By Warren Furutani
Since the last presidential election in 2020, there has been a muted discussion about the failure of the two-party system.
Presidential candidate in 2020, Andrew Yang, with his surprise showing and after his failed attempt to run for the mayor of New York City, started the Forward Party. When asked if he would run in 2024, he declared that he would not and the Forward Party would focus on local elections and initiatives.
On the eve of the 2024 presidential election, the issue of the impact of third-party candidates has caused the usual sidebar discussion. Robert Kennedy Jr., Cornell West and Jill Stein have thrown their hats in the ring, but their impact is only discussed related to who of the anointed Democratic and Republican nominees they will take votes from. As I said, a sidebar discussion at best.
The viability of a third political party rears its head during presidential election years but no one takes them seriously and considers them quixotic at best. At least until recently.
The passage of the military funding bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan was the product of a not-so-new third political party. It is made up of Republicans and Democrats and should be called the “war mongers” party or the Military Industrial Complex Party.
For the last many years, both parties have had difficulty coming together around anything. But to keep the current wars going and to send a message to China vis-a-vis Taiwan, they have come together and have made a deal with the devil, Speaker Ron Johnson.
This deal has held as the far-right crazy Republicans came after the Republican speaker. The vast majority of the Congressional Dem Caucus decided to vote for the far-right Republican speaker and unapologetic supporter of Donald Trump. Maybe the thinking is “stick with the devil you know…”
With all this said, the purpose of this column is to thank and tip my hat to the California AAPI congressional members who voted against the war in Gaza (I acknowledge that the war in Gaza is different from the Ukraine/Russia conflict and military support for Taiwan).
Congressmembers Judy Chu, Mark Takano and Ro Khanna (listed by seniority) took a courageous stand, took on the powerful Israeli lobby (AIPAC) and voted NO on the additional military funding for Israel’s far-right government’s war in the Gaza strip. I can’t imagine the political pressure they had to endure from their Democratic colleagues and AIPAC.
One last note: Any talk of “red lines” (when it’s gone too far) invoked by President Biden is a head fake at best and at this point ridiculous to its core. Any red line has been long passed tens of thousands of deaths ago!
Stop the war, free the hostages now, facilitate humanitarian aid immediately, and a “two-state” solution is the only viable answer.
Warren Furutani has served as a member of the Los Angeles Unified District Board of Education, the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, and California State Assembly. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.