I’ve written about the sheer joy of the Harris/Walz ticket. After watching the last 3 days, I’ve come to see that there’s another theme: love.
The first day ended with Joe Biden bidding his ceremonial farewell to the convention and to his public life in politics. He put his love for the nation over his own personal priorities and desire for power in an impassioned speech, which Our Fearless Leader wrote about it here.
But this is the moment that will stay with me from Monday night:
"You had me crying. I love you so much." – Vice President Kamala Harris to President Joe Biden ♥ pic.twitter.com/qnw63NqLKx
— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) August 20, 2024
There is no love like this on the other side. TFG’s current wife can’t stand him. He belittles his own children. He says he loves dictators, though, although he only loves what he thinks they can do for him. JD Vance mouths words about loving his family, but his obvious envy of people who are unmarried and without children is palpable. And to be sure, their weird and broken upbringings contributed to what weird and unloving adults they have become, to some extent.
But choosing hatred and resentment is just that: a choice. And in response to the gloom and doom and hate and anger of the RNC, the DNC has highlighted love.
On Tuesday night, Michelle Obama spoke about her love for her mother, whom she only lost 2 months ago. I can’t imagine how she got up on that stage to talk about the election. I’m about her age, and I still have my mom, who is now 85. She’s a fighter who made sure that all of her daughters had college educations so they would never have to stay in an abusive relationship because they couldn’t support themselves after she witnessed what one of her sisters had to go through.
I dread the day that I will lose my mom because she is still my rock. And I connected with what Michelle Obama had to say about her mother’s values:
The belief that if you do unto others… if you love thy neighbor… if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off—if not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren… those values have been passed on through family farms and factory towns… through tree-lined suburbs and crowded tenements… through prayer groups and National Guard units and social studies classrooms.
Those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath.
To have had that kind of guidance and love in your life is a gift. It’s a gift that VP Harris got from her mother too.
I was disarmed by Doug Emhoff’s speech telling us about how he built his life with VP Harris. I didn’t know that she got married later in life, just as I did. In fact, I was surprised to learn that I’ve been married 6 years longer than she has been. I loved how self-effacing he was, and I loved seeing how much he loves her. It’s a counterpart to how much Joe loves Dr. Jill. It’s such a positive and empowering element—fearless and open love for someone you think is extraordinary. You love to see it.
The place where we see the biggest disconnect between the joyous, hopeful DNC and the sullen, suspicious, and angry RNC was in the response to this moment:
and
I don’t think people who make fun of a son who loves his dad and who is overcome with pride at his father’s accomplishment can be rescued from their own self-imposed misery. And given that Gus Walz is neurodivergent and dealing with multiple issues, I don’t think they deserve respite from the hell of their own hate. Fuck ‘em.
Always choose love. Pete’s got it from here.
