Parties and Protests Mark Culmination of LGBTQ+ Pride Month in NYC, San Francisco, and Beyond

NEW YORK — The monthlong celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride reaches its exuberant grand finale on Sunday, bringing rainbow-laden revelers to the streets for marquee parades in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere across the globe.

The wide-ranging festivities will function as both jubilant parties and political protests, as participants recognize the community’s gains while also calling attention to recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws, such as bans on transgender health care, passed by Republican-led states.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

This year, tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza are also seeping into the celebrations, exposing divisions within a community that is often aligned on political issues.

Already this month, pro-Palestinian activists have disrupted pride parades held in Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia. Several groups participating in marches Sunday said they would seek to center the victims of the war in Gaza, spurring pushback from supporters of Israel.

“It is certainly a more active presence this year in terms of protest at Pride events,” said Sandra Pérez, the executive director of NYC Pride. “But we were born out of a protest.”

The first pride march was held in New York City in 1970 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Inn uprising, a riot that began with a police raid on a Manhattan gay bar.

In addition to the NYC Pride March, the nation’s largest, the city will also play host Sunday to the Queer Liberation March, an activism-centered event launched five years ago amid concerns that the more mainstream parade had become too corporate.

Another one of the world’s largest Pride celebrations will also kick off Sunday in San Francisco. Additional parades are scheduled in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Seattle.

On top of concerns about protests, federal agencies have warned that foreign terrorist organizations and their supporters could target the parades and adjacent venues. A heavy security presence is expected at all of the events.

source https://time.com/6994026/parties-protests-culmination-of-lgbtq-pride-month/

The Internet Unites in Celebrating Michael J. Fox’s Glastonbury Performance with Coldplay

Coldplay’s set in Glastonbury on Saturday night didn’t disappoint, that’s for certain. The record-breaking performance—as the first act to headline the festival for a fifth time—was filled with incredible songs, fan interactions, and cameos by other great talents. The British band brought out U.K. soul singer Laura Mvula, Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna, Little Simz, who had performed on the same stage just hours before, and Spanish-American singer-songwriter Victoria Canal.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The standout surprise showing, though, came from legendary actor Michael J. Fox, who showed off his guitar skills and played with the band for their songs “Humankind” and “Fix You.”

Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin addressed Fox’s surprise performance: “The main reason why we’re in a band is because of watching Back to the Future.”

He then thanked Fox, 63, and called him their “hero forever and one of the most amazing people on Earth.”

Interestingly, this is not Fox’s first collaboration with the legendary rock band. In 2016, Coldplay brought out Fox at MetLife Stadium, and they performed “Johnny B. Goode” in its entirety.

The 100,000-strong crowd in Somerset were rapturous in their approval and excitement in seeing the actor, who is famous for his “Johnny B Goode” guitar solo in Back to the Future, play on stage. Fox has been open about his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, which led him to officially retire from acting in 2020.

Earlier this year, Fox accepted the second annual TIME100 Impact Award—which recognizes a global trailblazer who is pushing boundaries in their industry. In his acceptance speech, Fox spoke candidly about his experience with Parkinson’s, which he was diagnosed with in 1991, at age 29. In 2000, Fox founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation to fund research in curing the disease.

“I was climbing a golden staircase, minding my own business and suddenly I was blocked by something neither I nor anyone else could see,” he said at TIME’s event in New York City on April 25. “Time passed and no change… I was doing a lot of hiding. One thing that wasn’t going to work though, was wishing it away.”

Ryan Reynolds, who is a friend of Fox and is on the board of Fox’s foundation, penned the legendary actor’s tribute on the TIME100 list of 2024, where he explained that Fox had helped his late father, who had Parkinson’s, “along with millions of others, feel less alone” by being so open about his experience with the disease.

The reaction to Fox’s Glastonbury performance has been emotional not just from fans who witnessed the moment first-hand, but from online viewers, excited to see the actor back in the limelight.

