Charlotte's Web Thoughts

On Friday, actress and model Hunter Schafer posted an eight-and-a-half minute video on TikTok in which she revealed that the replacement passport she had just received had the gender marker changed from female to male.Ms. Schafer is a trans woman, widely beloved among Gen-Z for her acting—particularly her performance in “Euphoria”—and broadly considered one of the most beautiful women in the world. Over the years, she’s modeled for Prada, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, and many other houses. She came out as a teen girl and has renewed previously with the correct gender marker, with no issues. That means the State Department is either intentionally flagging all American passports with record of a gender marker change and/or they’re intentionally cross-referencing passports with birth certificates, some of which are issued by states that ban gender marker changes.Not to mention: the ridiculous complexity for intersex Americans.Florida, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas all prohibit gender marker amendments on birth certificates. Their number will very likely grow by the end of this year. Last week, the Arizona House approved a bill banning residents from amending their birth certificates to reflect their authentic gender identity.I’m worried for all the obvious reasons: the government tracking, the likely surveillance of trans people, the grave risk of an incorrect, “outed” passport for any trans person who needs to travel internationally, the potential for confusion and obstruction over government documents for things like security clearances, etc.That same day, the Bureau of Prisons announced that trans people incarcerated in federal prisons would be moved to facilities that align with their sex assigned at birth, as early as next week. There are nearly 2,300 trans people incarcerated in federal prisons at the moment.Trans women transferred to men’s prisons will obviously be at substantially greater risk of violence.The same day—yes, all on Friday—Iowa Republicans announced a bill that, if successful, would remove ‘gender identity’ as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, thus eliminating anti-discrimination protections for all transgender Iowans. It would make Iowa the first state to remove a protected class from civil rights law.Meanwhile, at the White House—yes, same exact day—Trump was speaking to a large, bipartisan group of governors and went after Maine Gov. Janet Mills from behind his podium.“Is Maine Here? The governor of Maine?”“Yeah, I’m here,” she said from her seat in the audience.“Are you not going to comply with that?” Trump demanded of her, referencing the executive order he signed on Feb. 5th that bans trans girls and young women from competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams.“I’m complying with the state and federal laws,” she responded.“We are the federal law,” snapped Trump. “You better do it… You better comply , you better comply, because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.”“See you in court,” she retorted from her seat.“Good,” said Trump. “I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one, and enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”It was yet another moment Trump attempted to intimidate elected officials across the political spectrum over trans issues. On Saturday, Trump spoke to the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where he took a victory lap for ending “transgender insanity.”“It’s all out now — critical race theory and transgender insanity. It’s all gone from our schools and from our military and I believe it’s gone, too… I believe that it’s all gone.”Today, Bill Maher appeared on the “Pod Saves America” podcast and argued with co-host Jon Lovett about trans issues, urging him that Democrats would “lose every election” if they don’t give up more on trans equality.Side note here: anti-trans punditry that claims to be offering the “reasonable middle” argument always seems to intensely focus on what they don’t want. There is never a good faith framing of what they believe should be legal. There are reasons for that: either they don’t actually believe in minimum rights for trans people or they fear being targeted by extremists for offering support for even a modicum of trans equality.The relentless pace of anti-trans actions and rhetoric have become overwhelming.That’s how I’m doing.Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com.]The state funeral for James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the United States, was as well attended by dignitaries as one might expect — or hope.Among the hundreds in attendance at the Washington National Cathedral were Presidents Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton; Vice Presidents Harris, Pence, Gore, and Quayle; Secretaries of State Clinton and Kerry; first and second spouses; Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Jackson; current and former heads of government from Canada, Colombia, Japan, Portugal, and the United Kingdom; Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh; Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations; and scores of senators and members of Congress and ambassadors and other luminaries.I may be missing a notable name or two. Perhaps at least two. That is possible.Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sang “Imagine" — one of the late president’s favorite songs.Steve Ford, the son of President Gerald Ford, whom Pres. Carter defeated in the 1976 election, delivered a beautiful eulogy in which he said to the Carter family: “God did a good thing when he made your dad.”President Biden, in what is likely the final major public speech of his tenure, summed up President Carter in three words: “Character, character, character.”It all felt right and good. It felt fitting. It felt rare and maybe fleeting. It felt like we may not see this kind of easy agreement across the political spectrum for a long time.But with all due respect, it didn’t come close to matching the quiet and hardy adoration that could be observed in the previous 36 hours on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and surrounding streets.It is cold in D.C. this week, enough during the day to aggressively bundle up and enough at night to find any excuse to be indoors and immediately reject that one friend’s insane invite to go out for a drink, much less an evening stroll. It is, for most of us, bitterly cold. It is so cold—at least to this Texas gal—that nothing less than the threat to life and limb to a loved one would be enough to convince me to venture into the elements. It is so cold that “outside” is wholly inadequate and only the word “elements” carries a sufficiently adequate connotation.Last night, at 9pm, the temperature was easily below 20 degrees with the wind chill. I understand some of you up north consider this balmy. You must understand that most of us think you’re crazy.So, it was painfully cold and uninviting, and yet, even late into the night, there were thousands and thousands of people across all walks of life waiting in line outside for several hours just to enter the Capitol Rotunda for a few moments and walk around the flag-draped casket of one Jimmy Carter and pay their respects to a model human being.There were those who were off for the federal holiday and those who came after a long day of work—suits and dresses and military uniforms—young and old, Democrats and Republicans and independents, the working class and the wealthy, entire families, all of them standing outside in the freezing cold for several hours.That’s not an exaggeration. The wait was several hours. At best, one could reasonably hope to get through the line and the quick orbit within the Rotunda in just over three hours. Some folks waited longer, some as many as five hours depending on when they got in line. When was the last time you waited five hours in line for anything? When was the last time you waited three hours in line? When was the last time you did this in the bone chilling cold? When was the last time you did this without any expectation of a tangible reward?They all knew there was no material incentive to be had here. It wasn’t like everyone who made the journey got a cookie or gold star after leaving the Rotunda. There were no certificates of appreciation conferred upon completion. No dinner coupons. No drink tickets. No free t-shirts.Need to use the restroom? Walk a few blocks to a nearby restaurant or bar and hope someone is kind enough to hold your spot in line.It was so cold that even the usually familiar sight of phones capturing every angle of any given political event for social media was scarce. Gotta keep those hands warm.People heard the updates. It’s gonna be three hours. Maybe four. Maybe five.They stayed in line.It wasn’t as though Pres. Carter could do anything for these thousands upon thousands of people who came to say goodbye beyond what he did for them in life, deeds already completed and offered without any assumption of reciprocity.This man who hadn’t been president in more than four decades, who had a 31 percent approval rating the month he lost reelection, who was unfairly maligned for many years over his job performance, who was unjustly a punchline to much of the country afterward for so long after leaving office — it was this man they came to honor.They stayed in line, freezing, probably hungry, probably needing to use the restroom at some point, many of them probably wishing they were at home with a hot beverage and blanket in hand.They stayed in line.This one-term president, who went back to his peanut farm after leaving office, who was detested by the bulk of D.C. political circles, who didn’t cash out and join a bevy of corporate boards, who didn’t feel it necessary to say what was popular or easy, who navigated his life thereafter as a private citizen with such grace and integrity that even his most ardent detractors had to tip their hats and acknowledge his decency.I realize there are so many reasons to feel pessimistic about the future of our country at the moment, but if such decency is so honored as we’ve seen by everyday Americans on the ground in our Nation’s Capitol over these past few days, tell me that isn’t cause for hope.Tell me that isn’t a glimmer of what we could still be. Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com.]It’s been six days since UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered outside the New York Hilton Midtown just before 7am.The assassin, 26 year-old Luigi Mangione, was apprehended yesterday at a McDonald’s in Altoona, PA after an employee there recognized him from publicly released images and called the police.He was carrying a 3D printed gun, a 3D printed silencer, several fake IDs, and a three-page manifesto in defense of the murder. Was he hoping to get caught? It sure seems like it.As with so many other issues in our increasingly divided country, the incident has become far less about discussing the particulars in good faith and more about aggressively rationalizing our biases and shutting down anyone who challenges them.America’s health care system is severely broken, held in place by insurance companies who routinely engage in unethical practices for which the primary goal is prioritizing corporate profits over sick people, enabled by enough lawmakers who directly benefit from preserving that status quo.Meanwhile, the country