Hello. I listen to you on WCRSfm in Columbus, Ohio and I wanted to share a comment on your call with Marwan (sp?) about "Uncommitted" voters in Michigan's primary.
While you are technically correct that a vote for uncommitted is ultimately going to help trump, I wanted to share another perspective that I find is lacking in the coverage of this issue.
Palestinians are a people in diaspora, somewhat akin to the ancestors of enslaved Africans in the US, they are majority stateless although resising across the globe. For every Palestinian American citizen there can be as many as 100 (or more) blood relatives living in Gaza, as is the case with an official in Michigan who had 100 members of his Gazan family killed by the IDF bombing campaign that is funded and enabled by the United States. People losing relatives in this "conflict" are in grief, arguably a 75 years long grief, but definitely since October 7th, 2023. We are asking people who have family stuck in a hellscape where they are targeted, starved and murdered by their occupiers who are funded by this government. And now we're expecting them to vote for the guy who goes on TV and radio saying he's a zionist and that Israel has a right to "defend itself" (which it doesn't over a territory it occupies) and goes around legal channels (Congress) to give more bombs to kill more of their women and children relatives, destroy their cities, mosques, universities, cultural sites, bakeries....while refusing to stand against it in anyway on the international stage, actually vetoing any attempts to put a stop to it?!?
Gaza is watching us, too. What are the voters of Michigan supposed to tell their starving relatives? Trump is worse?!? They don't care about our democracy --- they're dying as an ethnic group becasue we are enabling Israel to kill them.
Electoral politics in this moment are actually obscene. Like "Sorry about your dead wife and twin babies who were buried alive under the rubble...can I count on your vote?"
NO!
All of our energy needs to be on ending the conflict in Palestine and freeing the hostages and political prisoners.
Thanks for reading. Hope you have a good day!

Brad, do you still vape? That used to be a topic you would also rant about on your show. I'd be curious if you changed your mind on the topic.

Amanda @1:

Thanks for the thoughts, and I share much of your general sentiment, if not all. (eg. I respectfully disagree that Biden has "refus[ed] to stand against" what Israel is doing "in anyway" or that he has gone around legal channels to support them, or even that he has the ability to stop what Israel is doing either unilaterally or via the UN.)

But, to be clear, I believe that Marwan and I were discussing was the November election, in regard to votes not cast for Biden being votes for Trump (either by voting for a 3rd party or not voting at all.) I have no problem with people casting their primary votes for "Uncommitted" as a primary election protest vote against Biden's policies, and I can't imagine that Marwan, a Palestinian himself, would either.

That said, where you argue that "All of our energy needs to be on ending the conflict in Palestine and freeing the hostages and political prisoners," I would argue that "all of our energy" needs to be focused on a LOT of things right now. One of which is the fact that life, as horrific as it is right now for the people in Gaza, will --- like a whole bunch of other things --- become far, FAR worse, if the US nation makes the mistake of electing Donald Trump again.

The efforts that many are putting into preventing that from happening, are, I believe, doing a service to those in Palestine (and Sudan, and Ukraine, and many other places) facing unspeakable nightmares right now. There are a lot of nightmares right now, and all of them are likely to get far worse, depending on what happens over the next 8 months. All hands are needed on all decks....unfortunately.

P.S. Are we on WCRS? We'd be delighted, if so, but didn't know that we were and I don't see us on their schedule. Perhaps you hear us on WGRN in Columbus instead?

Alex @2:

Yup. I still vape. And, nope, haven't changed my outlook on it one bit. Sadly, it is just one of too MANY things that now receive shorter-shrift than I'd like these days, given the broader nightmares the nation (and planet) are facing in recent years.