It's funny...I was in the opposite camp. I've wanted Joe to decline to run again since, well, 2020 - for precisely the reasons we're seeing now.
Though for me, I wanted it to be about a year ago - long enough for a true primary to happen, but short enough as to catch everyone flat-footed so the cycle wouldn't kick off in say, mid-2022.
But he didn't, and I waited, and the debate happened, and I was so very confused as to why so many people were staying ride or die Biden.
Yea, he's been good on policy...great on policy, really, most effective President I've seen in my lifetime in many, many measures...but he's been weak AF on the thing that matters for an election, which is getting out and connecting to people.
And, well, he /was/ too old - because 'Too old' is about vigor, and the presidency needs to be someone who is vigorous. The job demands too much otherwise.
And I'll admit, I wanted that messy, sudden primary; but.
But.
For his last act, Biden & co pulled off the greatest single act of political judo I have ever witnessed, and even one more move of that quality probably seals the election for the Blues.
As soon as Newsom endorsed, well - I knew it was Joever for anyone but Harris, and truthfully, it neutralized the single greatest critique I had of her, which was she just wasn't great at politicking, not truly. Great at ladder climbing, but I don't want a ladder climber in office, I want a leader.
If the Kamala of the past few days, weeks, and months keeps going for the next 8 years, fuck yea, I'll fully embrace joining the K-Hive.
And I also know I'm an extreme skeptic - she was very low on my ideal 2020 candidates list, but...my feelings are changing. And if it's tapping me, I believe it's tapping more.
Lastly, on hope...never stop hoping. Learn to let go of attachments at a moment's notice - we have to, in a world like this - but never stop hoping. These days, I let those roots of attachment grow much, much more slowly, because I've had them torn up, or been forced to tear them up, so many, many times and it hurts each and every time, but the easier they are to transplant...
It doesn't make what's happening okay. But it makes it easier to endure, to stay sane in the midst of so much toxicity and insanity, and to keep clinging to hope - because killing hope is their final goal. It always has been.
Hope isn't a thing with feathers like Dickinson said. It's a shiny bauble with really sharp fucking edges and if we grab it in haste, we get sliced. This is to say: we have a lot of work to do to see the Good Thing happen, and to prevent the Bad Thing Redux.
This is a lovely and honest rant, thank you Catherynne. I've gotten this sense the last few days that everyone is bracing themselves for whatever comes next, even as they try to enjoy what's happening now. The fear of the hope is real, but it's also kinda constructive--no one is about to take a victory for granted, the need to work is real.
And as fodder for the hope: I think there's a core challenge for the Republicans when they really dig into their negative narrative. In 2016 and 2024, they could tell a story of equivalency (I'm not saying either story is true, but both stories had enough truth to catch on and dominate). In 2016, they could say both Trump and Clinton were corrupt. In 2024 so far, they could say both Trump and Biden were supposedly-disqualified. For swing voter "double haters," these were permission structures to vote for Trump. But *knock on wood hard enough to break bones* Harris doesn't seem to have an equivalency. For better and for worse, she's ALL contrast. That's a different story than the one they've won (or been on track to win) by telling.
Something I said after our election and we finally got rid of our garbage idiot rightwingers (the Tories).
"I feel like we just spend the last eight years digging our way through every item in Pandora's Box and we just got down to the very bottom, the last of all the horrors. And we found Hope.
Well, Sir Keir, you got this little fragile thing called Hope. Please don't break it."
What is the coconut thing in the US? In the UK its is used as a racial slur - brown on the outside, white on the inside - that is offensive enough that people are prosecuted for racial harassment for using it.
When her mother used to chastise Kamala and her sister when they were kids for not acknowledging that they were “standing on the shoulders of those who came before” (another Kamala-ism), she would ask them “do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”
Thank you for this. I have felt fairly insane lately and I needed to hear every word of this rant. I completely agree with you and I want to hide all the hammers before the Democrats decide to freak out and start kneecapping each other.
All will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well…. Hold this thought. Believe.
When people said to me in 2008 has Obama "done"? I would point to his campaign which ran like a Japanese bullet train. No leaks, no petty squabbles.
Especially after McCain picked Palin and Obama picked Joe, it was easy to see which team would be more competent.
What Joe and Kamala pulled off in 24 hours was a freaking miracle. I don't doubt he was serious about running, but when push came to shove,he handed the baton to her.
And she RAN with it.
This was not an accident. Bill and Hillary Clinton are not accidentally endorsing someone five minutes after they announce. Major unions aren't endorsing on a Sunday afternoon in July on a whim. He waited until after the RNC. She had speeches ready to go.
Don't hope because Democrats aren't having a circular firing squad.
Hope because competent people gamed this out and executed on a moment's notice.
It's funny...I was in the opposite camp. I've wanted Joe to decline to run again since, well, 2020 - for precisely the reasons we're seeing now.
Though for me, I wanted it to be about a year ago - long enough for a true primary to happen, but short enough as to catch everyone flat-footed so the cycle wouldn't kick off in say, mid-2022.
