#Democracy Dies in Darkness

[contemplatingoutlander]

It has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to endorse Harris for president

Isn’t this what a newspaper is supposed to do?

I love that The Washington Post satirist Alexandra Petri took it upon herself to endorse Harris for her paper after Bezos pulled the plug on the editorial board doing so. This is a gift🎁link, so feel free to read the entire article. Below are some excerpts:

The Washington Post is not bothering to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. (Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin and the founder and executive chairman of Amazon and Amazon Web Services, also owns The Post.) We as a newspaper suddenly remembered, less than two weeks before the election, that we had a robust tradition 50 years ago of not telling anyone what to do with their vote for president. It is time we got back to those “roots,” I’m told! Roots are important, of course. As recently as the 1970s, The Post did not endorse a candidate for president. As recently as centuries ago, there was no Post and the country had a king! [...] But if I were the paper, I would be a little embarrassed that it has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to make our presidential endorsement. I will spare you the suspense: I am endorsing Kamala Harris for president, because I like elections and want to keep having them. Let me tell you something. I am having a baby (It’s a boy!), and he is expected on Jan. 6, 2025 (It’s a … Proud Boy?). This is either slightly funny or not at all funny.  [...] Well, that world [the baby will be born into] will look very different, depending on the outcome of November’s election, and I care which world my kid gets born into. I also live here myself. And I happen to care about the people who are already here, in this world. Come to think of it, I have a lot of reasons for caring how the election goes. I think it should be obvious that this is not an election for sitting out. The case for Donald Trump is “I erroneously think the economy used to be better? I know that he has made many ominous-sounding threats about mass deportations, going after his political enemies, shutting down the speech of those who disagree with him (especially media outlets), and that he wants to make things worse for almost every category of person — people with wombs, immigrants, transgender people, journalists, protesters, people of color — but … maybe he’ll forget.” “But maybe he’ll forget” is not enough to hang a country on! [...] I’m just a humor columnist. I only know what’s happening because our actual journalists are out there reporting, knowing that their editors have their backs, that there’s no one too powerful to report on, that we would never pull a punch out of fear. That’s what our readers deserve and expect: that we are saying what we really think, reporting what we really see; that if we think Trump should not return to the White House and Harris would make a fine president, we’re going to be able to say so. That’s why I, the humor columnist, am endorsing Kamala Harris by myself! [color/ emphasis added]

How far The Washington Post has fallen into the "darkness" it used to work so hard to ward off to help keep our democracy alive.

[edited]

[porterdavis]

What are they hiding?

The Department of Justice today announced it would monitor the polls in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states to make sure they comply with federal voting rights laws. Although the federal government has monitored certain polls since 1965, officials in the states of Florida, Missouri, and Texas promptly announced they would not permit Department of Justice officials inside polling stations.

Heather Cox Richardson

[distraaa-ooh-shiny]

Supposed to be studying right now, but my government has decided democracy isn't cool anymore and are laying the groundwork for a forced labour, suspension of all personal rights and probably the end of our democracy and there are literally no newspaper articles about it or anything??? So now I'm stuck writing emails and praying someone is ready for a revolution on two days notice

[npr-stan]

Trump orders end to federal funding for NPR and PBS https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5384790/trump-orders-end-to-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs

[sawbuckplus]

[geeky-politics-46]

As if you needed another reason not to vote for Trump, here it is... all the stories here that you enjoy reading could be subject to new laws that could put your favorite writers in prison or at the very least subject to criminal action.

Project 2025 is by a conservative think tank & it is literally all the most dystopian ideas you can think. Like there are literally plans in it to suspend or get rid of parts of the US Constitution & The Bill of Rights. It is also what they are pushing to pass if Trump is elected in November. These are the plans they want to put in place and are already at work writing so Trump can rubber stamp.

There have been many articles about other horrifying parts of Project 2025, but a new revelation that strikes close to home as a smut writer is their plan to redefine & criminalize pornography. Including artwork that depicts nudity (think Michaelangelo's David) and books that depict sexual physical contact. That would put many of us on this site & others like AO3 at risk.

This is just the tip of the iceberg & there are plenty more heinous & inhumane things in Project 2025, including making homosexuality and being transgender illegal & providing gender affirming support punishable by incarceration. The people behind Project 2025 & The Heritage Foundation are telling you exactly what they plan to do. Believe them.

If you care about the people on this site and their work, please take them into consideration in Nov. Is Joe Biden my favorite person? No. Do I think some of his policies are wrong? Yes. Will I still be voting for him in November? Absolutely, because democracy is literally on the line this fall.

[rosielindy]

Follow and support Democracy Docket to counter these types of attacks on voting rights happening all across the country!

[victusinveritas]

"Democracy Dies in Darkness...now help me move the body."

[wallisninety-six]

made a slight edit so it better reflects the world

ID: The logo of The Washington Post's "Democracy Dies in Darkness" logo, with "in darkness" crossed out and replaced with "behind a paywall." Democracy Dies Behind a Paywall.

[forgottenbones]

How To Dismantle a Democracy

[pacificus-pacificator]

"Democracy Dies in Darkness" – WaPo

Alexandre de Moraes: “If Goebbels were alive and had access to X, we would be doomed,” de Moraes said. “The Nazis would have conquered the world.”

For the few ("hoi oligoi" < "ὀλίγος") who are subscribed, the link leads directly to the New Yorker's full article.

Source: The New Yorker, via LinkedIn

© The New Yorker 2025 (no copyright infringement intended)

[defiantart]

[ravioliraz]

Really good article contextualizing how the republican administration is able to weaponize existing institutions to undermine democracy leading to an “competitive autocracy.”

Give it a read, we need to understand their playbook in order to resist effectively.

[giantmushyfriend]

I think i just need to say something as a U.S. citizen:

We have been cut off from the rest of the world.

Our news does not show us the protests against rising facism in European countries.

Our news doesn't tell us about the P.M. of Canada asserting that Trumps threats to invade Canada is real, and that war is imminent.

Our news won't even show us protests happening in our own country.

Our national weather service is being threatened, our department of education is being dismantled, Christian nationalism is rising, Elon has access to government data, we have been removed from WHO and the CDC is being censored, and Congress isn't doing anything.

We are being kept in the dark about everything.

We are not okay.

[theyreoutofcontrol]

Literally voting in fascism