‘Useful Idiot for Russia’: DNC Decides to Go Off on Jill Stein

jordanlund@lemmy.worldmod to politics @lemmy.world – 708 points –
‘Useful Idiot for Russia’: DNC Decides to Go Off on Jill Stein
thebulwark.com

“Jill Stein is a useful idiot for Russia. After parroting Kremlin talking points and being propped up by bad actors in 2016 she’s at it again,” DNC spokesman Matt Corridoni said in a statement to The Bulwark. “Jill Stein won’t become president, but her spoiler candidacy—that both the GOP and Putin have previously shown interest in—can help decide who wins. A vote for Stein is a vote for Trump.”

415

You are viewing a single comment

LOL it took a whole hour

you kids are slacking

and no. voting for harris does NOT make me "pro-genocide," no matter how much you wish it did.

have fun watching jill stein get a single digit percentage of the vote. if that. but don't feel like you accomplished something by throwing your vote away, because you didn't

and no. voting for harris does NOT make me “pro-genocide,” no matter how much you wish it did.

Of course not. You being pro-genocide means that you have two candidates to choose from.

Yes it does, but you have to weigh the pros and cons of your vote just like e everyone else.

Its not crazy to acknowledge that the current choices are genocide or genocide light. You can even still vote for Kamala and feel slightly bad about her stance on Israel. Wheres the problem with allowing some nuance here? Turning this into all or nothing, live or die, good or evil, is not very convincing in my opinion.

Yea well buddy, I’m sorry but I’m not going to just sit here and allow genocide or genocide light without calling you a jackass on the internet.

But I will walk up to the store right now and get another beer.

Brb

I actually don't know if you are with me or against me, but I really like the energy of your post, made me feel like I was walking to the corner store with you.

If Harris promised to stop sending weapons to Netanyahu, how many centrists do you think would become trumpers?

Far less than all of those who would just opt to stay home and not vote.

You mean to tell me that centrists would rather throw a tantrum and withhold their votes just because they didn't get 100% of everything they wanted, even when that would mean guaranteeing a Trump victory?

The exact same shit they've been accusing progressives of doing? The same rationale they use to blame progressives for Clinton's loss in 2016?

Why does Vote Blue No Matter Who only ever work one way?

Zero intelligent ones, because everyone knows we just need someone to say it at this point.

But you know what?

Harris can’t even say out loud that she will stop the genocide.

Liberals love infantilizing everyone they disagree with. And is a sign of narcissistic personality disorder

infantilizing everyone they disagree with

I love the smell of projection in the morning.

Conservatives love showing everyone their persecution complex.

Quite binary to assume that a critique of a liberal implies that I am a conservative. Socialists. Can't stand either one of you

And yet the hatred you constantly exude evokes conservatism and the voting you push helps conservatives. Putin would salivate at your post history.

Such an odd thing about these “i’m so communist bro!” people.

I don't exude hatred, I point out Nazis when I see them

And yet any objective observer would conclude you hate "liberals" as much as any Nazi hates minorities. Also nice job inappropriately using the word Nazi.

The way you write begs for all of your ideas to be discarded wholesale. You obviously aren't looking to convince anyone, only to feel superior, which you aren't. To anyone.

Nazis didn't think they were the bad guys either

The analogue here being you thinking spewing your vitriol is fine because, you see, anyone who doesn't share whatever reality-divorced views you hold are vermin.

They don't infantilize the right. Then again, you did say everyone they disagree with.

From the looks of it lately the line between red and blue are becoming very blurry. Harris uses right wing dog whistles with every statement.

Not even gonna try to rationalize it huh.

Tell us which non-genocide candidate has any sort of chance to win the election.

Man, things have gotten that bad huh. What a sentence.

The problem is that "support genocide" is being used overly broadly.

The stated policy of the Biden/Harris administration is that Israel has a right to defend itself.

Surprise! They do. Every sovereign nation has that right.

As a result of that stated policy, Biden and Harris both support providing weapons and funding for the continual defense of Israel.

https://www.npr.org/2024/08/23/g-s1-19232/kamala-harris-israel-gaza-dnc

So follow me here:

  1. Israel has a right to defend itself.
  2. The US will support that defense.

Where it breaks down is Bibi and Likud taking that defensive support and directing it into the Genocide.

That's on THEM. The United States is making a good faith effort to provide support for the defense of Israel. Israel is intentionally misapplying that support.

Trump's stated policy is that Israel needs to kill everyone quicker.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-israel-pr-hugh-hewitt-21faee332d95fec99652c112fbdcd35d

“They’re losing the PR war. They’re losing it big. But they’ve got to finish what they started, and they’ve got to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life.”

Only one of these two policies is pro-genocide, Trumps.

