America—
I don't even know where to begin but I've remained a position that as a society (and if the Holocaust and my own people's genocide history has taught me anything), we should NEVER, EVER, set a precedent of voting for a genocider and war criminal. I don't care how dire the situation is—it only signals to a group that they can carry out more extermination campaigns with your tacit approval.
But I know many folks voted for her nonetheless, so let's break down this humiliating loss by the Democrats and Harris.
Numbers that are top of mind:
- Harris lost the popular vote by 5 million votes
- 20 million Democratic voters who voted in 2020 sat this election out (Gaza maybe? poor economic agenda?)
- 69% of white women voted for Trump and against their own bodily autonomy, up from 53% from the 2016 election. Jesus.
- 53% of Latino men voted for Trump despite his anti-Latino and anti-immigrant rhetoric
- Harris raised $1 Billion in donations compared to Trump's $388 Million
Harris' loss can be boiled down to her failures around the following:
- the ongoing genocide she was funding and abetting as VP
- the failure to provide working class Americans with any sort of economic agenda
- the abandonment of a historical left and progressive base in favor of courting moderates and right wing folks
Month after month, Harris doubled down on her support of the US-Israel sponsored genocide, paying over 70% of the cost of Israel's military operations since October 2023, amounting to over $20 Billion in aid to Israel. She refused to shed an ounce of sympathy towards Palestinians, their diaspora and anti-genocide supporters, repeatedly talking over them during speeches versus offering time and space to hear from them. She was callous and indignant at every turn, her allegiance to Israel on full display, all while Israel decimated Palestine and neighboring countries of Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria. Money well spent by AIPAC I suppose—they lined her pockets with $5 million in exchange for the innocent bodies of 200,000 men, women, and children.
Anyone else crying over the thousands of daily photos of children's intestines and gray matter on full display?
Her treatment of Arabs and Muslims cost her this election—she lost Michigan and other states, she was behind 5 million votes on the popular vote but the most damning data point? 20 million Democrats withheld their vote for any party. But everyone is looking to blame 3rd party voters. Why is it hard to imagine that folks withheld votes because they didn't agree with her support of the genocide or overall right wing policies?
$20 billion but perhaps even carte blanche in aid to Israel while 60% of hard working Americans are unable to afford groceries, healthcare, mortgages and rent. Two thirds of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and facing daily layoffs on top of that. There is no true middle class today in the US—you're either struggling to make ends meet or wealthy. What did the Biden-Harris administration do to address these gaps in the last 4 years? Nothing as far as I'm concerned, except give our tax dollars to fund wars and genocides. We haven't invested in our infrastructure at all, which is concerning given what we saw weeks ago in Western North Carolina.
Since February 2022, the United States has committed $64.1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. We're just printing money for everyone else but Americans!
The most fascinating turn of Harris' campaign for me was the exposé of her true neoliberal and conservative ideals (and yes, some of us were already acutely aware of her neocon ways). Her campaign knew they lost Arab, Muslim, and progressive voters seeking an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo. So what did they do? They decided to embrace a right wing platform and talking points to court conservative supporters. And the gag was— Republicans did not care. She didn't flip them at all.
Ring-wing Platform:
- Ran right of Trump on immigration, parroting anti-immigration rhetoric on securing stronger borders
- Criticized Trump for not building enough of a US-Mexico wall
- Promised America would have the most lethal military in the world, signaling more money for war and militarism as we all feared WW3
- Touted an endorsement of Dick Cheney—one of the most hated war mongers by liberals
- Admission that she's a gun owner and will not take away guns from Americans
- Refused to say if she supported gender-affirming care for trans folks, citing she will “leave it up to the law” and had previously thrown transwomen into men's prisons.
- Confirmed she would not ban fracking and boasted about increased domestic oil production
I mean the list goes on and on. Is any one truly surprised of this humiliating fumble by the Democrats? Like I'm actually embarrassed for her. This should be a wake up call for liberals—Democrats are no longer aligned with their “former” base. We'll likely see more folks sitting out elections unless the Democrats do a complete180. But given their track record, they will continue to gaslight folks and point their fingers at everyone else.
Next Steps:
It's my hope that this election breaks our allegiance to a 2 party system and that folks will educate themselves on 3rd party platforms. This year's election results should also absolutely underscore that genocide should never be swept under the rug from public discourse as it has been these past 13 months.
Grieve, cry your eyes out, but the best thing you can do for the next 4 years is organize with your local community in those areas where the government will fall short. I've included some things you can do in your communities in the section below.
And with that, welcome to the New World Order.
Shoes On. Eyes Open.
