#not voting is helping trump full stop

[qqueenofhades]

I'm a little confused by the left's repeated assertion that they're "trying to hold Biden accountable" and push him left, things they've been talking about since before he was elected, and the ramifications of that at this point in time. I do think we need to be calling out things we disagree with and making our feelings known, but seeing people like Nina Turner complain about student loan forgiveness when it's been made abundantly clear Biden is doing all he can and he can't actually cancel anything as just the President (without being sued or having it reversed by Republicans - please correct me if I'm wrong and there's more he could do here?) doesn't feel like it's that? I just don't understand the logic behind people on the left adding to this narrative that he isn't trying hard enough on what we want, rather than the Republicans are preventing things from being done. We need to not sit back and get complacent, yes, sure, but I feel like the line where it goes from helpful and necessary to harmful and more beneficial to the right was crossed a while ago.

The thing is, you're confused by it because it's a bad-faith argument. Actually "holding someone accountable" means honestly assessing what they can do, what they have done, what they can be expected to do in the future, and if they haven't done it, what's stopping them (i.e. have they just not done it or are they being actively stopped from doing it by factors beyond their control)? It doesn't mean "constantly moving the goalposts to constantly criticize someone if they don't magically get everything done immediately, regardless of reality." The way Online Leftists use it, "holding Biden accountable" means "relentlessly criticize him every instant he doesn't magically transform into the Socialist Messiah overnight, the end." That's not actually a useful, honest, reliable, or constructive metric.

This is also the case because their version of good policy is "someone thinks the Correct Thoughts all the time and any failures to achieve it means they are not thinking the Correct Thoughts hard enough." I'm not sure how anyone could have missed what SCOTUS is doing right now, but Online Leftists remain determined to discount, minimize, or otherwise totally ignore its role, because that would mean a) there is in fact a difference between the parties, b) Hillary Clinton would not have made the same appointments Trump did, and c) they might therefore have some responsibility in not voting for her, none of which can be countenanced. As such, if Biden has failed to wave a magic wand and get all student debt erased for everyone overnight, He Is Just Not Trying Hard Enough. SCOTUS very notably outlawed his first forgiveness program? BIDEN'S FAULT!

Even though Biden extended the Covid-era payment pauses as long as he could (it was Congress that passed the law mandating an end to them, because THE PRESIDENT IS NOT AN ABSOLUTE MONARCH!), and even though he's now rejiggered the entire repayment program so that your monthly payments can get lowered to $0, these count as payments, and no interest accumulates as long as you "make" them, which in practice adds up to full forgiveness -- this still isn't good enough for the Online Leftists, because it happened after trial and error, is a partial solution, doesn't snap its fingers and erase everything, and relies on slow and careful policy work. And yet, it's going to be a lot harder for SCOTUS to overturn than just "the president forgives your debt," which was the first thing he tried to do and it didn't work! With a different SCOTUS, it might have! But we have this nightmare court BECAUSE OF TRUMP, and all the Pure Thoughts in the world won't get rid of it!

Biden is the most liberal president we have ever had, period, full stop. It's not sexy and it's not exciting and it's not something the Online Leftists will ever acknowledge, but it's the truth. And whenever he is actually and extensively pushed, he goes more left, not less. I suspect at least part of the recent negative press barrage he's gotten is because he's openly come out with a plan to raise the tax rate on billionaires to 25%, and the corporations and oligarchs that own the mainstream media Really Don't Like That. (They've always been unfair to Democrats, but look for it to be especially so.) That would be, BY FAR, the highest the top-rate tax bracket has been since Reagan. Biden is the first president ever to actually address the scam of "Reaganomics" and take credit for "Bidenomics," which actually does represent a major rearrangement of the way capital is envisioned and distributed in this country for the first time in the 40+ years since Reagan wrecked it. That's why the capitalist media is really, REALLY determined to muckrake him as much as possible, and to do Kamala even dirtier than they did to HRC in 2016.

Anyway also: Holding someone accountable also implies that you're working with them and will reward them (i.e. voting for them, engaging with them) if they do the things you expect, which is another thing the Online Leftists won't do. So yes. This. The end.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts

[decolonize-the-left]

Genuinely, do you believe that Biden as president in 2024 would not be less harmful than Trump as president in 2024? This is not a gotcha or an attempt to change your mind, I want to know what your opinion is. And I do mean worldwide, not just in the US.

This is why people voted for Biden. He was the "safe" choice, right? He was the choice of "harm reduction"

Then he helped jumped start a genocide and hasn't stopped sending it's perpetrator's bombs and money. Tell me. If a genocide starts under your presidency and you help fuel it in every way you can, are you reducing harm or increasing it?

"do you believe he would not be less harmful"

I can't roll my eyes hard enough.

I don't know who would be less harmful or more harmful at this point. Genocide is one of the most inhumane and awful acts you could possibly do.

Like does matter how much worse it gets? Are we really going to sit here and argue about how much worse we should let things get before we do something besides vote??

"do we vote for the guy commiting genocide or the guy who might put gays in concentration camps"

That sounds like a heavy handed line in a satire about our elections but no it's a real "genuine" question for people.

My opinion is full fucking stop we need to start killing politicians again.

I no longer care if the answer isn't a revolution.