Biden/Harris is pro-defense which is illegitimately being used for genocide, not at all the same as being pro-genocide.

That’s on THEM. The United States is making a good faith effort to provide support for the defense of Israel. Israel is intentionally misapplying that support.

This is not a good argument. They're not infants, they have agency and the ability to perceive the impacts of their actions.

Biden/Harris is pro-defense which is illegitimately being used for genocide, not at all the same as being pro-genocide.

Eh, it certainly means they're not proactively anti-genocide.

But more importantly it's not going to move someone uncomfortable with the Democratic material support for the genocide a single iota closer to accepting that there is still a better candidate both for Palestine and for all the aspects where they're actually good, not just not as a bad.

They do have the ability to percieve the results of their actions, and they know if they cut Israel loose, they lose the election.

Israeli vs. Palestinian support isn't nearly so overwhelming that there is simply one side that guarantees loss. This is an excuse by you for them, not a truth of politics.

  1. There's a world of policy positions between "give as many weapons as desired without condition" and "abandon Israel". AIPAC hasn't gone after Democrats that just express reservations and demand accountability and their effectiveness requires they actually have an argument that with a lot of ad money can sway meaningful numbers of voters.
  2. AIPAC's resources are not endless. They can drop big money in small races to influence them, but don't have the resources to veto a president. Those weren't crucial votes on Israel policy, they were members they thought were vulnerable. They couldn't oust Ilhan Omar and they're not even planning a challenge to Bernie Sanders despite his greater prominence and power. Learned helplessness however could give them everything they want without needing to have the actual power to force it.
  3. Finally, if you're trying to discourage antiwar opposition, saying she is effectively required to act in accordance with AIPAC's wishes is not going to sway anyone who's angry about Israel's genocide. If that were actually true then AIPAC supports genocide so, whether under duress or not, Democratic presidents will also be required to support genocide.

So is your argument that the Biden/Harris administration is blind, or stupid?

If I give my kid an AR-15 and they shoot up a school, I may or may not be culpable.

But if I hand them another AR after the first shooting, they kill again, and then I give them another, and another, and keep handing them weapons for months, and theres a pile of 15,000 dead children, then I am definitely culpable.

It doesn't matter how many times I tell the kid "this AR is for defense only".

Oh, not at all, they know very well what they're doing.

The unwavering support of Israel is due to two factors:

  1. The undue and oversized influence the Pro-Israel lobby has on American politics:

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus?ind=Q05

  1. The Evangelical opinion that we need to support Israel so Jeebus can come back:

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/truth-many-evangelical-christians-support-israel-rcna121481

As with all good politics, it has nothing to do with "right" or "wrong", it's all about "money" and "power". That's it.

Oh, not at all, they know very well what they’re doing.

Then they know it's a genocide, they know what the weapons are used for, and they're sending the weapons anyway.

That's. Supporting. Genocide.

It isn't though.

Look at our humanitarian support that often gets hijacked by corrupt governments.

People are starving.
We send support.
Support gets hijacked.
People keep starving.

"WhY Do yOu sUpPoRt sTaRvAtIoN??!?!?!"

We aren't going to stop sending support just because bad actors are misusing it.

We aren’t going to stop sending support just because bad actors are misusing it.

The bad actors in this case are the people we keep selling weapons to. No hijacking is taking place like in your example about food aid. We sell them weapons, they get immediately used for genocide.

Pretending that Netanyahu totally meant to use the weapons for defense but accidentally goofed into using them for genocide is flimsy apologia indeed.

Oh, there's no goof, they're intentionally mis-directing the aid. That's absolutely plain, but we won't stop providing it just because they're misusing it.

That’s absolutely plain, but we won’t stop providing it just because they’re misusing it.

Well, we should. Because it's making us complicit in an ongoing genocide.

3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...

Every sovereign nation has that right.

Per the UN and international law and occupying country can NOT claim self defense

Biden/Harris providing unlimited weapons and money is allowing Israel to finish the job before January 2025.

Turning a blind eye and genocide denial because it's team blue committing it is weird and inhumane

  1. It's not going to be finished by January.

  2. Israel doesn't need our help to shoot little kids in the chest and head. Bullets are cheap.

Israel doesn’t need our help to shoot little kids in the chest and head. Bullets are cheap.

Then they can do it without our help. We don't need to be complicit.

It will be a little more difficult if their supply of bullets was cut off, and their bunker buster bombs were cut off.

Israel is the #8 arms dealer in the world. You can't cut off someone who is producing their own weapons.

https://www.statista.com/chart/17316/share-of-global-arms-exports-by-country/

They don't need our support which is why they're completely ignoring our demands.

They don't produce the weapons they buy from us. Eventually they could stand up domestic production, but it would absolutely impact the current war. Israelis themselves have said that. You're just making up excuses the actual people involved don't make.

