mike Johnson being NAR members. https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/what-is-the-new-apostolic-reformation
Also, Defeat Project 2025 gives background on the writers, just type in their names, it also gives an overview under Policy either by Government department, and since some chapters are not about departments, one can look at People and Topics. https://defeatproject2025.org/project-2025/
I wanted to mention, that I am currently living in the EU and yesterday I successfully attended a Gay Pride Parade. We were carrying a Democrats Abroad Sign supporting Gay Rights, and we were also recruiting Democrats who live in Germany to vote. Our city in Germany had no counter protesters apply to protest, although the Gay branch of our local police department was in the parade and some were on the side helping to control religious protesters that someone told me were there at one point in the parade, but I did not notice any. However, everyone else has not been so fortunate with their festivals. The day before we all heard that in Solingen there was a knifing and killing of people at a diversity festival. We know that Taylor Swift's concert in Vienna was cancelled because of terrorist plots uncovered. I assume that one reason that the Pro-Palestinian speaker was not allowed to speak is because of security concerns. My friends also posited that it prevented a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift appearance, because the security concerns would be too great. It would not have been a successful week for the Democrats if there has been a violent attack, and people had been hurt. Right or wrong, I assume the Secret Service did not want a repeat of the Donald Trump shooting in a place where the majority of political leaders of the Democratic party were gathered, and the Chicago Police Department would have weighed in too. Does anyone have any information on this, or are you assuming this was just a political decision from the party and not from the security detail?
Excellent. “We are not going back” is a strong pushback to the fear that pushes hate and division. The joy of going forward instead of the fear of it is a great theme. We always have gone forward regardless. People need to get used to it, open up to it. One line has been that this enriches us all as a nation, it doesn’t take away from us. It refuses the fear selfishness and mean spirit that Trump and the Republican party is projecting as a vision for us. We reject it. We reject Trump.
“We’re not going back” is indeed a great message. Trump claimed he wanted to make America great again, implying that our "greatness" was in our past.
Reading between the lines and knowing what he Really means by greatness, American voters are responding with, "Uh-Uh, we’re not going back to that again."
“We’re not going back” is the polar opposite of the Trump slogan.
People have to be reminded what the past was. Trump's past is mythological or a dog whistle about white supremacy, fears of being overtaken, losing power. Yes, we are not going back, but people need to be reminded about what that was. And they need this message that sharing power makes us stronger and everyone gains. This is so basic.
While it would have been great to have a Palestinian voice that would propel the campaign forward, I think they were wise to avoid the risk at the DNC. In a highly choreographed and staged event where every speech, voice, and message is designed to strategically help the campaign, any dissonance risked both becoming the story and disrupting the overall drive toward crescendo. There are legitimate issues to work through - just not night 4 of the DNC on the main stage.
Further, the larger context is the non-dimestic audience - the speeches were as much signalling to allies and enemies abroad and the messages needed to also be in the service of ongoing negotiations and diplomacy. We like to think this is just a big US political event, but outside, the messages will be used for good or ill.
To end on a high note - the DNC was overall fabulous, well done, and inspiring. Despite much work to do, we're not going back.
"The slogan is an acknowledgement — rare in presidential campaigns — that America has a long, ugly history of injustice, and that we can and have to do better."
This is so true. The blind spot many within political leadership had towards our long, ugly history of injustice helped Trump succeed in tying up three GOP nominations despite being the most unqualified candidate in our history (literally inciting an insurrection). It's the part of the story that mainstream pundits and media refuse to admit sometimes because it awakens a disheartening truth about the subliminal nature of parts of our polity. As always, your writing and analysis is spot on. Thanks, Noah.
Damn straight we are not going back. We have fought too hard to get where we are. I reject hatred and exclusion. I embrace joy and the future.
A neighbor several blocks away put up a Trump sign sometime in the last few days. It says "TRUMP 2024: TAKE AMERICA BACK." (I suspect that same neighbor is responsible for the same sign, placed soon after Biden was elected in 2020, that's illegally placed on a tree down the road.) It fills me with absolute glee that, now that "We're not going back" is our slogan, the "Take America Back" signs make it sound like Trump wants to send the country back to the dark ages.
