Thank you for this clear and powerful statement. I am neither Muslim nor young. I am an 80 year-old white male who has always voted Democratic, with one exception: I did not vote for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 after the debacle of the Chicago Democratic Party convention and the failure to respect the wishes of the people for an end to the American War in Vietnam. Now you have explained for all why I will not vote for Joe Biden. The Democratic Party voters do not support the genocidal war that Bide and Blinken have embraced. If the party does not respect our demand for a cease fire and an end to the supplying of bombs to kill civilians, they will deserve their fate.
Let the Dems nominate someone that’s not a war criminal. At least let us have an open primary campaign, complete with debates, so we actually have democracy in this crucial election. Imposing Biden is very reminiscent of the imposition of Humphrey in 1968, and will have the same result.
Joe Biden has done little to help anyone but corporatists and US-backed dictators like Netanyahu. Those of us who clamor for human rights at home and abroad are quickly having to assess whether we will vote at all, or flee the country ourselves when we're vulnerable and seeing little change. We have been told for decades to vote for the lesser evil, with the lesser evil being worse and worse every time. Is it any surprise we're tired of being stamped on and being told to be silent?
We might consider the historical precedent of Jews in Germany during the 30's. Why did some take the initiative and leave? Were they simply clear-eyed enough about world history and applying appropriate pattern recognition? What will make us do the same? Have we been too long the privileged ones, unable now to see the looming disaster for what it is?
I don't know answers to those questions but they occupy some of my waking thought every day.
I've noticed that the VAST majority of this this moral posturing is being done by white males...
I don't know if that actually MEANS anything, but it IS kinda interesting.
Its a a fact that the POTUS seat is going to either Biden or Trump and as long as you are an eligible voter, ANY action (including 'no' action) STILL has a real effect on outcome...no one gets off the hook...
I'm mostly staying out of this one because there is nothing I can add that is actually HELPFUL ...
I mean I totally get Hamilton's take on this and agree with it...And i say this as someone who USUALLY chooses idealism over pragmatism...But I just can't do it this time...
Everyone has the right to vote or not vote however their conscience dictates...I would NEVER suggest otherwise...I'm lucky, I have Family in Quebec City so if Americans decide they would rather live under a literal 'democracy ending' Fascist Trump administration in order to make a point that changes nothing, it's out of my control...
I HATE that this is happening, and Biden is SO disappointingly DEAD WRONG but unfortunately the pragmatist in me has to win over empty moralistic posturing simply because Biden theoretically can be pressured into a change in tack where Trump and company would enrich themselves and their MIC shareholder masters arming Israel to the teeth...
So its a game of chicken...Biden MUST be made to feel that his unquestioning support of Israel could tank him in 2024 in order to force him to back off that support, but if it actually DOES tank him, things will be SO much worse for EVERYBODY, EVERYWHERE in the world under Trump...
I also wonder how much support he would lose if he did the opposite and pulled support for Israel
Dec 8, 2023·edited Dec 8, 2023Liked by Hamilton Nolan
I've been wating for people younger than I am to put such extreme pressure on the Dem machine that they will select another viable candidate; but of course that needs to happen now! As a pundit said, Biden does not have the advantage of his incumbency and his only electoral strength is to count on legitimate fear of facism. I feel manipulated by that. In order to vote for him, I will go to the polls nauseated. For me, his inability to respond with moral clarity re:Gaza is all about entrenched cognitive dissonance. Thank you Hamilton. We need your voice.
Thanks Hamilton. You may not like my comment, but you are forgetting a consitent american pattern of supporting war and interventions around the planet. US is a terrorist country mate under Biden or Trump or anyone. It is like a scorpion, it is in its nature. Here few of the recent victims; Palestine, Irak, Afghanistan, Cuba, Argentine, Chile, Venezuela, Etc, etc, etc and a very long etc.
Mr. Nolan, your powerful words are fuelled with emotion and go straight to the heart. The atrocities happening in Gaza break my heart. I understand that the people of Israel will never feel save if Hamas is not annihilated. Imagine IS having a stronghold right next to Texas. For peace to have a chance, Hamas must go. Yet every child killed is one too much, and Palestinians can’t continue to live a marginalised life without any perspective on a better life. This conflict must end.
