Wavy Gravy is more realistic than a cowardly Republican chickenhawk

By James J. Devine

Former national security advisor John Bolton’s extremist foreign policy views have been wrong and reckless. Still, the arrogant chickenhawk’s latest declaration should invite skepticism, criticism, and doubt because Americans have a binary choice in November and his advice is not to make it.

Bolton said that he plans to write in former Vice President Dick Cheney for president in the upcoming election, as he did last time, but that’s less realistic than the approach proposed by Wavy Gravy, the man who every four years ran the Nobody For President campaign.

Bolton stands atop a list of Republicans who have shown distaste or aversion for Trump’s childish behavior, numerous character flaws, and his apparent criminal activities like treason and fraud, but insist that Biden has not earned their support, for various reasons.

Republicans who reject Trump do not have the option of leaving the Oval Office empty for the next four years, so they make as much sense

One might question Bolton’s sincerity, as it seems more like a move calculated to draw attention to his latest book rather than a genuine expression of political preference.

Peace-loving counterculture clown Wavy Gravy, whose real name is Hugh Nanton Romney Jr., was largely dismissed when he argued that we should have elections without candidates because ‘if nobody wins then nobody loses’ but Bolton is a hawkish conservative clown being taken seriously by major media outlets as he describes essentially the same idea as the LSD-addled comic philosopher.

What the court jester of the cosmos and legendary social activist dreamed up was a uniquely humorous and entertaining way to wage a satirical nonviolent political protest during the 1976 election season. Bolton is trying to have it both ways.

Wavy Gravy’s adherents included the Yippies and a few anarchists demanding the option of a “none of the above” choice on the ballot. In some respects, there campaign made sense because “Nobody’s Perfect”, “Nobody Keeps All Promises”, “Nobody Should Have That Much Power”, and “Nobody is in Washington right now working to make the world a safer place!” On the other hand, it was hogwash.

Bolton is a coward who never minded sending other Americans to war. He is afraid to publicly support Democratic President Joe Biden even though he has declared that disgraced former Republican President Donald Trump is “delusional” and dangerous.

Chickenhawk Bolton supported the Vietnam War but avoided combat through a student deferment followed by enlistment in the Maryland Air National Guard because—unlike 58,220 Americans who one must suspect preferred the option—he “had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy.”

Bolton, a former National Security Advisor under Trump, speculated that in a second term, the bigoted billionaire would create unprecedented types of threats and weaponize the justice and defense departments in pursuit of an autocratic domestic political system.

Bolton’s is a position that makes perfect sense when combined with copious amounts of psychedelic drugs, but anyone else would see it as a lark. That’s not unusual.

Bolton was a disaster as Assistant Attorney General from 1985 to 1989, as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1989 to 1993, as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs from 2001 to 2005, as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019.

He was a key architect of the failed war with Iraq as a director of the Project for the New American Century, where he advocated hawkish foreign policy, military adventurism, and regime change by the US in Iran, Syria, Libya, Venezuela, Cuba, Yemen, and North Korea.

A no-win situation, also known as a lose-lose situation, is when all parties are worse off after a conflict, negotiation, or challenging circumstance.

We may be facing a no-win situation where either choice has drawbacks but it’s unacceptable and reckless to entirely reject one of only two options, without acknowledging that the only alternative is preferable.

Moreover, Bolton’s history as National Security Advisor under Trump, marked by internal conflicts and policy disagreements, adds another dimension to the skepticism surrounding his decision. His tenure was part of a tumultuous period in the administration, characterized by rapid turnover and discord within the national security apparatus.

The same day a new Ebola outbreak was declared in Congo, Bolton disbanded the White House global health security team responsible for leading the U.S. response in the event of a deadly pandemic or bioterrorism attack. Bolton’s plan to streamline the National Security Council left the administration underprepared for the coronavirus.

His desire to leave the nation without a commander-in-chief shows that he does not learn from his mistakes.

Someone who is supposed to be a global strategist should understand that someone will be elected as leader of the free world but Trump did not have a lot of success with National Security Advisors.

Mike Flynn only lasted in the post for 24 days and Keith Kellogg served in an acting capacity for seven days, followed by H. R. McMaster, who stayed for one year and 48 days.

Bolton lasted one year and 154 days, followed by Charlie Kupperman, whose eight days in the position were largely uneventful, while Robert O’Brien finished Trump’s term with one year and 124 days.

“The reasons for yesterday’s criminal assault on our Congress and election process are many. But foremost among them is the sad reality that President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain,” wrote McMaster on social media a day after the failed coup d’etat on January 6, 2021. “Those who engaged in disinformation and demagoguery in pursuit of self-interest abdicated their responsibility to the American people. It was, in every sense of the phrase, a dereliction of duty.”

McMaster told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Trump has undermined the rule of law in the United States but would not commit to voting for Biden.

The comparison to Wavy Gravy, a counterculture figure known for his whimsical and often impractical ideas, adds a layer of irony to Bolton’s stance. While Wavy Gravy’s proposal for elections without candidates may have been dismissed as utopian, Bolton’s choice to write in Cheney, a controversial and divisive figure, raises serious questions about his judgment and motives.

This has led some to question whether Bolton’s allegiance lies with principles or personal agendas but he is not alone.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr called Trump “a consummate narcissist” who “constantly engages in reckless conduct” but he has not endorsed Biden.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called Trump “juvenile” and a “baby” but said he is “not there yet” when it comes to backing Biden.

“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” said former Vice President Mike Pence, who asserted he would not under any circumstances vote for Biden.

Liz Cheney doesn’t mince words about Trump, who she calls a “liar,” a “con man” and a potential “tyrant” who would “torch the Constitution” and its guarantees of free speech and the rule of law if he managers to return to power. “I will do everything I can to make sure [Trump] is never anywhere near the Oval Office again,” vowed Cheney, who nonetheless said she has not decided whether to endorse Biden. 

Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson, and Sarah Matthews each worked in Trump’s White House and they are trying to prevent him from getting back in by backing the only practical alternative. is in a similar position. He has said he won’t vote for Trump but hasn’t ruled out voting for Biden.

Sen. Mitt Romney, the only Republican who voted to convict Trump when he was impeached and did that twice, declaratively stated that he would not vote for the Republican in a rematch with Biden because, he says, character counts.

In 2020, Biden’s nominating convention featured several reasonable, conservative Republicans—like former Ohio Governor John Kasich—who picked him over Trump.

“We can survive bad policy from a second Biden administration,” Matthews says, “but I don’t think we can survive a second Trump term, in terms of our democracy.”

Championing a rejection of both presidential contenders after the most unwanted rematch has become inevitable is nothing more than supercilious stupidity.

“Wavy Gravy did his hippy-dippy groovy ‘free spirit’ act when he was on stage. But when I interviewed him in private he just seemed like a grouch old curmudgeon,” wrote Peter Labriola, a homeless and blind California-based author better known by the pen name Ace Backwords.

Bolton’s next think tank can be called Project for No American Country, but he is taking old curmudgeonism to an entirely new level.