I’m sure it’s a long line. The fuck you wasn’t for the migraines, it was for your presumption. I haven’t heard you say shit about what you do or don’t do, and I didn’t ask because it’s irrelevant. You can’t argue your point, so you went for the ad hominem. I could be a complete shut in, or I could be out in the streets daily and it would have no impact on whether ICE has more bullets than the DSA.
For your information I’ve suffered from a persistent sinus migraine headache for the past 12 years that limits my ability to engage as much as I would like. Even so, I’ve been out to protest ICE facilities seven times. I also donate what I can, even though I can’t hold down a job. I’d love to be involved in organizing and canvassing, but since I barely sleep I hardly have the temperament for either. And no, I don’t get out and touch grass very much, since the light and pollin make everything worse.
Is that sufficient for you? Am I required to do more to earn your approval? Fuck you.
You sure love to type which is a shame because you don’t seem to want to say much. Almost none of this relates in any way to this conversation at all. I never claimed that electoral politics will save us, but it’s also not irrelevant. I never claimed that Trump “can be overcome solely by working within the system” and, in fact, I listed several suggestions that were explicitly outside the system. I never suggested asking “a party in power that isn’t playing by the rules to give up power”, but I’m not going to abandon the electoral battlefield either when public opinion is strongly in our favor and growing.
It’s a conversation about “remain nonviolent” people like yourselves that, I assume, do not actually go out in the streets (maybe you show up on “no kings” days).
Who the fuck are you to be saying this? To this point, there is fucking nobody out there mounting a violent resistance. I don’t have to assume that you aren’t acting on your stated convictions because it’s a damn fact. Meanwhile, there are a ton of us out there protesting regularly, for “No Kings” and otherwise. What a fucking hypocrite you are Mr Black Panther tough guy.
Mine come from a Quinnipiac poll. No matter what polling you use though, there is a pretty remarkable shift against Israel every time they do another poll. Nobody would have predicted that 1/3 a couple years ago.
Good luck mate. When you go to the polls in 2026 and they’re all guarded by ICE to “ensure election security” maybe then you’ll understand what I’m saying.
What you’re saying? WTF? I’m the one who brought up the fact that their entire intention is to have troops present for the election. And yeah, it’s exactly because they are afraid of the outcome that they want to do that, and it’s exactly because they want to do it that we shouldn’t make it easy for them. Fuck this really turned into a dumb dick measuring contest. Does any part of this screed support the notion that now is the time to roll out violence against ICE?
All edge, no point.
A majority of American voters want the US to stop sending any support, military or otherwise, to Israel. Among Democratic voters that rises to 75%. I’m sorry that opposing genocide is too puritanical for your tastes, but you are completely out of touch with what is or isn’t “popular”.
The house and Senate are basically powerless now.
What an absolutely ignorant statement. Congress has lost no power, it’s just that it is marginally in control of the Republicans who want to cede power to Trump. Trump meanwhile is desperately trying to speed-run power consolidation because his administration is scared shitless that the Democrats will take Congress in 2026. That is why red states are panic gerrymandering and changing election rules, why they are working to get the Voting Rights Act overturned, and why they want military presence normalized in blue states.
I’m sorry, but people need to be much more concerned.
Who says I’m not concerned? Being concerned doesn’t mean acting in a drastic and foolish manner. Do you think the left is ready for a military style conflict with the fascists? That is where they are stronger than us, and that is where challenge makes them stronger still. We can beat them and gain ground consistently in every other arena, but you want to go right to the one place where they currently have an advantage?
I feel like we’ve normalized this stuff so much. If your 2016 self was seeing what is happening today; I think you’d be extremely shocked to hear yourself talking about “well, we just need to vote blue no matter who”
What the hell are you talking about? Yeah, I’ve always been an against third party strategies, but I’ve never advocated for “blue no matter who” as some kind of panacea, and I think that slogan in-particular is toxic as hell. Yes, vote for the lesser of two evils, but the lesser evil is still a demon to be overcome, and that should never be glossed over.
Also, the fascist don’t need violence to say you are violent.
No fucking kidding. But they do need violence to convince the courts that deploying the Texas national guard in Chicago is necessary (for instance). I totally get the impulse. I see the videos of these ignorant thugs and want to tear them apart myself, but I know that’s not the best way to help when considering the big picture. We need more underground networks hiding people. We need more volunteers providing legal support. We need more protesters delaying and tying up enforcement. We need more reporting and awareness campaigns. We need more progressives replacing establishment Democrats. There is plenty of work to be done. There is no need to engage in violent battles that will just lose us good people.
As a fellow Bernie supporter, let me assure you that the Republicans support your decision and Bernie doesn’t.
Roughly speaking, the quality of a politician is ranked on their ability to govern, and on their ability to get votes. One or the other isn’t good enough, it has to be both. In Kamala’s case she was marginally better than Trump in one, and marginally worse in the other. Democrats must do much better in both.
As for Israel, there is no reason whatsoever to think it would be any better under Harris. Biden was an ideological Zionist who was never going to put real pressure on Israel. Every indication was that Harris would be more of the same. Trump, through no ideology other than serving his own ego, might have actually done better than either of them ever would have.
At this exact point in time, escalating violence is exactly what the Trump regime is hoping to achieve. Newscasts playinging their rhetoric of lawless burning streets juxtaposed with inflatable cartoon characters is not what they want people to see. The situation may. (and probably will) change, but I don’t think this is the time.
Any successful strategy has to include winning back the House and Senate. Trump will use any excuse to escalate a military presence in blue districts to suppress the vote. If people start taking pot shots at ICE, it will make it much easier for them to deploy more military.
Has there been a socialist revolution in the history of the world that ended with universal worker control of the means of production? For that matter, has there ever been a fascist revolution where individual liberty was entirely overridden by capital and state interests? Don’t be ridiculous. There is always a gap between the ideal vision and what society is ready to accept. What makes someone liberal is consistency in pushing society in a liberal direction, and that’s not what we see from the Democratic establishment.
Liberals believe in democracy. How did she become the nominee again?
From the department of redundancy department.
Even with a favorable court this would be difficult because of how US elections work. There is nothing saying a naturalized citizen can’t run for president, just that they can’t hold the office.
A party would have to risk nominating an ineligible candidate, and that’s not something primary voters are going to want to do. Until that happens, there is no real mechanism to get a ruling from the courts since there is nobody with standing for a lawsuit.
I think it’s a mistake to apply any kind of principled philosophy to establishment Democrats. They aren’t left, they aren’t liberals, they aren’t conservative, they are careerest. If they believe in anything it’s competence, but with little discernment about what their competence should achieve. What they are is an elitist social club, and they see broader democracy as an inconvenience to overcome on the path to earning favor in that club.
Kamala is a lot of things, but she is not a liberal. I can have honest disagreements with a principled liberal, but the Democratic establishment abandoned liberal principals long ago.
It’s been argued, though notably not in the courts, that this is superceded by the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
Democrats think doing politics is beneath them. They just need to be marginally better than Republicans and if they don’t get elected then it’s the voter’s fault.
You made it about me. That’s what an ad hominem is. I don’t care what organizations you work with which is why I just said that. Yes, this conversation is exhausting.