Not telling anyone what to do...
This is a devastating loss, but, in some respects, we wake up today in the same country as yesterday.
We've lost the levers of power nationally, and people will be harmed by the violent stupidity coming down the pike.
But the violent stupidity was surging already yesterday. It's been part of our national history since the beginning.
I'm sad and enraged, but I'm also trying to work the problem. How can I keep working for the things that matter?
"Whether they like it or not..."
In other words, autocracy not democracy.
Power not consent.
The MSG rally and all the sick humor deployed there cut straight to the heart of the MAGA culture. I really think you could make a good argument that this election and the larger political crisis we face at present are, at some fundamental level, about what we find funny and, by contrast, what's indecent.
The MAGA theory of humor is oriented toward superiority and, therefore, dehumanization. We're told to lighten up, stop being snowflakes, etc, but the cruelty is the point.
A thought: If you haven’t had anything to say about Biden’s wardrobe, maybe there’s no need/reason to comment on Harris’s.
Upstate NY voter here. I live in a 50/50 precinct, but the rural county that surrounds us leans hard to the right.
Today was the first day of early voting. All early votes for the county are cast at one location. Went right after lunch on a gorgeous fall day.
Friends, it was a crowded parking lot, and a very busy polling station. Lots of camo apparel, and airbrushed “patriot” themes.
The MAGA base is energized.
We have to be equally energized and doubly organized.
Do your thing!!
Critics say that these apologies are window dressing. They don’t produce the structural change that’s needed.
But laying bare the history is a necessary step, and victims, in some cases, will say: “The truth is itself reparative.”
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/25/biden-apologizes-indian-boarding-schools
Trump reportedly wishes he had “the kind of generals that Hitler had,” forgetting, or more likely not knowing, that the generals tried to kill Hitler (Stauffenberg plot) once it was clear that he would sooner destroy Germany than give up his warped dreams of a racially pure empire.
The Republican nominee’s preoccupation with dictators, and his disdain for the American military, is deepening.
The Atlantic (www.theatlantic.com)
Friends:
The anxiousness you’re feeling arises from two sources.
1. Your knowledge that the election is out of your hands. After all, you’re just one person.
2. Your knowledge that the election is in all of our hands. After all, citizenship entails rights and responsibilities.
If you’re able, pick one thing you can do before Nov 5 and commit.
Donations. Phone/text banks. Rides on Nov 5. Talk to a friend. It’s up to you.
There’s still time. Start w a click: https://votesaveamerica.com/
