#bernie vs trump

[eowyntheavenger]

Palestine and the US election

I’m done with Twitter soundbite takes that voting blue = supporting genocide. I see a lot of people making an argument that goes like this: "Biden has sent arms to Israel, helping its government commit genocide against Palestine. Therefore, voting for him in the 2024 US election, if he is the Democratic nominee, is supporting genocide, and NOT voting for him helps Palestine." There's a lot wrong with this view, so let's break it down.

It's true that Biden has sent a lot of arms to Israel and bypassed Congress multiple times to do it, and it's indefensible. I'm ashamed that any US politician would help Israel wage its brutal, genocidal war against the Palestinian people. As one of Israel's closest partners, the US could actually be using its leverage right now to put pressure on Israel’s government—I’m thinking about how apartheid in South Africa fell, in part, because of international pressure. That's what should be happening, but instead the US government is literally just helping Israel kill Palestinians.

I wish there were a strong pro-Palestine candidate in the upcoming election. The best bet in that regard would probably be Bernie Sanders, since he's prominent enough, well-liked enough, and has good ideas, not just on this issue but on many things (and yeah, he's way too old, but so are the current frontrunners). But he's already ruled out another run. Unless an amazing candidate materializes and wins the Democratic nomination (please vote in the primaries where you live), it will probably be Biden running against Trump. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s likely.

Here's what people need to understand: the election will not be "genocide Joe" vs. "pro-Palestine candidate." It will most likely be a choice between these two candidates:

On the one hand, Biden, who has armed Israel, but can be pressured to change his policies because he can be pushed left; who is not a wannabe dictator; who will not destroy what's left of the country's democratic norms; who will not encourage coups, political assassinations, or jail his political opponents; who will not utterly stifle dissent.

Or on the other hand, Trump, who is beholden to a fanatical evangelical base that backs Israel no matter what, that actually wants more conflict because they are part of a death cult. Trump, who is not susceptible in any way to pressure from the left, but is susceptible to pressure from the right and the far right. Trump, who has been clear all along about his desire to be a dictator; who will destroy what's left of democratic norms; who has already encouraged a coup to overthrow a democratic election, encouraged the assassination of his own vice president, and is openly planning to jail his political opponents if he returns to the White House.

(This isn't even touching on Trump's positions on trans rights, gay rights, women's rights, the environment, policing, immigration, or his racism against every group he could be racist against, or his liability for sexual assault, or a whole bunch of other issues).

There's a very convincing argument that Netanyahu actually wants Biden to lose the US election and Trump to win. That's because Netanyahu knows that Biden has in the past responded to pressure from his own party and the public. If there are a lot of people criticizing his policies, it gives him pause. Trump doesn't operate like that. If millions of Americans criticize his policies as inhumane he just lashes out at them. In short, Biden views criticism from the left as a liability that he has to act on. Trump views criticism from the left as an incentive to be even worse.

Biden is not the candidate I want. But you need to understand that if Trump wins the election, he won't just arm Israel like Biden is doing now: he will do that and more. Not only will he help Israel escalate its war, your very freedom of speech to support Palestine will be under attack. Trump might even decide that financial support for Palestinians or charities that help Palestine = financially supporting terrorism, and use that as a pretext to arrest and jail people. You think he and his far right goons wouldn't go that far? If Trump wins this election, you shouldn't be surprised if this kind of thing happens, and much worse.

Do you want the US to accept Palestinian refugees? Because it won't accept them under a Trump presidency. A key Republican talking point in this election is "the US shouldn't take Palestinian refugees because they're probably all terrorists." This isn't just a Trump thing, it's something other Republicans are saying, but obviously you can imagine where Trump would fall on this issue given his infamous Muslim ban and conflating refugees with terrorists. These are just a few examples of how Trump would actually be even worse for Palestine than Biden—which is saying something.

In this upcoming election there is no neutral option. There is no morally pure option. There just isn't, I'm sorry. Refusing to vote will not help Palestine. Refusing to vote will only help Trump win, and will give every single person in the United States who is fighting for a better world a significantly harder battle to fight.

It goes without saying that there are things everyone should do to help Palestine besides voting in an election. But I'm writing this post that is about voting because I'm genuinely worried by how many so-called leftists want to give up their right to vote—a right that older generations had to fight tooth and nail for—because they think it won't achieve anything. If voting didn't achieve anything, Republicans wouldn't be trying so hard to suppress your vote.

I'll conclude by saying that nuance is not this site's specialty, but please try to understand what I'm actually saying here before attacking me in the notes. Finally, people being antisemitic or islamophobic on this post will be blocked. People denying that Israel is committing genocide against Palestine will be blocked. Trump supporters, tankies, and people who say that Biden and Trump are the same will be blocked. So will people who say "voting is pointless" or "but Biden did this bad thing—" Biden fucking sucks, I know that very well, so if you're going to try to make that argument to me then stop right now and read the post again.

[forsetti]

On Calls For Pres. Biden To Step Aside: Know The Players And Motives Tossing aside one of the most progressive presidents in fifty years because you are afraid they might not win an election is just plain stupid without a really, really, really solid backup plan. It is even stupider if you look at who is pushing for him to step aside and their motives. Here are the main groups calling for Pres. Biden to step away from running against Trump in November and why:

1-Republicans. Republicans know Biden is the biggest threat to them getting back the White House and enacting their batshit crazy policy agenda. They want nothing more than to not run against Pres. Biden because not only does he have the track record of beating Trump before but has an amazing economic record to run on. If you ever want to understand who Republicans view as their political threat, all you have to do is look at who they are attacking. They were going after Hillary for three years prior to 2016. The entire Benghazi witch hunt had no other purpose than to damage her electorally. Every single hearing about Hunter Biden, the border, the Biden Crime Family,… is nothing more than dog and pony hearings to dampen Democratic and Independent voter enthusiasm.

