Just 23 days ago, I wrote a post about how deeply ashamed I was of so many people in America. I was at the point of despair, which I haven’t felt since 2016. During the 4 LONGER THAN NORMAL years of Frump’s presidency, I stopped reading the news, I stopped watching it, I stopped watching late night shows, I barely kept up with the headlines, because everything about the US and the pandemic sucked so bad. It was a relentless horror show of awful, and I could not keep my chin up.
I wasn’t thrilled about Biden but he was definitely the better, more experienced choice, and an obviously good man who cares deeply about America and its welfare. I wasn’t thrilled about some of his policies, or his backing of Israel over the war in Gaza (which, admittedly, is not all on him), and I was concerned, like everyone else about his age (as well as his opposition’s), and while I think he did the right thing to drop out of the race, if he had stayed in, I would have voted for him. I would have voted for anyone who wasn’t the Republican nominee, and I would have encouraged others to do the same, knowing that statistically, choosing not to vote at all, or voting for some third-party candidate, would basically be giving your vote to the opposite party.
Martin and I got into an argument about him, before his announcement this past weekend, and the main argument against him was that he was “funding the war against Gaza.” It’s hard to argue with that, even if the US is not the ONLY country that is supplying military weapons and money to Israel (Germany and Italy make up a huge amount as well). While I believe the continuing war in Gaza is completely unjustified and no longer at all about Israel “defending themselves”, I also believe that the blame for it rests squarely on Netanyahu. Martin was also indignant that the White House “did nothing” about the Supreme Court’s decision which overturned Roe vs. Wade, and when I tried to say that it doesn’t work that way, that the White House doesn’t control the Supreme Court, and they belong to two separate branches of three, all of which are supposed to balance each other, I got flustered, and finally shut up because nothing I was saying was coming out the way I wanted it to. I’m not good at arguing, and politics and political issues are so complicated, and difficult to articulate, that it’s hard to stay on point against any determined opposition. I would make a lousy lawyer, and an even lousier PR person. I usually come up with my arguments and counter-answers well after the fact.
Anyway, all this to say, that the surge of hope that Kamala Harris has brought to the country, the Democrats (who better not mess this up), right-thinking people everywhere, women, young people, people of color, and ME, has been so heartening that it nearly puts me on the verge of tears. I had given up on much of what I have always loved about the US. I know that there is still a razor-thin margin, and it’s still boggling to me that 42% of voters would STILL choose F-rump. 42%! That’s nearly half. And even if she is leading by 2% that is still the slimmest of margins and there are still 3 months to go in which anything could happen, and god knows the American public are both notoriousl fickle and keen to jump on the next trendy news cycle. Keeping up this momentum for that long will not be easy, even if it’s IMPERATIVE.
I have found myself looking for alternate news sources the past couple of years. I only look at CNN for a general swipe of the headlines. The Swedish nightly news is usually pretty good in terms of covering international issues, but I need an American perspective that is unbiased (or at least as unbiased as possible), straightforward, and which provides news in layman’s terms. These sources have helped me keep on top of things, both US-based news, as well as international:
- Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From an American on Facebook (also available as an eNewsletter and in audio versions)
- International Intrique‘s daily eNewsletter
- Dan Rather’s News & Guts
- The Guardian on Instagram
- 1440 Daily Digest (which I’ve just started subscribing to, and which has a lot of ads, which I’m not so thrilled about)
I read Yahoo News’ daily eNewsletter as well, though it’s quite fluffy most of the time.
I’m very glad to feel hope once again, and to feel like we have a candidate that will unite us instead of being the best of two bad choices.
Mood: hopeful
Music: Ally Lewber—Girl’s Girl