JD Vance, Trump’s 2024 running mate, acknowledged “it’s possible” his claim that Haitian immigrants abducted pets “might not be true,” but encouraged his supporters to keep posting “cat memes” anyway, CNN reported on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 (read story here).
Why would he do that, if the “cat memes” are false? I’ll answer that. This is an election season, and he’s bashing immigrants to get votes. This is about as cynical as politics gets. (I’ll probably regret saying that, because just wait until it gets even more cynical.)
Then Vance changed tacks, which he always does when caught lying, and spewed another whopper. He said, “Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here.”
The reality, CNN says, is that “an 11-year-old child was killed in a bus crash in Springfield involving a Haitian immigrant driver who had a foreign license that was not valid in Ohio.” More details of this incident are here.
A Haitian immigrant with a Mexican driver’s license was driving a van when, he claimed, the sun blinded him. He crossed the centerline and side-swiped a school bus, which slid into a ditch and overturned. Several kids were injured, and a boy was killed. This was a tragedy, but an accident, not murder.
The Haitian driver was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and fourth-degree vehicular homicide, and sentenced to 9 to 13½ years in prison. I can’t discern a logical connection between his immigrant status and the accident.
Citizens drive without licenses, cross centerlines, and hit other vehicles too. Many of those accidents are caused by DUI drivers, but this one wasn’t, which makes the stiff sentence a bit surprising.
Why the focus on Springfield, Ohio? Because a lot of Haitian immigrants have settled there, and because Ohio is Vance’s home state; he’s one of its senators. But the families of the school bus crash victims want an end to the racist hate that Vance is exploiting for political gain.
The dead boy’s father said, “In capital letters and bold print, we do not want our son’s name to be associated with hate that’s being spewed by the uninformed majority that vocalized their hate.”
The prosecutor said, “What I would ask from the community is, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, shut your mouth. Be quiet. … I would ask people today, instead of spreading hate, spread some love. We could use it.”
They’re talking to you, J.D. Vance.
He should never be vice president. For that matter, he shouldn’t be a senator, but that’s up to Ohio voters, and he can’t do as much damage in the senate. There are lots of reasons besides him being a racist and liar.
He embraces the notion that women’s role is to be housewives and produce babies, even if that’s not how they want to live their lives, and he’s for a total national ban on abortion. He said if he’d been vice president he wouldn’t have certified the 2020 election, which disrespects the votes of the 81 million people who elected Joe Biden.
He’s disparaged the honorable military service of his Democratic counterpart, Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate. He’s a flip-flopper who lambasted Trump, then changed his tune and whole-hog embraced him to advance his own political career, which initially was sponsored and underwritten by South Africa-born Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley billionaire and obnoxious rightwing extremist.
On the campaign trail, Vance has done nothing but lie and exaggerate, hoping to latch onto attack lines that will still with voters. It’s dishonest as hell, and we can do better. Walz was a popular teacher and coach, and served 24 years in the National Guard. The most serious blemish on his record is once saying years ago, in a gun control debate, that he carried “weapons in war,” which isn’t true because he wasn’t in a war.
That exaggerated his military service, but only mildly, and doesn’t rise to “stolen valor” as the term usually is used; it refers to non-veterans asserting fictional claims to have served and wearing medals they didn’t earn. And Walz’s white lie pales in comparison to the racist lies and exaggerations spilling out of Vance’s mouth on a daily basis.
Sure, I’d like for politicians to be perfect human beings, but they aren’t; you can always find something to criticize. The difference between Walz and Vance is that Walz passes the character test, while Vance doesn’t; and Vance’s disrespect for democracy and voters is downright dangerous. Walz probably will be a good vice president. Vance can’t be trusted.
I want to see a functional Republican Party with decent candidates. Our nation needs honest political competition. We don’t have that now. The situation is that the Democrats are no more imperfect than they’ve ever been, but the GOP has sunk into a morass of extremism, racism and bigotry, nastiness, and political violence, and no light is visible at the end of that dark tunnel.
I sort of understand why nearly half the country will vote for Trump and Vance. Party loyalties are nearly unshakeable, for one thing. And MAGA voters have genuine frustrations about cultural issues, the economy, and a sense the other side is deaf to their concerns. I get that, but they’re not entitled to all they want, because some of it takes freedom away from others. And Republican policies need a better vessel than Trump and Vance, before I’d be willing to say the GOP deserves to win elections.
For now, responsible citizens who want leadership with character, competent governing, and respect for our individual rights and liberties, have only Harris, Walz, and the Democrats. If you’re not all-in for the Democrats, hold your nose and vote for them anyway, then hope time will bring forth a better GOP, and wait for those better days. That’s what dozens of former Trump aides and other Republicans are doing.
Photo below: If you’re not a MAGA voter, Vance is dismissive of your voting rights and your vote. Based on his own words, he can’t be entrusted with our democracy.
