Page 69 of 107 Days

The Los Angeles Times , my hometown newspaper, published its electoral endorsements.

The very first line of the article stated: “It’s no exaggeration to say this may be the most consequential election in a generation.” But there was no mention of the most consequential race of all.

The paper’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, had directed the editorials editor, Mariel Garza, to deep-six the endorsement of me that the editorial board had approved and she had already drafted.

She quit.

In her resignation letter, Garza said it mattered that the largest newspaper in California “declined to endorse in a race this important. And it matters that we won’t even be straight with people about it.

It makes us look craven and hypocritical, maybe even a bit sexist and racist,” she wrote.

“How could we spend eight years railing against Trump and the danger his leadership poses to the country and then fail to endorse the perfectly decent Democrat challenger—who we previously endorsed for the U.S. Senate?”

It hurt that my hometown paper hadn’t endorsed me.

And then, eleven days later, my other hometown paper, The Washington Post , did the same thing. The endorsement of me that had been prepared by the editorial board was scrapped at the direction of Jeff Bezos.

The pre-capitulation of these powerful billionaires alarmed and dispirited me. As it turned out, they were early adopters of the feckless posture that would be embraced by a raft of business leaders and institutions once Trump was elected. They’d just been the first in line to grovel.

Marty Baron, the acclaimed former editor who led the Post during the first Trump presidency, was blunt: “This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty. Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners).

History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage. ”

More than two hundred thousand Post readers canceled their subscriptions.

At least the Post ’s political humor columnist, Alexandra Petri (now at The Atlantic ), had a spine. She wrote:

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.