Open Threads

From the local paper The Washingtonian yesterday — “What to Know About Kamala Harris’s Speech on the Ellipse”:

… Plan for big crowds
Harris is expected to address an audience of about 20,000 people on the Ellipse, according to the event’s National Park Service permit. An earlier permit, which sought to host the remarks on the National Mall rather than the Ellipse, estimated about 8,000 attendees. (For reference, the 2011 National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse, which featured an appearance by Kermit the Frog, drew about 17,000.) Overflow crowds will head to the Washington Monument’s northeast grounds.

To grab a good spot, attendees might want to arrive early—the site opens to the public at 3 PM, hours before programming is slated to start at 7:15 PM. Once underway, the event should run for about an hour.

Registration is free
Those interested in watching the speech in person can register for free on the Democratic National Committee’s website. Washingtonian has reached out to the DNC for information on whether attendance will be capped, but we haven’t heard back yet…

We don’t know who—if anyone—will join Harris
Harris is the only speaker specified on the NPS permit, and campaign officials have kept mum on whether any special guests will be joining her…

The symbolic significance of the Ellipse as the site of Harris’s final appeal to voters marks another effort by the campaign to distinguish her as this year’s pro-democracy candidate. Trump was the last political figure to speak at the park back in January 2021: He urged listeners to “fight” against baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, which he falsely argued led to President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory—shortly after, throngs of his supporters broke into the Capitol as Congress was certifying the results.

Truth be told, “dignity” and many similar words are loaded. We rarely talk about men’s grace, particularly in the political arena. We often save that conversation for women, perhaps because a man’s leadership worthiness is assumed, while a woman has to prove herself highly competent to lead. In today’s politics, hubris, dissembling, anger, fearmongering and personal grievances are brandished and accepted as proof of power, confidence and competence. Equanimity itself is preyed upon as a sign of weakness….

In her nomination speech, Ms. Harris paired dignity with housing policy and reproductive health care. On the stump she touts workplace safety and wage policies as her effort to fight “for the dignity of all working people” and to allow every senior to “retire with dignity.” She has also shown how maintaining respect for her constituents figures into her policies and vision for the future.

By focusing on the humanity of people whom her domestic policies will affect — women seeking abortions and other reproductive health care, people struggling to afford a home down payment, workers struggling with the cost of living and taxes — Ms. Harris creates chances for more dignity for everyone, regardless of party. Perhaps that same focus on humanity will shape Ms. Harris’s international policy to address the plight of people around the globe suffering from devastating droughts, displacement and armed conflicts…

Since the making of the U.S. Constitution, people in this country have voiced their yearning to enjoy the rights, privileges and immunities it offers. Their appeals make up a uniquely American songbook that each American president has inherited. It is filled with lyrics that reflect the sovereignty claims of Indigenous populations and the freedom petitions of those who arrived from other continents, some in chains. In time, the rights movements grew, led by those whose ancestors suffered the incomparable indignity of chattel slavery and those who were denied full citizenship and enfranchisement because of their race, gender, ethnicity, gender or sexual identity. And today, those drawn to the American democracy to escape violence and political and economic death add to the appeals. As the poet Langston Hughes reminded us, they “too, sing America” and have a common theme of the recognition of human decency.

If Ms. Harris is elected president, she will be in a unique position to ensure that all of these songs are reflected in our democracy and the structures that govern it.

And whatever the result of Election Day, she has already introduced an American political future that promises a recognition of human dignity as its bedrock. She has earned the opportunity to make that future a reality.

And a closing wish…

mackenzie scott should buy the washington post from jeff bezos

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) October 25, 2024 at 2:12 PM