Politics
Something good happened in Washington last week, suggesting that the year might actually end on a high note without Joe Biden starting World War 3 and opening up all the country’s prisons for the on-the-street rehabilitation of the inmates where they will undoubtedly learn new skills. The good thing was the signing by Biden of a bill, perhaps with a little bit of help from his friends to make sure he spelled his name correctly, to make the Bald Eagle the official bird of the United States of America. The Eagle has been around the American Republic virtually since its foundation, appearing on the Great Seal and on various documents and even on currency, but it has never been officially dubbed the national bird.
Caveat: The Free Press believes that the election results are in doubt due to the statistical analysis and evidence presented by computer and election security expert Stephan Spoonamore, which can be found in its entirety on substak. https://substack.com/@spoonamore
According to the news wire service, Israel Ambassador nominee Mike Huckabee said hostages must be released. Does he mean the 2.2 million Palestinian hostages held in Gaza or the 12,000 Palestinians held in 13 Israeli concentration camps without charges or trial dates for years? Among the thousands of Palestinians (some Christians, yes, I said Christians) held in Israeli jails without due process, must also be released. So now Mikey, as a professing Christian, how will he work on that one?
Since Huckabee said during his presidential campaign in 2015 that "There is no such thing as Palestinians, I assume he was referring to only the Israeli hostages. Huck spends a lot of time on Twitter. He thinks he's very funny and slick. The fact is he is boring, dull, and Islamophobic, and he will put you to sleep.
I guess I’d call the Trump victory an “expected” shock.
In the deepest core of my being, I was unhappy with virtually everything about the election: unhappy with the Kamala Harris campaign and her unrelenting support of Israeli genocide, unhappy with the Democratic Party and its contempt for progressive voters’ values even as the party remained certain it owned their votes. But at a more superficial level. I pretty much thought Harris would win, just because Trump was way-y-y too crazy (”they’re eating the pets!”) to actually be able to reclaim the presidency.
But Trump did it — not simply capturing the “battleground” states and gaining an Electoral College win, as he did in 2016, but apparently winning the overall popular vote. As of this morning, as I sit here in my expected shock, I see that Trump is ahead of Harris by some 5 million votes, with counting still underway in some states. And, by the way, the Republicans also reclaimed control of the Senate.
Especially during Florida 2000, Ohio 2004, Wisconsin-Michigan-Pennsylvania 2016, and America 2020, progressive voters have faced the inevitable circular firing squad.
With regular Democrats facing the likes of George W. Bush and Donald Trump, John McCain and Mitt Romney, the idea of “throwing away” a vote on a third party candidate has roused bitter anger.
This year has been no exception.
Without suffering through the polarizing details, I’ve managed to avoid this dilemma by exploiting the insane Electoral College, which should have been abolished a long time ago.
From 2000 to 2016, when I voted in swing state Ohio, I’ve tracked down fellow progressive activists to vote for third party candidates.
Maybe you’ve heard some of the buzz about “Project 2025.” What is it — and what would it mean for you and your family?
Project 2025 is a proposed “transition plan for a new Republican administration” put together by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. It’s an in-depth list of what conservative groups will push for in the event of a Trump victory in the fall.
I hate elections in the same way that I hate dining in a cafeteria with lots of options, every single one of them disgusting and overpriced. But I don’t mind taking 30 seconds to fill out a few ovals with a pen. I can’t think of anything I do that’s easier. It’s harder to get back into a website that wants a new password than it is to vote. I’m a little sick, in fact, of hearing from former presidents who launched goddamned wars without the hint of any concepts of any plan but who now demand that I make a “plan” for my voting. Stop spamming me with texts and emails, both of you monstrous gangs of con-artist slimeballs! Please? I voted long ago, by mail. I was done in under 30 seconds. I didn’t vote for either of you. I don’t live in one of the handful of states where it could possibly matter if I did.
The conclusion that Donald Trump is a fascist has gone mainstream, gaining wide publicity and affirmation in recent weeks. Such understanding is a problem for Trump and his boosters. At the same time, potentially pivotal in this close election, a small proportion of people who consider themselves to be progressive still assert that any differences between Trump and Kamala Harris are not significant enough to vote for Harris in swing states.
Opposition to fascism has long been a guiding light in movements against racism and for social justice.
Speaking to a conference of the African National Congress in 1951, Nelson Mandela warned that “South African capitalism has developed [into] monopolism and is now reaching the final stage of monopoly capitalism gone mad, namely, fascism.”