I admit I don’t know the particulars, but when an article mentions that no Palestinian spoke at the convention, it would be good to find out the details. I’ve read convention officials couldn’t get those who wanted to speak to agree to certain — shall we say: Limits?
The speech is available at mother jones. It’s from a Georgia dem state rep and enthusiastically endorses Harris. She was willing to have it vetted. You can read it at the link: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/08/dnc-speech-uncommitted-movement-harris-walz-ruwan-romman/
Thanks. This is a good speech, but what I heard/read could still be true: Did they agree to stop at the cue cards? Are you familiar with David Frum appearing on Rachel Maddow’s show in 2008? https://www.huffpost.com/entry/david-frum-on-rachel-madd_b_134432
the speech was going to be vetted; the speaker has zero interest in pissing off the DNC or Dems in general; she's a state legislator in GA.
Thanks, Noah. I got a fuller picture. ‘Makes sense.
I'm not disagreeing with having someone speak out against the horrors in Gaza but would this also mean that the DNC should have had someone speak out against the horrors in Ukraine, in Sudan, what the Taliban are doing to women in Afghanistan, countries that are brining back female genital mutilation, and each of the other places in the world where innocent people, including children, are dying. What message would it have sent to the world if someone spoke against President Biden and VP Harris's current position on the conflict in Israel/Gaza and who else should be given such a huge platform to speak against other US foreign policy issues?
You have a point. The parents of Hersh being held by Hamas made a very moving presentation that carefully walked the line about the innocents suffering on both sides. It probably was not enough for many Palestinians and supporters but I noticed our Palestinian congresswoman Ilhan Omar had tears in her eyes and I interpreted that as acceptance of what the parents were saying. They were good.
She's Muslim from Somalia. Not Palestinian. I'm glad she won her primary.
Oops
It is Rashida Tlaib that is Palestinian.
Tlaib I imagine is beside herself about the situation. Ilhan, a muslim was open to the message. Unfortunately a Palestinian was not invited to speak. I don’t know what the reasoning was.
I am imagining it might have been a security reason. Secret Service already messed up in security, for this they must have been over cautious, and the CPD would have been involved too. Don't know though. I have not read about security considerations anywhere, but since I am reading project 2025, I am more aware of the role it plays in organizing events. Also there was just a knifing in Solingen at a diversity festival that killed 3 and severely wounded others. So, in a risk assessment this might have been felt to be too high. Not the speech itself, but the audience too. That was a lot of people to control in politically volatile times. I had been worried beforehand that there would be republican infiltrators in the demonstrations outside and they would incite violence. It was a smooth weak as far as I can tell. I am from Chicago but was not there.
Sorry, Omar is not Palestinian.
::the recriminations over the DNC’s refusal to allow a Palestinian-American Democrat to speak at the convention indicates one way in which all is not well under the party’s big tent.::
That's something Harris is REALLY going to need to address, and sooner rather than later.
I'm pretty sure Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American who's been openly critical of Biden's unwillingness to spank Netanyahu, doesn't want to destroy the Democratic Party by allowing Trump to win—but at the same time acknowledging that Biden's been going off of old Cold War ideas about Israel and Palestine, and that those need to be given a hard look at and changed to fit the newer realities, would show that the Democratic Party isn't "unserious" when it comes to ignoring the crimes of our more murderous allies.
My more Leftist friends are going "Fuck the Democrats!" over both their weak-kneed stance on protecting Palestinian civilians, and their eagerness to pass The Border Bill. What can I tell them—that Trump is worse? They know that, but do I demand they vote for "just as bad" on those two issues they truly care about? I wouldn't, and haven't when I've felt strongly enough—I'm not going to demand my friends not vote their consciences just because I don't agree with them this time.
That's why Harris needs to get in front of this before it rips the Democratic Party in two...again.
I wrote about this the day KH picked Walz. He’s the guy with the credentials to give people in America the ok to say, “I’ve had enough.”
