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 עובר an עבירה, or even encouraging people who otherwise wouldn’t have considered doing the עבירה is much worse than being מחלל שבת or eating tarfus (especially when the עבירה is something that the תורה 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 רבונו של עולם who’s infinitely higher than the people who you sold your soul to. My decisions are made based on what I understand השם 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.