Summer 2024: The Season of Complicity from Kalama to Hamas
During the summer of 2024, various significant events took place, ranging from social media censorship battles to the removal of a sitting US president, protests over Palestine, and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This period could be aptly termed as the summer of complicity.
As wars continued and an election loomed, the intricate relationships between enablers and the enabled showcased their substantial impact on the core of our democracy and nation.
With no distractions like “Barbie” dolls, “Oppenheimer,” or domestic Taylor Swift concerts, complicity emerged as a common theme during these warm months – a dance between powerlessness and excess supported by a compliant media and a public tired of extreme partisanship.
The removal of Joe Biden and his replacement by Kamala Harris in July exemplified a masterclass in large-scale complicity. Many were aware of the president’s declining health, from Harris and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to the Parkinson’s specialist making frequent visits to the White House. Despite this, the Washington press corps largely failed to report on it. Biden’s handlers covered up his various missteps and incompetencies.
Progressive media played a crucial role in perpetuating the facade of Biden’s fitness for office. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough adamantly claimed Biden was intellectually at his peak just before his debate with Donald Trump, only for Biden to retract his reelection bid shortly after.
Complicity was also evident in America’s approach to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Blinken stated that Iran’s breakout time has been significantly reduced under the Biden administration compared to figures from 2015. Biden’s return to negotiations with Iran, instead of Trump’s maximum pressure campaign, has emboldened the regime and allowed it to increase its global influence.
Similarly, Big Tech has portrayed itself as a champion of free speech despite a history of censorship and suppression. While Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg now vows to resist government censorship, he was once involved in suppressing COVID skepticism and other information.
Complicity has also affected efforts to combat global antisemitism, with major corporations and governments undermining Israel’s defense against hate groups like Hamas. The indifference and complicity seen over the summer have led to a lack of accountability, as evident in the events surrounding Biden’s removal and other issues going unaddressed.
As the autumn sets in, the normalization of complicity continues, with accountability waning and impunity prevailing.