They don’t need our support which is why they’re completely ignoring our demands.

Then why not withdraw our support? They can "dEfEnD tHeMsElVeS" without our help.

Because if we withdraw our support, they would get immediately attacked by Iran, and there would be chaos in US politics. Harris would lose the election, and Trump would be installed.

Because if we withdraw our support, they would get immediately attacked by Iran, and there would be chaos in US politics

We weren't selling them weapons for genocide before October 7. We can withhold weapons without withholding overall support. And Israel has nukes while Iran doesn't. Iran wasn't invading them before we started selling them weapons for genocide.

I love how Israel can take care of themselves so there's no point in stopping weapons sales, but they can't take care of themselves so we have to keep selling them weapons.

3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...

This shit is so disjointed. Its not a genocide, its only a genocide because the countrys leaders want it to be, Biden is only arming a genocide because those leaders want to use the weapons for genocide. You're stuck, man, you cant get past any of the uncomfortable truths. You cant make an argument that its not a genocide. You cant make an argument that our government is not arming and funding that genocide. You cant make an argument that youre not supporting a candidate that is likely to continue to arm and fund that genocide.

6 more...

Yeah they have gotten that bad. I'm glad that you've finally decided to accept that. That's the first step.

🌍🧑‍🚀🔫🧑‍🚀

I dont recall any other election where people are saying 'look, you cant expect to have candidates that dont support genocide'

6 more...
6 more...

LOL ok, you're cool with throwing your vote away

that doesn't mean anyone else is obliged to waste time "rationalizing" NOT throwing their vote away to you

do what you want. just know that your third party vote did NOTHING for palestine. and NOTHING for anyone else either.

I wish it meant we did nothing for palestine. Instead of it meaning bombs and funding continues to pour into the arms of the country thats killing them.

so throw your fucking vote away

Nah im voting for a candidate that has not voted to arm and fund an ongoing genocide.

And helping Trump who wants to accelerate that same genocide while starting another one here at home.

Genocide is an absolute non starter. If one party supports it and one supports it harder, you need to burn down the whole political field and start over.

LOL aka throwing your fucking vote away

i'm not telling anyone how to vote. i'm just saying that a vote for third party is a vote that goes straight in the fucking trash

A lot better than a vote that goes into bombs dropped on gaza.

Did you know you're allowed to shut the fuck up?

You don't have to make your vote seem like it's any more important than any other.

You don't have to make your choice on who to vote for you entire personality.

It's a sign of your narcissistic personality disorder.

It's cute and funny to watch you squirm from where I'm sitting.

Keep up the good work, little narcissist!

Telling someone they are throwing away their vote because they won't support your team is right wing authoritarian voter suppression.

"Teams" don't enter into it.

One candidate poses an existential threat to our country and way of life.

One other candidate can defeat them.

Taking a vote away from the 2nd candidate has the same net effect as voting for the first one.

You either help beat Trump or you help elect him. A 3rd party will not win, so voting 3rd party doesn't help beat Trump.

Both pose a threat to the country, but right now one dragged themselves out of the sewer like they do every four years to talk progressive and proactive, then proceed to legislate like their Republican counterparts after the election.

My goal is to defeat both threats to the country and our quality of life, not slowly extend everyone's pain.

Then you elect Trump and put a 2028 tombstone on America.

Liberals refusing to challenge the system that allowed a demagogue like Trump to be elected will be the demise of the country. Saying war is bad but I'm gonna vote for you regardless is not challenging the system, that's rewarding them for bad behavior. Electing the people complicit in propping up that system only prolongs the suffering of people.

They will cling to fascism to protect the few table crumbs that get tossed at them.

Nice straw man. You're throwing your vote away because you are voting for a candidate that has zero chance of winning, while one of the two actual options is a literal fascist who will give Netanyahu carte blanche in Palestine and the other realizes she has to walk a narrow tightrope before November if she wants to get elected and have any influence over Israel whatsoever.

But I know you know this already.

If the Green Party was a serious political party, then why do they never care about down ballot elections? Why don't they ever care about local elections? Why do they disappear, only to crawl out from their hole every four years to sow division among American voters?

Netanyahu has Carte Blanche right now. The US has completed over 500 weapons deliveries to Israel. And Harris has already said she's continuing the shit we have going on right now.

There are plenty of greens holding local offices right now, but you would know that if you looked instead of relying on someone to feed you propaganda that's designed for their purposes.

Why is it every 4 years Democrats rise from the sewers and talk progressive and populous then go right back to legislating like their Republican counterparts after the election?

Telling someone their vote is wasted or meaningless is right-wing authoritarian voter suppression.

Why do you love Trump so much you're trying so hard to get him into power?

Democrats supporting a genocide is whats gonna do it.

6 more...
6 more...