(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Biden as Chemo [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-07-02 First stab at a story after first comment. Look, before anyone goes haywire on seeing Biden and chemo in the same sentence, let me explain. I support Biden. I’m voting for him, like I did in 2020. I’ll vote for him dead, alive, or in the middle somewhere. I am also a chemo survivor myself, having done 6 rounds of R-CHOP and 3 rounds of methotrexate for b-cell lymphoma in 2020-2021. To say that it was not fun is to ludicrously understate what it was like. Not just the chemo, but the fear, anxiety, tragedy of having to tell my kids, kissing my wife goodbye in the hospital parking lot to go do my infusions alone (pandemic, dontcha know), and side effects. SIDE EFFECTS. I did it, and I’m alive to tell the tale. I vividly recall my first chemo session ever. I had lost 60 pounds, had nightsweats, could barely walk, and my nurses (oncology nurses are the highest expression of the human experience — convince me otherwise) put on protective gear to start my infusions. After the premeds, I was given at some point the “Red Devil”, a nickname for one of the lymphoma meds because it is red, turns your pee red, and has shitty side effects. In a very Hollywood experience, I saw it go round and round the PICC line, and finally into my body, and I had the thought that I was FINALLY putting some points on the board for the good guys, i.e., my cells that weren’t trying to actively kill me. It focused me on the task at hand in a way that nothing else has. I am so glad to be done with it, but gotta be real, I miss some of the intensity of the will to live that I had in those days. No need to be Merlin to know where I am going with this. Biden is not perfect. He is also not as flawed as painted. There is actual complexity to him and to the situation in which he finds himself. Trump, on the other hand, has a diseased simplicity to him that reminds me very much of my cancer. The Supreme’s recent decision is fair warning that there is a cancer in the body politic of this nation. Supporting the Democratic candidate without letting MAGA/punditry/MSM into my head is the least I can do, and I’m going to do it. I conceptualize it as chemo because it very much reminds me of doing something that in a perfect world I’d might rather not do, because the alternative is so much worse. Look, I’m no Spring Chicken. I’ve lurked at DK enough to read reams of flame wars of various flavors; Sanders/Clinton, Palestine/Israel, Save the Speaker/Don’t Save the Speaker, etc. to understand what is coming my way. Don’t care. Gonna vote for him. Gonna support him. Not going to treat people who disagree with me as enemies. Going to be the kind of strong, clear-eyed person that I will need to be regardless of who wins. As a side note, and in the spirit of fair disclosure, I have in the past supported Democratic aspirants in my Midwestern state who were decidedly not “Better” Democrats, focusing with laser-like intensity on “More”. MAGA’s tunnel vision ain’t so new. Going back to at least Bush II, Republicans have served notice that they will back their boy regardless. I’m frankly going to sink to their level, without apology. Someday, I can perhaps gloriously vote my conscience after a thorough and searching consideration of the Democratic contenders’ positions on those issues of economic equity and social justice that matter most to me. Some, like choice, matter ALOT. This ain’t that time, pal. This is the Year of the Sheep. Don’t care about polls, allegations of Parkinson’s, Democratic officials wetting themselves, etc. Too busy automatoning for Biden. (Is that even a verb?) For those of you keeping score, I am over 60, Latino and secular. No pollster has ever called me, which I regret. Coulda been fun. Probably not gonna spend a bunch of time responding, either. Don’t care about recs, tip jars, praise, or the like. Not gonna be upset if you point out the problems with my position or accuse me of (insert deviation from some perceived orthodoxy here). Hope you have a great day and stay on the right side of cancer centers. Peace. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/2/2250759/-Biden-as-Chemo?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/