However, it seems to me that your critique points to a deeper flaw in the US itself, the democratic deficit in your country. How can it be that two despicable 80-year olds are the only options in the ballot box? I genuinely ask you, why is that? And is there a way out? Democracy is in coma in the US, and as a result the world suffers.
There are many structural flaws in the electoral system-- winner take all two party elections, the Electoral college, the existence of the Senate, etc. Reforming those is a long term thing.
And yet there’s still the big picture and I noted a shit ton of limits to any significant changes. So beyond Biden’s prospects obviously it’s about 2024 but also isn’t.
If IS were menacing, say, New Jersey, or the San Francisco Bay Area, the geographic illustration might feel a little more visceral. Israel is a small country.
Looks to me like the recent materiel support that Joe sent BB is to counter the threat that other regional actors would jump in against Israel with the potential for WW3 on the horizon. This was not an unreasonable supposition. Whether any of the new munitions have been deployed in Gaza I do not know, but I'd bet Israel easily could have got this far in its Gaza decimation without them.
I think that the notion Uncle Joe can talk Netanyahu down is ascribing too much influence to him. BB will wage war til he dies, no matter what anyone says. Otherwise he's just another scoundrel looking at 3 squares and a cot. Still Joe's veto of the Sec. Co. resolution is dreadful.
So we are left fighting over the tragic consequences of humanity's incapacity to deal. We are living in sad, outrageous times. Political decisions in this country will be made (in part) thru the application of righteous fury upon ballots.
As to the candidates on offer, we get the government we deserve, thanks to our murderous history and ongoing corporatist dominance. A fascist outcome is quite logical in these circumstances. Not my preferred solution, but will happen. Blame it on Uncle Joe if you like.
Hamilton, none of the above should be read as refutation of your central point – Uncle Joe is perhaps toast, and he will own that no matter what. One of the interesting prospects in 2024 will be the possibility that NEITHER current front-runner in the 2 parties will make the November ballot.
For all intents and purposes on the issues I care the most about Biden has continued the same policies that Trump had but without the protests regarding them. Immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are caged and deported, the wall is being built, children and families are separated and now genocide. It's a bridge too far. The DNC spits in the face of it's voters. No I wouldn't vote for a fascist but isn't Biden one as well?
Some parts of his domestic policy have been quite good. He's good on labor. And he's facilitating a massacre in Gaza. Nothing to do but to be honest about all of the above.
"Joe Biden's recklessness is risking a return of Trump." Absolutely right. Absolutely inexcusable. Of course we have evidence that Trump during his first term did more damage US and world wide than killing one person on Fifth Avenue, and would do so again in a second term. So the comparison is really between two people who have been and will be responsible for the senseless brutal deaths of innocent people around the globe and in the US. I likely won't vote for Joe in a state where he'll win anyway, but definitely would in a swing state. Yes, Gaza is awful; yes Trump would be worse.
There is a real and credible (and unmentioned in this article of the comments so far) alternative to the thoroughly unpalatable choice of Biden or Trump. His name is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He is far more intelligent and thoughtful--and honorable--that Biden or Trump might ever have aspired to in the most fevered dreams. Considering the numerous powers he is up against as well as his family history, I think he might be just about the bravest man in the world.
I suggest that with the election 11 months out we not stress too much about making this choice now.
Whatever one thinks of Biden's policy re: Palestine/Israel, the fact remains that this Administration's economic policies are the most progressive in 50 years, much more so than Obama or Clinton's. More needs to happen - rescinding the 2017 tax "reform," re-regulation of the financial system, reigning in private equity firms, etc., etc. But, when was the last time a president walked a striking union's picket line (ever?)? The NLRB is more balanced between labor/capital. The Inflation Reduction Act (stupid title, positive policy). Some startling things have largely passed under the radar, such as the appointment of Lina Khan (check her out if not familiar with her) as the Chair of the Federal Trade Commision which has just sued Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power.
