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Rep. Jared Golden, in his final year as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, last week cast the single vote needed to keep the American war of aggression in Iran going. It represents a continuation of his general voting record: unlimited bombs, unfailingly delivered.
What is striking to me is his stated reason for departing from politics — a reprehensible bomb threat made against him and a number of other Democratic lawmakers. One wonders if the irony is lost on him — cutting and running at the mere threat of the reality his voting record produces every single day.
Golden has cited the “increasing incivility and plain nastiness” of politics as his reason for leaving. Perhaps someday Palestinians, Iranians, and the Lebanese can also choose to escape incivility and plain nastiness. Apparently, they’ll have to wait until Rep. Golden is out of office first, to be sure.
I think he will be remembered, to the extent he is remembered at all, as one unremarkable coward among many who abdicated their duty to the rule of law and common decency at a critical moment in American history.
The kindly people of Maine deserved better. With luck, this fall, they may yet get it.
Noah Hood
Fairfield