How fortunate that I happen to be in the middle of rewatching The Wire. It is, somehow, a chipper reprieve from the bleak despair of our current reality.

The Wire is known for, amongst other things, it’s iconic quotes. “A man must have a code.” “You come at the king, you best not miss.” “We used to make shit in this country.” “You want it to be one way, but it’s the other way.” “WHERE’S WALLACE?” On this rewatch, however, a line I had forgotten about snuck up on me. It’s from the opening scene of “Hamsterdam” (season 3, episode 4) where Major Howard “Bunny” Colvin is addressing local community members at a town hall meeting:

“I know what’s goin’ on in your neighborhoods; I see it every day. Ma’am, it pains me that you cannot enter your own front door in safety and with dignity. But, truth is, I can’t promise you it’s gonna get any better. We can’t lock up the thousands out there on the corners. There’d be no place to put ’em even if we could. We show you charts and statistics like they mean somethin’. But you’re goin’ back to your home tonight, we gonna be in our patrol cars, and them boys still gonna be out there on them corners, deep in the game. This is the world we got, people, and it’s about time all of us had the good sense to at least admit that much.”

A man in the audience (played by E Street’s own Clarence Clemons) asks, “So… what’s the answer?” Colvin replies: “Well, I’m not sure… but whatever it is, it can’t be a lie.”

In her interview on Fox News, Kamala Harris was asked the following question:

“[Do you still] support using taxpayer dollars to help prison inmates or detained illegal aliens to transition to another gender?”

She answered:

“I will follow the law.” She then proceeded to try and flip the question into a clever “gotcha,” because the policy existed during Trump’s presidency too. The Fox News shitbird1 asked the question again. Her answer remained unchanged, defiantly obtuse: “I will follow the law.”

The answer should have been:

“Yes I do support the trans community, because [insert impassioned, forceful, convincing argument here].”

The most likely reason that she didn’t, the reason she instead dodged and avoided giving a clear response, is because she knew answering honestly would alienate not only Republicans but, let’s be real, a whole lot of “liberals” too (the day after the election, Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, told the New York Times “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports.”).

I understand the value of compromising to reach a goal with people who disagree with you. But there are some things you don’t compromise on, especially not out of fear. How are you supposed to convince others to join you on the righteous path when you don’t even sound convinced yourself?

Her answer was a lie. This is why we lost and why we will continue to lose.

If you believe (correctly) that Trump is an existential threat to American democracy, why blithely talk about how it’s time to “bring down the temperature" (LOL) and promise “We’re going to be OK” (both statements from Biden’s post-election address) when, if Trump and his clown car full of fascists follow through on their promises, there won’t be another election.

I know that sounds alarmist. But JD Vance said he would not have certified the 2020 election. Why on Earth, then, would they not just claim “interference” in 2028 and use that as a justification to not certify that election? It has been proven that voters will not hold them accountable. But Biden or Harris grabbing the mic and saying “these people are dangerous and you should do everything you can to subvert them” would mean breaking from the performance of political theatre and entering into reality.

I lied too. I excused the fact that there was no meaningful (or moral) difference in immigration policy. The exaltation of our “lethal” military. The bragging about owning a Glock. Ignoring Gaza. Pivoting from “Republicans are weird” to Liz Cheney. Any capitulation was justified because “it was the only way we could win.”

Trump won because A) America is racist as fuck and B) he said what the racists think and believe out loud. And they heard him.

People are sick and tired of the performative decorum of nightly news anchors, op-ed columnists, and politicians who only know how to speak in euphemisms and safe, pandering platitudes that risk nothing.

What if, just maybe, Democrats tried saying the quiet part loud for once?

For instance: “Policing needs major reform.” “Drugs should be legalized.” “‘Common sense’ gun laws are not enough.” “Immigration should be made easier (and encouraged).” “Tax billionaires.” “Trans folk are worth protecting.” “The poor deserve housing (and a universal basic income so they aren’t, you know, poor).” “Climate change is real and we may have to radically alter our way of life in order to save us from ourselves.”2

But these policies aren’t popular. Well, I know it’s hard, but it is our job to make them popular. Otherwise, what are we even doing here?

It will never happen. The pundits, the op-ed writers (can you tell I especially hate them?), the talking heads… all of the political “professionals,” they all said after Biden’s disastrous debate performance when everyone began to call for him to step down that “it would never happen.”

But then it did. So what the fuck do they know, and why are we still listening to them?

I would rather have limped forward for another four years with Kamala Harris than live through the horrors of an American Gestapo promising to (start with) deporting 11 million people. But that is not an option anymore. The Democratic party is a pile of ashes. Cause of death: self-immolation. What’s left is a blank slate: a chance for us to build something new.

Look at the world around us. The garbage of AI slop is piled high on every corner of the internet. Every social media platform is algorithmically designed to poison your brain. The actors in MCU movies are CGI swole. The voices you hear in pop songs have had all traces of humanity sanded off. Spam email. Chatbots. We have created a prison of unreality for ourselves. I think we’re vastly underestimating how starved people are for a real experience, a real feeling, a real voice.

The truth has power. When you hear it, it can feel like a gut punch. And there are guts out there that need a’punching. We (progressives/liberals) need to stop anticipating a defeat before we even start speaking. If you make an argument based not only on logic and facts but also humility, empathy, and (god forbid) humor… and you’re being honest about what you really believe? I don’t know. Maybe people will surprise you. Despite everything, I refuse to give up hope that it’s possible to connect with other people and change their minds.

So what’s the answer? I don’t know. But I know what it can’t be.