The ‘Lesser of Two Evils’ argument revisited

By Omar Afra
Illustration by Tim Dorsey

First and foremost, let’s make clear that the most important things you can do to shape the world around you do not involve elections nor any political process. Vote with your dollars, vote with your feet, spread loving kindness, and be a good steward of the planet and your community. Nonetheless, the leviathan that directs traffic within our corrupt and impotent political system thrives on our futility and lack of participation in the process. Do we ‘dirty our hands’ by engaging a system that is entirely compromised, or do we lay down on the tracks and die? Well, for the last 10 years I chose the latter. I decided that the ‘Evil of Two Lessers’ idea eclipsed that of the ‘Lesser of Two Evils’.
Let’s be clear. We manifest the ‘Lesser of Two Evils’ concept in our daily lives to no end. It is some ostensibly pure ideological motive that tells us that we can not be pragmatic in our politics. For instance, many of my friends are liars. Many are hypocrites. Many are self centered scumfucks who only seek advancement for self and would sell their souls for 20 dollars and a few Lone Stars. However, none of my friends are murderers. None of my friends are thieves. Well, maybe one, but I digress. Anyhow, my point is this: Obama is a fucking hypocrite. He has proven himself a liar. He no doubt harbors great ambition and his motives are unclear. Now McCain is indeed a murderer. "I am a war criminal," McCain said on "60 Minutes" in 1997. "I bombed innocent women and children." Not enough? How about this doozy: ""I'll call right now my interrogator that tortured me and my friends a gook," Mr. McCain said in 2000, using a particularly offensive term for Asians. "You can quote me."" McCain no doubt dropped ordinance on women and children and his planes carried napalm. There is much speculation as to whether he personally dropped napalm but he had this to say after seeing an accident with napalm involving his shipmates: "Now that I've seen what the bombs and the napalm did to the people on our ship, I'm not so sure that I want to drop any more of that stuff on North Vietnam." Why is that not an issue in the national coverage? Is this taboo to delve into? Now couple this with the fact that McCain has said that he would spend 100 years in Iraq. Would you hang out with this guy? Would you make him your friend? Again, Obama is just another politician but McCain has the military industrial complex’s balls on his chin. Have no illusions about the fact that McCain means another 8 years of imperialist wars, trickle-down economics, and growth of the police state. Ultimately, my assessment is not any endorsement of Obama but serves as a warning against sitting on your hands when facing the prospect of a militarist like John McCain running our government.

"I'll call right now my interrogator that tortured me and my friends a gook," Mr. McCain said in 2000, using a particularly offensive term for Asians. "You can quote me."