I'm Ojibwe and Mexican and can't express into human language how fucking absurd it is that Americans are sitting in front of their ps5s and Pcs and tvs in next to their families on stolen land talking about which people deserve to live; that you would ask me, a political Tumblr blogger what my "genuine" opinion is on the matter.

Sometimes people ask me this and I don't whether you're looking to be absolved for your complacency or if you Really genuinely can't decide which war criminal to vote for.

And I don't know which one implies worse for our collective future.

#asked #answered #biden #trump #vote #genocide #elections

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

Trump and his sycophants have destroyed the Republican Party. They are no longer conservatives either fiscally or on foreign policy. They are a party of chaos beholden to the right-wing culture warrior oligarchs. They are the derogatory agents of those oligarchs and the corporations owned by them. They make decisions based on the whim of a deranged madman.

They have gone from being closet racists/bigots to being full blown Nazis that call for the extermination of their culture war scapegoats they call “vermin” (marginalized people/political rivals). They take this term directly from Hitler who they openly embrace in speech and writing. They no longer care about tax cuts for all but just for the 1% and corporations. They want endless wars to profit from and to distract and rally their deplorable base. They no longer want small, limited government but opt for a massive government that intrudes into its citizens private lives and tramples their freedoms.

The party of law and order is now a party of criminals, sex offenders, grifters, traitors, and murderous street thugs. They are proud of this and fund raise and merchandise from their lawlessness. They have bought control of what is now an illegitimate SCOTUS which never allows them to be held accountable.

They use the KKK, Neo-Nazi groups, armed right-wing militias, Neo-Confederates, and white supremacists to persecute their opponents and victims in the streets and inside the Capitol itself. They tell us to “get over it” when mindless gun violence decimates our families in every public venue from churches, to schools, to 4th of July celebrations, movie theaters, shopping malls, and even a Super Bowl parade.

The police, courts, and legislatures are infested with their white nationalist/supremacists and Christo-fascists. They openly take money from Russia and others to influence our foreign policy and economic policy. Money from Russia is funneled into the NRA and Congress to allow a massive proliferation of gun violence on our streets that destabilizes our society.

They claim to be the party of the military but they degrade and insult our troops and cast our veterans into the streets. They abandon our allies and our treaty obligations at the behest of foreign dictators that bribe them.

They bust our unions and pass laws to weaken or prevent organized labor. They are forcing society to become wage slaves with no security, insurance, or pensions. They force our workers into the “gig economy” where everyone works incredible hours 7 days a week at multiple jobs and still are left unable to afford rent or mortgages. Nearly the entire population is one or two paychecks away from being homeless.

Decades of trickle down economics has seen our tax dollars poured into the accounts of billionaires, millionaires, and corporations with not a penny trickling down to the working class. The middle class has been practically wiped out by cruel Republican legislation written by political think tanks established and funded by oligarchs. The only thing these pseudo-conservatives conserve is their own wealth.

This is late stage capitalism run amok. The economy has been drained and now the oligarchs and corporations are plundering the government. They have taken advantage of decades of right-wing propaganda proliferated by Fox News, conservatives talk radio, and internet podcasts that have brain washed the rural areas into blaming the Democrats that are trying help them while convincing them to vote for the Republicans who have impoverished them. The French Revolution in reverse.

They see the Orange Dictator as their last best chance to completely take over the government and create a kleptocracy that pulls the strings behind an autocracy that pretends to be a republic.

The chaos of the Republican puppets is to distract everyone from the takeover by the oligarchs, corporations, and deep pocketed foreign adversaries.

#vote Biden Harris 2024 #vote blue always #vote democratic down the ballot #republican assholes #traitor trump #crooked donald #Republican corruption #Republican chaos

[fairuzfan]

ahlan. maybe ignore this if you’re not american, but ive seen what you’ve said about biden and i obviously agree hes a bloodthirsty motherfucker who doesn’t deserve a single vote from people who claim to care about palestine. but as a palestinian myself, what do you say to these americans that are like “well what else are we supposed to do, vote for trump?” cuz i genuinely am not sure myself either.

my first thought would be to just not vote or vote for a third party and focus on calling represantatives and marching in the streets until some semblance of change can occur. But I wonder how practical that really is.

A part of me is screaming very loudly about how idgaf about practicality and if they really cared then they would act in a more direct manner because it seems very whiney for them to be like “we dont have a choice :(( hes the lesser of two evils” (the dude whos playing a huge role in committing a literal genocide) when people in gaza are going through literal hell. it boils my blood but im trying to think of what they can do really and set my emotions aside for a second.

Do you have any thoughts on this? and thanks for taking the time to read btw.

No problem, Ahlan to you also!

Honestly I'm not voting on a federal level. Congress, senate, and the president have blatantly shown us they don't care about our opinions. We have been calling and emailing for months and they just flat out ignore us. So what's the point in voting if they're not going to listen to us? I told them that I won't vote for them unless they call for a ceasefire and I mean it!

I see Claudia de la Cruz seems to be popular, I'm not especially motivated in voting for anyone for president but you personally might be interested in looking into it.

I just genuinely don't see the point in voting for president since I think the whole system is messed up and I'm not sure anyone can fix it. So I choose not to participate beyond local elections. But that might not feel like it's helpful, and again, I don't think you should take my word for it lol but it's just my perspective. I don't think people who vote for Biden are necessarily.... bad people all the time but I do think people who pretend like they're doing a great service to others by voting for him are objectively bad. Like I don't care, if you're trying to pass off the genocide of Palestinians and the third nakba as a "necessary evil" then I think you're a bad person and I will never take what you say about politics seriously.