2-The Media. Trump’s non-stop crazy train administration was a goldmine for media outlets. Every day there was a new outrage, wild-ass rant, something that brought eyes to screens which translates to selling ad time/space. The Biden administration is efficient and boring. No scandals, except the ones Republicans gin up that turn up nothing. No rants. No chaos. No real controversy. Just plain old boring governance which is great for the country but bad for a business model that relies on shock, drama, and negativity. “Dems in disarray,” has been a media cottage industry since Bill Clinton was in office. If you don’t understand the financial motivation for why the media constantly derides Democrats for the slightest misstep while ignoring Republican malfeasance, you are probably likely to fall for their own brand of political propaganda.

It should tell you something that major news outlets have come out demanding Pres. Biden step aside for not looking good on camera during one ninety-minute debate but not a single one has asked the same of the candidate who was found guilty of sexual assault, found guilty of thirty-four felony charges, misspeaks dozens of times at every rally, and goes off on wild, illogical, batshit crazy tangents, and is tied to child sexual abuse via Jeffery Epstein. That they are not treating Trump with the same non-stop demands to step aside as they are Pres. Biden should tell you something about their motives.

3-Bad Foreign Actors. Russia wants nothing more than for Biden to lose the election. He is their biggest threat to taking over Ukraine and pushing their influence farther into Western Europe. NATO is stronger now and has more members than at any time in its history. This is the last thing Putin wants. Russia has been actively pushing propaganda online to influence U.S. elections for some time but really have ramped it up the past few election cycles.

Russia targets Republicans by fueling rage over culture war topics like abortion, immigration, racial violence, and the decline of Western, Christian norms. They also target liberals by trying to divide them over issues they care about Israel/Palestine, LGBTQI rights, Bernie vs Clinton, Bernie v Biden, DNC v “real progressives,”… They want liberals at each other’s throats because, if unified, the left is the largest voting bloc in America. Conservatives are electoral dinosaurs but they maintain power through gerrymandering, voter suppression, and liberals being more invested in their petty arguments than voting Republicans out of office.

4-Sandernistas. There is still a good-sized faction of people on the left who are still upset about Bernie Sanders not being the nominee in 2016 or in 2020. They are especially mad at what they deem as “establishment Dems,” screwing over Sanders in 2020 starting with the South Carolina primary. What they really are upset about is black voters, predominately female black voters, denying their White Progressive Savior his rightful spot at the head of the ticket. Because Pres. Biden was the one who benefited from this minority voting bloc in 2020, tearing him down and taking him out is a passion project for a lot of so-called “progressives.”

These “progressives,” are under the disillusion that if the Democratic Party fails far enough, hard enough, they will be able rebuild it in their own, perfectly progressive image. They never explain how this magical transformation will happen, they just take it as a matter of faith. Of course, anyone who understands American history and basic civics knows if/when conservatives have ultimate power, they will make sure they never lose another election.

These “progressives,” are the worst kind of progressive. They are often white, middle to upper-class liberals who view politics as a game because they are usually shielded from the consequences of the electoral decisions. If you are a middle/upper-class white, male progressive, very few, if any of Trump’s actions when he was in office affected you directly. The same cannot be said about the progressive voters who overwhelmingly supported Hillary in 2016 and Joe in 2020. They have the most skin in the game, have the most to lose and they vote accordingly. For white dudebros to step in and demand Pres. Biden step aside is a direct “fuck you” to the most loyal part of the base which has the most to lose if Trump is reelected.

Never mind this group has NEVER accomplished a damn thing politically other than cost many good Democrats to lose and decades and decades of progressive policy and law wiped out. They are as adamant about their political skills as they are it is always someone else’s fault when the find-out portion of their fuck around actions comes to fruition.

5-Progressives suffering from 2016 PTSD. This is the one group I can actually relate to and sympathize with. Hillary's loss in 2016 was a major shock to a lot of people. This shock was compounded because not only were we denied the first female president, but we got a lying, narcissistic, misogynist man-child in her place who went about rolling back decades of hard-earned progressive policies and turning the Supreme Court into a right-wing arm of the Federalist Society.

For those of us who lived through 2016, there is no election data that will make us feel good or at ease. It also makes us hyper-vigilant about anything and everything that can be seen as a negative towards the nominee. The second anything bad happens, whether factual or not, a lot of people in this group take the flight instead of the fight option which is associated with PTSD.

Being overly anxious and hyper-vigilant are not necessarily bad unless they lead to bad decisions.

There is only one sure way to make sure Trump is not reelected. Vote for the candidate running against him. Period. Full fucking stop.

If you aren’t willing to do this, for whatever reason you tell yourself, then you will be directly responsible for the very thing you claim is a politically existential moment. Stop listening and parroting Republican talking points. Stop allowing the media to determine who you should vote for. Stop listening to butt-hurt progressives who have no record of political success about what those who do should/shouldn’t do. Stop acting like frightened little bunnies whenever someone says something negative about successful Democratic leaders. Stop automatically going into flight mode when something goes wrong or something negative is said. Fight.

If you aren’t willing to fight, and I’m not talking about inter-party fighting (that time came and went,) for women’s rights, minority rights, safe air/water/food, climate policies, democracy… then you really aren’t as progressive as you tell yourself and others. You are a big reason why we are even in this situation. Whether you like Pres. Biden or think he is too old really isn’t the pertinent issue if you really care about the things you say you do. As long as Pres. Biden is willing to fight like hell for progressive policies and prevent Republicans from turning the country into a white supremacist, misogynist, oligarchy, you should be doing the same.