One does not have to lavish praise on Biden to support these policies., which can be articulated concurrently with condemnation of the Administration's support for Israel's crimes against Palestinians. We focus too much on electoral campaigns. It seems the US is always in electoral mode and receives the bulk of the MSM media's attention. But we know that change starts at the bottom and percolates upward. Let's put the 2024 election aside for the moment, focus on building the movement in support of Palestine and pressuring the Administration to make aid to Israel contingent upon ceasing its war on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. And, at the same time let's do what we can to convince more of the public that this Administration's economic policies are pro working class and deserving of support. There need be no contradiction here.
Thanks for writing this Hamilton, it spoke to the feelings of despair and powerlessness that I and I’m sure a lot of other people feel right now. I agree with the comment that the only way Biden could be forced off the ticket is through massive public pressure, carrying the 1968 analogy a little further Johnson wasn’t convinced not to run again until he nearly lost the New Hampshire primary and was polling portly for subsequent ones. Given that nobody seems to be willing to play the role of Eugene McCarthy this time around, I was curious what your thoughts are on what could act as a similar focal point for pressure against Biden?
I do not see any alternative to Biden right now because nobody has given any sign of wanting to run a serious primary challenge against him. Theoretically someone on the left could do a primary challenge purely as leverage to try to get him to change his Israel policy but it's a little late in the game for that now. I think on this issue it's going to just be protests and revolt and internal pressure.
Sadly, all too true. I would love to hear the solution to this horror show. If it exists. The dead children and adults in Gaza and the Israelis murdered by Hamas will never know.
Totally disgusted with the inability of the Americans to see the right side of this. As a young man I left my country for the sins of my parents generation. Why is it so hard to act for young Americans now? Do the right thing? I will never set foot in your country again.
Nobody deserves to suffer under a dictatorship. And nobody deserves to be crammed into an open air prison for their entire lives and then have bombs dropped on them. You can't hang a potential return of Trump on anyone who chooses not to vote for Biden just because he is doing his damage more in Palestine than in the US. If Biden loses the election because he refuses to stop facilitating genocide, that's on him, not on anyone whose conscience won't abide voting for him.
Our new Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, urged "all parties involved in the conflict — as well as countries with influence in the region — to take urgent steps towards establishing a ceasefire".
Our new Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, said “We would all like to see a sustainable ceasefire, but it actually requires all parties to actually make the conditions to make that happen”.
The opposition parties — Labour, the Greens, and Te Pati Māori — have called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire”.
With New Zealand’s National/Act/New Zealand First Coalition government watching from the sidelines, Israel’s war on Gaza continues.
It’s like watching a gang of thugs beating someone to death in broad daylight and saying (quietly, under your breath) “Hey, guys, it would be really nice if you decided to stop when you’re finished what you’re doing there”.
Well (and horrifyingly) said. I wish someone would organize a quick and massive boycott to get Biden's attention, to show that people are that upset and organized. In order to feel like I am doing *something*, I am buying Christmas presents mainly from small local stores. Of course I boycott the companies BDS suggests: HP, Puma, SodaStream, AHAVA, Israeli fruits and vegetables, and Sabra hummus. I'm avoiding Amazon as well.
Thank you for saying this. I feel that a lot of Americans don't want to hear this, because picking the 'good side' is as much work as they're willing to put into their morals.
Your columns consistently reflect powerful bias against Israel, which you justify by means of rationalizing or distorting its history, the threats against it and the atrocities inflicted by Hamas on October 7. Whether this reflects ignorance, bias and/or a core antisemitism I can't say. None of those possibilities qualifies you to speak with authority.
Israel is dealing with a mortal threat in the form of Hamas, whose leaders subjugate and regularly murder their own people. Their explicit plan for October 7 was to provoke from Israel precisely the response they are getting. In their evil vision for extreme Islamic domination of Israel and, indeed, the entire world, incurring massive civilian casualties is not a byproduct but a feature, to be used as cynical political leverage. Witness Hamas's having erected roadblocks and shooting at crowds of Gazan civilians attempting to flee from the north to the south. Or their well-established practice of locating rocket launchers, weapons caches and command centers in, beneath and/or around hospitals, schools, residential complexes and the like.