Since my Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s almost a decade ago, I haven’t had the courage to listen to “Fix You”, one of my all-time favorites songs. But then this happened at #Glastonbury. @coldplay + @MichaelJFoxOrg on stage. Music is so incredible. ♥️ pic.twitter.com/licJPWWxUB

— Matt Sebek (@MattSebek) June 30, 2024

Michael J. Fox: “Your kids are gonna love it”

The kids: *40 years later at Glastonburypic.twitter.com/tdH4zuZUBz

— Back to the Future (@BTTFmusical) June 30, 2024

Michael J Fox playing the Fix You riff and I’m just sobbing like a baby

— It’s War (@judeinlondon) June 29, 2024

One social media user pointed out “however cynical and hard bitten you are,” the only thing to feel in that performance was joy.

However cynical and hard bitten you are, impossible not to feel something joyful when Coldplay plays with Michael J Fox at Glastonbury pic.twitter.com/GeLpgCnIRT

— Stig Abell (@StigAbell) June 30, 2024

That kick from Michael J Fox when the beat drops. 🥹 Pure release. ❤️#Glastonbury pic.twitter.com/3UTMzUB1kM

— Eddie Burfi (@EddieBurfi) June 30, 2024

I'm genuinely confident that literally everyone on the planet universally loves Michael J. Fox, he's an incredible human being and a childhood hero to so many, what a lovely touch from Coldplay. 👏❤️🎸

— Al Foran (@ImpressionistAL) June 29, 2024

Coldplay ft. Michael J Fox is the collaboration I didn’t know I needed

Fix You came out the month I started residency and became a sort of unofficial anthem for my earliest efforts at healing

It holds up like an anti-Yoda sentiment : trying IS caring

pic.twitter.com/aod6TElcKU

— Mark Lewis (@marklewismd) June 30, 2024

Have to say that little ditty Chris Martin composed and performed for Michael Eavis was a lovely touch, and then getting Michael J Fox out was amazing. Coldplay aren't my band at all but good luck to them, this is what headlining big shows is about.

— Sean (@shornKOOMINS) June 29, 2024

Elsewhere, fans were reminded of the legendary moment in Back to the Future where, after Fox’s character Marty plays “Johnny B. Goode” to little reaction, he says “Your kids are going to love it.” And as more young people got to enjoy Fox’s talent during the Glastonbury set, his words have come full circle.

Michael J Fox getting his moment at Glastonbury with Coldplay.

What a legend ♥️♥️ pic.twitter.com/bNXEko7CsA

— DEɅN JOHNSON (@deanjohnsonuk) June 29, 2024

Some saw the act of Coldplay bringing out Fox as a show of unity with people who have disabilities, praising it as a moment of solidarity.

Watching @coldplay playing ‘Fix You’ with Michael J Fox was iconic
The lyrics are a poignant reminder of a journey with #Parkinsons. A call to governments to invest in more research so the scientific community to fix us. Thanks for the shout out at the end, I’m being good #cancer pic.twitter.com/taVtf8tqg5

— Jonny Acheson (@jonny_acheson) June 30, 2024

Coldplay bringing out not one but two disabled people in their set is everything. (One being Michael J Fox!! + Victoria Canal)

That’s how you show unity for disabled musicians and disabled fans alike. A vast section of society that’s largely forgotten about on a world stage.

— Faith 🪐🎵 🪩♿️ (@official_faithm) June 29, 2024

source https://time.com/6993980/michael-j-fox-coldplay-glastonbury-performance-internet-reactions/

It’s Time for Biden to Step Aside and Give Democrats Their Independence This July 4

Do the historic thing, President Joe Biden. Give the Democratic Party our independence. 

It would be the most executive order the world has ever seen. It is utterly within your power to give America its first woman President. Grant history that gift. Grant your legacy that gift. It would complete a career defining, democracy celebrating suite of sound service.   

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

You were the first man to follow a Black man into the Oval Office, the first Vice President to serve under a President of color. You were the first President to serve with a Black Vice President, and the first President to serve with a female Vice President. What better way to complete this progressive apotheosis than to hand the reins over to that same, wildly capable, utterly prepared professional partner of yours? Let Kamala Harris become the first female President of the United States. Let it be on your terms, with your blessing. Don’t let this devolve. Seize the magnitude and the potential of this moment. It would be the most noble, transformative gesture many of us could imagine. Open the field back up, like you seemed to indicate you would when you first ran. Let Vice President Harris see us to the convention in August, and then let the delegates look with fresh eyes at the pool, and decide who will see us through to November.  