I don’t know what is going to happen between now and election day. Neither does anyone else. The one thing I am 100% positive about is if Trump does win, the people on the left who have spent the majority of their time and energy railing against the Democratic Party and Pres. Biden will blame anyone and everyone other than themselves. If Pres. Biden wins reelection, these same people will claim their childish hissy fits are what led him to “change course,” enabling him to win. Their view of personal responsibility for election outcomes is some fucked up “No True Scotsman,” bullshit. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING ever counts against their political beliefs and views.

I know some people reading this will wonder why I spend so much time and energy railing against the left. The answer is really simple-I fully expect the people on the right to be bad-faith actors who are hell-bent on destroying any and all progressive policies and candidates. I don’t, and shouldn’t expect the same from people who claim to be political allies. You can't claim to be a member of Team Good™ if your behaviors and actions help Team Bad™.

[sonicspocketwrench1]

Bernie Sanders just put out a video addressing whether people should vote for Kamala Harris considering her position on the war in Gaza.

He's a major player in the congressional-level push to block weapons sales to Israel, and has been a senator for years so he knows what effect a Trump vs a Harris administration will have. Given that, I think his points are definitely worth listening to.

x

[jevilowo]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE DAY OF ALL TIME

The complete list of everything to happen in and around the 8th of September 2022:

Reigen became ultimate twink and dilf and milf and babygirl and hottest anime girl and

Sans vs Reigen for ultimate tumblr sexyman on twitter (Sans won by 420 votes)

Toby Fox wrote a fanfic about Sans vs Reigen (it's on twitter, it comes up if you google it)

Lea Michele can't read conspiracy

Also she debuts in Funny Girl

Splatoon 3 dropped

Enstars cover of Tell Your World dropped

2 year anniversary of Eric Trump calling Mob Psycho 100 leftist propaganda

Star Trek day

The Queen of England died

Trisha Paytas went into labour, but it was a false alarm

Kiwi Farms shut down

Don't Worry Darling drama

Dan and Phil made a video saying people gave them cocaine and celebrities wanted to have threesomes with them

Thurston Waffles died (rip)

Finding out they censored destiel many times

Bastille performed in Argentina

Mercury Retrograde (not sure what that is, but it's today apparently)

Out of touch Thursday and Felix Huaves (again, not sure what that means but someone reblogged with those tags so)

Bernie Sanders, P!NK, Ruby Bridges, Gaten Matarazzo and Martin Freeman's birthdays

MCR IN BOSTON BABEY

Danny Phantom graphic novel cover reveal (first dp content since 2008)

24th anniversary of the Pokemon anime broadcasting in the US

Warnuts first birthday/anniversary

Critical role massacred one of their player characters in the episode last night

Anniversary of sega dreamcast debut

Song for the new sonic game got released

New Pinocchio movie. And many other films and shows dropped on Disney Plus, due to it being disney plus day.

Comment if I missed anything

Update, I've edited this post like a million times, lmao. I'm honoured to be the keeper of events.

Update 2, here's all the polls Reigen has won so far, from a post by @blackberry-s0da

Update 3, END OF REIGENSWEEP I REPEAT END OF REIGENSWEEP

[thepioden]

Okay it’s maybe a little late to ask but I’m going back over the Nebraska election options and I know our politics are like aligned but I feel like our senator options are bad either way like Dan Osborn republicans saying hes republican and he Sides with trump (🤢) but deb fischer republicans saying he’s fake republican and lying and besties with Bernie and idk I think I would just like to hear other people’s thoughts

Dan Osborn is a pretty centrist, Labor-first populist candidate. The Democrats are pretty much ghosting him, because a Dem does not have a shot at sniping Fischer's seat, but an Independent apparently does. He's really trying pull over conservatives right now, because Trump and McConnell are backing Fischer hard. He's got some platform things I'm into, some I don't care for, and a general pro-Union, pro-Labor, anti-Corporatist position that generally aligns with the thrust of my values. I wish he was as cool as the Fischer-funded attack ads make him sound.

Things I like:

Immigration: He supports a path to citizenship and his concerns about undocumented immigrants are mostly labor-based.

Healthcare: removing private equity in senior care, improving protections for elders in care facilities. Full abortion access and reversing trans healthcare restrictions.

Labor: improving overtime take home pay, tighten 'independent contractor' loopholes, mandatory paid bereavement and sick leave. He's also a very Union guy.

Right to Repair: this is just good practice, and he's coming at it from a Small Farmers' perspective in particular which is good for Nebraska agriculture and family farmers who aren't owned by Bill Gates.

Things I don't care for:

Blue Lives Matter: Support/funding for law enforcement. He includes first responders in this, but I'm... not thrilled about it. Also pro-military-funding, but at least it's funding for vets and soldiers' wages rather than Chuck More Money In The Pentagon Black Hole of Cash.

Second amendment rights/pro 2A. He supports education but not restriction, which. Well. Better than nothing :\

Immigration: he's real gung-ho about border security and the "build the wall" stuff.

The "sides with Trump" bits. From what I can tell, this is lip service to sway conservatives, because the Trump things he's siding with are some of Trump's big hypocrite talking points like "draining the swamp." Feels icky, though.

Ultimately, Nebraska is not running a Democrat and certainly not a true leftist, but it feels like this Centrist independent could deny the Republicans a hitherto safe seat. I will be voting Osborn, because he has "Things I like" points, where Fischer has... paid FMLA, and some pretty okay ag bills. Meanwhile, Fischer has much more damning "Things I don't care for" points, like abortion restriction, aid to Israel, denying aid to anyone who recognizes Palestine as a sovereign state, harsher legal penalties for assaulting cops (vs. assaulting non-cops), and choking out the EPA's operating budget, as well as endorsements from Trump, Pillen, Ricketts, AIPAC, and the Omaha Police Union.

