Wait, what? We’re talking about Joe Biden? Why? He’s a “lame duck.”  No matter who wins the US presidential election on November 5, he’s going home to Delaware on January 20.  His chances of asking  for, and getting, much from Congress during that two-and-a-half month interregnum are negligible.

But as head of the US government’s executive branch, what he can do is follow the laws, no matter how loudly Congress howls, absent Supreme Court intervention in support of criminal behavior.

He won’t do it now for fear of harming Kamala Harris’s chances versus Donald Trump, but once the votes are in he’s free to follow his conscience … if he still has one after decades in politics, where a conscience is a liability.

The laws I’m speaking of are Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d), which applies to the Secretary of State, and its Department of Defense  analog,  10 U.S.C. 362, informally known as the “Leahy Laws.”

Those laws, according to the US State Department Fact Sheet on them,  prohibit “the U.S. Government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights.”

Evidence that Israeli units have committed, and continue to commit, gross violations of human rights in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon isn’t just credible, it’s overwhelming.

Israeli forces have killed at least tens of thousands, and more likely in the 200,000 range, in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon, since last October. Most of the dead are non-combatants, many of them children.

Israeli forces have been caught red-handed in numerous atrocities, from bombing hospitals and refugee camps to anally raping male prisoners with metal rods. Israeli politicians openly defend and encourage even that last one.

There’s no doubt whatsoever that Israeli forces are committing gross violations of human rights … and it is therefore illegal for the US government to provide one thin dime of military aid or assistance to those forces. Period.

Why hasn’t Biden already ordered the Secretaries of State and Defense to stop writing checks and shipping weapons to Israel?

Because Israel has a powerful political lobby in the US. Anything less than complete and unquestioning obedience to Benjamin Netanyahu’s every demand is a “third rail” … for politicians who face re-election.

Biden doesn’t face re-election.

And these days, the Israel lobby’s support goes mostly to Republicans. Its main intervention on behalf of Democrats is meddling in primaries to ensure “pro-Israel” Democrats get nominated in “safe” Democratic seats.

At some point, there’s going to have to be one of those “national conversations” over whether it’s really in the interests of the United States to unstintingly support a violent, atrocity-prone, ethno-supremacist regime.

That conversation is unlikely to go Israel’s way. But it has to be started by a figure of national stature who needn’t worry about re-election.

If Biden does possess a conscience, or even just desires a big “legacy” accomplishment, he’ll cut the Israeli regime off come November 6.

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter:@thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

PUBLICATION/CITATION HISTORY

“The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms,” reads a petition circulated by Elon Musk’s America PAC. “By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments.”

While pledging support for key elements of the US Constitution might seem non-controversial to most, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner took Musk to court over the petition, claiming that awarding prizes of $1 million to randomly selected signers who are also registered voters constitutes an “illegal lottery scheme to influence voters.”

A judge put Krasner’s case on hold, on Halloween, when Musk’s attorneys attempted to move the matter to federal court. We’re probably not going to see any real movement on the legal aspects until after the election.

It’s true that Elon Musk supports a particular presidential candidate (Donald Trump).

It’s true that Musk’s PAC has been doing “ground game” canvassing work on behalf of Trump’s campaign in Pennsylvania and other swing states.

It’s clear that Musk hopes the giveaway and the attention it draws will help Trump.

But, let’s be clear here:

The million dollar prizes aren’t contingent on the recipient voting for Trump — or for that matter, voting at all.

The petition signature required for entry doesn’t mention Trump, It doesn’t mention the presidential election. It doesn’t even mention voting.

The process for entering the drawing, and potentially winning a prize, is a lot more like a “sweepstakes” than a “lottery.”

A lottery or raffle generally involves a material consideration: The participant must purchase something to have a chance of winning.

A sweepstakes only requires the participant to provide some information (mostly for determining eligibility, delivering prizes to the correct addresses, and facilitating future contact).

Yes, in THIS case, that information includes a pledge that participants support the First and Second Amendments. But there’s no deliverable consideration. No vote. No donation. No shift as a campaign door-knocker.

If I give lifetime supplies of ice cream to random members of a group who sign statements saying they like ice cream, am I running a lottery? They’re free to lie. I’m not making them buy, or eat, ice cream. I’m just giving away money to people who say they like ice cream.

If Musk’s scheme is an “illegal lottery,” so is every voter registration drive and “get out the vote” event that hands out random merch.

Krasner clearly doesn’t support the First Amendment.

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter:@thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

PUBLICATION/CITATION HISTORY

Although more than 50 million Americans have already voted — by mail or in person — “Election Day” formally falls on November 5. The candidates are making their “final arguments” in the media, pulling all stops out of their efforts to get supporters to the polls, and holding big events to enthuse those voters.

So, how’s that going for them?

Last Friday, about 30,000 people turned out for Kamala Harris’s rally in Houston Texas.

Last Saturday, about 20,000 attended Donald Trump’s campaign event at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Last Friday, about 65,000 fans packed the Superdome in New Orleans to watch Taylor Swift perform. And paid through the nose to do so.

Last Sunday, about 62,000 football enthusiasts shelled out big bucks to watch Swift’s beau, Travis Kelce, score his first touchdown of the season as the Kansas City Chiefs — the only as yet undefeated team in the National Football League  — take down the Raiders, 27-20 at Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium (yay Chiefs Kingdom!).

Each of those high-priced events drew more in-person attendees than the “free” events of Harris and Trump … combined.

Oh, and over the weekend, the third film in Marvel’s Venom franchise opened with a “disappointing” $51 million in US ticket sales. At an average ticket price of $12 or so, that means 85 times as many Americans decided they’d like to spend a couple of hours with Tom Hardy than with Trump or Harris.

Media coverage of presidential campaigns makes them out to be the most important things going on, 24/7, for months on end.

Americans obviously disagree. They’d rather take in a concert, a sports event, or a movie than attend a campaign event.

I suspect many of them would rather mow the lawn, or do laundry,  too.

And who can blame them? To pull out an old saw I’ve quoted before, politics is Hollywood for ugly people … and for ugliness in general.

Every presidential campaign is a big bad trip of dueling ideological and moral accusations, all of them disgusting, many true.

We’d all be better off if we could safely ignore it in favor of almost anything else.

Unfortunately, it refuses to ignore us.

Whoever wins the presidency, we’ll all be worse off going forward than we would be if the White House was demolished, its occupants put to flight, and salt sown in the earth where it once stood.

But at least we’ll have entertainment to distract us from the inevitable carnage, right?

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter:@thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

PUBLICATION/CITATION HISTORY