Sorry
This One Is Mostly About the Election
This is the latest episode of Don’t Press That Button, a newsletter about books and music and movies and cats and baseball and whatnot. As the name would indicate, we are very cautious about buttons around here. We want to understand what the button does before we smack that thing.
But the button below simply subscribes you to this newsletter. That’s it. And it’s free! If you’re new here, and you’d like to stick around, you can safely do so by clicking on it.
The Election
I try to keep it positive around here. However, with regards to the upcoming election I feel compelled to go on the record, and, fair warning, it’s not a sunny situation. Last time I wrote on this subject,1 one loyal subscriber wrote in to suggest I go fuck myself, which, you know, thanks, but trust me on this one, ace: I need no invitation.
I get that politics and political conversations are frequently unpleasant and wearying.2 If you don’t want to read my thoughts on the matter, feel free to bounce out here, or skip down to the next section. I’ll also add that I’m speaking for myself, and myself alone.
Our country desperately needs to avoid a second Trump administration.
Former President Trump is, of course, a despicable asshole. He has disparaged people with disabilities, he has disparaged our veterans, he doesn’t pay his bills, he is a racist, and he is a pig. None of this can be reasonably disputed.
I am aware that a segment of his supporters view his human failings as a perverse credit to his candidacy. Their thinking seems to follow from an opposition to what they see as stifling political correctness. I don’t want to chase this point of view down the rabbit hole too far, but isn’t the sum of it a concern that if liberals get too much power they will eventually outlaw being a prick? I am incredibly confident that is not going to happen. Look, I treasure my right to sometimes be a prick. Trump is not the avatar you want for this important issue. He’s a lot more than a prick. He’s a full-time monster who has never done anything for anyone but himself.
Also, and most importantly, his policies are very, very bad, and he did a dreadful job in office: His Supreme Court Justices overturned Roe v. Wade and now women are dying; his tax cuts for the wealthy only helped the wealthy; he played politics with the pandemic; he didn’t do anything about climate change;3 he is absolutely opposed to stopping the endless stream of guns that have brought about our country’s epidemic of mass shootings; he’s anti-labor; he attempted to extort Ukraine; he is inexplicably acquiescent in his dealings with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin; and he instigated a mob to attack the capital to try to stop the certification of the 2020 election.4 Those are just some of the highlights!
It was recently reported that former President Trump resisted giving aid to Californians in a disaster zone until aides convinced him that it was a Republican area. Think about that: He simply doesn’t regard Americans who don’t support him as Americans. Furthermore, consider that we’re so awash in Trump’s ghastly behavior that reporting like that hardly makes a dent.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represent an entirely mainstream alternative.
They are just fine. If they have a Democratic Congress, they have promised to discard the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade. They will keep our economy on its upward swing and won’t cut taxes for billionaires. They will appoint judges who don’t adhere to this grotesque hoax that the Constitution endows every American with the right to own a machine gun. They will stand with unions. They will pursue policies to mitigate climate change. They will abide by election results.
They are not perfect, but they are serious leaders who will sincerely attempt to deal with the problems that our country faces. Trump, at best, punts everything down the road. At worst, he burns everything down.
Please vote, and please vote for Harris/Walz, and please do it early if you can. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. It really matters. If you’re not sure about the where/when/how, head on over to Vote.org.
Thanks for hearing me out.
The Latest
Self Help issue #5, arriving in comic stores on October 23, concludes the first half of our story. But we’re absolutely not done with Jerry, Cassandra, and Michelle yet!A second series, Self Help: Lie Another Day, will run for five more issues and bring the story to its finish. My local store usually has some signed copies if you want to contact them about getting one shipped to you, or you can grab it at your nearest comic vendor. If you prefer to read your comics digitally, we’ve got you covered there, too.
A Cover by Marianna Ignazzi 
B Cover by Stephen Byrne The plan is for Self Help: Lie Another Day issue #1 to publish in tandem with the release of the graphic novel that collects Self Help issues 1-5. The graphic novel is scheduled for publication on 2/25/25, but it might arrive a week or two later.
Jesse and I definitely plan to do more events for that, so please stay tuned. Also, I don’t have any specifics yet, but — hint, hint — if you’re interested in attending an event for the graphic novel in PA, you might consider following the Vortex Books Substack.
Oblong Books has a fresh stack of signed copies of Sleeping Beauties if you want to spoil a friend for Halloween.
Official DPTB copy-editor Jen was in town for far too short a time. We were able to squeeze in a good game of Wingspan, though, and she took to it like a wood duck to water. Have you tried it? An absolute classic. Every game cabinet needs it.
Recommendations
Just to reiterate: I recommend you vote. It’s terrific!
I love writing letters on this Life “Bank” Paper. I’m pretty catholic about pens, but I especially like using Pilot V5s on these sheets.
Zadie Smith’s The Fraud is the latest novel in her impeccable, searching catalog. The 19th-century milieu was right up my alley, and there’s a great conundrum in the middle of it that has a lot to say about our modern politics. It’s probably not the novel I’d recommend if you’ve never read her — that would be White Teeth — but if you have read her and have been on the fence on this one, you should jump right over.
The new Plastic Man series, Plastic Man No More, written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Alex Lins, is wild, gooey fun.
In case you ever have a question or a comment or just want to say hi, if you reply to the email, I will see it. I’m over on Threads and Instagram, too, if you’d like to follow along there.
All Best,
Owen
Prior to the 2020 election, which President Joe Biden won.
Quick aside: I’m hardly the first to point this out, but when people say they don’t want to hear about politics, they are themselves making a political statement. If I choose to avoid politics, that’s political, too. It’s all political.
No link here because, seriously, he did fuck all.
Which, again, Trump lost. Here’s JD Vance, Trump’s oleaginous vice presidential candidate, momentarily glitching out as he tries to figure out how to avoid admitting it.