Ya Allah Habibi!
Has the euphoria subsided yet? My man Abdul El-Sayed is off to a good start: He has publicly announced—as the new senator-elect of the state of Michigan—that he would not be supporting that Democrat relic from the Pleistocene age, that rabid Zionist and corporate pawn Chuck Schumer, to be his party’s leader come January.
Will Schumer still be in charge? Drunk with power and salivating at the prospect of donor dollars raining on him, Schumer (along with his fellow AIPAC-funded sidekick Rep. Hakeem Jeffries) has already taken credit for the Democrats’ historic and decisive a**-whipping of the Republican Party to take control of both houses of Congress.
It’s a tsunami, baby!
Even as it seemed at times impossible to pull off, the resounding victory of progressive Democrats at the ballot box last week may actually be the easy part. Though it must be said that the ensuing Republican meltdowns have been a joy to witness, especially after all their smug confidence up to the day of voting.
And the accompanying memes have been delightfully savage. Elon Mosque, anyone? Or what about the one about Trump accomplishing regime change, but in his own country, not Iran?
As states were being called last week, and the blue wave turned into a veritable tsunami, I couldn’t help but think of Martin Luther King’s famous quote about the arc of the moral universe being long, “but it bends towards justice.”
I’d like to think that’s true, but I’m afraid that El-Sayed and his fellow progressives face an uphill battle getting that arc to bend to a significant degree.
The Chuck and Hakeem show on repeat
The first wall they face is their own leadership. For Chuckie’s in love… with power. And Hakeem Jeffries, well, he’s looking to ride the coattails of congressional history by being the first-ever Black Speaker of the House. Indeed, it would be a historic feat, but is he the right person for the job?
So young, and already so trapo, so I don’t think so. And neither is Schumer the man this moment demands.
Both are smarmy politicians with occasional flashes of decency, who, when in the minority, use their “lesser of two evils” status to fundraise from corporate donors. They appease their voters by saying that once Democrats return to power they will demand accountability, pass laws that will restore their freedoms, and address the ever-pressing issues of income inequality, skyrocketing healthcare, homelessness, and joblessness.
And yet, once back in control of Congress, they deliver almost nothing of what they’ve promised.
Lesser of two (or three) evils
“It’s the economy, stupid,” was Bill Clinton’s famous campaign catchphrase when he ran—and won—against George Bush Sr. in 1992. The pithy slogan was meant to emphasize that American voters were focused on one thing only: the state of the economy and how their own personal finances were affected.
Clinton did cruise to victory but he proved to be just as much a tool—and an enabler—of the imperial capitalist system, notwithstanding his penchant for the saxophone and his “first Black American president” schtick.
The actual first Black American president, Barack Obama, was no different than his predecessors, despite his air of composure and intellectualism. And Biden, that ostensibly devout Catholic… well, look at how Gaza has been reduced to rubble. All that—and the thousands of men, women, and children still trapped under the debris, their corpses still to be unearthed from under the sand—happened under his watch, and with his full approval.
A systemic issue
But it’s not about the economy at all, even if the shock of high gas prices—and everything else—no thanks to the idiotic war with Iran that Trump has mired America in at the behest of Israel, was a pressing concern for many American voters this time.
It’s the system, habibi.
I hope El-Sayed and his batchmates at the congressional class of 2026 understand that and tear it all down. Only then will the moral arc of the universe bend irrevocably. Toward justice. Toward peace. Toward equality for all.
Until then, shawarma, anyone?
