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    2 months ago

    You seem to think that I think the Democrats should both sides the Israeli conflict. I don’t. They should absolutely stop propping up Netanyahu’s evil campaign and tell Israel it can have military support from the USA again only when it withdraws from Gaza and Lebanon.

    Where we disagree is the effect on American politics of leftists abstaining from choosing the president by not voting or voting third party. The more leftists that the republicans’ online pals can convince to exclude themselves from the electorate through voter purity arguments, the more right wing victories they get and the further to the right the Overton window is pushed.

    • Ephoron@lemmy.kde.social
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      2 months ago

      Where we disagree is…

      That’s my understating too. What I’m arguing with these statistics is against your view that the Democrats will change policy (to the right) to chase votes.

      I’m presenting evidence to the contrary. Democrats do not change policy to chase votes. If they did, they would be chasing the anti-genocide vote. It’s easy to capture and it’s even probably required by international law.

      They clearly do not set policy to chase votes.

      They set policy to satisfy their donors, then they just expect votes.

      The only way to end that is to make it clear they cannot "expect votes, they must earn them.

      And yes, I’m well aware of the costs of making that statement, 4 years of hell. But if we let fear intimidate us, we never achieve anything. No one suggested we shouldn’t fight the Nazis because 4 years of war would be nasty. We did it because it was the right thing to do.

        • Ephoron@lemmy.kde.social
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          2 months ago

          No. The Democrat approval rating among Arab-Americans used to be 74%. It’s now 14%.

          They have actively moved away from electoral strategies which have worked in the past. They’ve done so because their wealthy donors told them to. Against the bulk of the electorate, against previously supportive demographics, against key groups in swing states…

          The Democrats are taking the very risk you’re accusing us of taking (risking losing to Trump). They’re doing so because they think they can just expect your vote. The way to stop them is to make it clear they cannot.

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            2 months ago

            And elect Trump. Showing them that fielding one of the most worker friendly candidates they have in my lifetime was a mistake and they should go back to centrists because they only win in the swing States when they do.

            If you can’t vote Democrat when the alternative is a fascist who is proposing today to use the military against left wingers and promised his supporters that if they voted him on it would be the last election, you’ll never vote Democrat and Harris would be entirely correct strategically to ignore your demands because there’s always some compelling reason to disagree with political parties that can win power in America what with the electorate being so rabidly right wing generally.

            In the trolley dilemma you would let the trolley run over 100 people in your voter purity to not support the death of the 10 on the other track. Inaction can be the worse evil.

            You can tell me it’s horrible and unfair and shouldn’t be like this but the trolley is coming. Neither you nor I can stop it. No more than Kamala can single handedly bring about a ceasefire in Gaza in a fortnight.

            • Ephoron@lemmy.kde.social
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              2 months ago

              they should go back to centrists because they only win in the swing States when they do.

              So the plan is to just completely igmore the evidence and repeat the same baseless and unsupported claim. You might as well be reading prophesies from the bible. I don’t think you personally have anything to fear from a Trump presidency, it sounds like you and he would get on just fine.

              No more than Kamala can single handedly bring about a ceasefire in Gaza in a fortnight.

              Bollocks.

              “The Americans insisted and we are not in a place where we can refuse them. We rely on them for planes and military equipment. What are we supposed to do? Tell them no?” Yoav Gallant, Isreali defense minister

              All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the US,…The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability … Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period" Maj Gen Yitzhak Brick, Israeli general.

              But by all I’ve read so far, you’ll ignore this evidence too in favour of your blind faith. It’s like talking to a Scientologist. Pointless.