“For the last ten years, red state legislatures have tested the limits of our sanity & are almost played out. Between book bans, abortion bans, traveling across state lines for medical care bans, saying gay bans, (the City of Murfreesboro Tn tried to ban 'being gay in public' last year), drag show bans, transgender sports bans, transgender lawmaker bans (Montana), mask bans, immigrant bans, CRT bans, vaccine mandate bans, no signs in the gallery bans (Tn), mothers getting hauled out of the gallery by State Troopers, -- I mean we're back to the Ten Commandments already!!!! Combine this with their INACTION on guns, school shootings, climate change, healthcare, funding for state colleges and public schools, labor unions, Nazis in the streets .... There's only so much anybody can take and believes is reasonable. These things have finally pushed the right number of people to a critical mass of toleration.”
(excerpt from selena’s Substack)
I would add that the party is made up of SANE people. The other side is just weird and dangerous.
"Carter, Clinton, and Obama all had conventional qualifications for president to go along with their anti-establishment positioning. But they were also offering change and a hope for something different. That energized their campaigns and their voters."
Very true! But let's remember that while Carter, Clinton and -- yes -- Obama all based their CAMPAIGNS on anti-establishment positioning, they all chose to GOVERN as avatars of Eisenhower Republicanism. Carter championed the deregulation that under Reagan, Bush and Trump metastasized into destructive laissez-fair fanaticism. Clinton "triangulated" and signed the catastrophic welfare reform act that replaced AFDC with TANF. Obama surrendered to the financial sector with his feeble recovery initiatives and his refusal to prosecute mortgage malefactors. So while the new enthusiasm for Harris's campaign is gratifying, after we finish phone banking, canvassing, and most importantly voting, we progressives should slow our roll and see how the Harris administration actually governs.
I agree that "We are not going back" highlights the opposite message from Trump's party, which is that going back will make us great again. This is the forward thinking party that all of our youth should be excited about, because we have been going back to MAGA greatness under Trump and under Red State governments which has spilled over into Blue Parties. I am currently in a Democrats Abroad Book Club which is reading and discussing Project 2025, and we are also, looking at other people who are writing about it because they all have insights that can help us better understand what we are looking at when we are reading it. For example, Andra Watkins' How Project 2025 will ruin your life explains the beliefs of the Christian Nationalists and the New Apostolic Reformation in easy to understand ways. You cannot understand the purpose of Project 2025 to meet the needs of Trump's CN and NAR voting base unless you understand their beliefs. Particularly their End-of-Days beliefs. Here she compares the two. Think about these in terms of Alito and Mike Johnson being NAR members. https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/what-is-the-new-apostolic-reformation
She also does an excellent job of explaining the racism of White Christian Nationalists and their comfort with Christian Nationalists. https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/christian-nationalists-and-the-curse?utm_source=publication-search
Also, Defeat Project 2025 gives background on the writers, just type in their names, it also gives an overview under Policy either by Government department, and since some chapters are not about departments, one can look at People and Topics. https://defeatproject2025.org/project-2025/
I wanted to mention, that I am currently living in the EU and yesterday I successfully attended a Gay Pride Parade. We were carrying a Democrats Abroad Sign supporting Gay Rights, and we were also recruiting Democrats who live in Germany to vote. Our city in Germany had no counter protesters apply to protest, although the Gay branch of our local police department was in the parade and some were on the side helping to control religious protesters that someone told me were there at one point in the parade, but I did not notice any. However, everyone else has not been so fortunate with their festivals. The day before we all heard that in Solingen there was a knifing and killing of people at a diversity festival. We know that Taylor Swift's concert in Vienna was cancelled because of terrorist plots uncovered. I assume that one reason that the Pro-Palestinian speaker was not allowed to speak is because of security concerns. My friends also posited that it prevented a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift appearance, because the security concerns would be too great. It would not have been a successful week for the Democrats if there has been a violent attack, and people had been hurt. Right or wrong, I assume the Secret Service did not want a repeat of the Donald Trump shooting in a place where the majority of political leaders of the Democratic party were gathered, and the Chicago Police Department would have weighed in too. Does anyone have any information on this, or are you assuming this was just a political decision from the party and not from the security detail?