#get out there and fucking vote or you are complicit

[butch-bakugo]

" kamala was a cop don't ya know? She also supports Israel! Why is genocide not a deal breaker for you??"

Kamala was a DA, a district attorney. The district attorney is the government's lawyer. Cops are the governments body guards and personally killing squad. The person who stands in a court room and makes you pay a fine for graffiting the subway tunnel so the government can keep upkeep and the class traitor gay cop kicking a homeless man to death and setting their tent on fire with them in it is not the same shit. If your shitting on her for working in favor of the government (not even federal, state government), then you should also be shitting on the janitors mopping the floors of town hall. Not all government workers are equal.

As for the second point, call me a selfish asshole, but I would like to continue to be alive. I know, crazy thought, but I'm not willing to throw myself on your pseudo-moralistic holy blade as another point in the trans or gay or disabled or native death percentage so I can maintain that I didn't vote for someone with a slightly favorable leaning generally neutral opinion towards Israel. I can't fight Israel if I'm dead. I can't protect Palestine as a fuckin meat bag. I can't afford to put my rights on the line. I can't live to fight another day when I'm sacrificing myself.

Naw we writing this in the biggest text: I feel like all of you "protesting" voting to slightly improve our chances because you can't stand the thought that a candidate isn't perfect don't understand that voting is not something any sane minority with rights on the line would protest. I'm starting to think you all see voting as a public statement about how moral and pure and progressive you are and not what it actually is, a small act of many you should actively be taking to improve our situation.

I don't think some of you realize that some of the most successful changes in our government were constant and grueling actions taken slowly and by the book to garentee said right. The revolution will not happen over night and your ego is showing if you seriously think 2 terms of a great president will just suddenly get all our rights back and turn America into the progressive and accepting and diverse place it needs to be.

You are too busy fantazing about cutting off Mitch mcturtleforeskin's head when your local community needs you. Your spending too much time and energy posting a million links to gofundmes and never actually donate.

You may dress like an activist, talk like an activist and have amazing ideas like activists but you will never be an activist if you can't even volunteer at your local soup kitchen without agonizing for three weeks cause you have to call to set up your interview for it.

The reason garenteed rights like unions had stayed for so long is because unions organized and fought on the ground at the same time. Your no good to the movement if all you have is fantasies about punching terfs and Nazis and running in streets at protests screaming we will rock you and your not willing to sign up and get to work.

You work for the movement or the movement can't work for you.

[sortanonymous]

People: "Oh, but we must always trust the police in bad situations, right?"

The fucking sheriff of Springfield:

[administer-distractions]

.

[qqueenofhades]

re your tags on that last post, you could say he was...biden his time

BA DUMP TSHH.

I think that everyone, having gotten through the initial 24 hours of rage, fear, terror, confusion, anger, and frustration, is coming around to the idea that this was possibly a good thing and has undoubtedly given the Democratic ticket a much-needed jolt of energy. There are still all the very valid conversations to be had about the sway of a tiny group of billionaire donors, the media and Anonymous Democratic Sources bullying, the decision to torch Biden when they could so easily (so! easily!!!) have done it to Trump at any time and have clearly decided to go FULLY into the tank for him instead. This has many worrisome implications for democracy, and it's not something to be celebrated. All of that is still very much true.

However, now that we have had concrete evidence of the party immediately cohering around Kamala and the grassroots donors busting down the door to give her money, it may also turn out that this was a very wise political jiu-jitsu move by a very crafty political veteran like Biden. As the post I just reblogged pointed out, he did it AFTER the GOP convention, when the Republicans had already locked in (by any reasonable metric) a terrible, terrible ticket. It makes the Democrats look like the ones responsive to the American people demanding a younger and more mentally "with it" candidate (no matter how obvious the slurs about ageism were in regard to Biden when Trump is literally THREE YEARS YOUNGER and far more obviously scrambled). It opens all the excitement and historic firsts of Obama in 2008, it gives the perfect "Prosecutor vs. Felon" tagline that's really easy to run with and stick in people's minds, it is beautiful revenge for all Trump's horrible sexist behavior in 2016 (and really, his whole life) and it gives the Democrats the narrative, if they can FUCKING STICK TOGETHER AND STOP STABBING EACH OTHER IN THE BACK. Now we get to hear about Kamala's running mate, Kamala's plans, feel-good pieces about how she appeals to youth, women/people of color, etc. etc. ALL THAT IS GOOD.

