General Discussion

I was frustrated by friends and associates who did not vote for VP Harris. By their saying that they did not think the felon could win in 2024, much like some of them -- though fewer -- said in 2016. I did think that VP Harris should have spoken more about the differences between what would be her administration's position on Gaza than President Biden's. While Biden has been one of my favorite politicians for decades, I disagreed with his full support for Israel. I remembered 1968, when VP Humphrey waited too long to move away from LBJ's policies in Vietnam. Yet just as a win belongs to the candidate and their campaign, so does a loss.

One of my nieces is married to a fellow from Boston. He is Jewish, and very pro-Israel as an American citizen. He is one of my favorite people to talk about politics with when he visits their second home here in upstate NY (my late parents' house). I'm looking forward to talking to him this summer. Last summer, he explained his thinking that Netanyahu is not so much the problem as the extremists who back him. He makes a number of valid, important points.

I appreciate the anger that resulted from Hama's brutal attack on Israeli human beings. I experienced something similar when British troops executed one of my cousins in front of his family. After breaking into their home late at night, they brought everyone into the living room, and killed my cousin in front of them. Did I support the tactics of the IRA then, as a young man? I could tell some stories. But today, in my old age, I know that violence is not the answer. Self-defense is good, but that is distinct from blowing things up, be it a bar in Ireland, or a girls school in Iran.

Everyone suffers in and from war, except the old men thirsting for death and destruction. We need to recognize them for what they are, and remove them from power.