Writing from your (currently) safe remove in US, possibly sipping a cappuccino, you may have noted, though apparently are untroubled by, Hamas' leaders repeated promises to repeat October 7 "again and again and again" until Israel is "annihilated."
It is certainly reasonable to question some of Israel's tactics and to grieve for civilian deaths and suffering. But you acknowledge not at all the almost impossible choices left to Israel by Hamas.
While you're at it, have you written with similar umbrage about the mass slaughter of up to 400,000 civilians in each of Yemen and Darfur, or of over 200,000 in Syria, 25,000 of whom were children? Unlike in Gaza, the slaughter of civilians in these countries has been deliberate. If you have not deplored these genocidal events, might it have anything to do with the fact that the perpetrators are Arabs and Africans rather than Jews?
Thank you for this. We turn a blind eye to suffering in Muslim countries when it comes from their co-religionists . Also...I looked it up today, the UN actually estimates that 300K people have died in Syria.
This comment distorts what Hamilton has written on this subject. I see this a lot now coming from those trying to deflect attention from the way Israel is making war on Gaza. It is as if anyone commenting on the death and destruction Israel is committing must always condemn the Hammas attack at the same time.
Speaking for myself I do condemn Hammas' killings of civilians. I condemn it without equivocation, full stop, period. (It must be noted however that sometimes it comes across as ignoring the fact that some 25 to 30% of the 1,200 Israel says were killed by Hammas were military personnel.)
However, the IDF assault is continuing, people dying and suffering as I write. Can't do anything to bring back those killed by Hammas, but with enough protest and political pressure it may be possible to force the Biden Administration to threaten to withhold further assistance to Israel if the IDF continues to show total disregard for the suffering it is inflicting on Gazans.
And, the IDF response is grossly disproportionate. As of this writing, some 16,000 Gazans have been killed by the IDF, 40% of them children. The New York Times recently reported that the force the IDF is applying in Gaza is unprecedented in urban warfare in the 21 Century. Military analysts all agree that the use of 2,000 lb bombs is totally inappropriate. The most that other governments have used (even the US in Iraq) in urban warfare are 500 lb. bombs. The larger bombs destroy apartment blocks instantly. There can be no serious claim that Israel is making any effort to minimize the deaths of children.
The whole tone of this comment is to place the blame on Hammas and in doing so relieve the IDF of any responsibility for the way it is conducting its assault. To approach the question in this way is to demonstrate a total disregard for the lives of anyone other than Israeli Jews. And speaking of the lives lost in wars in other recent Middle East countries (curious why you omitted Iraq and Afghanistan - oh, that's right, the US did that, can't blame Arabs) certainly exhibits an animus toward Arabs. The New York Times is not currently writing about those wars either, but every day has multiple articles about the Gaza War because that is what is happening now. Antisemitism is not the only racial prejudice
Actually, it’s less Biden to blame for the serial war crimes than the Blob,the military-industrial-congressional* complex, the GOP, the media and politics generally that ties Biden’s hands. And if you want to go back in history -- actually necessary -- add Britain to the list. Putting all the blame on one person is a little too Green Lantern for me. What’s going on is, with an exception, not a situation one man can fix. And the exception is Netanyahu but, you know...
(*That’s the term Eisenhower originally coined but was talked into dropping the congressional for obvious reasons.)
Thank you for this clear and powerful statement. I am neither Muslim nor young. I am an 80 year-old white male who has always voted Democratic, with one exception: I did not vote for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 after the debacle of the Chicago Democratic Party convention and the failure to respect the wishes of the people for an end to the American War in Vietnam. Now you have explained for all why I will not vote for Joe Biden. The Democratic Party voters do not support the genocidal war that Bide and Blinken have embraced. If the party does not respect our demand for a cease fire and an end to the supplying of bombs to kill civilians, they will deserve their fate.
