By “all the more so” I meant to be explicit and not implicit. But back to your point- I do feel that creating a situation that makes multitudes of people comfortable with being ???? an ?????, or even encouraging people who otherwise wouldn’t have considered doing the ????? is much worse than being ???? ??? or eating tarfus (especially when the ????? is something that the ???? refers to as an abomination). Speak to your rabbi and let me know if she agrees or not.
I haven’t sold my souls to politics. I report to the ????? ?? ???? who’s infinitely higher than the people who you sold your soul to. My decisions are made based on what I understand ??? wants from me- not what handouts politicians are going to give me in return for voting for them.
When did I ever say that anyone who receives handouts is pasul for eidus? If someone votes Republican and is legitimately in a situation where they need a handout while they get themselves in order- I don’t see anything wrong with that.
What you refer to as “hakaras hatov” I refer to as a bribe. In my “crooked” world a judge or witness who favors those who gave them a bribe is worse than one who doesn’t.