POLITICS
Joe Biden Is The Pill We Have To Take
To stop shitting blood
Donald Trump’s presidency is not an anomaly. It is a symptom of an illness that America has suffered from since its inception. An illness that has manifested itself through hateful vitriol and violence toward a perceived “other,” time and time again throughout our history. If you are marginalized, you’re not surprised by this statement. You’ve known that hate has always been here, even before Trump. You know it will continue to be here, even in the miraculous event of his somehow leaving that damned Oval Office.
There are prevalent symptoms being shown on the left as well. When the Democratic primaries began, the Democrats had an array of candidates that showed a diverse party. It rapidly dwindled down to three white, straight, men all over 70. All, in my opinion, a manifestation of Trump. We had Bloomberg the “business man” with NDAs. Bernie the one that stayed lax on his supporters bullying women and female candidates on social media and at his rallies. Who also pressed for purity tests that he himself could not pass. Finally, there was Biden, who is now our nominee, with the gaffes.
However, while it’s clear we understand Trump as a symptom of a larger illness, what doesn’t seem clear enough is that he’s the most pressing symptom. He is the lesions, the hair falling out, the vomiting, the diarrhea. Not the headache or fatigue, which can be dealt with after you’ve stopped shitting blood. His presence is far more ominous.
His presence takes children from their mothers’ arms to be kept in cages.
It demands to arrest peaceful protesters under the false equivalency of rioters, and demands to tear gas mothers.
It demands women’s bodies be mandated.
Worst of all — it demands to stay put, right where it is, by any means necessary. Whether seeking foreign aide twice, or defunding the USPS, mere months before an election that will be heavily reliant on mail-in ballots. Or radicalizing its base to engage in acts of violence as we saw with the 17-year- old who shot BLM protesters. Applauded for his actions by right wing pundits and news anchors, while a black man shot in the back 7 times in front of his children, is handcuffed to his hospital bed. Trump’s presence demands dissociation from precedent, former executive limitations, decorum or even basic humanity.
How can we ever cure the illness when the symptoms are so persistent? When the lesions are oozing puss, do you ignore it because you had a headache a few years back?
This symptom is urgent. This symptom is in this moment and it’s decaying any semblance of democracy we’ve tried so desperately to create in a country that values the Almighty Dollar Menu. The lack of apathy in voting is understandable given our choices, but disheartening given the very possible outcome. If Donald Trump is re-elected, we will not make it as a country.
So we must meet this moment. Not a moment in 2015 or in 1995. We can deal with them later, when they’re in office. They’ve shown us they can be dealt with better than Trump by their current platforms.
By allowing this moment to pass over a grudge, we will continue to fail Transgender Americans, the most vulnerable among us. We will fail victims of rape in the education system by letting students who are victims of rape know that we’re ok with Betsy Devos mandating them to be cross-examined by their predator’s lawyer in front of their predator. We will fail DACA recipients who have been on the chopping block since day one of Trump’s presidency.
We will fail nurses who’s supplies and stamina are nearing exhaustion from the overflow of Covid patients — because we have a leader who is too preoccupied with his poll numbers and fake charts, to find sustainable responses to the Covid crisis. We will fail the American economy’s chance at a legitimate long-lasting resurgence. In short, we will fail hundreds of thousands of more people than we have in the past four years.
Meet this moment, and allow yourselves to be galvanized by it. Elect progressives at the local level. Hold them accountable on their come up. Not 20 years after the fact, because you may not know this, but no politician who’s been in politics for as long as Joe or Bernie is going to be clean enough for the standards we impose on them today. Make our need for transparency known to the ones on their way in, not on their way out.
We’re incensed over the wrong things. We’re ill, unwell, exhausted. Trump has given us hydroxychloroquine and bleach. We need real leadership. We need real medicine to begin to cure the illness. Joe Biden is the pill we need to take, to stop shitting blood. We’ll still have nausea. We’ll still have the headaches. We’ll still not be cured by any means. But at least we won’t be hemorrhaging any hope at human decency. The march to justice is a long one, and yes we can certainly question leadership after years of exhaustion. But if we don’t keep walking, what are we leaving behind?