People pretend like we are protecting democracy by voting blue but when democrats just blatantly ignore us as we overwhelmingly participate in dissent in the ways our "democracy" allows us.... then sorry we don't live in a democracy. Full stop.

I'm not sure if what I said was reassuring or anything, and again, I think you should still look into the candidates and arrive at your own conclusion but I am thoroughly disillusioned by the entire system and I don't think anything will change that anytime soon.

[hareofhrair]

Please tell me if you're a zionist or not. Because the notes on that post of yours are absolutely rancid regarding Palestinian people and I need to know before I submit your url to the zionist block list

No, I am not a zionist. Israel, like any ethnostate, should not exist and what they are doing to the Palestinians is unquestionably genocide. I fully support Palestine and their right to resist in the face of annihilation.

I am also not anti semetic, for the record, and stand with the many Jewish people who support Palestinian liberation.

I also recognize that while Biden or any president is unlikely to ever stop supporting Israel as it’s too critical to colonial and capitalist action in that area, Trump has voiced support for Israel straight up nuking Gaza.

There is unfortunately very little we can meaningfully do with this particular election for the Palestinian people. Continuing to pressure the democrats may mitigate the damage to a degree, but I’m aware how thin a comfort that is to a country currently being massacred.

But we cannot help ANYONE if our democracy is actively overthrown, as Trump has made extremely, unambiguously clear he intends to do. He has every intention of making himself a Putin style dictator, with the full support of Putin himself, who knows he can use Trump as a puppet, in a manner so like the way we’ve overthrown democratic countries and installed puppet dictators in the past that the dramatic irony would be heavy handed were it fictional. We almost deserve it.

But we are a country full of innocent people the same as any other, who don’t deserve to suffer and die to punish the idea of western imperialism, which the vast majority of have zero control over.

The one tiny bit of control we DO have is through voting.

This is not a situation I’m happy with, but this isn’t a situation of trading Palestinian lives for American ones. This is a situation where saving Palestinian lives isn’t even on the table, and refusing to acknowledge that is only going to make the situation worse. We can either save American lives and hope it doesn’t make the situation in Palestine actively worse. Or we can refuse to do anything like petulant children and watch everyone die.

Vote, and then get back to organizing your community, participating in protests and direct action, volunteering and donating to relief and evacuation funds, and voting in local elections so that we can maybe end up with some better options next time!

And if yall ever get the violent revolution off the ground, I’ll be right behind you! But if you tell me you’re not voting because the only moral action is firebombing a Walmart, you’d better firebomb the goddamn Walmart.

And to the assholes in the notes of that post and talking shit in my asks, for the record, I’m a disabled trans lesbian living in goddamn Louisiana, living on less than $1000 a month. Aside from my friends in Florida, no one is getting the ass end of this garbage government more than us. And for the record, yeah, I’m boycotting McDonald’s, and anything else I can. I’d boycott Starbucks too if there was one within 50 miles. I vote in every local election. I organize as much as I can in rural Louisiana. I take direct action whenever I get the chance, which isn’t often given my lack of mobility and remote location, but I’m willing to bet I’ve done more than most of the assholes in the notes.

Let me put it very plainly, TLDR: if you refuse to vote because you think it doesn’t make a difference or you think it’ll make you complicit in this country’s crimes, you are actively putting your personal comfort and moral purity above the lives of the Palestinian people, as well as above every vulnerable person in this country on top of it. If you want to save Palestine, start by not letting our god damn democracy go up in flames.

#us politics

[strawberryamanita]

Y'all I'm sorry but this is making me freak the fuck out

I know this is gonna probably cause people to call me a terrible person, but I'm just gonna risk it anyhow because this is getting really scary.

If you are a USAmerican,

Please vote for Biden this year.

I am 1000% aware that the genocide in Gaza is being perpetuated by Biden's administration. It's not good at all. I don't like the guy either, and like every President the US has ever had, he will burn in Hell, guaranteed.

But if we don't vote, then Trump is gonna win. This sounds rhetorical, but I ask genuinely: do you think Trump is gonna stop the genocide?

Has Trump ever shown that he cares about a single human being besides himself? The level of misanthropy that idiot is on is remarkable. I personally cannot see him slowing the flow of genocide in any direction; if anything, he might redouble the effort.

I think it was Warren who is tryna warn people that if Trump gets elected again, he'll never leave. I think back to a time during his first term where he said there might one day be a "forever President", and that makes me sick to my fucking stomach. That's not a presidency, that's a monarchy or a dictatorship. That would be the de-facto end of having a say in who's in control until he finally fucking dies -- and not even then, because then the mantle will be passed down to one of his children.

I know the US shouldn't exist in the first place. I am 100% aware of that. They say that empires fall after 250 years, and the US is gonna be 248 years old in July. But unfortunately, it exists right now, and it's full of people who will not survive another four years of Trump.

Again -- I will say it as many times as I need to -- I don't like Biden. I don't like him. He's done some beneficial things, but using his executive powers to speed up a genocide tips the scale completely over back towards hating him.