I think/hope the DNC will now be a massive celebration of Biden, who after all came out of retirement when he was already old to take on Trump, beat him, deliver an incredibly successful presidency, and pass the torch on to Kamala. I saw some criticism of Obama yesterday for not endorsing her immediately, but what I read is that he/the other Democratic big beasts (Pelosi, Schumer, etc) want to be a uniting figure with an endorsement of the final candidate, if there was a contested primary beforehand. Thank fuck, it doesn't look like there will be, but it also means that they might wait until the DNC before openly endorsing her. Now, I am still angry at the Biden knifing that all these three were complicit in to some degree, BUT I also have no doubt that if/when Kamala is confirmed as the nominee, they will line up behind her to endorse her and her VP pick. I have seen Mark Kelly, Roy Cooper, etc as possible picks (since alas, she will probably have to pick a straight white man; Kelly would be replaced in the Senate by Democratic AZ governor Katie Hobbs; Cooper is term-limited as governor in NC and might help us target that state for a flip). But what is number one most important is that we support her and whoever she DOES choose. I have also heard that she is already in the process of vetting picks and this is exciting news.

I am thrilled to vote for a woman for POTUS the second time in a few years, I think she has a real shot at winning, and I am heartened by how the base has rallied to Kamala in 24 hours. Let's fucking go. As my new office decoration says:

[biblicalhorror]

Here's my thing. If you have lost all faith in the democratic party and do not want to vote for their candidate, I get it. I really do. But you have to have some kind of plan. Not voting at all isn't going to make any kind of statement to the people in power. It's not an effective boycott because it's not disrupting anything. It's not making your voice heard, like voting uncommitted was in the primary.

Do you live in a blue state? Great! Which 3rd party candidate are you organizing for? Jill Stein? Cornell West? Claudia De La Cruz? Pick one and start organizing for them. If you can get at least 5% of the country (which means about 807,000 of your fellow like-minded leftists in blue areas) on board with one specific candidate, that candidate receives a boost in federal campaign funding in the next election cycle. Choose someone who is willing to use their platform in the next 10 years to promote ranked-choice voting on the federal level so that we don't keep having this same discussion every fucking election cycle.

Speaking of which, voting in your local and state elections is key to getting those initiatives on the ballot in the first place! Do your research on local candidates. Go to town hall meetings. Volunteer at a phone bank. Start getting people into positions of power who are willing to fight to get your long-term goals met.

I truly do empathize with people who cannot bring themselves to vote for someone who has been complicit in genocide and feel as though their vote does nothing for democrats anyway. But guys, we have to stop being so short-sighted and defeatist about this. Abstaining completely from the electoral system does nothing to bring attention to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. If you can't vote for Kamala, figure out who you WILL vote for, and start getting other people on board. Because voting third-party also does nothing if they get 0.3% of the vote nationally. We need to start being smart about using the momentum that leftist politics have gained in the younger population in recent years.

[statementlou]

i feel like i can talk to you about this because you have rational opinions. so louis bought a starbucks coffee at the airport and the fandom on twitter are eating him alive, calling him evil and wishing he goes to hell. i’m disappointed since starbucks is on the list of brands to boycott but i feel like this reaction is too much? someone even said jay would be disappointed in him, but people said that was taking it too far. i don’t know, i love louis and i’ll keep supporting him and his music but the fact he can be a careless millionaire is disappointing

1. thank you sweetie I would boop if I could 2. oh my god it's a fucking cup of coffee and if people think that's the worst thing Louis, a multi millionaire, has ever done financially they need a reality check! His money will be handled by bankers who are putting it into all kinds of evil fucking shit that he won't even know about, it's actually very hard to know or control that and there is no way trying is even on his radar. That's a passive thing and not on purpose; but the fact that people don't bother to know about that or care really speaks to how performative this kind of online approach to activism is, that they only care about image rather than effect (the effect of his investments would be easily thousands of times more than any number of coffees or even of the promotion Starbucks might get from him holding it.) But furthermore buckle in cause you hit a nerve: Starbucks isn't even an actual organized boycott target as concerns Palestine because THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT financially! The official BDS movement calls for boycott of very specific and pointed targets of which Starbucks IS NOT ONE it's literally just an online trend which is not the same as an actual boycott to materially impact a target! Losing them money is always great, they are a crappy union busting small business killing corporation, but it has zero direct effect to help Palestinians unlike supporting the meaningful boycotts called for by BDS. I don't think Louis has decided to buy starbucks because he has this analysis, but to me it's a pretty important point. Him crossing an actual picket line (playing Israel, playing Eurovision [lmaoooo that thought tho], waving an Israeli flag god forbid) would be a very different situation and something that would trouble me so the distinction matters to me. But I get that to people on twitter, that's what they feel like he has done. To which I would say...

