I read the CJPIP-sponsored letter [Davis supports peace and the rule of law, July 23] applauding 7th District Congressman Danny Davis for co-sponsoring HR3565 (Block the Bombs) in last week’s Viewpoints section. The bombs in question are U.S. made, U.S. taxpayer-funded and have contributed to roughly 60,000 dead Palestinians, including an estimated 15,000 children. The letter clearly articulates the repulsive reality of Israel’s strategic onslaught and the now dire need to allow relief aid for a starving, dying populace.
HR3565 needs all the support it can get. Davis and other Democrats have also co-sponsored the bill. Of course they do. Every day now, there’s a particular body count that bespeaks the massive evil of what international criminal courts have rightfully labelled a genocide, that being how many Palestinians were killed while attempting to get aid supplies from four designated areas in Gaza. So, yes, HR3565 is vital.
But let’s be honest, it virtually has no chance of being passed, even if every single Democrat in Congress votes for it. The lock-step lunatics of the GOP have a seven-seat majority in the House. That may seem small, but that Big Ugly Budget Bill passed with that same small majority, then approved by a GOP senate majority of 53 to 45 (and two Independents).
I’m sure many readers would feel I’m being very negative here when positivity is an option. Fair enough, but this horror show of hate started almost immediately after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas (who are not the Palestinian people!) attack.
The reality here, with HR3565 being a most worthy action, is that the blame goes back to the previous administration too. The genocide was documented long before the 2024 election. Millions of morally turned-off voters refused to vote Democrat, since it was that administration that again and again approved more military aid to Israel. More bombs. Killing a defenseless population. Real-time video documenting the carnage. Graphically.
Ironically, the CJPIP letter led to a “related” letter from Nov. 24, 2023 that bemoaned the same Danny Davis for failing to respond to “Voters of Ceasefire Now” organizers. What was more important then? Davis, soon to turn 84, is symptomatic of a national party that needs new, younger brains and blood. But even AOC and others in the Squad are all talk and no bite. What did they do to stop the genocide? Talk, talk, as always a very cheap political commodity.
We need a Third Party! We need better choices. And then maybe we can have a better world than what the duopoly has now thrust upon us.
Joseph Harrington is a resident of Oak Park.