But Biden will step down when his term is done. I know the bar is in the fucking Mariana Trench, but for the love of God I do not wanna be under Trump for even a minute more. I hate Biden, but I hate Trump more, and that is fueling me, personally, to show up to vote.

At the end of the day, the problem is systemic. Every single authority over the US, since even before Washington, has only cared about hurting people of color and churning up the earth to make money. Our taxes could help improve the lives of US civilians, but instead they are funneled into the trillion-dollar War Machine aimed in every direction, including the US itself. The US commonwealth doesn't matter to the US government. We are human livestock who generate revenue; no matter how many changes of hands our money makes for hopes of a better cause inside the US, every last penny will find its way back into the War Machine or under the dirty ass of a billionaire who should be tarred and feathered in oil and their own paper money.

With all that said. There are US citizens who are enthusiastically pro-Biden right now, and siding with them might just keep us from living in Trump Hell all over again. The bigots have gotten too proud around here, and it makes my blood run cold. My mother doesn't show enthusiasm for ANYTHING the way she shows it for her freedom to hate people loudly and proudly. It makes her come ALIVE. And I know I'm not the only one who's been subjected to this kind of horror show for the last 9 years. Every state of mind curated by the US is a cult, and there is no escape outside of moving away.

Please. Vote. For Biden.

#please vote #vote blue #vote biden #vote democrat #blue no matter who #vote blue no matter who #biden 2024 #biden harris 2024

[fangirltothefullest]

hi ! I wanna start this off by saying this is in now way meant to be mean or come off as me calling you a bad person for what you’ve said, but I noticed that on one of your recent posts you encouraged people to vote blue for the upcoming us presidential elections and that Biden is better than the alternative (that being trump). And while I completely understand where you are coming from (I am American as well) I want to tell you that we do have other options ! In the 2024 elections Claudia De la Cruz is running for president with Karina Garcia as her vice. I highly encourage you to look into them (read here or search up her name) because they are genuinely fighting for us and the causes we stand for. Yes, Biden does seem better than trump, but he is actively funding a genocide and does not have our best interests in mind ! His presidency has done nothing to help marginalized groups and I must encourage you to look into the choices we have because we do have them ! And it may seem like by not voting for Biden we are letting trump win because no third party has ever won, if we work together and spread the word about the options we have we Can make it happen ! It doesn’t have to be hopeless. Please consider what I’ve said and have a lovely day.

I'm not saying to vote for Biden, if a better blue option is available then go for it but if the old man gets to the final polls you have to vote for him. Independents do NOT win. Yes yes I heard people saying George Washington did. He was our first president, we didn't HAVE a full blue red split back then we didn't have a full government yet and they bickered and fought about that too.

You CANNOT put your hopes in a third party because they DO NOT WIN. But have hope! Please please be realistic- if your third party person doesn't get onto the final ballot, writing in your choice is going to be detrimental and let Republicans win. If they're not on that final electoral ballot you have an obligation to vote blue. Once you stop and you write in stuff, you end up splitting progressive votes. Republicans don't do that. They're coordinated. EVERY TIME.

Please don't split the progressive votes. If you want that other person on the ballot you have to work for that, sure, go ahead! But don't write it in on the final vote if that person doesn't get onto the ballot.

[wilwheaton]

I don’t think it is only “left-wing wreckers trying to break things” who are feeling growing frustration with the Democratic party. There is opportunity cost when the Democratic party leads the opposition – they take space, they demobilize other efforts by the implicit or explicit “trust us” logic of vote us in again, etc. And their response to the clear and systematic dismantling of norms and laws since Gore’s acquiescence, through failure to hold anyone accountable for the Great Crash of 08-09, to the denial of Garland’s nomination, up through the expanding Koch-envisioned and Tea Party / Trumpian grassroots fueled widening institutional erosion and now full, brazen takeover of the Supreme Court…has been astoundingly… small, tepid, narrow.   I am finding myself angry at the Democrats for their weakness. My emergent questions are whether they are inept, cluelessly buffered, or not insignificantly corrupt. Not in terms of Senate votes, etc. but in terms of their ideological fecklessness and their absence of a moral – political response to the ongoing Republican assault on the civil and good things of American society. People out here, even very analytical people, are looking for leadership that they are not showing. We really ca’t tell if they are really on the same page. Many – including a good friend who builds websites for Democratic left groups – are feeling lost and hopeless not because of left wing naysayers but because the Party again and again seems to show it cannot meet the challenges of these times. (Whereas the January 6 committee has been amazing).

Readers on “Just Vote” #1 - TPM – Talking Points Memo

I’ve been reading Josh Marshall and Talking Points Memo since the first week it went online. He and it are a valuable part of my political education and action.

He’s been talking about the Democratic leadership’s response to the judicial activists on SCOTUS, about what we can do to respond, and the enormous gulf between the two.

I believe, as the quoted person does, that the Democratic leadership is absolutely failing to meet this moment. If Trump is not prosecuted, if voting rights are not federally codified, if this illegitimate SCOTUS majority isn’t nullified, America as we have known it is finished. We will never have another free and fair election.  In fact, it’s unlikely the upcoming election in November won’t be fucked with by the seditionists who have taken over important offices that helped hold back and stop Trump and the Republicans’ coup attempt.

The Democratic leadership is an abject failure on all of this. “Vote harder” does not matter when the people we elect do not use the power we have trusted them to use to protect our democracy and we who voted for them.

