The Blue Wave Cometh

But who wants Genocide 2.0?

I approach this election fighting against my own biases. The public can’t be idiotic enough to put Trump back in the White House, can it? I understand I am atypical, but I resist the thought that I am so atypical that I could disagree so much with so many. So I approach tomorrow with perhaps unjustified optimism. I like to think Democrats will sweep, big time. That’s my prediction.

I have to think the R’s platform, especially on reproductive rights, is so noxious to voters they will lose in all sorts of unexpected places, as well as losing the popular vote and the Electoral College vote. The implications of the corrupt SCOTUS Dobbs decision are catastrophic. Abortion is much more than a social issue. It is a huge economic issue for millions of families or prospective families.

There is the fact that in 2022 the fears of the “Red Wave” proved unfounded. There is also the weakness of the old-time right-wingers’ arguments for Trump. I would also argue that we are victimized by Big Media’s filters, who have incentives to heighten interest in their inane commentary by exaggerating the uncertainty of the outcome. Of course both parties and their advocates have the same interest, to maximize their own turnout and related efforts.

All things considered, the din on behalf of the “close election” thesis seems deafening. Nevertheless, I too favor a maximum margin of victory for the Democratic ticket, including in “safe states.” It makes everything after that so much easier. What will be best in life? “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.”

The third parties are gratuitous nuisances. It doesn’t matter who their candidates are. That aside, Jill Stein gives every sign of being a grifter, and Cornel West, a brilliant scholar, shows up as a political putz. In a similar vein, it also pains me to say that my own Democratic Socialists of America, for this election, is entirely out to lunch. How we ask anybody to listen to us after tap-dancing through this presidential election is beyond me.

I’ll say again what I’ve tried to put across before. Those who fail to urge a vote for Harris grease the skids for a Trump presidency that would unleash Israel’s Netanyahu and result in a final solution for Palestine, and shock and awe for Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran. If you are trying to send a message by abstaining from a Harris vote, that message is received by Trump, and the message is: do whatever the hell you want with Iran. Murder as many Arabs and Muslims as you want. If Gaza is Genocide 1.0, a Trump victory will be Genocide 2.0, among other horrors.

The Republican control of the Senate looks like it will be difficult to prevent, given the number of seats currently at risk. This might not be too much of a problem after a Harris victory, since at that point Trump’s political career is over and he loses much of his juice. The resulting R majority in the Senate will be able to dicker with the Democrats. We won’t be getting any big liberal agenda, but it will still beat the hell out of conceivable alternative scenarios.

With a Harris victory, the biggest challenge will be standing up a peace movement, since make no mistake, the U.S. is moving towards war in the Mideast. Never-Trump neocons will have entree in Harris’s foreign policy, including the execrable Liz Cheney. Under Trump war would be cinch, with Harris it can be opposed. It will also be possible to get pieces of the Biden-Harris domestic policy initiatives that I’ve been writing about for In These Times.

If you still don’t know what to do, you’re on the wrong website. Get lost. Really.