From TPM Reader CK …
I’ve been a reporter in North Carolina for 30 years, covering the coast and rural counties. For many months, and continuing to this day, there are millions and millions of dollars of Biden Infrastructure and IRA funds pouring into rural communities here for projects to address needs that have been neglected or ignored for decades: wastewater treatment system upgrades, removal of lead pipes in water systems; repairs of rotting boardwalks and docks in small waterfront and fishing communities; mitigation of saltwater intrusion in farm fields, flood resilience in low-elevations; etc, etc. They’re all necessities that will result in real honest-to-god improvements in people’s lives. Virtually none of the beneficiaries — fishers, farmers, residents in communities vulnerable to sea level rise— have any idea that Biden was the reason they have those improvements, or will be getting them soon (when Trump will no doubt take credit.) The Democrats and the administration should have been bragging constantly and everywhere about the funds and the economic recovery. Government subsidies have lifted a nascent renewables industry into a booming profitable job-creator. Again, the messaging to the public about all of these economic factors should have been short, sweet and constant. And Kamala Harris should have included rebukes to Trump lies about the economy in her talking points.
I think Harris did a stellar job, but the Ds had no answer or counterbalance to the tsunami of disinformation, propaganda and conspiracy theories from Trump supporters that was gleefully and thoroughly spread and fed by right wing social media and broadcast media, as well as an ocean’s worth of dark money and campaign funds provided by billionaires to fund all of the above.
I also fault the justice system — most particularly Mueller and Garland — for abiding by justice department “guidelines” instead of pursuing necessary justice that would have made Trump accountable and stopped him long ago. Rather than slam Trump to the metaphorical floor for his multitude of crimes from the get-go, they allowed a criminal THEY KNEW threatened our democracy and both our national and international security to slither through all the holes in their self-imposed justice department protocol. In the face of what the evidence revealed was a dire threat to our nation, they chose not to be bold and take a little heat. And so they folded to the bully, despite all the evidence. And of course, the spineless and corrupt GOP leadership saw the weakness and ran with it, with all the members following their treasonous lead.
The point I want to make is that I don’t see the failure that led to this alarming outcome to be the fault of the Democratic party read of the room as much as it is a result of the stunning flood of money — much secret — that is essentially buying elections, as well as the uncontrolled disinformation, lies and propaganda that is manipulating the electorate. We are literally living in different realities — how can you reach people that don’t seek the truth, or even know where to find it or what it is? And of course, the other failure is that gerrymandering has been allowed to continue, and as someone who lives in a very gerrymandered state, I can observe that it absolutely results in a disengaged, cynical electorate.
I’m really sick of the people who expect to be spoon-fed information, rather than seeing it as a citizen’s responsibility to be informed by legitimate sources of information At the same time, people are holding candidates like Harris to unreal standards of perfection, as if they should meet all their expectations and needs (maybe because they watch too many unreal TV shows?) The challenge Democrats had was convincing them that Trump is an unprincipled shape-shifter and a master manipulator, without alienating them.
Oh, Harris also had to overcome America’s deep-seated racism and sexism. I had hoped we had matured as a nation, but alas.
That’s my two cents.
Thank you for being a trusted news source, from another traumatized reader
