“I’m always ready to fight,” so stated the ex-Vice President Kamala Harris in her painfully revealing interview last week on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’ Those words punctuate a firm intent of her impending 2024 bid for the Presidency, not unlike words tossed around haphazardly. Despite her attempts to rally the cause of saving democracy, she incredibly pledges to do so not from a position of public service, but rather, from outside the system. Harris’ ploy of wanting to traverse the country, getting sightseeing done while merely ‘talking’ to the common folk, enforces an illusion that she is in step with their struggles. “We can’t give up on our empty promises,” she seems to echo.
Paraded as a noble statement, in clear English, she’s really just announcing a continuation of her past skirmishes with the current administration. Yet, ironically not from a position of power or of real consequence. A strange place to wage a fight. When listening to this, one might be justified in imagining an image of Harris, comfortably ensconced on a yacht off the coast of Malta, observing the state of the U.S. on her iPhone 25. A sad declination indeed.
“I’m striving to comprehend how Kamala Harris claims she’ll work outside the system, and people translate that as ‘she’s lounging idly,’” comments activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham, with the same spiraling confusion plaguing cyberspace. It indeed makes one wonder, with such an ambiguous strategy, how much help the forgotten victims of Harris’ policies can hope to receive.
In the golden age of information, digital platforms are a battleground for every nonsensical notion and baseless accusation. One quickly loses faith in the sanity of the populace when these assertions embody the fear-induced reactions to Harris’ seemingly indifferent plans. The perception as her turning a blind eye to the current socio-political climate is indeed troubling, but might it be because of the pitiful lack of trust common citizens exhibit for her proposed course of action?
This apparent scorn for Harris is not just about desiring a competent commander at the helm. It’s the sadly predictable expectation that Black women, a small demographic within the U.S., are tasked with saving a populace that shows little appreciation or admiration for their efforts. It’s baffling, the hostile attitude the populace seems to hold against Harris. Why then does she press on, one wonders.
The predictability that troubles abound when Harris or Michelle Obama are expected to singlehandedly salvage this crisis, while far more seasoned politicians like Joe Biden, George W. Bush or Bill Clinton are granted respite, is eyebrow-raising. A social media user’s request for the ex-VP to ‘pull up your big girl panties and help us fight’ is both outrageous and indicative of a misplaced sense of dependance.
The immediate and disrespect-laden response to such an assumption cannot be undermined. It’s shocking to see Harris treated as a scapegoat due to her rejection at the last presidential run – a rejection so bitter that the current President believes she should face judicial action over her supposed solicitation of Beyoncé’s support. Propping up Harris as some artificially elevated figure of grandeur while belittling her with unwarranted charges doesn’t exactly help the cause.
In the shadow of these online hostilities, the current headlines that discuss Harris’ forthcoming memoir about her short-lived presidential campaign are further discrediting and sensationalist. The narrative seems to be a strange mish-mash of disgrace and a hunger for scandal. Amid the noise, Harris’ actual honesty about her place in the system seems to get drowned out.
Harris made clear her reluctance to be a part of the governmental machinery to even Colbert, who seemed taken aback by her steadfast resolution to fight from the outside. It’s a reprieve that she acknowledged her defeat graciously and encouraged people to persist despite the odds. However, had she not pledged to listen to the country in a ‘non-transactional way,’ perhaps her image might not have suffered such great blows.
Colbert’s attempt to pry out of Harris the name of the current Democrats’ leader fell on deaf ears. Avoiding a direct answer, she chose to firmly pass on the responsibility of leadership onto the collective shoulders of the public. In half-hearted attempts at shifting the burden, one cannot help but wonder if Harris is washing her hands of the very responsibility she once coveted.
The role Harris coveted so deeply was not handed over to her. Yet it is expected of her to shoulder its burdens regardless. This decoupling of responsibility and authority raises questions about the state of our democracy, and the future of leadership. And unfortunately, these are the sentiments that seep into our discussions and become the focal points around which our own understanding revolves.
In conclusion, it is not incumbent on Harris to save us from the challenges that lie ahead. After all, she’s not the one captainning the ship. As such, any expectation for her to perform outside her designated role is both unjust and unproductive.
It’s important to remember that no single person or entity will swoop in to singlehandedly save the nation from its ills. The magnitude of the task at hand necessitates collective action and shared responsibility.
To project all expectations onto figures such as Harris underscores a need to reevaluate our perceptions of political leadership, its roles, and associated responsibilities. It is a collective responsibility, where each citizen must serve their role in the framework of our nation.
Harris might have signed up for a role she was denied, but she isn’t obliged to fulfill the role she didn’t receive trust for. It’s the uncomfortable truth we need to grapple with: salvation starts from within, and Harris clearly signals she’s merely one of the people helping, not leading, this fight. But tentative contributions must find the right place in our discourse.
In recognizing these complexities and moving past these binary discourses of expectation and performance, we can work towards fostering an environment that encourages active civic participation. As citizens, we should combat the erosion of our nation’s democratic values, fostering a culture that values constructive action over idle discourse.
The post Harris’s Evasive Presential Bid: All Talk, No Action appeared first on Real News Now.
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