If you drag us through the next five months, most of us will hang in with you, but we will be weary, disappointed, and chagrined by what can only start to feel like a certain degree of hubris on the part of your campaign. And if the outcome is not what we hope, the good-hearted, value-driven bipartisan spirit of your last 40 years will be reduced to the single truth that you lead us into an uncharted abyss of four more years with a man who is, by all scrupulous accounts, an enemy to the constitution and to democracy itself. 

We trusted you. We are putting our hope in your hands once more. You are already a history maker and a man of loyalty, competence, and fortitude. Surprise us all with one last act of profound service, optimism, and imagination. Do the thing the other side is counting on you not to. See past ego into the world of elemental legacy. What I’m calling for now is a historic act of humility, self-sacrifice, and good faith. Don’t risk going down fighting when there are ready and able standard bearers who are still fresh for the race, and could lead the side to a more decisive victory. At least then, no matter the outcome, we will know you did everything you could, and more importantly, we will know you are still a man able to be moved by the will of your people, and a man good to his first word.

source https://time.com/6993970/why-biden-must-step-aside-for-democrats/

U.S. and Europe Warn Lebanon’s Hezbollah to Ease Strikes on Israel and Back Off Conflict

WASHINGTON — U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months.

Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire in Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias. With the stalled talks in mind, American and European officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah — which is far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident — about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

They are warning that the group should not count on the United States or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for an offensive into Lebanon. And Hezbollah should not count on its fighters’ ability to handle whatever would come next.

On both sides of the Lebanese border, escalating strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, one of the region’s best-armed fighting forces, appeared at least to level off this past week. While daily strikes still pound the border area, the slight shift offered hope of easing immediate fears, which had prompted the U.S. to send an amphibious assault ship with a Marine expeditionary force to join other warships in the area in hopes of deterring a wider conflict.

It’s not clear whether Israel or Hezbollah has decided to ratchet down attacks to avoid triggering an Israeli invasion into Lebanon, said Gerald Feierstein, a former senior U.S. diplomat in the Middle East. Despite this past week’s plateauing of hostilities, “it certainly seems the Israelis are still … arranging themselves in the expectation that there will be some kind of conflict … an entirely different magnitude of conflict,” he said.

The message being delivered to Hezbollah is “don’t think that you’re as capable as you think you are,” he said.

Beginning the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, Hezbollah has launched rockets into northern Israel and vowed to continue until a cease-fire takes hold. Israel has hit back, with the violence forcing tens of thousands of civilians from the border in both countries. Attacks intensified this month after Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and Hezbollah responded with some of its biggest missile barrages.

U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths used the word “apocalyptic” to describe a war that could result. Both Israel and Hezbollah, the dominant force in politically fractured Lebanon, have the power to cause heavy casualties.

“Such a war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said as he met recently with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon. “Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East.”

Gallant, in response, said, “We are working closely together to achieve an agreement, but we must also discuss readiness on every possible scenario.”

Analysts expect other Iran-allied militias in the region would respond far more forcefully than they have for Hamas, and some experts warn of ideologically motivated militants streaming into the region to join in. Europeans fear destabilizing refugee flows.

While Iran, which is preoccupied with a political transition at home, shows no sign of wanting a war now, it sees Hezbollah as its strategically vital partner in the region — much more so than Hamas — and could be drawn in. Iran’s U.N. mission said in a posting Saturday on X that an “obliterating” war would ensue if Israel launches a full-scale attack in Lebanon.

“Obviously if it does look like things are going seriously south for the Israelis, the U.S. will intervene,” Feierstein said. “I don’t think that they would see any alternative to that.”

While the U.S. helped Israel knock down a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones in April, the U.S. likely would not do as well assisting Israel’s defense against any broader Hezbollah attacks, said Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is harder to fend off the shorter-range rockets that Hezbollah fires routinely across the border, he said.

