Well, shit. The nightmare continues.
Kamala Harris lost.
I get no special thrill out of calling her opponent a lying liar degenerate scumbag, or any of the other descriptive names I’ve called him. I believe he deserves to be called every nasty name in the book. His ascension to the Presidency in 2016 was the worst thing that happened to this country in my lifetime. I have no reason to believe a second term won’t be more of the same.
There are many fine Americans who are truly concerned for their own wellbeing, what with all the rhetoric about retribution toward those who do not support the next President. I can honestly say I am not concerned about that. For one thing, there are too many of us. It is not logistically possible to deport, exile, or imprison 150 million people, or whatever the number is. And, simply from a practical standpoint, who would do all the work that we do if we were not there to do it?
My belief is that he does not have the strength, intelligence, or energy to be a dictator like his buddy, Vladimir Putin. It would require a singular focus and a hell of a lot of hard work, and, being the laziest, stupidest, and oldest person ever elected to the Presidency, he is totally incapable of that.
You know, the convicted felon has never shown even the slightest interest in actually governing. I think his main reason to run for President was to stay out of prison. And, I think he is all about enriching himself and his wealthy pals. It seems that once again, he’ll skate on being held accountable for his many crimes. If he has a superpower, that’s it.
He has proven time and again that he cares about nothing other than himself. Even all the talk about securing the border was not about doing what’s right for America, it was about being able to bash his opponents. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about policy or political agendas or doing the job of President of the United States.
Perhaps the Harris campaign could have done some things differently, I don’t know. I’m not a pundit or a political science major. I’m just an average guy with no special insight or knowledge. However, this much seems obvious - it is imperative that Democrats, Progressives, and Liberals learn how to get better at politics. Because right now, we suck.
Sure, a case could be made that Kamala Harris had the deck stacked against her. She had less than four months to get a Presidential campaign up and running, while her opponent has been campaigning constantly since 2015. And, also, it is certainly a fact that there are many, many Americans who are unable to vote for a woman, especially a woman of color. Even so, running against the worst human being ever to be a candidate for the Presidency, any Democrat should have been able to mop the floor with him.
We have no choice but to face the fact that Kamala Harris lost. I’m sure that in the coming days, the pundits will be all over the media explaining how such a thing could happen. But, does it really matter, though, if we do not learn the lessons provided by such a debacle?
I’m tired. I’m tired of the lies, the turmoil, the nastiness, and the chaos. Who knows where we go from here? I sure don’t.
It won’t be easy, and I am not known as an optimistic person, but I believe we’ll make it through this. I know I am one of many who will not let the next President take our country from us.
Thank you, Norm, for putting yourself out there and writing this piece so quickly. Many people, I think, will be carefully crafting their thoughts over the next hours and days, but you have already identified several areas for future planning that will be necessary to carry on without giving up hope.
One thing you said was that we (concerned citizens "we") need to play politics better (..."this much seems obvious - it is imperative that Democrats, Progressives, and Liberals learn how to get better at politics. Because right now, we suck."), and while I cannot find fault with your statement, there is something about that thinking that makes me uncomfortable. I guess it is the idea that has been floating around in my brain for some time - that if the MAGA movement has "won," it is because they have used a tactic that involves throwing out a barrage of "crap" that ranges from the bizarre to the criminal so quickly that it is nearly impossible to react appropriately, ethically, legally, and morally. We have seen it happen over and again that an outrageous falsehood is tossed into the media maelstrom, and before that can be responded to, clarified, or stopped, it has been picked up and repeated millions of times. Stopping this kind of thing takes time - identifying what is legal, what is not, what is morally wrong, what is a call to arms, what is justified, what is a cry for help, and the possible responses go on and on. I, like many people I am sure, have thought we need to be using a similar tactic, even if it feels wrong to do so. Then I stop myself, because “the end does NOT justify the means.” That is the kind of thinking that I was taught as a child, and it took me years as an adult to understand what it did to my sense of self to give free reign to rage (justified or not). I work hard now to recognize anger (from irritation to rage), understand that it is a call-to-action from myself to myself and that it usually represents a feeling of hopelessness in the face of abuse (or something on the continuum of mistreatment), and come up with a plan of action that doesn’t involve reproducing that mistreatment. It is that way of thinking that means that I refuse to arm myself if I am feeling unsafe, and therefore increase the proliferation of weapons on hand in the general public. If I am targeted for abuse, I leave (something we are actually taught to do when we study “non-violent crisis intervention.”). That led me to leaving the country as soon as I was legally able to do so – a decision I have never regretted.
Back to the point, I hope the Democratic Party doesn’t expend energy learning to “do dirty politics” better or give in to the revenge motive that should remind us that there is something seriously wrong here, not that we need to be as unethical as they are. It is clear that there needs to be more accountability for those who have played fast and loose with the laws that exist to hold miscreants responsible for their misdeeds, and with the people who facilitate their behaviour. Holding the players in the January 6th assault on the Capitol accountable and jailing those most responsible for how far it got out of hand was a good beginning, but the ones who actually masterminded this assault were never held to task. If he had been, he might not have been available to run for office again; but it is what it is, and we must go from here. The thing that perhaps we should do that is taken from the GOP, or perhaps the MAGA playbook is to use the courts more and not wait until there has been an over-the-top breach of conduct before we begin to insist on accountability. And, if “they” start to scream “persecution,” as I’m sure they will as they have been each and every time there was an attempt to hold them accountable, we must not let that stop us, but instead practice saying every time it is required something akin to “I’m sure you don’t like being held accountable, but this is prosecution, not persecution, and we will continue to use this means as long as necessary.” It will take people who devote themselves to this cause in every way necessary, but what else should we be spending our time doing?
This is only one of the things that you said this morning that tweaked a response from me, Norm, but I have to stop here, catch my breath, and think about how to direct my energies in the near future. Thank you, in advance, for listening to my first thoughts on your excellently written response to one of the most devastating mornings of my life, and I am sure the lives of many, many others.
V
I won't give up and I won't go back. I am just full of despair after being so near to what could be. It, too, shall pass.....