The Democratic National Convention to nominate Kamala Harris and Tim Walz ended last night. It was four days of raucous crowds, feel-good vibes, and high energy that was filled with memorable speeches, and many moving moments. The display of American diversity was beautiful to see in the sea of faces that made up the crowd of delegates, guests, and political pundits. It was precisely the kind of political pep rally the Democrats needed to counter the nonstop onslaught of xenophobic hatred of the RNC crowd holding up signs and clamoring for mass deportations, the endless stream of lies from MAGA politicians and pundits, and the narcissistic ramblings of an increasingly unhinged Donal Trump. Some of the speeches were absolutely fantastic. For me Senator Warnock and Michelle Obama stole the show when they made their speeches. Georgia Senator Warnock took America to church in a way that I have seldom heard in a political speech. It highlighted for me that the GOP does not have anything remotely like a monopoly on faith. Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech excoriated Trump and the MAGA movement in such an intelligent, astute, and powerful way that I doubt many in Trump’s orbit even understood it. Vice President Harris then closed the convention last night with a jaw dropping speech which should leave absolutely no doubt about what the outcome will be in Trump actually shows up to a debate. It will most certainly be a train wreck for Trump because he cannot play the tough guy with Vice President Harris, and I am sure that on on some level even he knows that.

Many convention moments proved to be tearjerkers this week. The emotional portraits of from family members, friends, colleagues, and former students for President Biden, VP Harris, and Governor Walz provided a stark contrast to the RNC convention as well. There was genuine respect, and at times true love shown to Democratic politicians in a way that Trump and Vance cannot possibly muster. Trump’s daughter Tiffany looked ready to embrace her father as he walked towards her during the RNC convention, but he turned disdainfully away in a way that surely hurt his daughter. Meanwhile, Gus Walz was overcome with love and pride for his father as Governor Walz accepted the nomination for Vice President as he cried tears of joy and said, “That’s my dad!” This outpouring of filial affection from a son for his father was mercilessly mocked by people on the right like Ann Coulter and a Wisconsin talk radio host named Jay Weber whose remarks were so vile, that I hope he gets fired.

There were moving and poignant stories told by families who have been harmed by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Those heartbreaking stories gave lie to the belief that Republicans are pro-life. Texas, where I grew up, for example, has seen a 13% increase in infant mortality and a 23% increase in congenital anomalies since passing one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. No pregnant person should ever have to go through these horrific things because of what Republicans like Donald Trump and Greg Abbott have done while in power. More gut wrenching stories were heard from those who have survived gun violence or who had children’s lives snatched away because of America’s idol-making of guns and the terroristic organizations like the NRA who buy off politicians and SCOTUS justices. There is no excuse for that kind of gun violence in America in 2024. I think the DNC highlighting these stories was vitally important because it shows just how stark a comparison of the two parties actually is when it comes to reproductive health rights and meaningful gun control.

Also of real importance was the way the DNC refreshed the memories of Americans about the insurrection on January 6th. I remember watching the events of that day in utter horror and bewilderment. When the January 6th hearings began, I watched most of those sessions as well, and felt many emotions including anger, fear, and sadness. Seeing the scenes again during the convention, it struck me with renewed force just how terrifying it must have been for the Capitol Police and the politicians who had to flee for their lives as MAGA cultists with murderous intent sought to harm Nancy Pelosi and hang Mike Pence. Adam Kinzinger continued his redemption tour with a powerful speech that belied his staunch support of Trump’s policy agenda prior to Trump’s election loss and Big Lie. He thankfully found a line that even he couldn’t cross, yet remains a firm supporter of Ronald Reagan, a vile racist whose policies set America back a long way and enabled Christian extremists to shape national politics –but I digress.