The Israeli army is stretched after a nearly 9-month war in Gaza, and Hezbollah holds an estimated arsenal of some 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel. Israeli leaders, meanwhile, have pledged to unleash Gaza-like scenes of devastation on Lebanon if a full-blown war erupts.

White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein, President Joe Biden’s point person on Israel-Hezbollah tensions, has not been successful so far in getting the two sides to dial back the attacks.

The French, who have ties as Lebanon’s former colonial power, and other Europeans also are mediating, along with the Qataris and Egyptians.

White House officials have blamed Hezbollah for escalating tensions and said it backs Israel’s right to defend itself. The Biden administration also has told the Israelis that opening a second front is not in their interest. That was a point hammered home to Gallant during his latest talks in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Austin, CIA Director William Burns, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Hochstein and others.

“We’re going to continue to help Israel defend itself; that’s not going to change,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. “But as for a hypothetical — specifically with respect to the northern border line … — again, we want to see no second front opened, and we want to see if we can’t resolve the tensions out there through diplomatic processes.”

White House officials, however, are not discounting the real possibility that a second front in the Mideast conflict could open.

In conversations with Israeli and Lebanese officials and other regional stakeholders, there is agreement that “a major escalation is not in anybody’s interest,” a senior Biden administration official said.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about White House deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity, bristled at the “purported logic” of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah arguing that Israel would see an end to Hezbollah attacks by reaching a cease-fire agreement with Hamas in Gaza.

But the official also acknowledged that an elusive cease-fire deal in Gaza would go a long way in quieting tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Biden introduced a three-phase deal four weeks ago that would lead to an extended truce and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, but negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to have stalled. A senior Biden administration official said Saturday that the U.S. has presented new language to Egypt and Qatar intermediaries aimed at trying to jumpstart the negotiations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an effort that the White House has yet to publicly unveil.

There’s still hope that talked-of Israeli plans to wind down major combat in the southern city of Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza could lead Hezbollah to temper its firing of rockets into Israel, said Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

But without a cease-fire in Gaza, any temporary calm on the Lebanon-Israeli border “is not enough,” Slim said.

source https://time.com/6993935/us-europe-warn-hezbollah-to-ease-strikes-on-israel/

Here’s How Biden Can Bounce Back From the Disastrous Presidential Debate

Coming off what was widely regarded as a disastrous debate performance, President Joe Biden, 81, faces a growing chorus of calls for him to step aside. Biden typically recoils from any criticism related to his age, but the urgent crisis he faces has become too pressing for him to ignore. However, all is not lost yet for Biden. The path forward is not easy, but there is still time for him to clear the air, with convincing explanations building off his track record of turning failures into demonstrated resilience.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Here are the three possible pathways for how Biden can move forward from his catastrophic debate performance and salvage his standing.

Biden could operate as though it’s business as usual

Unfortunately, this seems to have become the default option for many leading Democratic apparatchiks ranging from Gavin Newsom and John Fetterman to Kamala Harris. It was sad to see credible people taking an incredible position and backing Biden directly after that debate on Thursday. Newsom ludicrously claimed, “I am very proud of the President,” while Fetterman ripped Biden critics as “vultures” and advised them to “chill the f-ck out.”

Many Democrats likely fear incurring the wrath of Biden, who is notoriously prickly about his age. And sure, these Biden supporters can point out that the debate was only one night and that Biden’s three-and-a-half years of accomplishments should matter more—but the American people cannot and will not simply write off such a historically bad debate performance. 

The Trumpian denial of reality among these “business as usual” types leans towards political malpractice. In defaulting to what they view as the safest answers, these Dems are actually doing a massive disservice to their own cause and risk destroying their own credibility. 

Biden could head out on the road and prove his fitness to govern in front of voters across America

Instead of avoiding the issue, or hiding behind layers of overly protective staff in the White House, Biden can tackle it head-on with a proactive, forceful demonstration of his own fitness to govern. While speculation swirls about whether Biden should step down, there is no better way for Biden to silence the critics than to show beyond a shadow of doubt that he remains on top of his game and that the debate catastrophe was a one-time aberration, not the norm. But time is of the essence here.