Also, don't forget that Pricketts is up to try and hold his quid pro quo seat! Does Preston Love Jr. have a snowball's chance in hell? Probably not, but you can still vote for him.

[toaarcan]

There's a total of one challenger for Biden's chair at the moment (Marianne Williamson withdrew last week), Dean Phillips. So what's he like?

I'm just gonna let that one sit.

Phillips also has zero delegates to Biden's 91, and he's not even on the ballot in a handful of states because they can just do that (See Trump being taken off the ballot in a few states' Republican primaries). So the chances of him winning anything are pretty low. Parties just don't tend to remove incumbent presidents if they don't have to. They've got their guy in already, they're going to choose stability over anything else, especially at this stage in the game, and that's why most politicians don't try.

It's also extremely unlikely that you're going to find an American candidate with a better stance on Gaza at all. The US government is extremely pro-Israel, for a variety of reasons. Some of them make bank off of selling bombs to Netanyahu. Some of them are deathly afraid to criticise a man who screams "Antisemitism!" every time anybody wants to criticise his actions, a claim bolstered by the glut of actual antisemitism that's happening. Some of them are millennialist nutbars who want all the Jewish people back in Israel so Jesus can come back. Some of them just hate Muslims more than they hate Jews.

Phillips is actually fairly decent on this topic, for what it's worth. He believes in a two-state solution and has criticised Netanyahu publicly. He supports Israel as an entity but not the policies and genocidal intentions of its current ruling party, which is probably about as good as you're going to get.

So hey, by all means, if this guy is on your state's ballot and you like the sound of him (and please do more research than this before you make that call, my comments aren't going to give you the whole story), vote for him in the primary. Him losing (which is the most likely outcome, 91-0 and all) is not carte blanche to give up.

The most likely outcome is still Biden vs. Trump, and yeah, sorry, if/when that's what happens, it's still gonna boil down to "You have to vote for grandad to stop fascism, and do not let Gaza be a wedge issue because the open, screaming Islamophobe is going to be much fucking worse."

There are certainly other things that could happen, Phillips could pull off the upset of the century and actually secure the nomination (extremely unlikely based on how the system works, but still), one or both of the old fuckers could up and die on the spot, they're both ancient, and Trump's poor health and near-death of COVID are factors too, but America is not currently in a position where there are many options besides "Elephant party wants a nationwide abortion ban, criminalisation of all LGBT+ identities, Russia to take over Europe, apparently a military dictatorship, and more genocide, vote donkey party despite all the problems because seriously you cannot let the other guys get their way again.

It's frustrating how, regardless of where you fall, there's this assumption of a binary between Biden or Trump. Voting in November or not voting at all. Those are the only options we have guys. Biden or Trump. Vote or no vote. It's so easy to fall into binaries. If you criticize Biden or his policies, the assumption is you're obviously angling to abstain from voting and land us all back in the same mess as 2016. If you try to urge people to vote who actually ARE getting nilhistic about it, obviously you're a liberal shill who supports the same atrocities Biden does. On some level I get it, because third-party candidates simply aren't viable.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU ALL A LITTLE SECRET!

There's this little thing happening earlier in the year, before November. It's at different times in different states, and you should go look up when it's happening in yours, but it's really important to know about. It is the Democratic primaries.

Because guess what? The world is bigger than two shitty old men. Instead of going to bat for the slightly less shitty of the two, I'd rather direct everyone's attention to the possibility of other options that lie outside that binary. If you want to avoid a slide into facism, but you also don't want to just vote for the lesser evil who will keep supporting a genocide, guess what! You don't have to!

Go look up the Primaries. Find out when and where they're happening. Talk to other people you know about them too. Look up the other candidates in the running, and find someone who you can at least stand to see in the Oval Office. None of them will be perfect, but there has to be someone better than the current selection. And push for them. Push for them, get other people to consider backing that person instead of the decrepit one, and vote in the primaries. And then vote in November too.

It doesn't have to be a matter of choosing between Biden or Trump, if we make sure someone else wins the Primaries instead. Instead of a binary of voting or not voting, consider voting twice.

The systems we have in place suck and need to be heavily rebuilt. But we aren't going to do that overnight, so until then, we really should make the full use of those systems to make sure someone at least halfway decent is in charge, someone willing to help tear down and rebuild those systems instead of just shoring themselves up.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ONLY BIDEN OR TRUMP. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. VOTE IN THE PRIMARIES.

[kineticpenguin]

There's this weird centrist notion that the Democrats, especially Biden, are never rewarded and are indeed punished for making concessions to the left, which I find a bit odd.

For one thing, this is talking about specific subsets of people who may or may not be even on the left: global warming is a concern for liberals too, and by 2020 only neocon boomers weren't calling Afghanistan a "pointless forever war." Hell, there's a reason Trump set the date!

For another, it's hardly as if leaving Afghanistan was a shining moment for Biden's foreign policy. His administration seemed, as with Roe vs Wade being overturned, to have had months to prepare. They did not seem to prepare, and looked like they were caught flat-footed by the events. So I suppose there is a grain of truth, there: ISAF giving Afghanistan the Irish Goodbye and the US keeping the Taliban's assets frozen purely as a departing middle finger wasn't great, especially as Afghanistan would be subsequently hit with huge national disasters. But on the whole, I think the most brutal criticism of the withdrawal tended to come from liberals and conservatives whose national pride was wounded by the videos of departing C-17s. The antiwar left's response seemed to be "fine, I guess, at least it's over." Did it really deserve a round of enthusiastic Attaboys?

