I know it's uncomfortable for political leaders to wade into the conversation that's happening in this country in the aftermath of the murder of the United Health CEO. But we need to listen to what people are feeling. And act.
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2/ First, this isn't a funding pause. It's a STOP WORK ORDER to almost all aid. Unprecedented.
So today we just stopped feeding babies and housing refugees and mediating conflicts all around the world. Aid orgs are laying off staff and many programs will not restart.
3/ Tons of kids are just going to die needlessly. Famine has struck in Sudan, but because of the freeze, our most important life savings programs shut down. Within weeks or maybe days, malnourished babies who rely on our food and care will die. news.un.org/en/story/2024/…
2/ First, let's not sugar coat the extent of RFK Jr.'s evangelism. The anti school vaccine organization he chaired is the nation's leading spreader of vaccine conspiracies and has filed dozens of lawsuits challenging vaccine mandates. npr.org/2024/12/03/nx-…
3/ And there is simply no question vaccines save lives. The WHO says the measles vaccine alone saved the lives of 20 million (20 MILLION!) kids over just 15 years. Many of those lives saved are right here in America. unicef.org/eca/press-rele…
That was a cataclysm. Electoral map wipeout. Senate D practical ceiling is now 52 seats. R's is 62.
Time to rebuild the left.
We are out of touch with the crisis of meaning/purpose fueling MAGA. We refuse to pick big fights. Our tent is too small.
1/ Some early thoughts:
2/ The left has never fully grappled with the wreckage of fifty years of neoliberalism, which has left legions of Americans adrift as local places are hollowed out, rapacious profit seeking cannibalizes the common good, and unchecked new technology separates and isolates us.
3/ The things that mattered are disappearing. We spend half as much time with friends as a generation ago. Hard work no longer guarantees economic mobility. Institutions (like churches) are delegitimized. Place based identity evaporates as we all become "global citizens."
The story of how VP Harris worked to diffuse a transition of power crisis in Guatemala - while Trump undermined the U.S. by supporting the loser of the election - is both incredible and a sign of how ready she is to lead.
2/ Biden gave Harris the job of reducing migration from Central America and by late 2023 her effort was showing remarkable success. Rates had come down 50%.
But a political crisis in Guatemala risked throwing that key country in chaos, potentially erasing many of her gains.
3/ President Alejandro Giammattei had just lost the election handily, but supported by Trump surrogates, he signaled he would refuse to give up power.
The inauguration of the winner, Bernardo Arévalo de León, was at risk. A Trump-backed Central American coup was at hand.