Re-Engaging the Political Debate
I’ve not been posting much political content for the past months for a few reasons. First, the issue most central to the global debate is uniquely ill-suited to social media. In October, the day after Hamas murdered over 1000 Israelis, I hazarded this excerpt from the poem September 1, 1939, by W.H. Auden:
“I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.”
Like Auden’s complete poem, written just hours after Hitler invaded Poland, setting the stage for World War II, I offered that stanza as a lament for the hell that would flow from that newly minted and atrocious history of violent action.
It was not taken as such.
Rather, my post was interpreted as anti-Semitism and a justification for Hamas’s murder of men, women, and children. I think I cleared that up in subsequent conversations with dear friends, and if I lost some followers and readers for it, that’s okay, too. Yet, I was reminded, all over again, how - while social media can be an excellent tool for conversation, community building, and political action, this is not the place - or at least not my place of choice - for engaging the historical charnel of Israel and Palestine. There’s too much pain and stridency, too much historical bias masquerading as absolute certainty to allow for more than rage to flow. So, I hold those conversations in more private spaces, where I might learn a little more and offer my meager insight into the hell being wrought perpetually by vicious, rightist men with fascist intentions of elimination and removal of “enemies” who, far too often, are kids buried in the rubble of hospitals or left raped and dying on the blood-soaked ground of a music festival.
I do not want to add to that hatred and pain here, so I’ve held my tongue and will continue to hold it on social media until I see a time when it might do some good. Yet, as nothing else has been more important, politically speaking, than Israel and Palestine, I’ve tended away from any political commentary for a while on this wall.
The other reason I’ve not been posting much politically in recent months is that the Biden folks hadn’t fielded a campaign until yesterday afternoon. For months, we’ve been inundated with Republican talking points from right-wing candidates and their allies in the media – and, yes, I’m looking at you, CNN. Shouting into that overwhelming storm seemed pointless. But now the campaign is engaged, and we will be too. I’ve been thinking quite a lot about the shape and motion of the coming eleven months, and I still feel really good about our prospects – though the next few rounds will be hard.
There will be a front opening in a few weeks at the Supreme Court. My sense is we will lose that first round to the pathetic weakness of our current 6-3 split of dishonest hacks and political appointees. Yet, I’m more hopeful about the case that comes next. If the Appeals Court for the DC case writes a strong enough opinion to give SCOTUS the out of denying certiorari, we might still see the Chukin trial in May or June. That’s gonna be a blast. Also, there will be lots of fun news in February as the Haley and DeSantis campaigns continue to implode, and the nation again focuses on just how truly awful and dangerous Trump Unbound would be to our republic.
But that’s all for the weeks ahead. I just wanted to take a few moments today to explain my recent (and likely welcomed) silence on the grand affairs of the state – but that’s done for now. Honestly, I’m looking forward to re-engaging. Unlike most Democrats, I fucking LOVE a good bar fight, and this one will be Donnybrook for the ages. So grab a pool cue, find a Red-Cap Nazi about your size, and let’s start (metaphorically) swinging. This one is for all the marbles.
Oh, and love to you all!
