The Starving Person and the French Fry.

Endorsement: Harris/Walz

In November the author of this blog will cast his vote for VP Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, assuming we’re all still alive and the MAGAts and the beer-belly militia wannabees fail (again) in their next overthrow attempt. Some friends and colleagues will doubtless be surprised, deeply disappointed, and or even outraged at my endorsement. With that in mind, here is a review of the reasons for this decision. And I’ll add a little parable at the end that I’ll call “The Starving Person and the French Fries.”

I am a pragmatist with high goals and aspirations; neither a purist nor an idealist.

The two parties and, to a great extent, the two main sets of candidates are branches of the American “Party of War.” This is not new. America has been dedicated to expansionist wars since at least the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. [For a related post, you might want to see my Abraham Lincoln in Palestine - August 30]. Anyone who thinks we are defensive and peaceful CANNOT have studied history or paid attention to current news. Where the hell do you think we got Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and a piece of Wyoming? Since the major parties cancel each other out in this matter of aggressive war [see also, Department of War/Department of Defense - September 1], we can chaulk that off the list when evaluating our situation.

Before I move to the domestic and social front, a word on Israel and the ethnic cleansing and horrific slaughters being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank. As a young man, I had a heart all in sympathy with Israel and the Zionist project writ large. I too read Leon Uris’ Exodus (1958) and Rudolph Vrba’s I Cannot Forgive (1963) and wept tears for the plight of the Jews. No more. Just as have many of my dear and honestly-loved Jewish friends, I outgrew it. By mid-life I could see the hand-writing on the proverbial wall. I told one and all that I believed “the creation of Israel was the single greatest foreign policy blunder of the 20th century,” but that “we are stuck with it” a bit like the tar-baby in Uncle Remus. No longer. I am in 100% opposition to the ethno-state project of Israel and to the long-bandied “two state solution.” I will never forget this and I will never forgive it. For the Land of Palestine, I favor a single democratic republic, a multi-ethnic state with a right of return and protection of Palestinian rights and property. And AIPAC must be required to register in the US — as even John F. Kennedy knew and understood — as a foreign agent. Naturally, I am skeptical that any of it will happen. I rather believe that Israel will blow itself to smithereens along with half the world rather than give up their insane, delusional, and homicidal hobby-horse. As to the Democrats and Republicans; the two parties vie with each other in how many of our hard-earned tax dollars they can funnel to illegal settlements and Israeli arms. President Biden is said to be the largest recipient of AIPAC dollars. Donald Trump cravenly defied international law, recognized Jerusalem as the “eternal capitol” of the apartheid state, and slides across his belly to swallow the millions of the Los Vegas gangsters, Sheldon “the corpse” and widow/heiress Miriam Adelson. So in this matter of the Zionist project, the Democrats and Republicans AGAIN cancel each other out.

And so we come now to domestic matters and my decision to vote with my daughter. Those of you who know her will know also her character and mind; the finest and best. Perhaps the kindest and most loving person I have ever known. She was born that way. We have talked politics and social affairs since she was a young child. Though there are one or two in her league, there’s no one I’d rather converse with. When I became aware how strong her feelings are on this election, I decided to offer her — this year for the first and thus far only time — my vote, in order to encourage and reassure her; a sort of birthday or equinoctial gift in her honor. As a father and a man of my word, I will gladly and proudly keep that promise.

But make no mistake: she is NOT the only woman for whom I am making this endorsement and vote. In matters of reproductive rights and health care in general, I am voting for all our sisters and daughters, for the unfortunate poor, and for all Americans dependent all or in part on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, The GI Bill, Veteran’s Hospitals, and the greater social safety net. Americans have, I think, forgotten that our elders formerly STARVED and FROZE to death by the THOUSANDS in the winters of the 19th and early 20th centuries. May all the gods bless and remember Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the lives and names of those who fought for and secured the New Deal, Voting Rights Act, Equal Rights Act, Social Security Act and all the great programs of social relief and protection. Yes, the Democrats have been craven and WEAK in protecting them as they ought. But there is no question that the Republicans are disastrously worse.

Then there are the matters of character and virtue. Please be aware that when I use the term “virtue,” you ought not think of it in the common understanding of “goody two-shoes,” “nice,” or the traditional “theological” virtues of “faith, hope, and charity” or even honesty. No. My understanding of the term is more in line with the Renaissance or Englightenment “virtù” or the characteristics of strength, bravery, skill, force, intrepidity, and steadfastness; like a thick plank of seasoned oak or hickory. Without going into a detailed comparison of the Harris/Walz vs Trump/Vance personnel, let’s just say that Trump is the antithesis of all that I consider worthy of emulation or admiration. He is the opposite of a person of virtù. He’s a scum. The worst representation of the American type: a sheister, serial liar, coward (nickname Col. Bonespurs), thief, bully, bankrupted casino owner (for chrissakes WHO bankrupts a CASINO ? LOL !!), and a man pathetically susceptible to flattery and force. If you are still fooled by this overweight jackal, I can’t decide whether to pity or scorn you.

Which brings me to the parable of the starving person and the french fries. Allow me to ask you: if you were starving in the desert … desperate for a morsel of food … barely able to drag yourself to the next bush … perhaps even (may the gods help you, a vegan), but OVERJOYED if you could but find a vegetarian bird-dropping to eat … but could not … would you refuse a small order of french fries because it didn’t come with the full-meal-deal? What if you were offered just three fries? You’d gobble the damn fries, wouldn’t you? Damn right, you would. Why in heavens name wouldn’t you humble yourself and take the small order of french fries represented by the admittedly minisculey marginal difference between the two parties? Those three french fries might keep you alive and get you to the full deal meal. The Greens have ZERO chance of winning; if the two parties weren’t so undeniably awful, NO ONE would pay attention to Jill Stein anyway. RFKjr is a brain-worm-infested, full-blown nutter. Cornel West isn’t even on your damn ballot and can’t get off his knees long enough to do anything but pontificate in his smarmy, hail-brother, shuck’n and jive’n homilies. Suck it up, princes and princesses. Live to fight another day. WORK to save what we have and build on it … little by little. That’s the only way things get dones, I say.

Whatever you do, unless it’s vote for the Orange S**t-Gibbon, I’ll respect your choice. But my mind is made up. I would do it JUST to get Tim Walz within a breath of the oval office. I think he might actually be able to lead; at least I hope so. But first and foremost for my beloved daughter … and all our sisters and daughters … I will cast my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. And contue to work for the best.