At this point, Schumer, Biden, Pelosi, and Clyburn, are worse than useless as leaders because they are taking up space an actual leader would use to stop the fascists.

Vote harder is bullshit. It’s stupid. It’s “clap your hands for Tinkerbell” and it doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t matter how hard you vote in Michigan, because fascists have taken over the state election apparatus, drawn districts that give the minority of right wing lunatics a gerrymandered majority that will never be threatened. It doesn’t matter how many times you send in eight dollars or whatever to “send a message” because we’ve done that, and look at where we are.

Stop putting it on voters to “vote harder” when you aren’t using the full extent of the power we gave you. Stop blaming US for your inaction and commitment to playing by rules that the other side doesn’t respect and will change at their first opportunity.

This is war. This is a war for Democracy. This is a war against Fascism. Voting harder, alone, isn’t going to win it.

#us politics

[plethoraworldatlas]

This Super Tuesday massive numbers of Democratic primary voters provided a kernel of hope in a dark time by choosing uncommitted, or non-committed, or no preference in states across the country. Yesterday in North Carolina over 80,000 voters chose uncommitted. In Minnesota, over 18% of the Democratic primary chose not to commit to Biden. Massachusetts saw over 50,000 uncommitted votes. In each state, there was little to no uncommitted movement prior to the February 27th Michigan primary, which saw over 100,000 voters selecting uncommitted. These campaigns brought together broad coalitions and got massive results in just one week, after a well organized campaign in Michigan sprung into action and shocked the country after just a three-week push.

And the message of these inspiring uncommitted voters, both in interviews and in messaging from the organizers, has been clear. Biden has lost our confidence after backing a genocide. He must do more. He must take action like cutting off the flow of weapons and bombs to Israel. He must stop funding Israel. He must use his very considerable power to push Israel to end the genocide in Gaza. This has been made clear, repeatedly.

Yet it’s still being deliberately misconstrued. Instead of listening to the points made soundly and repeatedly by a broad coalition of Democratic voters, the effort to malign the uncommitted campaign is in full swing. John Fetterman is one of the avatars of this push, spamming social media with half-baked memes and commentary making fun of his own party’s voters, and fellow Democratic members of Congress like Rashida Tlaib, for backing uncommitted. Again and again he says that this movement to show Biden just how much backing Israel’s genocide could cost him is helping Trump. It’s a non-existent logic that’s both totally wrong and debasing to those making it in that it feigns a complete misunderstanding of the primary process.

...

On CNN last night, in one of their analysis bits, a Democratic commentator acknowledged that these uncommitted campaigns are making a difference, then immediately pivoted to “but Trump would be even worse than Biden on Gaza.” And I do think he would be worse, or just as bad. Even if he hadn’t just said the other day that he hopes Israel “finishes the problem” there’s no doubt he wouldn’t even feign the care that the Biden administration is currently trotting out. But what the commentator didn’t understand is that this is exactly why the Biden administration should do everything in its power to stop Israel in its tracks.

The American people want peace. They want a ceasefire in Gaza. A permanent one, not the six weeks pause the administration is currently waving around. And Biden should listen. People do not want a choice between genocidal Trump and genocidal Biden, and those are not the options. The option that the White House and various pundits want to pretend does not exist is Biden actually changing course.

#us politics #2024 presidential election #2024 elections #palestine #israel #biden administration #vote uncommitted

[shipperwolf1]

This comment on my previous reblog is so accurate, please I'm so tired of tumblrinas thinking withholding a vote is helping anyone, and as a southern trans person a second trump presidency is absolutely terrifying to me

Vote for whomever you want in the primary, but chances are biden will be the candidate. The incumbent almost always is.

Just. Really think about how many people, in America and abroad, will suffer and die under the Republicans' 2025 administrative strategy. They have every single intention of stripping the democratic process away from the citizenry. Forever, if possible.

And if you withhold your vote in the name of "sticking it to the Dems/liberals", the loss of American democracy is on your hands. Full stop.

#im so goddamn tired #vote blue 2024 #when things get even worse for Americans (particularly queer folks bipoc and the disabled community in red states)- #-don't you DARE ask 'who could have possibly seen this coming?'

[spurgie-cousin]

I completely agree with you, this is not the election to sit out.

This is more of a question/comment for those anons who say genocide is where they draw the line. Obvi, You don’t have to post this, maybe you can just ask them to clarify if you can.

They said that you’re making this country (US) a priority and putting the loss of our rights over the issues in the Middle East.

What do they think will happen if trump wins? Do they not realize that the situation in the Middle East would be 100% worse under a trump presidency? How do they reconcile that??

I personally do not need any clarification on why Palestine is the line some people draw, even if I have a different opinion on what to do, I do understand that. If that previous anon wants to expand on anything for other people they can totally do that (or not) but they don't need to do it for me, I understand the heart of the argument. In a general sense it makes sense to me to want to condemn genocide supporters full stop, all of them, regardless, because of how much blood they have on their hands.

For me, I just think Zionism is so entangled in our federal government that the unraveling is going to be more complicated than not voting for one Zionist. Almost every person in a of power in America at this point supports Israel, some more than Biden like the other candidate for president as these 2 anons have pointed out. I do believe that Trump is going to push hard for more military support for Israel and to maintain our alliance with them, whereas I think public opinion COULD have an affect on the Biden admin's decisions on Israel going forward. What kind of affect, I don't know.