Painful as it may be, Biden should own up to a poor debate and candidly admit why that was. Putting aside his age, what caused this? Was he having a bad reaction to cold medication? Did an overanxious debate prep team overcoach him? Was he overwhelmed with obscure facts and figures instead of being encouraged to be himself?

Already, Biden appears to be confronting matters head-on. At a rally in North Carolina on Friday, Biden addressed his poor debate performance as well as the issue of his age with more self-awareness than ever before.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious… I know. Folks, I know I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know,” the President said to a cheering crowd. “I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know that when you get knocked down, you get back up.”

But to restore his credibility in the eyes of the public, Biden has to do not just staged pep rallies with friendly reverential audiences, but engage urgently in genuine unscripted, responsive exchanges with independent media and outside key opinion leaders. 

Biden sat down with TIME for a cover story published in early June, but it’s rare to get such direct access to this particular President. It’s long been a topic of discussion how Biden gives less media interviews than his predecessors. This isolation has never served Biden well; but now, it is especially vital that he reach out to key donors, political allies, and other influencers across civil society to re-establish his standing and to re-engage journalists.

Biden has every opportunity now to fortify his credibility in the eyes of the American public, and there should be no premature rush to judgment—a point made by varied voices ranging from former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe to lifelong Republican Mark Cuban. Already, key Democratic Party heavyweights such as former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have come out with statements of support meant to help tide Biden over for the time being—but the ultimate judge will be the American people. And there are signs the people will be far less judgmental than the media commentator class, with Biden surprisingly up 1% after the debate.

Biden could make the change many are calling for 

The Biden many Americans saw during the debate is not the Biden I [Sonnenfeld] have known for five decades. In fact, I spoke briefly with the President last month at a Greenwich fundraiser, and I had no inkling that anything was off in the slightest. Having known Biden for so long, and having admired his great presidency, it pains me to say this but after the debate disaster, the onus is on Biden now to prove his fitness to govern in the eyes of the public. If he fails at this, he should step aside before the choice is made for him by the American people at the ballot box in November, as many prominent voices ranging from the New York Times Editorial Board to AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron have called for.

Despite the anxious clamoring of top donors, operatives and others, the path to replacing Biden on the ballot is fraught with difficulties. First, and most obviously, there is no evidence Biden is eager to step aside, no matter what anyone else says about him. 

For Biden to even remotely consider stepping down voluntarily, it could very well fall to such senior party leaders as the Clintons, Obama, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Rep. Jim Clyburn, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to try to convince him. And even then, it seems highly unlikely.

Even if Biden did voluntarily step aside, and release his pledged delegates for an open convention; the nomination process in such a rushed contest may prove to be so divisive that the party could be worse off. It’s also worth pointing out there is no clear frontrunner, with Vice President Kamala Harris trailing Trump in polls far worse than Biden.

While rising stars such as Jeffries or Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer look like appealing choices, and could be a unifying dream team, they come with their own drawbacks too, and it would be unprecedented for a novice presidential candidate to build out a fully-fledged campaign infrastructure this late in the game. But these obstacles may prove to be the lesser-of-evils choice if Biden cannot prove once and for all that he is still fit to be President.

Biden should be given every opportunity now to rebound from the debate and show he is fit to govern. Should he fail to do so, only then will it be time for him to step aside.

source https://time.com/6993927/how-biden-can-recover-from-first-presidential-debate/

The Poignant Reason Behind the Newly-Unveiled Portrait of King Charles III

A new portrait of King Charles III has been unveiled in honor of Armed Forces Day on Saturday, June 29, in the U.K. 

The portrait, a photograph taken by Hugo Burnand in Windsor Castle in November 2023, shows the King in full military regalia, composed of various medals, swords and decorations—a tribute to service members in both his ceremonial position of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Services, and his position as Field Marshal, the highest rank in the British Army.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The holiday commemorates the service of men and women in the British Armed Forces, falling on the final Saturday of June. Originally called Veteran’s Day, the special day is often accompanied by local parades celebrating veterans. 