There are so many fewer ways to help Palestine than we would wish, and it's SO hard to deal with feeling so powerless right now in the face of such horror, so I love that people feel so strongly about doing whatever they possibly can. But worrying about consumer spending, even on BDS targets, is perhaps the least effective of the things a person can do. Note that BDS boycotts do not mostly focus on asking people not to buy things; they list the products that are especially complicit, but the main work of the movement is to get large investors (corporations, public institutions, whole governments) to divest from the companies targeted because that actually hurts them enough that it becomes less profitable to continue to collude with Israel than to drop them as clients. Consumer spending is not enough to do this. It's easy and doesn't require doing actual work but it's basically virtue signaling, not organizing. Just NOT doing something (yes including voting) is not enough! I personally choose not to give my money to certain corporations because it feels bad to me and I can't stomach doing it, even if they never notice me doing it. But if I was running out of fuel and the only nearby station was a Chevron, I would spend a few bucks there and not beat myself up about it because it will have zero impact on their overall profit reports but a LOT of impact on my life. And if I was in the airport for the second time in mere days after circumnavigating the globe and playing a massive show and doing press and fan service before even having time to adjust time zones and about to get on another flight to another country I might buy a fucking coffee from whatever coffee shop was in there too! But Louis isn't me and I'm gonna be real honest I would be real surprised if he KNEW there was a boycott or gave a shit- he is not a political activist! It's reasonable to be disappointed if someone behaves not how you want them to, but just in general responding to being disappointed in people by lashing out at them is... not it. Not useful, not rational, and not actually an okay way to act to other people. Louis is an awesome sweet caring person who I believe tries hard not to have a negative impact on anyone directly and who cares very much about others; if that's not enough for someone to be a fan of him, okay then they should not be a fan of him! But warning: they're not going to be able to be a fan of anyone else either. No one is pure and perfect... maybe that energy would be better spent trying to make a meaningful difference in the world, and a great first step in that IMO is to recognize and challenge your inner cop. The better world I want to live in doesn't include policing other people, not on twitter and not anywhere.

[walks-the-ages]

For those who have somehow forgotten:

Biden is still the current US President for the next 5 months.

He is still committing genocide as we speak.

Congress members were giving standing ovations to Netanyahu today while Rashida Tlaib was there decked out in Palestinian garb to protest, while other "progressives" simply didn't attend, instead of using their voice to actually speak up directly in the face of modern day hitler like Rashida Tlaib, but what fucking ever.

Biden is still in office.

Biden is still committing genocide.

Do not stop the pressure.

Ramp it up to 110%.

Make it clear to Democrats that we will not be voting for ANY OF THEM in November if they don't stop with the genocide, they can't just replace Biden and act like he's uniquely the problem, not when most of them are applauding modern day fucking Hitler as he stands there to plead his case for more and more billions of weapons!

Kamala Harris is just as complicit in the Genocide as Joe Biden!

If she cared about Palestinians, she could have spoken up at ANY point til now and right now, including moving forward!

Scream it from the rooftops and social media!

Tank their polling numbers!

Make them terrified enough of losing votes they don't just pressure Biden to step down as they did because of the above tactics, but they ALSO need to immediately cease all fucking aid and weapons shipments to Israel and comply with international law!

Palestine will be free!

Keep the pressure on! Call and email all of your reps and demand that they comply with international law and arrest Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes! Demand that they use their power to call for a ceasefire, or they will not get your vote!

If you are too cowardly and spineless that you cannot even pretend to withhold your vote as leverage against Democrats *to stop a Genocide*, if you try to leave some liberal bullshit on my post about "voting blue no matter what they do", "trump would be the same or worse", etc, you won't get a response, you'll just get blocked.

EDIT: August 21st, 2024: this goes double for Kamala Harris, btw. It doesn't matter how often she says "ceasefire" or "we care about civilians", if she's continuing to say that "we fully support Israel defending itself" and being part of the team that just this week, on August 13th 2024, signed yet another fucking 20 billion dollar arms deal to israel.

Killer Kamala Harris is just as complicit and enthusiastic about the genocide of Palestinians as Genocide Joe Biden. She is currently in office. She is currently in power. She is getting paid almost 200k dollars this year as VP and she's continuing to support Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

You can not be the Vice President, the second in command of the entire fucking nation, and not be complicit when your office agrees to send another 20 billion dollars in weapons to Israel.

If she cared, she would have spoken up long ago. She would be publicly against Biden.

Despite what "coconut-pilled" liberals would have you believe, the VP is not the slave of the POTUS and incapable of making any statements against their partner.

If Kamala Harris cared about Palestinians, she would actually be using her power as Vice President to get things done.

