Saw this today, and … well, I’m not going to be so forgiving to people suggesting to vote Third Party rather than vote for Biden. If Trump wants me to do something, and you want me to do that same something, that tells me you’re aligned with Trump.

  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I just want to make you aware that your argument is that Biden is basically not responsible for his position on Israel. Like I really want you to actually notice what that does rhetorically, because you are effectively ceding the position that Biden is bad, but Trump would be worse (maybe).

    So is Biden the President or is he not? Like, the fucking point is that Biden can do better right now and is choosing not to. Is he the President and capable of such a thing or is he not? With whom does the buck stop?

    You need to start understanding that the consequence of the “Any blue will do argument” is the recognition that Biden is a weak, unfit leader that doesn’t have accountability, and that this rhetorical structure is what is losing Biden this election. Making excuses for Biden on this policy position weakens him as a candidate, and further ensures a Trump victory.

    • kescusay@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      That’s a blatant misreading. He is fully responsible for his position, but due to the circumstances of this situation, his position is necessarily nuanced. It has to be, to avoid destabilizing the entire Middle East.

      Imagine he just declares Israel no longer an ally, and tells them they’re on their own. How long before Iran attacks? How long before other Muslim-majority countries are dragged into it? How long before it becomes a broader conflict, with Israel fighting basically everyone?

      How long before we end up dragged into it anyway?

      Biden is trying to pressure Netanyahu with what leverage he has, and he is trying to prevent it from become a large regional conflict. I’m sure he wishes BiBi wasn’t the one in charge there - most Israeli citizens certainly seem to want him gone, too - but wish in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up faster.

      With Biden, we have someone in the White House who actually gives a shit whether Palestinians get to live. That’s a hell of a lot better than anything Trump has to offer.

      • TheHiddenCatboy@lemmy.worldOP
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        7 months ago

        Man, there’s a bajillion angles to this. We’re talking global politics here.

        Israel under Netanyahu has said that it will extinguish Hamas even if the entire world turns against them. And you can go down many paths looking at what happens if the US abandons Israel.

        First, some facts.

        • Israel has not imposed sanctions on Russia.
        • Israel maintains diplomatic relations with Russia.
        • Israel has not backed Ukraine in the war.
        • Russian is the third most-widely spoken language in Israel
        • Israel has the third largest Russian-Speaking population outside of Russia and other post-Soviet states.
        • Israel took a neutral stance on the Crimea invasion.
        • Netanyahu and Putin have a particularly close relationship.

        Now, just think for a moment what Russia might do if the US were to end its special relationship with Israel? I’m sure that’s weighing on Biden’s mind as he navigates the waters of reining in Israel’s attack on Palestinians. Putin is looking for ways to erode American influence world-wide, and this might well be an own goal if we just blindly drop Israel like so many of these…ahem, ‘dissenters’ seem to want us to do.

        Besides. Trump says Israel should ‘finish the job’ in regards to the Palestinians so I’m not sure how the … person below you thinks Biden is to the right of Trump on this matter. Unless ‘the right’ means letting SOME Palestinians live, and ‘the left’ means ‘invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity.’ I mean, it’s not like some rightwing shithead ever said anything like that, amirite? Lol.

      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        With Biden, we have someone in the White House who actually gives a shit whether Palestinians get to live.

        Biden is, and always has been, a full throat-ed Zionist. He’s maybe the furthest right Democrat on this issue from his cohort/ demographic of senators. He’s hard right in this way. Further right than Trump. You are projecting nuance and your own desire to belief that Biden is good on Israel onto Biden beliefs. But by Biden’s own words and his stated beliefs, he is doing pretty much exactly what we would expect him to do in support of Zionism. If you map current actions onto his previously stated beliefs, nothing is out of order. The only change has bee some lip-service sound byte level saber rattling. There is no need to project deep nuance onto the situation if you just look at Biden’s words and policy positions and map them to what he does. He lines up as a squarely Neo-conservative Zionist in rhetoric (preter Israels advancement of the genocide of the Palestinian people post October) and has lined up squarely as a Neo-conservative Zionist in action. He makes decisions and acts like the person he said he is.

            • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              His point is that Trump’s position is to absolutely flatten Palestine, and that would be far worse than Biden continuing his half-assed pussyfooting.

              When the only viable options for president are Trump or Biden, why would anybody who actually cares about Palestinian lives not do what they could to prevent Trump from turning them into glass and ash?

              • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                His point is that Trump’s position is to absolutely flatten Palestine, and that would be far worse than Biden continuing his half-assed pussyfooting.

                No fucking shit. Every idiot talking head is parroting the identical argument. And its not working, which is my point.

                Trump isn’t president, Biden is. So Trump being better or worse is irrelevant and the argument is worthless. And that’s what they and (perhaps?) you don’t seem to get. The rhetorical approach of blaming Trump/ claiming Trump is worse, is having the opposite effect that I assume you think it should have. The argument they and you are making isn’t gaining Biden support, it is weakening support for Biden, and the insistence on this failed rhetorical approach is currently costing us the general.

                Fucking stop. Stop apologizing for Biden. Stop defending it. Stop excusing it. Start demanding Biden do better or we’re fucked and you’ve guaranteed us Trump.

                • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  You can both demand Biden do better and still meaningfully vote against Trump. These are not mutually exclusive actions.

                  By all means, threaten to not vote for him. Write him a letter saying why you refuse to donate to his campaign. Hold him accountable for his part in not condemning Israel and withdrawing support for them. But when the time comes in this election year, if you don’t actually vote for the Democrat candidate, you are undeniably tipping the scale in favor of the more genocidal candidate.

                  It’s not that anybody arguing to vote for Biden wants him to win. It’s just that nobody here wants Trump to win instead.

                  If you can’t understand the cost of Trump winning, good luck to you, and thanks for ruining it for the rest of the country.

            • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I’m doing what again? I asked about Trump for the first time.

              When you vote for candidates you compare and contrast their positions on the same topic.

              I read your long post about Biden is a Zionist so how does that compare to Trump’s ideas on Palestine?

              • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Its irrelevant because right now, Trump isn’t president. Biden is.

                You apologetics are costing us this election. Stop.

                • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  If you mean “us” as a third-party voter, you will never win the election as long as the system is still first past the post.

                  If you mean “us” as a Republican, then all I can say is that you’re the problem for not taking the trash out and letting him run again in 2024.

                  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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                    7 months ago

                    By ‘us’ I mean any one who doesn’t want Trump to be the next president.

                    Your rhetoric is costing us this election.