Are you feeling as weary as I am? Lately, it seems my words, whether in blog posts or tweets, are increasingly critical and politically charged. And who can blame us? In the midst of an election year, our choices boil down to two problematic, out-of-touch, geriatric white men. It’s a disheartening reflection of the state of our nation.

Candidate 1: DJT

I could write a book about my disdain for this human, but we’ll keep this list short. He is a pathological liar. One article estimates that during his presidency he totaled over 35,000 false or misleading claims. I do not trust a word that comes out of his mouth–his only goal is to retain power, and he will do whatever it takes to do so (remember the January 6th insurrection?). He has mocked individuals with disabilities, bragged about sexual assault, and made racism a part of his regular rhetoric. He is the only President to ever be impeached twice, and currently has a combined 88 federal and state charges against him.

Oh, and let’s not forget his packing of the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, showing his distrust of women and their reproductive autonomy. He has no true opinion on the matter–constantly switching viewpoints to whatever is going to make him more favorable to his cult.

The sad part–his base does not care. He is their religion, their savior, their wrongfully convicted victim of a corrupt government out to “get him”. You may be one of those people, and that’s fine, but if you’re reading this article, I imagine you have a stake in education. We need a leader who believes in the power of public education and funnels money into it–not someone who cuts funds and continually threatens to abolish the department of education. 

Candidate 2: Joe Biden

Up until six months ago, I was really proud of Joe Biden and his team. Inflation sucks, but he got it under control. He invested in public transportation and rebuilding roads/bridges, took aggressive action against climate change, passed the Respect for Marriage Act, and has even passed firearm legislation.

Sadly, all of this is not enough to absolve him of the heinous handling of the genocide happening in Palestine. The United States is complicit in these acts, and has been funneling money, weapons, and resources to Israel–the most recent amounting to $15 billion. With over 34,000 Palestinian deaths (mostly women and children), Gaza is in famine and has been left in ruin. Biden has done more to crack down on protests in America than to crack down on Israel’s decimation of Gaza–a fact that leaves him unpopular with me and with young voters. Protesting war is not new, and the young people will not go away or give up, even if that means dealing with police violence. Biden has done too little to stop Netanyahu and his extremist right-wing government.

Now that I sit back and think about it, I’m not surprised that these are our candidates. For a country founded on white supremacy, patriarchy, and genocide, they are a perfect fit.

This microblog post was a featured post in #slowchathealth’s #microblogmonth event. You can search for all of the featured posts here. Please do follow each of the outstanding contributors on social media (including Drew Miller, the author of this post) and consider writing a microblog post of your own to be shared with the global audience of slowchathealth.com

Pair this blog post with the following:

It’s Time to Speak Out by Drew Miller

What Divides Us, Becomes Us by  Michelle Rawcliffe

Full Time Health Educator, Part Time Mayor by Izzy Gogarty

Have you read the latest Book of the Month recommendation?