She is not some helpless woman left on the wayside with no power. She is the Vice President of the United States. She has plenty of political power, especially after Biden fully endorsed her.

[drdemonprince]

Look I understand that at the federal level we're cooked because we don't have a good third option but voting on a state and local level will help out peoples lives. We can see this with how abortion rights were enshrined in blue states and how places like Minnesota got children free lunch. We can't just decolonize the system overnight so I think it's the most practical thing to do is vote for the best change possible on levels where you're the most effected while working for more.

It's not that we lack a good or viable third option, the problem runs far deeper and more systemically than that. The system is set up such that no alternative option that is actually challenging to the status quo can exist -- the way election financing works and the structure of majority/minority leadership in houses and senates makes having a meaningful third party presence impossible.

As for the possible influence at the local election level, in some ways I am with you. I voted for an increase to funding for the forest reserve. I felt good when that passed. I voted for increased funding for homeless people -- it never materialized. Even when welfare packages pass, they rarely do materialize as promised because there is no way to hold the government accountable for carrying out the people's will.

I voted for the mayor that was less pro-cop. It hasn't kept police from brutalizing protestors all over this city all year long. He put in a few more bike lanes which I guess some people find an adequate enough reason to continue to be complicit within the present system. But my feeling is that every goddamned time that I convince myself that I should participate to try and move the needle, that I should lower my standards and accept even a modicum of improved treatment by the state, I wind up being bait-and-switched even further and having to accept even smaller table scraps than the crumbs I'd already been offered. And I see so many dedicated, passionate leftist people pouring hundreds of hours every year into campaigning for Democratic politicians who pull shit like this, and helping them raise copious amounts of funds that exist only to help them keep getting elected and doing fuck all.

if you wanna walk up to the polls on election day and pay attention to whats happening down ballot that's your business. im glad my alderwoman is the less pro-gentrification one than the other guy that used to be in office. she's still pro gentrification and building $1400 a month high rises all over the neighborhood. none of this is acceptable and the forward creep of economic displacement is still happening, it just has a happier face on it. and it always will because that's what the system is and does.

the deeper problem is that once people invest any hope in a system that is hopelessly oppressive, they tend to also funnel a lot of attention toward electoral politics and campaigning when that money and time would be a lot better spend like, just giving food to homeless people on your block or babysitting a neighbors kids or planting some vegetables or like anything else thats actually community minded.

[thedawnofcrime]

‼️ An entire generation of kids were slaughtered in Palestine, and this is a call for fandom blogs to spread awareness ‼️

If you're reading this because you're in the fandom of Bridget, or Guilty Gear as a whole, please, take a minute to spread awareness and resources regarding the genocide currently being enacted by the government of Israel against the Palestinian people. Recently:

Israel bombed a hospital

Israel air-striked their own evacuation route

Israel has used white phosphorus as a weapon

Israel is murdering the innocent people of Palestine far, far more than they are the group they claim to be fighting.

This is a fucking war crime

Israel is using AI generate imagery to spread false-support. Despite this, news sources are only pointing out AI in pro-Palestinian accounts.

Israeli people are dying, and Israel is using that as another excuse to kill more and more people, of whom they've been trying to exterminate for years

There is no "right and wrong side", there are the murderers and the murdered here. Israel, despite their claims, have been confirmed to be attacking civilians for no reason but to exterminate them.

This is fucking NAZI SHIT, point blank in front of us.

YES, Hamas is also complicit in murders. Supporting the people of Palestine is not equivalent to the supporting of Hamas's murders and captives. As I said, there is no right and wrong side. The losing side is the innocent people being slaughtered.

AN ENTIRE FUCKING SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN, because all of the kids are dead.

Israel has shut down all power and communication to their people. All I can ask you to do is spread awareness, spread support, and add tension to the governments complicit in this, such as the USA, which voted AGAINST a cease fire.

In case you need more information on Palestine, you can go to decolonizepalestine.com, which is a phenomenal resource, as well as this Twitter thread

If you're having difficulty parsing what sources are good or bad, just remember that good sources don't ignore or support the slaughter of an entire generation of kids in Gaza.

If you have an audience of any kind, please either reblog this post, or make your own with a similar call to the fandom blogs that tend to be ignoring this. I get not wanting to interrupt your timeline of scrimblos, but this is a literal genocide that some people do not think is happening.

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

If I hear again that Harris is a lesser evil than Trump and that Palestine "is a different matter" (i.e. less important), I will seriously turn into a demon and haunt you, you piece of trash

Liberals don't even have any shame, even when Harris told them straight to their face that she supports Israel's crimes, you are as disgusting as the IDF because you accept fucking genocide, rape (including children) and other crimes!

