Thanks, Kamala (Complimentary)
Can’t keep Kamala but will try to carry on-ala.
I’m doing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewatch with my husband (it’s his first time watching — sacreligious) and we recently watched Season 7, Episode 11 “Showtime” as we sprint toward the finish line of the series.
Buffy’s gotten her ass handed to her by this uber-vampire and things are not looking good. A bunch of Slayers-in-training are in town and it’s up to Buffy to get them fight-ready while also giving them hope. “We don’t have a lot of choices,” Buffy tells the group when laying out her plan. “And what if that doesn’t work? What if that monster gets through?” one potential Slayer asks. “Then we’ll deal,” Buffy responds. “Fight, you mean! How are we supposed to do that?” another potential asks. “And with what?” yet another piles on. “You staked that thing, and it didn’t die… maybe it can’t be killed.”
“Does that mean we shouldn’t try?” Buffy’s sister asks the group. “There’s that word again,” one of the potentials fires back. “Give up? Can we do that? Surrender, I mean, so it won’t kill us?” another asks.
Eventually, Buffy arms them each with weapons. It’s all she can do as she prepares them for a battle they’re in no way ready to fight. They run for their lives and eventually the uber-vamp catches up with them. Buffy has the group run to a “safe place” as she tries to take the vamp on yet again. He throws her into a car and then starts to make his way in search of the rest of the group to pick them off one by one. Buffy eventually catches up to them to save the day. She has no new weapons; her strength is depleted. All she has is resolve. He beats the hell out of her, but eventually she prevails (she always does). “I don’t know what’s coming next,” she tells her troupe. “But I do know it’s gonna be just like this: hard, painful. But in the end, it’s gonna be us. If we all do our parts. Believe it. We’ll be the ones left standing. Here endeth the lesson.”
On November 6th, millions of Americans woke up to the reality that their efforts to elect Kamala Harris the 47th president of the United States were all for not. The volunteering, the phone banking, the donating, the door knocking, the lawn signs, the giving of a part of ourselves — none of it mattered. Or so we can choose to believe. And while we once again look for answers to the question of “what happened?” and as we watch the blame game cycle through her VP pick, her decision not to go on Joe Rogan’s podcast, her stance on Gaza, her Biden answer on The View, etc., I can’t help but think what I fear the history books might overlook: With nearly impossible odds, Kamala Harris gave her all. And though she lost the game — a game we can argue was stacked against her from the outset — I think it’s important to acknowledge the history she made, even if it’s a bitter pill to swallow in looking at the history she couldn’t make.