I also feel like this is misremembering how, in the process of getting the Inflation Reduction Act passed, Joe was at his most "I'm so helpless, I'm so weak" in public, full-throttle backpedaling on campaign promises and using Manchin and Sinema as an excuse at every turn. It was also when it became clear that the Biden administration is extremely poor at communicating its successes. For example, how many people have heard of Biden "breaking the rail strike"? Now compare that with how many people are aware that his administration negotiated a deal between the rail companies and several of the largest unions, with the IBEW thanking him directly for "playing the long game"?

I just think the real problem is that the man just isn't very good at his job, and at the very least, his media team fucking sucks. This all feels like the centrists have resigned themselves to losing the election and they're warming up their usual excuses (it's those damn Bernie Bros again!).

[blu3birdprince]

So with Biden dropping out, how are we feeling about Bernie running again? I know people are talking about Kamala running but I would love to see a Bernie Vs. Trump debate so bad

[didnt-hear-cold-as-you-live]

holly i love you but this is not a serious take. bernie sanders lost the 2016 primary, and his base was mostly located in blue states anyway, which means the only thing that would have been affected was hillary's popular vote result, and not trump's electoral results. voting third party was as ineffective back then as it would be today.

I simply don’t think this is true - there were TONS of research papers indicating that while Bernie was only beating Hillary in blue states in the primary, Bernie flipped WAY more swing and even red states than she did, because he appealed to both republicans who were only voting Trump because they wanted something new and insane, and those who wanted a Nice Politician™️ and not someone as insane as trump - and he secured swing voters who simply hated Hillary.

Anyway, sorry, my point wasn’t that voting 3rd party actually made a difference or that it’s ever a good idea. Idt I articulated it right. My point was, in 2016 people were saying “vote 3rd party it’s a crapshoot anyway” and like, while still untrue, that was a lot more true then [establishment would-be right wing politician in any other country vs insane wildcard who will maybe take everyone’s rights away] than it is now [establishment would-be right wing politician in any other country vs insane person who actively and admittedly wants to overthrow democracy in this country]. And how it’s wild that people thought one was bad then, but now that the stakes are even HIGHER & it’s an even worse idea, that’s when they’re like “yeah let’s do that!”

Did I articulate that better? It’s more about the hypocrisy of the people opting out this year than what I do or don’t think is effective. And fwiw I absolutely did not vote 3rd party in 2016 lol

[jarvis-cockhead]

Okay one person has given me an excuse to yap so:

An Overview of Moz Politics

Disclaimer this is super informal but essentially I think I've cracked the Morrissey code as to why he seems to hold so many conflicting beliefs at once. My finding is that he doesn't, actually, his beliefs just play out differently within the UK vs the US. This means a man can side with both Bernie Sanders and Nigel Farage and not be contradicting himself, somehow. Anyway. The key Moz policies to be aware of:

- Anti royalist & despises the monarchy

- Hates Thatcher

- Hates the Conservatives (I think it's very funny that in 2010 he backed up Marr on saying David Cameron isn't allowed to like The Smiths)

- Anti war (? evidence inconclusive especially recent events, this is mostly an assumption based on his 2013 criticisms of Bush for the Iraq war)

- Believes Obama should've done more to tackle police brutality

- Sexuality inconclusive but we know he supports gay rights. Criticised Trump for not having any sympathy for the victims of the Pulse shooting

- Speaking of Trump, in 2017 when asked if he would push a button to kill Trump, he said yes, "for the safety of the human race"

- Early in the 2016 election he endorsed Clinton but later praised Bernie Sanders as "sane and intelligent" and said the media should've given him more coverage

However 😸

- His views on animal rights have led him to support PETA and call Chinese people a 'subspecies' because of their treatment of animals

- Said in 2019 he thinks Farage would be a good prime minister

- 'Nearly voted' UKIP (2013)

- Doesn't like the EU, presumably voted leave

- Claimed to have nothing against people from other countries but said in 2007 that British identity is disappearing due to immigration

- Endorsed Anne Marie Waters far-right party For Britain in 2018. "She believes in British heritage, freedom of speech, and she wants everyone in the UK to live under the same law. I find this compelling"

- Supported anti-islam activist Tommy Robinson under the guise of free speech, "It's very obvious that Labour or the Tories do not believe in free speech"

- In response to racism accusations he claimed that "everyone prefers their own race"

All of this is taken from his Wikipedia page, and there haven't been any updates on recent politics, so as of right now this is all we have to go off.

The TLDR:

Morrissey hates conservatives and capitalism, he's pro 'the people' and British heritage, and is so far up himself he'll let his animal rights beliefs turn into abhorrent racism.

His own personal description of his politics:

The way I've come to understand it is that when it comes to British politics, since he hates capitalism, the Conservatives (and he doesn't seem to think much of Labour either), the monarchy, and seems very strong on heritage, his views align closer to working class far-right groups like UKIP and For Britain. In America on the other hand you're a bit more limited to Republican vs Democrat, and of course he isn't going to support the super capitalist Republicans. He also doesn't have any ties to heritage to muddy his choices.

His racism in relation to animal rights is it's own thing but clearly shows he has no issues with racist views.

... And that's essentially it. Probably the only Morrissey hypocrisy is him stating in 2004 that The National Front Disco is him expressing sadness and regret for anyone who joins far-right movements, when later he'll go and do... Just that. Aside from that, he's very unchanging in his principles. It just depends on the playing field.

I don't care to go into the morals and ethics of liking his music/The Smiths, he just fascinates me as a person. Do I still wish he'd get his head out of his own arse? Absolutely.