You would literally vote for fucking Adolf Hitler! (If he showed support for LGBT+ people, you would elect him, fuck Jews in concentration camps, he supports us gays!)

Yes, I know Hitler was queerphobic, but I guarantee you, these days he would be talking about supporting LGBT+ people and you would vote for him because you want to feed your fragile shitty American ego!

Stop talking about the lesser of two evils when it's fucking genocide!

Palestine is no less important, you selfish pro-genocide liberals!

HARRIS IS A ZIONIST AND DOES NOT SUPPORT PALESTINE, YOU BRAINWASHED EMPTY!

You can't swipe her left, but this bitch swiped you right!

Do you seriously think that accepting fucking genocide and supporting the people who commit it is fucking LEFT WING? GET INTO YOUR EMPTY HEAD!

Harris is right-wing, not left-wing, FINALLY UNDERSTAND IT!

Fuck centrists and liberals, they are just as fucking rotten as right-wingers, fascists and conservatives!

Now that I have your attention:

It appears to me that there is a problem with the link (Even though I have shared this collection many times… Tumblr…)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Yes, let's not forgive the liberals if we don't forgive the Zionists!

Liberals are complicit in genocide! It's time to overthrow the fucking status quo!

[theculturedmarxist]

"But Trump will be worse."

Alright, so you've chosen the side of the fascists then. That's all that means when you get right down to it. Biden is already committing genocide, and you, o spineless liberal, can't even muster up the moral fortitude to oppose that. For the past four years we've seen "Trump" get everything he's wanted even with the Democrats in power, and you still not only choose to support them, but demand others do, too.

"But you can vote and organize!"

Except you don't believe that. You aren't even organizing now, in the face of all of this. Withholding your vote is the absolute least you could do and you refuse to do even that much, not even for the slim promise that if elected Biden will stop arming Israel. You're not marching. You're not protesting. You're not resisting. So your one piece of political leverage is your vote and you're already giving that away.

"But if we don't vote for Biden, Trump will win!"

Oh, so you're responsible for what other people vote for, but you're not responsible for who you do vote for? At least if that happens you're not directly complicit in supporting the party actively committing genocide, right now. At least then the party that supposedly can be moved left might have some incentive to do so.

"But all the women, the POC, the disabled, the immigrants, will suffer!"

They're already suffering, and what are you doing about it? Say Trump wins, and all your nightmares come true. You know what that means for you, liberal? Nothing, because you'll keep going about your life just like you are now. These "people" you pretend to care about are just useful abstractions for you to blackmail people with.

If you had an ounce of the moral fortitude that your self satisfaction presumes to then it wouldn't matter if Trump won. You'd be educating yourselves, organizing yourselves, arming yourselves. You'd kill the cops that they send to enforce his orders. You'd burn the politicians that make his laws alive in their own homes. You'd blow up the factories making his robots and bombs and bullets. It's the least you could do. It's the regime whose infamy exceeds even genocide, after all.

But you're not, and you won't, because the last thing you want is that responsibility. That's what your incessant squalling and scolding is about. You just want to vote and get it over with so that its out of your hands. You have no faith in yourself or your neighbors or the people so you put it in some imaginary force that will somehow "push Biden left" and absolve you of having to do the hard thing, the dangerous thing, the right thing.

The most obscene thing about you is that you mask your spiritual decrepitude behind a mask of moral superiority while snidely disparaging others for demanding "moral purity." That's what bothers you the most about this whole ordeal, really. Genocide doesn't even disturb you in the least, but what does is that others show the backbone that you lack, and by acting on it your own shortcomings are displayed to the world. Your self serving amorality is on full display as its revealed that all your justifications are just pretense. You don't want to shield the weak. You don't want to shelter the downtrodden. You certainly don't give a fucking damn about ending genocide.

All you really care about, all you really want, is to absolved of your responsibility for being a fucking fascist, and for all the people revealing that fact to die as quietly as possible.

[therealeagal]

Thoughts on: Not voting (2024)

Decide for yourselves whether my words have value or if they are naught but the ravings of a madman.

Whichever you decide, don't @ me, bro. I'm not here to debate. Just to pontificate.

Let's begin.

I have seen discourse of late that people do not wish to vote in the upcoming POTUS election, for reasons that include but are not limited to Donald Trump being a piece of shit, and also Joe Biden selling weapons to Israel, thus making him complicit in that thing that's happening with Israel and Palestine. Are we allowed to use the G word? Idunno.

