by Margaret Kimberley, published on Black Agenda Report, October 30, 2024
Liberals love to indulge in performative virtue signaling rather than serious political conviction. Recent events proved that their highest priority is maintaining alliances with the Democratic Party, while dismissing any inconvenient truths that point out their hypocrisy.
Nothing reveals the corrupt nature of U.S. politics like a presidential election. The theater of the absurd is played out every four years, giving the illusion of choice between two parties that more often act in agreement than not. Millions of people become emotionally invested in candidates who use red meat to generate support from their respective constituencies while defense contractors, big pharma executives, and oil company oligarchs sit back and watch, knowing that they will get what they want regardless of the outcome. Fake outrage is the order of the day, as the public is swayed by manufactured dramas meant to encourage participation, but often over insignificant issues.
This columnist personally witnessed the fervor of Donald Trump supporters as they entered New York City’s Madison Square Garden to attend a rally held on October 27. The MAGA hats and other paraphernalia that were worn and sold by street vendors are rarely seen in Manhattan and the arena which hosts sporting events and concerts instead had a large sign proclaiming, “DREAM BIG AGAIN!” with an image depicting a giant Trump who towered over the Empire State Building.
The rally was most definitely an opportunity for the MAGA crowd but failed because it reminded low motivation voters that they don’t like Trump very much and encouraged the normally apathetic to go to the polls. The proceedings probably did more harm than good as Trump and his supporters lived up to the worst expectations held about them. Some of the rally proceedings were comical, as Oprah Winfrey’s creation, Dr. Phil McGraw, proclaimed himself to be against DEI programs. The unqualified quack psychologist shouldn’t be seeing clients at all but became rich and famous because of patronage bestowed on him by a Black woman, but no matter. He knew his audience.
So did Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani has been disbarred in New York and in Washington, DC as a result of his 2020 shambolic courtroom performances in the futile effort to have Trump declared the winner. A judge ordered him to give the two Black women he defamed possession of his apartment in order to pay the judgment they won against him. Giuliani is financially embarrassed in large part because Trump has refused to pay the legal bills he incurred as a result of the quixotic election effort.
But Giuliani is sticking with his ungrateful client and continues to make a fool of himself on his behalf. He felt compelled to say that we must fear Palestinian toddlers . “The Palestinians are taught to kill us at two years old,” shrieked the man once known as “America’s mayor.” For good measure, he added, “She (Kamala Harris) wants to bring them to you. They may have good people. I’m sorry I don’t take a risk with people who are taught to kill Americans at two.”
Of course, his comments were outrageous, but neither Giuliani nor Trump hold any office in the U.S. government now. Palestinian children are themselves killed by Israel with the help of the U.S. The fact of the U.S.’s role in their suffering is rarely mentioned by the liberals who upset themselves upon hearing Giuliani’s words. Many of these same people have proclaimed support for Kamala Harris, whose administration is killing Palestinian men, women, and children. More Palestinian women and children have been killed over the past year than during the same period of time in any conflict in the last 20 years. The dismal statistic is the result of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ decision-making, yet many of those unnerved by Giuliani’s words stand by their candidate who is actually responsible for the ongoing genocide.
Not to be outdone by McGraw and Giuliani, a so-called comedian named Tony Hinchcliffe said, “I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The blatant racism is rightly condemned, but Puerto Rico, stolen from Spain in an imperialist war and kept as a “commonwealth”, is a U.S. colony and suffers due to its status. Tax giveaways to corporations plunged the island into debt , vulture hedge funds bought the debt and then sued Puerto Rico’s government when it couldn’t repay. Devastating austerity programs were presented as the only solution. Puerto Rico’s problems were created by republicans and democrats alike, and the independence that would solve its problems is stymied at every turn. Puerto Rico is rarely discussed but the musings of a racist comic put it back in the news with little discussion of what is right for the people there.
The Trump rally was not the only means of channeling well-intentioned but wasted energies. The Washington Post is a legacy newspaper that has always been a conduit of information for the state and often functioned as a cover for the CIA , hiring CIA agents as journalists or getting journalists to do its work. Even the Frank Church Senate Committee investigating the work of intelligence agencies hid the extent of CIA and media connections at the request of former agency directors such as George H.W. Bush.
The paper is not as liberal as widely believed, but until this year reliably endorsed the Democratic Party presidential candidate. However, billionaire owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, decided not to endorse and the floodgates of liberal angst opened wide. The newspaper’s editorial team was apparently ready to endorse Harris but refrained on Bezos’ orders.
Bezos ownership was always problematic. The Post was the creator of the Propaganda Or Not hoax alleging Russian influence in outlets such as Black Agenda Report. Amazon has cloud computing contracts with the CIA, National Security Agency, and the Department of Defense. It is believed that Bezos feared losing his Blue Origins space exploration contract with the federal government if Trump should win. Trump met with the Blue Origins CEO after the non-endorsement was announced.
Liberals reacted by canceling their subscriptions; more than 200,000 readers did so. They were not outraged by its long history of colluding with the state, of allowing journalists to spy, or even by the Bezos purchase. In 2019 Bernie Sanders was vilified when he questioned the Post’s biased coverage of his presidential campaign. But once the corporate media icon declined to give Harris the seal of approval, liberals declared war.
But it was Michelle Obama who delivered perhaps the week’s masterpiece of fakery and foolishness. She didn’t hold back as she spoke passionately in favor of abortion rights , but that was not the only issue she raised.
“To anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third-party candidate in protest because you’re fed up, let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum.” It wasn’t enough for Michelle Obama to say she supports reproductive rights, she was also there to dissuade any independent thinkers from acting independently. But it isn’t a small party candidate that stands in the way of protecting abortion rights. It is democrats like her husband.
Barack Obama campaigned in 2008 claiming to be in support of codifying the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision into law by passing the Freedom of Choice Act . He was elected with control of both houses of congress, including a veto proof majority in the senate, but he took no action to pass the Act he claimed to care about. Ninety days into his term he declared that it was not his highest priority . It wasn’t even a low priority. Neither he nor any democratic member of congress attempted to get it passed.
Michelle Obama exhorted women to talk to the men in their lives about reproductive rights. Hopefully, she talked to her own husband about his betrayal of millions of people who wanted him to do what he said he would do. Now his wife pretends that the loss of abortion rights has nothing to do with him and everything to do with Donald Trump.
The Democratic Party is once again setting up its supporters for the okey doke. Even if Kamala Harris is elected with control of both houses will she fight for abortion rights, or will she say that her political capital must be spent elsewhere, or claim the parliamentarian won’t let her do what she wants? Will Puerto Rico be free or will it remain an exploited colony? As for Palestinian children, Harris has already answered that question. She says there will be no arms embargo against Israel and so Palestinians will continue to be killed.
Who knows what phony outrage awaits with less than one week before Election Day. There will surely be something but it is up to us not to be fooled again and to call out hypocrisy and lies when we hear them.
*Featured Image: Trump rally on October 28, 2024 at Madison Square Garden with Empire State Building in the background. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents . You can support her work on Patreon and also find it on the Twitter , Bluesky , and Telegram platforms. She can be reached via email at margaret dot kimberley at blackagendareport dot com.