[jadell]

Does it not signal something, that in all of the publication's history, all the world events it has existed through, that now is the time they decide make an endorsement? Instead of bemoaning that they made an endorsement, maybe it would be better to discuss why now? What's different about our current times that the publication has made such an out-of-character move?

[kangnkodos]

I understand what you're trying to get at. I listened to the DNC. They kept repeating that this moment is more critical than any other in history. I don't buy that. After Japan annihilated our fleet in Pearl Harbor, and Nazis were rolling over one country after another in Europe... that must have been a very scary moment, and critical. Today... important, but not as much.

But I digress. My honest answer to what you're asking is:

The difference is that at this point in time, the staff of Scientific American is in a media bubble more than at any time in the past. They have lost touch with the common man. The man on the street who does not have a college degree. They don't realize how negatively that man is going to react to this endorsement.

That's honestly why I think they did it now, and not over the last 175 years.