Your Ordinary Citizen

It is unbelievable what’s happening. Yes, I know this administration is unhinged and cruel and chaotic, but so much of their decision making has been disjointed and clunky. There were tariffs, then there were no tariffs. There were deals, then there were no deals. Russian leaders are good. Russia leaders are bad (Russian leaders were always bad??). 

This constant back and forth and flip flopping makes statements like “we’re going to "deport all of the ‘illegals’” seem like another exasperated, exaggerated utterance almost laughable considering how discombobulated these Republican leaders seem when it comes down to actually taking action, but I was wrong. Those weren’t just words. It has been months of people being disappeared. It has been months of families being ripped a part. It has been months of fear, terror, and confusion for innocent people who were just born in a different part of the world but wound up here for a better life. For people who are deserving of dignity and due process, but shouldn’t even be swept into these broad strokes of mindless deportations in the first place. 

We have to acknowledge that the political climate in this country is the equivalent to being stranded on an island with an erupting volcano with a bunch of people insisting the eruption is fine, lava isn’t that hot, and if somehow you ignore all the obvious dangers everything will work out in the end. All while watching things burn around you. That is how these first 100 days have felt - like a sinking ship. A stranded space ship. A spiraling submarine. All at the hands of someone who frankly has no idea what he’s doing, who employs soulless advisors who only care about the bottom dollar and of course inflicting as much harm as possible on anyone who doesn’t believe exactly what they believe. This leaves the rest of us in this country trapped in this speeding dumpster fire, careening towards a cliff with no breaks and no way off. It is a MESS.

One of a few things I want to talk about today is Elon Musk or as he hates to be called, Space Karen. In my previous (deleted) post I mentioned a bunch of things Trump has done in his first few months in office, which legit feels like years at this point. It was all really to get to why I was writing, something I’m still reeling about…. you guessed it— DOGE. The Department of Government Efficiency. An insulting title within and of itself. A meme-ification of an entity that has the ability to devastate the lives of billions. The stupid acronym a proclamation of the group of unserious, unqualified underlings that have infiltrated the government by means of a South African billionaire who undoubtedly has some salacious intel on the president or else he simply wouldn’t be in that position. The whole thing feels like a Marvel plot.

I have been floored by the sheer number of rude, callous, stunningly cruel comments I’ve seen recently. There is a truly, evil cynical energy engulfing this country and stifling the dreams of change, of standing against the status quo, of believing in solidarity as communities fracture and hope is crushed under hubris and greed. This past omg has it only been a week?! - This past week has established a hypersensitivity in me that is sometimes overwhelming and is a constant reminder that these are yet again unprecedented times. I feel like I haven’t been able to truly relax since the 20th. I’ve had moments, but my mind continuously returns to the impending collapse they all seem to be rushing towards. Speeding towards destruction with a boldness and vigor that makes my stomach churn. It’s doubly scary because so many people still don’t seem to get it.

It’s finally here. The 31st. The end of an entire year filled with all sorts of emotions, experiences, endings, and beginnings.

We were mesmerized by Moo Deng, disappointed by Donald, and astounded by AI to name a few things.

Personally, I had a pretty intense year. Lots of feelings. Lots of change. Lots of discovery. I wouldn’t change it for the world as it has been filled with lots of learning as well. Instead of writing a bunch of resolutions, I wanted to share some things I learned about myself this year:

I don’t even know where to start. I don't even know what to say. We all had the same information. We all had access to the same internet to do the same research. We all have seen and heard what this man is capable of and the buffoonery and carelessness he brings to the highest office. With all of that more of this country decided he was the better option than Kamala Harris who runs circles around him intellectually.

This country would rather an alleged sex offender, racist, convicted felon, rambling moron than a Black Indian Woman. That is what the polls have shown. That is what this country has decided and we all have to live with this decision for the next four years. We all have to be subject to the unthinkable consequences of this man being elected to office and how he will unravel our tenuous fabric of democracy.

This is going to be extremely brief, but I wanted to share that I’ve rebranded my blog to not just be my name but an actual title. I also updated the colors, because I wanted a change. I chose “Your Ordinary Citizen” because I think it genuinely reflects the feel and nature of this blog as it’s evolved over the years. I am a tiny voice in the masses but I do feel a lot of my opinions reflect those of ordinary folks who are out here just trying to make sense of the chaos and question the status quo.

I want to vote for Kamala Harris. I believe she will not implement structural changes that will negatively affect large portions of US citizens, like a sweeping reduction of human rights. However there is this glaring reality that this country is still funding a genocide affecting thousands of Palestinians. What I and so many people have been seeing is the campaign against project 2025, but where is the stance on what will happen to Palestine once Harris is elected?

An aggressive message relying on not Trump has been in the forefront of many a campaign strategy for the Harris campaign. While this is a strong stance in defiance of a person and partyy in dissary, there are still glaring injustices that are not being addressed. It is such a hard thing to reconcile because while obviously lots of people don’t want Trump to become president, there is still a glaring reality that Palestine is being bombarded by bombs and hatred supported by the US war machine. It is impossible and shameful to not question what this new administration will do in this incredibly difficult situation. A lot of the country is protesting for a ceasefire and with this change up of leadership many questions are still unanswered.

We are living in a country where people are struggling to make ends meet, but there are millions of dollars being ported to fund a war a majority of the country is against.

I wrote the above back in August amidst the excitement and fanfare at the newly supported nominee and the sigh of relief at a candidate that showed a sweeping improvement in morale from the cynicism of Biden’s reelection.

With impeccable timing and a palpable excitement, Kamala Harris has become the replacement candidate for the Democratic party after Joe Biden so graciously bowed out.

It was something pundits speculated, the people begged for, and seemed to be the only logical move for the Dem party after a number of events that began to make us all question Biden’s ability to aptly fulfill the strenuous duties of Commander in Chief. The abysmal debate last month was the proverbial nail in the coffin that left too much uncertainty and plainly doubt. The reality of winning in November felt like a distant possibility and voting felt like a choice between fascism and a candidate that seemed to be on the verge of collapse but a necessary alternative. All the election boiled down to was preserving democracy and not allowing a criminal to institute unfathomable restrictions on human rights and cruel policies. The fire that burned in the last election was extinguished and replaced with extreme desperation. And then Joe made the announcement we were all hoping he would make. He eloquently put in his resignation letter and dropped the mic. Then immediately endorsed Harris as the nominee.

Welp if you saw the debate a few weeks ago, you may, like me, be feeling a special sort of all encompassing doom and gloom gripping your chest. A crushing concern.

Over these past few weeks I have been grappling with what I watched. I’ve been trying to put into words the pure dismay, disbelief, and discouragement I felt during and after watching what felt like two ornery grandfathers during the holidays trying to convince their grandkids that they can still fully participate in strenuous family games. The one part where they just started talking about their golf handicaps had me in a state of pure shock. I kept asking Ian, “Is this real? Is this really happening?” To which he replied with a firm and resolute, “Yes.”