Lots of the anti-not-voting crowd will try to talk down to you, insinuate that you're probably just a Russian troll or a moron or something.

Not me. Although I too am anti-not-voting, I want to try something different, to wit: I understand.

I get it. I appreciate that Joe Biden is shit. Certainly he's not the shittiest shit that ever shat. He's not even shitty shit. Just regular shit.

If we're being fair (although I don't know why we would be. This is tumblr after all), Biden has done lots of good stuff while in office. I mean, I don't know what any of them are, but I saw a list floating around a while back that had a bunch of stuff on it that Biden had done right. I think there was something about insulin being price capped? I'm prepared to accept out of hand the possibility that there exists things that Biden has done right. Mainly because I'm too lazy to look it up and also don't really care enough about Biden's merits beyond "He's not Trump" to bother.

But yes, good stuff or not, Biden is shit. He may have done good things, but he has also done shitty things. Things which include but which are not limited to that thing that's happening with Israel and Palestine, the status of which remains in limbo, viz a viz, the G word.

Of all the shitty people that have ever lived, Joe Biden is one of them.

And I appreciate that both candidates are senile and decrepit and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and.

I get it.

I perfectly understand all the reasons you have to not vote. In fact, I could probably give you a few more. Like "He's not The Real Eagal." which is in my incredibly humble and completely non-biased opinion the best possible reason to not vote for someone.

In difference circumstances, I wouldn't vote for Biden either if I were you.

But Trump is worse. You get that, right? Biden and Trump are both terrible in different ways, but they are not equally terrible. Trump is worse. On a terribleness scale of 1 to 10, Biden is a two. Trump is an eleven. Hundred. Thousand. Million.

He could be up against literally Sauron and Trump would still be worse. At least Sauron came by it honest. He built his evil empire without help from anyone. Morgoth was already...wherever Morgoth ended up after Eru Iluvatar slapped him down to remind him who's daddy. Ok, he did have Celebrimbor's help to make the rings of power, but didn't he make the One Ring on his own? All I'm saying is, I'd rather have Sauron in office than Donald Trump.

Trump is literally deciding who he wants his next VP to be based on how much he wants to fuck their wives. Sauron wouldn't decide who his cohorts were based on how much he wants to fuck their wives. Sarumon didn't even have a wife.

Plus, Biden's not gonna last 4 more years. He's like a jillion years old. He'll croak 2 days after inauguration. And even if he did last all four years, the world can survive four more years of Biden. A bowling alley couldn't survive four more years of Trump.

And if Kamalah Harris is still Biden's VP when he kicks the bucket, it would probably kill off a few Republicans. Their brains would explode at the mere thought of a black woman president. That's what we in "The Biz" call a win-win.

No one will like to hear this, but there's nothing you can do to stop the world from being shitty today - today meaning this current era, not literally this specific day. Sorry, kids, but that ship has sailed.

Voting for Biden won't make the sun rise. It won't make the grass grow, it won't make the birds sing. Voting for Biden won't Save Our Democracy™ BUT speaking only for myself, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that if Trump gets re-elected there's a good chance that there won't be another election, notwithstanding all the other many and varied reasons Trump getting back into office would be a terrible idea.

No question that in ideal times both Trump and Biden would already be swinging from the gallows and we'd be voting between Jesus and Buddha. Personally, I'll vote Buddha. For two reasons. 1: Jesus' fan club is kind of insufferable. No offense, big J, but you gotta give those people a good long talking-to if you want my vote. And 2: According to the excellent documentary series Record of Ragnarok, Buddha is an amazing fighter. He fought a fuckin' monster from hell and won. Dude's a badass.

But these are not ideal times in which we live. Again, no one will like to hear this, but the lesser of two evils, however unpleasant it may be, can be a necessary evil. And Joe Biden is, without question, the much much MUCH lesser evil.

Compromise is a four-letter word, but needs must, as they say, when the Devil drives. And if we want there to be a better tomorrow - for some people it will be "if we want there to even be a tomorrow at all" - we gotta hold our nose and vote Biden.

You got a better idea? One that doesn't involve crashing a bus into the nearest combination orphanage/puppy store in the hopes that the resultant tragedy will cause the downfall of civilization and Civilization 2 will work better because we already worked out all the kinks the first time? Even though the whole reason you got rid of the first one is that you hadn't worked out all the kinks and were too lazy to finish the job?

Not voting doesn't work. You can boycott a business. Maybe. You can't boycott a government. They're already in control. They're not going to change that just because some rando decided he's guilty

And I mean, there are other ways to deal with an unruly government. France is quite famous for its ideas on the subject, but if we're taking votes on that avenue, I'm going to have say "nay." The last thing anyone needs right now is another damn Napoleon.