What about the rest of Americans who will suffer under a Trump authoritarian dictatorship? Will they deserve their fate too?
Let the Dems nominate someone that’s not a war criminal. At least let us have an open primary campaign, complete with debates, so we actually have democracy in this crucial election. Imposing Biden is very reminiscent of the imposition of Humphrey in 1968, and will have the same result.
Joe Biden has done little to help anyone but corporatists and US-backed dictators like Netanyahu. Those of us who clamor for human rights at home and abroad are quickly having to assess whether we will vote at all, or flee the country ourselves when we're vulnerable and seeing little change. We have been told for decades to vote for the lesser evil, with the lesser evil being worse and worse every time. Is it any surprise we're tired of being stamped on and being told to be silent?
We might consider the historical precedent of Jews in Germany during the 30's. Why did some take the initiative and leave? Were they simply clear-eyed enough about world history and applying appropriate pattern recognition? What will make us do the same? Have we been too long the privileged ones, unable now to see the looming disaster for what it is?
I don't know answers to those questions but they occupy some of my waking thought every day.
Probably not, I don’t see why you’d get that from the above.
I've noticed that the VAST majority of this this moral posturing is being done by white males...
I don't know if that actually MEANS anything, but it IS kinda interesting.
Its a a fact that the POTUS seat is going to either Biden or Trump and as long as you are an eligible voter, ANY action (including 'no' action) STILL has a real effect on outcome...no one gets off the hook...
I'm mostly staying out of this one because there is nothing I can add that is actually HELPFUL ...
I mean I totally get Hamilton's take on this and agree with it...And i say this as someone who USUALLY chooses idealism over pragmatism...But I just can't do it this time...
I just don't know...
Sigh
As a white male myself, I will be setting aside my own white, male concerns and instead listening to the concerns of POC in this election: https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/michigan-muslim-leaders-urge-not-to-vote-for-biden/.
Everyone has the right to vote or not vote however their conscience dictates...I would NEVER suggest otherwise...I'm lucky, I have Family in Quebec City so if Americans decide they would rather live under a literal 'democracy ending' Fascist Trump administration in order to make a point that changes nothing, it's out of my control...
I HATE that this is happening, and Biden is SO disappointingly DEAD WRONG but unfortunately the pragmatist in me has to win over empty moralistic posturing simply because Biden theoretically can be pressured into a change in tack where Trump and company would enrich themselves and their MIC shareholder masters arming Israel to the teeth...
So its a game of chicken...Biden MUST be made to feel that his unquestioning support of Israel could tank him in 2024 in order to force him to back off that support, but if it actually DOES tank him, things will be SO much worse for EVERYBODY, EVERYWHERE in the world under Trump...
I also wonder how much support he would lose if he did the opposite and pulled support for Israel
It all just fucking sucks
That only works if things would be better for Palestine and Palestinians under a fascist Trump administration...
NOT voting still 'counts' at the voting booth.. Its a version of the Trolley car problem where NO ONE gets off the hook
I've been wating for people younger than I am to put such extreme pressure on the Dem machine that they will select another viable candidate; but of course that needs to happen now! As a pundit said, Biden does not have the advantage of his incumbency and his only electoral strength is to count on legitimate fear of facism. I feel manipulated by that. In order to vote for him, I will go to the polls nauseated. For me, his inability to respond with moral clarity re:Gaza is all about entrenched cognitive dissonance. Thank you Hamilton. We need your voice.
spot on....
Thanks Hamilton. You may not like my comment, but you are forgetting a consitent american pattern of supporting war and interventions around the planet. US is a terrorist country mate under Biden or Trump or anyone. It is like a scorpion, it is in its nature. Here few of the recent victims; Palestine, Irak, Afghanistan, Cuba, Argentine, Chile, Venezuela, Etc, etc, etc and a very long etc.
Take care mate. Keep on fighting.