is quite clearly veering into an era in which political violence is increasingly seen by many as not only acceptable but necessary.In his manifesto, Mangione wrote: “I do apologize for any strife or traumas, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites had it coming.”Bizarrely, in his Goodreads four-star review of “Industrial Society and Its Future” by Ted Kaczynski—better known to us plebs as “The Unabomber Manifesto”—he wrote that Kaczynski was “rightfully imprisoned” but also:“When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive. You may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it’s not terrorism, it’s war and revolution… […] Peaceful protest is outright ignored, economic protest isn’t possible in the current system, so how long until we recognize that violence against those who lead us to such destruction is justified as self-defense.”Yeah, that’s certainly one way to sum it up.Here’s another way: Ted Kaczynski was a vile, self-absorbed piece-of-s**t who intentionally murdered and maimed innocent people from the comfort of his remote cabin and justified it with a narcissistic pseudo-intellectualism instead of, you know, having the guts to engage in the hard work of advocacy.He was not a revolutionary. He was a terrorist and a coward whose actions only served to inspire a generation of more self-absorbed extremists, and I’m really glad he’s no longer walking the earth.Of course, some will whine this is unfair framing because Mangione targeted a horrible enabler of this unfair system rather than innocent people, he’s merely agreeing with Kaczynski on the principle of violence as necessary, and our disgust should be with corporations who have willingly bankrupted and/or enabled the deaths of millions.Of course we should be disgusted with these corporations. They’re cruel and predatory and inhumane. They knowingly exploit the suffering of innocent and sick people to maximize profit.But just for the sake of argument, let’s briefly allow these other things to be true: Mangione was right to murder Thompson, health care executives deserve any violence coming to them, etc.Okay, so, what now? Tell me what happens next. Because in the past week, I have read zero commentary that answers this with any degree of sufficient reason.The hopeful wish—and I think even that’s generous—is that health care executives will somehow be intimidated into curbing their unethical practices out of fear being targeted next. Are you kidding me? Health care executives aren’t going to let a little homicide get in the way of their profits. They’ll beef up security, hire the best PR professionals money can buy, increase lobbying to complicit lawmakers, and leverage this murder for sympathy.And it will work. You know how I know that? Because we just had an election in which an openly corrupt champion of corporate greed who still hasn’t released his supposed health care plan since he first ran for president eight years ago was picked over a policy expert who had a defined health care plan and was nominated by a political party that achieved the greatest health care reform in modern history.How many millions of people openly cheering on Mangione stayed home or even voted for Trump? How many of them had time to share memes online but not organize family and friends and neighbors to get out the vote because of purity politics or VP Harris just isn’t likable or Democrats aren’t good enough or both parties are the same (they are clearly not) or, hell, someone else will do that work, so why bother?Mangione is one of them. Here’s this Ivy League educated young man from a privileged family and an impressive social network who could have tried to use those resources to change the system. But he didn’t even try. He didn’t venture into health care advocacy or do any political organizing on this. He read a manifesto written by a violent clown and decided it better served either his ego or convenience to murder a health care executive on the street than undertake the difficult work of reform.My issue is not with the millions of people in this country who have said over the past week that they’re not mourning the murder of Thompson because Thompson sure as hell didn’t mourn their loved ones who have been cruelly victimized by corporations like UnitedHealthcare. They’re well within their right to feel that way. I come from a family background in which it was obvious growing up that insurance companies would sooner allow us to die or be financially ruined than grant us the care we need. I get it.My problem isn’t with the millions people who are rightly pointing out all the ways in which UnitedHealthcare is evil and openly asking: where is the sympathy for the most vulnerable in this country when they perish because executives have decided their lives and livelihoods aren’t profitable?That is absolutely necessary to ask and demand an answer to it.My problem is with Mangione and people like him who don’t do the work that needs to be done and encourage political violence as a supposed last straw—not having really tried other approaches in good faith—which, in the end, will only further normalize a growing culture of political violence that overwhelmingly harms the innocent and most vulnerable.Murdering people in the street is ultimately wrong not because it’s a question of whether or not the person murdered deserves it but because it further erodes the social guardrail, which is thinning at an alarming rate, that it’s immoral to inflict violence on others out of political and policy disagreements.Political violence solves nothing. It never has. All it does is offer a brief sense of smug satisfaction for some, fuel for the worst people to continue doing what they do, and more than enough room for dead innocents after that.Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com.]Yesterday, GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace introduced a resolution to the House rules package that would require all people to use only restrooms corresponding with their sex assigned at birth, essentially intended as a ban on trans women from using women's restrooms in the U.S. Capitol. This is being done as Sarah McBride of Delaware is set to become the first openly-trans Member of Congress. It remains very unclear how this rule would be enforced, and when Rep. Mace was asked that exact question last night, she refused to offer anything in the way of a direct answer. What I find most interesting about all this is that trans women have been using women's restrooms in the Capitol and the House and Senate office buildings and the White House and the Pentagon for many years now, including during all four years of the Trump Administration. Under Donald Trump's leadership, trans women were permitted to use women's restrooms in federal buildings in D.C. and there was never any issue. I have attended hundreds of political events in D.C. over the years and used the restroom at many of them, including in all the buildings listed above.I have washed my hands countless times at the sink next to conservative and Republican women and even had pleasant and brief conversations with many of them.There’s never been an issue. Because the whole point of going to the restroom is to do your business in a private stall and then wash your hands and maybe touch up your make-up and, on occasion, with friends, there might be conversations at the sink.That’s it. I’m sorry there’s no mystery here. It’s pretty straightforward and banal.In fact, the only time I need to worry about using a public restroom is when I travel outside of D.C., always double-checking to see if there are non-discrimination protections in airports during a layover. If there aren’t, I need to locate a single-occupancy restroom and/or carefully plan what I eat and drink during that leg of the trip.In the four years that Rep. Nancy Mace has been in Congress, she's known that trans women use women's restrooms in federal buildings in D.C. and it's never been an issue for her. Not once. In all this time. Until the first trans woman was elected to Congress. Then it suddenly became an issue. Doesn't it seem like this is an incredibly cynical and cruel attempt on the part of Congresswoman Mace to manufacture outrage and divide people over something that hasn't been a problem?Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride offered an astute and admirable response:Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on.I’m glad at least one elected official in this story has the character and discipline to keep focused on the needs of her constituents. She sees petty and cruel distractions for what they are: small and sad. But I do feel bad for Congresswoman Mace, who is so desperate for attention that she resorts to policing how others pee and being obsessed with their genitals.I shall genuinely pray for her growth.Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com.]I love baseball. It’s my favorite sport to watch. I’ve enjoyed the World Series every year for as long as I can remember.Some of you aren’t into baseball. Some of you find it incredibly boring, which is completely understandable. America’s national pastime isn’t for everyone. There are long stretches during which, on its face, there’s no obvious excitement on the field.If you love baseball, every moment is interesting because the intricacies are quite fun to watch. The dueling between pitcher and batter—the competing strategies—alone is fascinating.Anyway, this year is particularly fascinating because of the storylines. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees are facing off in the World Series for the 12th time in the history of their storied rivalry, which stretches back to when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.Playing for the Dodgers are Shohei Ohtani, widely considered the best ballplayer since the days of Josh Gibson and Babe Ruth (some think he’s the greatest ever) and the phenomenal Mookie Betts and the electrifying Freddie Freeman.Playing for the Yankees are Aaron Judge, one of the greatest hitters in the game, and Giancarlo Stanton (also one of the greatest hitters in the game) and Juan Soto (also one of the greatest hitters in the game).Two of the most iconic franchises in baseball representing the two biggest media markets in the country, with numerous likely-future-Hall-of-Famers on the field, a jaw-dropping 34 World Series titles between them (though the Dodgers have a mere seven of those), and it’s all very, very fun for baseball fans.So, it’s not surprising that 16.28 million viewers saw last night’s Game 4 (the winner goes to best-of-7 for you non-baseball folks), the highest single game viewership for the World Series since 2019, contributing to the highest average World Series viewership for a series since 2017.And, of course, I’m watching. It’s delicious. It’s a beautiful drip of serotonin in a year of political and existential morass when I could use the distraction from all that’s awful. But then the commercials come, and during just about every break, it’s the same campaign ad: a disembodied, angry voice essentially tells 16 million viewers that trans people are the cause of their problems, that “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you.”It’s the same ad aired during NFL games and NCAA football games and other sporting events, and if you’re a trans person who loves sports like I do—and I really love sports—it profoundly sucks to be bombarded