The Triumph of Hate
If Only…
In 2016, American blue-collar workers felt forgotten, abandoned, and ready to try something radical. Bernie Sanders, a lifelong advocate for workers’ rights, energised young Americans more than any politician since the ’60s. But, unsurprisingly, the Establishment Democrats sidelined him, opting instead for the more Wall-Street-friendly and seemingly “safer” Hillary Clinton.
Of course, Bernie might have cocked it up, as those of us on the Left sometimes do through naïveté more than maleficence. If he had, he would have been ousted in 2020 and would have relinquished office, perhaps grumpily, but without inciting insurrection. On the other hand, Sanders could have been another FDR or LBJ, and in that counterfactual world, Trump might have spent the last eight years cheating at golf while dreaming of Arnie Palmer’s wang.
It was not to be, and the world paid the price.
Extreme Turbulence, Soft Landing
By the time Biden got his shot at the top job, he was already in decline. That said, he saw off Trump in 2020, before enacting surprisingly progressive policies and setting to work on long-neglected infrastructure.
The massive cash infusions into the economy helped to clean up Trump’s COVID-era mess, sparing the country from Depression-level suffering. Predictably, inflation was a painful side effect, hitting the lowest earners hardest. Corporate America seized the moment to hike prices, further punishing those who could least afford it.
It would have been easy to crash the economic jumbo jet while battling unprecedented conditions. Instead, Biden’s team pulled off a landing soft enough to rival the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’.
It was however devastating when Biden announced after the 2022 midterms that he would seek a second term. The “only I can do it” mentality undermined the lifetime work of a good man.
With the public’s attention span limited to 280 characters or a soundbite, policies that saved countless people from pandemic-induced suffering went largely undefended. Kamala Harris didn’t dare explain these achievements in detail, knowing all too well that “if you’re explaining, you’re losing.”
That radical lefty publication, The Economist, along with a slew of experts, acknowledged the strength of the U.S. economy under Biden. If the central bank had lowered interest rates just a few months earlier, inflation might have eased noticeably by the election. Instead the Dems were crucified for ‘gas’ prices higher than when no one was driving anywhere.
In 2025 the poorest will pay the price in tariffs on necessities while the rich will benefit from yet more tax cuts.
Strange Bedfellows
As Obama said, sexism is still a problem amongst the ‘brothers’; likewise, much of Latino culture remains steeped in machismo. Add in the residual racism that persists in some parts, and the playing field seemed anything but level for a female candidate of Afro-Indian background.
Kamala tried desperately to build and hold together a coalition that included such strange bedfellows as Bernie, AOC and the Cheneys. Unfortunately, Dubbya and Romney, along with most other decent Republicans, didn’t show up.
Sadly the necessary compromises alienated all-or-nothing voters. The young, already the least likely to vote, chose to punish Harris for lack of action on Gaza and by default tacitly endorsed Trump and strengthened Netanyahu’s hand.
Meanwhile, an unholy alliance of grifters, fundamentalists, tech barons, xenophobes, and misogynists was backed by the ‘low information’ MAGA masses. (If that sounds condescending and superior, well, f*ck it—I’m not running for office!) Anyone who is allowed to drive a car, buy a gun, operate heavy machinery, or vote, and still finds Trump fit to be President, truly is deplorable!
Intelligence is far from the most important human quality. Personally, I’d take a kind-hearted slow learner over a heartless genius any day. Likewise, the foolish can be forgiven for falling for the snake-oil salesman’s purdy talk, but culpability increases exponentially among the intellectually unimpaired.
Musk may be smart tech-wise but when it comes to ‘emotional intelligence,’ he—who gives himself a $56,000,000,000 bonus while sacking thousands of his employees—must rank somewhere between idiot and moron.
The Right Gone Wrong
Moving between the Left’s echo chamber to the Right-wing version was like leaving the Shire and entering Mordor. There, you’d find no joy—just a looped clip of Harris on migrant detainees receiving sex changes.
The MAGA mob is not about caring and sharing; some might be punching the clock for minimum wage, but they’re ‘just one lucky break’ away from being the ones doing the ‘punching down.’ They cheer Musk and Trump laughing about cutting jobs, knowing they’d be just as heartless given half a chance.
This is no longer just a left-vs.-right difference. Truth, science, decency, democracy, equal rights, and the rule of law are all on the line. It’s not hyperbole to speak of good versus evil, and it’s clear America has chosen to embrace its dark side!