All of the strategies by the DNC outlined above and the way in which they pulled them off were masterstrokes of political nous. And yet, they made some egregious mistakes, and continued to push the propaganda narrative about America’s foreign policy and how beholden it is to the Military-Industrial Complex. The most egregious error was is not allowing a Palestinian American to speak in the same way that they had allowed the family of American Jewish hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin held by the terrorist group Hamas to speak. Alana Zeitchik, an Israeli-American, hostage family member, and advocate for peace, noted on Twitter that she wanted to see Georgia State Representative Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian American, to be given the same time to speak as Goldbeg-Polin’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, had been given. For her part, Rep. Romman stated that those in the Uncommitted caucus had spent two months negotiating with the DNC and agreed to only give speeches which were fully vetted “that came from a position of support, unity, and determination for a better future.” Despite those assurances and lengthy communication with DNC officials they were denied a voice at the convention which was held in a city with a large Palestinian American population. This simply is not good enough from the DNC or the Harris-Walz campaign. A genocide is being committed with American weapons despite the Biden administration’s efforts to negotiate a cease fire. If America’s allies are committing genocide, then America needs better allies. Period. I am grateful that Vice President Harris mentioned the plight of Palestinians in Gaza in her speech and the need for them to have self determination. Missing however was any mention of holding Netanyahu accountable for the blatant war crimes and genocidal intentions of his hard right political allies. Like Trump, Netanyahu is trying to stay out of jail, and he’s committing genocide to do it. The US must change its stance towards Israel moving forward. Genocide is wrong regardless of who is doing it and America is complicit.

I’ve written a good deal about US foreign policy, in particular in chapter six of my book Go Golden. To be succinct, the US military has far too often been used as a tool of state sponsored terrorism around the world in ways that have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual defense of America and Americans. Propaganda is constantly used to get Americans to buy in to the notion that America’s military is a “global force for good” in the world despite what the historical evidence actually shows. In this both political parties are guilty. Democrats and Republicans continue to vote for bloated “Defense Bills” and nearly every time the amount of money for the DoD increases. This can be seen in how much it has gone up in less than 10 years since 2015. In 2015, the DoD requested $585 billion for the defense budget, while in 2024 the amount was $842 billion. These are obscene amounts of money being spent to harm people who are often no threat whatsoever to American lives or American soil, but who somehow have been deemed to stand in the way of “American interests,” as the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and War on Terror have shown. There is nothing Christlike about what our country does overseas in our names. Americans must demand a substantial decrease in military expenditure and a radical shift in foreign policy that moves us away from being the world’s leader in state sponsored terrorism while suppressing freedom and lowering the quality of life of citizens in foreign nations.

The criticism I level at the Democratic party does not mean that I won’t vote for the Harris-Walz ticket. I have made a mistake like that in the past in failing to vote for Hillary Clinton because of her foreign policy record and sketchy at best domestic record. However, as Rev. Dr. Susanne Johnson noted on Instagram recently, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned against attempts at ideological purity of the kind I engaged in back in 2016 when I voted for the Green Party candidate. DR. Johnson noted that Bonhoeffer said though that “no one who lives in this world can remain disentangled and morally pure and free of guilt,” thereby making the making of compromises necessary. As I have said before, a victory for Trump will lead to an openly fascist state in which no protests will be allowed, and therefore any vestiges of democracy will cease thus making marginalized peoples much more vulnerable at home and abroad. A vote for Harris-Walz protects people on the margins and imperatively gives us time as Americans to vociferously demand a far more robust democracy, a major contraction of the Military-Industrial Complex, a foreign policy that sees peoples from other nations as worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness rather than pawns to be manipulated by capitalism and decimated by state sponsored terrorism. I pray that Americans will show the same kind of energy and enthusiasm for reforming our democracy that they showed during the convention to nominate VP Harris and Governor Walz. I pray that all of those politicians who made reference to love of neighbor and the golden rule in their speeches remember that loving our neighbors extends beyond our borders and it is impossible to love them while hurting them economically and militarily.

Peace be with you. Please like, subscribe, and share if you found this piece meaningful.