The day is notably separate from Remembrance Sunday, when the country memorializes fallen British soldiers in all conflicts since the Great War, with ceremonies across the country on the Sunday nearest to November 11, the day Germany signed the armistice ending World War I hostilities.

A new portrait of The King has been released to mark #ArmedForcesDay. His Majesty is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Services.

The photograph features His Majesty wearing his Field Marshal No1 Full Ceremonial Frock Coat with medals, sword and decorations.

© Hugo Burnand/Royal… pic.twitter.com/XD3cGdHrf3

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 29, 2024

This year, Queen Camilla released a heartfelt video to commemorate Armed Forces Day hailing the “determination, unrelenting efforts, and selfless loyalty” of service members “to each other and to the United Kingdom.”

She spoke of her father, Major Bruce Shand, who fought in the British Armed Forces in World War II.

In the video, an older portrait of King Charles sits atop the table beside the Queen Consort, as well as a photograph of her parents on their wedding day, and her late father’s medals. She also wore her Royal Lancers brooch, which has meaning both in her role as Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment, and her father’s own role serving with them.

Burnard was also the official photographer for the wedding of King Charles and Queen Camilla in 2005, the wedding of Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton in 2011, and Charles’ coronation in 2023.

This portrait of the King has so far been well received, with royal fans referring to it as “regal” and “magnificent.”

This is in stark contrast to when an official portrait of Charles—the first since his coronation—was unveiled in May. The modern painting portrayed him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of crimson hues, his hands laid atop a military sword.

The first official painted portrait of King Charles III since his coronation has been unveiled at Buckingham Palace. pic.twitter.com/XLBMg1WxgE

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) May 15, 2024

The portrait, painted by Jonathan Yeo, celebrated Charles’ 50 years as a member of the Drapers’ Company. The bright and vibrant red of the painting proved to be controversial among the public.

Some commended Yeo for breaking with tradition and being “evocative,” but the majority of voices online seemed to find the red unsettling, blood-like, and even “nightmarish.”

source https://time.com/6993909/king-charles-new-portrait-meaning-armed-forces-celebration/

What We Lost During Last Night’s Cringeworthy Debate

The first presidential debate of this protracted presidential season was a horror show. Preceded by what seemed like weeks of excited speculation, idiotic predictions, and presumptive pre-debate analysis, when the debate actually happened, it demonstrated the dire choice that the two major political parties have given the electorate: pick the ranting liar and fear-mongering xenophobe, or choose the befuddled, stumbling man whose attempts to explain policy. (“I support Roe v. Wade, which had three trimesters”?) It was painful to watch.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

One might rightly wonder what purpose presidential debates serve, particularly this year. We already know both candidates pretty well, and if we don’t, we have four more months to learn that Trump neither cares for the duties of office or the complexities of foreign affairs (and cultures), but does possess a talent for stirring up prejudice, for making people laugh, and for making them fearful. He does not answer questions. Last night, he avoided the question on the war in Gaza. He punted on the opioid crisis and climate change. He makes no appeal to decency, which is Biden’s forte (or was). But decency without backbone is what makes Biden appear, well, doddery. And we can watch that too until November. In fact, this otherwise consequential president seemed most focused when he talked about hitting a golf ball.

Read More: Calls for Biden to Step Aside Are About to Get Deafening

Part of the problem is that we live in a visual age. As a result, though we value them, our presumptive leaders become leaders even if they lack oratorical skills. In fact, it’s not surprising that the first well-known presidential debate, in 1960, occurred when television was a relatively new medium, and it did Richard Nixon no favors. No one remembers what he said, just how he looked. (Actually, the first televised debate, between candidates Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower, took place four years earlier but without them; they used stand-ins, Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Chase Smith.) Before that, presidents depended on radio, with Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” bringing him, and his voice, with its powers of persuasion, into one’s home. Before that, we debated in the public square of newspapers. Word, skillfully written, can change minds. Consider Lincoln and Douglas, a debate for a seat in the Senate, and the rest is history.