Anyway yes I totally agree with these anons that Trump is scarier in a lot of ways as far as policy goes, including the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but I don't disagree with that other anon who believes Biden isn't much better because he's not at the end of the day, he has approved billions of dollars to go to the Israeli military that have helped kill and displace innocent people, especially children. So if people want to draw the line there as far as voting, I get it, I don't know if I think that's the best decision but none of these decisions feel good tbh, none of them necessarily feel right, so if that feels right to someone, ok.

#it's all just such a mess #politics #death cw #murder cw

[qqueenofhades]

bless u for the comprehensive answer to my last question, it is much appreciated! And sincere apologies for coming off as defeatist - you're absolutely right that, at the end of the day, the most important thing is working as hard as we can to make sure trump loses the general election. What this really clarifies for me is that my focus should be on the elections, and that I should file the judicial process under "interesting, could be useful, but will never be a silver bullet". Thank you again!

You're welcome, and I think it's most useful to think of it like this: we need to do our job (defeating Trump in 2024) so Jack Smith's job (indicting the fucker up the wazoo) will stick. We hear endless punditry and hand-wringing about how Trump will just cancel the charges if he wins, and that's often presented as some kind of terrible foregone conclusion that we will only avert by dumb luck, if we do at all. And yet, for some funny reason, we never hear about the flip side: i.e. if Trump loses, he's fucked. He will have no more reason to delay, no last-minute Hail Mary play, nothing to stop him from standing trial, being convicted, and going to jail, and that's exactly why he and the rest of the fascist criminals are throwing everything at the election. It is his last shot.

Honestly, I don't want people complacently thinking that the indictments will do the work for them and get rid of Trump -- because they will, but only if we do our job first and pound that motherfucker into the ground in 2024. I don't want anything to take away from the importance of doing everything we can to help Biden win in 2024 -- voting, volunteering, donating, talking to friends and family, you name it. We NEED to do that work so that Trump is out of miraculous golden parachutes and is left to face the consequences. And if he does (again, please God) lose, at least this time he is not the sitting American president and does not have the full resources of the federal government to attempt a coup. In that sense, if you want to see Trump properly, completely brought to justice, it's so easy:

Support the indictments

Vote for Biden in 2024

Do everything to make sure Trump loses

The end.

It's really that easy. Because as noted, if we do our part and Trump loses the election, he is fucked. That's really all there is to it.

We are in uncharted territory here because the founding fathers were eighteenth-century Enlightenment rationalists, and while they obviously did not trust a king and built in all kinds of checks and balances to prevent the president from BEING a king, they also imagined that whoever held the job would at least make a good-faith effort to follow the rules. Besides, the best-designed political system in the world would still be vulnerable to someone like Trump, who gleefully and sociopathically wrecks all norms and precedents however he pleases. That's why there isn't technically a law on the books preventing someone in prison from running for president, because the founding fathers were operating under the idea that people in American government would at least try, however badly, to perform the functions of American government. Trump doesn't. He doesn't give a shit about that. He's willing to take the whole country down in flames if it saves him personally from consequences, and while our institutional guardrails (barely) held last time, they've already said that a second Trump term would involve wrecking all of those, because he is a tinpot narcissistic psychopath dictator wannabe. And yes, it's terrifying, and yes, too many people didn't learn from 2016, and all the rest, but still:

If you want to see the fucker go to jail and reap the consequences of his actions, make sure he loses the 2024 election. That's what you need to focus on. Do that, and the rest of it will come after. So yeah.

#anthropicmoose #ask #politics for ts #the giant orange monster

[robertreich]

The Election Deniers on the Ballot: What You Need to Know

Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans allies who tried to overturn the 2020 election results are now just one step away from taking control of the election process itself.

BUT we can stop them if we turn out in full force for November’s midterms.

If we don’t stop them from taking over the election process, we can kiss what’s left of our democracy goodbye.

This fall, 60% of voters will have an election denier on their ballot, including key battleground states that decided the 2020 election and will be pivotal in 2024. Many are running for positions like secretary of state, where they'll have power to determine which votes get counted in future elections — and which don't.

In 37 states, secretaries of state are the chief elections officers — overseeing things like election infrastructure and voter registration. In 2020, they were the last line of defense for our fragile democracy, upholding Joe Biden’s win despite heavy pressure  from proponents of Trump's Big Lie.

But now, Big Lie proponents are vying to hold this key position in important swing states.

In Michigan, the GOP candidate for Secretary of State is Kristina Karamo  — who rose to prominence in conservative circles after claiming to have witnessed election fraud as a pollster. She’s also previously claimed that Trump won the 2020 election and that Antifa was behind the January 6th insurrection.  

In Arizona, Mark Finchem, a QAnon-supporting member of the Oath Keepers militia who participated in the January 6 insurrection cruised to victory in the GOP primary by claiming that “Donald Trump won.”

In Nevada, Jim Marchant won his Republican primary by making Trump's baseless claims of election fraud a cornerstone of his campaign. He also falsely claims that mail-in voting is rife with fraud and wants to eliminate it altogether in Nevada, despite the fact that he himself has voted by mail MULTIPLE times over the years.

