Is it possible to expand the stakes of this election beyond the nation’s two-party pseudo-democracy?

I have to write this. I have to express solidarity with all the other lost and torn voters out there, who are struggling with the question of the moment: Who should I vote for? Israel’s genocidal and expanding war – supported and abetted by both of the mainstream, “legitimate” candidates – has shattered the abstract simplicity of the voting process. Do we have no choice but to vote for ongoing murder?

Or can we vote from the depth of our souls?

Enter the Green Party. Enter Jill Stein (again). She’s unequivocal in her objection to U.S. complicity in Israel’s carnage – in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon. Here’s what she said, for instance, in an interview with Middle East Eye. Asked what her plan would be – if she’s elected – for her first hundred days in office, she said:

“I pick up the phone and the genocidal war is over. The White House has absolute control over Israel because there’s no way Israel would survive for 24 hours here without the support of the US.”

Later in the interview, she noted: “I oppose the war on Gaza as a symbol of empire, which is on its last legs, and we need to transition to a multipolar world, instead of trying to be the unipolar, sole dominant power around the world, for us to be engaging in military confrontation around the world in order to maintain sole power, power when we are no longer the sole economic power.”

No-o-o! A candidate can’t talk like this! I sense an immediate upswell of cynicism. This is idealism, not political reality. Haven’t you learned this yet? American politics isn’t about goody-goody values, such as this simple truth on the Green Party website:

“There is no peace without justice. We need an immediate ceasefire, an end to the slaughter in Gaza, and full release of BOTH Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian hostages held in Israeli prisons. But to secure a permanent ceasefire and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, we must have accountability for these war crimes.”

Stein and the Greens defy the basic reality of American politics, that it’s about clichés and lies. Actual geopolitical “decisions” – in obeisance to the controlling corporate entities – are made behind closed doors. The American public is then given a verbal pat on the head, the point of which is to transcend all distressing news. Thus, as Kamala Harris has declared over and over: “I’m unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself.”

And then she adds, to placate all those seething, anti-genocide voters: “Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.” Switch to the passive voice, of course. Hamas committed atrocities on Oct. 7 – but thousands of Palestinian children lying dead in the rubble, multi-thousands terrified and starving, lacking access to medical care or clean water or a place to live . . . well, that just somehow happened. And what about those words: “far too many”? They seem to imply that some unspecified number of innocent Palestinians dead is just fine.

And, oh yeah, the Biden administration keeps supplying Isreal with billions of dollars’ worth of weapons no matter what it does, passively enabling the genocide to continue and the war to spread. Israel can do what it wants; it has impunity. Harris has expressed no problem with this.

But, as seemingly most voters know, Harris and the Democrats, no matter their stand on Israel, are far, far better than Donald Trump, the election’s greater evil and real reason why the Democrats must win. Not only is Trump the good buddy and candidate-of-choice of Benjamin Netanyahu, he’s absolutely crazy on a remarkable array of issues: from “hang Mike Pence” to Haitian immigrants “eating the pets” of the residents of Springfield, Ohio.

And regarding the current election, Trump has said: “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”

Trump could win no matter what, but apparently he’s slightly behind Harris in the polls. Thus the Democrats – including their reluctant supporters – cry out with desperation that sane Americans have to vote for Harris. Voting Green is virtually the same as voting for Trump.

Oh, the paradox! In one sense, it’s been like this for most of my lifetime. The first election in which I was old enough to vote (the voting age was then 21) was Nixon vs. Humphrey. I was a fervid anti-Vietnam war zealot and chose to skip the election, thinking there was no real difference between the candidates. But I quickly began regretting that decision as the Nixon presidency claimed hold of the country; I vowed never to skip another election, national or local, and have kept this commitment.

But today the election paradox is eating the nation’s soul. Do we stand up and vote for sanity, for the candidate who says, “There is no peace without justice”? The enormity of this choice can’t be glossed over. Can we not vote for the nation’s evolution beyond violence, especially as the climate crisis intensifies?

“I think it’s really important for people not to accept your powerlessness,” Stein said in the interview. “You’re being told you’re powerless. You’re actually not powerless. You are powerful. Nobody owns your vote. They have to earn your vote. And unless you are making them earn your vote, you are powerless.

“. . . And what you see,” she goes on, “is what you’re going to get more of. Throughout history, we make progress when we stand up as movements, and those movements then have political vehicles.”

So I let these words sink in. This is bigger than an election. Only a movement – both spiritual and political – can push us beyond the current wars and keep future wars, including nuclear wars, from happening. There is no peace without the valuing of all human life.

What is the state of this movement in the present moment? Will Harris start transcending her military capitulation (and earn our votes)? Will a vote for Stein do more than help Trump?

I cast my ballot for . . . ?

Robert Koehler is an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist and nationally syndicated writer. His newly released album of recorded poetry and art work, Soul Fragments, is available here: https://linktr.ee/bobkoehler

© 2024 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, INC.