This is America

 

Donald Trump is President of the United States again. Republicans also won the Senate. However, the story of America is still being written, and many of us will do whatever we can to never go back.

THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali Nov 6 I confess I had more faith in America. I overestimated my fellow Americans. I assumed that people would be willing to turn the page and elect the first female President, a daughter of Black and Indian immigrants who prosecuted criminals. Instead, Americans decisively decided to elect a twice-impeached criminal who was held liable for sexual assault and ended his campaign with numerous blunders, including spouting racism, misogyny, and threatening violence against his critics. To make it worse Trump is on track to win the popular vote. I was wrong. I assumed the numbers would break for Harris. I thought she’d win the popular vote and take 300+ in the electoral college based on the swing states. I expected Latinos would break for her at the last second due to Trump’s rampant misogyny. I assumed “enough” white men and women would finally discard him, but nope. This is America. I was here in 2016 when I assumed that Clinton would beat Trump. I was at the Javits Center when so many women were waiting for the balloons to drop. But, he won by a whisker. I returned to the Huffington Post office and comforted many young women That was 9 years ago before Roe v. Wade was overturned and Trump incited a violent insurrection. I assumed that this country would reject a man who performed fellatio on a microphone the week ahead of the election, but I was wrong. This is America. I went on Piers Morgan and said I would eat halal crow if I was wrong, and I’ll stand by it. I don’t mind falling on my sword and convictions. Yes, MAGA will mock and ridicule me, but I can take it. I’m more worried about our democracy, our rule of law, and our hard-earned freedoms. Regardless of who was going to win, I knew this would be the beginning of the long fight. I just apologized to my wife for not doing more, but honestly, I did what I could. To those who read The Left Hook and appreciated my bold and foolish optimism, I’m sorry if I disappointed you. I’m not the only one who was wrong if you look at some of the most reliable pollsters that predicted Harris would win. I know there will be a lot of blame going around. It was Biden! It was Harris! He should’ve stayed in the race! He should’ve resigned sooner! It was Gaza! But, I think the answer was clear a majority of us in the United States of America believed things were headed in the wrong direction and that economy was bad even though President Biden improved upon the disaster that he inherited from Trump. We are dealing not just with racism and misogyny, which are rooted in American soil, but also massive right-wing media monopoly and disinformation in which many of our Americans live on Earth 3. Also, it should be much bigger news that Russia actively interfered in our election on election day with fake bomb threats aimed at reliably Democratic counties in swing states. Considering Trump won the electoral college and popular vote - as of now at least - this was a repudiation of the current Administration. Enough people thought Trump will make their lives better. Yes, it’s painful to admit that, but this is where we are because this is America. A potential silver lining is that Democrats might hold the House which would act as a small check, but my hope has always been in the people. Considering we went from Bush to Obama to Trump to Biden and now back to Trump, I realize there are enough fickle voters in my country. I believe Trump will be a dysfunctional, chaos agent who will fuck up because that’s who he is and what he will always be. I do not believe JD Vance will be able to hold the MAGA cult if/when Trump passes away, but the GOP is now thoroughly cannibalized by right-wing extremism and has peeled off enough young people and men of color. UFC’s Dana White hailed Joe Rogan, Theon Von, and Adin Ross from the Trump victory rally. Billionaire techno bros like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and their cadre of privileged men who feel perpetually victimized and aggrieved by women and people of color are also big winners. I remain hopeful we can win back the majority because Republicans are terrible at governing. Their policies are unpopular because they fail and always cause immense harm, especially to their own base. The center must now hold and it can only do so if we, the people, organize and resist. If we still have elections in 2026 and 2028 (inshallah), I believe there can be another realignment because what I’ve learned from the past 10 years is that Americans are a fickle bunch and anything can happen.  I grew up a sick, left-handed kid who wore Husky pants and couldn’t speak English even though I was born here, which means I’m used to being the underdog. I always love being in an honorable, righteous fight especially when the deck seems stacked against me and my friend. I’ll be here writing to make sure my voice and our stories keep living. I hope you’ll join me. Onward. The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid Thanks for reading The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali! This post is public so feel free to share it. Ha ha ha.... A good few words to describe the mood and psych of many Americans and other international voters and spectators to our presidential elections, albeit the writer's insistence on inserting his Islamism into his text, for no obvious reason, still I'm copying his words as a true and genuine feeling of many.     As always my profound many thanks to all.

France upset by faltering efforts in Lebanon: Netanyahu linked war cessation to normalization agreement with Lebanese state....

For the first time, France has expressed pessimism that stopping the Israeli aggression on Lebanon might be a complicated and difficult matter, as French diplomatic circles revealed that Netanyahu linked stopping the war on the Lebanese front to one condition, which is the conclusion of a normalization agreement with the Lebanese state. Netanyahu himself said this to the French, and he reiterated that Israel's security comes first, followed by the implementation of Resolution 1701, According to Al Diar, a Lebanese paper.

 Hezbollah to accept a humiliating ceasefire agreement through violent shelling and targeted strikes, but the facts on the ground have dashed its “hopes” and revealed Hezbollah’s strength on the ground. The party has demonstrated a great ability to maneuver and then strike the “Israeli” forces without the latter being able to reach its points of presence. Moreover, through unconventional combat tactics, the resistance fighters were able to ambush the Israeli forces and kill 95 Israeli soldiers, in addition to launching rockets from secret locations that inflicted huge losses on the occupation army, which created a state of frustration among the enemy’s general staff. Thus, the magic has backfired on the magician. The reality is that today the Israeli army is experiencing a state of humiliation and confusion regarding its targets, while Hezbollah has achieved military accomplishments, which will push the Zionist entity to review its calculations regarding the ground operation in the south.