Mr. Nolan, your powerful words are fuelled with emotion and go straight to the heart. The atrocities happening in Gaza break my heart. I understand that the people of Israel will never feel save if Hamas is not annihilated. Imagine IS having a stronghold right next to Texas. For peace to have a chance, Hamas must go. Yet every child killed is one too much, and Palestinians can’t continue to live a marginalised life without any perspective on a better life. This conflict must end.
However, it seems to me that your critique points to a deeper flaw in the US itself, the democratic deficit in your country. How can it be that two despicable 80-year olds are the only options in the ballot box? I genuinely ask you, why is that? And is there a way out? Democracy is in coma in the US, and as a result the world suffers.
There are many structural flaws in the electoral system-- winner take all two party elections, the Electoral college, the existence of the Senate, etc. Reforming those is a long term thing.
Ah, I see.
And yet there’s still the big picture and I noted a shit ton of limits to any significant changes. So beyond Biden’s prospects obviously it’s about 2024 but also isn’t.
If IS were menacing, say, New Jersey, or the San Francisco Bay Area, the geographic illustration might feel a little more visceral. Israel is a small country.
Looks to me like the recent materiel support that Joe sent BB is to counter the threat that other regional actors would jump in against Israel with the potential for WW3 on the horizon. This was not an unreasonable supposition. Whether any of the new munitions have been deployed in Gaza I do not know, but I'd bet Israel easily could have got this far in its Gaza decimation without them.
I think that the notion Uncle Joe can talk Netanyahu down is ascribing too much influence to him. BB will wage war til he dies, no matter what anyone says. Otherwise he's just another scoundrel looking at 3 squares and a cot. Still Joe's veto of the Sec. Co. resolution is dreadful.
So we are left fighting over the tragic consequences of humanity's incapacity to deal. We are living in sad, outrageous times. Political decisions in this country will be made (in part) thru the application of righteous fury upon ballots.
As to the candidates on offer, we get the government we deserve, thanks to our murderous history and ongoing corporatist dominance. A fascist outcome is quite logical in these circumstances. Not my preferred solution, but will happen. Blame it on Uncle Joe if you like.
Hamilton, none of the above should be read as refutation of your central point – Uncle Joe is perhaps toast, and he will own that no matter what. One of the interesting prospects in 2024 will be the possibility that NEITHER current front-runner in the 2 parties will make the November ballot.
For all intents and purposes on the issues I care the most about Biden has continued the same policies that Trump had but without the protests regarding them. Immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are caged and deported, the wall is being built, children and families are separated and now genocide. It's a bridge too far. The DNC spits in the face of it's voters. No I wouldn't vote for a fascist but isn't Biden one as well?
Some parts of his domestic policy have been quite good. He's good on labor. And he's facilitating a massacre in Gaza. Nothing to do but to be honest about all of the above.
'Just look at the alternative!" is a kind of "soft extortion" that we on the left are WELL versed in having to navigate
"Joe Biden's recklessness is risking a return of Trump." Absolutely right. Absolutely inexcusable. Of course we have evidence that Trump during his first term did more damage US and world wide than killing one person on Fifth Avenue, and would do so again in a second term. So the comparison is really between two people who have been and will be responsible for the senseless brutal deaths of innocent people around the globe and in the US. I likely won't vote for Joe in a state where he'll win anyway, but definitely would in a swing state. Yes, Gaza is awful; yes Trump would be worse.
There is a real and credible (and unmentioned in this article of the comments so far) alternative to the thoroughly unpalatable choice of Biden or Trump. His name is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He is far more intelligent and thoughtful--and honorable--that Biden or Trump might ever have aspired to in the most fevered dreams. Considering the numerous powers he is up against as well as his family history, I think he might be just about the bravest man in the world.
No no no. Vaccine denier. Conspiracy theorist. He would be a disaster.
Lol is this an embarrassment fetish thing
I suggest that with the election 11 months out we not stress too much about making this choice now.
Whatever one thinks of Biden's policy re: Palestine/Israel, the fact remains that this Administration's economic policies are the most progressive in 50 years, much more so than Obama or Clinton's. More needs to happen - rescinding the 2017 tax "reform," re-regulation of the financial system, reigning in private equity firms, etc., etc. But, when was the last time a president walked a striking union's picket line (ever?)? The NLRB is more balanced between labor/capital. The Inflation Reduction Act (stupid title, positive policy). Some startling things have largely passed under the radar, such as the appointment of Lina Khan (check her out if not familiar with her) as the Chair of the Federal Trade Commision which has just sued Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power.
One does not have to lavish praise on Biden to support these policies., which can be articulated concurrently with condemnation of the Administration's support for Israel's crimes against Palestinians. We focus too much on electoral campaigns. It seems the US is always in electoral mode and receives the bulk of the MSM media's attention. But we know that change starts at the bottom and percolates upward. Let's put the 2024 election aside for the moment, focus on building the movement in support of Palestine and pressuring the Administration to make aid to Israel contingent upon ceasing its war on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. And, at the same time let's do what we can to convince more of the public that this Administration's economic policies are pro working class and deserving of support. There need be no contradiction here.
This
Thanks for writing this Hamilton, it spoke to the feelings of despair and powerlessness that I and I’m sure a lot of other people feel right now. I agree with the comment that the only way Biden could be forced off the ticket is through massive public pressure, carrying the 1968 analogy a little further Johnson wasn’t convinced not to run again until he nearly lost the New Hampshire primary and was polling portly for subsequent ones. Given that nobody seems to be willing to play the role of Eugene McCarthy this time around, I was curious what your thoughts are on what could act as a similar focal point for pressure against Biden?
I do not see any alternative to Biden right now because nobody has given any sign of wanting to run a serious primary challenge against him. Theoretically someone on the left could do a primary challenge purely as leverage to try to get him to change his Israel policy but it's a little late in the game for that now. I think on this issue it's going to just be protests and revolt and internal pressure.
Too late in the game
sigh
there's the rub
Sadly, all too true. I would love to hear the solution to this horror show. If it exists. The dead children and adults in Gaza and the Israelis murdered by Hamas will never know.
Totally disgusted with the inability of the Americans to see the right side of this. As a young man I left my country for the sins of my parents generation. Why is it so hard to act for young Americans now? Do the right thing? I will never set foot in your country again.
Nobody deserves to suffer under a dictatorship. And nobody deserves to be crammed into an open air prison for their entire lives and then have bombs dropped on them. You can't hang a potential return of Trump on anyone who chooses not to vote for Biden just because he is doing his damage more in Palestine than in the US. If Biden loses the election because he refuses to stop facilitating genocide, that's on him, not on anyone whose conscience won't abide voting for him.
The story is not much better in New Zealand.
Our new Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, urged "all parties involved in the conflict — as well as countries with influence in the region — to take urgent steps towards establishing a ceasefire".
Our new Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, said “We would all like to see a sustainable ceasefire, but it actually requires all parties to actually make the conditions to make that happen”.
The opposition parties — Labour, the Greens, and Te Pati Māori — have called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire”.
With New Zealand’s National/Act/New Zealand First Coalition government watching from the sidelines, Israel’s war on Gaza continues.
It’s like watching a gang of thugs beating someone to death in broad daylight and saying (quietly, under your breath) “Hey, guys, it would be really nice if you decided to stop when you’re finished what you’re doing there”.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/12/07/pm-says-gaza-ceasefire-call-comes-with-conditions/
Well (and horrifyingly) said. I wish someone would organize a quick and massive boycott to get Biden's attention, to show that people are that upset and organized. In order to feel like I am doing *something*, I am buying Christmas presents mainly from small local stores. Of course I boycott the companies BDS suggests: HP, Puma, SodaStream, AHAVA, Israeli fruits and vegetables, and Sabra hummus. I'm avoiding Amazon as well.
Thank you for saying this. I feel that a lot of Americans don't want to hear this, because picking the 'good side' is as much work as they're willing to put into their morals.
Your columns consistently reflect powerful bias against Israel, which you justify by means of rationalizing or distorting its history, the threats against it and the atrocities inflicted by Hamas on October 7. Whether this reflects ignorance, bias and/or a core antisemitism I can't say. None of those possibilities qualifies you to speak with authority.
