If any voters around America are considering voting for alternative candidates in November, please remember these two terrifying words: President Trump.
Any votes cast for third or fourth party nominees instead of for Kamala Harris will only benefit the ex-Oaf of Office, worst president in American history and wannabe dictator if elected again.
For a while it looked like there might be a spoiler. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a KINO (Kennedy In Name Only), once had a small claim of being an environmental advocate. That’s gone now, along with RFK Jr.’s sanity.
A July 2023 NPR profile revealed that he’s not just an anti-vaxxer. Kennedy’s crazy conspiracies fill what’s left of his worm-eaten brain. He recommended ridiculous remedies for COVID, such as Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine, and accused Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, of orchestrating a coup against American democracy. Fortunately, his campaign discombobulated as he offered to throw his support to BOTH Trump and Kamala Harris in exchange for a cabinet post.
On the extreme other hand, Green Party candidate Jill Stein suffers from perhaps too much sanity. I agree with Stein that there is a climate emergency. I agree with her that Israel is committing genocidal war crimes in Gaza. In a more perfect union where the Green Party stood a chance of winning, there could be valid votes for Stein.
But this ain’t no perfect union. It’s a deeply divided, racist, sexist, gun-nut nation. In 2016 Jill Stein got 1.4 million votes while Trump won the Electoral College by under 80,000 votes in a few swing states. There is some speculation that Stein’s votes took a victory from Hillary Clinton. In 2020, Joe Biden carried the four swing states that gave him the Electoral College win by barely 50,000 votes.
The razor-thin margin of these last two elections reminds us of the importance of every vote. With the dangers of dictatorship hovering over our delicate democracy, we can’t indulge casting protest votes for candidates who won’t win. As we look at leaders around the world, dictators are the worst mistreaters of nature. We can be sure that another Trump presidency would guarantee climate catastrophe.
Regrettably, not enough Americans place a priority on the planet. It’s only the 19th most important issue with voters, less than improving roads and the budget deficit, according to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party have actually improved on their ecological commitments. Sure, I was angry and disappointed when Biden broke his promise about drilling on the Willow Project. But overall Biden and Harris made progress on a host of environmental issues with the most significant green legislation in half a century.
So we have a choice between the probably pretty good of Harris against the certain s#*t storm of Trump. Let’s keep in mind our extremely tight budget. With the survival of our sovereignty at stake, we can’t afford the luxury of voting for an ideal.
Frank Lingo, based in Lawrence, Kansas, is a former columnist for the Kansas City Star and author of the novel “Earth Vote.” Email: lingofrank@gmail.com. See his website: Greenbeat.world
From The Progressive Populist, September 15, 2024
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