We simply cannot have MAGA election deniers overseeing any element of our elections.

But it’s not just secretaries of state who will be able to pull trickery in future elections. Governors also play a critical role in certifying votes and upholding the will of the people. Which is precisely why Trump and Steve Bannon have had their eyes on running election deniers in these races.

In Pennsylvania, Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano — who was also at the Capitol on January 6th and has been subpoenaed by Congress for his involvement in the insurrection — helped lead the push to overturn the state’s 2020 results. If he wins, Mastriano would appoint Pennsylvania’s top election official.

In Arizona, GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake has said she does not recognize Joe Biden as the nation’s legitimate president — adding that she would not have certified Arizona’s 2020 election results had she been governor.

In Wisconsin, Tim Michels is the Trump backed candidate for governor who still questions the results of 2020 and won’t say whether he would certify the 2024 presidential election. Right now, elections in Wisconsin are administered by the bipartisan Wisconsin Election Commission. But if Michels wins, he supports scrapping the commission in favor of a plan that could tilt oversight of the state’s elections into the hands of Wisconsin Republicans.

These extremist gubernatorial candidates also support abortion bans, openly denegrate the LGBTQ community, oppose common sense gun-control measures, and want to chip away at the rights of workers.

Ultimately, if any of these candidates wins their election this fall — governors or secretaries of state —  that could be enough to tip the balance in a tight presidential election.

So how can we fight back?

First, spread the word about the GOP's extremist plans to capture the election process and entrench minority rule. Make sure your friends and family — especially young voters — know what’s at stake in the midterms this fall. It will mean a lot coming from you. Make sure they register AND vote down the entire ballot.

Next, get involved locally. Volunteer to be a poll worker or join a campaign for a candidate running to protect democracy where you live. From school boards to secretaries of state, every position matters.

And of course, vote! Check your registration early and make a plan to cast your ballot.

The future of our country and our basic rights hang in the balance. All progress rests on maintaining our democracy. Let's get to work.

#youtube #video #videos #politics #election #2022 #donald trump #maga

[mariacallous]

European lawmakers are issuing increasingly bleak warnings about the future of the war in Ukraine and the continent’s security as a $60 billion U.S. aid package for Kyiv continues to languish on Capitol Hill and the war is set to enter its third year later this month.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Washington has welcomed a steady stream of lawmakers, government ministers, and heads of state from Europe amid transatlantic efforts to coordinate military and humanitarian support for Ukraine. But there has been a palpable ratcheting up in the intensity and urgency of their message. 

“You can’t help but wonder what has happened here. We seem to have drifted apart,” said Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir, chair of the Icelandic parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. 

Einarsdóttir and a delegation of six other chairs of the parliamentary foreign affairs committees of the Baltic and Nordic states spoke with a small group of journalists on Thursday morning as the U.S. Senate voted to advance a stand-alone aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. It remains unclear whether the bill will be able to garner enough votes to pass the Senate and House. 

A bipartisan effort to combine the aid with an immigration reform package was shot down by Senate Republicans on Wednesday evening after former U.S. President Donald Trump urged his party to reject the legislation. 

“Dear Republican Senators of America,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, following the vote. “Ronald Reagan, who helped millions of us to win back our freedom and independence, must be turning in his grave today. Shame on you.” 

Dire warnings from European lawmakers come as Ukraine has stalled on the battlefield and Russia is making significant investments in defense spending and production. In the early days of the war, Moscow appeared to be on the back foot as its economy was pummeled with international sanctions and its armed forces struggled through a poorly planned invasion. 

But two years on, the Russian economy is projected to grow, albeit marginally, in the coming year fueled by a significant boost in defense spending. One-third of the country’s state budget has been allocated for defense in 2024, and arms manufacturers have been urged to work around the clock. 

“If we cannot manage, together with the U.S., to stop Russia in Ukraine, it’s a matter of time if it is a war against NATO in general, and that will be much higher cost,” said Aron Emilsson, chair of the Swedish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. 

Emilsson’s Latvian counterpart, Rihards Kols, said he was struck by the lack of urgency in Washington about the war. “I got the notion that the war in Ukraine is something very far away, distant from the U.S.,” said Kols, who noted that by comparison, Latvian public discourse had been dominated by the possibility of a wider war. 

Last month, top military officials in Sweden and the United Kingdom warned their populations to prepare for a potential war.

Zygimantas Pavilionis, chair of the Lithuanian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, who has made several trips to Washington since the beginning of the war, said that the reception he and his colleagues get on Capitol Hill is “getting worse with every visit.” Pavilionis, like many lawmakers and officials from the Baltic states, sought to sound the alarm about Russia’s revanchist intentions long before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “Our argument is simple: If you don’t want another Pearl Harbor, you better listen to us,” he said. 

Ahead of this week’s visit, the delegation reached out to the offices of around 20 congressional Republicans who have to varying degrees been skeptical of U.S. aid for Ukraine. Just three offices responded, Kols said.

The visit follows a trip by the chairs of the parliamentary foreign affairs committees from six NATO member states last month who brought a similarly stark message. “The reality is the U.S. also needs a wake-up call,” said Alicia Kearns, chair of the U.K. Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee, the Hill reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also in Washington this week and is set to meet with President Joe Biden and members of Congress to make the case for continued support to Ukraine. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, he laid out his case about the dangers of a Russian victory. 

