09/12/2024
After forcing myself to watch the whole debate, which was like 85% theatre, I don’t know that I need to watch much more.
Our political system is totally captured (duh), and waiting for the “two” parties to do right by us on their own, is just foolishness.
I’m so much more interested in all the issues they AREN’T talking about, or just giving lame lip service to.
I’m interested in much more nuanced/scaled/layered solutions to complex social problems, than what is being mentioned in the general town hall.
I’m still INDEPENDENT, for so many so many reasons. This debate, for one.
DJT would have failed the FIRST job interview, in any intelligent/ethical organization. That he is even here says so much about who/what props him up. His chaos is a powerful attractant, and it’s interesting to see the range of who’s getting behind this cult leader (not just vote for, but esteem), including people I know/love/respect. I do wonder if we who are historically/typically left-of-center, assume that everyone who votes for Trump is cult-captured, instead of just voting for the person representing some of your key values (just as I am being asked/told/shouted at, if I care about abortion). It’s wild to watch how MILES LEFT of Harris/Dems some of the Red rhetoric has been lately, absorbing RFK — like party-flipping-values wild. Who knows how much of that would hold up if he was in office, it’s probably a delusional fantasy, since his track record is that his word is worth nothing but the tinder he sparks. He’s a grotesque, repugnant horse to throw in with, unless you’re a Christian Nationalist, billionaire, or so fu***ng fed up with America that Molotov-cocktailing the place seems like the best and most fun option. What we’re not talking nearly enough about is the Christian Nationalist capture of the Republican Party. Trump is the face; they seem to be the architect & driver. It’s a terrifying shadow that hovers over us all; how real, how pervasive, how absolute it could be… the influence this has on peoples’ vote depends on to what extent you believe Trump is an anti-christ tip of the Christian Nationalists’ spear. Project 2025 is worth looking over, if you can wade through 800+ pages for the specifics: https://www.project2025.org
RFK’s defection is deeply disappointing, b/c his platform of issues are ones we really should be investing in, if we want to support our citizens in being happy, healthy, and relevant. Of the forerunner candidates, he’s the best-suited/able to try putting these very difficult/complex 21stC-pressing issues in front of government for real reform/regeneration. His current campaign strategy is interesting… pulling out in swing states, but staying on the ballot in the already-won red/blue states, where the electorate vote is already secured (pretty much regardless of what citizens cast). I think he wants to, in part, demonstrate that third party candidates can be/are viable options — which they SHOULD be! He can still be a protest vote for people in red/blue states. I would love him as Secretary of HHS… but I can’t vote for Trump in the unsubstantiated hope that Bobby Kennedy Jr. will be able to make lasting impact on some key issues that I really care about. Whatever the winds, I really hope RFK has a great warrior decade; this America needs someone like him. It’s DISGRACEFUL how the Dems cut him out, and refused to parlay with him (driving him to defect), are suing the s**t out of him for being on the ballot at all, and surely had a major hand in shutting him out of the debates, which he would win in spades, then/today/tomorrow.
Harris is the obvious winner in terms of presidential figurehead, and our standards have been so lowered that the vast middle sighs deep relief that someone can put an intelligent sentence together, even be a palatable/historic first woman president, which is checking representation and identity boxes, which is a key issue for some(many? enough?). Abortion is the Dem’s leading backbone platform issue, as far as I can tell, and it’s sadly(STILL) a REAL edge for women’s rights and body sovereignty. It’s hard to turn away from this one, b/c it has real implications on women’s rights which are, let’s not forget, pretty recent. It’s only in the 1970s that a woman could open a credit card in her own name. R**e within marriage was still legal in some places until the 1990s(!!!) And other countries have experienced horrifying barbaric backslides under oppressive government rule (Afghanistan, Iran), so why might that not happen here if the Christian Nationalists have their agenda? (Although, while we’re at it, why did the Dems allow for Obama’s Supreme Court nomination to dematerialize???). It’s a big fear and probably the most sensible reason to get behind Harris, depending on how likely you think a Handmaid’s Tale apocalyptic future awaits us if Trump is elected. It seems like this is lynchpin issue for many I know, personally. Banning abortion is such a terrible idea, it turns us into a very different society, one that I don’t want to be in.
However, the undeniable allegiance to the military industrial complex - it’s so prominent you cannot escape its presence in the Dems narrative of what a “future” will look like under their reign. Talk about party-capture on the Left! Neo-cons and Never-Trumper-Republicans interviewed by Democracy Now were DELIGHTED to hear such a strong pro-war stance; they are DELIGHTED to vote for Harris! Look at how she shakes her fist, with more emphasis than ANYTHING ELSE in the entire debate (or her DNC acceptance speech for that matter), than keeping the USofA the most “lethal fighting force in the world!!!” And also winning the race to AI and biotech, those have gotten repeat emphasis from her, making it clear that human dignity and a livable future is a faaaaaar second to the corporate/capitalist state agenda of Make Those Shareholders Money. These billionaire capitalists won’t police their extraction efforts on their own. Our government is obviously not doing a very good job, being in bed with so many. While We The People are pitted against one another in their culture wars, too distracted to do much about their shenanigans. Harris is also (now) pro-fracking for “energy independence.” Endless wars, endless earth r**e without much/any in the way of regeneration… these are very existentially relevant issues that we will/are facing as the climate becomes more disrupted and unstable. The Dems do not adequately address the issues I care about, b/c they are totally the establishment party at this point. Sanctioning, subsidizing, encouraging endless war, while we fight for our right to a safe abortion. It ain’t right.
So… who do I vote for, again???
Please don’t tell me; there aren’t enough options🙄🤯😡
I get how I’m obliged to choose, presented as if there were no other choice.
But you know… I object!
And b/c of that, I’m undecided how I will engage my 2024 presidential vote.
Want my vote? Come get it.
I got unaddressed issues, and I want thoughtful plans, starting with institutionalizing a pathway towards free & fair elections for multi-party governments (local/state/federal). Because this red/blue binary is bulls**t.
