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A really extraordinary moment occurred on the CNN “town hall” with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday.

Asked by an audience member what she would do to end the slaughter of Palestinians by US-sponsored bombs, Harris delivered her usual canned answer about how “far too many” Palestinians have died and the need for a two-state solution, after which host Anderson Cooper asked a follow-up question.

“What do you say to voters who are thinking about supporting a third-party candidate, or staying on the couch, not voting at all because of this issue?” Cooper asked.

What followed was an absolutely jaw-dropping answer from the vice president. In essence she says that people who have strong feelings about the genocide in Gaza need to get over it and vote for her anyway if they want abortions and affordable groceries, because she supports the genocide and that’s not going to change.

This isn’t an exaggeration.

She’s literally saying that she understands why people don’t want to support a genocide, but that she DOES support the genocide, and if you want minimally decent domestic policy, you’re going to have to support the genocide too. https://t.co/1ycFpKbJIZ

— Bryce Greene (@TheGreeneBJ) October 24, 2024

“Listen, I am not going to deny the strong feelings that people have,” Harris said. “I don’t know that anyone who has seen the images who would not have strong feelings about what has happened, much less those who have relatives, who have died and been killed. And I and I know people and I’ve talked with people, so I appreciate that.”

“But I also do know that for many people who care about this issue, they also care about bringing down the price of groceries,” Harris continued. “They also care about our democracy and not having a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist. They also care about the fact that we need practical, common-sense solutions from a leader who is willing to work across the aisle on behalf of the American people and not themselves. They want a president who cares about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body, understanding that we’re not trying to change anyone’s belief, but let’s not have the government telling women what to do with their body.”

Which is just wild. I mean, technically she’s not saying anything different from what liberals have been shouting for months at Americans who oppose the Gaza genocide, but she’s not supposed to say that! She’s not supposed to come right out and admit that she’s a genocidal monster and tough shit if you don’t like it because the other candidate is the greater evil. That’s normally the sort of disgusting manipulation you let other people do for you while pretending to be a good person.

“I’m Speaking”

Oil on canvas. pic.twitter.com/k3EMdAcqNs

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) August 26, 2024

The only positive thing coming out of this nightmare is that it’s exposing the real monsters for who they are.

More and more people are seeing that the US government is much too evil to be allowed to rule the world.

More and more people are seeing that the state of Israel is much too evil to be allowed to continue to exist in its present iteration.

More and more people are seeing that the western press are propaganda services for the US power alliance and should never be trusted.

More and more people are seeing that the Democratic Party exists solely to protect the murderous and corrupt oligarchic status quo of the US empire and not to promote the interests of ordinary human beings.

More and more people are seeing that western liberalism is just a more photogenic version of fascism.

When you’ve got a leading presidential candidate standing in front of the nation saying that yes she will continue an active genocide but you’d better vote for her anyway if you want abortions and affordable groceries, that shows people something about the kind of nation they live in that you could never get across to them by sheer argumentation.

When you’ve got evidence of mass atrocities entering people’s social media feeds on a daily basis while the entire political-media class tells them this is fine and normal, that communicates a message which would be hard to receive in words alone.

There is so very, very little to say about this horror that is remotely positive. But it is opening eyes. And enough open eyes is all that’s required to change the world.

Original article: Caitlin Johnstone