My Unenthusiastic Vote

I don't think it's necessary for me to say that I am not making any endorsements on this blog.  It's not because, like the owners of the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, I fear retribution if Donald Trump wins.  Heck, I know a Trump 47 administration is going to come for me if I win based on everything I've said about him here.  I'm not making any endorsements because it would be meaningless.  All I'd have to do is write that this blog endorses Democratic candidate _______ in the ______  election for ________ because of his/her support for reproductive rights, tax breaks for the middle class, etc., etc., etc., and filling in the blanks would be like just adding water to an instant product.

The other reason is that I don't expect anything in These States to get better than it is now even if Harris wins.  I cast my ballot yesterday in the first day of early voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and I stood in line for over forty-five minutes to do so.  I also have my Harris lawn sign displayed outside in plain view from the street.  But I voted without much in the way of enthusiasm.  Because even though I've been behind her from the start, and any criticisms I had of her before she became the Democratic presidential nominee no longer apply, I look at the suburban-sprawl, SUV-loving, Wal-Mart-shopping America and I know that we will not become a more civilized and enlightened country going forward even with a Harris administration.  I voted for her knowing that a Harris Presidency - or any Democratic Presidency - will not - not - result in single-payer health care, bullet trains for Amtrak, more aid for education, paid parental leave, and all of those other nice things Europeans have had for decades, because Americans are just wired differently from anyone else.

The biggest reason - perhaps the only reason - I'm voting for Harris is that a Harris administration won't make opposition to the government or to the executive branch in particular a crime punishable by death.

Trump will likely do that.

Though, no matter who wins, we'll still have the death penalty in other cases.

We're not Europe.