[sugdenlovesdingle]

Bernie Sanders on AI vs trump

[eowynstwin]

i’m sorry if this isn’t the right place to ask but it’s my first year voting and idk who to talk to,, abt that voting thing you reblogged,, is it still worth voting even if i don’t vote for typical red or blue parties? the candidate i want to vote for runs for the green party which is literally almost unheard of in the us but with how strictly red vs. blue politics seem to be here i’m not sure if it’s even worth voting for the person i actually want to have my vote bc i know they won’t compete with the blue party. as much as i hate both the blue and red leading options i would much rather contribute to the blue party winning than the red, but i don’t actually want to vote for b***n. but i just don’t want to waste my vote on a party that can’t compete and contribute to t***p getting elected, like im not sure what to do. i know who i actually want to vote for but i feel like actually voting for them is a wasted vote and it’ll do more harm then good even though the other options aren’t great either

again i’m sorry if this is like a completely inappropriate question, feel free to just delete this, but this two-party-only thing is so fkn frustrating. i want to give my vote to the person i feel actually deserves it but most people i know don’t even realise that there are other political parties aside from red v blue so instead of creating a situation where people can vote for who they want it’s people have to vote for option A even though they suck because option B is SO MUCH WORSE and option C isn’t even viable because A needs as many votes to beat B as possible like …..what is the average person even supposed to do?? does this even count as democracy???

So I don't understand why you censored Biden or Trump, first of all, because they're not slurs. I find the asterisks infantilizing.

To put it to you simply, no, it is not worth voting third party. That is an emotional vote and I'm sorry, but your feelings do not matter. I don't care how bad you feel voting for Biden. You know your third party candidate is not going to win. I still blame every single blue voter who wrote in Bernie for Hillary's loss in 2016.

Splitting the blue vote means red win. That is just how it works in this country and you need to learn that now. You need to stop treating your vote like an endorsement of Biden's policy and start treating it like the only scrap of power you have in this fucking country, because other than voicing your complaints to your representatives, that really is it.

Oh, and speaking of Biden--the House rejected the $17.6bn aid bill to Israel after Biden threatened to veto it. I strongly recommend you start getting your political news somewhere other than Tumblr or TikTok. Constant public pressure on Biden and his administration is working. Do you think Trump would give a rat's ass about what the public wanted him to do? Do you think Republicans would for a second consider pulling back on a war they are desperate to escalate?

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm not saying it isn't a shitty situation. I AM saying that your favorite candidate is not going to win, and I'm even saying that your favorite candidate will put us at risk for a Trump victory. We have a two viable parties because that is the reality of our socioeconomic political system. Rs and Ds are the only choices available because they are the only parties with significant financial power. Investors back Rs and Ds because they know Rs and Ds will give them a return on their investment. Green party candidates, and any other third party candidates, will not win because they do not stand to benefit investors.

It's shitty. It's unfair. It's unethical and immoral. But it's the world we live in. It's the world YOU live in. You have to play the political game whether you like it or not.

So play it smart.

[luckyladylily]

What do you think about Arab Americans refusing to vote Democrat unless they condemn the genocide in Gaza? I kinda feel like every post I've seen arguing against refusing to vote sidesteps that whole issue, including your own. Asking you specifically because you at least acknowledge the genocide in the post.

Alright, so the problem in Gaza is not a democrat problem, its an America problem. This is not about who is currently in power, but about 70 years of foreign policy and over seas American interests. The democrats will never abandon that because a relatively small amount of us on the left threaten to withhold our vote. Once again, it comes down to simple election math. I've explained this before on this blog again and again.

Depending on your area, progressives are up to around 10% of the population, and losing a progressive vote costs the democrat one vote. Centrists make up a minimum of 15%, with even greater numbers in the swing states that actually matter. And a centrist flipping from democrat to republican effectively costs 2 votes for the democrats - a flipped vote for republicans hurts twice as much as losing a leftist. This means that for any action they make to appease the left they have to gain twice as many votes as they lose centrists.

If the left wants to play this kind of election game we need to establish ourselves as a powerful voting block. But for the past 30 years people on the left have been hemming and hawing about voting in elections like Hilary vs Trump and Gore vs Bush and not showing up when it is clearly in our best interest. We have not done what is necessary to establish ourselves as a powerful voting block. If we had, if we hadn't been such lazy cowards about voting strategically, if we had established ourselves as an important, core voting block for the democrats then maybe we could attempt a move like this now. But we didn't. We were a bunch of useless cowards wringing our hands about how Hillary Clinton just didn't excite us, so why the fuck would the establishment democrats give a shit? We are a fickle, useless voting base that couldn't even take California for Bernie.

Meanwhile centrists are extremely reliable. That is a voting block with an extremely strong record. They will vote in high numbers every election in every state, especially swing states. And if they do not vote democrat, they will vote republican.

So on the one hand, we have the left, a small, unreliable, and fickle voting block, and on the other hand we have centrists, a sizable, reliable, consistent voting block that effectively counts double. Who do you think they are going to cater to?

If we want to use electoral politics like this to force change then we are going to need to put a lot of work over a long period of time. Work we on the left have not taken seriously for decades. It is absurd to think that we can suddenly enter the game at this late date and be taken seriously as a voting block. It's asinine.

For that matter, if we really wanted to avert this genocide happening now we should have been working at it seriously for decades. We've all seen the posts by now and read the history, this has been coming for decades. It was just a matter of when it was convenient for Israel to pull the trigger. But we, as the left, have not been making the concerted effort to influence moderate politics that would be required to shift American foreign policy like this. No, far too many of us have been so very concerned about keeping our personal hands clean or just being fucking lazy and not wanting to talk to moderates because it's not as fun as calling for le epic revolution. If every progressive for the past 30 years had made a strong effort to teach the basics of anti colonial politics to the general moderate left, centrist, and moderate right populations, using well considered arguments that appeal to their sensibilities, then this genocide might have been stopped in its infancy. Instead, we didn't. We sat around and complained about racist uncles and dropped friends at the first sign of them being less than perfect and created insular, echo chamber communities where we yell about settlers and a bunch of other bullshit and did nothing. We didn't do the work required. Trying to patch that over in a panic with electoral politics, which we also didn't do the work for, is terrible strategy. No one will be impressed.

