Letter to the Editor | September 5 edition

A regular letter writer weighs in on the 2024 U.S. election and the crisis in Gaza.

PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

No enthusiasm for Kamala

On August 30, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz were interviewed by journalist Dana Bash. Harris emphasized the Biden line on the Gaza/Israel war: ceasefire, return of hostages, and two state solution. Sounds good. The problem is, Biden doesn’t do what’s required to make it happen.

Our presidents have called for a two state solution for many years. When Bash asked Harris about an arms embargo on Israel, she responded, no, she will not stop the arms flow. Her response was as brief as possible before returning to talking about a ceasefire.

Translation: The massacre of people, including more than 16,000 children according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the genocide, now allowed illegally by Biden, would be allowed by her if she is president. An appropriate name for that policy would be “The Talk and Kill.” Biden talks and Israel kills — to be replaced by Harris talks and Israel kills.

Next, Harris says we can have our clean energy economy and fracking too. We can meet our goals of carbon dioxide reduction even with fracking. That’s simply a lie. There are also the lovely side effects of fracking: it pollutes drinking water and creates toxic wastewater. It causes air pollution and water pollution that make people sick. The process causes earthquakes. And fracked gas is used to produce plastic — something we need to reduce, not increase.

It’s hard to give a damn about Harris’s candidacy. She’s being marketed as a moderate. It’s amazing how twisted our language is when stopping the murder of children and opposing fracking are considered progressive or radical. She strikes me as a Republican in Democratic clothing. She determines what she should be by placing her finger in the wind.

Many will vote for Harris, due to fear of Trump, but I feel no enthusiasm for her candidacy.

Shelley Simon