with this hateful rhetoric, day after day, for many weeks now.Transphobia is so open and commonplace these days that it’s easy to become somewhat desensitized to it. There’s the campaign rhetoric. There are political articles. There are talking heads. There are bans. There are court cases. There’s street harassment. There’s online harassment. There are death threats.There’s the overwhelming sense that millions of people in the United States truly wish that the trans community would simply disappear, by any means possible. That much is obvious.But what doesn’t get nearly enough attention these days—and I firmly believe this as strongly as anything—is that the vast majority of the country does not support transphobia.I know that’s hard for some folks to accept. It’s a close election, and if the polls are to be believed (and I am quite skeptical of polls), nearly half of likely voters support a presidential ticket that is stridently anti-trans. Ergo, I am supposed to accept that half the country hates the existence of the trans community.But I don’t accept that. I don’t think it’s true because I’ve had numerous conversations with conservatives—some of them Trump supporters—who don’t have anything against trans people specifically. Some probably think I shouldn’t say that because if someone is supporting an anti-trans candidate, does it really matter if their support isn’t because of any transphobia on their part?Totally fair question. I think it does matter. Although anecdotal, the conversations I’ve had with these folks signal, at minimum, a lot of hope for transphobia becoming less prevalent over time in the near future.But that’s not why I’m talking about this ad. Because it’s honestly not an issue that I believe will be effective in this election despite the GOP’s firm belief that most Americans care about this more than other central topics. Because I believe most Americans, regardless of political beliefs, will not be voting based on their personal feelings toward trans people. They just won’t. Republican leadership have woefully miscalculated the effectiveness of disgusting bigotry as an electoral motivator.It’ll drive out a lot of the GOP’s base, sure, but it’s not the kinda thing that resonates with most Americans. If anything, I believe that most Americans are repulsed and incredulous that considerable space is being given to this issue, in the final stretch of the election, that could far more effectively address the actual struggles of working class families.It’s why I’m glad that Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz are laser-focused on the struggles facing all working class families. It’s why I’m glad their messaging is about uniting the country and saving democracy and lifting people up. The contrast is powerful and most importantly: it will win the election.Regardless, the ads do work in quite a visceral way: for those who already hate trans people, it’s further enabling their bigotry. It’s further encouraging the blatant and searing dehumanization of trans people among a segment of the population who are already inclined to consider us sub-human. The ads are building an obvious permission structure for virulently anti-trans people to treat us like we are unworthy of protection against violence and discrimination.I’m a grown adult, and as much as it sucks to see this unapologetic hatred every day, I know I’m gonna be alright. I’m in an area of the country with solid protections against discrimination. I have access to health care. I’m doing okay financially. I have a good support system. I’m very fortunate and privileged in all these ways.But what about those trans people living in areas of the country without non-discrimination protections? What about trans folks without health care? What about trans people who are unemployed and unhoused and encountering other forms of discrimination, like racism and xenophobia, that compound the violent bigotry they experience? What about trans youth and their families?What about trans people who are especially vulnerable? Even if most of the country doesn’t want to see them hurt, is that enough to protect them from the significantly smaller portion of the country that does want harm to come to them?It is not enough. It, alone, will never be enough. I know this. It’s gonna take a hell of a lot more than that to achieve progress. It will take patience and grace and authenticity and confidence and assertiveness for many years. It will take a lot of teamwork for a long time coming. That’s just the truth.But I can’t just stop watching baseball. I refuse to stop watching baseball.I love my country. I love being an American. I have always believed our nation has the potential to achieve a greatness that is only limited by our imagination and most importantly: our sense of unity. I’m glad Vice President Harris embodies that.I’m watching baseball tonight because it gives me joy, just as it does to the many millions of other Americans who are watching.We are all watching a bunch of exceptional athletes work together and experience some of the best moments of life together and encourage each other—just like a family should—toward their common, sole purpose of getting home safely.And I think that’s far too important to let the smallness and pettiness and ugliness of some very sad people get in the way of my joy.They will say what hateful things they say and openly speak of what hateful things they desire and they will spin their wheels in such desperation for however long they’ll spin them.But they don’t get to take baseball from me. Not a chance.I’m at home here.Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com.]Yesterday, just before noon, The Washington Post, through CEO William Lewis, announced it would not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, the first time the nation’s third-largest daily newspaper by circulation hasn’t done so in nearly four decades.The announcement was shocking for two immediate reasons.The most grave—and, frankly, terrifying—reason is that the United States is obviously at threat of sliding into a horrific dictatorship from which it’s difficult to see how we’d ever recover. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have made it abundantly clear that they aspire to devolve our nation into the world’s most powerful authoritarian regime. One need look no further than the chilling plans outlined in Project 2025.But there are many other warning signs, too. A small sampling:There’s Trump openly praising Hitler’s generals, according to his former chief-of-staff John Kelly (himself a retired four-star Marine Corps general), just the latest marker of fascist narcissism in Trump’s very long and documented history of being obsessed with dictators.There’s Trump repeatedly pledging to carry out the largest deportation of undocumented migrants in American history, a sweat-lipped plan made in blustering tones that somehow manages to exceed its inherent cruelty with an inexplicable failure to understand basic economics.(Not only is it logistically impossible to deport our nation’s 11 million undocumented migrants, not only would it cost taxpayers an estimated quarter trillion to do so, but the American economy would completely collapse from the loss in labor force.)There’s Trump’s flagrant disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law: an indictment that resulted in a guilty verdict on 34 felony counts (his sentencing for that is on Nov. 26th), three other pending indictments on 52 more felony counts, two impeachments, being found liable for defamation of a woman he raped, etc.Oh, and, of course, there’s Trump’s frequent statements to serve past the constitutional limit of two terms as president (I’m sure he’s just kidding), and the extremist conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruling last year that Trump is essentially a king beyond accountability for official acts in office.That’s all an abbreviated version of why Donald Trump is obviously unfit.The second reason is The Washington Post’s abdication of journalistic integrity under the ownership of Jeff Bezos, a development that is especially chilling for a publication that has long prided itself on being the vanguard for American democracy and free speech.The storied newspaper has won 76 Pulitzer Prizes over its history—second only to The New York Times—one of which was for the investigative reporting by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that eventually led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. Another was for the reporting on the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.The Washington Post has long been synonymous with the essential role of the free press in a healthy, functioning democracy in the same manner we associate Babe Ruth with baseball or July Fourth with fireworks or Dolly Parton with a clean soul.And so, it was with great confusion and incredulity that I read Mr. Lewis’ painfully shameless attempt to justify the decision. He sure did try to put on a powdered wig and insist that the bowl of s**t he wanted to feed to the American public was actually chicken soup for the American soul.Most curiously, in writing about The Washington Post’s history of largely declining to endorse presidential candidates prior to 1976, he stated that year’s endorsement for then-Gov. Jimmy Carter was made “for understandable reasons at the time…”Did you catch that? He’s obliquely referencing Watergate, the scandal that brought down Nixon with reporting by the paper — Nixon, who, by any measurable standard, comes across like Lincoln when compared to Trump.Mr. Lewis, for some odd reason, thought it persuasive to essentially say: “Look, we don’t regret endorsing Carter because Nixon was terrible, but also: Trump is not nearly terrible enough to justify continuing this dangerous practice of presidential endorsements.”Furthermore, aside from the dollar store cheap imitation of logic, he failed to mention in his desperate, sorry excuse for rationalizing that The Washington Post, for the past several weeks, had been drafting an approved endorsement for Vice President Harris.He failed to mention that the endorsement was still on track a week ago, and there was no indication that it would be halted for any reason, let alone on the rather cringe-inducing reasoning he put forward in his announcement.He failed to mention that Trump met today with corporate leaders of aerospace company Blue Origin—also owned by Bezos—which is, at best, godawful timing or a pretty clear signal of Bezos’ reasoning in killing the endorsement. Maybe both.Probably both.If none of this makes sense, you’re far from alone. It completely failed to persuade the staff and alums of The Washington Post. Conservative columnist and editor-at-large Robert Kagan immediately resigned in protest. Sixteen other Washington Post columnists—Perry Bacon Jr., Matt Bai, Max Boot, E.J. Dionne Jr., Lee Hockstader, David Ignatius, Heather Long, Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank, Alexandra Petri, Catherine Rampell, Eugene Robinson, Jennifer Rubin, Karen Tumulty, and Erik Wemple—published this statement on the paper’s website:The Washington Post’s decision not to make an endorsement in the presidential campaign is a terrible mistake. It represents an abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love. This is a moment for the institution to be making clear its commitment to democratic values, the rule of law and international