And its not like the left's heart has really be in it for fighting this genocide, not completely. Oh, we made a reasonable effort at protest, but since we didn't do the work in either electoral politics or grassroots politics our entire strategy has had to rely on mass protest, which frankly we have not done to nearly the degree required to make up for our other shortcomings. Do you remember the 2020 BLM protests? We have never come close to that kind of disruption in our anti genocide protests. Which is understandable, protesting is dangerous and costly and difficult, but because we were too lazy or high minded to engage in either electoral strategies or mass grassroots conversion strategies up to this point mass protest is all we've got. We bet everything on protests and outrage. But it's not enough. The great flaw of betting everything on protest and outrage is that we can't keep it up forever because it is so costly. We are burnt out from years of protesting and dealing with Covid. It wasn't a month after this whole mess started that people were talking about fatigue and burnout. We don't have near the means or will to deliver the kind of mass riots that would be required to force an abrupt and massive change to American foreign policy. We might be able to cut the genocide short if we keep it up, and therefore we should absolutely keep it up, but frankly stopping it in its tracks was never in the cards for a political group as weak as the US left.

I understand the frustration or even hatred people feel towards democrats right now, I really fucking get it, but doubling down on proven failed strategies in a panic is not the answer. If we start establishing ourselves as an effective voting block now and we start a concerted effort to reach out to moderates and centrists now maybe in 20 years, if we are lucky, we will be powerful enough to throw around our weight with electoral politics. Maybe we will make it in time to avert the next genocide, or maybe us holding that kind of power will mean it never comes to genocide in the first place. But until that time we have no choice but to work within the constraints the failures of the US left of the past decades have left us with.

So I understand the idea, but I am sorry to say it simply will not work. As I said in my other post, the *only* thing you should be thinking of at an election is how it will effect your political goals. For the near future at the very least, vote withholding strategies will not advance any of our political goals and will almost certainly hinder many of them. It is a bad strategy and should not be employed.

[plethoraworldatlas]

The presidential field is basically set, but before the Trump vs. Biden rematch begins in earnest, there are still a bunch of highly contentious primaries for the House and Senate left to be decided. On the Democratic side, none will draw more attention and money than the campaign to knock the Squad—the famed young, progressive legislators of color—out of Congress. And now, thanks to the most recent round of fundraising reports filed to the Federal Election Commission, we know exactly who’s funding that campaign.

Surprise! It’s Republican billionaires and megadonors.

Let’s back up: During the 2022 midterms, one of the super PACs affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbying group—called the United Democracy Project—spent more than any other outside group during the Democratic primaries. Yes, it was spending on Democrats. But it boosted only conservative Democrats who were in races against progressive legislators, in part because progressives are, as a whole, willing to criticize Israel, and sometimes even question unconditional military aid to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

AIPAC’s most successful sally in 2022 was kicking Andy Levin—not only one of the most prominent Jewish members of the House, but also a former synagogue president—out of his House seat in Michigan, in favor of a more conservative, non-Jewish representative in Haley Stevens. (Levin had dared to indicate support for a two-state solution, introducing a bill that would have prevented U.S. aid from being used to fund Israeli settlements in the West Bank and that recognized East Jerusalem as “occupied territory,” among other provisions.)

AIPAC’s most successful sally in 2022 was kicking Andy Levin—not only one of the most prominent Jewish members of the House, but also a former synagogue president—out of his House seat in Michigan, in favor of a more conservative, non-Jewish representative in Haley Stevens. (Levin had dared to indicate support for a two-state solution, introducing a bill that would have prevented U.S. aid from being used to fund Israeli settlements in the West Bank and that recognized East Jerusalem as “occupied territory,” among other provisions.)

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And all of that was before Israel’s devastating war in Gaza began.

Now, AIPAC has made it a clear goal to defeat every progressive Democrat it can in 2024. At the end of January, Federal Election Commission filings revealed that the United Democracy Project super PAC already had $40 million on hand by the end of 2023, nearly double the $26 million it spent on the 2022 midterms. Those numbers will likely skyrocket further.

Massive though it is, the dollar figure is actually less notable than who donated it. Of the top 10 biggest donors to the Democrats-only super PAC during the past six months, boosters of Donald Trump abound. GOP megadonor Bernie Marcus, former CEO of the Home Depot, kicked in $1 million. An LLC affiliated with Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots (who gave $1 million to Trump’s inauguration) chipped in $500,000. Paul Singer, another billionaire financier—and Nikki Haley megadonor, and Rudy Giuliani fundraiser—also kicked in $1 million. (Singer is perhaps best known as the luxury vacation sponsor of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.)

[straightedgecrf]

