Remembering Ron Forthofer

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In honor of my friend, and of the direction I believe he would have taken … the questions I ask Kamala Harris are

How can you justify the sending of more U.S. arms – $18 billion worth – to Israel?

What are you doing – and what will you do if elected – to end Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza?

How those questions are answered will – in large measure – determine how I cast my vote.

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(Note: Below are my notes from comments made yesterday at a memorial for Ron Forthofer, a dear friend, who died of a surprise heart attack a few months ago. It was held at the Fraser Meadows Retirement Community in Boulder. Some 300 people were present in the audience. Although I didn’t say everything exactly as written below – I did follow the outline here pretty much. RJP)

So we sing the spirit home of our dear friend, our companero Ron Forthofer.

Nancy and I met Ron Forthofer through the good graces of my father-in-law, Lowell Fey, a founder of Boulder Farmers’ Market and a long time environmentalist, an activist in Boulder’s sister city project with Nicaragua and a long time member of Boulder’s Unitarian Church.

We had planned to have lunch with Ron and Mary and a few other Boulder friends two days after Ron suddenly died of a heart attack.

I was looking forward to what always has been a rich, thoughtful exchange from a person I consider a serious radical intellectual, a disciplined careful scholar whether it concerned Palestine, Healthcare For All, pioneering independent left third party efforts.

All that has been mentioned by others – I only want to add, one point here – that Ron Forthofer was a bridge between the former narrowly based Palestine solidarity movement and the much more extensive one that has emerged with such force, vibrancy and humanity this past year.

OK – one more point – a personal experience that taught me much.

It was the fall of 2002..

A demonstration had been organized in Denver to oppose the upcoming U.S. led invasion of Iraq. Both Ron and I had been asked to speak. To our surprise the main Democratic Party candidate for the U.S. Senate at the time – Tom Strickland – was in attendance. Strickland’s political career in Colorado centered around the influence law firm, Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schrenk, was behind in a close race Republican Wayne Allard (who won the election).

Strickland approached us and asked us both to endorse his candidacy. Although we had never met, Strickland knew both of us.

And boom like that, Ron and I were political brokers.

Ron did not skip a beat; he countered Strickland’s support plea with “Come out publicly against the war either in a public statement or a press release, I’d have to consider it – but no endorsement unless you make a clear statement against the war build up.”

Strickland gave a cynical chuckle, shook his head no as I recall, and walked away.

Why do I mention this – because it was a lesson in politicking with a mainstream party – actually several lessons – like what?

a. that the peace movement vote, third party votes, can and do make a difference in certain races – the idea that a person is throwing away their vote is nonsense.

b. that the fact that Ron had gotten 12% of the vote in his campaign for U.S. Congress on the Green Party ticket did not go unnoticed by mainstream Democrats.

Had we had our lunch together, I would have asked Ron what his bottom line might be in order to support one of the two leading contenders for the presidency? That he would support a buffoon like Donald Trump was out of the question… But what about Kamala Harris? What was his bottom line?

In one exchange we had before he died, suggested an overall direction: we both expressed our satisfaction with the “uncommitted movement” that emerged in Michigan.

What was his take on U.S. Presidential candidates Green Party candidate Jill Stein, on Cornell West?

Was this the time to “stand by Kamala” as so many of our friends are rushing – almost stampeding – to do … or to support Stein or West?

Is it time to get over the “lesser of two evils” choice and build a political movement that breaks with the two party system?

I do not know how Ron would have answered these questions.

In honor of my friend, and of the direction I believe he would have taken … the questions I ask Kamala Harris are

How can you justify the sending of more U.S. arms – $18 billion worth – to Israel?

What are you doing – and what will you do if elected – to end Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza?

How those questions are answered will – in large measure – determine how I cast my vote.

Good bye dear friend Ron Forthofer – You have made a difference, you have kept the faith, you have passed the torch. I’ll miss you … but know that in the thorny period ahead – whether it is Trump or Harris that wins this election … I’ll be asking myself … “What would Ron do?” – and I’ll take my cues from you, as I have until now.

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