Kamala's Loss Ignited an Internal, Uncivil War

I'm of two minds, and they're fighting relentlessly

Gut punch. Kamala’s loss to a lying, misogynistic, philandering, criminal is painful and sobering. I was shocked. And then I laughed. A week later and I’m still of two minds, and they’re battling in my brain.

Disbelief: This isn’t who we are.

Amusement: This is exactly who we are.

(Googling, watching, listening, chatting, chatbotting, drooling stupidly into space for a week)

Disbelief: Well, he doesn’t have a mandate. 1% apart. He got 29% of all possible voters. She got 28%.

Amusement: Doesn’t matter. He got 50.2% of the folks who did turn out.  

Disbelief: I was sure we’d win in a landslide and take all 3 branches. 

Amusement: You also thought Gore, Kerry, and Hillary would win. You are clueless. You really don’t understand your own country.

Disbelief: But this time was different. Biden/Harris passed massive, bipartisan legislation to actually fix things. They got $1.2T for infrastructure. $35 a month insulin. Trump passed $0 for infrastructure... 

Amusement: Doesn’t matter.

Disbelief: Infant mortality is up in places like Texas. Women are dying horrible, unnecessary deaths. 

Amusement: Doesn’t matter.

Disbelief: They are brainless f*cking zombies. They are so stupid! 

Amusement: Exactly.

Disbelief: You agree?

Amusement: No, they know you think they’re dumb.

Disbelief: Well, I am educated. I didn’t come from a family of scholars. I put myself through school.

Amusement: And you never let them forget it.

Disbelief: But Democrats protect people.

Amusement: Do they?

Disbelief: Child poverty fell under Biden.  He forgave billions of dollars of student loans. 

Amusement: Not everyone goes to college. Less than 37% graduated from college in 2018.

Disbelief: But have you actually listened to that guy? He lies. He’s a name-caller. He’s coarse. 

Amusement: He’s authentic. He’s not hiding who he really is.

Disbelief: He’s not honest…Kamala is so eloquent when she speaks. All you have to do just look and listen. 

Amusement: She sounds like Obama. Big words. Big promises. You know how they got rich.

Disbelief: That’s the dumbest thing to say. So stupid! They should just listen to more educated and successful people. We use facts, logic—science!–to make decisions. 

Amusement: You talk like you hate them. You call them “deplorables”, “garbage”. Would you agree with someone who disrespects you? Who looks down on you?

Disbelief: I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. 

Amusement: That’s unfortunate.

Disbelief: Oh, and you’re not invited for Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

Amusement: I won’t miss that dry-ass turkey and bitter Loser pudding. 

Disbelief: Anyway, I’ll just sit here and munch my popcorn and watch while the leopards eat their faces. They’re going to finally get what they deserve. 

Amusement: And there you are. Thank you for finally being honest. Don’t respond, I’m blocking you. 

—-------------------

Bottom line. Even though its clear I have a lot to learn, I do know this feels like 1980 or 2000. Again. Deregulation and trickle-down economics will invade our house and party until our Democratic parents come home. Stocks and 401Ks may do OK, but the hangover will be devastating.

From the Roosevelt Institution on trickle-down economics:

“...Since 1980, inequality has soared. Mid–20th century progress on narrowing racial wealth and wage gaps stalled, and in some cases reversed course. Concentration and consolidation of economic power has exploded. Tax revenue, as a share of GDP, has plummeted. Corporations have shifted away from investing in innovation and workers and toward maximizing returns to shareholders. Mounting evidence suggests that tax cuts for the wealthy make the rich richer and have little effect on economic growth or employment. Further, a growing body of literature finds that rising inequality constrains economic growth.”

The cycle is documented and well understood. Enjoy Terry Gilliam’s Boom Bust Boom. Or these: Inside Job, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. 

It’s the same, but different. This time more women and infants will die unnecessarily, more kids will die by handguns, and I can’t ignore the many Ukrainians and Arabs that are going to be slaughtered.

But I refuse to be dejected and do nothing.

What I will do

As I figure out how to live a healthy, meaningful life and have a positive impact, here are a few things I will and won’t be doing:

• I will finish my novel. Even if it’s the worst middle-grade Sci-Fi novel ever and universally hated, I will finish a draft this year and polish it in the spring. Or my name isn’t John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

• I’ll watch the news MUCH less. I’ll continue to read the NYT, the Guardian, Al Jazeera, and the BBC daily.

• Lurk in “conservative” social media channels. What are they really thinking?

• I’ll stop donating to the Democratic Party. It represents my values, but they are not my leaders. 

• I refuse to blame Biden and Harris. He’s been an effective president. She was/is an amazing candidate/Senator/leader. The joy I felt thinking about her presidency was breathtaking.

• I refuse to feel schadenfreude as Trump fails to bring relief to the majority of Americans. I will not celebrate as his policies increase prices, decrease jobs/opportunities, and make our environment/country worse because millions will be suffering. 

• Learn Python and other technical skills and make a website to track important data over the next 4 years. Just for my own sanity, I want to monitor key metrics like GDP, unemployment, inflation (CPI), Gini coefficient, as well as qualitative data like child gun deaths, teen suicide rates, incarceration rates, infant mortality rates, maternal mortality ratio. 

There is hope. Like Democratic Congressman Pat Ryan from New York, who my friend Cat told me about. Recently on  Pod Save American podcast, Ryan explained how he won re-election by 9 points in a very purplish NY district by listening, talking, and working directly with constituents to help them with everyday problems. From his site:

“In 2023 alone, my team of expert caseworkers secured $22,454,426.75 for NY-18 families and businesses that they were owed by federal agencies. From helping seniors access Social Security to getting a couple a last-minute passport for their daughter’s wedding to ensuring our veterans receive the full benefits that our government promised them, my team takes an all-hands-on-deck and around-the-clock approach to cutting through bureaucratic tape and getting you the answers, results, and benefits you deserve.“

That’s a great start.