I had a conversation with a friend the other day, someone I like and respect, and who is intelligent. I say that because I still feel that way about them - I'm not setting up some kind of "look how far they've fallen" post. This is a post to illustrate just how frustrating this topic is, with its multiple viable viewpoints.
It started when I shared a post about how Jill Stein is just a spoiler candidate meant to give Trump the election. In (what is more than simply) my opinion, it is what she has been since she first garnered national spotlight. She pops up every four years to steal votes, usually from Democrats. Now some of you are probably already upset with me for saying that, for denouncing the woman who some people think of as a viable third-party candidate, the person who can help break our two-party system.
So let me state this plainly - I would love to break our two-party system. I would love ranked-choice voting. I would love a real progressive political party instead of having to settle for a Democratic Party who is still essentially right of center on so many issues and who unfortunately feels comfortable with a guiding policy of "we're not Trump" (more on that later). I would love a better system and a viable third-party candidate.
Jill Stein ain't that.
Let's leave aside the fact that Stein has had meals with Putin and cannot seem to refute the claim that she is a Russian asset.
After 2020, Stein raised money for recounts that never actually happened. Her funders never got that money back. She has gotten that national spotlight every four years since 2012 and then literally disappears between. She does not participate in local or other elections, and does nothing to further the causes she supposedly champions. Her own kids have denounced her campaign!
Now she has Palestine in her teeth.
If you look at my social media, you know how I feel about the conflict in the Middle East. After reading Emmanuel Acho’s Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew (featuring Noa Tishby) and The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, reading many Muslim and Arab content creators and journalists, and seeing what has been said by my Jewish friends and my Arab, Muslim, and other friends, I make the following disclaimers whenever I talk about Israel and Palestine.
October 7, 2023 was terrorism by Hamas and should be denounced.
Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorism.
Israel is so far beyond self-defense now and has been for some time.
Benjamin Netanyahu must be stopped. The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have both found him, and through him Israel, guilty of illegal occupation of Palestine and war crimes (findings respective to the two bodies). The United States, which has always been institutionally pro-Israel, is complicit in their occupation and genocide of Palestine and its people, through our arms and other funding sources.
This brings us back to my original reason for writing this. I was in a conversation with someone I like and respect who has more of a personal connection to Palestine and has probably seen more anti-Islam sentiment than I do.
Vice President Harris has taken things further than President Biden in that she has actually said the word “ceasefire” and even in her speech about the killing of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar, pointed out that Palestine is suffering. The problem is that she still is forced to maintain America’s pro-Israel activity, including defying the ICC by sending them arms. Many who are upset by Harris’s inability to confront Netanyahu are planning to punish her and the Democratic Party by either withholding their vote or voting for Jill Stein (and some are probably just voting for Trump).
I understand the idea. The Democrats are not moving far enough to the left, so by withholding votes in any number of ways, the hope is that they will feel that pain and actually take a stance to stop helping to fund the genocide. The initial argument is that the only way to take that stance is that the Democrats actually have to be in power, and voting third-party in our system (without ranked-choice voting or viable candidates) will give the election to Trump (because it will be close and the Electoral College is not great at representing the will of actual voters).
This person with whom I had the conversation brought the counter argument - Trump prided himself on his isolationism during his presidency, and there is a thought that he may decide to keep American arms and funding in America and let the Israel-directed well dry up. My friend referred to themselves as Muslim-American, but they would rather take the chance on another Muslim ban if it meant stopping Israel's genocide.
I respectfully disagreed with her assessment of Trump. While the man is plenty anti-Semitic, even going so far as to say he would blame Jews if he loses the election, he ultimately pursues whatever will win him the most popularity and/or money. We both agreed that Trump would inevitably ask "what's in it for me?" But we disagreed that he would not see any value in funding Israel. AIPAC and other lobby groups are a lot of money, especially when trying to maintain political power (that's also why Harris can't alienate them before the election, frustrating as it is, because too many Democrats get money from them). Moreover, Trump has gone on record in support of Netanyahu, and Netanyahu has been on record in support of Trump. If the idea is to stop support of Netanyahu, why should we vote his preferred candidate into office?
I have friends who are more strongly calling out Netanyahu's genocide and they view it as a line not to be crossed in terms of political candidates. I do not fault them for this, because it is beyond political for many of them - it is personal. It is personal for me, too, because these are my friends...and my family could be next.
Yet I am voting for the candidate from the Democratic Party, as frustrating as she is on this front. Because as frustrated as I am by the Party's reliance on "we're not Trump" as the minimum platform, allowing them to avoid any bolder moves, the fact remains that Trump is a blight on the USA and its culture, and his political presence for the last ten years has emboldened domestic right-wing extremism to a dangerous level. He has deepened our racism, classism, anti-science sentiment, anti-LGBTQ sentiment, and threatens the life of every non-white, non-wealthy, non-man in this country. He disguises himself to appeal to his fan base even though very few of them will ever benefit from his actual governance.
Even more concerning is that, contrary to what Republicans try to claim about Democrats, a Trump presidency means more restrictions on free speech and privacy. We saw them take away the right to a woman’s choice over her body and they will do more, especially if he gets to pick more Supreme Court Justices.
And while I, as a physician, am not going to diagnose any politician from afar, the fact remains that Donald Trump is a 78-year-old man who can barely string two coherent sentences together before going off on prejudiced rants, and whose physical person does seem to be deteriorating. That means that it would be all too easy for him to "suddenly" be unfit for office, leading to a JD Vance presidency sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025, which will make all of the above even worse.
I cannot stand for Netanyahu's war crimes, but I won't give my vote to a grifter who pretends to care about whatever cause will get her the spotlight so she can steal money and votes.
And I certainly will not give my vote to a rapist and felon who is favored by the man leading the genocide, and who will endanger far more lives domestically. I remain hopeful that if my preferred candidate wins, she can actually move the needle on America's institutional pro-Israel stance, more than anyone else viable for the presidency right now. Progress is incremental and that is not enough, but it is what we have.
So I am voting for Kamala Harris, and you should, too. And if you cannot vote for her after all this, then at least vote in Democrats in all the lower and local races so we can actually try to make progress towards a better USA and world, including in Israel and Palestine.
UPDATE: Literally the day after I posted this, Jill Stein proved further that she doesn’t actually care about genocide, just herself:
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