Israel is dealing with a mortal threat in the form of Hamas, whose leaders subjugate and regularly murder their own people. Their explicit plan for October 7 was to provoke from Israel precisely the response they are getting. In their evil vision for extreme Islamic domination of Israel and, indeed, the entire world, incurring massive civilian casualties is not a byproduct but a feature, to be used as cynical political leverage. Witness Hamas's having erected roadblocks and shooting at crowds of Gazan civilians attempting to flee from the north to the south. Or their well-established practice of locating rocket launchers, weapons caches and command centers in, beneath and/or around hospitals, schools, residential complexes and the like.
Writing from your (currently) safe remove in US, possibly sipping a cappuccino, you may have noted, though apparently are untroubled by, Hamas' leaders repeated promises to repeat October 7 "again and again and again" until Israel is "annihilated."
It is certainly reasonable to question some of Israel's tactics and to grieve for civilian deaths and suffering. But you acknowledge not at all the almost impossible choices left to Israel by Hamas.
While you're at it, have you written with similar umbrage about the mass slaughter of up to 400,000 civilians in each of Yemen and Darfur, or of over 200,000 in Syria, 25,000 of whom were children? Unlike in Gaza, the slaughter of civilians in these countries has been deliberate. If you have not deplored these genocidal events, might it have anything to do with the fact that the perpetrators are Arabs and Africans rather than Jews?
Thank you for this. We turn a blind eye to suffering in Muslim countries when it comes from their co-religionists . Also...I looked it up today, the UN actually estimates that 300K people have died in Syria.
This comment distorts what Hamilton has written on this subject. I see this a lot now coming from those trying to deflect attention from the way Israel is making war on Gaza. It is as if anyone commenting on the death and destruction Israel is committing must always condemn the Hammas attack at the same time.
Speaking for myself I do condemn Hammas' killings of civilians. I condemn it without equivocation, full stop, period. (It must be noted however that sometimes it comes across as ignoring the fact that some 25 to 30% of the 1,200 Israel says were killed by Hammas were military personnel.)
However, the IDF assault is continuing, people dying and suffering as I write. Can't do anything to bring back those killed by Hammas, but with enough protest and political pressure it may be possible to force the Biden Administration to threaten to withhold further assistance to Israel if the IDF continues to show total disregard for the suffering it is inflicting on Gazans.
And, the IDF response is grossly disproportionate. As of this writing, some 16,000 Gazans have been killed by the IDF, 40% of them children. The New York Times recently reported that the force the IDF is applying in Gaza is unprecedented in urban warfare in the 21 Century. Military analysts all agree that the use of 2,000 lb bombs is totally inappropriate. The most that other governments have used (even the US in Iraq) in urban warfare are 500 lb. bombs. The larger bombs destroy apartment blocks instantly. There can be no serious claim that Israel is making any effort to minimize the deaths of children.
The whole tone of this comment is to place the blame on Hammas and in doing so relieve the IDF of any responsibility for the way it is conducting its assault. To approach the question in this way is to demonstrate a total disregard for the lives of anyone other than Israeli Jews. And speaking of the lives lost in wars in other recent Middle East countries (curious why you omitted Iraq and Afghanistan - oh, that's right, the US did that, can't blame Arabs) certainly exhibits an animus toward Arabs. The New York Times is not currently writing about those wars either, but every day has multiple articles about the Gaza War because that is what is happening now. Antisemitism is not the only racial prejudice
Actually, it’s less Biden to blame for the serial war crimes than the Blob,the military-industrial-congressional* complex, the GOP, the media and politics generally that ties Biden’s hands. And if you want to go back in history -- actually necessary -- add Britain to the list. Putting all the blame on one person is a little too Green Lantern for me. What’s going on is, with an exception, not a situation one man can fix. And the exception is Netanyahu but, you know...
(*That’s the term Eisenhower originally coined but was talked into dropping the congressional for obvious reasons.)
Neither Britain nor the blob are on the 2024 presidential ballot so this is about Biden.