US Election Circus Adds A New Ring: The Harris Act Won’t Fill The Tent As The Stringpullers Hope – OpEd
Here we go again. And I have to say, I am really tired of saying 'again' *again.* But a sizeable plurality of the selectorate is made of still re-moldable clay, eager to pay admission to the main tent of the three ring circus that some call an "election" in what some also call American "democracy." The price? Your soul. To steal a famous line from J. Peterman. I would say between 30-40%. But not much higher. Keep reading. This variable figures in the math later on.
The beauty of the circus is that desire to be amazed and will to be tricked and suckered into the hopes and dreams—if only for a moment--that are sure to be dashed. Sadly its overlap with orchestrated, managed elections..for the percentage that pay the soul price.. is the suspension of disbelief, crucial to enjoy any great fiction. Abracadabra! Like the world needs an infusion of youth and energy in Biden's shit agenda. Yeah, right. An eight year redo on the forever wars. Well hey, there is a sucker born every minute, as P.T. Barnum never said.
But there are a lot of these suckers still out there. And it is morally wrong to let a sucker keep his money, as W.C. Fields actually did say. So the hucksters, performers, and self-delusional captive audience have to go on juggling the fake presumptions and lies to keep it interesting (to them).
Determined to "earn and win" the nomination of her party, Kamala raised a quarter billion dollars and solid pledges from over 50% of the party "delegates" to support her herculean effort within 36 hours of Biden's announcement. If that's not staged to you, then "The Price? Your soul" was a real discount.
A friend pointed out that the State Department and the intelligence agencies run the show. The president simply packages the message to the masses. No argument there. But he also thinks this is why it is obvious that between Israel and the FBI, Iran is in the crosshairs.
I asked did you hear her 'package the message' yesterday? Right on point. Proving to be their well chosen 2.0. Her meeting with Netanyahu and subsequent press statement are made without skipping a beat. Very smooth transition for the well-greased war machine.
Yes, said the friend. He did hear that. But she is sending mixed signals, trying to appeal to everyone. Her history, her social identities, the major media and Big Business are going to make her into quite a formidable challenge.
His worry is exactly their strategy, and their hope. Well hold up a minute. True, they do have incredible advantages to extend the rule of the neocon war-at-all cost cabal. But reading the weather hasn't been their strong suit, now has it? Calling this repulsive and obviously regurgitated "opinion" on Gaza some kind of 'new direction,' or worse, 'playing all sides,' isn't too professional. It's more like reading a barometer sealed in a pressure cooker.
True, all barometers have their ticks, and the forecast depends heavily on the reader. Mine are no different, I suppose. But I prefer those I can read directly and those that make sense. Take these reactions to her "policy statement" from some who actually care and pay attention:
"Yet apparently Nazis and Confederates are tolerated. We don't hear any of this about their protests."
"Is she programmed, ignorant or stupid?"
My instinctive reaction was 'why can't she be all three?' The truly bizarre angle for me is that, despite the obvious and aghast reaction of the above company, this gem is being touted (among the anointed? Already programmed? Exceptionally stupid?) as a way of "signaling a pretty clear difference between her views and those of Biden." *Not good enough for Netanyahu* is apparently the new bar of excellence.
This "appeal to everyone" is where their math, meteorology and mythbuilding are so far off. They are so far gone that this 'calculation' is out of touch with their own people, and with arithmetic. If this is left, right and center to them, they have an even narrower view than we could imagine.
Unrepentant liberals and second-hand "lefties" are the only ones this will come close to convincing. If this is "balanced," then they really are out of touch. Does anyone remember "Cheers?" This old bit jumped out of my mind: Shelly Long is dating Frazier and showing off hats for his Boston city council campaign that say "WIM WITH JIM!" "I love it! It's very Joycean, don't you agree?" Carla answers "If that means *stupid* then I agree."
Youth and energy?? Are these people stupid? Maybe. Do they think we are? Obviously. Empty tank on both counts. Besides, they conjured this newfound obsession with Biden's age and cognitive decline themselves, when it was far too late to keep ignoring. Biden isn't hated for either of these things, so spinning them into excitement for a hasty replacement puppet is beyond laughable.
Perhaps moreso when the fresh young face is every bit as committed to the very things for which Genocide Joe *was* hated: hopelessly old ideas to keep a sinking, war-obsessed empire afloat. Let's face it, if youth and energy have shown us anything this year, it is the organized and focused dissent that took college campuses and institutions by storm. The righteous anger and rejection of US policy that fueled all these encampments in support of Palestine mean nothing to them. Snuff them out. Arrest the kids. And keep suppressing them. That's how you win and earn the support of young, energetic voters, apparently.
