Germans I Know Who Weren't Even Born 'Til Long After The Holocaust Ended, Still Feel Guilty For It

Israel Is Guilty Of Genocide— Biden Is Complicit... Even If Trump Is Worse

I once lived in Nevada and later in Pennsylvania. If I still did— or in Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, or even in Iowa, New Hampshire or Florida— I would probably agree with Bernie that defeating Trump overrides every other consideration. But I live in California and I didn’t have to ponder for even one second before deciding to not vote for Kamala. Trump barely polls at a third of the vote here. Kamala’s average polling margin over Trump in this state is 24.6 points. In New York, where I was born and lived until I was around 20, Kamala’s margin is nearly 17 points. And if I lived in mirror image states— like Wyoming, Indiana, one of the Dakotas, West Virginia, Alabama— where Trump’s margins are just as immense, I wouldn’t vote for her either.

I don’t want to support anyone who backs— for whatever reason— genocide. In an OpEd for The Guardian Thursday, How can I vote for Kamala Harris if she supports Israel’s war? Here is my answer, Bernie wrote that it’s a very fair question for his readers to ask. And he explores how anyone could vote for Kamala because of her complicity in Israel’s war. Bernie calls it war; I call it genocide; that’s a key difference. 

Bernie’s answer is the correct one, no matter what you call it— and why I would consider voting for Kamala if I lived in a swing state or even quasi-swing state: “Trump and his rightwing friends are worse. In the Senate and in Congress Republicans have worked overtime to block humanitarian aid to the starving children in Gaza. The president and vice-president both support getting as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible. Trump has said that Netanyahu is doing a good job and that Biden is holding him back. He has suggested that the Gaza Strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. It is no wonder Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office. But even more importantly, and this I promise you, after Harris wins we will, together, do everything we can to change US policy toward Netanyahu— including an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, a surge of massive humanitarian aid, the stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank, and the rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people.”

OK, what does he mean by “we?” I don’t imagine Kamala or any of her appointees will be part of that “we.”

We will have, in my view, a much better chance of changing US policy with Harris than with Trump, who is extremely close to Netanyahu and sees him as a like-minded, rightwing extremist ally.

But let me also say this, and I deal with this every single day as a US senator. As important as Gaza is, and as strongly as many of us feel about this issue, it is not the only issue at stake in this election.

If Trump wins, women in this country will suffer an enormous setback and lose the ability to control their own bodies. That is not acceptable.

If Trump wins, to be honest with you, the struggle against the climate crisis is over. While virtually every scientist who has studied the issue understands that the climate crisis is real and an existential threat to our country and the world, Trump believes it is a “hoax”. And if the United States, the largest economy in the world, stops transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel, every other country— China, Europe, all over the world, they will do exactly the same thing. And God only knows the kind of planet we will leave to our kids and future generations.

If Trump wins, at a time of enormous income and wealth inequality, he will demand even more tax breaks for the very richest people in our country, while cutting back on programs that working families desperately need. The rich will only get richer, while the minimum wage will remain at $7.25 an hour, and millions of our fellow workers will continue to earn starvation wages.

…[L]et me conclude by saying this. This is the most consequential election in our lifetimes. Many of you have differences of opinion with Harris on Gaza. So do I. But we cannot sit this election out. Trump has to be defeated. Let’s do everything we can in the next week to make sure that Kamala Harris is our next president.

There’s nothing that Bernie said that is misleading. I’d just like to add that a strong case can be made that genocide— defined as and being employed by Israel right now with U.S. weapons, as the systematic and intentional extermination of a specific group of people based on their ethnicity, religion, nationality— is the worst crime a country can commit. And for those who manage to escape with their lives, the psychological and emotional scars of genocide last not just for a lifetime, but for generations. Survivors experience trauma, depression and anxiety. The whole world accepts that genocide is a crime against humanity itself. While other atrocities are undeniably horrific, genocide stands out due to its deliberate intent to eradicate a group of people and its lasting impact on both individuals and society as a whole. Yeah… it’s that bad. Earlier today we looked at the banality of evil. Letting our country continue to arm Israel… that’s crossing all lines, at least for me.

Trump’s has been sending Jewish voters in the Philly suburbs pro-Israel ads and Muslim voters in Michigan ads that are sympathetic to the Palestinians. Yesterday, CNN reported that Kamala is doing the exact same thing. Andrew Kaczynski wrote that her campaign “is microtargeting voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan by amplifying different parts of her message on Israel and Gaza, highlighting how her campaign is navigating the thorny issue that has divided key parts of the Democratic coalition. Ads running in Pennsylvania, where undecided Jewish voters could factor into the state’s outcome, highlight how she will ‘stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself.’ Meanwhile, ads targeted in Michigan, with its large Arab American population, highlight how ‘she will not be silent about the human suffering occurring in Gaza.’”

They both come from speeches she’s given, carefully edited depending on the audience being targeted,  one saying “[L]et me be clear. I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival. And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.’ But edited from the ads are two paragraphs from her speech between those lines that highlighted the ‘suffering’ in Gaza which she called ‘heartbreaking.’ At the same time, Harris is running multiple Facebook ads targeting voters in Michigan highlighting portions of her other speeches where she mentioned suffering in Gaza. ‘What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating,’ Harris says in the ad. ‘Our common humanity compels us to act,’ the ad quotes from another speech.”