So oratory matters. The ability to persuade, through words, mattered. It still does, which is why last night’s debate was so chilling. When William Jennings Bryan was nominated by Democrats as their presidential candidate for the third time in 1908, even though he’d been unsuccessful twice before, it was because of his oratorical gift. His voice, once heard, was never forgotten. He could address a crowd of 20,000 and make the audience feel as though he spoke directly to each and everyone one of them and he understood what they needed. They called him the “Great Commoner.” He even started a newspaper so he could write column after column and deliver what amounted to sermons.

And, like all good orators, he knew how to perform. He did not want his tie too straight. Bryan practiced parts of his famous “Cross of Gold” speech, one of the most famous in American political history, for months and months before he delivered it in 1896 at the Democratic National Convention. He bounded onto the stage, raised his arms, and then spoke in the lyrical, cadenced phrases of Scripture. “We are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity,” Bryan declared. “We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more.” It was good stuff.

Read More: These Are the Biggest Moments in the First Presidential Debate

But performance needs substance. And so Bryan would eventually meet his nemesis when he was confronted by an orator even more practiced, clever, and dramatic than he. That was Clarence Darrow, the celebrated lawyer in rumpled clothes whose talent for mesmerizing juries with his impression of humility (some of which was genuine) was unparalleled. Though not a politician, or at least not a professional one, Darrow was a man who could deliver a rational argument with much emotion. It was a winning combination.

Take his defense of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two teenagers accused of the gruesome and motiveless murder of 14 year-old Bobby Franks. Darrow had Leopold and Loeb plead guilty to avoid a jury trial so he could argue before the judge that their lives should be spared. Claiming Leopold and Loeb were just adolescents, the products of genetics and environment, Darrow said they were essentially without free will. “They killed,” said Darrow, “because hey were made that way.” At the same time, let us not blindly and cruelly call for yet another death, he implored the judge. Let us acknowledge that capital punishment grows out of our primitive need for vengeance, and let’s acknowledge that our killing two defective, two abnormal adolescents would not prevent other impaired boys or malevolent men or vicious women from committing murder.

“I sometimes wonder whether I am dreaming, whether I am not living in centuries long gone by, when savagery roamed wild, and the world was wet with human blood?” he concluded at the trial’s end. It was a consummate performance: a rational argument topped off by an emotional one. Leopold and Loeb received life sentences.

When Darrow and Bryan confronted each other in the courtroom, both of them, like Biden and Trump, were considered past their prime. Certainly they weren’t vying for the Oval Office, and their confrontation took place in a court of law, not on a television set. But they were jousting over the meaning of America and America’s future with far more passion, compassion, and reasonableness than anything that happened last night on the debate stage. For all his faults, Bryan was an optimistic idealist who thought he could improve the lives of ordinary men and women. He was a progressive who sincerely believed—and fought for—such reforms as the government ownership of utilities, a graduated income tax, currency reform, woman’s suffrage and, for better and worse, Prohibition, which, in his mind, would help purify the nation by abolishing alcoholism, child abuse, and violence against women.

But when he wanted to turn the country into a Christian theocracy, Darrow objected. Their showdown took place in the summer of 1925 over a law recently passed by the Tennessee legislature that barred teaching the theory of evolution in public schools. It later became known, famously, as the Scopes Trial.

Darrow volunteered to defend the young schoolteacher who had purposefully broken the law (to test it), and he mustered, once again, all his oratorical skills. “Ignorance and fanaticism are ever busy and needs feeding,” Darrow declared. “Today it is the public school teachers, tomorrow the private. The next day the preachers and the lecturers, the magazines, the books, the newspapers. After a while, it is the setting of man against man and creed against creed until with flying banners and beating drums we are marching backward to the glorious ages of the sixteenth century when bigots lighted fagots to burn the men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment and culture to the human mind.”

“No subject possesses the minds of men like religious bigotry and hate,” Darrow concluded, “and these fires are being lighted today in America.”

He spoke without notes. He was persuasive and passionate. That’s what I thought about—what we had lost, as I watched last night’s sad, cringeworthy debate.

source https://time.com/6993540/biden-trump-debate-orators-essay/