So maybe tomorrow - "tomorrow" here meaning the next era, ten or twenty or thirty or forty or fifty or however many fuckin' years down the line - Joe Biden will be dead and good riddance to his wrinkly old ass and we'll get the chance to vote for someone else. Among all the shitty people who have ever lived, this future someone won't be one of them probably. I'll bet my bottom dollar on it.

It could happen. In an infinite universe all things are possible, so maybe.

And whatever of the many flaws that Joe Biden possesses, Trump has all these and more.

Joe tacitly endorses violent suppression of protests? Trump had a group of protestors gassed so that he could get a photo-op in front of a church.

Joe has a tendency to get a bit handsy with women? Trump is a rapist.

Joe is kinda racist in that way that old people are kinda racist without being overtly anti-minority? Trump is a Nazi. Or at least extremely Nazi-adjacent.

Joe is drinking the Israel kool-aid? Didn't Trump move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem or some shit, thus clearly favoring Israel over Palestine? Something to that effect? I remember that something like that happened and it being kind of a big deal. Yes? No? Maybe so? Regardless, do you think that Trump wouldn't mainline the kool-aid? He'd be selling Irsael nukes inside of a week.

Joe vaguely shady? Vaguely criminally shady? Trump is a convicted felon. 34 counts, wasn't it? Plus like a hundred more indictments or some shit on top.

While it is true that not voting won't directly put Trump back in the White House, it certainly won't help keep him out of it.

So my advice to you, my children, is this: Vote Biden. Don't do it because you want Biden to be president. Do it because you don't want Trump to be president.

Don't vote for the betterment of mankind. Or the United States. Or your individual state. Don't even vote because the cool kids are voting. Don't vote because you particularly give two soggy shits about the future.

Vote out of spite. Do it to spite Trump. Do it out of the pettiness of not wanting Trump to be president. Not for any of his policies, but just because his face is stupid.

Little known fact: the very first listed dictionary definition for "stupid" is literally "Trump's face". Don't check. It's in there. Trust me.

Vote against Trump because New York isn't a nice town, despite the fact that they named it twice on the strength of its alleged niceness. Sorry, New Yorkers. I don't make the rules.

Vote for Biden because you just really hate people from Queens, New York, New York. Sorry, Queens residents. I don't make the rules.

Vote against Trump because you hate orange people. Yes, even that orange Monstar from Space Jam.

Vote for Biden because you thought Home Alone 2 was a terrible movie.

Vote against Trump because he named his son after himself.

Vote for Biden because the only creature in this or any universe that deserves to be named Donald is Donald Duck. And maybe Donald Glover. Beyond that, we can play it by ear.

Vote against Trump out of sheer, unrelenting, seething hatred for people whose middle names are John.

Vote for Biden because Trump appeared on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that one time and said that he likes to keep a low profile.

There are many many many many many good reasons to not vote for Joe Biden. Do it anyway.

Gather together all of the good reasons that you possess and throw them out the window, along with any clocks you have on hand. And maybe a horse. And some butter. And a dragon if you have any.

Vote for Biden anyway. Not because he deserves it. But because Trump deserves it even less than Biden does.

If you vote I will give you one compliment of your choice. Are you waiting for someone to notice how great your new haircut makes you look?

Maybe you've been hitting the gym a lot more lately, and want someone to appreciate all the muscle you've packed on.

Maybe you finally nailed YYZ on the drums and want props.

Now's your chance. All you need to do is get out there and vote for Biden this November. Or whenever election day is. Pretty sure it's in November. Like, the 7th or some shit. Idunno. Look it up yourself.

And once you do that, you may return here for your compliment.

Unless that counts as election interference. If it does then I won't give you a compliment. You will have to settle for being one of my wonderful followers. And if you're not, maybe you should be. Because I compliment my followers all the time. Even the bots. I am down with the 101001, my robotic followers. Consider it a loophole. But I don't think it counts as election interference, so we're probably in the clear either way.

P.S. If you disagree with me for any reason, please refrain from interacting with this post, because I do find dissent to be terribly irritating. Please and thank you. :)

P.P.S. I will, however, welcome abject praise. If you want to give it. Your choice.

P.P.P.S. This is a post-script.

[leechcraft]

Absolutely bonkers to me that Kamala has previously called for a ceasefire in Gaza and continues to show signs that she would be willing to put pressure on Israel in a way no other presidential candidate thus far has been willing to do… and yet people are still out here talking about how they won’t vote for her lmao. Like in what way do u think prez Trump will be better for Palestine?? Why do you think voting is some sort of moral declaration of purity and not a strategic decision? Isn’t it INTERESTING that so many leftists bragging about not voting are from blue states and will therefore not have to experience the brunt of a second Trump presidency?