“We have to do our utmost to prevent Russia from winning. If we don’t, we might soon wake up in a world even more unstable, threatening and unpredictable than it was during the Cold War,” he wrote. 

The United States has provided more than $75 billion in aid to Kyiv since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, of which $46 billion has been military support. Analysts have warned that a collapse in U.S. support would deal a significant blow to Ukraine. 

“We are not able to fill the gap if the U.S. pulls out,” said Ine Eriksen Soreide, chair of the Norwegian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, who stressed that there would be wide-ranging ramifications if Russia were to emerge victorious. “If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wins the war, it would embolden him; it would embolden China; it would embolden Iran; it would embolden [North Korea],” Soreide said. 

[briteredoctober]

What the fuck kind of person can still push the "better of two evils" argument when the "better evil" is literally a fascist who is actively committing genocide?

Especially since voting for him the first time did NOTHING to protect abortion rights (Democrats refused to codify Roe v Wade even with control of the house and senate under a Democratic president), address police brutality (he instead increased their funding and built 60 cop cities), didn't do shit to protect trans rights because he'd rather throw us under the bus to cater to GOP fascists, didn’t stop fascism (as we are currently living in it), didn't help immigrants as the plan Biden is pushing is notably harsher than Trump's, and didn't even prevent genocide as HE IMMEDIATELY STARTED ENDORSING IT FULL-HEARTEDLY.

The only thing he accomplished was signing off on the biggest oil-drilling project in decades during the peak of a climate crisis.

#free palestine #israeli apartheid #israeli genocide #anti imperialism #amerikkka #american fascism #electoralism #biden is a fascist

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A brief reflection on Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

December 16, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

As we begin a mid-December weekend, I offer this brief reflection on Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

Jury Awards Ruby Freemen and Shaye Moss $148 million in damages against Rudy Giuliani for defamation.

The damages award of $148 million against Rudy Giuliani encapsulates the madness, frustration, and perseverance that define the lives of millions of activists during the American era of The Big Lie. It is tempting to characterize Giuliani’s defamation of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss and their hard-won victory as a metaphor for Trump's political arc over the last seven years.

But what happened to Freeman and Moss is not a metaphor. It is the cold, hard reality that slaps each of us in the face every day as we are assaulted by lies heaped upon lies. Not everyone is a direct victim of the lies like Freeman and Moss, but we are all victims, nonetheless.

The point of the lies is not (only) to injure Trump's enemies, it is to erode trust in the system until there are no guardrails left—hoping to create chaos in which the most depraved believe they have an advantage over those still ruled by conscience, decency, and fealty to the rule of law.

Trump and his enablers tell outlandish lies because they know that media outlets will dutifully repeat the lies in headlines and news alerts, reserving tepid skepticism for paragraphs buried deep in their coverage.

Direct victims like Freeman and Moss are viewed as expendable collateral damage. Their names and addresses are shared in dark corners of the web so Trump's followers can make threats even he dares not voice (in public).

The full weight of Trump's malevolent organization was directed at Freeman and Moss. But they did not buckle. Two women who were motivated to help fellow Georgians vote in a free and fair election stood their ground.

Their reputations were smeared by the sitting President of the United States, the Georgia legislature, Fox News, One America Network, Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, and millions of users on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

A preacher and a rap star’s publicist teamed up to urge them to falsely confess to non-existent crimes—saying it was the only way to stop the ugly death threats. The FBI’s unhelpful response was to advise them to “Move out of your homes.”

Despite tens of thousands of vile threats, no one was arrested, investigated, charged with crimes, or sued for defamation.

At least not at first.

But the guardrails held. Because Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss stood their ground.

Because they stood their ground, Democrats on the January 6 Committee allowed them to tell their story to the nation.

Because they stood their ground, the rap star’s publicist and the preacher were indicted in Fulton County, Georgia for “solicitation of false statements and influencing witnesses.”

Because they stood their ground, the former president was indicted for lying about the 2020 election. The indictment specifically alleged that the former president was responsible for the campaign to smear Freeman and Moss—lies that were part of his conspiracy to defraud the United States. (See indictment, ¶ 26.)

Then, Freeman and Moss sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation. He did his best to derail and delegitimize the civil claim for damages. But he failed. The guardrails held. All because Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss stood their ground.

Two women who wanted to help people vote in Georgia stood their ground against fancy lawyers and paid liars, a depraved president and corrupt legislators, and a news ecosystem determined to sell as much soap for as long as possible by repeating the baseless claims about Freeman and Moss.

Two women who stood their ground. That is all it took for the guardrails to hold.

It was not easy. Their stance took courage and faith. They suffered mightily. But they persevered. They are heroes of American democracy.

There can be nothing more hopeful than their example—and their victory—to remind us of the power within each of us to maintain the guardrails of democracy. Those who sow chaos in the hope that the most depraved among us will win by brute force are wrong.

People are drawn to those who promote conscience, decency, and fealty to the rule of law—especially during times of turbulence and distress.

Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss prevailed over Giuliani (and Trump) the moment they reported for work on November 3, 2020—because they joined tens of thousands of other Americans in becoming the guardrails of democracy that ensured a free and fair election.

#Rubi Freeman and Shaye Moss #Giuliani #TFG #bullying #harrassment #election 2020 #Georgia