I have been struggling with a metaphysical dilemma that is probably of no great consequence, but won’t go away: Is there a difference between sanity and rationality? My brain says, Oh come on, there are more important nits to pick. My gut says: No, rationality is cold, hard, logical. Sanity is logical, too, but has a spiritual and emotional dimension. They often overlap, of course…and, to make matters worse, the two can flip-flop, from day to day, from issue to issue.
Take the matter of the Dean Phillips challenge to Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. My initial reaction was, Go For It, Lad! I have doubts about Biden’s ability to save us from Trump; despite Joe’s best efforts—and I think he’s been a very good President—the public just doesn’t seem to be buying his act. Part of it is his fault: the idea of selling Bidenomics and a booming economy, rather than acknowledging the lethal daily weight of inflation—I mean, have you noticed the price of lamb chops lately?—has been a tactical mistake that reinforces the sense that Grandpa Joe just doesn’t get it. And there is the Grandpa Joe thing—not just that he’s old, but that the public is bored with the choices on offer, mostly him. (The Trump cult, with its endless appetite for evil, never seems to get bored.) Biden’s had a very strong and admirable October as President, but his popularity ratings are lower than they were in September. My rational mind screams: Uh-oh.
Phillips seems the best possible sort of challenger—read this Tim Alberta piece—a moderate, a member of the Sanity Caucus. He is backed by one of the great political strategists, Steve Schmidt. He is taking advantage of an act of political stupidity by the Democratic Party: the abandonment of New Hampshire as the first in the nation primary. Yeah, yeah, New Hampshire is very white and rather conservative. It doesn’t “look” like the Democratic Party (a loathsome phrase). But guess what? New Hampshire looks a lot like the sort of states the Dems are going to have to win if the want to elect a President in 2024. Biden starts the fight against Phillips with one arm tied behind his back: he is a write-in candidate; Phillips is on the ballot.
The most rational argument for Phillips is this: Given their doubts about Biden, Democrats should have a choice as to whether he should continue in office. I’m not saying Phillips should be the nominee; Gavin Newsom is running a very impressive non-campaign (even if he steam-rolled a kid while playing basketball in China—being in China was smart, just as his coming debate with Ron DeSantis is). And there are other Dems who could fill the bill. New Hampshire should be a referendum on Biden. If Phillips loses, he should quit posthaste. If Phillips wins, Biden should take a good hard look at the mirror.
On the Other Hand…
There is sanity. My gut asks, Do you trust the Democratic Party to survive an internecine battle? These feelings have only intensified since the Hamas massacre of innocent Israelis. Listen to the Chair of the Progressive Caucus about Israel:
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a liberal ally who has backed Biden’s reelection bid, said that she is worried that Biden risks being out of step with the broader American electorate, and losing support among the younger voters that he needs to mobilize for his reelection.
“He has been courageous on the domestic front,” Jayapal said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “The president needs to be just as courageous on this issue.”
…Jayapal’s comments about Israel have garnered criticism in the past, particularly this summer when she called Israel a “racist state.” She later walked back that statement, saying she meant some of the people and policies of Netanyahu’s government were racist.
So, on the left, it’s “courageous” to back away from Israel—to, in effect, support the most brutal, immoral terrorists now running free on the planet? To join with the idiot college students who have been taught by their idiot college professors that the very existence of the state of Israel is an act of intersectional oppression—whatever that is—and colonialism rather than restitution and reparation after 2000 years of attempted, and near-successful, genocide against the Jewish people? Is it possible that Biden’s been losing altitude because the left thinks he’s not courageous on Gaza?
I’m sorry, but any act that potentially empowers the left-wing of the Democratic Party is a barrel of snakes I’m not willing to open. I believe that moderates far outnumber lefties among the Dems. But the lefties, with their unerring ability to come up with politically destructive slogans like “defund the police,” have the power to noxious fodder to Donald Trump (or whomever the Republican nominee is). Anything that gives the dilettante left oxygen is bad for Sanity in America.
As a Jew who has been consistently critical of Israel’s settlement policies, I’m feeling a bit panicky these days—or, at least, lonely, as Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post. Anti-semitism is fashionable among the feckless. I am frightened by columnists like Milbank’s colleague, the ever-underwhelming Perry Bacon. I find myself drifting toward columnists I’ve disagreed with in the past like Max Boot: Iran needs to understand that the continuing support for terrorists in the region is not a good idea. (Sanity also dictates that negotiations and conversations with the shaky Iranian regime about its nuclear program should continue; no one ever said sanity was going to be either consistent or easy).
Ten years ago, I would have been on the next plane to Israel and written an eminently humane isn’t-this-all-so-tragic piece like the New Yorker’s David Remnick did. I don’t know if we can afford that sort of humanity right now. This is a clear case of villainy. There is no moral equivalence. Hamas is evil; if it can’t be destroyed, it needs to be severely debilitated. There will be a time, sooner rather than later I hope, when we can get about the business of toppling the horrific Netanyahu and his gang of extremists; they have done severe damage to Israel. There should come a time, sooner rather than later, when we hold the supine American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to account for not making it crystal clear that we American Jews are opposed to crazy settlers—why do so many seem to come from Philadelphia?—venting their neuroses by establishing illegal outposts on Palestinian lands.
For now, though, we have a President who has taken the moral high ground. Who supports Israel in its hour of need. Who is quietly, subtly, diplomatically counseling caution, and humanitarian relief, in Gaza. Who stands as a bulwark against the left-wing bigots of the Democratic Party. His name is Joe Biden. And, for now at least, sanity dictates that I’m with him.
If you haven’t officially joined the Sanity tribe yet, please consider this:
You go Joe! You nailed it in this column. I'm with you completely.
Yup. Yep. Yes.