What J. D. Vance does on, or to, his couch is his own business. Sexual preferences between consenting adults, and furniture, is a private matter. (Vance isn’t the first writer whose publications have come back to bite him.) Forgive and forget. And maybe reupholster. What Vance has done that’s unforgivable is betray the poor. I read Hillbilly Elegy years ago and was taken by his enumerating the harms visited on the poor by our capitalistic system. Having grown up poor myself, I found many of those damages in my own self-inventory. But even just after I read the book I heard whisperings that Vance really didn’t care for the poor, but for himself. That puts him in the same category as Trump, I suppose. A team that would only push what makes them personally look good, if elected. It’s a mockery of democracy that a convicted felon is even permitted to run for president.
Betrayal of the poor is perhaps the most unconscionable of sins. To have grown up knowing how difficult life is for many Americans and then to throw them to the wolves for personal aggrandizement is a move worthy of Satan himself. Indeed, his running mate was born excessively wealthy. I recently saw a quote from J. P. Morgan: “I owe the public nothing.” Morgan, one of the wealthiest men of his era, apparently believed using others to get yourself to the top is fine. Trump, who sees people as disposable (ask his wives) never had to struggle. Neither did Morgan. But Vance, if his book is to be believed, did. Knowing what it means to grow up that way and then to hitch yourself to the Trump-wagon is, in my opinion, about as low as you can go. It’s a lack of honesty.
If we’re honest we’ll admit that all people lie. True, Trump has made eiling (actually telling the truth) a thing. He basically never eils, so we can assume anything he says is false. Biden told lies. Harris told lies. Vance told lies. Even though I’m an honest guy, I’ve told lies in my long time on this planet. Not many, I hope, but I’m human. Show me a politician who never lies and I’ll show you a liar. I never thought I’d live to see a major party ticket pair felons, sex criminals, and betrayers together and tell Americans they’ll make the country great again. The question that won’t let me go, however, is what of the poor? We know that the rich, left to their own devices, tend toward Morgan’s quip. Honestly, who will make safety nets for those who are victims of business as usual?