But he didn't, and I waited, and the debate happened, and I was so very confused as to why so many people were staying ride or die Biden.
Yea, he's been good on policy...great on policy, really, most effective President I've seen in my lifetime in many, many measures...but he's been weak AF on the thing that matters for an election, which is getting out and connecting to people.
And, well, he /was/ too old - because 'Too old' is about vigor, and the presidency needs to be someone who is vigorous. The job demands too much otherwise.
And I'll admit, I wanted that messy, sudden primary; but.
But.
For his last act, Biden & co pulled off the greatest single act of political judo I have ever witnessed, and even one more move of that quality probably seals the election for the Blues.
As soon as Newsom endorsed, well - I knew it was Joever for anyone but Harris, and truthfully, it neutralized the single greatest critique I had of her, which was she just wasn't great at politicking, not truly. Great at ladder climbing, but I don't want a ladder climber in office, I want a leader.
If the Kamala of the past few days, weeks, and months keeps going for the next 8 years, fuck yea, I'll fully embrace joining the K-Hive.
And I also know I'm an extreme skeptic - she was very low on my ideal 2020 candidates list, but...my feelings are changing. And if it's tapping me, I believe it's tapping more.
Lastly, on hope...never stop hoping. Learn to let go of attachments at a moment's notice - we have to, in a world like this - but never stop hoping. These days, I let those roots of attachment grow much, much more slowly, because I've had them torn up, or been forced to tear them up, so many, many times and it hurts each and every time, but the easier they are to transplant...
It doesn't make what's happening okay. But it makes it easier to endure, to stay sane in the midst of so much toxicity and insanity, and to keep clinging to hope - because killing hope is their final goal. It always has been.
Hope is the fuel with which we fight back.
Hope isn't a thing with feathers like Dickinson said. It's a shiny bauble with really sharp fucking edges and if we grab it in haste, we get sliced. This is to say: we have a lot of work to do to see the Good Thing happen, and to prevent the Bad Thing Redux.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Like many other things made by women, Emily’s full work is far more badass and serious than reported. ;)
Oh she sure was :) And now I have Yellow Rose of Texas in my head!
Try this instead...
(Lively vocal arrangement of Hope is the thing with feathers)
https://youtu.be/uO-Ts-Zm-gg?si=A9CSvrl-zWtd0TMx
This is a lovely and honest rant, thank you Catherynne. I've gotten this sense the last few days that everyone is bracing themselves for whatever comes next, even as they try to enjoy what's happening now. The fear of the hope is real, but it's also kinda constructive--no one is about to take a victory for granted, the need to work is real.
And as fodder for the hope: I think there's a core challenge for the Republicans when they really dig into their negative narrative. In 2016 and 2024, they could tell a story of equivalency (I'm not saying either story is true, but both stories had enough truth to catch on and dominate). In 2016, they could say both Trump and Clinton were corrupt. In 2024 so far, they could say both Trump and Biden were supposedly-disqualified. For swing voter "double haters," these were permission structures to vote for Trump. But *knock on wood hard enough to break bones* Harris doesn't seem to have an equivalency. For better and for worse, she's ALL contrast. That's a different story than the one they've won (or been on track to win) by telling.
Something I said after our election and we finally got rid of our garbage idiot rightwingers (the Tories).
"I feel like we just spend the last eight years digging our way through every item in Pandora's Box and we just got down to the very bottom, the last of all the horrors. And we found Hope.
Well, Sir Keir, you got this little fragile thing called Hope. Please don't break it."
Welcome, Hope 🕊️🌹
It's nice to have some hope and unity around here.
What is the coconut thing in the US? In the UK its is used as a racial slur - brown on the outside, white on the inside - that is offensive enough that people are prosecuted for racial harassment for using it.
It’s a story she tells about a thing her mother said to her that’s been picked up all across social
Media.
When her mother used to chastise Kamala and her sister when they were kids for not acknowledging that they were “standing on the shoulders of those who came before” (another Kamala-ism), she would ask them “do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”
👏👏
Thank you for this. I have felt fairly insane lately and I needed to hear every word of this rant. I completely agree with you and I want to hide all the hammers before the Democrats decide to freak out and start kneecapping each other.
All will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well…. Hold this thought. Believe.
When people said to me in 2008 has Obama "done"? I would point to his campaign which ran like a Japanese bullet train. No leaks, no petty squabbles.
Especially after McCain picked Palin and Obama picked Joe, it was easy to see which team would be more competent.
What Joe and Kamala pulled off in 24 hours was a freaking miracle. I don't doubt he was serious about running, but when push came to shove,he handed the baton to her.
And she RAN with it.
This was not an accident. Bill and Hillary Clinton are not accidentally endorsing someone five minutes after they announce. Major unions aren't endorsing on a Sunday afternoon in July on a whim. He waited until after the RNC. She had speeches ready to go.
Don't hope because Democrats aren't having a circular firing squad.
Hope because competent people gamed this out and executed on a moment's notice.