alliances, and the threat that Donald Trump poses to them — the precise points The Post made in endorsing Trump’s opponents in 2016 and 2020. There is no contradiction between The Post’s important role as an independent newspaper and its practice of making political endorsements, both as a matter of guidance to readers and as a statement of core beliefs. That has never been more true than in the current campaign. An independent newspaper might someday choose to back away from making presidential endorsements. But this isn’t the right moment, when one candidate is advocating positions that directly threaten freedom of the press and the values of the Constitution.Mr. Woodward and Mr. Bernstein issued this statement:We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision 12 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy. Under Jeff Bezos’s ownership, the Washington Post’s news operation has used its abundant resources to rigorously investigate the danger and damage a second Trump presidency could cause to the future of American democracy and that makes this decision even more surprising and disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process.Retired WaPo executive editor Martin Baron, who led the paper from 2012 thru 2021, including the tumultuous years of Trump’s presidency, responded with a scathing statement: “This is cowardice, with democracy as its casualty. Donald Trump will see this as invitation to further intimidate owner Jeff Bezos (and others). Disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”The Washington Post Guild—the paper’s employee union—had this to say:We are deeply concerned that The Washington Post—an American news institution in the nation’s capital—would make the decision to no longer endorse presidential candidates, especially a mere 11 days ahead of an immensely consequential election. The role of an Editorial Board is to do just this: to share opinion on the news impacting our society and culture and endorse candidates to help guide readers.The message from our chief executive, Will Lewis—not from the Editorial Board itself—makes us concerned that management interfered with the work of our members in Editorial. According to our own reporters and Guild members, an endorsement for Harris was already drafted, and the decision to not publish was made by The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos. We are already seeing cancellations from once loyal readers. This decision undercuts the work of our members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not losing it.Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes published this jarring work on the paper’s website, titling it “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” referencing WaPo’s official slogan that was introduced in 2017, just a month after Trump took office.As of 7:30pm yesterday, Semafor’s Max Tani reported that at least 2,000 subscriptions to the paper had been canceled in the previous 24 hours, the overwhelming bulk of those likely being in the seven-and-a-half hours following the announcement from Mr. Lewis. Numerous public figures—including Stephen King, Mark Hamill, Jon Cryer, and former Congresswoman Marie Newman—publicly announced they were cancelling their own subscriptions.Last night, I made the same decision. I had heard rumblings early in the morning from friends in media that WaPo was about to announce a non-endorsement, credible enough that I mentioned it during a 10am meeting with colleagues and they were understandably shocked.I spent most of yesterday morning and afternoon, in the midst of a very busy schedule, privately agonizing over what I would do as a subscriber.Over the years, I’ve published a number of op-eds in The Washington Post, pieces of which I’m quite proud in a paper I’ve put on a pedestal since I was a kid, and I’ve worked with numerous editors and reporters at the outlet whom I admire for their professionalism and public service.It is not lost on me that cancelling a newspaper subscription will not hurt Jeff Bezos but will hurt those employed at the paper.And yet, as much as my heart breaks for the staff of The Washington Post, who haven’t done anything to deserve this, I am still left with the simple truth that if Bezos is willing to kill an endorsement 11 days out, whether out of fear or ambition, what else is he willing to do with the paper?There are numerous journalists at the outlet doing critical work, but how we do know anymore when Jeff Bezos is putting his thumb on the scale, backed up by a complicit CEO who blatantly lies about the paper’s direction?There have to be consequences for an action this brazen and irresponsible and dangerous for our democracy. Something’s gotta give. I respect the decisions of other subscribers, but I simply cannot stomach giving another dime in reward to a publication with such great influence that can be used to do such great harm moving forward.It is my hope that there will be a time, after Vice President Harris is elected, after Trump is held accountable, after the craven capitalists of media have learned there’s not much to be made in the long run from these corrupt and shameless tactics, that The Washington Post will be restored to its former glory.In the meantime, I will pay for my news elsewhere.Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com. And if this is too big of a commitment, I’m always thankful for a simple cup of coffee.]Well, hot damn, today is my birthday. I'm now 38, which is old enough to know I'm still quite young and learning.That's a blessing, but I don't need to give much thought to know what I want for my birthday.I know exactly what I want, and it's straightforward.Every year on my birthday, for the past decade, I've done a fundraiser for Running Start, an organization that trains young women in high school and college to run for elected office someday. It's a highly effective org and bipartisan.This year, I've decided to focus exclusively on covering the travel and food costs for all 80 participants in the 5th Annual HBCU Women’s Leadership Summit, jointly organized by Running Start and Xceleader, being held next month here in Washington, D.C.The Summit is bringing together young Black women leaders from 31 HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) for political training that will empower them to grow into our country's next generation of elected officials and other public service leaders.Black women make up about seven percent of the U.S. population but only 5.4 percent of Congress and 3.2 percent of state executive offices. There is only one Black woman in the Senate (Sen. Laphonza Butler) and no Black woman has ever served as a governor.So, Black women are drastically underrepresented in our country's political leadership, which is odd to me because 1) the contributions of Black women to our nation are outsized and essential and 2) I would not be where I am without the leadership and mentorship of Black women.........from my 8th grade English teacher, Mrs. Mabry, who made me fall in love with writing, to the Black women officers under whom I served in the Army and invested in my leadership development, to Vice President Harris, who's consistently fought for my rights her entire career.Early engagement and targeted training help overcome societal and cultural barriers, empowering Black women to run for office, excel in corporate environments, and lead with confidence.Thus, it's only sensible to dedicate my annual birthday fundraiser for Running Start to this remarkable program that will train and empower the next generation of Black women leaders in the United States, especially in a year when we're about to elect a Black woman president.So, for my birthday, my goal is to raise $24,000 today to cover all necessary travel and food costs for these participants, ensuring they have access to this program, regardless of cost.Friends, I would be so honored and delighted and grateful if you would make a donation to this fundraiser, and, of course, I have further incentives:Anyone donating at least $500 will get a one-on-one Zoom with me, and I'll treat an in-person lunch to anyone donating at least $1,000.I have a damn good feeling we can hit this goal today, and you will forever have my gratitude.So, please kindly donate here: https://runningstart.org/charlotteRunning Start is keeping track of all donations, and we'll be reaching out to all donors with thanks.Please wish me a happy birthday by supporting this program!Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com.]Hurricane Milton is currently poised to slam into the western side of Florida in a matter of hours. It will be one of the strongest hurricanes to ever make landfall in the United States, putting the lives of many millions at risk.President Biden had led an extraordinary operation by the federal government to prepare, as best it can, for the destruction and aftermath of Milton, less than two weeks after Helene tore through several states, devastating those regions.And yet, we all know what’s about to occur in Florida will be far beyond any suffering the vast majority of us could imagine — and that it will occur in the United States again in the future. And again. And again.A few years ago, I watched "Five Days at Memorial" on Apple TV, a miniseries about the days at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans following Katrina, based on the book by Sheri Fink.I immediately regretted watching it. Sometimes, I wish I hadn't. I don't think "brutal" comes close to adequately describing it.I will never watch it again. Once was more than enough. Honestly, I’m not sure how I managed to finish it.It's probably the single most haunting show I've ever seen — so painful to watch that I decided, at the time, that it may be wrong of me to tell others to watch it. Since then, I've often thought it might be the most persuasive and compelling argument for addressing climate change.Forgive me for saying this, but maybe melting glaciers and increasingly hot summer days and wet bulb temperature and Al Gore’s genuinely brilliant PowerPoint may not be enough to reach those who are too stubborn and too incurious to recognize that climate change is caused by human beings.But what happens when the social framework breaks down, for any number of reasons, and innocent people are forced to navigate the consequences?What happens when people are forced to realize that even the most powerful country on earth cannot possibly stop a hurricane and they may someday find themselves, suddenly and unexpectedly, starving and dehydrating in flooded rubble, with no hope of being saved?Right now, we have a president who's dedicating himself to helping the victims of these hurricanes, but that may not always be true in the future. And at some point, catastrophes become far too large to be met with even all the resources at our disposal.So, that show is what I think about when climate change comes up, and it's what I've been thinking about during these hurricanes.As we pray for those in Florida and throughout these hurricane-ravaged states in the coming days—as we donate our money and our blood and our time—it might be wise to also reflect on how profoundly ill-prepared we are to manage the coming disasters that are difficult, if not impossible, to imagine in their horrific scope.And if you do choose to watch that show, don’t say I didn’t warn you.Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe