Ted Rall has made it clear he has no use for this season’s Democratic presidential ticket, stubbornly hewing third party, all deterrents’ Donald Trump notwithstanding. And no doubt his ‘no lesser-evil need apply’ rationale has shaky legs to stand on with certain thoughtful lefties intent on dodging the centrist-Dem. potholes in Joe Biden’s track record, even at this late date of the mega-Trumpian train wreck.
That is, until the extraordinarily untimely passing of the legendary Ruth Bader Ginsberg completely vaporized that notion just six weeks before the election.
The luxury of a purity-centric vote was suddenly torpedoed, rendering a Biden-Harris win manifestly essential to save the modern world as we know it. The collective left holds its breath to see if Senate Dems currently short on hands can parliamentarily stall the hard-right Amy Coney Barrett past Jan. 20, while mainstream pundits normally averse to all things Trump seemed to be cynically hedging their post-Donald bets, and larger progressive potentialities, sanguine about and certain of a Barrett confirmation.
Even as Trump and McConnell kicked to the curb RBG’s dying wish of a SCOTUS replacement by the next-presidency, a supreme irony could be that her death, and the brutishly cavalier GOP reaction to it, may actually cement Biden’s opportunity to name her replacement. Fully cognizant of Trump’s vow to flip the high court anti-abortion, even women in Republican households will tilt Biden this time, and many Reagan Democrats newly spooked at the specter of losing their union advantages will likely follow suit.
But the Ted Ralls of the world should be able to vote their convictions without devastating repercussion; third parties absolutely need to be granted potency.
And instant run-off balloting, also known as ranked-choice voting, does just that, and Maine residents will have a first-in-nation opportunity Nov. 3 to test drive this important political innovation. Armed with their ranked choice system, Mainers can give a third party preference top billing, while secondarily voting a major party candidate if they wish. What comes out in the wash is an invigorated third party opportunity which doesn’t spoil the major candidate’s chances should the third partier not predominate. It’s principled, resourceful, guilt-free voting.
Were ranked choice voting nationally adopted, Ted Rall would no longer have to make sanctified hair-splitting arguments that invariably boost the perversely wrong guy.
MIKE WETTSTEIN Jr., Appleton, Wis.
The clients of Trump’s businesses share a world of ultra exclusivity in their condos and golf clubs. In this setting money and power are primal and not tarnished by the means of it’s attainment The selling point for these properties and memberships is the understanding that winners live here.
There are also the “saps and losers” envisioned in a “me first” mindset. These also-rans illustrate the divide between Trump’s customers and his political base. This contradiction is the theme that demonstrates Trumpism. He has used the energy of fundamental Christian faith to amplify racial division. He champions law and order as he evades investigations. He is a militant commander in chief and also a draft dodger. He poses with bibles and cheats on his wives. He claims fantastic business success by not counting his bankruptcies, fraud convictions or a massive inheritance. This pairing of opposites explains the constant lying. Lies are the frailest foundation to build anything great upon.
America will be greater when the word of a senator has value. It will be greater when we seek method and insight to transcend the rule of the jungle. A world of only winners and losers shows a predatory regression to a more senseless and brutal time.
PAUL BENSON, Hawarden, Iowa
Richard Wolff’s analysis of “pandemic capitalism’s” role in worsening inequality is spot-on [“The Consequences of Inequality Can Be Fatal,” 9/1/20 TPP] Professor Wolff is on shakier ground when he casts the Bible as an obstacle to the struggle against inequality.
He cites this common misrepresentation of a saying of Jesus: “the poor shall always be with us.” Wolff reads it as a biblical prediction that poverty is inevitable. If so, the “pessimists” would be right: why try to fight it? Inequality might even be divinely ordained.
What Jesus says to his hearers, in fact, is in the present tense: “for you always have the poor with you …” (Mark 14:7). These words are not a prediction of inevitability but a common-sense observation. In first-century Jerusalem, the poor would always be around, and visible — one saw them every day. Importantly, Jesus adds: “… and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish.” The scriptures of ancient Israel commanded concrete actions to help the poor. Jesus reinforces this teaching.
The focus of Jesus’ whole career was reaching out to those who were poor, vulnerable, and marginalized. He taught, and embodied, not only compassion but justice. Neither Jesus nor the Bible as a whole would acquiesce to the predatory capitalism that Wolff rightly deplores.
DAVID McCURDY, Elmhurst, Ill.
Thanks for printing my letter [“Evangelicals Try New Messiah,” 10/15/20 TPP]. All was fine until the last sentence where, instead of “John’s writings,” you had it as “Jone’s writings.” We all know there is no such person in the Bible. Getting this name wrong undermines the whole point of my letter and leaves one wondering just what to think and what I’m saying. More importantly, it leaves people ignorant of why it’s so critical that we know the Bible at this particular time especially.
The whole Bible is about Jesus Christ, and it tells us the truth about Him by contrasting him with wht and who is is not. John especially tells us who/what He is not and how we can differentiate between Him and false gods/lies, in Revelations especially. We are living in times right now when believers need to know these things. For those who believe God and His Word it is all good to know, necessary to know. So please correct this for your readers. There are many other things by all Biblical writers, of course, as well, but John is especially timely. Luke 11 is equally pertinent, Ephesians 5 and 6, too.
Christ pointed out that no man knows when Christ is to return, but He told what the signs would be. Matthew 21-25 tells us more about all this as well.
Everyone should know these things and not think “Nobody really knows whata the future brings,” especially since the Bible does tell us.
CHERYL LOVELY, Presque Isle, Maine
Editor Notes: We regret the typographical error, and hope it does not graduate to a theological error.
Ted Rall’s columns, minimizing the differences between Democrats and Republicans, have always been exasperating. But his latest effort, “The Only Wasted Vote Is a Vote Not for a Third Party” [10/1/20 TPP], is the most outrageous. It is beyond understanding how any sane progressive, having experienced nearly a full term of Donald Trump’s fascism, racism, and corruption, can cavalierly declare that he will not vote Democratic this year. This is reminiscent of the German Communists in the early 1930s pursuing a sectarian course that helped Hitler to power. Even assuming the propriety of a third-party vote in more normal times, this year it would be utterly irresponsible. A vote for a third party is a vote for Trump and the consolidation of fascism in America. It is a vote for more opportunities for far-right justices to be appointed to the Supreme Court which will thwart justice in America for decades. It is a vote for environmental destruction and the end of the labor movement. It is indeed not a wasted vote; it is a destructive vote. We must elect Biden, and then progressives can have a voice to influence public policy.
While The Progressive Populist rightfully features a wide range of progressive thinking and writing styles, I think the time has come to reassess whether the irrational rantings of Ted Rall warrant a regular place in your paper.
STEPHEN E. APPELL, Brooklyn, N.Y.
In Amy Goodman’s insightful column [“Honor Essential Workers and Remember Those who died,” 10/1/20 TPP], I found an inspirational parallel between her gracious words of gratitude to essential workers, and the stirring musical composition “Fanfare for the Common Man,” written by Aaron Copland as an ode to ordinary working men and women.
Not everyone can lead an army to victory, or be a heroic firefighter or police officer — and not many can be brilliant doctors or skillful nurses. And yet, the thousands of workers who bravely step forward when called upon to help the vulnerable during this ongoing pandemic are just as deserving of praise as the “heroes” we aspired to be in our childhood daydreams.
I praise Amy Goodman for her own “fanfare for the common man,” in which she reminds us to thank those workers who are there to help us during these frightening times.
DAVID QUINTERO, Monrovia, Calif.
Further to Amy Goodman’s “Honor Essential Workers and Remember Those Who Died” [10/1/20 TPP]. I would really like to see a plan to compensate the families of those essential workers who die fighting on the front lines of our nation’s conflict with the coronavirus, just as our government, on behalf of a grateful nation, compensates the families of those who die fighting on the front lines of our other wars. Let’s make America grateful again!
DAVID COPELAND, Laramie, Wyo.
Here we go again, we get our daily shock. nnWe’ve had enough, these years are tough. nnPlease mail, ride or walk to vote for those who have no polls, through fire, flood or famine.
It doesn’t take a lot of smarts not to keep a TV ham in.
FLORA ORMSBY SMITH, Marblehead, Mass.
From The Progressive Populist, November 1, 2020
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