Why I’m Voting For Donald Trump In The 2024 Election

If you said 3 years ago that I’d be voting for Donald Trump,I’d say that you were crazy.I was a Democrat since I was a kid when it was Bill Clinton vs. George H.W. Bush where I was convinced that Bill Clinton was the better choice to where I was rooting for him,Al Gore and John Kerry.Then I voted for Barack Obama,Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden although Obama was the only one I voted for on my own since I really wanted Bernie Sanders instead of Clinton & Biden.After Joe Biden won and everything that my friends warned me about would happen if Biden won did happen,I regretted my vote and wished that I voted for Trump.This caused me to look at the conservative side and started watching people like Arielle Scarcella,Gothix,Jericho Greem,Officer Tatum,and Ruined Leon that caused me to see the world in a different way.I then wished I voted for Trump after finding out that Biden was everything that Trump was accused of.He said to someone that you ain’t black if you don’t vote for him,that poor kids are just as bright & intelligent as white kids,doesn’t think that not all black people know how to get online,didn’t want his kids to grow up in a racial jungle and much other racist stuff.Since Biden has been our President,prices have gone up,crime has gone up,and our country has become more divided.Drag queens are now in schools,kids are reading porn,men can be allowed to compete in women’s sports along with showering with women in their locker rooms as long as they refer to themselves as women without the consent of the biological women,there really is no boarder since illegal immigrants continue to come our country,and homeless veterans are being kicked out of hotels to make room for the illegal immigrants.This is going on and yet there are people who still plan on voting for Biden just because he’s not Trump.Why?Trump put America first while Biden has put America last.Biden sent our money to help continue supporting a war instead of trying to end it.He even asked if having lower gas prices here in America is more important than having Putin’s iron fist in Europe.That’s like you could be on a better budget,but someone you’re living with would rather help pay your neighbor’s bills instead of you spending all of your money to where you have to starve just to pay your own bills.If you’re saying that you’re voting for Joe Biden because of all the charges against Trump are making you think that he’s not fit to be president or think he’s going to jail,then you’re falling for everything the media is making you believe what they want you to believe since they’re the ones who control the people who just use the media as their sources when it turns out that the media has been bias all of this time.Especially with the negative ads towards people like Donald Trump,Ron DeSantis,and Tudor Dixon while trying to make people like Joe Biden & Gretchen Whitmer look good.Plus imagine if Mitt Romney won in 2012 and this all happened to Obama when he planned on running for president again in 2016.Romney having the FBI raid his place for documents,being charged for stuff that he didn’t do.Democrats would be saying the attacks on Obama were election interference.So to everyone who is all “vote blue no matter who”,”orange man bad”,and everything else that cause the election results to backfire,I just want you to remember that if you complain about how things are and yet vote for Joe Biden again just because he’s not Trump,then you deserve this.Sometimes you have to believe that you have to swallow your pride and vote for the person based on how they run the country instead of how you feel about them.Vote Trump in 2024 to save America because it’s a disaster right now and Biden will become a dictator if you let him stay president.Please put your country before your personal feelings.

[captain-alec]

Blaming minorities, Palestinians that have lost their family members, immigrants that are seeing the dem party push a far right fascists immigration bill they created not Republicans, and saying its their responsibility and their choice to end up with the worst option if they dont vote for Biden is certainly an interesting sentiment.

Like it does not fall on Arabs refusing to vote for a man at fault for a genocide, or trans ppl in Florida facing some of the worst anti trans legislation, or the immigrants from Mexico watching as the Dems do the exact same thing as Republicans if we get Trump, it falls 100% on the dem party because they decided not to listen to demands, they decided that "oh were slightly less worse so we don't have to fight for your vote", they could have and should have put up a different candidate all of us in the political field especially us that are leftists said this from the beginning, Biden was a bad candidate to run and he has essentially lost the Youth vote and the Arab vote (of which he needs to win Michigan).

If we are always 'mitigating the damage' then eventually they're gonna realize they do not have to ANYTHING, right now it's a genocide in Palestine and Immigration rights in four or eight years of this I guarantee the Dems will start capitulating on Queer issues.

Do not get me wrong voting is important, but it's the least important important thing you can do, organize locally, unionize do ground on the work because that is how you truly cause less damage that is how you change things, not by getting mad that ppl are exhausted that the options are "man who killed of their 50 family members, is doing fascism, calling an army of cops to beat up students, but at the current moment doesn't want trans ppl to die but won't do anything to stop it" vs "man who killed of their 50 family members, is doing fascism, calling an army of cops to beat up students, currently does want trans ppl to die"

That's what they want, because at the current moment unless Biden completely changes course Trump is gonna win, and just like in 2016 the Dems are gonna want you to blame those that wanted a better option (in 2016 it was Bernie Bros even tho he could have won) and not them for not listening to their voters.

~ thoughts from an intersectional (indigenous trans lesbian) autistic political science major that's special interest is this hellscape of political shit and spends way too many hours a day focusing on it, socialist and hasanabi head.

// also unless you are (if able) on the ground attending protests whenever you can, calling your legislators, organizing locally, etc etc pls do not try to come at me for this take because I'm doing my part

In the law, there's this idea called the "last clear chance" doctrine.

If you are in an accident, and you had the last clear chance to avoid the accident, then you are, at least in some portion, responsible for the accident.

For instance, if you are driving and a car pulls out in front of you, and you could've slammed on the brake but do not, you're responsible for that, even if the turn the other car made was illegal. Moreover, you might be held partially responsible for the other person's injuries, depending on how things work in your location.

This is even true if you can merely mitigate the damage. If you have a chance to limit the damage -- again, let's say you don't brake and the result is a collision at 40MPH instead of 10MPH -- the additional damage you cause could be considered your fault.

To me, this seems very applicable to voting.

The two parties in the US are going to put a couple of candidates up in the next few months. Both of them might be dangerous. But in the end, everyone who can vote is going to have one last, clear chance to avoid, or at least mitigate, damage.

It sucks that both parties are out there driving like maniacs.

But the fact of the matter is, they've put us in this position. And if you don't put on the brakes -- that is, at least mitigate damage -- you are responsible for the additional damage caused.

In the national elections, a choice not to vote for Biden is a choice not to brake when some jerk pulls into your lane. And if there's an accident and a lot of damage -- to voting rights in general, to reproductive rights, to the health and safety and life of trans and other queer people, to education, to the environment -- then you are responsible for not attempting mitigation.

You have the last clear chance to minimize danger and damage. And while you can yell until you're blue in the face that the Democratic party put you in that position in the first place by not running another candidate, you are still responsible even if you try to abdicate that responsibility.