sonora2sonoma

In both recent conversations with friends as well as in online and media presentations of late, there seems to be a tendency in some quarters to disparage Joe Biden as incapable of fulfilling the duties of president, should he be chosen to run. While it appears certain at this point he will win the Democratic Party nomination, fanning the flames of doubt surrounding his fitness for office is counterproductive at best, and may prove to be, in a worst-case scenario, disastrous.

Even though it might feel good in the moment to put down Biden out of preference for Bernie becoming elected president, or for whatever weaknesses one might perceive in Joe as a candidate, it is vitally important we all remain mindful of the power of our words and the clarity of our true intentions. The memory of the effects of those sitting out the last election because Bernie didn’t make it to the ballot should be ringing loudly in our ears. Those who followed that line of reasoning—while remaining willfully ignorant of the effect their decision might have had, and ultimately did turn out to have, on the current makeup of the Supreme Court, not to mention the unconscionable dismantling of the EPA, etc., etc.—in all likelihood made the difference in getting trump elected last time.

Given the stakes in the upcoming election, in which each vote left uncast will be, in essence, a vote for duplicitous donald, statements that cast doubt or otherwise tend to foster the notion that Joe Biden, should he turn out to become the nominee, is unqualified to be president are, in essence, playing into the Orangutan’s hands— (with due apologies to our simian brothers and sisters).

Regardless of whatever misgivings we might harbor concerning Joe Biden, be they his age, his sometimes halting delivery or fears he will reinstitute policies reminiscent of those represented by Hillary in the last go-round, the prospect of Trump filling yet another Supreme Court vacancy (a likely event) should send any sane person resolutely marching to the ballot box this fall to prevent this scourge from creeping any further.

Folks who say they can’t vote for Biden, or that they’re going to vote Green or Libertarian or whatever, or simply plan to leave that part of the ballot blank–all those people will be, by so doing, increasing the odds of a trump victory.

The only way to defeat this abominable travesty of everything we hold sacred and prevent him from further harming the Republic, women’s rights, the environment, social equality, and so many other things we hold dear that he has fouled with his grubby and greedy little fingers is to rise up in a great Blue wave this November and deliver him a defeat of unprecedented proportions.

Future historians will debate the paradox of the trump era for generations to come. We, collectively, have the power to determine what they will say about us. Let us not be like the citizens of Nazi Germany who chose to look the other way while their Jewish neighbors disappeared in the night.

To prevent the unthinkable notion of a second trump term, we must all be responsible citizens. Remaining mindful of the power of our words to shape the views of our neighbors, we must participate, exercising our voting privileges with judiciousness and with wisdom aforethought!

After all, what value has history if not to teach us what not to repeat?

Tim Konrad