Do people think if we drag the USA into the mud we’ll somehow trigger some sort of perfect leftist revolution? Fuck small progress and incremental changes, CLEARLY we should just burn it all down and say fuck the collateral damage.

As Americans we are culpable and complicit in what’s going on in gaza… and that doesn’t change with one vote. By all means, lets keep the pressure on Kamala and on the democrats to stop funding Israel’s genocide. But to be out here spreading misinformation and doomsday rhetoric and ENCOURAGING people to sit back and do nothing… Like fuck trans ppl and women and all marginalized people living in red states, as long as we get to stick it to the democrats? Please.

[beens-on-toast]

People don't know how good they have it in life. No one outside of the Middle East for the most part knows what it's like hearing a jet whizzing over you and a bomb going off. I only had a small taste of it in my life and I felt like my heart was gonna give out from stress and fear. Kids in gaza are dying from cardiac arrest. Its fucking heart breaking. These are kids who already face death by either getting blown up to pieces, crushed, hunger, or by disease. Now they are experiencing heart attacks from fear and adrenaline. Any country has to be held accountable for their actions, I don't care about your history, it isn't a fucking excuse. Criticism of Israel isn't an attack on Jews, stop conflating them. Their so called mission is eradicating Hamas, they are underground, it's known by now they prefer the hostages alive than dead. Stop carpet bombing, they are in tunnels. With the so called best intelligence in the world Israel is sure acting intelligently and strategically. How about figuring out where the tunnels are and being strategic instead of flattening buildings. How did you assassinate someone in Lebanon with a drone but had to bomb several hundred people to get one Hamas leader in Gaza. You can be fucking precise in Lebanon but not in Gaza. Its absolute bullshit and Canada, UK, US, and Germany are run by monsters. All of them are complicit. There is no justice in this world, just politics. Like I said in a previous post, doesn't matter what evidence is presented, the vote will be based on the leaders the lawyers represent, not them. Screw this world.

[peridyke]

look you can disagree with me here I guess but I don't really care about strategy because the idea of giving biden the metaphorical thumbs up by voting for him after months and months of seeing stories about innocent people being slaughtered en masse under his watch makes me want to puke my guts out. I don't think anything really matters more to me than his complicitness in the palestinian genocide and I don't think I could live with myself if I showed any form of support for him. honestly ill be real I think condescending to people telling them they still have to strategically vote for him after we have all seen some of the most horrific footage of bloody cold hearted genocide under his watch for the last 7 months makes you a bit of a monster frankly. I know about the senate I know about the house I know about the importance of getting blue seats filled but at this point I really don't give a fuck because I am seeing videos of starved babies and dead children and people grieving the slaughter of their beloved family and friends and its his fucking fault. I know you would be singing a different tune if you had any tangible connection to palestine so the least you could do is have some fucking empathy. fuck off

[passerkirbius]

that's not how voting works here though... the whole entire point is exercising your right *not* to vote instead of feeling pressured to vote for one of two detestable awful people. picking one of them just to have someone to vote *against* does nothing but get votes for shitty people either way and will always be putting people at risk. when that is unavoidable either way why would we actively choose to be complicit in it?

Because not voting is also actively choosing to be complicit in it.

It might not feel that way. But the message you send to politicians when you don't vote isn't "I hate everyone", it's "I don't care who's in charge". It says to politicians that you've checked out - they can do whatever they want and you're not going to bother them anymore. You won't even vote against them! Zero consequences! A vote not taken is a voice ignored.

As I've said in another post here, not voting isn't an act of defiance, it's an act of submission. Even if you don't think the way I do, it doesn't change the fact that every vote, no matter who it's aimed at, fucks up at least one politician's day. Can't be helped. The only votes that don't are the ones that aren't cast. Even people in places that are far more corrupt than our nations tell you to vote - not because it'll change anything, not to make you feel better about the world, but because even when every person on the ballot is an utter bastard and they all work for the autocrat anyway, giving up means nothing can change. You vote like a spiteful bastard and make your politician's lives just that bit more difficult until someone turns up that can change things for the better.

So if you're fucking pissed at all your possible options and you can't stand a single fucking one of them? Then take your vote and shove in the most awkward, uncomfortable place for them. Show your anger. Use your vote to fuck up as many politician's days as possible. You can't do that if you choose not to vote. Voting for no one means your vote can't hurt a single one of them, and when you have such arseholes on the ballot, can you really not take the opportunity to fuck up their day?