A Progressive Democrat’s Dilemma

Vote or not vote for Biden

by Dan Lieberman / March 2nd, 2024

National elections are a dilemma for progressive democrats. This election is more disturbing. Joe Biden’s support for Israel in its genocide of the Palestinian people has enraged progressives more than they are usually enraged. Awareness that a Joe Biden loss means a Donald Trump chooses between having the blood freeze or having the blood boil. In a no-win situation, which has been the situation for the last decade, the lesser of two evils dictates the choice. Something else is needed. It may be, in the language of American foreign policy “we have to destroy them to liberate them.” Well, from the ruins of a Chicago fire emerged a more splendid city, characterized by poet Carl Sandburg:

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders.

More to it. Who wins the presidency is not the most significant issue in this election. Disengaging the American government from the clutches of a Zionist conspiracy, spearheaded by AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) steering the U.S. into complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people, reducing America into becoming a satrap for Israel, demeaning the moral, freedom, and justice principles that established a nation, creating a divide among the American people, and wounding hearts of its most endearing, is on the ballot in November 2024. A future America becoming America the Beautiful or America Remaining the ugly is the voters’ choice.

Let’s clarify. Apartheid Israel is not warring against Hamas; it is using Hamas’ October 7 attack as an excuse for destroying the Palestinian people, their culture, and their heritage. The brutal killings and destruction, which also occur in the West Bank, are a continuation of the planned genocide. It is obvious that Israel only had to become more alert and fortified to prevent other attacks. It is also obvious that apartheid Israel is not targeting Hamas or trying to free the kidnapped civilians; Netanyahu needs both to remain in place to inflict collateral damage, to terrify the children, to starve the population, and to complete the genocide.

Only the candidate who answers  “Yes” to the question, “ Do you support the Palestinian people in their battle against the genocide being imposed upon them and refuse to support apartheid Israel in its genocidal endeavors,” gets the vote. That won’t be Biden and might result in Donald Trump getting elected. Let’s examine that.

One solution for stopping the genocide is to get the U.S. government to stop assisting Israel and start assisting the Palestinians. Only a changed Democratic Party provides that solution.

If the Dems lose and notice the loss is due to the departure of its progressive base, they see themselves in a lose-lose situation. Not retrieving the base by not reversing their supplicant Israel policy means losing forever. Retrieving the base by reversing its supplicant Israel policy means losing AIPAC campaign money and media support forever. The political loss occurs no matter what is done. Forget the political and pay attention to the moral and the nation’s conscience. Let the moral dictate the constituency of the Democratic Party. Make the Democratic Party the conscience of the nation and the revitalized Democratic Party, the Party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who won four terms of election, will emerge again. Recent mass demonstrations and immolations demonstrate the momentum for a changed America and the desperation for change. Organizing funding and media attention is another matter; just needs clever people doing clever things. A simple question: “Is there another way to accomplish the task and prevent the genocide?

An election of Donald Trump is not recommended, but it will not be as catastrophic as forecasted. A president cannot establish a dictatorship nor has reason to do it. A Trump presidency will be as before — incoherent, contradictory, lots of smoke, ego-tripping, and self-congratulations for managing some legislation that pleases and blaming others for legislation that confuses. Trump’s principal effect on the nation in his incumbency was the election of Supreme Court justices that changed the direction of the almighty judicial body. Retirement of a liberal Supreme Court Justice in the next four years is unlikely.

The Donald’s flirtation with Israel is more engaging than Biden’s relations with the apartheid state and from that it would seem that a Trump presidency dooms the Palestinians. Except, Donald has no allegiance to anybody or any group — not to the Republican Party, not to any constituency, not to any of his backers, and only to the mirrored Donald Trump. He needed the Evangelical vote to win and knew if he did not support apartheid Israel, he could not win. After the next election, he will no longer need the Evangelicals and no longer need to cater to Israel.

Not letting any nation take advantage of the United States is one driver of Trump’s mentality. Giving Israel $3.1B to purchase U.S. military equipment and then becoming a competitor with American industry in arms sales must bother the real estate mogul. Not farfetched that he could cancel the giveaway arrangement.

Trump loves to harvest grudges and maintain the grudges. Israeli PM Netanyahu’s quick embrace of Joe Biden and discard of Trump after the 2020 election bruised Trump and he has made that known. Adding to the animosity was Netanyahu’s last-minute cancelation of participation in the assassination of Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani.

Israel was going to do this with us, and it was being planned and working on it for months. We had everything all set to go, and the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel will not be participating in this attack.

I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing. And then Bibi tried to take credit for it. That didn’t make me feel too good.

The erratic Trump can change his mind quickly. Look at his relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jung-An. He turned from bellicose animosity to friendship and admiration for the Korean dictator. Lots to admire in the Palestinian courage and the former president may begin to see the difference between Palestinian courage and Israeli cowardice.

The same might be said for Biden. After winning the election, he could change his attitude. He might personally want to do that, but the Democratic Party leadership is firmly committed to Israel and will thwart any change. If Obama could not institute changes in U.S. policy toward Israel, nobody in the present Democratic hierarchy can accomplish that purpose. Biden, unlike Trump, is a Party loyalist and will follow the Party leadership.

These are speculations but they do not change the theses.

(1)    America is at a crossroads, one road leading to an ugly America that remains a satrap for Israel and its supporters; the other road leading to a revitalized America, which recognizes the plight of the Palestinian people and the duplicity of apartheid Israel and saves the Palestinians from genocide.

(2)    A victory for Biden leaves the U.S. on its road to ugliness; a Biden loss awakens the Democrats to change direction and steer themselves on the road that leads to a revitalized America.

One difficulty. The genocide is on its way and in its final stages. The headline reads, “Gaza residents scrambling for food, fighting for life amid Israeli attacks.” The Palestinians may not be able to wait much longer. Lying, deceiving, murderous Zionist tricksters have taken control and the world remains helpless. The worst moment in modern history is upon us. We cannot permit that to happen.

Wouldn’t it be nice if NBA and WNBA basketball players vowed to halt play unless their authorities petitioned the government to stop assisting in the genocide? Might start a trend that will ripple through other institutions in this “captured by Tel Aviv country.”

Dan Lieberman publishes commentaries on foreign policy, economics, and politics at substack.com. He is author of the non-fiction books A Third Party Can Succeed in America, Not until They Were Gone, Think Tanks of DC, The Artistry of a Dog, and a novel: The Victory (under a pen name, David L. McWellan). Read other articles by Dan.