Episode Seven – The Election

I Hate it Here

I.              I Hate it Here

Whenever I’ve given the benefit of the doubt, put some hope or stock in the goodwill of the Democratic Party, I’ve been disappointed.

After enough times, unless you love lying to yourself, it becomes clear the Dems will never do anything to upset the status quo.

And the status quo of what American politics feels like to me is, I’ve dropped my phone on the plane. It starts sliding down the aisle. I have to chase it or rely on someone else to grab it. The aisle is tilted Right in the political sense and the Dems are the only people who can reach down and grab it for me, but they don’t. When I ask why they wouldn’t grab my phone, they tell me the Republicans are the ones weighing the plane down in that direction not them. One of them mentions the filibuster? Another one’s AIPAC handler says he’s seen my socials and he won’t allow me to keep hurting the State of Israel’s feelings. They all tell me to donate immediately or the plane might crash, and yet they remain seated, unbothered, eating their Biscoff biscuits.

In the end, one of two things happens.

a) I grab my phone myself and work to replace the people in those seats who don’t reach down to help.

b) My phones slides all the way to the end of the plane and into the hands of a thousand Elon Musk’s! They promptly erase everything and install Fascism.

Option A is Kamala. Option B is Trump.

II.              Confession

I’m a green card holder, not a citizen. I never imagined not being able to vote would be something I’d be grateful for, but here we are.

I moved to the US just before Trump was elected. I couldn’t vote then either, but that didn’t stop me from trying to get Hillary Clinton elected. I phone banked. I posted. I argued. I proved that despite my Canadian credit card, I was a resident and could legally donate to her campaign.

Immigrants doing the jobs no one wants.

I was one of the white women who was DEVASTATED that everyone made fun of when Trump came to power. Fair enough. I didn’t think this was America. Which in my very weak defense, I had *just* moved to.

This was me, in Atlanta, circa 2017:

I wasn’t naïve about her hawkish foreign policy. I knew she supported US interventionism at the expense of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives (that aren’t white). The reasons I thought it was important to elect Hillary over Trump were domestic. I was very worried about the Court, abortion, the environment, healthcare, and education. A lot was lost when Trump won in 2016. I don’t regret it.

That said, between Hillary and Bernie, I went Hillary. That was the wrong call and I do regret it.

Again, in my even weaker defense, women in positions of power are my type.

This time I simply don’t have it in me to make the case for Kamala. A woman who is even MORE my type. I guess I’ve evolved a little. I still love a powerful woman, just not one who commits international crimes. Thank you! Everyone, please take your seats.

That’s Bette Porter from the L Word, a show that made me gay.

But I digress.

III.              Kamala

One reason I’m not making the case for Kamala is because all my energy is going into trying to end the genocide (to play my small part). There are plenty of others working to get her elected. Let them. Let SNL do whatever it does. Many of them have plenty of energy to spare after not saying anything about Palestine all year.

There are others, people I know, who have traveled to critical states to knock on doors, have phone banked, and helped people register to vote. I’m glad they’re doing that. These are people who are always engaged in the political process, at all levels of it, and care deeply about the genocide as well as the welfare of the most vulnerable here at home.

But sincerely fuck anyone who scolds people who have decided not to vote Kamala because of genocide. If she loses, the blame lies squarely at her and the Democratic Party’s feet. Furthermore, if the girl bosses were so worried, they could have been helping pressure the administration to pass an arms embargo, anything.

The other reason I’m not making the case for Kamala because I don’t believe there is a case to be made FOR her that is about her. I sincerely have no idea what she stands for. I know she cares about abortion and women’s bodily autonomy. But beyond that, what are her core principles. She seems capable of going in any direction at any time. I think she’s a good lawyer. I think she’s smart. I have no sense of her politics. She’s never run a real campaign where she’s had to articulate her vision for this country. Winning in California doesn’t really count. She was appointed VP and then for reasons of political expediency became the Democratic nominee for President.

I was hopeful at the outset. I was happy she picked Tim Walz. Then at every turn she made things worse. Muslim and Arab leaders have been begging her to give them something, anything, to work with. Their communities have been utterly dehumanized and their loved ones slaughtered. And she can’t muster a spot at the DNC for a single Palestinian speaker? She campaigns with Liz Cheney … in Michigan! She refuses to break with Biden at all. Zero. Until maybe a tiny bit today? When asked about the genocide she sounds like those White House spokesmen whose souls have long since exited their bodies. Matthew Miller is just a widow’s peak and a smirk at this point.

This is an excerpt from a very good interview with Ruwa Romman and Rania Batrice from The Beinart Notebook.

IV.              The System - to burn it down or to not burn it down? That is the Question.

I understand everyone is angry. I am too. But all the rage I feel (on this topic) is squarely directed at the system for forcing this horrible choice on people. We should not be in this position. If I was Palestinian or even Middle Eastern, I can’t imagine myself voting for someone who has played and continues to play a significant role in the genocide of my people. There is nothing anyone could tell me that would convince me to do that kind of violence to myself.

There are 1000 reasons not to vote for Trump. No one reading this needs to hear them.

So here is what I’ve come to after listening to people who are organizers and who do the very difficult work of trying to improve people’s lives and build power under capitalism and imperialism (there are systems too).

If I had a vote, and in particular if I lived in a swing state, I would vote for Kamala. Not as an endorsement of her or the Democratic Party. Not because I am voting for genocide (this also has to stop, there is no anti-genocide candidate*). I would vote for her because as many have said, she is an easier opponent to fight. I would also vote for her because I’m worried about marginalized people’s lives in America.

I strongly believe that under Trump we will simply be trying to survive fascism, or many people will be. I don’t think we will be able to protest. I think many people will be jailed and deported.

I’ve heard people argue that complacency will take over and people will disengage under a Kamala presidency. I don’t think this is a persuasive argument. Primarily because many of us have been out for Palestine pretty much non-stop for over a year under a Democratic president. There has been a significant awakening. Movements have been building. Young people are especially engaged. None of this has been the result of Trump coming into power. Electoral politics are in no way the answer to any of this, but there is reason to believe that demographics are such that if a shift doesn’t happen under Kamala on Israel it might very well happen after her. If Trump is elected, I believe much of this momentum will be lost.

Also, let’s be honest. People who will feel like their work is done should Kamala win, weren’t really doing anything anyway. They should not be part of the equation.

V.              In Conclusion!

None of what I’m saying is directed at Palestinians or the Arab community. I am also not here to tell you what to do or judge your choice. I understand the idea of accelerationism. If that’s your thing, ok. Personally, I think it just puts too many people at risk in ways we can’t foresee and might not be able to recover from. I also think many people who espouse this idea have never lived under fascism.

So, I pick option A. I grab my phone myself and work to replace the people in those seats who don’t reach down to help. AND remember that real change happens by building power and movements outside of those seats, all year long.

Ok, now everyone go ahead and call me a neoliberal zionist sleeper agent!

* I’m not getting into Jill Stein. No shade to those of you who like her. She’s not someone I think is worth paying attention to, personally.