Arab military sources revealed to Ad-Diyar that “Israel” is seeking to push Hezbollah to accept a humiliating ceasefire agreement through violent shelling and targeted strikes, but the facts on the ground have dashed its “hopes” and revealed Hezbollah’s strength on the ground. The party has demonstrated a great ability to maneuver and then strike the “Israeli” forces without the latter being able to reach its points of presence. Moreover, through unconventional combat tactics, the resistance fighters were able to ambush the Israeli forces and kill 95 Israeli soldiers, in addition to launching rockets from secret locations that inflicted huge losses on the occupation army, which created a state of frustration among the enemy’s general staff. Thus, the magic has backfired on the magician. The reality is that today the Israeli army is experiencing a state of humiliation and confusion regarding its targets, while Hezbollah has achieved military accomplishments, which will push the Zionist entity to review its calculations regarding the ground operation in the south.

Informed sources told Ad-Diyar that despite the intensive airstrikes and continuous shelling, Hezbollah maintains strong points of control in the south, relying on its military experience and equipment in that region, which includes a network of tunnels and advanced weapons stores.
Regarding the failure of the American initiative for a ceasefire between Lebanon and the Zionist entity, prominent political circles told Ad-Diyar that the visit of American envoy Amos Hochstein to Israel came at a lost time, noting that it was expected that Netanyahu would not make any decision at the present time because he is awaiting the results of the American presidential elections. A

senior military expert pointed out that the brutal bombing carried out by enemy aircraft on the south, the Bekaa and the suburbs has become clear that it is not engaged in military objectives, but rather social and sectarian goals to ignite strife within the unified Lebanese society. The raids on Baalbek, Tyre and Nabatieh aim to destroy the foundations of life in these cities and others and make it difficult for the residents of these villages to return after their homes were completely destroyed. Moreover, Israeli officials are trying to push the Lebanese people to revolt against Hezbollah, while these attempts have proven their failure time and time again.

Informed sources told Ad-Diyar that despite the intensive airstrikes and continuous shelling, Hezbollah maintains strong points of control in the south, relying on its military experience and equipment in that region, which includes a network of tunnels and advanced weapons stores.
Regarding the failure of the American initiative for a ceasefire between Lebanon and the Zionist entity, prominent political circles told Ad-Diyar that the visit of American envoy Amos Hochstein to Israel came at a lost time, noting that it was expected that Netanyahu would not make any decision at the present time because he is awaiting the results of the American presidential elections. 

A senior military expert pointed out that the brutal bombing carried out by enemy aircraft on the south, the Bekaa and the suburbs has become clear that it is not engaged in military objectives, but rather social and sectarian goals to ignite strife within the unified Lebanese society. The raids on Baalbek, Tyre and Nabatieh aim to destroy the foundations of life in these cities and others and make it difficult for the residents of these villages to return after their homes were completely destroyed. Moreover, Israeli officials are trying to push the Lebanese people to revolt against Hezbollah, while these attempts have proven their failure time and 

 

According to Al-Binaa sources, “Lebanon, the government and the resistance, won the first round of negotiations by aborting the Israeli conditions, through integration between the field and the negotiations, where the official Lebanese position represented by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is negotiating to the rhythm of the field achievements of the resistance, which accelerated the pace of its operations to provide the political negotiator with strong cards to invest in and to strengthen Lebanon’s position to block international pressures to pass dictates and gains to the enemy that it could not achieve on the field.”

The sources stressed that Lebanon will stand firm no matter how great the sacrifices are to prevent the enemy from imposing new rules of engagement on the resistance and breaking the military and political equation with Lebanon.
According to those familiar with the negotiations’ course for Al-Binaa, “the enemy’s prime minister is the one who rigged the negotiations, stuck to his conditions and foiled the last chances for a ceasefire agreement based on Resolution "1701".

A good Lebanese report, depicting the real situation on the ground, at least according to some Lebanese well informed analysts, The war is still raging, and it indicates the world's and America's failure to come up with a fair solution, The existing Israeli régime, drunk by its destructive powers is resolute now to fully subdue all its neighbors, and they are coming to them one by one with hatred and vengeance and a full sense of superiority, unless it develops into a total regional war, that will drag the world with it.

And as our actual administration continues their unconditional and seemingly boundless support for Israel's military actions that has spread beyond Palestine into Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Despite the administration's stated goals of avoiding a regional war, increasingly dangerous escalations and barbaric interventions have been made possible by unlimited and unchecked transfers to the Israeli government of billions of Dollars worth of weapons and military aid, comprehensive intelligence sharing and operational coordination, plus an unconditional diplomatic cover from the U.S. in the face of widespread condemnation from the international community. 

Every day that passes without a ceasefire produces more catastrophic loss of life and livelihood, and threaten further death and destruction, we have an obligation to both the living and the dead  from all sides, to put an immediate end to this horrific devastation.  Finally, no one in his right mind can accept a one side to destroy and annihilate the other then ask for normalization and mutual respect, it just doesn't work like this in life.      

My usual many thanks to all.