To try to salvage an already lost election, it helps to misrepresent a ahockingly marginal poll bump from such hype. Even Forbes spouts a milquetoast "surge" with the not-even-clickbait headline "Trump-Harris Swing State Polls: Harris Trails Trump In Most Key Battlegrounds—But Outperforms Biden." Duh. The math doesn't work unless you exaggerate it. Again with the barometer in the pressure cooker.
NY Post has slightly more clickable bait: "Kamala Harris is competitive — and then some — with Donald Trump in new poll: Will it last?" Duh again. Watch them keep exaggerating and restating the same data for greater effect until they get what they want—a long shot to be sure. And in the Post case, it is a generic national poll—exactly the polling that means close to nothing in the sham election that is the electoral college.
Of course, the liars don't really care what data they skew. But the polls Forbes refers to show Harris still behind in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia. And barely hanging on in Virginia, even New Hampshire! A 312-226 electoral vote blowout. And this from the blue-leaning poll watcher who imagined Harris' "pretty clear difference" from Biden on Israel.
One of the most AIPAC funded, bought off shills in a congress that stood and clapped for three and a half minutes for a genocidal fascist monster like Netanyahu. Laughable is clearing the wrong word. But I'm no meteorologist. I just read from a different barometer.
The simple fact is that, try as they might, Obama 2.0 just won't work. Everyone on the planet tried to viral jumpstart another Seinfeld, but it just can't be done. Remakes of The Honeymooners only catch fire once in a generation or so.
Especially 16 years and several wars later, with not even a hint of a democratic process. While there is a deep bitterness among many on the black activist front and a determination not to be fooled again, most still hold him in high regard. But with no chance at all of a huge turnout with a 95%+ vote control. Even for him.
And for Kamala there is zero chance of it. On the contrary, she is well known and despised for her vicious treatment of the black and brown communities in California, gaining career advantage on the backs of three strikes, the death penalty, civil forfeiture, opposition to body cams, threatening parents with arrest for truancy...the list goes on and on.
And there is no longer tolerance for such manipulation or for having it shoved down our throats (again) and being vilified for questioning it. More barometer readings: The smug attempt to paint it as something it isn't will be all we will endure for the next four months. Take the fresh meme showing Kopmala (one of her not-so-endearing nicknames among her detractors) walking behind the stylized now classic photo of Ruby Bridges, with Edmund Pettus Bridge in the background, for extra cringe-worthy measure. OP posts it with the simple (probably tearful) "beautiful" below the caption: "The road ahead was paved by those who came before us." A disgusted commenter (probably spitting) responds:
"She's chasing her down for a truancy arrest."
If that doesn't help you do the math, there isn't much more to say. Another barometer reading comes from an excellent piece by my friend Jon Jeter, [https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-democratic-108817715]where Romney's loss in Wisconsin actually garnered more votes than Trump's *win* four years later. The key is the same math: people who didn't bother to vote for Hilary won't do so for Kamala either.
The barometer may be a simple tool, especially as metaphor. But it also doesn't yet take the rest of the world into account. An Iranian friend angered by US policy also fears a 'bath of blood' if Trump regains power. Of course, Biden (and by extension, Harris) are already committed to this bloodbath—against Russia, against China, against Palestine, against Iran.
In fact, I have to confess that my own personal barometer and my own math keep me awake at night. Success at replacing Biden with Harris opens the door for eight years of unobstructed continuation of the iron grip the war crazed neocons have on US policy. And by my bad math, even Trump only gets four.
In a not too far-fetched nightmare, she is the worst possible thing that could happen to the country at this point, in my considered opinion. She knows nothing about foreign policy or geopolitical history in any way at all. She will therefore be a good soldier and "do what she is told..." by the worst people on the face of the earth, or in its history.
The wheels are already greased and ready to unleash death on millions (not exaggerating). It will be as bad as Truman being led around by Jimmy Burns, an empty cipher willing to take 'the bull by the horns' whatever that meant in his idiot mind. He was very proud of losing not a single night's sleep over Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and would easily have followed the reactionaries' plan for 100+ similar cities in the USSR. These are real, and actually could have happened. Thank God Stalin got the bomb by 1949. I'm not joking at all. But I haven't paid the price of admission to the circus. And I'm no meteorologist.